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28,676 |
<p>I was rather surprised that in this <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/28648/929">answer</a> which suggests that a supervisor giving a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_hug" rel="noreferrer">side-hug</a> to a research assistant is acceptable behaviour. I try and limit the physical contact with my students/postdocs/assistants to hand shakes and high fives, however if they initiate a hug I tend not to block it. What physical contact, if any, is acceptable between a supervisor and a student? I guess a follow up question would be do the genders of the supervisor or student matter?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28681,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In general, I refrain from <em>initiating</em> any physical contact other than handshakes or \"congratulatory\" gestures such as high-fives or fist bumps. This allows the student to control the level of interaction if they so choose.</p>\n\n<p>My suspicion about what would be considered \"acceptable\" is that it varies widely from country to country, depending on what is considered an \"acceptable\" level of contact between strangers or professional colleagues. For instance, in Muslim-dominated countries, the \"side-hug\" mentioned in the answer—or even <em>shaking of hands</em>—between a male boss and a female subordinate, or vice versa, would likely be frowned upon! Similarly, in other countries, I could see how a \"side-hug\" could be within the realm of acceptable contacts (although still on the somewhat \"iffy\" side). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28692,
"author": "Jon Custer",
"author_id": 15477,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15477",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some of this may depend on the age of the students, the relevant law of the country, and policies of the institution. I'm replying from a USA-centric, adult, and parent viewpoint.</p>\n\n<p>I am a USA Swimming certified official. Part of the required training is on their 'Athlete Protection Policy', dealing with allowable interactions between adults (coaches, officials, team representatives) and swimmers (age group or over 18). Shaking hands and fist bumps like @asismail list are acceptable. Hugs initiated by the adults are not. Hugs initiated by the swimmer are also not really OK - they might happen once in the heat of the moment (winning Olympic gold), but should not be repeated. This ensures there are clear boundaries between the adults and the swimmers (any age). There should be no doubt to a neutral observer that there is nothing going on. If this sounds too 'politically correct' to you, tough. Sexual harassment and sexual abuse happen, and USA Swimming wants nothing to do with it. Likely your institution has no desire for it to occur either, and has policies in place about it. If the student feels uncomfortable, don't do it. If somebody watching you is uncomfortable, don't do it.</p>\n\n<p>As a manager of a research group, I have positional authority over my adult staff, and all the same issues apply. You don't want anyone thinking that anything untoward is going on. I would never hug a subordinate, male or female, and would not let them hug me under any normal work situations (I'll omit extreme cases such as us all getting out of a burning exploding building). It opens up too many questions. Even a side hug seems unusual. Lightly and briefly touching a shoulder is OK, unless they seem uneasy. I don't do it often. Perhaps that seems cold, but my observation is that even 'touchy-feely' folks don't really do much touching in a professional workplace environment. In an environment with students I'd stick to no actions that could be interpreted as remotely sexual by a third party observer. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28701,
"author": "Tara B",
"author_id": 5955,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5955",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The things I want to say on this topic should possibly be comments really, since I think the only 'answer' is that it varies hugely between different cultures (as aeismail already said).</p>\n\n<p>Personally, like aeismail, I would not initiate physical contact with students, or indeed with colleagues (I'm still a postdoc myself). This is probably a good policy to follow, especially with something like hugging, unless hugs are not only generally acceptable but even <em>expected</em> in the local culture. The exception might be if a student has finished their studies and is leaving the university. I think I may have given my final-year project student a goodbye hug.</p>\n\n<p>This extends, in a sense, to students who I happen to be friends with outside work (there are a few of these, since I belong to a student dance society). Even if I might hug someone frequently in a non-work context, I wouldn't hug them when we are in a teacher/student context. On the other hand, if it would be normal to hug someone in the friendship context, I wouldn't refrain from doing so just because they are also my student.</p>\n\n<p>EDIT:\nAs for the question about whether gender makes a difference: again this may be culturally dependant, but in the countries I have studied or worked in (the UK, Germany, New Zealand), any supervisor-student physical contact would be much more likely where at least one of the people involved is female, due to similar cultural expectations about physical contact between males to those mentioned by Pete Clark in his answer (though my impression is that this may be more extreme in (certain parts of?) the US than in the UK). And high levels of discomfort are probably unlikely where both of the people involved are female, while more caution would be expected with opposite genders. (This of course arises partly from these cultures being highly hetero-normative.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28703,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm glad you asked the question, since I was very struck by the answer as well: as I indicated in a comment, I am rather confident that the sentiment expressed there that hugs are always okay is against the policy of my university. As Tara B mentioned, <em>any</em> physical contact between coworkers that is not explicitly part of the work done needs to be clearly acceptable to both parties. There is no doubt that sometimes a hug is more contact than one wants. When I first arrived at my current job a certain SO of a colleague reacted to meeting me for the first time by giving me an aggressive hug while I was seated, so I could not easily regulate or terminate it. While certainly not \"traumatic\", in the long years since then, whenever I see this person I instinctively track them closely enough so as not to \"get caught\" as I did that one time. If it had been my colleague rather than my colleague's SO, it would have been worse.</p>\n\n<p>As other people have said, what is an acceptable level of physical contact must vary culturally to a large degree. Here's what I've come up with in my years at an American university:</p>\n\n<p>1) When in doubt, err on the side of restraining yourself from what you think will most likely be okay. Academics (okay, especially mathematicians) are not known for being the most touchy-feely people, and academic culture is more highly respective of personal boundaries than most other aspects of American culture, with the <em>possible</em> exception of certain religious groups. As an academic \"lifer\", I sometimes have to remind myself that people I meet in \"real life\" sometimes react negatively to a total lack of physical contact: in many situations it signals a lack of interest (and not only of romantic interest) and closeness. In academia it is really always <em>acceptable</em> to keep your hands to yourself. Always.</p>\n\n<p>2) The academic hierarchy does have a role to play. I can't think of a situation in which I would ever initiate contact with an undergraduate student. If they offer to shake my hand, I do so. [For those outside American culture: not to shake someone's hand when they offer it is, from a core cultural perspective, amazingly rude. In recent years the mysophobe fist-pounding movement has gained some momentum, but I'll bet that it still very often happens that <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howie_Mandel\">Howie Mandell</a> offends someone by refusing to shake their hand. Actually the linked to article has interesting information about this: the things that Mandell does <em>instead</em> of shaking hands would be viewed by many academics as more intimate. Also, I can't resist mentioning that I just learned that Mandell is not actually bald but shaves his head for mysophobic reasons. Wow.] I would accept a hug from an undergraduate as a parting gesture: that's about it.</p>\n\n<p>Graduate students are a little older, and I also have more prolonged contact with them (both in the sense of multiple hours at a time and multiple years in succession). This builds a little more intimacy. Like @StrongBad I regard certain climactic moments of academic accomplishment -- e.g. solving your thesis problem -- as worthy of a high-five. My thesis advisor patted me on the back as he told me that I passed my thesis defense.</p>\n\n<p>The \"don't touch\" rule is still generally in force, but I can think of some exceptions. Once I had an emotionally intense conversation with a graduate student -- a conversation entirely about her performance in the program! During the course of this conversation the student showed me more of her own thoughts and feelings (about being a graduate student...) in that one sitting than in all the time I had known her. It is not so easy to open up to an authority figure about these things, and I felt that as a human being I needed to let her know that she had gotten through to me, so I asked her if I could give her a hug, and I did.</p>\n\n<p>[In fact I got the idea from an emergency room physician who had given me a hug about six months before. She acknowledged that the hug was unusual but thought that I really needed it (she was right) and asked for permission to give it.]</p>\n\n<p>I still feel that 99% of the time \"no touching\" is the right way to go, and if you think you might be in the 1%, take a step outside yourself and make sure that someone else would see it that way. For instance it is unfortunately not unheard of that a student breaks into tears in my office [it happens every year or two; come to think of it, I am more than due for such an incident]. My standard reaction to this is to dash out to get some paper towels / tissues [and give themselves a chance to get recomposed] and come back and helpfully offer them. Hugging them because calculus is hard seems like participating in a weird power dynamic. If a student got a text that their mother died, I might offer a hug.</p>\n\n<p>Postdoctoral \"students\" feel a little different: I am still young enough (and young enough at heart) to identify more with the postdocs than the 20-year veteran faculty members. I certainly don't hesitate to socialize with postdocs: they have been some of my closest friends in the department. But for postdocs who are <em>working under me</em> I want to set clear boundaries: if I've been working with someone closely for hours a day, then an occasional arm or shoulder touch to emphasize a point feels natural enough...but I would still think about it, watch the reaction, and not automatically assume it's okay. Hugging it out is still not the order of the day.</p>\n\n<p>3) You ask whether genders matter. I think the answer is that of course they do, in complicated ways. I am conscious of the fact that while writing this answer I spent a while thinking over all the physical contact, however mild, I've had in a professional capacity...and almost every instance I could think of was with someone of the opposite gender. Hmm! In general I have an open-door policy in my office hours: literally. Even when talking to a single student about their own coursework I would like the door to be open, even at the cost of passersby hearing some moderately confidential academic information. If there is noise coming from the hall I might close the door....but I will absolutely never close the door <em>fully</em> (which makes it lock) when I am accompanied by exactly one female student. (With a male student I would still prefer not to, but I might say \"It's very noisy outside. Would it be okay if I closed the door because of that?\" With a female student: <strong>it is not okay</strong>.)</p>\n\n<p>In American culture physical contact between men is countenanced in certain very specific situations [I'm think of certain locker room antics] and is quite taboo in many others. I do hug male friends but less often: it is usually a profound gesture of intimacy. [Many years ago as a graduate student, I was at a conference and shared a room with another student. At the end of a couple of weeks he gave me a hug as we parted. Well, he was Japanese, I was American and we were in Spain: my cultural rulebook does not cover that situation, so I went with it.] Also, once I had a male student start crying in my office (about his performance in a calculus course). This was a profoundly distressing event for both of us, beyond my ability to understand or explain, and the point is that I felt utterly unequipped to do anything about it, least of all by physically comforting him: it seems very likely that would have made things worse.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28817,
"author": "Drunken Code Monkey",
"author_id": 22073,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22073",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If both parties are adults, what is acceptable is whatever the two parties feel is acceptable in a workplace. There are laws that tell you exactly what is not acceptable. I fail to see how a side hug would be harmful, unless it was forced (directly or indirectly). I don't think it's anyone's business to decide what is acceptable or not between two intelligent adults, within the confines of the law and general etiquette of course.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 102809,
"author": "gillonba",
"author_id": 13301,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13301",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are a man, I would avoid all unnecessary physical contact, any unnecessary 1-on-1 meetings behind closed doors, and all unnecessary socializing. Does this sound absurd? Maybe. I recently read a good article on a similar issue focused on the workplace, but the idea applies in academia as well:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/unfiltered-opinion/resetting-for-below-zero-tolerance-on-sexual-harassment.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/unfiltered-opinion/resetting-for-below-zero-tolerance-on-sexual-harassment.html</a></p>\n\n<p>You can't know what will offend your students, and they could make an allegation ten years down the road that might cost you your job, even if the allegation is 100% fictional. Leave no room for doubt! Assuming you are male, I would avoid taking on female students entirely when possible. This is unfortunate, but is it worth risking your career?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 109201,
"author": "Chloe01",
"author_id": 22358,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22358",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If it is a climax moment (when the research question is clearly answered, earning a scholarship, graduation, etc.), it is absolutely normal to have an additional physical contact beyond a handshake. We are humans and when emotions accelerate, the need of communication goes beyond verbal. The first time I saw my supervisor after we both read some good news about my thesis, we both held each others' arms at the same time,it was such a synchronized moment which mirrored our intellectual harmony. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 169893,
"author": "JCool",
"author_id": 97648,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/97648",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In an ideal world any amount that would be permissable between friends would be fine.</p>\n<p>Of course, I dont work in academia, but IMHO, since everyone is adults, I think you could intiate a hug.</p>\n<p>From a risk minimizing perspective, it would be unwise, but if you live your life based on those kinds of risks, life gets boring.</p>\n<p>I also think the current moral panaick is showing signs of subsiding, I think people are slowly swingingback to a presumption of innocence and considering evidence of every case, not looking thourgh a macronarraitve that presumes either the accuser is right (now) or the accusser is always wrong (ten years ago).</p>\n<p>Its tricky though, I dont think the problem of true and false accusations will ever stop until people are allowed to precommit themselves to a neutral third party arbiter that can investiagate claims credibly.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28676",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929/"
] |
28,689 |
<p>After submitting a paper, receiving comments back from reviewers and revising, the paper manuscript may be longer than the given word limit due to the additional content added (even if it was at or below the word limit in the original submission). For the sake of argument, say the revised paper is 10% or 20% longer than the word limit.</p>
<p>Shortening the paper without loosing any information may be difficult. Moving some paragraphs into the Supplements may be possible, but may make it more difficult to find relevant information or be aesthetically displeasing, such as writing "Additional discussions can be found in the Supplements." in the middle of the text.</p>
<p>Are there any guidelines on how willing journals might be to accept papers above the word limit after revisions? Is word length still strictly enforced or is this mainly checked upon initial submission? Would simply submitting and hoping for a quick response from the editor (in case this is unacceptable) be a good strategy? Or is this a bad idea since either it highly unlikely to be acceptable or has a risk of annoying the editor? Do you have any experience with this issue either from an author's or an editor's point of view?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28694,
"author": "Mad Jack",
"author_id": 11192,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11192",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>Note — my answer is from an author's point of view with experience publishing in IEEE Transactions-type journals. Your mileage may vary.</em></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Are there any guidelines on how willing journals might be to accept papers above the word limit after revisions?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The guidelines for revisions are the same as those for the initial submission; that is, there are no separate guidelines for revisions. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Is word length still strictly enforced or is this mainly checked upon initial submission?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The guidelines I've encountered on manuscript length have dealt with page count specifically, not \"word length.\" So, yes, the page count is strictly enforced on the initial submission and any subsequent revisions. In your case, there is probably a hard limit on word count for the journal you are submitting to regardless if it is a revision or not.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Would simply submitting and hoping for a quick response from the editor (in case this is unacceptable) be a good strategy? Or is this a bad idea since either it highly unlikely to be acceptable or has a risk of annoying the editor?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You can submit your over-length paper if it makes you feel better; however, the opportunity to annoy is always present when someone doesn't follow the rules. Having said that, the editors I've worked with in the past have been fairly quick to send back to me submissions that did not follow the guidelines. </p>\n\n<p>For example, one journal I submitted to had just changed it's maximum page count while a paper of mine was undergoing the last stages of an internal review. I had not checked the page limit prior to submitting as I was already familiar with what the guidelines said regarding this matter (after all, I structured my paper to be compliant with the guidelines). Sure enough, the editor sent it back within a couple of hours.</p>\n\n<p>In conclusion, there is a balancing act of sorts that goes in to revising papers such that they address referee comments sufficiently while maintaining compliance with the journal's guidelines on manuscript length, etc. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29280,
"author": "Rob Hall",
"author_id": 21985,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21985",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I can now provide an answer to my own question (I hope this is alright): I recently submitted a revised article that was about 15% longer than the word limit to a small biomedical journal. The original version of the article kept to the word limit. In the rebuttal letter, I explained that the article had become longer due to the reviewers' question. This article was accepted without further comment from the editor.</p>\n\n<p>So it seems that at least some editors do not see a problems with longer articles, as long as the original submission keeps to the limit. I suspect that the rules may vary greatly between disciplines and journals and that no journal will ever explicitly state \"we do not care about length for revised submissions\". My PI was very confident that the article would be accepted, so it may be advisable to ask an experienced colleague in the field for their opinion.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28689",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21985/"
] |
28,690 |
<p>I am a graduate student in a small department and have become the go-to person for statistics advice among the other students. I enjoy this but am wondering at what point I should expect, or request, becoming a collaborator on the project. Pointing someone towards a method, a paper or a book is definitely not worthy of any recognition, neither would a short one-off 15 minute conversation in the hallway. But what if I help them understand a difficult statistical method or fix some computer code that otherwise might have taken them days or even weeks to achieve on their own? What if our conversations helps clarify the questions they are asking either statistically and scientifically.</p>
<p>I assume that if I became a co-author, I'd continue to contribute to the project, help write the statistical methods, comment on the full paper, etc. </p>
<p>I'm wondering if I should set up ground rules that I tell people, like, "the 1st 20 minutes are free, but after that, we'll have to talk about long-term collaboration." Or I could come up with a list of services I can provide and what the expectations are. </p>
<p>This <a href="http://kbroman.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/thoughts-on-statistical-consulting/">blog post</a> comments on these issues from the perspective of a full-time statistician. This <a href="http://kbroman.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/thoughts-on-statistical-consulting/">StackExchange</a> question addresses more general issues about co-authorship.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28699,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is not an easy question, as are many other questions about coauthorship. To an extent, all answers will be opinion-based.</p>\n\n<p>I am in a similar position. I work in industry but advise many of my wife's clinical & biological psychology students on statistical matters.</p>\n\n<p>My personal cutoff point is somewhat later than yours seems to be. I'll happily invest three or four hours to help students clean up and understand their data, do some exploratory data analysis and plots and some simple models and release them into the wild with an initial R script. If that is the full extent of my engagement, I would be uncomfortable with coauthorship (but an acknowledgement would be appropriate).</p>\n\n<p>Often, things go further than this. After this initial session, I'll code up more complex analyses, more sophisticated graphics, maybe research special models or approaches and/or read up on stuff. This usually involves some work on my own, multiple email exchanges and more personal meetings. At this point, we usually agree that I get coauthorship, and as you write, this means that I'll be a lot more involved in the rest of the manuscript's lifecycle.</p>\n\n<p>I'll usually not write up the statistical methods section as you appear to do. My take is that the first author should have full ownership of the manuscript and should essentially understand everything in sufficient depth to describe even the statistics himself. After all, he will be the one to present it at conferences and/or thesis defenses. (It helps that psychologists get a lot of statistical training.) Of course, I'll go over and correct the methods sections, and I happily rarely find that the student fundamentally misunderstood the statistics.</p>\n\n<p>If things have progressed far enough for me to be a coauthor, I'll usually be quite involved with the rest of the manuscript, too. I am rather anal-retentive and will happily nitpick the entire structure of the paper, the internal logic, grammer and punctuation. I don't know whether nitpickery is more generally a specific skill of statisticians, though... Of course, in maybe half of all submissions, reviewers ask about the statistics, and I often have to revisit the statistical analysis and/or at least its description.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Coauthorships arrived at in this way are actually pretty low-effort for me. Other people on the author list have spent weeks interviewing people in African refugee camps, juggling noxious chemicals in a lab and/or digging through prior publications. I, on the other hand, spend maybe one full work week altogether (sometimes more), sitting in a comfortable chair at my computer with a cup of coffee within reach. It's comparisons like these, and I'd guess that most statistical engagements are similar, that make me uncomfortable starting to discuss coauthorship after only one hour.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Laying down ground rules early on, as you suggest, is an excellent idea. Part of these should be how much time you can afford before thinking about coauthorship, whether this is 20 minutes or four hours.</p>\n\n<p>One other thing, which the blog post you link to discusses, is that you as the statistician will need to understand the scientific context, so the researcher will have to spend some time explaining the situation to you. This time will need to come out of the initial \"budget\", since time does not grow on trees. Your client will usually try to handwave this away and insist that he only has \"a little statistical question\". This will usually not make much sense. If a client <em>insists</em>, you can always point him to <a href=\"https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions\">CrossValidated</a> for his \"little question\". If he gets a good answer there, great.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 112612,
"author": "mflo-ByeSE",
"author_id": 73083,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73083",
"pm_score": 3,
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"text": "<p>I've recently dealt with this, and agree that this is largely subjective. Your proposal, to implement clear rules at the start, is highly recommended. I tend to do an \"initial consultation\" for free: an hour where we just sit and have coffee. If I'm interested, and have time, I'll suggest that I'd love to participate, but have to make sure that participation is respectful to myself and my other responsibilities. For example (as a professor), I'll fall back on something like \"I'd love to contribute, but I need to justify the time expenditure to my department chair/dean/tenure committee/spouse/dog. Would you be comfortable treating my help as a collaboration that leads to authorship?\" I tend to expound on a \"minimum\" contribution needed for that, write an e-mail summing up our conversation, and go from there.</p>\n\n<p>One other thing to consider in these conversations are standards of ethics put forth by different professional organizations. I often work with psychologists, so I tend to lean on <a href=\"http://www.apa.org/research/responsible/publication/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">the APA standards</a> (which I'll base the rest of my response on). A quote from the main page:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Authorship credit should reflect the individual's contribution to the study. An author is considered anyone involved with initial research design, data collection and analysis, manuscript drafting, and final approval.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>On the website, this is directly contrasted with: funding, mentorship, and not participating in the actual publication. The last one is tricky, and how I interpret it is: if you aren't using analysis that I ran/interpreted, my statistical tables, any graphics I made, or any of my writing (obviously), then I'm not contributing. From my perspective, though, if you use even one of those things in the manuscript/presentation, I have contributed to the manuscript in a tangible way, and should be included. I feel obligated to mention (as this has happened) that, from my perspective, if you take my code and change the color of the plot and include it, you're still presenting a product of someone else (and need to provide credit for that).</p>\n\n<p>I believe the need to provide credit is the primary consideration. If you have a published software, you shouldn't be given authorship as credit for its use (as a citation to the software is sufficient). If you have a paper on a unique method, you shouldn't be given authorship as credit for its use. Now, if you <em>designed</em> a program or statistic, you probably should be given authorship, as there isn't another appropriate way to provide credit (an acknowledgement doesn't count for that, in my opinion).</p>\n\n<p>Speaking of that, I believe acknowledgements should come in for a small contribution that doesn't result in authorship (maybe data cleaning, data collection, etc). Notice that these have no writing and no tangibles of this will be used directly in the manuscript. If someone does something \"monotonous\" and writes, though (say, a lit review), they should <em>absolutely</em> be included as an author. </p>\n\n<p>All said and done, having the conversation up front should indicate the type of compensation you get (and if you don't feel comfortable building a custom database from scratch for an acknowledgement, it is better to know that up front). Establishing a minimum, tangible contribution for that compensation establishes clarity for all researchers.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 113924,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I went and asked this question on the American Statistical Association's mailing list. If you have a login to the ASA's website, <a href=\"https://tinyurl.com/yayw5s43\" rel=\"noreferrer\">you can view the thread here</a>. I'll paste the answers in here without names (and cleaning up a bit):</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Unless the consulting was very minor (in 10 minutes), the statistical consultant should in my opinion be one of the coauthors. It is a matter of ethics and not a issue of being paid as a consultant. When I do the modeling and the analysis and the interpretation, I expect to be co-author. Sometimes I am the lead author. It seems to be a fight with the claim that \"it is your job to do the consulting\". I simply refuse such attitudes from faculty or clients. The way I see it is that without our services, there would not exist a paper anyways. Therefore, we must be co-authors.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<hr>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I usually leave that decision up to the research leader and have fared well over the years. But then again, I consult in the area of agriculture, food, and natural resources, where the competition for attention is not quite as cut throat.</p>\n \n <p>Personally, my benchmark is based on the answer to the question ' would this publication have seen the light of day without my involvement'? If the answer is no, then I should be a coauthor. If the answer is maybe or yes, then co-authorship is not really warranted.</p>\n \n <p>An example, recently I spent quite a bit of time helping an author revise a manuscript that had been rejected, only to have the 'statistical expert' of the journal assume the 'my way or the highway' attitude. I suggested that the author not fight the 'expert' and get the manuscript published. The author had included me as a coauthor but I asked that my name be removed because of my personal criterion.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<hr>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I generally agree with everyone so far but would like to add two little bits, that are apropos of co-authoring in general.</p>\n \n <p>The initial question is very easy to answer — if you made a contribution you should be included as a co-author.</p>\n \n <p>The next question is where on the author list should your name appear.\n When I was young I thought it should be based on the size of the contribution — I once argued with a colleague about who should be first.\n He felt that he should be since he provided the data.\n I claimed that the artistry was mine, and had he ever seen a painting signed Sherman Williams & Pablo Picasso?\n He prevailed.</p>\n \n <p>As I got older I used a more Marxian approach - from each according to their ability, to each according to their need.\n What this meant was that I tended to put student or more junior authors first and put myself at the end.\n I have never regretted this choice.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<hr>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>There is, I think, no algorithmic answer to this question. The general principle is clear enough, anyone who has made an important intellectual contribution to the work should be listed as co-author. Ghost authorship is, in principle, as problematic as honorary authorship. The listed authors get artificially high credit if there are ghost authors. But then, one also has a duty to take part in the whole process with the manuscript. What constitutes an important intellectual contribution depends on context, the same contribution may be sufficient in a short article and too small in a larger and more complex work, usually the first author and/or the project supervisor should make that judgement.</p>\n \n <p>There are also cases where an author has made an important contribution, but cannot agree with the conclusion and/or important methodological decisions. Then one cannot be listed as author. For instance, I have on some occasions made it clear that I could not be listed as author if the article included procedures such as stepwise regression, last observation carried forward or repeated measures anova.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<hr>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Very interesting thread! I proposed a roundtable lunch on this topic for JSM Vancouver but it didn't enroll enough to take place. I'm glad to know that I was not wrong that there was some interest!</p>\n \n <p>My own idea, which I got from several sources is:</p>\n \n <ul>\n <li>I'm happy to meet for an hour with any colleague who has a stat question, just to be a good colleague and as a community service.</li>\n <li>If we meet a second time, I would like some acknowledgment ... a mention in a footnote, or a note to the Dean, or some other professional marker.</li>\n <li>Before we meet a third time, I ask that to continue I would like to be a co-author because it's rarely exactly three times ... the count seems to go once, twice, many times. I am also then willing to work on the project in ways other than just meetings with the primary authors.</li>\n </ul>\n</blockquote>\n\n<hr>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If I barely know the client and have to assume that his understanding of the non-statistical subject matter is correct, I often prefer an acknowledgement to co-authorship. The same applies if I am presented with an experiment that was already run and don't want people to blame the design of the experiment on me.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>There was also a recommendation of <a href=\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/%28SICI%291097-0258%2819981030%2917%3A20%3C2289%3A%3AAID-SIM931%3E3.0.CO%3B2-L\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Parker & Berman, \"Criteria for authorship for statisticians in medical papers\", <em>Statistics in Medicine</em>, 1998, 17, 2289-2299</a>, which I don't have access to at the moment.</p>\n\n<p>In addition, many societies and professional bodies have general guidelines or criteria for authorship, although these may not discuss the role of statisticians explicitly. For instance, <a href=\"http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">those of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors</a> were recommended twice (and do not discuss statisticians).</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>EDIT 2018-08-08: there were no more new replies to that ASA mailing list thread.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 115945,
"author": "user97494",
"author_id": 97494,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/97494",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm struggling with this dilemma now. The thing is, yes, we do need a stats person to properly analyze our data. But we are paying a fee for the service and drawing our own conclusions and discussion from the crunched numbers. I understand the position that their service is required for analysis, but at the same time I am paying them for a service, the same as I pay for a core facility to run an ELISPOT plate through a machine that spits out numbers. No one would list the ELISPOT machine as an author even though the publication wouldn't be possible without it spitting out its numbers. In the end neither the stats person nor the machine contributed to the design of the experiment or the conclusions drawn from the numbers that they gave us AND they were paid for their number crunching time. On the other hand, had the stats person agreed to a collaboration where they were participating in the discussions of the meaning of the data and not charging me a timed fee for running our data through their software, then that is an easier definite \"yes\" they should be an author. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 148235,
"author": "user123263",
"author_id": 123263,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/123263",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It seems that the financial aspect changes the dynamic from one of collaborating peers who would both be receiving authorship credit as the primary reward for investments in the work. Justice is the equitable distribution of benefits and burdens. It would not be an equitable distribution of benefits and burdens for a PI, who has invested years in a project and then pays someone to run an analysis that can be done in a day or two, to also share equitably in authorship credit. That seems to be an inequitable distribution of benefits and burdens to me. An acknowledgement is appropriate, and any significant unpaid contributors should certainly be included as authors; however, paid, short-term consultants should be mentioned in the acknowledgement as authorship would effectively be double-dipping on the benefits side of the equation.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28690",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20683/"
] |
28,693 |
<p>What are the possible benefits or consequences of submitting my dissertation to ProQuest?</p>
<p>My university recommends submitting dissertations to <a href="http://www.proquest.com/" rel="nofollow">ProQuest</a>. I am wondering about the practices and academic reputation of this company, and whether or not it is in my best interests to follow the recommendation of my institution.</p>
<p>Does ProQuest support academic work? Do they charge exorbitant fees to access their content?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28695,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think Proquest is really a publisher so much as just a repository. They don't make any editorial choices about the material they host. </p>\n\n<p>I don't have any information about their financials, but accessing dissertations through them is moderately difficult and expensive. (I think getting a copy of a thesis from them is on the order of US$50.) I think of them as the dissertation archive of last resort - I would only order from them after exhausting all other options (author's website, university's library, etc).</p>\n\n<p>My feeling is that you might as well submit your thesis to them, since it is good to know that future researchers looking for your thesis would always have Proquest as a fallback option. However, you should make an effort to make your thesis available through more convenient (and free) means as well. Post it on your professional web page. If your field uses arXiv or a similar open access repository, upload it there as well. (Since you will presumably be publishing papers and/or books based on your thesis, check first that the relevant publishers are okay with having your thesis available for free online. Probably the major journals/publishers in your field will have similar policies.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28696,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Proquest is not a traditional publisher. I would compare them more to a vanity press than a predatory journal, but since they do not do any binding or even ISBN registering, it is not even fair to call them a vanity press.</p>\n\n<p>While it is likely they make large profits, although I don't know, I would say they are fully reputable. Their <a href=\"http://www.proquest.com/products-services/dissertations/submitting-dissertation-proquest.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">copyright transfer</a> is very permissive</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Authors enter into a non-exclusive publishing agreement with ProQuest, where the author keeps the copyright in their graduate work. Authors are paid a 10% royalty for sales in all formats.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28712,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The role of ProQuest for dissertations is not a \"publisher\". Even if you \"publish\" your dissertation with them, it is still considered \"unpublished\" work in many fields. And you can go on to publish exactly the same content in other forms, e.g. as a book or divided into papers. In this sense, they are like a preprint server. </p>\n\n<p>For dissertations, ProQuest is a <em>repository</em>. The main service they provide is giving access to dissertations that would otherwise be very difficult to locate. Traditionally, they did this by keeping huge archives of microfilm; now I suspect it is more digital. </p>\n\n<p>In my experience, there are only two long-term archive systems commonly used for unpublished theses in the U.S.:</p>\n\n<p>1) The institution itself usually keeps a copy in the library, perhaps on microfilm. More recently, institutions have begun moving to an electronic model, often called \"ETD\".</p>\n\n<p>2) ProQuest, which has gone through many name changes but was founded in 1938.</p>\n\n<p>Personal webpages are great, but they are not really a long-term solution: who can guarantee an academic's work will be available on a personal web page after they retire? A few fields have sites such as arxiv.org which have a potential to be long-term repositories. But otherwise the options above are about it. </p>\n\n<p>So, why send your thesis to ProQuest? It's a personal choice. But doing so does help ensure that the thesis will be available if someone wants to read it in 50 years' time, when you plan to be retired on a tropical island without email. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28693",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
28,705 |
<p>If a company was building a product that uses methods designed and outlined in a published research paper, should credit be given? If crediting them would be a bad business decision, is it OK not to?</p>
<p>I am building a product that builds on research published by a university research group. The research outlines a quicker, cheaper and more efficient method of doing something that usually can cost much more. So it is basically just a small part of my overall project, although it allows me to cut costs drastically. The method is not patented, and the group most likely does not plan on getting a patent as they make it clear that their research is in no way related to any company or products. </p>
<p>I do believe in giving credit where due, but publicly disclosing the research method that is allowing me to cut costs and release an existing product a lot cheaper than competitors would be shooting myself in the foot. </p>
<p>My original idea was to make the hardware opensource, and then just sell prebuilt versions for a good price, although after seeing what is going on in the 3D printing industry - like MakerBot filing patents on their 3D printer and scanning - I am not sure if it is a good idea. </p>
<p>So without opensourcing the hardware, it puts me in a difficult situation. I would like to credit the researchers, but doing so would be a bad business decision. Would it be considered acceptable practice to use their method without crediting them?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28913,
"author": "albert",
"author_id": 12412,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12412",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>absolutely:<br>\nso your coworkers can recreate your work...<br>\nmore importantly: because its the right thing to do...<br>\nproprietary typically never opens the hood, so don't let \"bad for business\" ward you off...<br>\non that note: if you are worried about shooting yourself in the foot, etc., how do you think the authors of the work that you built yours on feel?<br>\nthere are trade secrets, and there's being honest and open: make a judgement call where to stop revealing facts, but don't withhold information because of the unwarranted fear that it'll be bad for business......openness is good for business. and the betterment of all</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28914,
"author": "Alecos Papadopoulos",
"author_id": 8575,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8575",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since business is on your mind, before ethics, you should first check whether there are any legal restrictions on the use of the published research, or obligations arising from such use, issues that may depend on the applicable laws of some specific country. For example, it may be the case that you may not need consent to use the research results, since they have been openly published, but you may have some financial obligations if you are to use it for profit (and not necessarily towards only the research team), patent or no patent. So make certain where you stand.</p>\n\n<p>As for ethics: it is rare for businesses to credit researchers. Instead they usually contract them either for royalties or to secure further development, if there is such potential, and not leave it to fall into the hands of competitors. \"Credit due\" may be one of the currencies in academia, but \"money\" is the currency that businesses understand. </p>\n\n<p>By contacting and maybe contracting the research team (<em>after</em> doing your legal due diligence first), you may even be able to secure such exclusive use of their results, or some even more efficient version of them. Again, this will depend on the legal framework applicable.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28705",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21993/"
] |
28,710 |
<p>I graduated in 2007 with a mathematics degree and have since had multiple postdocs at R1 universities. While I have definitely enjoyed my experiences as a researcher, I am very interested in pursuing a career teaching at a small liberal arts institution.</p>
<p>So, my question is how to present my research-heavy resume in a way that is palatable to a college which may be wary of my credentials? Is it advisable to drop "invited talks/conferences" from my CV? Do I select only my favorite publications to include?</p>
<p>Also, I understand that it is inappropriate to give an overly detailed research statement. However, as a representation theorist, I think it is to my advantage that my research draws on a lot of different fields. Is it better to explain the broader relevance of my research, or do I ignore that in favor of what I can teach undergraduates to program on a computer? Does it make sense to write separate statements?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28740,
"author": "Teusz",
"author_id": 19581,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19581",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I wouldn't advocate so much for the inclusion of your \"favourite\" articles -- but those that are most relevant to the position to which you are applying. Same for invited talks -- it'd be crazy to delete all of them. Suggestion: \"Publications (selected)\" (perhaps indicate h-index here, too); \"Invited conferences (selected)\". </p>\n\n<p>If the reviewer is interested in your academic output, s/he can just check google scholar for the more detailed overview anyway.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28752,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I wouldn't drop anything from your CV. I might shift things around so that the \"List of Courses Taught\" (or that you could teach) is on page 1 or 2. Teachings awards and anything similar also up front.</p>\n\n<p>The cover letter is key. Your research accomplishments should be one paragraph while discussion of your love of math, the fantastic students you interacted with at one of your postdocs, the courses you would like to teach at X, and your teaching style should be at least 2-3 paragraphs. One thing that I did when I was applying to SLACs was to have a list of my courses in my cover letter followed by a very small print (all course syllabi listed here are available on my website: www.example.com). </p>\n\n<p>And of course you should also include a separate teaching statement if they require one -- or even hint of wanting one.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28710",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11258/"
] |
28,713 |
<p>Universities normally (as far as I know) do not limit the number of PhD students a research-active professor can have as long as he secure the funding for his PhD students. For example, if a professor have enough research fund can get 10 PhD students (instead of research associates) and pay them directly. Then, they pay their tution fees, and university/department can increase its capacty for PhD enrolment.</p>
<p>In fact, the university/department can increase its capacity as long as they are paying students, but I don't understand how this scheme works when PhD study is free (in some European countries).</p>
<p>In the latter case, the professor provide research funding for the PhD projects and their wages, but the university should invest for courseworks (pay more teachers for these unexpected students).</p>
<p><em>What limits the number of PhD students in universities without PhD tution fee?</em></p>
<p><em>And when there is normal tution fee, isn't there any limitation for the number of PhD students as long as there are good candidates?</em></p>
<p><strong>EXAMPLE:</strong> A department arranges the admission of 10 PhD students (assigned appropriate professor for the courses). Now, a professor fund 10 more PhD students for himself. <em>Now, the department head should plan new classes/courses (this needs budget). He may need more resources, which is normally approved by the Dean.</em></p>
<p>I understand that more PhD students fuels the engines of an academic unit, but the department head is not bothered with overload of PhD coursework. In other words, <em>does the department head encourage professor to get more funded PhD students, and saying "don't worry, I will take care of coursework"?</em></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28721,
"author": "Stephen Tierney",
"author_id": 4360,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4360",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>What limits the number of PhD students in universities without PhD tution fee?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I'm not sure countries exist without a PhD tuition fee. Rather there is a scholarship system in place to cover the cost of tuition. The limiting factor here is the number of scholarships allocated by the government. So the answer is the government.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>And when there is normal tution fee, isn't there any limitation for the number of PhD students as long as there are good candidates?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This would be dependant upon the institution. There may be a hard limit imposed by the faculty. Otherwise there is a soft limit in the number of students one professor can reasonably manage. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28741,
"author": "Jukka Suomela",
"author_id": 351,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/351",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is no hard limit. The soft limits are what you would expect: availability of funding, availability of excellent students who are interested in doing a PhD with you, how much time it takes to supervise a PhD student, etc.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>The question seems to be based on the premise that more PhD students is somehow \"bad\" for the university in a system without tuition fees. However, this is not the case. (In this answer I will try to explain the system that we have here in Finland, but I do not think the situation is that different e.g. in other Scandinavian countries.)</p>\n\n<p>Let us compare two cases:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>A professor gets a small research grant and hires 1 PhD student.</li>\n<li>A professor gets a large research grant and hires 10 PhD students.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Let us assume that all else is equal, these are excellent students, all of them finish their PhDs on time, each of them produces the same amount of high-quality research, and in both cases the professors still have enough time for their other duties (teaching, administration, etc.).</p>\n\n<p>Now case 2 is actually fairly attractive for the university and for the department. There are two main reasons:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>The basic funding of the university depends on how well the university does. This is measured with numerous indicators, but producing lots of PhD, producing lots of excellent research, and attracting large research grants are among the important indicators. Hence in the long run, the university will get more funding, and the university will also reward the department.</p></li>\n<li><p>Research grants do not cover just the salary of the PhD student. All the money goes through the university budget, and the university always takes part of it for all kinds of \"overheads\", which cover in part the costs of running the university (facilities, administration, IT, libraries, etc.).</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Furthermore, PhD students will also serve as teaching assistants (e.g., 5–10 % of their time is allocated for teaching activities), so a fraction of the grant also goes to support the teaching activities of the university.</p>\n\n<p>(That said, there are some corner cases that may be a bit more difficult. If the students are not hired by the professor but they fund their own studies with e.g. personal research grants, then it is not as clear that having lots of such PhD students is a win-win for everyone. The universities do not get their \"overhead\" share from the grants, yet the students would expect the universities to provide office space for them.)</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28713",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13854/"
] |
28,715 |
<p>When a department enrolls x number of students based on the capacity of the department and its professors, the ideal desire is fair distribution of PhD students among faculty members. However, students are attracted to attractive professors (by different factors such as fame, personality, etc), and there should be less or no request for some faculty members. </p>
<p>Assuming a student and advisor mutually agree that they would like to work together, but the department would rather have the student work with another faculty member who is short on PhD students. Can the department limit the number of students that may work with each faculty member, so that new PhD students will be distributed among faculty?</p>
<p>In a hypothetical situation, there are 10 PhD students, and 10 faculty members. Can the department set the limit of one PhD student per faculty to ideally distribute the students among faculty members? </p>
<p><em>Note:</em> This question is not about the cases in which a candidate specifically apply for working under supervision of a specific professor (due to the admission system or funding source).</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28722,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Questions like this show the importance of understanding the perspective of faculty members. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Can</strong> a department tell a student and advisor not to work together? Who knows. It will come down to the department. </p>\n\n<p>But it is much more likely the other faculty would try (in private) to convince a \"greedy\" faculty member not to accept so many students. Faculty have a longer perspective than students - students graduate in a few years, but tenured faculty usually stay at their institution far longer, with the same colleagues. So there is usually more risk for a faculty member who harms their relationship with their colleagues, compared to just turning down possible students. There will always be new PhD students next year... At the same time, if a faculty member <em>really</em> wants to work with a particular student, no other faculty member is likely to want to \"steal\" the student. </p>\n\n<p>What about the hypothetical situation from the question? </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>It would be extremely unusual for a department with 10 PhD students and 10 faculty to tell the 10 faculty that they each have to find one student, and none of them can take 2 students. </p></li>\n<li><p>It would also be unusual for one faculty member of the 10 to work with all 10 students. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>What happens in most cases is that the students naturally gravitate towards faculty they like, and faculty who don't feel they have enough students will make more effort to be friendly and reach out to possible students. If a faculty member doesn't want to work with a student, or a student doesn't want to work with a faculty member, they don't work together. In the end, the students all find mentors, although it may take some students more than one attempt. </p>\n\n<p>The situation is different, of course, when students are required to select an advisor while applying to the university, because then there is no doubt who each student will work with. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28788,
"author": "sr3u",
"author_id": 6448,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6448",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This unfortunately happens in many institutions, and not just to distribute students evenly among faculty (sometimes it may be to distribute students evenly among areas covered by the department, or to get enough students to run research projects/labs that are cash cows for the department). I have known numerous cases of students leaving without a PhD because they could not work with the advisors they were assigned.</p>\n\n<p>One issue is funding: a professor with funding will automatically get a student if that funding is the (only) source of support for that student. However, office politics and biases/preconceptions on the part of grad program administrators, department heads, or deans does play a part. Another issue is that students' interests do evolve over time, but not every department/institution respects this. Sometimes the policy is that a student is paired with an advisor early on (before the student is mature enough), with no scope for change later.</p>\n\n<p>In general, it is good to ask of an institution or department if it has a formal and well-defined procedure for a change of advisor. If not, the chances are that students are locked-in, probably from the beginning, possibly without their own wishes being considered.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28803,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My graduate department had exactly such a policy. In part, this was because they had a few \"really big names\" who would be able to grab a number of students each year. The basic rule was that no advisor could take more than two sole-advised students in a given year.</p>\n\n<p>There were some exceptions made to this rule. First, new faculty advisors could get three students, and co-advised students were exempted. From the students' perspective, faculty members could not formally commit to specific students. Instead, students submitted ranked lists of projects and advisors submitted ranked preferences of students. The department then tried to match people and projects within the above constraints. </p>\n\n<p>This seemed to work well enough, as I never heard of anyone who got less than their second-ranked project. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28715",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13854/"
] |
28,717 |
<p>Can one call oneself a PhD ABD (All But Dissertation) after completing all of the course work and working on the dissertation?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28720,
"author": "Noah Snyder",
"author_id": 25,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At many schools there's an official step of \"advancing to candidacy\" or something similar which is the last official hurdle before the dissertation. Although ABD is an informal term, I would expect somone who described themself as ABD to have passed that step.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28727,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some people think it's ok to call yourself PhD ABD when in the Canadian or US system, you pass the qualifying exams and coursework, but haven't yet, or fail to ever, deliver the thesis.</p>\n\n<p><strong>But simply do not call yourself PhD ABD.</strong></p>\n\n<p>It's not attractive to advertise failure.</p>\n\n<p>You're either a PhD candidate, or you're a PhD, or there's nothing to say on the subject (bar a line on the CV filling in the black hole on your timeline with discreet mention of an aborted doctorate). PhD ABD is a ludicrous pseudo-title.</p>\n\n<p>A PhD that's All But Dissertation is like an espresso that is All But Coffee. It's hot water with a bit of sugar, thus defeating the entire purpose of the exercise.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28791,
"author": "Ian",
"author_id": 9902,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9902",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If I saw this, I would read it as someone that had passed a PhD in a subject of ABD then after I found out; discount them for any jobs for misleading me.</p>\n\n<p>“PhD candidate with publications” or “Withdraw from PhD but published” would be more meaningful.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 40904,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>ABD is not an actual title but rather just a little construction people use to describe a state that many graduate students find themselves in. I think that you can honestly call yourself ABD if you have completed <em>all</em> of the requirements of your PhD with the exception of an approved dissertation and/or dissertation defense.</p>\n\n<p>Here is a very incomplete lists requirements that PhD programs might include and which an ABD candidate would be assumed to have finished:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Successfully completing required course work and/or resident semesters/quarters</li>\n<li>Passing general examinations and/or qualifying examinations</li>\n<li>Fulfilling language and/or fieldwork requirements</li>\n<li>Having written and/or defended a dissertation prospectus or proposal</li>\n<li>Maintained a grade point average over some threshold.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Of course, there are many other requirements like this that programs require and that an ABD student would have to have fulfilled. If you have done all of them, except the dissertation, you can call yourself ABD. If you failed to complete any of the non-dissertation requirements, you are not yet ABD.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52246,
"author": "Chris",
"author_id": 39095,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/39095",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For academic jobs it's important on your application to indicate that you are post-comps or \"ABD\". Many institutions will not consider your application without the accompanying ABD if you are still working towards completing the PhD (usually in the Spring following your Fall applications).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 62596,
"author": "JohnnyK",
"author_id": 48548,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/48548",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In Germany and Belgium they use the (informal) title Doctorandus (abbreviated Drs.) which means something like \"He who will become Doctor\". In Belgium it means PhD candidate and in Germany it means the dissertation has been approved but the candidate needs to defend it in public (generally a formality). \nIn the Netherlands they used to give the official title Drs. as an equivalent to a Master degree. \nIn Italy, anyone with a university degree is Dottore (which means \"Doctor\" according to the dictionary but is not at all that level). </p>\n\n<p>There are large differences in what a school diploma means. I have read (American but also some Southern European) PhD dissertations that would not be good enough for a Master. An acceptable dissertation is either a book that is published by a respectable publisher or a collection of 4-6 articles accepted by peer reviewed journals (at least one article in a journal with a high impact factor). ABD is ridiculous, to me it means that you did not finish it and you are not about to.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 84974,
"author": "Jacqueline Butler",
"author_id": 69281,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/69281",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have struggled tremendously over the use of the term ABD. Unfortunately, due to illness and institutional failure to process IRB application appropriately, I aged out of the program. However, course works and comps were completed on first round and when I look at the money I spent I feel that I am entitled to something. Therefore, I use the term ABD with pride instead of shame and have continued my PHD studies at another institution. So, if you have eaten up your student loans pursuing a PHD that you aged out of and passed your comps regardless of what others say it is time that we stand with our PHD ABD with pride because we have paid for it. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 98882,
"author": "user82871",
"author_id": 82871,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/82871",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the USA, PhD ABD is ludicrous only to the arrogant academic. PhD ABD gives very important information to non-academic employers. Namely, it signals rigorous training in the production of knowledge process, as attested by passing qualifying exams necessary for Candidacy. By definition Candidacy attests one has the tools to endeavor in that process; i.e., dissertation project. \nA Master's degrees' objective is different: it is training in specialized analysis. A distinction in title to reflect the distinction in training <em>is</em> therefore appropriate. </p>\n\n<p>PhD ABD also signals that one has chosen to work in the productive sector v. in Academia. <em>Plenty</em> of reasons to make that choice! </p>\n\n<p>Whether someone left the PhD program due to their inability to complete the dissertation/coursework successfully or their free choice is very easy to tease out (e.g., in an interview process, via transcripts showing performance, etc.). </p>\n\n<p>So to the orthodox I say: be more open-minded. Show nuanced discernment. Note that your fundamentalism is against Academia's core mission!</p>\n\n<p>In the end, a PhD ABD who knew he/she was in the wrong place and cut their losses is much better off (economically, and arguably socially and psychologically) than a 7-year frustrated post-doc that can sign PhD after their name! Due to structural problems in higher-ed that is where most PhDs land. The people vilifying the PhD ABD in pejorative terms here and elsewhere sound like the latter trying to prove that although they are unhappy, at least \"they did not fail\" like the PhD ABD.</p>\n\n<p>As a PhD ABD I can attest that could not be further than the truth! I am much happier with my lot! One, by the way, which most people call remarkably successful!</p>\n\n<p>Yours truly,\nM.M., PhD ABD</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28717",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22005/"
] |
28,718 |
<p>The success of a research-active professor is related to his successful proposals for securing research funds. For this purpose, he should spend something like half of his time for writing proposals, but still he misses several possible calls for proposals due to the lack of time while the current proposals are not idea.</p>
<p>To resolve this problem, many people have this idea to hire a grant writer to perfectly and quickly write/re-write proposals. I personally heard this from many junior and senior professors, but in practice I have not seen any example.</p>
<p><em>This plan seems reasonable (the salary of a grant writer should be less than a postdoc), <strong>but why it is not common?</em></strong></p>
<p>Researchers pay much more money to patent attorneys to have legally ideal text, then, why not investing on the text of proposals, which can directly enhance the chance of winning?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28723,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Most research staff and many students are paid by grants, but most grant terms do not allow for you to pay for administrative staff or proposal writing time. So the funding has to come from the universities or departments. Most of them don't have the funds to hire a grant writer, though some do. I think most departments would rather have half the funding for another professor than a grant writer. I also think your estimate of the salary of a good grant writer in the sciences is off by large margin. The good ones, employed by institutes with large enough institutional budgets make as much as full-time researchers or professors.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28742,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To expand a bit on my comment:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>In central europe, proposal writing is one of the core jobs of <strong>postdocs</strong>. In that sense, we do have \"professional grant writers\". Postdocs write proposals sometimes in their own name, but more often they actually do it in the name of their professor, so they actually come pretty close to what you envision above.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>That being said, I have never heard somebody talk in honesty about hiring an actual, dedicated full-time non-scientific employee for writing down grant proposals in the name of the professor. I would see the following problems with this model:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Funding.</strong> How do you pay for this guy? The university will likely not be overly happy if you hire somebody from their budget to basically do your job, and funding agencies certainly don't cover these posts.</li>\n<li><strong>Qualifications.</strong> Writing grant proposals is <em>damn hard</em>. Even assuming that all the ideas come from the professor, you still need to be an experienced writer. You need to know the content field to write down things technically correctly. You need to stay up to date with funding agency policies and politics. You need to have connections in the field. And asking for all of that for, as you say, a salary less than a postdoc seems very ambitious, especially if combined with the next point.</li>\n<li><strong>Perspectives.</strong> What is the career outlook of a professional grant writer? What can you offer her/him in compensation for a relatively meager salary? This is a general problem with these kinds of \"non-academic\" positions at universities - there is usually no career track at all for such people.</li>\n<li><strong>Incentives.</strong> Junior professors or postdocs are <em>very</em> motivated to write successful grant proposals, as quite literally their own professional well-being depends on them. This would be much less, or at least much less directly, the case for a professional grant writer. If you disconnect the process of writing the proposal from actually benefitting from an accepted proposal, I would assume the quality of the proposals to drop significantly. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>That being said, none of these problems are unsolvable. Indeed, the big industrial players in the european funding circuit (FP7, now H2020) actually employ staff that are basically full-time proposal writers, similar to patent lawyers. However, those people are certainly not cheap clerks.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28766,
"author": "bobthejoe",
"author_id": 319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/319",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I know of a few instances of people who have been hired to handle and facilitate the grant writing process but they are hired with the title and salary of postdocs. Despite their postdoctural role, they have very few laboratory roles but serve as super lab managers who handle the finances and long-term strategy of the lab. As mentioned, the sources of funding to pay for these non-laboratory staff are limited but for larger and wealthy labs, they can typically siphon enough funds to pay for these positions.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28718",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13854/"
] |
28,726 |
<p>I recently submitted an abstract to a talk as a contributed paper. I was informed, through email, that the paper was scheduled to be presented <em>in person</em> on XXX date. The email also said that I could look for my name on a link mentioned in the email; going to the link, I found that my name was not on the list at all. I checked it multiple times, but my name was simply not there.</p>
<p>I found that the time at which I was assigned to give my presentation was on the list, but with someone else's name and paper title. I assumed that this was a timing and/or update problem, and left it at that for some time. However, this was not resolved even after two days. Thus I sent an email regarding this situation to the email address that was in the email, saying that if I had any questions I could email that address. I still have not received any email, and the conference/talk is coming up in about a month. This is the very first presentation that I will be giving, and I am not sure what to do in this situation. My questions are as follows:</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li><p>Did I deal with this situation correctly, sending an email to the "query'' email address?</p></li>
<li><p>What must I do if I do not receive an email in a few days?</p></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p><hr>
<strong>P.S.</strong> As it was inquired in the question, the conference that I submitted this to is the <a href="http://www.ams.org/meetings/sectional/2214_program.html" rel="nofollow">AMS Fall Sectional Meeting in San Francisco</a>.
<hr>
<strong>Edit:</strong> It looks like the situation has been fixed and my name is now on the list. Thank you to all who offered me advice!</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28734,
"author": "Orion",
"author_id": 19732,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19732",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I do not think this usual. How big is the conference? If it is small, it is possible that the organizers made a mistake without realizing it. Inquiring over the email was absolutely the right thing to do. I would follow up a week from your original inquiry if you don't hear back from them sooner.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28735,
"author": "WojciechF",
"author_id": 21938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21938",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should definitely call the Conference organizing committee three days after sending an e-mail. They have to clarify this situation. </p>\n\n<p>Be sure to have the e-mail in front of you when calling. </p>\n\n<p>Your message could be lost in tons of those other complain emails from other members. </p>\n\n<p>I have organized a few congresses myself and this is definitely a technical problem that the organizer has to address. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28737,
"author": "enthu",
"author_id": 15723,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15723",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>Don't run! Walk!</h2>\n\n<p>Keep in mind that organizing conferences usually involves a huge amount of work including organizing the received abstracts and papers, managing their reviewers, managing the conference place and preparing packages, etc. They have to solve your problem but don't expect them to answer you instantly, they may have other emails to answer. Be patient for another two or three days (if this does not disturb your deadlines and schedules).</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Did I deal with this situation correctly, sending an email to the\n \"query'' email address?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, sending the email was your only way to contact the conference. Could you travel to the city of the conference sooner to ask your question? No! </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>What must I do if I do not receive an email in a few days?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I suggest you to do these things;</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Send them another email and ask your questions again;</li>\n<li>Search the website of the conference to see if there is another email address provided in the webpages and forward your email to them too;</li>\n<li>If they have any fax number, send them a fax and ask your problem;</li>\n<li>If there is a phone number provided, call that number too.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>However, I usually do not trust a conference which does not answers it's emails and do not care about their participant's problems. At least, it's your right to contact them and consult them such problems. </p>\n\n<p>Once it happened to me that I had some questions about the conference deadlines and schedule and I sent an email to the conference's contact person's email address; but they did not answer my email. They did not even answered my phone calls or another emails too (even after one or two months).</p>\n\n<p>I did not send them my full paper and did not continue my application process for that conference. I simply brought out my paper from that conference. After that, I learn a very good lesson from this: I never send my papers to the conferences which are not well-known in my field.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28777,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Now that you've identified the conference as the AMS Western Section meeting in San Francisco, I looked at <a href=\"http://www.ams.org/meetings/sectional/2214_progfull.html\">the conference's program web site</a> and your talk is definitely listed. It's in the Session for Contributed Papers I, Saturday October 25 at 10:30 AM in Thorton Hall room 325. (If you don't see it, try searching the web page for your name.)</p>\n\n<p>Perhaps you overlooked it the first time? Or else they originally omitted it, and it has since been fixed.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28726",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
28,743 |
<p>I want to study Bachelor of Mathematics at university in Australia. While I was surfing the various courses, I came across something interesting. It was Bachelor of Mathematics and Bachelor of Computer Science at University pf Wollongong (which takes 4.5 years to complete). I was like wow how does this work, Same qualification, and two degrees for 4.5 years. A single degree alone takes 4 years. But then I started to think, wait a minute this seems too good to be true. </p>
<p>(Note that my intention is to study Mathematics and do a PhD in Mathematics, I don't want to get some limited mathematics knowledge if double degree has half of both. At the same time I would love if this is full of both, so in that case I will apply to this.</p>
<p>Please help me on how this works , what are the limitations, will I get the same recognition and knowledge as students studying Math alone? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28744,
"author": "Dylan Richard Muir",
"author_id": 19984,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19984",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I took a double degree in Electronic Engineering and IT (Computer Science) from QUT. It required more time than either of the single degrees, and the course load was considerably higher per semester. At graduation, I received two separate degree certificates from QUT — I have two Bachelor degrees. There were some restrictions in the number of elective subjects we could take, since the core course load was higher.</p>\n\n<p>Of course you need to check the course content and course load (and duration — a Bachelors degree without honours in Australia is usually three years, not four), to be certain it's right for you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28746,
"author": "Village",
"author_id": 600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The best way to understand how this can work is to look at a degree plan. Most schools publish plans outlining approximately which courses you will need to take each year.</p>\n\n<p>Many degrees are not simply comprised of just the departmental courses within your major. I cannot answer for Australian schools, but in the US at least, many students require students generally take approximately 40 courses to graduate, but quite a number of those courses might fall outside of the students' majors:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>A significant fraction of courses a student takes might be general education requirements, such as world history and English. Some schools require students to choose electrics that expose them to a wide range of topics outside of their major and help them to develop skills that the planners hope all college educated students can learn.</li>\n<li>Additionally, within the university, specific schools will require students to take courses that may not fall within a students major.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>For some majors, this structure might mean that a student will take ~15 courses in their major, and another 25 courses outside of their major. So, it should not be difficult to see how one might be able to fit in an extra major, as one would have no need to repeat all of these electives.</p>\n\n<p>Some schools permit students with a bachelors to transfer in, waiving a significant portion of the degree requirements, to quickly earn a second degree.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28743",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22021/"
] |
28,761 |
<p>In most universities, PhD students are literally students similar to master students. Fellowships and scholarships only support them financially, but officially they are students.</p>
<p>Some European university advertise PhD open positions like a contract job (similar to research associates or postdoc). It is understandable that these funded PhD students provide some services for the university, but in the first case too, PhD students regularly provide TA and RA services, but they are still students.</p>
<p>Are these two schemes different in action, or difference is only in words on paper?</p>
<p>Do European PhD students (mentioned in the second case) have more rights or flexibility?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28765,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, the schemes are different in action. All law related to employment (e.g. taxes, eligibility for retirement and unemployment benefits) do depend on the actual status of a PhD student. It depends as well on a country, obviously.</p>\n\n<p>Source: in my program (Spain) first two years are being a student and the second two - an employed researcher. Set of duties do not change (or the effective salary), but the official status (with respect to employment laws) - does. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28767,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At least in Germany, doctoral candidates are either employed as <em>Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter</em> (research assistants) or given stipends as \"doctoral fellows.\"</p>\n\n<p>However, regardless of how they are paid for their efforts, they must \"enroll\" as doctoral candidates with one of the faculties if they are to receive a degree. So, to a certain extent, they are treated like students as well, and have many of the same privileges (for instance, they are entitled to the same student benefits when they register).</p>\n\n<p>So, to a certain extent, they are both; however, their employment contract, rather than student regulations, tends to be the \"controlling factor\" in their treatment.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28761",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13854/"
] |
28,763 |
<p>In experimental fields, such as physics, chemistry, and engineering, every professor has their own lab/workshop, normally with several externally funded projects. A PhD student may work on currently funded projects.</p>
<p>However, <em>it is the responsibility of the university or department to provide the cost of this PhD project</em>. <strong>How and by whom is the budget of a PhD project set?</strong></p>
<p>I mentioned experimental fields, because the costs of these PhD projects are normally much higher than tuition fees (consider that the student has no research fellowship).</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29438,
"author": "Xxxo",
"author_id": 20121,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20121",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Typically, a PhD is not a job and thus a candidate does not have to have wage. Thus, it is not anyone's responsibility to provide any costs. </p>\n\n<p>Professors, in different grades (but capable to be supervisors to PhDs), accept PhD candidates and conduct with them (as supervisors) novel research in various scientific disciplines. From this research, the candidate proves that he/she is able to hold the title of PhD and this whole process leads to the PhD tite (if the candidate succeeds). </p>\n\n<p>Funding is side effect/project/what_ever. There are various opportunities for the state, country, companies to actually buy/fund novel research results and by this process there is a useful feedback from the scientific domain to the professional one which, in many cases, drives the production of new products and services. </p>\n\n<p>So, <strong>if</strong> a Professor has a vacant position for a candidate and <strong>if</strong> the field of the research is close related or exactly at the field of a fund opportunity and <strong>if</strong> the Professor cares to apply for funding and <strong>if</strong> the application is approved then money can come for this research. </p>\n\n<p><strong>If</strong> the money finally come, then there is a usual division of labor with an appropriate \"wage\". These may (and is most likely that they do) vary between countries, universities, continents. </p>\n\n<p>Thus, if someone needs to conduct experiments which need some money to spent then either the institution provide them, or he/she provide them, or the Professor has already a funding going on and cares to actually \"hire\" a PhD candidate to conduct the novel research based on the experiments. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 41294,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the US and UK, at least, PhD students in he sciences and engineering generally receive funding that covers both tuition and a modest stipend to for living expenses. The exact details of the funding (e.g., taxable or non-taxable, benefits, and whether funding is given for tuition or tuition is waived) vary widely. The funding can come from a number of sources.</p>\n\n<p>The easiest to understand are external grants directly to a student. The grant has a budget and the student is expected to keep the research costs within the budget. Additional costs, potentially including space charges and other overhead type fees, need to either be covered by the student or negotiated directly with the supervisor/department/university.</p>\n\n<p>Grants (both internal and external, and start up funds) to the advisor generally cover a project bigger than a single student. It is the advisor's responsibility to make sure each sub project is appropriately budgeted for and negotiate with the department/university for additional money. While some students will be given an \"official\" budget by the supervisor, most are required to have the supervisor sign off on all expenses. Budget issues often come up during the design stages of a project.</p>\n\n<p>Departments and universities also fund PhD students. This type of funding is sometimes in the form of Research Assistantships, but more often is for Teaching Assistantships where the student needs to teach in order to get the funding. Research costs can be, but are not always, covered by this type of internal funding. It is left to the student to either cover the research costs themselves or negotiate with supervisor/department/university to make sure the costs are covered.</p>\n\n<p>My experimental research is relatively cheap, but I think in the vast majority of fields, the big cost is staff. Apart from possibly the most expensive types of experimental research, a supervisor with reasonable funding, will likely be able to find the money to cover experimental costs for a PhD student. It might require some limits to be placed on the project (e.g., including some modeling or theoretical work to reduce the costs).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28763",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13854/"
] |
28,771 |
<p>Some publishers have a clause like the following in their author instructions:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Submission of a manuscript implies... that if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to automatic transfer of the copyright to the publisher.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I found <a href="http://www.ijnngt.org/sub.php" rel="nofollow noreferrer">many</a> <a href="http://www.ijrit.com/authors" rel="nofollow noreferrer">instances</a> <a href="http://advancedscienceresearchjournals.org/privacy-policy" rel="nofollow noreferrer">of this</a> among disreputable publishers. But I was surprised to also see this policy at more than one <a href="http://www.springer.com/authors/manuscript+guidelines?SGWID=0-40162-6-795324-0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Springer journal</a> and a handful of other, reasonably reputable, venues.</p>
<p>I was also surprised, because we occasionally get questions here about withdrawing a paper after acceptance. The <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28583/do-i-need-to-wait-for-a-journal-to-consent-to-paper-withdrawal-before-submitti#comment61565_28583">first thing we ask them</a> is generally, "Have you signed a copyright transfer yet?" with the implication that before signing anything, you still hold the copyright to the submitted work.</p>
<p>So, what exactly <em>is</em> the automatic transfer of copyright referred to above? </p>
<p>Has this been enforced, traditionally? Is it even enforceable, generally speaking? </p>
<p>Or is it just a clause that some sketchy publishers put in there to deceive authors into believing that they don't have the right to withdraw their paper from the journal after acceptance?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28773,
"author": "Jon Custer",
"author_id": 15477,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15477",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My personal opinion only here. It is a problem that has arisen in the last few years as publishers have started to realize that nobody reads printed journals. They want to be able to charge for access to the online versions, and seem to think the only way to do this is by taking copyright from the authors. This is an issue at, e.g., US National Labs, where the US government owns the copyright and has no intention of signing it over to a publisher (US or not). </p>\n\n<p>I view it as a particularly irritating, but ultimately temporary, problem. The moment any publisher goes after an author for hosting a copy of their own publication it will be widely known and the publisher will suffer. But until the lawyers figure it all out we will have to fight back. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28778,
"author": "Aaron Hall",
"author_id": 9518,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9518",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A lawyer would be best suited to answer this, but as I have had several business law classes as part of my business education, I'll hold forth based on my understanding of intellectual property and contract law in an educational context. </p>\n\n<p>The answer would be yes, that it should be generally enforceable. </p>\n\n<p>Laws vary by state even in the United States, but in general, qualities that can make a contract unenforceable are:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Lack of capacity of the parties (legal age, sound minds, etc.)</li>\n<li>Fraud or misrepresentation</li>\n<li>Violation of public policy</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>None of the above apply to our situation (unless, for example, we have a precocious or senile scholar).</p>\n\n<p>Enforceable contracts also require:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Consideration (exchange of something of value)</li>\n<li>Meeting of the Minds (mutual agreement of terms)</li>\n<li>Offer and Acceptance</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Now let's analyze these requirements. Is there mutual exchange of value? The journal appears to offer that in exchange for copyright, the author gets to be published in a prestigious journal. Does the author agree at the time of offer and acceptance? Then we have an enforceable contract.</p>\n\n<p>So this brings to light a strategy for attempting to retain copyrights of your work. Insist by striking through such language in a contract and make a statement that you, the author, retain copyright, and put your initials by the alteration. If the contract is in electronic form, communicate this through email just prior to and just after submitting your request electronically.</p>\n\n<p>If they do not object, and rather, accept your submission, I would assert that you have established that any possible claim by them to your work is either completely unenforceable (certainly, in the case of a written contract) or (in either case) liable to cost them a great deal in legal fees to pursue.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28795,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To my knowledge, in the US, copyright transfers must be specific to the work in question and in writing in order to be <a href=\"http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap2.html#204\" rel=\"nofollow\">legitimate</a>. The hard part is whether the language covers your submission and is included in some terms of service to which you agreed. I have my doubts that a general statement saying that anything you submit automatically implies transfer would hold up in court. Such a statement doesn't properly identify the work being transferred, and \"I agree\" in this case probably doesn't count as a signature. I'm not saying that electronic signatures can't be done, but go look at the <a href=\"http://www.ieee.org/documents/ieeecopyrightform.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">IEEE Copyright Form (PDF)</a> for an example of one that's been created in good faith by a professional society. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28771",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365/"
] |
28,787 |
<p>A Professor normally send his TA to conduct some sessions of his course (e.g., for problem solving).</p>
<p>It is also possible to ask the TA to attend all sessions to keep the track of the course. This is helpful if the TA is responsible for reading the essays of students, as he can be aware of discussions in the class.</p>
<p><em>How much the second scheme is popular?</em></p>
<p>Is it right to force a TA to stay and listen to the basic topics? When someone provide TA service for a course, he knows that topic well, and it is boring to sit and listen it again.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28794,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, attending lectures or other class sessions is a reasonable duty for a TA. Of course, if your contract specifies a maximum number of weekly hours to work, time spent attending the lectures would count toward those hours.</p>\n\n<p>Keep in mind that even though you may be familiar with the basic material, the professor may feel it would be helpful for you to see the same presentation that the students are getting, so that your teaching will be consistent with his.</p>\n\n<p>If you don't agree that this is the best use of your time, and there are more productive ways you could spend that time, then you could certainly suggest to the professor that you try something else. (Be polite about it - I would avoid using the word \"force\".) But ultimately it is his decision - he is the boss and you are being paid to work under his direction.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28807,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I see the TAing as a time of apprenticeship and learning how to be a professional scholar. I require my TAs to attend all of my lectures -- and I also require them to visibly take notes. </p>\n\n<p>The undergraduates often want to address issues raised in lecture. I do not go strictly by the book and on occasion deviate considerably into a tangential area. Without knowing what is going on, how will the TAs handle the students' questions in section?</p>\n\n<p>And the reason I require the TAs to take notes and not to noodle around on their computer is that they are setting an example of professional behavior in the classroom. If the undergrads see the TA wasting time on StackExchange the entire class period, the students will also feel free to go to FaceBook, etc. </p>\n\n<p>If a TA has an issue with this, I would suggest that they talk with the department registrar and find another TA assignment more to their liking. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28808,
"author": "Bjørn Kjos-Hanssen",
"author_id": 11257,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11257",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it's best to leave this to the TA's discretion in many cases. Professors ought to respect the fact that TAs may be deeply immersed in their thesis research, and really need to have enough time for that.</p>\n\n<p>This may depend a lot on the academic field, though. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28814,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 11565,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11565",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is institution-dependent, at least in the US.</p>\n\n<p>When I was a grad TA, it was written into our union contract that we would attend the lecture. Some people didn't, but it was generally expected that the TA's would go, and I went.</p>\n\n<p>My first occasion supervising TA's, at a different university, I asked them \"You'll be attending my lectures, right?\" I may as well have asked them to bring me coffee every morning and shine my shoes. </p>\n\n<p>I'd recommend finding out what the norm is at your institution, and following it. In particular, don't try to require lecture attendance of your TA's if the graduate director won't back you up.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28787",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13854/"
] |
28,797 |
<p>I applied a new method to a data set, which had already been analyzed in a research paper. My method is generally considered better, but it only slightly modifies the results and does not affect the conclusion of the paper aside from improving the accuracy of results by a small amount. The paper is about a classification problem. </p>
<p>Is it possible to write a research paper about this?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28794,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, attending lectures or other class sessions is a reasonable duty for a TA. Of course, if your contract specifies a maximum number of weekly hours to work, time spent attending the lectures would count toward those hours.</p>\n\n<p>Keep in mind that even though you may be familiar with the basic material, the professor may feel it would be helpful for you to see the same presentation that the students are getting, so that your teaching will be consistent with his.</p>\n\n<p>If you don't agree that this is the best use of your time, and there are more productive ways you could spend that time, then you could certainly suggest to the professor that you try something else. (Be polite about it - I would avoid using the word \"force\".) But ultimately it is his decision - he is the boss and you are being paid to work under his direction.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28807,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I see the TAing as a time of apprenticeship and learning how to be a professional scholar. I require my TAs to attend all of my lectures -- and I also require them to visibly take notes. </p>\n\n<p>The undergraduates often want to address issues raised in lecture. I do not go strictly by the book and on occasion deviate considerably into a tangential area. Without knowing what is going on, how will the TAs handle the students' questions in section?</p>\n\n<p>And the reason I require the TAs to take notes and not to noodle around on their computer is that they are setting an example of professional behavior in the classroom. If the undergrads see the TA wasting time on StackExchange the entire class period, the students will also feel free to go to FaceBook, etc. </p>\n\n<p>If a TA has an issue with this, I would suggest that they talk with the department registrar and find another TA assignment more to their liking. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28808,
"author": "Bjørn Kjos-Hanssen",
"author_id": 11257,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11257",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it's best to leave this to the TA's discretion in many cases. Professors ought to respect the fact that TAs may be deeply immersed in their thesis research, and really need to have enough time for that.</p>\n\n<p>This may depend a lot on the academic field, though. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28814,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 11565,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11565",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is institution-dependent, at least in the US.</p>\n\n<p>When I was a grad TA, it was written into our union contract that we would attend the lecture. Some people didn't, but it was generally expected that the TA's would go, and I went.</p>\n\n<p>My first occasion supervising TA's, at a different university, I asked them \"You'll be attending my lectures, right?\" I may as well have asked them to bring me coffee every morning and shine my shoes. </p>\n\n<p>I'd recommend finding out what the norm is at your institution, and following it. In particular, don't try to require lecture attendance of your TA's if the graduate director won't back you up.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28797",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
28,809 |
<p>In nearly any field there is a number of important results which look obvious to experts <em>post factum</em> but somehow are not that easy to come by in the first place (e.g. in mathematics some important definitions look exactly like this). Unfortunately, this apparent <em>post factum</em> simplicity makes conveying the importance of the idea to expert audience (and in particular to the journals' editors and referees) very difficult. To make things worse, sometimes the author is unable to illustrate the application of the idea by sufficiently striking examples. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The question is whether it is possible (and if yes, how) to mitigate this <strong>apparent post factum simplicity</strong> in the talks and research articles, i.e., what can be done to <em>adequately</em> convey the significance of "post-factum-obvious" results to the audience and, in particular, to get these results to the journals they truly deserve?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am particularly interested in the advice applicable to mathematics/mathematical physics but the suggestions suitable for other fields are very welcome too, as the situation in question does not seem to be all that field-specific.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28812,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>To make things worse, sometimes the author is unable to illustrate the application of the idea by sufficiently striking examples.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I think this goes hand in hand with the problem you describe. You cannot expect an audience to evaluate the difficulty of the problem you have solved in a short time and often the same goes for reviewers and editors (unless of course, they are familiar with the problem). But you can show that you are addressing an important problem, which does not yet have a (satisfying) solution.</p>\n\n<p>Now, if the latter is true, others should have thought about it before you. But as they have not come up with a solution, the problem could not actually have been that obvious. (Of course, it could have just been that nobody spotted the problem or the general approach you have taken – but then you can take credit for that.)</p>\n\n<p><sup> I have attended some interdisciplinary conferences and observed a general tendency that participants from more theoretical fields failed at motivating what they are doing – which was one of the key issues that made their talks very difficult to sit through or their posters not interesting.</sup></p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>If there are standard approaches to your general type of problem, you could also shortly explain why these do not work. This way you can demonstrate that the problem required some thingking out of the box.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28822,
"author": "Alecos Papadopoulos",
"author_id": 8575,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8575",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The OP writes that \"experts\", \"journals' editors\" and \"referees\" will <em>fail</em> to realize the \"importance\" of a result, if it looks \"obvious\" after statement.<br>\nI note that \"importance\" should have been somehow defined in the question, or at least be endowed with some operational meaning. But let's pretend we understand roughly the same things by reading the word, and let's assume that, indeed, all these people don't get this \"importance\". Then <em>who</em> understands it? The author? Namely, the one who \"is unable to illustrate the application of the idea by sufficiently striking examples\"? In other words, the person who has labored deeply into the case, he, on the one hand cannot come up with \"striking examples\", but at the same time \"knows\" that his result is \"important\"?<br>\n <em>How</em> does he know, if he does not know <em>why</em> the result is important? And if he knows <em>why</em> it is important, how can it be that he cannot communicate, however imperfectly, these reasons why? He may be lousy regarding presentation skills, he may be a bad writer. But still, how come <em>nobody</em> of those in the scientific community that know the field and the subject, realizes the importance of the result, in any form of communication, except the author? </p>\n\n<p>Important results are sometimes initially overlooked because they are stated in a very <em>specialized framework</em> and their generality and wider applicability are not immediately, or even easily, evident. But \"obvious\" results, are, exactly, evident, and so their importance should either be evident, at least to <em>some</em> individuals that are part of the populations of \"experts\", \"journals' editors\", and \"referees\", or chances are, it does not exist. Difficulty of derivation or conceptualization are neither necessary nor sufficient for \"importance\".</p>\n\n<p>But of course, I may be wrong -so I would really, honestly, appreciate it if someone could provide an actual example of such a situation.</p>\n\n<p>I note that the impression I got from the question is that the OP does <em>not</em> refer to \"paradigm shifts\" and \"revolutionary ideas\" that may \"fall on deaf ears\" for sociological reasons. For such situations, it is a whole different, and largely theoretical, discussion.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30297,
"author": "Erel Segal-Halevi",
"author_id": 787,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/787",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In talks, you can use some didactic means. For example: start by presenting the problem. Then, ask the audience to think about it for a minute and suggest some directions for a solution. If somebody suggests a direction which doesn't work, show why it doesn't work. If nobody answers, prepare in advance some apparently useful directions that turn out to be unfruitful. </p>\n\n<p>The disadvantage is that it requires you to spend about half the presentation time on discussion with the audience. The advantage is that, maybe, after the talk, your audience will better appreciate the difficulty of the problem.</p>\n\n<p>I am not sure how to adapt this didactic technique to a paper, though.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30302,
"author": "Dylan Richard Muir",
"author_id": 19984,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19984",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The best approach may be to address the issue head-on: include a paragraph in the cover letter, in the introduction or discussion sections of a manuscript, and explicitly in the conclusions section of a talk, that sets up a \"straw man\" critique. Something like: this result may seem obvious because of (expectations in the field; the beguiling simplicity of the final proof; the incorrect assumption that the problem was already solved; etc). But actually that assumption is flawed (and say or show why). Our result is not obvious because (state reasons).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30304,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have first hand experience with this and can say that it depends on how you present and apply the findings. I recently published a paper where I derived from first principles a relation showing how a property of some natural systems varies in some conditions. The corollary of the mathematical relation where just the well known facts from Nature, except one, which was surprising. The relationship itself looks obvious when one sees it written, and this was noted by the reviewers, but they appreciated how it was presented and the fact that it provided some sort of consistency and logical framework for the observed facts.</p>\n\n<p>So, in my opinion, go ahead, make a nice case on why your findings are worth publishing: examples, relations and some sort of harmony. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28809",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10483/"
] |
28,819 |
<p>I'm teaching an Introduction to Computer Science Course, where we mainly do C programming. I've been assigned a lab for teaching the course, but there are more students than available computers. Also, I have no control over those PCs there, and almost every student has admin rights to them. It is also common that students bring their laptop to the classroom and connect to campus Wi-Fi, which I don't have control at all.</p>
<p>Exams are small algorithms to solve, and initially I was planning - as do other teachers in the course - to allow using a computer (from the lab or their own) for the students to verify the correctness of their algorithms. However, in the current state of things I think is pretty easy for students to cheat: They could use Facebook, e-mail, or any Internet tool to exchange source code or information.</p>
<p>Are there software tools that can help to allow use of a computer but still prevent unauthorized collaboration?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28826,
"author": "peter",
"author_id": 17246,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17246",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Consider two things that are (almost) unique to computer science:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>researching programming methods on the internet is standard practice, with stackexchange.com being the #1 hit for many searches. Requiring someone to memorize the details is not industry practice. I would not consider accepting a programming job anywhere that said \"no internet access\". And I hit the function references 10 times a day to verify things like function_name vs. functionName or replace(needle, haystack) / replace(haystack, needle) headaches.</p></li>\n<li><p>It is quite likely that 10 students will return nearly-identical results for simple algorithms. There just aren't too many ways to answer \"write a function to average the values in an array\". Lets see: loop, sum, count. vars i, s, c. If you taught standard code formatting it's quite possible you might get 8/10 absolutely identical responses yet zero cheating. This is a common problem for cheat/plagiarism processors that are not tweaked for CS.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Good luck, and do come back with whatever solution worked out for you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28828,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Are there Software Tools that can help to use a Computer and avoid plagiarism?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I can't answer the above question and I'd be surprised by the effectiveness of such a tool. So, I suggest another solution: do the exams on paper, scan the papers at the end of the exams, send the copies back to the students and give them a couple of days to debug their programs. The differences between the paper version and the working one can thus be taken into account to decide the final mark.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28831,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In one of my programming subjects, we were allowed the class notes, our own solved exercises, and internet; but no communication with other students (email, facebook...). There was nothing really blocking them, just the lecturer wandering around.</p>\n\n<p>Really, it is not that difficult to check: a student should be most of the time working on the IDE, and only sporadically browsing. If anyone seems to browse too much, you can do a closer inspection. GMail or Facebook will blatantly shine on the screen.</p>\n\n<p>You can of course be more sneaky, like using Lynx to enter your mail. But really, if you can do that, you can probably write a simple algorithm without cheating.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28832,
"author": "jfhc",
"author_id": 21370,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21370",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>At my university in the UK we have two kinds of assessment for programming courses. Pass/fail 'practicals' where students are given programming tasks, and are explicitly allowed to discuss them with each other and search online. When the student is ready to submit their solution a demonstrator will look it over and ask questions etc to make sure the student understands why they wrote the code they wrote. Students don't get a grade for this that counts towards their overall mark for the year, but they are required to 'pass' the practicals in order to pass the year.</p>\n\n<p>Then there are written exams with no computer access. There are questions along the lines of 'write some code that will solve this problem', and also more conceptual 'why is this the case? When would you use that?' questions. For the 'write code' bits, the markers will deduct very few points for simple syntax errors and things like that. The question is not so much 'can the student write a program that will compile on the first try?' as 'can the student come up with a good algorithm which solves the problem and give a reasonable expression of it in code?'. Note that these courses (at my uni) are never for specific languages; they are courses like 'functional programming' or 'object oriented programming' or 'machine learning', which will each use a particular language, but we care more that the student understands the concepts than learns the intricacies of the course's language.</p>\n\n<p>This also encourages students to learn ways of designing and writing provably correct programs: if they can reason about programs on a deeper level than intuition, then writing programs on paper is a better test of this than allowing them to experiment and test until the output 'looks right' for the inputs they've given it.</p>\n\n<p>This seems like a good way to avoid cheating on grades that matter and encourage solid understanding of the important course material. That said, many students hate having to write code on paper without access to S.O. or a compiler!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28833,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Law schools have been solving this problem for many years by making students buy software for exams that locks their systems down and only allows them to use the exam-taking software during the examination time. However, <a href=\"http://www.101sports.com/2014/08/12/barmageddon-law-students-sue-when-software-fails/\">there have been problems</a>. Also, law school exams are generally essays or other non-functional questions, whereas a programming exam could also require a compiler. I'm not aware of a version of this that exists to allow a text-editor, terminal, and compiler.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28835,
"author": "Ant",
"author_id": 15995,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15995",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The solution employed by my professor is to allow the textbook in the classroom (or any other sheet of paper), but no internet access; not even computer access. The whole exam was on paper.</p>\n\n<p>The exam itself was to develop some algorithms, or maybe creating some classes; stuff for which the textbook is useless , but it still gives you the opportunity to look up names and basic concepts.</p>\n\n<p>As a student, I think there is nothing wrong with this method. Of course others may disagree.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28842,
"author": "einpoklum",
"author_id": 7319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7319",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, I haven't checked whether there are actual software tools for that, but I'll tell you what I used to do. The number of approaches to a correct solution are quite limited; if it's an exam-type problem, you should expect to receive many almost-identical, or even actually-identical, replies - as @Peter <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/28826/7319\">points out</a>. But </p>\n\n<p><strong>the ingenuity of error is infinite, and the creativity of the misguided is boundless...</strong></p>\n\n<p>So mistakes + copying = easy to catch. If you want to mechanize, check for the same or similar parsing/compilation errors, or identical choices of identifiers of programs which fail to compile or run as expected.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28845,
"author": "Bloke Down The Pub",
"author_id": 22099,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22099",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Though you may not count this as a <em>software tool:</em> A custom Linux live distribution, which is directly booted from a removable medium, and contains just the necessary development tools (no browser, maybe even remove the ethernet/wifi drivers) would do it; just make them boot that for the exam.</p>\n\n<p>(If anyone is able – within the time limit and with the tools provided – to write the drivers and a browser he not only gets a passing grade but a job offer.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28867,
"author": "hojusaram",
"author_id": 22116,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22116",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Two such programs are MOSS and JPlag:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://theory.stanford.edu/~aiken/moss/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://theory.stanford.edu/~aiken/moss/</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Moss (for a Measure Of Software Similarity) is an automatic system for determining the similarity of programs. To date, the main application of Moss has been in detecting plagiarism in programming classes. Since its development in 1994, Moss has been very effective in this role. The algorithm behind moss is a significant improvement over other cheating detection algorithms (at least, over those known to us).</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://jplag.ipd.kit.edu/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://jplag.ipd.kit.edu/</a></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>JPlag is a system that finds similarities among multiple sets of source code files. This way it can detect software plagiarism. JPlag does not merely compare bytes of text, but is aware of programming language syntax and program structure and hence is robust against many kinds of attempts to disguise similarities between plagiarized files. JPlag currently supports Java, C#, C, C++, Scheme and natural language text.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Tools similar to these (not sure exactly which) were used at both the schools I've been to. Students were caught and penalized even after they had renamed variables and changed order of functions in the file.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28819",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21687/"
] |
28,821 |
<p>I am an undergraduate mathematics student who is looking to apply to a Statistics PhD program. I asked a few professors how much letter of recommendation help a student get in to a PhD program and I was told the following.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Not much. Often professors don't want to insult a student, so they write good letters. Lots of people get good letter, yours won't make a difference.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>and</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Letters of recommendation are everything. They practically <strong>are</strong> your application.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>and</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They help some, but it depends on who it is from. If it is from a stat professor that is good. A math professor is OK too, but stat would be preferred. If they are not stat or math, they won't care at all.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As you can imagine, I am now even less clear of how much a good letter helps.</p>
<p><strong>Is it true letters of practically make or break your application? Or are they simply a formality?</strong> </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28824,
"author": "ddiez",
"author_id": 21435,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21435",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Others may have different views but for me, if you are about to admit someone you know nothing about for a long term commitment, you can only rely on some objective and subjective sources:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Academic record.</p></li>\n<li><p>Recommendation letters. </p></li>\n<li><p>Interview.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>All are important. Letters tend to be <em>standard</em> in the sense that everyone writes about how good the candidate is (even some supervisors make the future candidate write their own letters and then they will just sign it!). However, letters give you the opportunity to directly <em>contact</em> the person recommending the candidate, and ask them about specific aspects you may be worried about. For example any character flaws that can be hidden in the interview and do not show in the academic record (and most likely where not included in the recommendation letter). Or some remarkable skill that was not highlighted enough in the recommendation letter but you consider very important. In summary, it is important to have the opinion of a third person that knows the candidate. Recommendation letters may be an important source of information when accepting a Ph.D. candidate in particular and when hiring someone in general.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28846,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I have no direct experience with statistics programs, but I know of no reason to think they differ from math programs in this respect. Assuming that's the case, letters of recommendation are absolutely critical, at least in U.S. universities. I agree with the person who told you they practically <strong>are</strong> your application, and I'm mystified by how someone could tell you they make no difference. (I wonder whether it's someone who has never served on an admissions committee or was educated in a very different system.)</p>\n\n<p>It's true that just about everyone gets what might appear to be good letters. The issue isn't whether they say bad things about you, but rather how strong they are and how compelling a case they make. I've certainly seen many cases of letters written by the same person that differ enormously in their effect, even though they are all nominally positive.</p>\n\n<p>The third piece of advice you received in no way contradicts the second. It's not enough for a letter just to include flattering comments about you. It needs to make a compelling case for why you will be successful in statistics, written by someone who knows exactly what it takes to succeed in this field, has seen other strong students to whom you can be compared, and has a reputation to protect that will keep them from exaggerating or trying to manipulate the admissions committee. A senior statistician is the best case, but a junior statistician or a mathematician may also be able to do a fine job. A letter from a chemist will not be helpful, and a letter from a professor of literature, no matter how enthusiastic it is, will hurt your case (by demonstrating that you have no idea how the application process works or that you couldn't find anyone more relevant who thinks highly of you).</p>\n\n<p>Exactly what is required depends on where you are applying. At the top departments, you need letters that make a very strong case indeed. Even outstanding students will be rejected, and you need letters that set you apart from the others. At much lower ranked departments, it might be possible to make a favorable impression based largely on grades and test scores, but even then you'll still need good enough letters. (The bar will just be lower.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29660,
"author": "StasK",
"author_id": 739,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/739",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is a piece of my personal experience: when I was admitted to a top 15-ish department of statistics in the U.S., I was told (a bit later, when I came and chatted with the graduate studies director) that a valuable weight in support of my application came from (1) a professor in Econ department who was not related to stat department but who knew (2) the author of the reference letter, another econometrician from Europe, (3) whose book I was then translating into Russian (so I kept bugging person 2 with typo clarifications, suggested examples, etc.). Person (1) was a better statistician than many, with several cool computational methods under his belt, a couple of very rigorous books, and known for teaching measure-theory-based probability to his econ students (if my memory serves me right, <em>undergraduate</em> students).</p>\n\n<p>So I would say that Opinion 3 is probably misplaced. A quantitative biologist may be able to say more about you as a statistician (i.e., a person who has to combine data, a bit of substantive expertise, computing, and statistical methods) than your abstract algebra teacher.</p>\n\n<p>Generally, as others suggested, this depends on the culture of a particular institution. Some do look at the letters, some don't. Since you don't know which side a particular school falls into, treat them as if <strong>they are your application</strong>.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28821",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22072/"
] |
28,827 |
<p>I am planning my PhD and am applying to various labs and professors. </p>
<p>I am getting positive responses, but I am having trouble making a decision as to which lab to go for. How can I judge the quality of research of a group? What parameters shall be kept in mind while making a decision? I usually look for relevant research interests.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28829,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A couple of major factors to consider would be to research and read the research papers produced from each of the research groups, paying particular attention to:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>How many articles are published, particularly in high quality journals relevant to the field of interest</p></li>\n<li><p>Is there a consistent strong track record of publishing new results?</p></li>\n<li><p>Their history of representation and contributions to conferences, workshops and the like</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Also consider the availability of resources (physical and intellectual)</p>\n\n<p>Perhaps arrange some visits to the labs, so that you can gauge how well the members work together.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28837,
"author": "geac",
"author_id": 22087,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22087",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The <em>H index</em> truly is the measure you're asking for. Other considerations I'd throw in before you make such a key decision: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>professor's background/age/culture</li>\n<li>is the prof a hypomanic, and to what extreme</li>\n<li>how well you identify with the other students</li>\n<li>how expediently are they finishing PhDs compared to your plans for life</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28843,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>How can I judge the quality of research of a group?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>This is the wrong question.</strong></p>\n\n<p>What you should be asking is \"<strong>How can I judge which research group will best support my educational and career goals?</strong>\" And yes, this is a <em>very</em> different question. And while lab productivity may be correlated with the future career prospects of its members, the two are <em>not</em> identical. Some great researchers are terrible advisors.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Are the lab's <strong>students</strong> happy?</p></li>\n<li><p>Do the lab's <strong>students</strong> have a consistent strong track record of publishing new results?</p></li>\n<li><p>Are the lab's <strong>students</strong> strongly represented at conferences, workshops, and the like? In particular: Are the lab's <strong>students</strong> given ample opportunity to present their research outside their home department?</p></li>\n<li><p>Are the lab's <strong>students</strong> given ample mentoring and support, both in developing their own research agendas and in applying for external fellowships, lab exchanges, internships, postdoctoral positions, faculty positions, and so on?</p></li>\n<li><p>Are the lab's <strong>students</strong> given ample opportunity for <em>substantial</em> intellectual contributions to the lab's published research, or are they just lab/code monkeys?</p></li>\n<li><p>Does the lab's research agenda closely match your own research interests and abilities?</p></li>\n<li><p>Most importantly: <strong>Where do the lab's former students work now?</strong> (The worst possible answer is \"We don't know.\")</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Almost none of these questions can be answered accurately without physically visiting the lab and talking directly to the students <em>without</em> the PI present. If travel is impractical, use Skype / Google hangout / Facetime / whatever. Or telephone. Or, if all else fails, email.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 124417,
"author": "guest",
"author_id": 104052,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/104052",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>JeffE lists many proper good factors. Few extra to add to the list:</p>\n\n<p>General:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Is the group in a good department, university? These also influence your experience and your resume. It's also nice to have fallback options if the fellow leaves/dies/loses funding, or you have a conflict. </p></li>\n<li><p>Is it in a town you like and can have fun in? For most people major urban centers are a draw.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Group specific:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>How fast do his students get their Ph.D.?</li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28827",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21310/"
] |
28,840 |
<p>I am a second year part-time masters degree student at NYU, with a full time job. My life is pretty simple and boring in NY. I was looking for opportunities, and yesterday it happened. I was accepted as an "intern" for one of Hillary Clinton's organizations in some other state. And there is this other organization that will be financially supporting me for 6 month. Later, I am expected to get a part/full time job there. This is life time opportunity, big adventure, lots of sacrifice and commitment.. </p>
<p>My question is: Can I take a year off during grad school in order to be able to work full time in some other state? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28841,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As Bill Barth suggests, you really need to check with your department and institutional policies. Every school, and often departments in the same school, can have very different policies.</p>\n\n<p>The fact that you're a master's student, and therefore presumably enrolled in classes rather than actively conducting research, probably will make things easier, as leaves of absence are less disruptive during coursework than in research (for instance, it's harder to \"postpone\" a grant for a project to enable a student to take a semester or year off). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28852,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ask, then trust but verify. There are schools, including mine, that assume you've \"dropped out\" if you fail to register for a relatively small number of consecutive terms.</p>\n\n<p>So, there are two considerations. The program has to be willing to let you take the time off <em>and also</em> you have to fulfill the policies of the institution with regard to consecutive terms in residence.</p>\n\n<p>Get it all in writing. (For the latter consideration, it's probably in the catalog.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28853,
"author": "TH_",
"author_id": 21972,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21972",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Regarding the <em>should you</em> that Moriarty stated, what is the likelihood that you'll return should you take the year off? If this great opportunity that you are talking extends into the next school year, your chances of returning to school diminish greatly. It is likely that more, and perhaps better opportunities will await you once you complete your degree.</p>\n\n<p>Another question to ask is does this experience with this opportunity outweigh the benefits of your master's degree?</p>\n\n<p>It might seem like an inviting opportunity now, but ask yourself if it is risking your education over.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28840",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22090/"
] |
28,850 |
<p>I will graduate in 6-8 months with a PhD in physics and am looking to contact potential postdoc advisers. I will be applying to positions without an advertisement or prior contact with the potential advisers. I have been told by my current PhD adviser that if I wait until I just a few months before graduation, he will make the initial contact for me. I am conflicted because I understand many postdoc positions are planned and filled up to a year in advance. </p>
<p>I don't want to lose out on these positions, so I first want to make informal contact on my own. However, I don't want to jeopardize my chances of getting a position by sending out a poorly received informal email. I'm wondering specifically how informal emails are typically perceived in these situations. Are they liable to be perceived negatively by those professors expecting a more formal process?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29123,
"author": "univox360",
"author_id": 22105,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22105",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Informal inquiries are not liable to be perceived negatively:</strong> An informal inquiry is a very good way to make first contact before sending over more formal items such as a CV, letters of recommendation and proposed research ideas. A thoughtful email with some very brief and basic information about yourself and your interest in the potential lab is more likely to be read and replied to (no information overload). After initial contact is made, the more formal process will then be more directed as information about timing and funding may be provided.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29124,
"author": "univox360",
"author_id": 22105,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22105",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Informal inquiries are liable to be perceived negatively</strong> The process should be formal from first contact, and initial inquiries should include proposed research, letters of recommendation and a CV. Sending a hard copy of these items can create a strong impression that is essential to getting hired. Formality is especially important for countries like Germany where it is expected at each step, and also for big-time researchers who receive a flood of inquiries each day.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29172,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you were contacting me, the degree of formality wouldn't matter (so long as the salutation isn't \"wassup, dude!\") Two things would matter:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Does your email demonstrate clearly that you have put some thought into working in my group, and you're not just mass-mailing a form letter? If you fail this test, I may not open the attachments.</li>\n<li>Do you have strong qualifications for the job?</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>As long as you're reasonably polite and your writing is not atrocious, everything else is relatively unimportant at this stage.</p>\n\n<p>If your advisor has a good relationship with the person in question, his/her involvement can help considerably. But you making contact first generally won't do any harm.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28850",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22105/"
] |
28,854 |
<p>[See title.] It seems ok, but one might consider it unfair in some sense? I just wanted to make sure this is acceptable. (I am specifically talking about graduate school applications.)</p>
<hr>
<p>Edit: I apologize for previously withholding some information. Here are some more details.</p>
<ul>
<li>I am majoring in math and will have two letters from math professors at my undergrad institution.</li>
<li>I also have a letter from a professor in a different department ("probability/statistics") in the same institution and am applying to this department's graduate program.</li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28855,
"author": "Ben Webster",
"author_id": 13,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, this is fine. On the whole, a letter from someone in the department is better than a random one, in that the writer is well-known to the people on the committee. So, certainly this isn't something you should go to trouble to avoid.</p>\n\n<p><strong>EDIT</strong>: It seems from comments that the OP is applying to their own undergraduate institution. That's it's own can of worms (many schools heavily discourage this, for good reasons, I think), but I think there's no question that you must get at least one letter from the institution you attended as an undergraduate. It would look really problematic if you didn't (committees would assume no one there would write you a good recommendation, and thus wonder what you did to ruin your reputation). </p>\n\n<p><strong>EDIT 2:</strong> Just to comment further, given that the OP <em>also</em> left out that they are changing to a different department from their undergraduate degree. In that case, having a letter from someone in the department is a big help. I don't think the jump from math to statistics is so big, but generally it's very good to have letters from someone who knows the program and what it takes to succeed in it well, which is always tricky when shifting between fields.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28856,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, although there are some caveats. </p>\n\n<p>The best letters come from people who know you for an extended period of time under a variety of circumstances that would reflect the entirety of the qualifications you'd need in graduate school. </p>\n\n<p>Presuming that you weren't an undergraduate at that university, then how well would the letter writer know you? One scenario would be that the letter writer had been a faculty member at your previous college and who had transferred to the new one. In this case, they could make a strong argument for why you would be a good candidate.</p>\n\n<p>But if the letter writer simply knew you from a summer program or other short relationship, then their letter would not be as strong as someone who knew you for four years. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Addendum</strong>: The OP clarified that he is applying to the same institution that he graduated from as an undergraduate. In this instance, I agree with Ben Webster that it is critical that at least one of his letters should be from a faculty member at that institution. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28854",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6737/"
] |
28,857 |
<p>I did my master thesis last year and recently I found out that a group of four faculty members in my department, including my thesis advisor, have published an ACM paper based on that. (A publish subscribe system based on SDN) </p>
<p>I will be honest. The problem statement was put forward by the faculty. The implementation (design of algorithms and coding) was completely done by me in my thesis. Then they further extended it to a distributed SDN controller environment.</p>
<p>In the paper, an entire section is devoted to the algorithms and implementation. Where they have almost ripped off from my thesis. The sentence structures have been changed and some beautification done to the algorithms to make it look concise.</p>
<p>However, I have not been given any acknowledgement or citation. Anyone who'll read that paper will have an impression that the authors were the only brains behind the project.</p>
<p>The university holds the copyright of my thesis. So I am not sure if this qualifies for plagiarism. But certainly, I feel it is not fair to brush someone's contribution under the carpet.</p>
<p>What can I do about it ? Or am I mistaken and they have every right to do how they feel as I am no longer a student there and the copyright is with them ? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28859,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Whether or not the department holds the copyright to your thesis is irrelevant. Using someone else's ideas without appropriate attribution is plagiarism, period.</p>\n\n<p>So, if your advisor used <em>your</em> original, non-trivial scientific ideas (or your non-trivial description of those ideas) in his paper without attributing them to you, then he has committed misconduct.</p>\n\n<p>The only thing that <em>may</em> be questionable is whether or not your original intellectual ideas were actually used in the paper. <strong>What you describe definitely sounds pretty damning</strong>, and the more information you add, the worse it sounds; but as strangers on the Internet, we don't have the whole story.</p>\n\n<p>For example: Given that the idea for the thesis was the advisor's, and the paper describes a non-trivial extension, it's possible (though perhaps not likely, depending on the scope of the work) that your advisor was working on the extended version himself independently of your thesis.</p>\n\n<p>It's also possible that he considers your work to be a straightforward implementation of his idea, and not an intellectual contribution - that is, he believes you were doing the work of a staff programmer, not a scientist or engineer. In which case, an acknowledgement would probably have been appropriate, but it's not necessarily plagiarism to omit it.</p>\n\n<p>The degree to which your work constitutes an intellectual contribution to your advisor's paper is impossible for strangers on the Internet to judge. </p>\n\n<p>I suggest you email your former thesis advisor, tell him you've seen the paper, and ask (in a non-confrontational way) how it relates to your thesis work. Then decide how to proceed from there.</p>\n\n<p>Note that pursuing the matter beyond that (i.e. formally accusing him of plagiarism) may involve some serious negative consequences for you, so consider this carefully before proceeding. The morally just course of action may or may not actually be in your best interests.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28860,
"author": "Bjørn Kjos-Hanssen",
"author_id": 11257,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11257",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are many possible explanations. It might be that they considered the algorithm to be easy to find and that they just didn't think of citing you. On the other hand, if they were quite surprised by your algorithm, it's surprising that they would neglect to mention your contribution. </p>\n\n<p>Either way, I would try asking them, in a friendly way.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28861,
"author": "Zeshan Khan",
"author_id": 22112,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22112",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The plagiarism in any type would be discouraged and you can claim that plagiarism. The journal will investigate it and will find if it is plagiarism or not.\nThe theses is not the property of your supervisor as it's your effort and you may publish with or without your supervisor.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>IEEE Introduction to the Guidelines for Handling Plagiarism\n Complaints. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2014, from\n <a href=\"http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/plagiarism.html\">http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/plagiarism.html</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28864,
"author": "ddiez",
"author_id": 21435,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21435",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Without knowing the whole story in detail, I would just say that if you contributed <em>significantly</em> to the work that has been published then you should be a co-author. If you are not, this may count as plagiarism (look at misleading attribution at <a href=\"http://www.ithenticate.com/resources/reports/decoding-plagiarism-and-attribution\" rel=\"nofollow\">iThenticate</a>).</p>\n\n<p>It would be wise, however, to contact them to subtly enquire about the issue before throwing any accusations. Throwing false accusations can be more harmful to your future career than losing credit for some work you did.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28871,
"author": "Charles",
"author_id": 22119,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22119",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What college did you go to? Your thesis was done at a University/College under the instruction of your School. They have a clause in all Universities in England which states that any ideas you come up with/Develop at University belongs to the university itself. This is how the vast majority of Uni's make money by selling patents.</p>\n\n<p>Usually the University will publish ideas/sell patents with the student in partnership. However if its for a small publication (Which no money is received its for the good of the general public) then there is no need to notify the student.</p>\n\n<p>Look up the clauses of your university faculty before making wild allegations of Plagiarism. Having done a Masters you should know to carry out research before coming to a conclusion</p>\n\n<p>Kind Regards </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28906,
"author": "a. friend",
"author_id": 22162,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22162",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You need to check your university's policies on the faculty/student authorship question: your professor/s may have every right to use your work in this way, which used to be standard academic practice. Standard copyright/intellectual property rules may be waived or not applicable to your situation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28915,
"author": "Tom H",
"author_id": 22168,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22168",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Please correct me if I'm wrong, but one thing I haven't heard mentioned in this discussion is the fact that, in many universities, accepted theses and dissertations are at least self-published by the university, and are made available in some form to the public. This would make it citable even if it wasn't actually published in a journal. This, I should think, would add weight to the claim of plagiarism.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 55214,
"author": "dwoz",
"author_id": 38642,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38642",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First off, your understanding of copyright is flawed. The original author retains original copyright, and in your case, your university has, by virtue of being your university, been granted by you (look it up...it's in there) an unlimited LICENSE to use your copyright, and possibly/probably some first publication rights.</p>\n\n<p>They do not own the copyright.</p>\n\n<p>This is the same with patents. You discover something? You have the patent, which is assigned to the University. Your name is still on it, even though they own the rights to it.</p>\n\n<p>Now, on to attribution: An unpublished work is generally not \"citeable.\" It adds no credence or credibility. The appropriate structure here (assuming all the writeup at face value) is that you should receive an attribution as a contributor. i.e. \"implementation and algorithm concepts are based on the thesis work of gaganbm.\" If your work was actually published in a journal or such, a citation would be very appropriate.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28857",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22111/"
] |
28,858 |
<p>In majority of universities around the world, the PhD examining committee should meet and allow PhD student to defend his/her thesis. Based on the thesis content and student performance in the viva, the committee decides whether to grant PhD to the candidate or not. </p>
<p>In most of the cases that I have seen, there are 4 types of decisions</p>
<ol>
<li>Accept as it is (Distinction in some universities)</li>
<li>Accept with Minor Revisions (without re-examination of thesis)</li>
<li>Accept with Major Revisions (without re-examination of thesis)</li>
<li>Major Revisions with re-examination</li>
<li>Reject (No PhD; some universities grant MSc instead of PhD if the work is fine but its contribution is small).</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Now my questions are:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>How often do employers ask for PhD examination Committee decision report at the time of application/interview?</li>
<li>Considering the PhD requirement by almost all universities for the professorship positions, how the decision by the committee members impacts employment. My main concern is about the first three decisions of "accept." Can a PhD graduate who has "accept with major revision" never gets job in good places"?</li>
</ol>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28865,
"author": "Jessica B",
"author_id": 20036,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20036",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've never seen the decision asked for in job applications. I don't know whether it is something that could reasonably be asked for (that might depend on what country you are in, or what subject). </p>\n\n<p>Personally, I suspect there might be more of an indirect effect. Minor revisions I would expect to be pretty much the same as no revisions, but a request of major revisions might indicate that the thesis isn't so good, which could correlate with chances in job applications. On the other hand, it may well be that the meaning of 'major revisions' varies considerably by university, so no meaningful comparison could be made.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28928,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Most faculty know that dissertation defenses can be capricious. A single holdout can ask for unreasonable changes.</p>\n\n<p>If there's any doubt in my mind (as a member of a search committee) as to the quality of the dissertation, I'll read the dissertation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28940,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At least in the US context, I've never heard of such a report being asked for.</p>\n\n<p>In fact, in the case of my own PhD (at <a href=\"http://web.mit.edu\">MIT</a>) no report ever existed. In the major US research universities I've been at, PhDs are ungraded. You either get one or you don't.</p>\n\n<p>For sure, the outcomes on your list are all possible. Where I've been though, there is a sheet of paper that has to be signed by the faculty committee members saying that the thesis was successfully defended and accepted. The details of what needed to happen to convince the faculty that the thesis or its defense was good enough were the criteria that the committee used to decided when to sign the sheet (your cases #1-4) or when to tell a student that they never would (your case #5) but they were never part of a formal report. </p>\n\n<p>Perhaps in countries where the specifics of the examination process are more clear, this might be asked for? It's still hard for me to imagine.</p>\n\n<p>If you're going into academic jobs, the letters from the committee members, and the dissertation itself, will tell folks much more than any formal report on the first draft of a dissertation will. If you're heading into academia, you <em>will</em> be asked for those things.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28858",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6393/"
] |
28,868 |
<p>I have a graph of points from a set of experiments,
that I want to present on a slide.</p>
<p>The important information in the graph is both the values of the points,
and more significantly, that the green points are above the blue points.</p>
<p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/9geYe.png" alt="scatter" /></p>
<p>It is quick and easy to get my plotting framework (matplotlib)
to connect each point to the next:</p>
<p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/s6sbL.png" alt="connected scatter" /></p>
<p>It should be fairly clear to anyone that the relationship between points is not expected to be linear.</p>
<p>I thought I could want to put the line in to make it clear that one is below the other. It can be hard to see the point markers on the projector screen.</p>
<p><strong>Is this a good idea?
Does showing plots this way enhance the visibility of the them for presenting, or does the fact the that lines themselves are fairly meaningless distract too much?</strong></p>
<h3>Audience concerns:</h3>
<p>The whole presentation is for graduating engineering students and must be simple. While they would normally have the capacity to deal with complicated plots, the content of the presentation is complicated enough that I don’t want to distract them with anything that might waste thought time. I have already rejected the box-and-whiskers plot as too complicated; this is a plot of the mean values of that data.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28870,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Drawing the lines implies a continuous relationship between the parameters. So if you can expect continuity, then connecting the points is fine. A second point to make is to avoid colours that are as similar as the green and blue you have chosen. One reason the difference is hard to see in the first scatter plot is due to colour. Try to experiment with colours that contrast better and your problem may be solved by just altering colours for one or both of the data sets.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28879,
"author": "Raphael",
"author_id": 1419,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1419",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You say you want to compare your data sets <em>qualitatively</em>, that is make clear which is \"better\". Since they seem to follow similar functions and are close together, <em>normalisation</em> can be a good tool.</p>\n\n<p>Consider, for instance, this plot:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/154hH.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"><br>\n<sup>Note how the defaults of Mathematica 10 end up creating a far clearer plot.</sup></p>\n\n<p>Knowing both functions are basically 1/√n you can multiply the value by, say, n:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/Hv6Mz.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>Now the \"winner\" is more clear. </p>\n\n<p>Similar effects can be achieved by (other) axis transformations, cut-offs, zooms, etc. You have to be transparent about what transformations you apply, though, because you can easily end up with a plot that says \"A is thrice as good as B!\" even though the real difference was miniscule.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28880,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<h3>Concerning the general question</h3>\n<p>Yes, it is acceptable to connect points, even if only discrete data points exist in theory and there is no continuum. If there is reason to expect that somebody misinterpretes your visualisation due to this or if you can expect the audience to be picky about this, add the sentence (on the slide or spoken):</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Lines are for eye guidance only.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<h3>Concerning your special diagram</h3>\n<ul>\n<li>As already remarked, the colours are not well chosen (and will probably look even worse when projected). I recommend to use colours with a strong contrast, for example a white or almost white background and for the data 1) black or almost black, 2) pure red. (Be careful about pure green though, since most projectors will screw it up – dark green is better.)</li>\n<li>Depending on how important you consider certain things:\n<ul>\n<li>Use a logarithmic scale (or similar) for the abscissa (<em>x</em>-axis). This way points do not cluster that much for small <em>x</em> and will be easier to read.</li>\n<li>Use a logarithmic scale for the ordinate (<em>y</em>-axis). This way, the exponential relationship you mentioned becomes apparent immediately. However, the points for small <em>x</em> will get even closer to each other.</li>\n</ul>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28902,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Grids are an obsolete fossil that should no longer be used. Back in the days, they helped to make the plots, and also made easier to manually retrieve the data from the graph. Nowadays, it is no longer necessary, as tables with the data are available elsewhere.</p>\n\n<p>And if and when they are necessary, they should be as little intrusive as possible. Your grey-blue background is just too heavy.</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/0K80f.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\">\n<img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/iy6d5.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>Once that is out of the way, you can try a log scale for the x axis, as many points are accumulated near 0:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/hS3OR.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>I think here is pretty clear that blue is always greater than green. Whether adding a line or not is good, is a matter of taste:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/V6IZH.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>In my opinion, and as a general rule, I would say that the lines are acceptable as long as the \"wiggling\" is due to the actual shape of the function, and not due to noise. That is, when adding more points (taking more measurements) will not change significantly the shape of said curve (or we don't expect it to).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28905,
"author": "Floris",
"author_id": 15062,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15062",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For display purposes, a smooth curve is the most logical thing to use. There are some nice spline fitting routines that allow you to create a fit that can be constrained to minimize curvature (in the process missing points that don't quite lie on the smooth curve), or you can simply eyeball the data and come up with a reasonable fit (for display - not for analysis).</p>\n\n<p>I spent just a couple of minutes on this, but came up with the following:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/15Sgm.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>This is basically an overlay of an Excel plot that I created (making the axes invisible) - using a simple 4 parameter model:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/80HWp.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>For the blue and green curves, I found parameters</p>\n\n<pre><code> blue green\nA 0.8 0.8\nB 1.0 1.0 \nC 1.0 0.5\nD .05 .03\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>Obviously since you have the raw data and matplotlib, you must know how to do a better fit, but this works well.</p>\n\n<p>In general, I like to show only as much information as is needed on a plot. If the point is \"this is a rapidly decaying curve and green is above blue\", then I would definitely leave off the grid, and maybe even most of the numbers (run the X axis from 0 to 100, with just two labels, and the Y axis from 0 to 1).</p>\n\n<p>I think that your data probably doesn't go negative - so I would definitely want to fix that X axis.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to further make the point \"we measured this data\", then leaving the points on the graph as well as the smooth fit is an OK thing to do. I would consider adding error bars to show that the fit is good - and that the points are bad.</p>\n\n<p>Again - you want to make it so that the information is \"only what you need\". My personal preference would be like this:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/2FOLZ.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<p>So fewer ticks on the axes, but do add a legend (I call them \"blue\" and \"green\", but you should use a more meaningful name) and do label the axes - numbers alone are not enough.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28908,
"author": "dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten",
"author_id": 440,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/440",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm going to bring particle physics practice to the table and say <strong><em>never</em></strong> connect-the-dots. Nor should you run splines through data. Run <em>meaningful</em> fits through the data or nothing.</p>\n\n<p>These rules reflect the understanding in that discipline that individual points can have significant error or uncertainty associated with them, and the reader needs to see the data <em>in toto</em> without focusing on individual anomalies. If you know the data can't have these issues then relaxing these rules probably doesn't cause a lot of harm.</p>\n\n<p>So what can you do. </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Use more visually distinguished markers. A combination of shape, fill and color (with as color-blind friendly a palette as you can of course) gives the reader several ways to hook into the difference.</p></li>\n<li><p>Use a different plotting (normalized, anomaly from theory, linearization of power-laws, etc). This is what <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/28879/440\">Raphael suggested</a>. Finding these can be a bit of an art.</p></li>\n<li><p>If you have a well justified theory (or even a good seat of the pants model), draw fit lines: those automatically reflect the whole data set (good!).</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Some points on the basic drawing of your figure.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Ditch the gray background. It only makes the data harder to read <em>and</em> makes Tufte cry.</p></li>\n<li><p>Using filled circles for both series is a way to cause maximum visual confusion.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28909,
"author": "fixer1234",
"author_id": 22164,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22164",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>An alternate approach to connecting the dots: insert a line between the datasets to illustrate that one set of points is above the line and the other below. If it is not inappropriate to the data, use a log scale for X to gain some space between the packed points at the left to improve visibility. Use of higher contrast colors and marker shapes was previously suggested.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28987,
"author": "h22",
"author_id": 10920,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10920",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Normally it is better to use some kind of curve fitting (splines, etc), as we are not assuming that the measurements are absolutely accurate and the connecting lines should go from point to point. </p>\n\n<p>However measurement points must also be present and very clearly visible, as they are our results and the line is our hypothesis, interpretation. Ideally showing error bars (confidence intervals) would be a good idea.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28868",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8513/"
] |
28,872 |
<p>This question is about inquiring regarding paper status.</p>
<p>I had submitted a paper, and recently I just discovered that the manuscript tracking system shows that the editorial committee has received the referee's report. But, this status has remained for over a week and I still have not heard from the editor handling my paper. </p>
<p>Should I then email the editor as a reminder? Would this act instead be taken as urging? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28873,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No, there is absolutely no need to send a reminder after one week. The editor might be busy or on vacation or whatever or, maybe, he is deciding that he needs further reviews to decide.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28874,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A week is not a long time for an editor to take a decision. He might need to go through the paper in more detail than previously, in order to check on the reviewers' criticism. It might even be that the reviewers have diverging opinions or brought up some points that need further clarification, so that the editor needs to seek further advice.</p>\n\n<p>If the overall time since the paper has been submitted is still reasonable, I wouldn't inquire at all for the moment. If the paper has also been under review for a long time already, it may be reasonable to wait for another week or two and then inquire about the status of the submission.</p>\n\n<p>An inquiry might be perceived as urging by the editor if he has the feeling that everything is in time with the paper. If the paper has been in review relatively long and you make a general inquiry, it shouldn't leave any bad feelings.</p>\n\n<p>In professionally managed journals, the professional editorial staff would take care of such inquiries without involving the scientific editor at all, so you don't need to really worry in these cases. Just make sure to address the contact point where you got the submission receipt from, and not the editor from the general journal information page.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28875,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When thinking about contacting an editor you need to consider the costs and benefits. In all but the most extreme circumstances (where the editor has completely lost track of your submission), the the editor is not going to be happy about a request for a status update. Responding to status update requests are in general not a huge deal, but they essentially are saying \"you are behind and my time is more important than yours\". In terms of the benefit, a few more days delay until publication usually has little cost (accept the anxiety knowing a decision is coming). In rare circumstances, a few days can matter a lot. For example, a resubmission where there is a high likelihood that it will be accepted and therefore \"in press\" and you have a grant deadline (or job application) in the next few days, would have a potentially large payoff. Similarly, a submission that has been stuck in the same state for too long (whatever that means), and there is real worry that the manuscript has gotten lost. It is not unheard of for electronic systems to have bugs or editors to leave or get sick. I would say a week in the final decision stage does not qualify as anywhere near \"too long\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28877,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Once reviewers reports have been returned, the editor has to assess the reviews in light of the paper and provide the author with indications on how to proceed. Exactly how this come through will differ between fields and editors. The main point, however, is that a certain amount of work is usually needed to process the reviews before passing the manuscript with comments back to the author. Since editors also handle, sometimes, quite large volumes of papers in parallel, your manuscript will be placed in a queue and the editor will likely take each manuscript in order. In addition, many, if not most, editors do their editing in parallel to ordinary faculty jobs which may at times further limit their available time. It is thus reasonable that this process may take several weeks. In \"my\" journal we as editors have three weeks for this process before being reminded by the electronic submission system that the manuscript is \"due\". We often make this deadline, but not always depending n workload.</p>\n\n<p>So, one week is definitely too short a time to expect a response. Three weeks seems to be reasonable in my field but I would maybe allow even additional time to pass. It is probably good to talk to your peers who may have experience with the particular journal and also your field to get feedback on what is considered reasonable.</p>\n\n<p>Added to clarify a comment: it is never \"bad\" to contact anyone, but it is only fair to allow a a \"reasonable\" (in the sense of the field and specific journal) amount of time to pass since the early contact will not likely yield anything productive. What, on the other hand, is bad is rather the attitude with which some contacts are made. Insights into appropriate time frames will help to keep communications as fruitful as possible.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28937,
"author": "JohnM",
"author_id": 22185,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22185",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The editor has to decipher what the reviewers mean. Few publications use a check-list system, which the most comprehensive and clearest way to handle reviews, so the editor has to figure out whether the reviewers are saying \"publish\", \"modify and resubmit\" or \"reject completely - unsalavageable\".</p>\n\n<p>If you don't hear anything in another week then email the editor saying that you apologise for the intrusion but you've been having problems with your email system and were wondering if an email to you has gone missing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28962,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Echoing other responses, one week is really not all that much time for a paper to be sitting on an editor's desk, and it's not worth sending a query.</p>\n\n<p>The only exception to this is if the paper is expressly on a fast-track publication schedule or some sort of deadline that might matter to the journal is rapidly approaching (for example, the publication of an article on the same day the results are presented at a major conference).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28872",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18107/"
] |
28,878 |
<p>I would like to know is there any format or things have to be aware when writing a support letter?</p>
<p>The letter is to support the application of a student to an award.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28883,
"author": "999",
"author_id": 22125,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22125",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you work with them, write about how good they were in the office, how they did work and how it helped the company.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28887,
"author": "J. Zimmerman",
"author_id": 7921,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7921",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A great letter of support for a student will include the standard elements of a recommendation. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Your relation to the student (lecturer, lab supervisor, academic mentor, etc.) </p></li>\n<li><p>The student's significant contributions to the school, the community, and the specific program.</p></li>\n<li><p>The student's academic excellence</p></li>\n<li><p>Other important factors. (Why are you being asked for this letter of support? What do you know about this student that supports their suitability for this award?) </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In all of these, be specific. Don't just say \"X is an excellent student\". Say \"X is an excellent student, as evidenced by their insightful participation in class, their strong paper (won an award at [student conference in field]), and their continued dedication to learning. I was impressed most by x, y and z.\" </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28878",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22126/"
] |
28,884 |
<p>I saw a question asking how to write recommendation letters and I wonder why this is so important? Why are recommendation letters crucial for scholarship applications for studying in Masters or research ? They should be more interested in the student willing to work hard and be loyal to the studies, not cheat, or plagarise or use unfair means to win. What will a recommendation do instead? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28895,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your question seems to present the use of letters of recommendation as being orthogonal to the goals of selecting hard-working and dedicated students. <strong>This is simply a false assumption.</strong></p>\n\n<p>The purpose of letters of recommendation is to ensure the person making the selections that they are choosing qualified candidates who will satisfy the needs of the program. Anybody can claim to be hard-working, but how do you know this is <em>actually</em> the case? If you have several people, well-versed in the needs of research or advanced study in a given topic, telling you that candidate X has all the prerequisites and character traits needed to ensure success, you're a lot more likely to believe it than just to take someone's word about himself or herself.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28910,
"author": "Tom Au",
"author_id": 755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/755",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>\"They should be [more] interested in the student willing to work hard\n and be loyal to the studies, not cheat, or plagiarize or use unfair\n means to win.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>True enough. But letters of recommendation are the best way to \"find out.\"</p>\n\n<p>Grades and test scores certainly count, but they do not \"testify\" to a student's ethics or his/her ability to \"game\" the system. Only human beings know what was really behind someone's record. The way to get that kind of information is to have students submit letters of recommendation.</p>\n\n<p>What people <strong>don't</strong> say is often has important as what people say. In a litigious American society, not everyone will point out someone's negatives. But a letter to the effect of \"s/he did okay in my class as far as I remember\" is not exactly a ringing endorsement but rather a red flag, especially if that person has a high grade.</p>\n\n<p>The classic example of \"damning with faint praise\" was cited by my father, a retired professor. \"If you knew him as well as we do, you would appreciate him as much.\"</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28884",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22125/"
] |
28,888 |
<p>I am nearly finished with my master's degree. Recently, I enrolled in a required course that is a terrible mess. I'd like to wait another year, and take it again with an instructor who has their stuff together and will actually answer student questions and prepare lessons that match the exams. Delaying graduation seems preferable to wasting more time on this course.</p>
<ul>
<li>Some classmates gave the teacher what I believe are reasonable suggestions, but the instructor just gave excuses.</li>
<li>I looked all through the course catalog, but only see policies that assume students are the problem-makers. For instance, after one week into the term, students get no tuition refunds and a "W".</li>
<li>I'd rather not create problems for the instructor, who is new to this job.</li>
</ul>
<p>Are there any steps I can take to clear myself of this mess?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28911,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have seen cases where the instructor is given a module just two weeks before it starts, has no time to prepare, and might not have the proper background to teach it. </p>\n\n<p>You might consider that the instructor is doing his/her best with what they have to work with. You might consider talking with the instructor to see what they believe you should be doing in order to succeed in the course. If they say \"read the book\" then you should read the book and study with little support. </p>\n\n<p>Not all instructor are good and some are good but in a bad situation (that is, a situation not of their own making but rather one forced upon them). Either way, talk with them and find out what you can do to succeed.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28927,
"author": "Benoît Kloeckner",
"author_id": 946,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>Warning:</em> my answer might be out of focus for you because it takes into account only the information on your question, while some of your comments complement that information.</p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, some instructor do waste students' time by doing a very poor job; I'll assume this is the case here (but note that sometimes students feel that a course is done very badly but realize later that they learned more than they expected: student need not know better than instructors what they really need).</p>\n\n<p>Here is basically what I told to students complaining that their instructor made the course impossible to follow when I was responsible for a 500 students, 20 instructors course (they were not the first to complain about these instructors, and I had other evidence preventing me to blame them for the problem): I know your teacher is not the teacher you would have wanted, but I cannot do anything beside reporting the issue to him, which will certainly not solve the problem instantly. We have the same issue as teachers, having some students that often do not know the prerequisites for the course, are not willing to learn them as we tell, and/or do not believe us when we say that the course needs a fair amount of personal work. <em>Both teachers and students should do their best in the situation they are given,</em> which means that you can and should try to talk with your teacher to mitigate the issues you have, but at the same time be prepared for the issue not to be solved before the end of term, and find a way to learn what you have to learn. There are books, there are other students with whom to work, etc. If you think it is best, don't waste time with the instructor's course and learn by yourself while keeping in touch with the important information (homework, exam dates, etc.)</p>\n\n<p>So to state this again in fewer words, it seems much more efficient for you to make your best to master the course content, judging this content from the syllabus and what related books discuss, rather than expecting next year's instructor to be better.</p>\n\n<p>I would say that the expected outcomes of such an attitude should be:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>you learn valuable things and pass the exam, because ultimately it tested what you learned,</p></li>\n<li><p>you learn valuable things and pass the exam, because your institution realizes that there is an issue and makes it right somehow,</p></li>\n<li><p>you learn valuable things and fail the exam, which turns out to be indeed impossible.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Even in the last case, you get more from this attitude than dropping the course altogether.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Edit:</strong> this answer was written under the assumption that the class is mandatory, as I (mis-?)understood the question. Of course, for a class that is not needed or that can be switched with another, then these would be options to consider seriously. If the course can be delayed without losing the benefit of the other courses, this would also be an option to consider. So my answer is really about what to do if dropping or failing the course implies one has to take the whole year again.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29703,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My thoughts:</p>\n\n<p>First, you need to make sure that the problem is the instructor and not you. Are a large number of other students having the same problems? In my experience, it is also often the case that a class appears badly taught to a student who is missing something key about the material. For example, when I was a grad student TAing for an artificial intelligence class, we often had people complain that we tested them on different material than we had taught them. In fact, however, they were missing the point: the real material was the methodologies for decomposing problems, not the particular examples of problem decomposition that had been used to teach this methodology. Their classmates who had grasped the key idea of the class, however, had no problems.</p>\n\n<p>If, however, the problems are really a matter of the instructor giving a terribly badly organized course, then I think that your third premise (don't want to cause trouble because they are new) is fundamentally flawed.</p>\n\n<p>If this instructor is expecting to have a career involving teaching, it's much better to have serious problems brought up early, where they can become part of a \"plan for improvement\" rather than several years down the line, where they are part of a pattern that will get them fired. Most departments really do care about teaching (among other things, because it affects the number of students they get and thus their resources within the institution), but often don't have a lot of resources available to devote to <em>managing</em> teaching.</p>\n\n<p>You have an academic advisor in the department, yes? Go to that person with a report of the widespread problems, and ask their help. It's unlikely that anything will actually be able to change this semester (schedules are set too far in advance), but:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>It will help establish a record that can cause things to change in the future.</li>\n<li>Your academic advisor will be able to help figure out how to deal with the matter of credits in your program, and whether it's better to drop or to grind through or to attempt some sort of petition (in many departments, you can do anything if the right three people are willing to sign the right piece of paper)</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29763,
"author": "J.R.",
"author_id": 780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/780",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p><em>some have suggested complaining or going to some authority, but offer no specific suggestions about how to do this</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>First, you need to understand how the authority chain is structured in academia. Your first course of action is to confront the instructor, which you've already done. The next step up would be the department head, and after that, the dean of the school – but I wouldn't recommend going past the department head with your complaints. </p>\n\n<p>You need to do this very carefully. You need to be level-headed, respectful, factual, and specific. Be sure your case is compelling. In the event of a \"he-said/she-said\" debate, assume the department head will probably lean toward having the faculty member's back, rather than believing an offended student. Many students are too quick to complain when things don't go their way, making it easy for complaints to fall on deaf and jaded ears. </p>\n\n<p>For example, in the scant details you've provided here:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><em>Assignments are graded without rubric</em>.<br>\nI won't dispute the value of rubrics, but this is hardly a grievous offense. Many instructors don't opt to use rubrics.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Homework is graded inconsistently with instructions</em>.<br>\nThis will be very hard to prove. A lot of assignments are by nature subjective, and it's hard to pinpoint why grades are given the way they are. Students often turn in work that is inconsistent. For example, say I assign some problem to be answered with an essay question. One student gets right to the heart of the matter, but the overall work is sloppy, and it reads like a draft that was hastily written 10 minutes before class. Another misses the point a little bit, but the essay is carefully crafted and has a lot of supporting detail. A third addresses the matter from an angle I hadn't considered before. How are my instructions supposed to cover all those cases, and more? (Moreover, assignment instructions are often very hard to get right the first time around, because you don't yet know how students might misinterpret stated requirements.)</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Tests are very hard, but contain no relationship to the course assignments and lessons</em>.<br>\nThe first part of that is <strong>not</strong> a problem, although the second part is. If you start out by complaining about difficult tests, you may come across as a whiner and get very little sympathy or support. Be very careful about even mentioning that \"tests are very hard.\" </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>You'll also have to figure out what you want the end goal of your complaints to be. Do you want action taken before the semester is over? Or are you only looking to give feedback so that next year's students don't find themselves in the same unfortunate circumstances? If you're hoping for intervention this term, probably the best you could hope for is for the department head to counsel the instructor, urging him to get his act together before the end of the term. But there are two sides to every story, and, unless your complaints are true on a large level, you're unlikely to get much sympathy. In other words, a bad question here and there on an exam is part of getting a new course underway, as are confusing assignments. If these are just normal \"growing pains,\" you'll come off as a malcontent. On the other hand, if these are verifiable, wholesale shortcomings in the ability to conduct a course fairly and effectively, you might get a department head to step in, and urge the professor to get his act together. Even then, though, you'll probably have to make it to the end of the course, and you might see very little improvement. It's unlikely that the instructor will be reassigned midstream. </p>\n\n<p>In short, you'll have to convince the department head that this faculty member is bordering on incompetence, and that it's not merely a case of an unpopular professor. This might be a tough sell. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29771,
"author": "Adrienne",
"author_id": 13729,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13729",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I haven't seen this suggested...</p>\n\n<p>How connected are you to the other students in the course?\nIs it possible for you to meet as a group with the department chair?</p>\n\n<p>You've got little power in the situation, but one thing you do have in your favor is that a new instructor is unlikely to fail a huge proportion of the class, particularly if those students have politely met with the department chair to express their concerns and provide samples of the lectures, homework and exams.</p>\n\n<p>You can't get out of the class, but you can make it advantageous for the instructor to give everyone a good grade.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30062,
"author": "BiA",
"author_id": 22989,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22989",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are about to finishing your master degree I strongly suggest not to postpone this course another year. Study for it with the material the professor gave you and if you find that something is missing or not clear speak with the professors.</p>\n\n<p>Doing a master degree is not only about having good professors and learning from them. You are also supposed to learn (a little) by yourself. Not like a PhD student, of course.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to help your professor in getting the course better talk to him. Going through his superiors is not helping. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30072,
"author": "David Hill",
"author_id": 11258,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11258",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would not recommend going over your professor's head at this point. At least, it is not clear that you have done everything possible to turn the situation around. I'm hoping that your goal is to understand the content of the class so that you are not wasting the term.</p>\n\n<p>I think that, instead of asking the professor to change, you should approach him under the premise that you want to adapt to do better in the course. To do this, I would propose the following strategy:</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>1) You want to understand the grading of the homework. So go to your professors office each week with your graded homework and tell him/her you want to find strategies for doing better on future assignments. Ask to go over the assignment to learn how/why you lost points. </p>\n\n<p>DO NOT ASK FOR POINTS BACK. If the grading is fair, you will get a better sense for what is expected. If it is not fair, s/he will likely recognize this as you go through the assignment, and might offer to regrade it without prompting. Be polite and engaged with the material. You want your professor to take an active interest in your success in the class.</p>\n\n<p>2) The midterm may or may not have anything to do with the content of the course. At the master's level you should be expected to go beyond regurgitation and apply your knowledge. Take your graded exam to your professor and tell him/her you want to learn the material better. If you do not understand how a particular problem is connected to the course, it is okay to say so. But, don't make it seem like it is the professor's problem. Remember, you are trying to learn. You might say something like \"could you explain how you think about this problem? I didn't see how to solve it using the techniques from class.\"</p>\n\n<p>Again, DO NOT ASK FOR POINTS BACK. Give your professor the opportunity to help you understand the test. If some aspect of the test is unfair, allow your professor to realize this on his/her own. As before, be positive and engaged. You do not want your professor to feel threatened.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>In summary, I'd like to remind you that professors are people too. If you only give negative feedback, you are unlikely to get the outcome you want. If you are not receiving the support in class to succeed, it is okay to get more help outside of class. However, this is going to also require more work on your part.</p>\n\n<p>It is going to create more work for your professor as well. If other students struggling in the class do the same thing, this will amount to a lot more work, and may be enough incentive for the professor to make the changes you are looking for. Just make sure you keep your interactions polite and respectful.</p>\n\n<p>If, in the end, this strategy doesn't work, you will have taken concrete steps to improve the situation. This will be important if you ultimately feel you need to take the issue to the department chair.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28888",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
] |
28,892 |
<p>A TA normally has a hourly contract for working with a professor. Who pays for this contract? The professor's external funding is for research, not education.</p>
<p>If the department pays for that, how the budget is distributed among professors, as every professor (almost any) would appreciate having TA.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28893,
"author": "dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten",
"author_id": 440,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/440",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the schools with which I am familiar,the <em>department</em> pays for all teaching activities, including Teaching Assistants.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28894,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your question makes assumptions that are not necessarily valid.</p>\n\n<p>For instance, in the US (where I studied), the contracts for TA's are normally paid for at the departmental level. The department gets a budget from the university to cover a certain amount of TA's, which it allocates to the different courses taught in the department, usually based on the expected enrollment. Courses that have traditionally enrolled more students (usually intro classes) as well as lab courses tend to have more TA's than smaller, more specialized courses. </p>\n\n<p>By contrast, in Germany, the expectation is that the individual professors' research groups are responsible for providing the funding for teaching assistants. In part, this is done through the contribution of faculty-wide teaching resources, as well as having permanent positions called <em>Planstelle</em> which have teaching duties associated with them. So the money in large part still comes from the faculty, but the organization process is at the scale of an individual group.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28964,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In Sweden, PhD students and Post docs are paid with the PI research money for doing research. Teaching is optional (but in some departments it is expected or strongly encouraged), in which case it is paid from the department's teaching budget.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28892",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13854/"
] |
28,900 |
<p>I have a bachelors degree in Computer Science & Engineering and have specific experience in geographic information systems (GIS). I am planning to enroll in a GIS PhD program and have searched for <a href="http://www.gradschools.com/search-programs/geographic-information-systems/doctorate" rel="nofollow">United States universities with GIS PhD programs</a>. However, none of these PhD programs are offered from a Computer Science department: all programs are in either a Geography department or Civil Engineering department or Earth Science department. Should I apply to these other departments even though I come from a Computer Science background? </p>
<p><em>Can a student complete his PhD program in a university department other then the department of his undergraduate work?</em></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28916,
"author": "albert",
"author_id": 12412,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12412",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>\"Should I apply to these other departments even though I come from a Computer Science background?\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Absolutely! Degree programs vary per institution in scope and means, but the ends are often the same, after completing the program you will have a PhD in GIS. You can use this to your advantage to tailor a degree to your strengths, providing its offered at the institution(s) of your choice. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"Can a student complete his PhD program in a university department\n other then the department of his undergraduate work?\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, a student accepted to a GIS PhD program could complete it in a department other than Computer Science, provided the institution attending offered such a degree program.</p>\n\n<p>I'm sure some schools want certain backgrounds, similar to how most seek out a certain GPA. This will vary for each university you are interested in as each university is unique and offers unique programs and opportunities. </p>\n\n<p>Open data driven via GIS maps is going to rise in demand astronomically. As well as the rest of the tenets of openness shall; but in your case, I think you are tailored for a gig in open journalism, and you should focus on web development while not pursuing your PhD. </p>\n\n<p>Learn web development with your GIS PhD. Your Computer Science background should make learning web development relatively effortless. </p>\n\n<p>This is not a great answer in terms of a definitive answer, but your possibilities are endless: </p>\n\n<p><strong>Further resources:</strong> </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.directionsmag.com/podcasts/the-gis-phd-dilemma/125077\" rel=\"nofollow\">GIS PHD Dilemma podcast</a> </li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.gisdoctor.com/site/gis-graduate-programs-ph-d-programs-and-certificate-programs/\" rel=\"nofollow\">list of gis programs and certifications</a> </li>\n<li><a href=\"https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080911115640AAfdJlR\" rel=\"nofollow\">Yahoo! Answers</a> </li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28922,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>When you go to a mainly geographic department, you will have to study courses for projections, spatial databases, geo-servers and mapping frameworks, which you already probably know through your job. Geographic departments have people without a programming background and therefore these people have to be trained almost from scratch, so they can do this type of research. On the other hand, many of these departments have some relatively young professors with a CS background who are really looking forward to work with CS people like you (instead of geographers) to mainly progress their research. In that sense, I am sure you can be accepted at such a program but prepare to have to take courses on things you are already familiar with. </p>\n\n<p>On the other hand there are many \"pure\" CS professors, working on \"pure\" CS departments, who also do GIS related research. If you look at more CS focused GIS conferences, like ACM SIGSPATIAL GIS you will find many papers by mainly CS people on GIS related subjects. So, you can search for possible advisors there, by looking at the papers that get published in such venues in the last 2-3 years. If you find some papers that deal with subjects that you are interested in, you can find out in what universities the authors work, perhaps contact them (advice on how to approach potential advisors is scattered everywhere on this site) and take it from there. It does not always matter the \"title\" of the PHD (if it says GIS or not) but IHMO it is more important to work with people that do interesting things, close to your interests. So, do not exclude the possibility to do GIS research on a pure CS department. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28900",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
28,925 |
<p>I wonder can I ask a lecturer who I took his course and I did amazing in his class for a letter of recommendation?<br>
The reason why I am asking is because lecturers are not usually doing research and might be permanent faculty member.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28926,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If you're applying for a research-based position, it is almost always better to have letters of recommendation from people who know you and can comment on your research skills. </p>\n\n<p>However, if you do not have enough letters of recommendation that can come from such people, then a letter of recommendation from someone who knows your work well and can comment on your strengths and weaknesses is also acceptable—even if it is not a \"permanent faculty member.\" </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 159135,
"author": "Ott Toomet",
"author_id": 131935,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/131935",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If a lecturer can comment your relevant skills, then there is nothing wrong with asking a reference letter. As your instructor, they may know that you are highly motivated, hard working, easily grasping the hard theoretical concepts... all very relevant for e.g. grad school.</p>\n<p>In my experience the problem is more often that the instructor does not really know you.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28925",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20608/"
] |
28,929 |
<p>I am filling out a <strong>"Consent to Publish"</strong> form and I need to fill out the <strong>Volume Editor(s) field</strong>. I tried to find out who these editors are, but all I found was the <strong>series editors</strong> and the <strong>main editor</strong>. </p>
<p>For example for the <a href="http://www.springer.com/series/558" rel="nofollow">Lecture Notes In Computer Science</a> there are 12 series editors. I doubt that I should list all 12 of them. Are the volume editors a subset of series editors, or are these two concepts unrelated?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28933,
"author": "Jukka Suomela",
"author_id": 351,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/351",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I guess this is a paper in conference proceedings that are published in the LNCS series?</p>\n\n<p>Usually volume editors = programme committee chairs (or at least the PC chairs are a subset of volume editors).</p>\n\n<p>Just put the names of the PC chairs; it is close enough. The series editors are something completely different (related to the entire LNCS series, not this particular volume).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28935,
"author": "al_b",
"author_id": 5963,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5963",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should ask the person who sent you this form (PC chair?) what to write there. Springer does advise them to send the form pre-filled. Volume editors are people preparing proceedings for the publications - but essentially, it is up to the conference organizers who will be listed there (e.g., whether to include BIG-SHOT-WHO-IS-EMERITUS-PCCHAIR and/or POOR-PHD-STUDENT-WHO-PROOFREAD-EVERY-PAPER). Thus, it is not easy for you as an author to guess... \nP.S. Or may be you googled for LncS copyright form?;)\nP.P.S. Series editors supervise the series - i.e., they approve the proposals for publication in the series. They should not be listed in the copyright form</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28929",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14651/"
] |
28,930 |
<p>The question of whether writing/editing <em>alone</em> merits authorship is already addressed <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21251/is-it-common-to-claim-co-authorship-by-helping-writing-a-paper-without-doing-any">here</a>. This question is about writing and editing <em>with the possibility of minor scientific contributions.</em></p>
<p>I have been asked to review a draft paper written by a colleague (a more senior PhD student in the same research group), whose native language is not English. The main purpose is to improve the style and grammar of the paper, rather than make substantial comments to the scientific content.</p>
<p>It is possible that I will be able to contribute some science to the paper, however not likely of the "pedagogical oversight" variety that is normally the domain of the last several authors on a ten-author paper. </p>
<p><strong>Should I approach my colleague with the request that I be placed on the author list, <em>only if</em> I can make a reasonable contribution to the science (by way of some substantial comments or extra data analysis)?</strong></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28931,
"author": "ddiez",
"author_id": 21435,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21435",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have the feeling this may be field dependent. In my field/experience (biological science/bioinformatics) people that are asked to help with English do not get co-authorship. Indeed, in many journals where the contribution to the manuscript has to be stated, editing of manuscripts is not considered as enough contribution to warrant co-authorship. Most of the time the person that edited the manuscript ends up in the acknowledgements. That being said, I know also of cases in this field where the person editing the English would get systematically a place in the list of authors.</p>\n\n<p>Personally, if I ask someone to check the English, I would not feel comfortable if the changes are substantial. The manuscript writing is critical for the work to stand a chance of being published and in such case I would most likely offer co-authorship. If the changes are minor then I will just include him/her in the acknowledgements section. At any rate, it is an important thing to discuss with your colleague before accepting the task of editing the manuscript.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28932,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The short answer is: it should not. But the reality is some think it should. Since there is no law that dictates authorship the closest to an answer is to look at the Vancouver Protocol and derivatives here exemplified by the <a href=\"http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html\">ICMJE (Internationa l Committee of Medical Journal Editors)</a> which defines an <em>author</em> as follows: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND</p></li>\n<li><p>Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND</p></li>\n<li><p>Final approval of the version to be published; AND</p></li>\n<li><p>Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>With these guidelines in mind many co-authorships would disappear but it becomes quite clear that help with language simply is not enough for co-authorship.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28944,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You don't say (here) what field you're in. I suppose that by doing this you intend to invite answers from different fields.</p>\n\n<p>In my own field of mathematics, it would be quite strange for someone to be added as a coauthor primarily for their editing work. </p>\n\n<p>Nevertheless I had a situation recently where I did substantially edit and rewrite a paper in which I was not an author. (I think this is already a bit unusual, but it's hard to know for sure.) In addition to the writing I included a small amount of content: \"minor scientific contributions\" covers it rather well, actually. Towards the end of the process I was offered coauthorship on the paper. I appreciated the offer but turned it down immediately: though I had contributed to the writing of the paper and contributed <em>some</em> mathematical content, the amount of mathematical content I had contributed was much less than that of the named authors. My perspective was, honestly, that they had already done the work but were having trouble writing it up in a way that would make it publishable in a good journal in a reasonable amount of time. To me, a good rule of thumb is that if subtracting your contribution would result in a paper which (i) still exists and (ii) could -- with additional routine work -- be submitted to the same journal, then your contribution was not sufficiently substantial to warrant coauthorship. In the case at hand, a description my contributions to the paper appears in the acknowledgments...written by me!</p>\n\n<p>There is another way to look at it that in my case made me even more convinced that I did the right thing. When contemplating adding an author, ask yourself what that person would gain by being added versus what the other authors would lose. In my case I would gain at most one more publication -- in fact, the third of a series in which I was a coauthor (the most senior one) on the first two. The two student coauthors would lose the prestige of having written a nice paper which does not have a faculty coauthor....as they deserve, because they did more than 95% of the mathematics of the paper on their own, without any guidance or direction from me. Adding myself as a coauthor would be undermining my own future plans, as I have and will again in the future talk about this work when recommending these students. But even if I was just a postdoc or a more senior grad student, fundamentally speaking how much credit can I get by being an author of a paper when as soon as anyone asks me about it I will feel honorbound to describe the minimal nature of my contributions?</p>\n\n<p>I hope that by the end I have waded back into a point which is relevant to your question. Academics should not be in the business of maximizing the number of papers which appear with our name on them. I don't know of any academic field where this is really the route to substantial academic success: you get hired for the actual strength of your work, not the number of your papers. Adding yourself as an author to a paper that you mostly just copyedited and then made some minor comments from a position of lesser insight/expertise than some of the named authors: in so doing you're not <strong>actually</strong> adding strength to you research program, are you? Anyone who might have been impressed with the paper is going to be distinctly disappointed when they learn what you actually did, right? I know that in some fields (much more than mine...) the quantitative standards for publication are very high: in some branches of engineering and the sciences you most certainly want to ensure that you are writing a lot of papers rapidly. But then you want to <em>really</em> be involved in the work of those papers, right? We've seen on this site how easy it is to publish papers in the absence of actual academic content. It's <strong>too easy</strong> to be a plausible route to legitimate academic success in most parts of the world.</p>\n\n<p>As I mentioned in a comment, you said that the one coauthor who is a native English speaker is the most junior author on the paper (a master's student). Well, that confluence of <em>lightness</em> of intellectual contribution and superior skill in this other domain makes that student the perfect person to do the copyediting, it seems to me. If their understanding is so limited that they can't even be trusted to edit the paper for non-content related issues, then I am worried about their being listed as an author at all: what could they have done?</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28930",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562/"
] |
28,942 |
<p>I have a PhD in Business with an emphasis in Political Marketing and a Masters in Linguistics. </p>
<p>Now due to some personal and life circumstances, I would like to start collaborating in research about Linguistics and second language acquisition. </p>
<p>My question is, can I initiate or collaborate on research and publish my work in a completely different field than my PhD?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28949,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is no reason why not. Consider this - you have already qualified in the field of linguistics to a Masters level, and presumably passed final examination/defense, therefore have already shown that you have knowledge and experience in that particular field - this can potentially help in generating research projects and collaborations</p>\n\n<p>I am in a very similar situation, my PhD is in Physics, my Masters is in Digital Education - I have been able to contribute published research to both - the published research in both has been the most assistance in my case.</p>\n\n<p>The main thing is to contribute robust and new research to the field, this is the main way that research collaborations can be initiated and generated.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28952,
"author": "curiousdannii",
"author_id": 21773,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21773",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you can perform some research and write it up with the result that a journal wants to publish it, then it doesn't matter what qualifications you have, if any at all! Many journals do blind reviews which means their reviewers don't know the qualifications of <em>any</em> of the papers they review.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28954,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Why not?</p>\n\n<p>Unless you are an already recognized person in a given field (to which you write this paper), reviewers don't care what is your main field. (Of course, you need to meet the same standards to the quality of research and writing.)</p>\n\n<p>You affiliation <em>may</em> bias reviewers (but I would guess that people would be more biased by prestige of the univ./institute/department than other factors). Moreover, it is not uncommon to:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>have people working in more than one field,</li>\n<li>official names of affiliation being not directly related to their actual specialization,</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>so I don't think it is a big factor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28957,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You certainly can. Just consider the example of Professor Scott E. Page (University of Michigan) who has published in the following fields:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Economics</li>\n<li>Political science</li>\n<li>Psychology</li>\n<li>Physics</li>\n<li>Management</li>\n<li>Public health</li>\n<li>Computer science</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>He has an MA in Math, MS in Business, and a PhD Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences.</p>\n\n<p>So you can not only publish in the area of your masters but even in areas unrelated to either your masters or PhD.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28942",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22191/"
] |
28,946 |
<p>I live in US and I am applying to graduate school.I wonder if it is a good idea to send an email to graduate school professors and mention that you like their research and would like to join their research labs?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28953,
"author": "Willie Wong",
"author_id": 94,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While you <em>live</em> in the US, you didn't specify whether you are applying to schools only in the US. And the answer depends. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Outside the US, especially Europe</strong>, quite frequently PhD positions are funded by individual professors. In these cases the hiring/admission decisions are made almost entirely by the professor in charge of the \"group\", and so the answer to your question is an \"Of course!\" There simply is no way to get your foot in the door otherwise. </p>\n\n<p><strong>In the US, or in countries where a US-style system is the norm</strong>, the admission of graduate students are made in committee, and it is <em>not</em> necessary to contact specific professors in the application process. This, however, is not to say that establishing a faculty contact won't help: sometimes it will at least earn your application a more detailed look, and sometimes you will find a person willing to advocate on your behalf during the committee meeting. </p>\n\n<p>In either case, <strong>be thoughtful when you craft your e-mail</strong>. In the US and elsewhere alike, professors often get e-mails exploring the possibility of doing a PhD. So make sure to do your homework! If you write a letter to Professor X asking about studying Subject A with him, and he has in fact left Subject A and had been working on Project B for the past 5 years, at best he would politely decline and at worst you may have created a bad first impression. Same thing goes for a bland letter stating \"I like your research\". By default academics are suspicious of empty platitudes: make sure to discuss your background (to show that you are making a somewhat informed judgment) and state what it is particularly that you like about her research. </p>\n\n<p>Furthermore, note that in some/many US schools, incoming graduate students for PhD programs do not formally choose an advisor until one or two years into the program. This has to do in part with the belief that the students should be allowed to see all the opportunities available to them, and the professors have some time to assess the students, to mutually make educated decisions about their partnerships. So you should also <strong>weigh your own feelings</strong>: are they strong enough that you absolutely must work with this one professor? Or do you have broad enough interests that you may want to hold off deciding until you learn more about the subjects? </p>\n\n<p>Lastly, if geography is not a barrier, instead of just an e-mail expressing interest, you can also consider writing and asking to schedule a face-to-face appointment. Even if you end up not working with the professors, more often than not you will learn something and get some very good advice from the discussion. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28961,
"author": "Madhura Gurjar",
"author_id": 22206,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22206",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Its a very good idea to write to the professor you are interested in working with. However, its very important to do your research and find out everything about them. Do use formal language. And show some insight into their work... \"I read your research paper on..., I think it has many applications, and we can expand the research to include.... and my background in... will be helpful\". But don't be critical of the work.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28946",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20608/"
] |
28,947 |
<p>I am doing research in text mining. For that I need a dataset which contain full text PDFs of research paper articles, and all articles should be related with each other in terms of citing. There are citation network datasets available which contain only metadata of papers, but with this I also want those full text articles in PDF format.</p>
<p>What should I do to get such dataset?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28956,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My first thought would be <a href=\"http://arXiv.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">arXiv</a>, where you can find 973,256 full-text papers.</p>\n\n<p>You <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/help/robots\" rel=\"nofollow\">may not bulk-download them directly</a> from arXiv.org, but <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/help/bulk_data\" rel=\"nofollow\">other methods</a> are available. In particular, you can download every PDF hosted by arXiv via Amazon S3, by paying a bandwidth charge of USD 0.12 per gigabyte. See <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/help/bulk_data_s3\" rel=\"nofollow\">these instructions</a>. Metadata in various formats is also available.</p>\n\n<p>Contrary to DTCLib's assertion that \"nobody could provide you with such a data set without violating copyright laws\", it is perfectly legal for arXiv to do this, since each author submitting a paper to the repository gives arXiv the right to redistribute the paper to anyone. Note, however, that does not in general give <em>you</em> the right to redistribute them further. (Some papers on arXiv are released under Creative Commons licenses, or even are in the public domain, but most are not.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28992,
"author": "ddiez",
"author_id": 21435,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21435",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>An alternative to arXiv mentioned in another response could be <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/\" rel=\"nofollow\">PubMed Central</a>, specially if you are interested on text mining of papers in biomedical and life sciences research.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 45292,
"author": "Amrith Krishna",
"author_id": 27978,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27978",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>ACL Anthology Network is a dataset, that contains about 22,000 articles related to conferences under the umbrella of ACL. they deal with papers in coputational lingusitics. The dataset contains text files for all the papers from 1960s to 2014. Some network information is also provided in the dataset.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://clair.eecs.umich.edu/aan/index.php\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://clair.eecs.umich.edu/aan/index.php</a></p>\n\n<p>If you want more structured XML files, the same can be obtained, but needs to be downloaded with a mass downlaoder, and is available for only about 9500 of papers. Also individual PDFs also need to be obtained separately, if required</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28947",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22232/"
] |
28,955 |
<p>My teacher's teaching style isn't working for me, and he asked for feedback about the class and how he could teach it better. He teaches with powerpoint and gives quizzes that are all about rote memorization of the slides. Most of the class finds these quizzes to be of little help in understanding the information, but nobody knows what to say to the teacher about it.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28958,
"author": "ddiez",
"author_id": 21435,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21435",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If the quizzes are of little help to everyone, and the teacher is asking for feedback on his teaching style, and nobody says anything, then the blame is on the students. If the teacher is sincerely asking for feedback he will not be offended by your comments (given you express them in a polite way). Tell him politely (and directly) what the problem is. He will surely appreciate the feedback.</p>\n\n<p>As an example, I am teaching programming to some students with little programming experience. They are struggling and I know some of the concepts are difficult to understand. At the end of every two classes I ask if the explanations and exercises are being helpful, if they are helping them to understand the topic. I always get positive feedback. That makes me a little nervous- if they are failing to communicate their difficulties I will fail to make them understand the topic. I would prefer constructive criticism than misunderstood politeness.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28959,
"author": "penelope",
"author_id": 4249,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4249",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Basically, I agree that what xLeitix said is the gist of if: <strong>as long as you are respectful, you should be fine</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>To elaborate a little, my only experience with giving feedback back to the professor is a bit specific: a fairly young professor, that just got the course for the first time and was trying to improve it. Like in your case, he also said that he would appreciate feedback.</p>\n\n<p>I'll try to give some specific advice, with a specific example of my situation:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>again, <strong>be very respectful</strong></p>\n\n<p>(In my situation, this meant that I didn't start loudly complaining in class as the reading material quality (made by the prof) steadily degraded during the year. Rather, when I found enough time, I passed by the professors office during the office hours and asked him if he would be interested in my feedback on his reading materials.)</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>be as informed as you can about the coursework</strong> for which you disagree with the teaching approach </p>\n\n<p>(Basically, why would I take your advice on how to teach X if you don't even have a rudimentary understanding of X?)</p></li>\n<li><p>be <strong>specific</strong>, and <strong>give argumented reasons</strong></p>\n\n<p>(For me, this meant, when he agreed to listen to my feedback -- he actually scheduled a meeting outside of his office hours for that class suspecting it will take some time -- I didn't just come and said the materials were getting worse. I had specific examples of pages and exercises that I had trouble solving, marked in the script. I also offered information like \"it took me X hours to finish and understand the first script (good quality), while it took me 4*X hours to finish the second one (worse quality), and they are supposed to cover approximately the same amount of coursework\". For you, it might mean explaining how and why you don't think the feedback you're getting from quizzes is not helpful.)</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>make specific recommendations or suggestion</strong> (but don't demand anything)</p>\n\n<p>(Again, in my case, alongside some of the things I marked, like exercises and definitions I had trouble with, sometimes I had my own versions of definitions, or I would re-phrase the examples in a way that made it easier for me to understand. It also help pointing out the ambiguities in the original and saying why you think your formulation resolves it.)</p></li>\n<li><p>be <strong>committed</strong>. The bigger the change you want to make, the more committed your will need to be.</p>\n\n<p>(As you can see form the above, making a <em>substantial</em> change, at least according to me, will probably require you do to a substantial amount of work on your own -- without the professor's help -- to be able to give suggestions well supported by arguments. Of course, you don't have to take all the points super-seriously if you just opt for a short 5-minute chat giving some suggestions and examples.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, in my case, where I <em>loved</em> the course, I thought it was important, I thought the prof was great and trying really hard, and I had a (young and naive) wish to make a change for future generations, I took a few days to prepare my notes, I came to Uni a few days after the summer break has started in order to have time to give all my comments in as much detail as the professor wanted, and it did help that the prof actually knew and remembered me from the courses and valued my opinion at least a little.)</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28972,
"author": "learningaddict",
"author_id": 22218,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22218",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If it were me, I would leave an anonymous typed note that cannot trace back to me. No one responds to emotional feedback (that only makes a person defensive and even more resistant to improvement), but make sure the feedback is highly constructive, and entirely unemotional and not accusatory in any fashion.</p>\n\n<p>When I was in school, I did confront bad teachers. I can confirm that direct, accusatory methods do not work. Now that I am older, I can say with certainty that the most unemotional and constructive methods will work best.</p>\n\n<p>If you have to, first write the note when you are emotional, and then come back some time later when you are no longer emotional and rewrite the note, and then, only then, give it to the teacher. Try to give it to them anonymously, because if it's really a bad teacher, they might single you out, and that's the last thing you want.</p>\n\n<p>Alternatively, if you have built a strong relationship with the teacher, then you can use your relationship to try to help them and give them valuable feedback, as a friend. People usually listen to their friends who speak out of a kind heart.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 46449,
"author": "rassa45",
"author_id": 35337,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/35337",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Send him a respectful email that you are having trouble understanding the concept and if he could please change the style a bit to what you want. That way, it \"feels\" like you are the one doing something wrong and are asking him of a favor, and you are less likely to offend him. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28955",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22204/"
] |
28,966 |
<p>I recently had a university student (my ex) expelled from my undergrad university when he was found responsible for physical abuse and sexual misconduct. How would this expulsion affect his future educational career? </p>
<p>How would the expulsion affect him if he tried to apply to law school?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28967,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Extremely, overwhelmingly negatively if it is found out. Nobody wants such a person as part of their program and rightfully so. Most universities do not do background checks or anything, but it is going to be difficult for the person to get letters of recommendation from professors who know why he was expelled.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28968,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This answer assumes the person in question has been <em>convicted</em> of those crimes. If he has not, things will be easier (but not a cakewalk).</p>\n\n<p>The conviction and expulsion will affect him quite significantly, given that some universities require applicants to declare both certain criminal convictions (usually sex, violence, or drug convictions) and any previous expulsions. Trying to hide convictions is a <em>very</em> bad idea.</p>\n\n<p>Sure, you can find a university who does not require a declaration (or will admit the applicant anyway, if the university is sufficiently satisfied that the student has reformed) - the likelihood of such probably varies by country. I suspect life as a graduate student would be very difficult (getting teaching positions may be hard).</p>\n\n<p>This question reminds me of <a href=\"http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11191628\" rel=\"nofollow\">an article</a> I read a while ago. This man was a convicted murderer, and has turned his life around and obtained a PhD in psychology.</p>\n\n<p>Any specific advice would be subject to the laws of his country, the policies of the universities, and more specific details of the conviction (read: off-topic for StackExchange).</p>\n\n<p>There will <em>always</em> be roadblocks, especially with sex and abuse convictions. Repentance and perseverance may clear enough to find a path through, but it wouldn't be easy.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28971,
"author": "learningaddict",
"author_id": 22218,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22218",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If convicted of these crimes, the student's entire career will be in jeopardy. Additionally, it will be next to impossible to achieve any sort of security clearance (especially in the US), and many jobs will not hire them due to their criminal past that comes up in a background check. It may also exclude the student from being accepted into many other undergraduate and graduate schools.</p>\n\n<p>According to <a href=\"http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2014/02/12/news/20local_02-12-14.txt#.VCMxPdy-2G4\" rel=\"nofollow\">this source</a>,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>At LCCC, the school also looks into incidents that involve students,\n vice president of student services Judy Hay said.</p>\n \n <p>“If the incident would affect the college environment, like a sex\n offense, we would absolutely look into that,” she said. “If it’s an\n alcohol offense and they’re underage, we’d look at that as well.”</p>\n \n <p>The dean of students generally decides if an incident needs to be\n evaluated, she said. But the college looks for violations of student\n policy or code of conduct, not at the crime.<br>\n ...<br>\n Penalties students could face can range from making an apology to being expelled [again], Hay said.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Curtis, Aerin. 'Students Facing Legal Trouble May See Penalties From College | Wyomingnews.Com'. Wyomingnews.Com. Last modified 2014. Accessed September 24, 2014. <a href=\"http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2014/02/12/news/20local_02-12-14.txt#.VCNFKxLTQl9\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2014/02/12/news/20local_02-12-14.txt#.VCNFKxLTQl9</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28976,
"author": "200_success",
"author_id": 22223,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22223",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A criminal conviction could affect eligibility for financial aid. For example, <a href=\"https://studentaid.ed.gov/eligibility/criminal-convictions#other-convictions\" rel=\"nofollow\">in the US</a>,</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <h3>What other convictions might affect my aid?</h3>\n \n <p>If you have been convicted of a forcible or nonforcible sexual offense, and you are subject to an involuntary civil commitment upon completion of a period of incarceration for that offense, you cannot receive a Federal Pell Grant.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 68029,
"author": "Sascha",
"author_id": 53466,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53466",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>How would the expulsion affect him if he tried to apply to law school?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>You are thinking about the wrong thing. Think about: How would his non-expulsion have affected your grades and ability to continue your career and life as a free and happy person when one of the times which really decide who you will be would have been deeply spoiled by somebody abusing you?</p></li>\n<li><p>The academic programs which i know would not consider something like this if he was not convicted of a crime, so if he learned his lessen and behaves well, it should not be terrible for him.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28966",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
28,978 |
<p>What databases allow free, programmatic access to cited-by counts for papers?</p>
<ul>
<li>Google Scholar doesn't have an API, and they block crawling attempts.</li>
<li>SCOPUS only seems to allows you to retrieve a branded, watermarked image of the number.</li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28983,
"author": "ddiez",
"author_id": 21435,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21435",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If you are an <a href=\"http://www.r-project.org\" rel=\"noreferrer\">R</a> user, you can use the <a href=\"http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/scholar/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">scholar</a> package. This package allows you to analyze data from Google Scholar and obtain citations, publication list and even perform predictions of the h-index. An example R code:</p>\n\n<pre><code>library(scholar)\nid = \"xJaxiEEAAAAJ\" # Isaac Newton's id\ncit=get_citation_history(id)\nbarplot(cit[,2],names.arg = cit[,1])\n</code></pre>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/5TtLT.png\" alt=\"Isaac Newton's citation history\"></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 71443,
"author": "Geoff Hutchison",
"author_id": 21869,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21869",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I was hunting around for something like this recently to create citation count \"badges\" for papers. I came across <a href=\"https://github.com/ckreibich/scholar.py.git\" rel=\"nofollow\">scholar.py</a> by Christian Kreibich. It uses BeautifulSoup to parse Google Scholar HTML output.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <ul>\n <li>Extracts publication title, most relevant web link, PDF link, number of citations, number of online versions, link to Google Scholar's article cluster for the work, Google Scholar's cluster of all works referencing the publication, and excerpt of content.</li>\n <li>Python module</li>\n <li>Command-line tool prints entries in CSV format, simple plain text, or in the citation export format.</li>\n </ul>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>For example:</p>\n\n<p><code>./scholar.py -c 1 --author \"Hutchison\" -t -A \"Avogadro\"</code></p>\n\n<pre><code> Title Avogadro: An advanced semantic chemical editor, visualization, and analysis platform.\n URL http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1758-2946-4-17.pdf\n Year 2012\n Citations 743\n</code></pre>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 97260,
"author": "Finn Årup Nielsen",
"author_id": 36757,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/36757",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Wikidata has some incomplete citation information and you can access it programmatically via XML dumps, RDF dumps, web API and the SPARQL endpoint called Wikidata Query Service. </p>\n\n<p>In Scholia at <a href=\"https://tools.wmflabs.org/scholia/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://tools.wmflabs.org/scholia/</a>, we use Wikidata Query Service to generate citation counts and citation list, see an example for \"The Alzheimer's disease-associated amyloid beta-protein is an antimicrobial peptide\" here: <a href=\"https://tools.wmflabs.org/scholia/work/Q21090025\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://tools.wmflabs.org/scholia/work/Q21090025</a></p>\n\n<p>If you follow the link on the page you can get to the SPARQL queries. For the SPARQL query that generate the \"Citations to the work\" table with citation count, the SPARQL query currently reads:</p>\n\n<pre><code>#defaultView:Table\n# List of works that is cited by the specified work\nSELECT ?citations ?publication_date ?citing_work ?citing_workLabel \nWITH {\n SELECT (MIN(?date) AS ?publication_date) (COUNT(?citing_citing_work) AS ?citations) ?citing_work \n WHERE {\n ?citing_work wdt:P2860 wd:Q21090025 .\n OPTIONAL {\n ?citing_work wdt:P577 ?datetime .\n BIND(xsd:date(?datetime) AS ?date)\n }\n OPTIONAL { ?citing_citing_work wdt:P2860 ?citing_work }\n }\n GROUP BY ?citing_work\n} AS %result\nWHERE {\n INCLUDE %result\n SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language \"en,da,de,es,fr,it,jp,nl,no,ru,sv,zh\" . } \n} \nORDER BY DESC(?citations) DESC(?date) \n</code></pre>\n\n<p>You can obtain the information programmatically, e.g., in Python</p>\n\n<pre><code>import requests\n\nquery = \"\"\"\n#defaultView:Table\n# List of works that is cited by the specified work\nSELECT ?citations ?publication_date ?citing_work ?citing_workLabel \nWITH {\n SELECT (MIN(?date) AS ?publication_date) (COUNT(?citing_citing_work) AS ?citations) ?citing_work \n WHERE {\n ?citing_work wdt:P2860 wd:Q21090025 .\n OPTIONAL {\n ?citing_work wdt:P577 ?datetime .\n BIND(xsd:date(?datetime) AS ?date)\n }\n OPTIONAL { ?citing_citing_work wdt:P2860 ?citing_work }\n }\n GROUP BY ?citing_work\n} AS %result\nWHERE {\n INCLUDE %result\n SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language \"en,da,de,es,fr,it,jp,nl,no,ru,sv,zh\" . } \n} \nORDER BY DESC(?citations) DESC(?date) \n\"\"\"\n\nresponse = requests.get('https://query.wikidata.org/sparql',\n params={'query': query, 'format': 'json'})\ndata = response.json()['results']['bindings']\nformat = lambda paper: paper['citations']['value'] + ' ' + paper['citing_workLabel']['value']\n\n>>> print(\"\\n\".join([format(paper) for paper in data[:5]]))\n75 The genetics of Alzheimer disease\n25 Alzheimer's disease - a neurospirochetosis. Analysis of the evidence following Koch's and Hill's criteria\n23 Mild cognitive impairment: pathology and mechanisms.\n22 Immunotherapeutic approaches for Alzheimer's disease\n18 Amyloid-β peptide: Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?\n</code></pre>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 107145,
"author": "Michael Ekstrand",
"author_id": 11007,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11007",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Microsoft Academic Search provides an API as a part of the <a href=\"https://labs.cognitive.microsoft.com/en-us/sign-up\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Cognitive Services Lab</a>. Unfortunately, you cannot look up papers by DOI; you will need to manually retrieve the Microsoft Academic paper ID or use title search for lookup. But it gives you citation count as well as an estimated count for widely-cited papers. I am successfully using it to include citation counts in my CV.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 158326,
"author": "leopold.talirz",
"author_id": 34531,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/34531",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me add <a href=\"https://www.semanticscholar.org/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Semantic Scholar</a> to the list.</p>\n<p>There's both an official <a href=\"https://api.semanticscholar.org/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">REST API</a> for Paper/Author lookup and a <a href=\"https://github.com/danielnsilva/semanticscholar\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Python package</a>.</p>\n<p>Metrics include 'citations', 'influentialCitationCount', 'citationVelocity'</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28978",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21546/"
] |
28,979 |
<p>I have spent most of my professional life writing proposals for improving the living and studying conditions of the constituents I served (community members, students, curricula and higher education institutions). Well, after 25 years serving as a teacher, professor, dean, and chancellor I find myself looking for a job in academia as an education professor and my publication count is extremely low compared to the number of successful grant proposals that I have in my credentials. </p>
<p><strong>Can I count successful grant proposals, which actually changed the lives of thousands of people, as part of my publication or research record?</strong></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28980,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No. Count them as part of your funding record.</p>\n\n<p>Based on what you have said of your record, people will expect you to look for a job in research administration. E.G. Vice President of Research, or Director of Research Facilities.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to go back to teaching, the usual strategy I hear about in the news is to get an admin/leadership job and then demote yourself after a few years.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28985,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To add to @guest's answer: employers will generally not count them as publications, but that does not mean you cannot publish them. There is a growing trend of \"publishing\" grant proposals, usually by non-traditional means. For instance, I have put some of mine on <a href=\"http://figshare.com/\">Figshare</a>:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.639182\">Wave Propagation for Next-Generation Supercomputers</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.639184\">Positive Numerical Solution of Differential Equations</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.639183\">High Performance Computing and High-Level Programming Concepts for Hyperbolic PDE Codes</a></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28986,
"author": "h22",
"author_id": 10920,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10920",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, it is kind of reviewed and you definitely can mention successful grant applications on your CV. However they are normally not counted as publications. Usually it is possible to have publications describing scientific results obtained using the grant.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28989,
"author": "J. Zimmerman",
"author_id": 7921,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7921",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Successful grant proposals should certainly be part of your CV as you search for a teaching job. <strong>However, grants are NOT considered publications in academia.</strong> For example, see <a href=\"http://racc.edu/Faculty/lawlor/pdf/vita.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">this CV</a>, where a friend of mine details his publications, and follows that with a section of successful grant proposals. This is the correct way to present them on your CV. </p>\n\n<p>You may want to put the grants front and center on your CV, to highlight your expertise at bringing in funding, which few institutions will count as a negative! You may also want to follow @guest's advice and look for a job in research/leadership/administration, and then demote yourself to a teaching position after a few years. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28979",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22229/"
] |
28,982 |
<p>I am based at a southern European university where little local research funding is available. Other than Horizon 2020, how can I find out about programs designed to sponsor research in any country?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28994,
"author": "ddiez",
"author_id": 21435,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21435",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One possible resource is <a href=\"http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/\" rel=\"nofollow\">EURAXESS</a>. I know this agency because they run the EURAXESS-japan network to promote exchange between European countries and Japan. In their bulletins there is always plenty of information on grant opportunities.</p>\n\n<p>In the \"Services\" section there is various information, including a section for funding. In this section there are links to several funding agencies. Well, there is a lot of information in this portal but this may be a good starting point.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29029,
"author": "J. Zimmerman",
"author_id": 7921,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7921",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Here are several options:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://www.researchraven.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Research Raven</a>. This site focuses on calls for papers and conferences, some of which include funding. Most of the listings relate to medical and healthcare related opportunities. </p></li>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://www.scangrants.com/About.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\">ScanGrants</a>. This is a sister site to Research Raven, and is \"designed to facilitate the search for funding sources to enhance individual and community health....\nFunding sources most frequently listed here include those of private foundations, corporations, businesses, and not-for profit organizations. Finding and listing less traditional funding opportunities is also a priority. Federal and state funding sources are typically not included on ScanGrants™ because they are readily available on other sites.\" Their listing are somewhat US-centric, though. </p></li>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://erc.europa.eu/apply-funding\" rel=\"nofollow\">European Research Council</a>. I am not very familiar with ERC. The website states \"ERC grants are open to researchers of any nationality in the world, any scientific field, any age. \". It seems well worth checking out. </p></li>\n<li><p>The <a href=\"http://www.wennergren.org/programs/international-collaborative-research-grants\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wenner-Gran Foundation</a> suppports collaborative research with a focus on anthropology. You have not specified your field, but depending on your circumstance this may be worth looking at. </p></li>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://www.conferencealerts.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Conference Alerts</a> will provide you with a free alert system for conferences in your field, for any or all countries. Although this is not a grant-finding/listing service, the individual conferences may have funding available to you. </p></li>\n<li><p>Finally, <a href=\"http://www.google.com/search?q=international+grant+funding\" rel=\"nofollow\">this Google search</a> may bring some useful results. </p></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28982",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/284/"
] |
28,990 |
<p>I would love to pursue Maths teaching but I am unsure whether I would be accepted onto the programmes and whether I should complete an A Level in Maths with a view to apply for PGCE or Schools Direct Route in 2015.</p>
<p>Will getting my A Levels in Maths help to get admitted to a PGCE program?</p>
<p>As background: I'm 26 and hold a 2.2 degree in Biomedical Science from a British university. I took my A Levels in Biology and Chemistry but only got an AS Level in Maths and Art. My work background is that I have been a carer for family members for many years.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28991,
"author": "h22",
"author_id": 10920,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10920",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends, where. If you just want to teach very young children, that much of Maths probably everybody knows. However you may need to complete the minimum required pedagogical education. How much is required, is largely country and often school dependent. Normally it may be additional courses during studies, or independent studies lasting for a few years.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28999,
"author": "Tara B",
"author_id": 5955,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5955",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the UK it should definitely be possible for you to become a maths teacher with your background, but I'm not completely sure whether you would need to do A-level maths first. I would expect that most maths teachers would actually have a degree in maths or a very closely related subject, but I don't know this for sure.</p>\n\n<p>You might find helpful information on the <a href=\"http://www.ucas.com/how-it-all-works/teacher-training/entry-requirements\" rel=\"nofollow\">UCAS website</a> (the link is to the page about entry requirements for teaching).</p>\n\n<p>From that page:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Obviously, you'll also need a strong understanding of the subject you\n want to teach before you start training. If your degree subject\n doesn't link closely to your chosen teaching subject, we'd advise you\n to take a subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) course before starting\n teacher training. You can only do these in England and in certain\n subjects.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29027,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I do not believe taking A level maths will help you gain admittance to a PGCE program. The entry requirements for Goldsmiths PGCE program in Mathematics are:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The extent of mathematical understanding you bring to the programme is important. You should have a degree in Mathematics or a related subject. Engineers can generally offer enough Mathematics, as can actuaries and physicists. Those with qualifications in Business, Accounting or Computing need to be able to show a substantial amount of Mathematics in their degree. It is also important that you have some knowledge and experience of UK secondary schools. Some applicants may be referred to a TDA subject enhancement course.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The amount of mathematics in a Biomedical Science degree can vary substantially, however, even the most mathematically rigours biomedical science course, probably is not enough. Further, many PGCE programs also require you to have obtained a 2.1 or higher. I think the combination of those two factors will put you at a substantial disadvantage. I think a Mathematics Enhancement Course would serve you much better, in terms of gaining admissions to a PGCE program, than A level maths.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28990",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22239/"
] |
28,993 |
<p>some years ago (2007) I have published a paper in a conference as a poster paper. Now I want to send it to a journal and change the affiliation, or maybe some minor changes. I didn't see any policy about a previous published paper in a conference, however there is a policy as the following:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before
another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided
in Comments to the Editor).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Could I send my paper to this journal? </p>
<p>Is it a normal thing to first publish a paper in a conference and then trying to send it to a journal?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28995,
"author": "postdoc4J7",
"author_id": 21952,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21952",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my field this would be not only acceptable, but expected, as the review process for conferences is less stringent and the submitted abstracts are substantially less detailed than a full manuscript. A conference presentation is viewed almost as a necessary step to publication: present the first interpretation of the results, get feedback from colleagues, and incorporate changes into the full-length manuscript. </p>\n\n<p>My only concern would be if the conference paper was closer to a full manuscript, both in length and in the rigorousness of the review process.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 28998,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A conference poster is a publication. At the very least, it is most likely in the Conference programme. It is unethical to publish the same material twice - and if the editor of the journal finds out, it is likely you'll be blacklisted. However, if you make changes to the poster - improvements, generalisations, etc. - then it <em>might</em> count as a new publication. Of course, you'll have referenced the poster in the new publication so the referees (and editor) will be able to tell if it's new material and suitable for publication.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28993",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21885/"
] |
28,996 |
<p>I have been <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28981/stuck-on-proving-the-optimality-of-a-greedy-algorithm">stuck</a> on the proof of a major theorem in my forthcoming paper for about two weeks. Since offline help is limited, I'm trying to see if there is more help online. But I have two concerns.</p>
<ol>
<li>I am the author of the paper and am supposed to work out the heavy-lift proof. I want to see if someone has worked on similar proofs who may point me in the right direction. What if someone comes up with the complete proof, rather than just suggestions/comments? Should I <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26934/what-are-the-ethics-of-getting-help-from-online-forums">offer co-authorship</a> or just appreciate their help in the acknowledgement? </li>
<li>For others to offer concrete help, I may have to disclose the proposed algorithm as they <a href="https://cs.stackexchange.com/questions/30284/stuck-on-proving-the-optimality-of-a-greedy-algorithm#comment61918_30284">suggested</a>. So there is the risk, even remote, that someone just uses it for their publication purpose before my paper is submitted.</li>
</ol>
<p>How should I proceed, keep grinding hard on the proof offline, or solicit help online with the still-to-be-published algorithm, or something in between?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 28997,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This answer is meant to apply to graduate students (like the OP).</p>\n\n<p><strong>Talk to your advisor.</strong> She is the designated person to help you with your research. You should do so because:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>1) Your advisor will probably have some help to offer. Give them more than one chance to do so, and be clear in communicating how much help you want/need at any given time.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In your case I believe you said earlier that you talked to your advisor and got some but not enough help, because she only thought about your problem when you were there. To me that is the opposite of strange: being a thesis advisor myself, I recognize it as the classic tension inherent in the job. How much help do you give the student? How much time you do spend thinking about the student's problem so as to be able to give help? <em>There are usually no easy answers to these questions.</em> Even in dealing with the same student, over time I often find myself: giving too much help; giving too little help; being put in a situation where the question they ask is too hard for me to give an answer on the spot and then having to try to find time for outside thoughts about their question. </p>\n\n<p>When you talk to your advisor, make sure she understands that you feel <strong>so</strong> stuck in your research that you are considering seeking outside help.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>2) If you get outside help without telling your advisor about it, it could be embarrassing to her.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It can be tough to ask the same person for help on the same thing more than once. But it is part of the advisor/advisee relationship. If my students showed up on SE sites asking questions that I feel that I could have answered, I would not feel great about it. (Most of my negative feelings would be directed to myself rather than at them, but still: not great.)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>3) If you are truly stuck, your advisor needs to know. It very often happens that the best thing to do is to switch to working on a different aspect of the problem, or perhaps a different problem entirely. Your advisor is the one to help you with that.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Let me also say that in the realm of mathematically-related research, two weeks is a fairly short amount of time to be working on something. If after two weeks you are completely out of ideas and don't even know what else to try, then you should address that. If you simply haven't proved the \"major theorem\" yet: join the club. To prove a major theorem usually takes me <strong>at least</strong> two months; two years is not at all unheard of, and is not a maximum. As long as you're making some progress thinking about the problem, I don't necessarily see anything wrong here.</p>\n\n<p><b>Added</b>: The lack of directness of my answer was intentional, but let me add one comment. In my opinion the greatest risk in asking in the internet community for help in solving your mathematical research problem is....that someone will solve your mathematical research problem. As mentioned above, your advisor is optimally briefed in the matter of how much help to give you / how any one question fits into the larger scheme of your research program, and <em>still</em> advising a student is a matter of successive errors and corrections (i.e., helping too much and too little). Being a PhD student has a highly egoistic aspect to it: you are <em>not</em> just trying to find solutions to problems; you are trying to find them <strong>yourself</strong>. There is a real risk that the right expert will simply leave you without a problem to be working on. This is why talking your advisor is so critical: she may in fact decide at some point that asking for help is best, but in that case she will know exactly what and whom to ask in such a way that the rug is least likely to get pulled out from under you. This is very important!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29004,
"author": "Bjørn Kjos-Hanssen",
"author_id": 11257,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11257",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the answer depends on this:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Do you hope to become an expert at mastering the kind of difficulty you're facing with the proof?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If your answer is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>Yes</strong>: Then go ahead and work it out on your own. <em>(In particular if you're a grad student and this is your thesis problem... and in this case also consult your adviser as @PeteL.Clark advised.)</em></p></li>\n<li><p><strong>No, I usually focus on a different subarea, and I realistically expect to keep it that way</strong>: Then it may be a good idea to ask online: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Use a \"<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimal_Working_Example\">minimal working example</a>\". That is, don't describe your entire project but reduce your difficulty to a simple to state problem that you feel is far away from your own specialty. </p></li>\n<li><p>Offer co-authorship to whomever helps you out.</p></li>\n</ul></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28996",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13081/"
] |
29,000 |
<p>At my school for a PhD I am required to complete a minimum of 72 credit hours of study(around 4 years of study). Of this ~42 are to be course work and ~30 is to be dissertation. </p>
<p>So I know what a dissertation is but not in the context of "30 dissertation hours." For students and professors what has been your experience and what is actually done each semester while you are taking the dissertation hours. Do you go to class or is it a one on one basis with a selected professor or maybe just your adviser. Is there no class/group time, and I just do research into the area I have proposed for my dissertation?</p>
<p>Will be asking my adviser and graduate school dean about this but was also interested in the dynamic that other schools have in this area. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29002,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my PhD program, I was required to register for various research and dissertation related courses to fill the required 9 credit hours to be a full-time student. Those course ranged from 3 to 5 credit hours depending on what I needed. Those courses never met, and I did not receive a letter grade for them. They seemed to have two purposes: 1. existing to fill my schedule after my actual coursework was done (so that I was listed as being enrolled as a full-time student and so that they had something to charge me for), and 2. giving my advisor credit with the department for supervising a research or dissertation student. The mostly seem to be a bureaucratic slight of hand. </p>\n\n<p>Edited to add: I was also paid 20 hours per week to work as a Graduate Research Assistant, but I basically worked about 40-50 hours per week on going to class (until I was done with my required hours) and working on my research. Towards the end, when I was writing my dissertation, it was more. The hours I was officially paid and the credit hours I took, never really aligned with much, except that a 3-credit hour actual course (like \"Functional Analysis\") met for 3 hours every week. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 182206,
"author": "imtaar",
"author_id": 152998,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/152998",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you take 9 credit hours of course work per semester, then you will need 5 semesters for the course work only.</p>\n<p>But from the first semester, try to choose a topic for you dissertation and then find the professor (doing research on that topic) and ask him to be your advisor. Then along with the course work, spend some time to get literature and requirements about your topic. But you <strong>must</strong> keep in touch with the topic and the advisor.</p>\n<p>By the time you finish your course work, you may have enough data and know how to carry on full time research. 30 is just a number which has nothing to do with how many hours you really work. What you really need to do is to have results acceptable by your advisor, one or two publications and a good presentation.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29000",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7705/"
] |
29,001 |
<p>The research group that I am associated with organizes a conference that will take place next month. </p>
<p>One of the students asked if there is something that he can volunteer and help in the organization of the conference. He has not any scientific work to present, but rather offers some logistic and technical help. </p>
<p>Can you think of any "volunteering position" and tasks that can be given to a young student? Is this of any benefit to him, or is that just a timeloss?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29253,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Lifted shamelessly from <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/21691/11365\">this answer</a>, here are volunteer tasks that the student can do during the conference:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Check attendees in at the registration desk</li>\n<li>Take minutes in meetings (if there are any)</li>\n<li>Mic shuttler (the person that carries the mic around to people who have questions during the Q&A after each talk)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>These offer the following benefit to the student: exposure and opportunities to network with attendees at the conference in a normal way. </p>\n\n<p>Here are some additional tasks that weren't in that other answer because they're often done by students at the host institution. They also may or may not be necessary, depending on available facilities and services at your conference location. </p>\n\n<p>I've done these tasks for conferences hosted by my own group:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Design and proofread conference program (before conference, obviously)</li>\n<li>Set up poster boards, hand out thumbtacks, and show presenters which board to go to for poster/demo session</li>\n<li>Print, hang up, and rotate signs showing people where to go/which session is going on in a room at any given time</li>\n<li>Give VIPs a VIP tour around the lab, if conference is held <em>at</em> your institution :)</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34470,
"author": "Kristof Tak",
"author_id": 9401,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9401",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>The aftermath:</strong></p>\n\n<p>I just add here some notes about my feelings once the conference took place.</p>\n\n<p>It is a great opportunity to even be remotely associated to such an environment. In such an environment exists the chance to meet people from the academy and the industry. If you have the rights networking skills you (as a student) can score some internship a possible future employment positions both in academia and industry. So in no way this opportunity is not considered a waste of time.</p>\n\n<p>If you are a student volunteer these are some useful stuff one may need:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Typical Conference Questions and other stuff to consider:</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Where is the toilet? </li>\n<li>What is the WiFi pass?</li>\n<li><p>Have different adapters and converters in hand</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>port – to- port video adapters</li>\n<li>country – to – country power supply adapters</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p>Extra batteries for the presenter</p></li>\n<li><p>Arrange poster guys based on their order of presentation, put all the posters in a pdf file, on the same laptop (yours or someone else)</p></li>\n<li><p>Ask demo presenters if they need monitor for their demos</p></li>\n<li><p>Before the beginnings of the session, strongly recommend speakers to try if their laptop fit with the cables used for connection to the projector</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34472,
"author": "Koldito",
"author_id": 12314,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12314",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Depending on how competent the student is and how much you trust them, you can also task them with managing the abstract review process (i.e., if you are using something like EasyChair, you can make them a Session Chair, or even the SuperChair, if you think they can manage it). It's the kind of job that postdocs and faculty are reluctant to do, because it distracts from more urgent obligations and it has next to zero professional rewards at that level.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34476,
"author": "Joe",
"author_id": 1622,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1622",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've been to meetings where they had a student volunteer positioned in each room:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>they swapped out the name cards where the speakers will sit</li>\n<li>they replaced the water bottles at the speaker table with ones stashed behind the podium</li>\n<li>they helped out with AV issues, or called for expert help.</li>\n<li>they kept a count of how many people were attending each talk in the session.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>This gave them a chance to attend talks, albiet with some minor distractions as they did so.</p>\n\n<p>They were wearing brightly colored shirts labeling them as volunteers, so people also knew who could either answer their questions or point them in the right direction of someone who could.</p>\n\n<p>At other conferences (eg, AGU with thousands of posters displayed per day), we'll often assign students as the session chair for posters:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Grab a supply of pins from the main desk, and the signs for when you'll be at your poster</li>\n<li>Help people find their poster location (look it up online or from the printed program)</li>\n<li>Help people hang their posters (or at least get the top two corners pinned)</li>\n<li>Record any posters that were no-shows.</li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29001",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9401/"
] |
29,003 |
<p>I was traumatized by an abusive relationship. While in the relationship, my grades were affected. Out of the relationship, I chose to stay in school and struggle with my studies instead of medically withdrawing. I attended therapy and completed psychiatric care. </p>
<p>I'm back to being a straight A student, but what will graduate school say in reference to those 2 years on my transcript? Should I explain it to them? Will I be granted an interview even? My GRE scores are great, but my major is competitive. What can I do? Should I include a letter that certifies what occurred in those two years from a professional?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29008,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm going to make this an answer rather than a comment; I hope others will react to it, especially if I'm wrong. (I'm a teacher, not an admissions officer.)</p>\n\n<p>From what I understand, you had good grades at the start of your college career. Your grades declined for external reasons. Your life is back under control and your grades are back up. You have a little more than a year to gather good grades on your transcript.</p>\n\n<p>Go for it. Apply to the schools you'd like to attend, but apply to a couple of Plan B schools as well.</p>\n\n<p>Here's the part that may be controversial: You might want to include in your cover letter something like \"You may notice that there was a slump in my grades during my time as an undergraduate. That was due to a difficult personal situation, now resolved.\" (Thanks, Nate Eldridge, for the fine phrase.)</p>\n\n<p>The other choice would be to mention the grade slump not at all. In any case, don't make a big deal of it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29013,
"author": "Tom Au",
"author_id": 755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/755",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your problem appears to be one of grade \"blemish(es),\" rather than a \"pattern\" of bad grades. It's a bit troubling that they are in your core courses.</p>\n\n<p>You appear to be \"admittable,\" to many programs, although there is also a chance that the bad grades will keep you out of some programs.</p>\n\n<p>In this situation, your personal essay (and corroborating letters of recommendation from professors), take on heightened importance. Basically, you'll have to \"explain away\" your worst grades due to \"extenuating circumstances,\" how you've risen above those circumstances, and why those bad grades aren't likely to be repeated. It would also help if there were sympathetic people, particularly women, on the admissions committees of the schools of your choice.</p>\n\n<p>It's a long shot, but if you can get a letter of explanation/recommendation from the professor(s) that gave you the worst grade(s), it might help clear up matters. As an undergraduate, I once had a professor tell me, \"If I had know what you were going through during that semester, I might have given you a better grade in my course.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29014,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you have the opportunity, use the diversity statement to briefly allude to the medical / personal issue in your life at the time that is now resolved and that you don't think will reoccur. </p>\n\n<p>I wouldn't not mention it. The admin committee will see a slump in your grades. But we're also interested in your overall trajectory. So as long as it doesn't represent something that will reoccur in grad school, we can be convinced to take a risk.</p>\n\n<p>One other option if your discipline allows it is to do a Master's degree in the same field. That way we can see that you're capable of doing graduate work in the field.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32967,
"author": "Elchin",
"author_id": 25134,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25134",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I will say this from my personal experience, so don't take it as a definitive answer and be discouraged.</p>\n\n<p>Graduate school admission is a competition. A fierce competition, especially if you're applying for a good program. So if there's someone with higher GPA than yours, he/she will be admitted. Graduate schools care about one thing only - how well will you perform in their program. </p>\n\n<p>While you may want to tell it in your cover letter that you had relationship issues, the admission may or may not consider it. In my case none of the good programs I applied to cared about things I had to go through. One program did respond me telling that they discarded my application cause of my GPA.</p>\n\n<p>Don't be discouraged however. I have noticed that sometimes they may prefer things like working experience, volunteering, etc. So while you cannot change your past, you can affect your present and future. Work hard, and show it to them.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 59367,
"author": "Sarlo",
"author_id": 45391,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/45391",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is from my own personal experience, so there's obviously no guarantee you will have the same experience, but I thought I would share...</p>\n\n<p>I also had some difficulties with abuse during my undergraduate years, my grades suffered and I ended up withdrawing completely from the course, eventually completing my BA 7 years later from a different university. I'm now completing my PhD at one of the top universities in the US, and before this I did a masters at one of the top universities in the UK. So it certainly doesn't have to hold you back.</p>\n\n<p>In my case, I chose to do a few things to try and maximize my chances of getting into the school and program I wanted:</p>\n\n<p>1) I chose to do an masters before applying for the PhD - to show that I could do graduate level work, and, perhaps more importantly, that my grades really were back on track (that is, that the bad grades were the exception, not the good grades).</p>\n\n<p>2) I referred explicitly to the problem years in my personal statement.I briefly explained why the drop in grades and eventual withdrawal occurred, but really focused on the fact that it was now resolved, and highlighted the consistently positive grades etc since. </p>\n\n<p>3) I asked one of my referees (who knew what had happened), to directly address it in her letter of recommendation, again focusing primarily on the positive steps/grades etc since.</p>\n\n<p>For me this worked really well. I was offered a place at each of the graduate schools I applied to, and although it may have taken me a little longer to get here than friends who didn't have similar problems during undergrad, I'm now exactly where I want to be, and couldn't be happier.</p>\n\n<p>I hope this helps in some way, and good luck!</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29003",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22214/"
] |
29,007 |
<p>I'm writing a teaching statement and want to include quotes from student evaluations. How much can/should I edit these (for grammar)?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29009,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general, quotes should always be edited <strong>as little as possible.</strong></p>\n\n<p>The only changes you should make are:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><em>Truncations</em> to remove sections of quotes that aren't relevant for your purposes.</li>\n<li>Edits to <em>fit the grammatical structure</em> of the existing sentence.</li>\n<li>Correcting small errors in the original text.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>However, any changes to the quotation <strong>must</strong> be clearly indicated. Truncations should be marked with an ellipsis (\" . . . \"), while all other changes should be indicated using square brackets.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29012,
"author": "Jack Aidley",
"author_id": 5614,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5614",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A quotation is, by definition, explicitly <em>what someone else said or wrote</em>. If you modify a quotation so that it's no longer what someone else said or wrote then you are deceiving your audience. On this basis you should edit as little as possible and if you do need to edit you should make it clear to your audience.</p>\n\n<p>It is reasonable to truncate if it does not change the sense of the quote. If you omit parts in the middle of a quote you should indicate this with ellipses '<strong>...</strong>'.</p>\n\n<p>It's okay to correct minor spelling errors <em>if</em> they're not relevant to the quote.</p>\n\n<p>You can add in a missing word, but it's usually best to indicate where you've done so, if the student said \"the lecturer overpaid fool\" you could quote as \"the lecturer is an overpaid fool\" but it would be preferable to quote as \"the lecturer [is an] overpaid fool\" so it is clear you have edited the quote.</p>\n\n<p>You can add context but should indicate where you've done so, for example if asked the question \"Did you like the lecturer?\" the answer you're quoting is \"He is an overpaid fool\" you could quote it as \"He [the lecturer] is an overpaid fool\" or \"[The lecturer] is an overpaid fool\".</p>\n\n<p>You can also add emphasis but you should indicate where you've done so. For example: \"I'm writing a teaching statement and want to include quotes from student evaluations. How much can/should I edit these (<strong>for grammar</strong>)?\" (emphasis mine).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29007",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11258/"
] |
29,010 |
<p>I'm writing a postrgraduate project report on a system I've built. It is not designed with the user in mind, it is a backend system to a simple web application.</p>
<p>I'm struggling to separate the Design chapter from the Implementation chapter in my report, as I didn't so much design the system as build it as I went, changing how it was built depending on issues I encountered during implementation.</p>
<p>Is it possible to add all design and implementation information under one chapter, as they are fairly intertwined, or is it necessary to separate them?</p>
<hr>
<h2>Edit</h2>
<p>I have solved my problem; the Design chapter is the idea and outline you had in the beginning of what you would like to create, with the various components you think you'll use, and the Implementation chapter includes all the issues that cropped up along the way, creating the need to change the original design.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your input! </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29021,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It seems you were given an assignment to <strong>design and build a system</strong> and then write a report to document your work. However, you decided not to do that assignment and instead you decided to <strong>build a system skipping the design step</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>I would expect the person marking your report would see it as you did not complete the task as assigned. As JeffE's comment implies, there is a reason why you were given a task that included designing first then building.</p>\n\n<p>I think you should ask your lecturer if what you have done is acceptable or if you must restart your assignment.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 72218,
"author": "AnonyMouse",
"author_id": 22253,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22253",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The answer is:</p>\n\n<p>The Design chapter is the idea and outline you had in the beginning of what you would like to create, with the various components you think you'll use, and the Implementation chapter includes all the issues that cropped up along the way, creating the need to change the original design.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29010",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22253/"
] |
29,018 |
<p>I overheard some professors discussing the next round of hiring at my university and several were concerned about gender bias possibly playing an issue in the hiring process. An initial thought is to just go through CV's and black out an applicant's name. However, an academic job search makes it much more difficult to do this. Not only do applicants have CV's, but there are also typically 3 letters of recommendations as well as publication lists (which might reveal the identity of an individual if the paper is known by some of the hiring panel).</p>
<p>Some suggestions that were thrown out involve trying to find a way to scan through 2-300 applicant materials and black out/replace gender pronouns and names. From browsing StackOverflow, there is apparently quite a bit of difficulty with this from a programming perspective. Still, it seems the most efficient way to remove as much gender bias as possible in the process but doesn't seem to be widely used.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What are some of the best ways a hiring panel can remove gender bias from the application process?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This question could also potentially extend to ways to generally remove other forms of bias, such as ethnic bias.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29031,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think there are two approaches. The approach your question focuses on is blinding of the panel to the gender of the applicant. Doing this, may actually increase gender bias. By blinding the search panel to the gender of the applicant, it becomes very difficult for things like maternity leave to be taken into consideration. The better way to remove, or limit gender bias, is to provide training to the search panel about gender bias in academia and help them become aware of any biases they might have.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29052,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Bias exists at many points of the hiring process. You suggested blinding the search committee to applicant gender but, as you point out, this is extremely difficult to do perfectly and completely broken by even small failures. For obvious reasons, blinding will also not be particularly relevant after you start interviewing candidates. I like the other suggestions to provide training to sensitize the committee to issues of gender bias.</p>\n\n<p>Beyond that — and if your university policies allow it — you might also decide now (i.e., before the search) to interview at least one male and at least one female candidate. This way, you will give the best male and female candidates a full chance to convince you that they are right for your department. This ensures that at the top person of each gender makes it through the earlier stages of the process where gender bias may very well play its biggest role. At the interview stage, blinding would not have worked anyway. </p>\n\n<p>This kind of policy is unusual but not unheard of. The most famous example I know if is the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooney_Rule\">Rooney Rule</a> in the US National Football League which requires that all teams interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs. Although this is sometimes cited as an example of affirmative action, it does not mandate any preference or quota to candidates within the pool of those being interviewed. If you're doing it right, it does mean that the very best candidates from under-represented groups will always have an opportunity to show their stuff at the final round.</p>\n\n<p>If you found out that best person from the under-represented groups is really not as good as the best person from the over-represented group, at least you'll know that you gave the best member from each group a full hearing.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Update:</strong> I will point out that this answer basically assumes that all of your candidates will present as either male or female. As a result, is it very limited in the case of non-gender conforming candidates. These candidates may also be subject to even greater discrimination and this approach will not solve (and could even aggravate) those problems.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29118,
"author": "Evan Lynch",
"author_id": 22338,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22338",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a former programmer, I can confirm that it would be quite difficult to do this purely in a programmatic way. Take my name, for example. From my name, you can probably guess that I am male. If you had a computer program looking at my resume, how would you remove the word \"Evan\"? Keep in mind that it's easy for a human to know that that's my name, but difficult for a computer to know. Computers are very fast, but also dumb - they'll do exactly what you tell them to do, no more, and no less. Sometimes this is problematical with programming when whet you're telling them isn't what you think you're telling them, but that's another discussion entirely.</p>\n\n<p>If you want a truly blind resume / cover letter / letter of recommendation review, you'd need either a manual approach needing humans who aren't involved with the hiring committee and won't report what they saw to black out the names and the pronouns used in all of these documents. Ideally, they'd be retyped with gender neutral terms such as \"that person\" instead of \"he / she\", so you won't have someone trying to squint under a blacked out ink trying to read it. People are curious - it'll happen if you let them.</p>\n\n<p>There's also a hybrid approach: use computers do to the easy part, and people do the hard part. The easy part would be getting rid of all the he / she / him / her words in documents and replacing them with a gender neutral word / phrase of your choosing. The hard part would be doing the same thing with names. </p>\n\n<p>The reason this is hard for computer is simple: how does the computer program doing the parsing know that what it's seeing is a name? It doesn't, unless you have some way of telling it. In an ideal world, word documents or PDFs would have metadata with a field clearly identifying that this is a name, but I doubt such a feature exists - at least in Word. PDFs probably do support this, but again, whether or not Adobe Acrobat supports this isn't the issue, but rather the issue is whether or not the appropriate metadata is embedded in the document. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29755,
"author": "Benoît Kloeckner",
"author_id": 946,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A way to implement gender neutral CVs for the first round of selection would be to ask applicants to give a preliminary gender neutral file along their full application. This short CV would be asked to contain only information that does not permit to guess the gender of the applicants, at least not easily (e.g. publication lists with names replaced by the number of author and the position of the applications, etc.)</p>\n\n<p>This can only be used to a very first round of selection, and letters of recommandation would have to be only used in the subsequent round, or the recommandants should be asked to make them gender neutral and without the name of the applicant.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30063,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One simple and extremely effective step is to start tracking metrics on the candidate pool at every stage of the process.\nLet's say you're looking at how your department hires assistant professors. Then you might track:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>What percentage of Ph.D. holders in the field are women?</li>\n<li>What percentage of the applications you receive are from women?</li>\n<li>What percentage of the short-listed candidates are women?</li>\n<li>What percentage of the interviewed candidates are women?</li>\n<li>What percentage of the offers made are to women?</li>\n<li>What percentage of the accepted offers are taken by women?</li>\n<li>What percentage of the professors who advance toward tenure are women?</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Now you've got actual data on what your pipeline looks like and can look for where the leaks are. If the fraction of females in the pool changes significantly at any particular stage, then that's where to focus your energy. Likewise, if the base fraction in the field is lower than you want in your institution, you can use your metrics to decide where to try to enrich the pool with good candidates. Obviously, the same approach can be applied for other disadvantaged groups as well.</p>\n\n<p>I personally think this type of approach is a critical addition to the toolbox of addressing bias, because it lets you scientifically study your institution's process. You may discover things that surprise you. For example, the colleagues who I learned about this from discovered that the later stages of the hiring pipeline they were dealing with were actually OK, but that the percentage of women applying in the first place was much lower than the percentage of women in the field. That meant (to everybody's surprise) that the problem was primarily in the way that positions were being advertised and recruited for, rather than in the interviews themselves, and so \nthat was the process that fixes were targeted at.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29018",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6980/"
] |
29,022 |
<p>Also, is a grad student who is being funded by an NSF grant considered to be "employed by the U.S. government"?</p>
<p>I ask because I'm submitting a paper, and I have to state whether or not all authors are "employed by the U.S. government".</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29023,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No, grad students and faculty with NSF funding are not employed by the U.S. government. NSF funding is sent directly to the school. The school then employs the researchers itself and pays them using those funds. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29024,
"author": "James T",
"author_id": 13203,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13203",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The question is really asking about employees of the <em>federal</em> government. At least, whenever I've seen a question like this, that is what they wanted to know; and this is the usual meaning of the words \"U.S. government\" in the American context.</p>\n\n<p>As a rule, if you don't know whether you're a U.S. government employee - then you're probably not. An easy way to find out if your coauthors are government employees is to ask them. </p>\n\n<p>The federal government does operate a handful of academic institutions (e.g., the Naval Postgraduate School) and there are other federal employees who publish regularly (e.g., scientists at NASA). There are lots of U.S. institutions which are run or chartered by <em>state</em> governments, and this category represents the majority of \"public universities\" in the country. Whether or not professors there are considered employees of the <em>state</em> - in most cases they probably are - they are still not <em>federal</em> employees. (Well, unless they happen to be on temporary assignment to NSF as a program director, or something.)</p>\n\n<p>As stated in the sibling answer by Oswald Veblen, receiving money through a federal grant does not make you a federal employee. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29026,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The reason this question is asked by journals is that <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the_U.S._government\">except in some limited cases</a>, the US government may not, by law, hold the US copyright in a work created by its employees, and, therefore, cannot transfer it to the publisher of the journal as is traditionally done in most academic publishing agreements. As such, the journal can't ask those authors who are US government employees to sign the copyright transfer and must use a different agreement. If one or more of the authors is not a US government employee, then those authors will still need to make the transfer. </p>\n\n<p>Employees of US state governments, which includes most public university employees in the US, do not have this limitation, and can make the copyright transfer or other licensing arrangement that the publisher requires.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29028,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is not clear that public university/college employees are officially considered state employees by the respective states. In Minnesota, for example, the University of Minnesota faculty are, apparently, <em>not</em> considered to be state employees.</p>\n\n<p>Among other aspects that make this seem reasonable, the fact that the state supplies only a small fraction of the funding contributes.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29051,
"author": "reirab",
"author_id": 12999,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12999",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In almost all cases, no, they are not. The vast majority of public universities in the U.S. are owned and operated by the individual state governments, not the U.S. federal government. Within the U.S., the state governments are considered to be entirely separate legal entities. In most (but apparently not all) cases, employees of state-owned universities are considered employees of that particular state. The exceptions where a public university professor actually would be a U.S. federal government employee are professors at the handful of universities actually owned by the federal government, such as the various military academies, as well as dual-employees of both a university and some part of the federal government, such as a federal government research institution. One of my advisors, for instance, is an employee both of my university and of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, so he's an employee both of the State of Tennessee as well as of the U.S. federal government.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29113,
"author": "brian d foy",
"author_id": 18375,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18375",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The department secretary or perhaps a grants officer at your university should be able to give you guidance on these sorts of things. Aside from the particular problem of federal employment, you might have to credit grants and authors in a way that the journal doesn't require or track.</p>\n\n<p>As a graduate student, the department secretary should be your best friend. They know how everything works where the academic staff might not (because they rely on the administrative staff).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29022",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21100/"
] |
29,032 |
<p>Several years ago, my colleagues and I attempted to get a small paper published, it was rejected and we ran out of time - and as it was a 'side-project' type of paper, we left it at that. We thought that was the end of it - this was not the case.</p>
<p>One of the reviewers who made themselves known to us wrote some pretty terse messages to us about his disagreement with what was a relatively minor point. We graciously took his feedback as he is an established (published) researcher in that field. We moved on to different fields - which this reviewer has no published work in.</p>
<p>What has been happening since is that he will write an email questioning every single paper that I get published, not deliberately being insulting - but not offering anything constructive nor asking for clarification of the content etc. He has admitted that what I research is beyond his area of expertise - examples of his questions are (<em>remember, these papers are collaborative and peer reviewed</em>):</p>
<p>"Are you sure you know how to use (equipment)?" - when the paper stated a previously published (by a separate author) protocol has been followed.</p>
<p>"Are you sure you did enough trials?" - this would be fine as criticism, except the next email stated "That many trials seems like overkill" referring to the same paper.</p>
<p>One particularly unhelpful comment from him was "Did you actually pass high school English?"</p>
<p>Criticism is fine, and is sought for any and all work that we do, but when the statements do not offer anything substantial, are contradictory or just rude - this is not criticism, it is unhelpful noise -especially when it is posted publicly where we display links to the work (he deletes his comments soon after most of the time)</p>
<p>How do I deal with this persistent 'academic stalking' while at the same time, not make a 'fuss'?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29039,
"author": "msouth",
"author_id": 12746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12746",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>A general strategy you can try here is \"respond to amateurism with professionalism\". Even if it looks like he's being unreasonable (as it currently seems to you that he is), just suspend disbelief, and, in a completely non-confrontational manner, engage his questions as if they were serious:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I always appreciate constructive criticism [<em>true statement! you don't\n have to say that his was constructive, let him think what he\n wants...maybe he actually did think it was</em>]. I didn't quite\n understand what led you to wonder whether I did enough testing of X. \n Did you see something in the results that made you suspect this\n specifically? Just want to make sure I'm not missing anything.</p>\n \n <p>Thanks for your input!</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Treat it exactly as if it were a sincere attempt to help, that you had a question about. It's possible (though I'm thinking you think it unlikely) that he really is sincere and has something to offer you. If so, wonderful! You get useful feedback from someone smart!</p>\n\n<p>If he doesn't actually have a real question, this technique may make that obvious in a relatively non-confrontational way. Part of the value of it is that you are not simply being the victim of stalker-y behavior, but professionally and politely holding your ground. It is to be hoped that this will lessen the feeling of exasperation that would otherwise normally accompany this kind of childish bullying, if that is indeed what it turns out to be.</p>\n\n<p>There are very intelligent and successful people in academia who are nevertheless woefully underdeveloped emotionally; one way this will be manifest is in the need to tear down other people who seem to be having success, or demonstrating skill, or garnering attention comparable to their own. This can catch one off guard when it's coming from a successful and respected person, because you would think that their success would be all they need to feel good about themselves. That, alas, does not turn out to be true. If it's a chronic emotional problem, you are unlikely to get him to change his behavior; hence the advice to concentrate specifically on blunting his ability to make his problem your problem.</p>\n\n<p>If the cerebral approach doesn't work or becomes too time consuming, you can always set up a filter to send email from that address straight to trash....</p>\n\n<p><strong>Escalation</strong> (adding this section after your clarified and expanded examples indicate that mere polite discussion may not work here)</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>[Fuss level: zero] Gather evidence. You don't have to do anything with it yet. Later steps I will describe will talk about possible uses. It's just good to have in case you ever get into a he said/she said situation and need to be able to back yourself up.</p></li>\n<li><p>Note that there is already a \"fuss\", to some extent. Not your doing. You can't choose to have this situation be \"fussless\", because the behavior is happening in public. The question is to what extent you wish to participate in the fuss.</p></li>\n<li><p>[Fuss level: low] A body of evidence might be useful for you to have handy if you wanted to petition a site administrator to block him from contributing comments. The sites hosting your research results and facilitating discussion don't want their work compromised by trolls.</p></li>\n<li><p>[Fuss level: medium] Does he work at an institution with a published policy regarding academic ethics? Spuriously calling into question the validity of your results seems like it would violate ethical standards. It might be enough for you to obtain a copy of the institution's standards, highlight the part that you consider him to be violating, and send that information to him, asking for him to comment on whether he agrees his behavior violates those standards.</p></li>\n<li><p>[Fuss level: high] Same as 4, but with more fuss. Contact the institution. Ask to speak to someone about the fact that you feel that one of their employees is violating academic ethics. Do they have a published policy? Can they send you a copy? Can you send them some redacted examples and have them confirm that they would consider that in violation? You would like to resolve the matter with the individual privately if possible, but you want to be sure that you are interpreting their standards correctly. Then, email the stalker and tell them that you've been in contact with the ethics office, not having mentioned any names of course, we can resolve this between ourselves, can we not?, and they agreed that the behavior is in violation of standards. Would he be willing to simply stop commenting on your work altogether in the future? It seems it would be better for both of you if he did. You don't have to threaten exposure--you should be careful <em>not</em> to threaten, actually (to avoid any possibility that you could be charged with blackmail or whatever)--just state facts.</p></li>\n<li><p>[Fuss level: nuclear] Put all the evidence on the web, unredacted, and send a copy to his boss, his wife, and his students. Let them know you really hate to bother them, but you need to ask them if they can contact his psychiatrist because he apparently needs his meds adjusted. (<-- not a serious suggestion, but it was cathartic to type!)</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p><strong>Serenity</strong></p>\n\n<p>Reflecting on others' answers and comments, I feel that one more section should be added here, because there <em>are</em> practical things you can do to help the situation, from your side only, with zero direct interaction. Although I would still gather evidence in any case (since it might be of value later should a dispute come to the surface), it is possible for you to improve your experience here by improving yourself. It's easy and natural to focus on the fact that he is the aggressor and by rights he should be changing his behavior, and to forget that, <em>completely independent of whether he stops or not</em> you can choose to become better at not being affected by baseless criticism.</p>\n\n<p>Give yourself a mental picture of a small child attempting to attack an adult who calmly holds himself out of harm's way by virtue of having arms twice as long as his attacker. Your stalker has mastered the art of playing the flailing child--you can grow long arms.</p>\n\n<p>Mentally rearranging your perspective on the whole situation can help. You can say \"I am going to end up better for this by learning the valuable skill of ignoring trolls. Think what I would have had to pay a trainer for this, and he's providing me all this learning experience for free.\" It is, after all, entirely possible that you are going to run into other situations in life where the ability to be calm in the face of baseless or childish criticism helps you out immensely, and this is an opportunity to learn that skill in a relatively risk-free environment (as the stalker really has no actual power over you in this situation).</p>\n\n<p>In short, you have, effectively, been focusing on the question \"How can I get him to stop this behavior, without making a fuss?\" But you can get an excellent result by instead asking the question \"How can I get this behavior to stop bothering me?\". The second question can be pretty much entirely in your own hands, and the things you do to work on it will help you in other aspects of your life, even enabling you to help others deal with similar issues, etc.</p>\n\n<p>It's more than just ignoring (which, I think it should be said, is fantastic advice if you can do it--I haven't gotten to that point yet personally)--it's a conscious decision to rise above the behavior of the other party. Rather than \"he's attacking me and I feel powerless to stop it without escalations that I am not comfortable getting into\" it can be \"he's attacking me, but I am using this as an opportunity to practice, and therefore develop the power, to not be affected by this behavior\". From the outside it may look the same, but mentally, this kind of approach can make all the difference.</p>\n\n<p>I think this is both the best option and the hardest to execute on. In the times when I have implemented such measures myself, I've found it to be incredibly empowering, and even in some cases ended up with unexpectedly good relationships with people that at one point had occasion (they felt, at the time, at least) to attack me, simply because I consciously decided that I didn't need to fight back. I don't think I've faced exactly the same situation as you are here, but I believe this might help you and sincerely hope it does--best of luck.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29060,
"author": "Jorge Leitao",
"author_id": 13552,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13552",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ignore the emails.</p>\n\n<p>The common justification for these kind of situations is a need for attention from that person. By answering his calls you are only reinforcing this need.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29086,
"author": "rd hackbarth",
"author_id": 22316,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22316",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You provide your best answer in your final question:\n\"How do I deal with this persistent 'academic stalking' while at the same time, not make a 'fuss'?\" Don't deal with him and don't make a fuss. You might be interested in the following 2 links:</p>\n\n<p>Troll (Internet). (2014, September 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07:37, September 28, 2014, from <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Troll_(Internet)&oldid=627020408\">http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Troll_(Internet)&oldid=627020408</a></p>\n\n<p>Hoy, A. (2014). slash7 with Amy Hoy » Blog Archive » Help Vampires: A Spotter’s Guide. Slash7.com. Retrieved 28 September 2014, from <a href=\"http://slash7.com/2006/12/22/vampires/\">http://slash7.com/2006/12/22/vampires/</a></p>\n\n<p>Don't waste your time with him.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30891,
"author": "zxq9",
"author_id": 13156,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13156",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First off, if its only been going on for a while and nobody takes it seriously, then ignore him and he'll eventually find someone else to antagonize.</p>\n\n<p>Otherwise...</p>\n\n<p>Academic bullying is (sadly) somewhat common in certain fields with considerable popular political influence such as geopolitics, international security, international relations, race relations, climatology, certain forms of economics, etc. Much academic ink is spilt over the color of the bike shed as opposed to the location of it or whether it should even house bikes instead of boats, much less whether or not it should exist. Question anything but the (meaningless) paintjob and risk reputation assassination.</p>\n\n<p>In the case where it is really just a single person who is negatively obsessed with your work you can ignore the person. Invalidating their negative responses is as easy as attacking their credibility in your current area, which appears simple in your case.</p>\n\n<p>In the case where it is not just a single person, or that the detractor is a single person but their attacks resonate with a part of the society aggregated around your field... you have a different problem. In this case you can choose to stand your ground or you can work to mend the situation by changing your stance.</p>\n\n<p>Changing your stance is, of course, totally dishonest, so don't do this unless you are actually playing the \"get tenure\" game and not the \"increase human knowledge\" game -- in which case its par for the course in many fields.</p>\n\n<p>If you sincerely feel you have a well supported stance in the field that gained you the ire of this detractor who is negatively influencing the perceptions of those in your current field of study (and if you didn't you wouldn't have gone to the trouble of publishing in the first place, I assume), the only decent defense is a solid offense. This is a bit like a thesis defense, but with a large delay in ping-pong times. If your career is threatened by the problem it is worth it to decompose the argument that got you in trouble, and write an exposition on each point. Use those as point references for those in your current field who are not as well informed about the subject that originally got you into hot water. If you build a solid base of argument you can influence the naysayer, but understand this requires a disproportionate amount of work: calling something into question (especially by a subtle ad hominem attack) is much easier than defending a work that has been \"cast into doubt\" in the minds of those who haven't taken the time or interest to read it.</p>\n\n<p>Ultimately, my point is that this is a political problem, and sadly this sort of problem has overridden what <em>should</em> be the fundamentals of genuine academics since the beginning of time. If you will win it by argument it will have to be an overwhelming one which consumes you in its defense, at least for a time. The alternatives are to either sacrifice your intellectual integrity or play dirty -- both of which are not helpful to humankind, which sort of goes against the whole point of being a true academic (as opposed to the tenure-chasing variety).</p>\n\n<p>[I now wait for the avalanche of angry comments...]</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29032",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
29,040 |
<p>What (if any) is the general consensus out there regarding publishing in one of these journals vs the other? </p>
<p>I am a mechanical engineer, specialising in fluid flow and heat transfer, so would it be better to publish my findings in a relevant Elsevier journal or equivalent Springer journal?</p>
<p>Is one or the other viewed by the academic community as more prestigious, or does one offer greater exposure for my work?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29043,
"author": "Cape Code",
"author_id": 10643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10643",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You need to understand that the quality of journals is not bijectively related to the company that publishes it. Elsevier and Springer are <em>publishers</em>, they have a portfolio of journals and are sometimes hired by professional or academic societies to provide publishing services.</p>\n\n<p>The quality of the journal depends on other factors, mostly the editorial strategy which is the job of the editorial board, who are independent from the publisher. As a result, even though both the company that you listed are reputable publishers, there are large variations of quality within their respective portfolios.</p>\n\n<p>The best way to know which are the good journals in your field is to <strong>ask your colleagues</strong> in particular your adviser. You can also <strong>ask the scientific librarian(s)</strong> of your institution. This is a typical task that they do. Another clue is which journals publish <strong>the good papers you read and intend to cite</strong>. If you are in the biomedical sciences, the <strong>impact factor</strong> is a useful metric, although like everything, it's not perfect.</p>\n\n<p>There are also limiting factors to consider, it might be that your institution or your funding agency have requirements regarding the public archival of preprints. One example is the <a href=\"http://publicaccess.nih.gov\">NIH Public Access Policy</a>, which requires that:</p>\n\n<p>\"all investigators funded by NIH submit an electronic copy of their final peer-reviewed manuscripts of articles that have been accepted for publication. Submission is to take place “upon acceptance,” and the article must be made available in the PubMed Central database within one year of publication.\"</p>\n\n<p>(All the medicine-related Elsevier journals I know about comply with this requirements, but it's best to check).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29046,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The prestige of a journal and the exposure it will offer your ideas are not determined by the publisher. Sure, some publishers are better than others on average, but differences between individual journals are overwhelmingly larger than systematic differences between publishers, so there's no way to give a remotely useful answer based solely on the publisher. It's like asking \"Would I be happier living in France or Germany?\" Someone must have gathered statistics on average national levels of happiness, but individual circumstances and the particular opportunities available in each country are vastly more important for answering this question. (And the issues and opportunities vary so much between people that there's no hope of compiling a comprehensive answer.)</p>\n\n<p>To start on finding your own answer, you can look at the journals that publish papers you care about or consider related or comparable with yours. If more come from one publisher than the other, then that may give you an answer for your particular research topic, but again you should pay far more attention to the journal than the publisher. And why restrict your attention to Elsevier and Springer? It doesn't make sense to cut down your options dramatically until you have a pretty detailed idea of what's out there.</p>\n\n<p>If you don't know what sort of papers a journal publishes (not just topic, but also importance, prestige, etc.) and can't even form an opinion by browsing, then it's probably not a sensible place for you to submit your paper. If you are just starting to publish, then you may not have a lot of opinions already, but now is a good time to start forming them. You could also ask your advisor or another mentor for advice on this topic, to get insights aimed at you specifically.</p>\n\n<p>Of course there may be other considerations besides prestige and exposure. For example, some people <a href=\"http://thecostofknowledge.com/\">boycott Elsevier</a>. On the other hand, Springer is also a big commercial publisher that could be considered problematic for similar reasons.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29048,
"author": "Gimelist",
"author_id": 22213,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22213",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When you say that the journals are \"equivalent\" I'm assuming that they have similar impact factor/eigenscore/snip/sjr and any other metric of journal \"quality\" or \"influence\" or \"popularity\".</p>\n\n<p>So it comes down to Elsevier versus Springer versus any other publisher. Regarding your questions:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Which would be viewed by the academic community as more \"prestigious\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I don't think it matters. Prestige is usually per journal, not per publisher.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>which would offer greater exposure for my work?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This also doesn't depend much on the publisher. However, I will give you some points that you might want to consider.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>The ability to publish in open access. Most publishers offer this option. This will allow people who do not have a personal or institutional subscription to the journal to view the final version of your article. This usually requires a fee.</li>\n<li>Time from submission to acceptance. This usually varies by journal and does not depend on publisher. Some journals take even a year while other boast on their web pages that it takes several dozens of days. If the journal does not disclose this information, you can take a look at some of the recent published articles in that journal. They usually mention the submitted and accepted date. Note that this varies a lot between papers, so take a look at more than one or two to get a feeling.</li>\n<li>The time it takes for the journal to publish the article after it was accepted. This usually has two phases. The first is when the article appears in an online only form. The article is not assigned to a volume yet, but it is fully accessible and citable. This is the \"in press\" stage. The next phase is when the article appears \"in print\". This is when the journal assigns the article to a physical volume, and the final citation is available. In most of the cases, you wouldn't care because the article is already available in the \"in press\" phase. However, not all journals offer their articles in this phase so this is something you want to look out for. Also, when articles are still \"in press\", some databases do not index it fully (Scopus is one that comes into mind) and your article is less \"discoverable\" than it can be. So you might want to check that articles in that journal do not hang out in the \"in press limbo\" for too long.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>That said, I personally think it doesn't matter too much. The main thing that affects how well received is your paper, is the paper. If it's a good one, all the nit-picking is not that important.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29055,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 11565,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11565",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I want to expand upon something that Anonymous Mathematician wrote: Elsevier is the subject of an ongoing <a href=\"http://thecostofknowledge.com/\">boycott</a>. As of now, 14,784 researchers have pledged to not submit, referee, and/or perform editorial work for Elsevier journals.</p>\n\n<p>In my opinion the boycott is completely justified: not only are they selling our own golden eggs back to us at exorbitant prices, but they engage in shady practices such as \"bundling\".</p>\n\n<p>Many people disagree with and don't support the boycott. But whether you agree with it or not, the fact that 14,000 researchers are refusing to deal with Elsevier bodes ill in the long term for the quality of their publications.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29067,
"author": "Mass",
"author_id": 20312,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20312",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ask people you work with. See where they're publishing and ask around. What holds for one field may not hold for others. Prestige of journals is subjective and based on the opinions of a relatively small group of researchers. Asking here will get you many useless opinions, because the only opinions that matter are those of your potential readers in you field. </p>\n\n<p>Also look at each journal's practices and policies to see you feel personally comfortable supporting them. It's 2014 and many people do not even look at the \"journal,\" they simply search google for your paper. Your aim should be to increase visibility to your work and not hide it behind, e.g. needless paywalls. Choose a journal that will allow you to do this in a reasonable manner. Consider journals that let you additionally post preprints on your personal website or arxiv. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29074,
"author": "Benoît Kloeckner",
"author_id": 946,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As said before, when it comes to prestige the publisher does not have much weight, the journal does. </p>\n\n<p>But I have to disagree slightly with other answers when it comes to exposure: some publishers have their journals available by many more universities in the world than others, thus bringing some more exposure to the work they publish (exposure is not only availability, but availability is the first logical component of exposure). Now that large commercial publishers bundle a lot, sometimes selling all their journals to a whole country, all their journals (however obscure they sometimes are) are widely accessible. However, this does not make a big difference between Springer and Elsevier, who are both big commercial publisher with mostly convergent commercial strategies. Note that open-access journals are of course even better for availability; but the fact that SpringerLink and ScienceDirect (the platforms used to access Springer and Elsevier journals) gather so many titles under one roof makes it more likely that someone will easily find a given article (an open-access buried into the depth of the internet might be available but difficult to find).</p>\n\n<p>Another difference between publishers you didn't asked for but that matters is the quality of publishing work (copy-editing, assistance to editorial boards, etc.) For an author, the work done on the articles themselves is important. If you think it doesn't matter much, then think about the difference between </p>\n\n<p>A. a publisher that sends you galley proofs to be checked in one week, without any indication of what has been changed from your own manuscript (but many tiny and not-so-tiny changes having been made), and</p>\n\n<p>B. a publisher that sends you an annotated version of your manuscript, showing all modifications made to it, together with the galley proof that resulted from this process, so that you can check each modification easily.</p>\n\n<p>The difference is in hours of work, unless you blindly trust copy-editors. And this would <strong>not</strong> be wise. Unfortunately for you, from my experience and all the testimony I gathered about various publishers, Elsevier and Springer are pretty similar when it comes to service to the authors: they do a pretty bad job.</p>\n\n<p>So in conclusion, I would say that publishers do matter to authors even when they do not want to take any political stance like the Cost of knowledge pledge. But it is hard to find a strong difference between Springer and Elsevier (if you want names of publishers that do a great job, I know a few but for mathematics).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 88008,
"author": "Mohaqiq",
"author_id": 9709,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9709",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From my recent experience and from my recent question asked <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/86790/when-picking-a-journal-for-my-research-should-i-value-the-publishers-reputation\">here</a>. I would say the publisher reputation matters but it also varies country to country. People from various internet communities urged me to publish in a low IF journal published by highly reputed publisher (IEEE) instead of publishing high IF journal published by less reputed publisher (MDPI). The MDPI journal is not only has higher IF but also has 4.3 Normalized EigenFactor and has citation relationship with journals like Nano Letters, Science and Nature. Upon discussing same issue with my supervisor and people from Asian communities they said go for MDPI. <br/>I will suggest check the various indicators of journal from <a href=\"https://jcr.incites.thomsonreuters.com/JCRMasterSearchAction.action?pg=SEARCH&searchString=Sensors#\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">JCR</a> and <a href=\"https://journalmetrics.scopus.com/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Scopus</a> reports and select the journal based on its current and previous 5-10 years indicators. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29040",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15650/"
] |
29,041 |
<p>This question is, honestly speaking, probably somewhat opinion-based, but I still want to give a shot.</p>
<p>A professor acceded to my invitation of writing a reference letter for me. Nevertheless, unlike the other professors who also acceded to write a reference letter for me, he asked me to draft it on my own. Originally I did not feel anything "wrong", and I just felt embarrassed to recommend myself. But yesterday a friend told me that a professor would ask you to write her reference letter for you when she does not actually think that you are "worthy" enough for her to write you one on her own. </p>
<p>What is the probability that such viewpoint is true? Any opinion is greatly appreciated!</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29042,
"author": "Salim",
"author_id": 17916,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17916",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One reason that often occurs, is that the person is not familiar with your accomplishments and would need a quick refresher by having you draft the letter, since they are usually supposed to illustrate with examples as they list your qualities. Another reason is that certain scholarship and university applications want these letters to have a specific format and include specific details about your potential as a researcher. Your reference may just be too busy to study up on the requirements. </p>\n\n<p>If they didn't think you were worthy of admission for a PhD program they could just write a letter themselves saying \"don't accept this guy, he is a terrible incompetent jerk\", without you ever finding out about it, rather than ask you to draft it first. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29045,
"author": "Kate Gregory",
"author_id": 12693,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12693",
"pm_score": 8,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>For me, it means two things:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>I am really busy</li>\n<li>I don't know anything about the job you're applying to and what you want to emphasize about yourself</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If the first draft you write is something I can't sign, I'll edit it or I won't sign it. If it's not braggy enough, I might add some emphasis. But metaphorically handing me a piece of blank paper and asking me to recommend you is actually asking me to put in quite a lot of work. Do these people you're applying to value initiative? Creativity? Willingness to work long hard hours? Cheerfullness? A driven nature? A gentle spirit? Is the fact you write great software relevant to them? How about your careful bench work? For all I know you want to do less of one thing and more of another. So now I need to ask you a zillion questions about what you want to emphasize, and maybe go research the job too, and then ask you if what I've written is ok - frankly, it's <strong>way easier</strong> to ask you to write the first draft. And some days, I take the easy route.</p>\n\n<p>It does <strong>not</strong> mean:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>I intend to sign words I didn't write. I will write the final draft</li>\n<li>It's ok for you to make up strengths you don't have</li>\n<li>You'll know what I send in the end</li>\n<li>I can't write a simple letter without help from a student.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Your first draft doesn't even have to be a letter, it can be point form. But tell me you're choosing me as a reference so I can confirm your amazing Xness, Yabilty and Zation. If I can, I will.</p>\n\n<p>By the way, I wish I could find the idiot who started the theory that it means I don't think well of you and want you to retract your request. Several students have retracted their requests after I asked for a first draft, and that's a shame, because I would have cheerfully signed a glowing recommendation for them. I just didn't have time to write it all from scratch myself.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29228,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At this point I feel I should leave an answer which records a differing opinion. </p>\n\n<p>First, let me provide context. My advice is for students applying the STEM PhD programs in the United States (like the OP). I was admitted to the top three math PhD programs in the United States and graduated from one of them in 2003. Since 2006 I have been tenured-track at UGA; I am now a tenured associate professor. I spent four years on the Graduate Committee reading applications, and though I am now on a different committee, because I am co-PI on a large NSF grant I read a stack of applications last year and will probably continue to do so for several years to come. I have also read thousands of academic recommendation letters for faculty positions. (This is, unfortunately for me, not an exaggeration.)</p>\n\n<p>The accepted answer gives what I think is not good advice for the OP's situation. I think it might be good advice for non-academic recommendation letters, and I suspect that it was in fact not written to be targeted at PhD applications. Going over the entire answer point-by-point feels unnecessarily confrontational, but let me differ in some key points, all of which I think could lead a student astray.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Most of the best recommendation letters for STEM PhD programs in the US are written by those who have substantial experience in this area. In my field of mathematics, a letter written by someone who does not have a PhD in mathematics or a closely related field is likely to be simply skipped over. (I have learned on this site that in some other STEM fields, good letters can be written by those who have substantial industrial experience. But such people still have to have a lot of experience with PhDs in the relevant fields.) The best letters are written by those who have faculty experience as well, have seen many academic recommendation letters, and who are known by the faculty doing admissions, at least by reputation.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Is this description somewhat elitist and exclusionary of younger, non-tenure track and liberal arts faculty? Yes, it is. But it is also honest. If we get a letter from a small liberal arts college that says \"Ms. X is the best student I have ever seen\" and then doesn't display a familiarity with the type of students that succeed in programs like ours, it's hard to know what to make of it. If the recommender is not an active researcher: well, that's just not as good as someone whose name we all know and trust. How could it be?</p>\n\n<p>In a comment it was suggested that the above situation is impossible because everyone starts out with less experience than the above. Most letters we get are not written by people who are just starting out. If you spend a few years in a faculty position you'll see a deluge of academic recommendation letters and absorb the format. If you are a <em>very</em> junior person who is nevertheless a good choice to write a letter (which certainly does happen), you should get help and advice from someone more experienced. You should not rely on someone who is much less experienced, and still less on an undergraduate, and yet less on that undergraduate for whom you are writing. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Any reasonably good letter contains components that almost no student could write. For instance such letters should <strong>include information about the credentials and experience of the writer</strong>, enough to explain why their endorsement of the student is to be relied upon. Such letters should <strong>compare the student generally to other students in the recommender's program, to the generic student in the target PhD program, and ideally to past specific students that the writer and the reader will both know</strong>. Even the one in a million student who has preternatural access to this information cannot give it: it has to come from writer, in the writer's voice.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>There is plenty of room in such an application for a student to provide information about her strengths, goals and interests. A good faculty letter makes contact with that student information and reinforces it, but such information does not form nearly enough of a letter for it to make sense for a student to write it up as though it could be the basis of the faculty letter: at best, doing this would waste everyone's time, not save it. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Writing academic letters is not a \"favor\": it is part of what faculty are paid to do. More precisely, it is part of what permanent, full-time faculty are paid to do. I've spent about eight hours over the last few days writing letters for current and former UGA math department personnel, and I will spend at least that much time on the task in the next few weeks. I spend so much time on these tasks because (i) it's important -- the difference between an effective letter and ineffective one may play out as a difference in some young person's life; and (ii) I have a stake in it as well: when one of our undergraduates goes to a top ten PhD program or one of our PhD students gets an NSF postdoc, my entire department benefits and in so doing <strong>I benefit</strong>. If I were a temporary, adjunct or part-time faculty member, I strongly suspect that I would not feel the same way, and I certainly would not expect such a faculty member to devote such time and effort. Someone who thinks of recommendation letters as a favor is someone you don't want to write for you and, I feel, someone who shouldn't have to. Also, <strong>no one</strong> is required to write a letter for any given student: if you feel like you can't write an effective letter, say so and don't do it.</p></li>\n<li><p>A letter which is written first by a student and then touched up by the faculty signee is a potentially serious academic honesty situation. I have spoken about this at length elsewhere on this site. I respect that some others do not feel this way and that in many situations there is nothing immoral or suboptimal going on here. However you need to know that many -- I suspect most -- American academics share my qualms. Even the fact that the student must not see the letter is regarded as sacrosanct by many. I am very dismayed when people try to say that they are not <em>really</em> just signing their students' letters -- or only if they \"actually endorse everything that is written\"!! -- but are just getting this writing sample as step one of a final product that is not in any way problematic. To that I say: if you know how to write a reasonable specimen of an academic letter you will know that a \"student draft\" is at best helpful only as a source of information about the student, so what is being gained by not just asking for the information outside of a letter format? By soliciting a student draft <strong>you are inviting the student to be complicit in a possible academic dishonesty whose final outcome is unknown to them</strong>. If later in their graduate career it comes up that they <em>think</em> they wrote their own letter it could still go or at least look very badly for them, even if it turns out that nothing so terrible actually transpired. Then there are the deceptive habits you are implicitly conveying to the student as being part of normal academic business. If you don't think you are teaching the student to be deceptive, ask yourself this: would you be willing to submit a letter that was signed jointly by you and the student, or even in which it is explicitly mentioned that it was written based on an early draft of the student? If you are not willing to put that in the letter, then yes, you are being unethically deceptive and encouraging the student to do the same. If on the other hand you are willing to put that in the letter: <strong>please try it</strong>, and see what happens. I think you'll get some interesting feedback.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 44016,
"author": "ciscolinks",
"author_id": 33475,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/33475",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Could it be the professor wants the student to confirm what they already know about them. It could be the professor is attempting to help the student grow by having them recognize their own achievements. Perhaps the student is not one to assert themselves and this is an attempt to bring out this trait.\nIn an academic environment learning includes learning about yourself as well as content.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 49141,
"author": "Phil",
"author_id": 21815,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21815",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is very common for an advisor to ask his student to write the letter. I have seen that several times. The reasons are that the advisor is generally very busy and that you are generally the person that knows best what should be written for the job that you are applying. Moreover, if you ask several recommendation letters (let say from 3 persons), you can decide what each of them will say and avoid redundancy between the letters if you write them. Of course, the advisor will then read what you wrote and if he don't agree he will modify it.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29041",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18107/"
] |
29,056 |
<p>How might a professor approach a student who comes to class and/or office hours wearing perfume or cologne that is distractingly or overwhelmingly powerful?</p>
<p>Certainly, different people have different thresholds for this sort of thing. Lets say that in this case it is unclear the extent to which this is distracting other students in class but it is clear to the teacher that it is strong enough to distract the teacher. Of course, it might be affecting other students as well.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29057,
"author": "Jeffrey Weimer",
"author_id": 22283,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22283",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I might ask quietly and privately to speak to the student immediately after class. At that point, when no one else is present, I would politely say, \"I am sensitive to the strength of your perfume\". After that, I would let the conversation unfold. When the student would be defensive, I would just politely repeat the one statement \"I am sensitive to the strength of your perfume\". I might add \"This is a health-related issue for me, as much as an allergy might be. It could eventually affect how I could continue to teach in the class\". I would NOT ask or even suggest the student should NOT wear the perfume or take any action. I would hope the student would volunteer that step.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29058,
"author": "fixingstuff",
"author_id": 20704,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20704",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I feel that this could be treated differently depending on if the student is spending a lot of time at the department during business hours, or if the student is only going to a class. If you are only seeing the student in one class you may want to endure? I could easily see a student complaining about a teacher that is having opinions about his/hers perfume. If you are to complain I would open the conversation with <em>\"I am terribly sorry to bring this up but I have an allergy and..\"</em>. It doesn't matter if it is true or not but it is a smooth way of handling it, which would save the student any embarrassment, and settle the issue effectively.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29056",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962/"
] |
29,062 |
<p>I have found a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_research_and_development_spending">Wikipedia page</a> ranking countries based on amount of funding and GDP. Is there a list that breaks this down further by funding agencies? </p>
<p>For example, the wiki list says US funding, but I imagine it's not so simple or clear where it comes from. For example, it's not clear how much comes from NSF, NIH, and DARPA.</p>
<p>How can I find out the largest funding agnecies in the world?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29057,
"author": "Jeffrey Weimer",
"author_id": 22283,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22283",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I might ask quietly and privately to speak to the student immediately after class. At that point, when no one else is present, I would politely say, \"I am sensitive to the strength of your perfume\". After that, I would let the conversation unfold. When the student would be defensive, I would just politely repeat the one statement \"I am sensitive to the strength of your perfume\". I might add \"This is a health-related issue for me, as much as an allergy might be. It could eventually affect how I could continue to teach in the class\". I would NOT ask or even suggest the student should NOT wear the perfume or take any action. I would hope the student would volunteer that step.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29058,
"author": "fixingstuff",
"author_id": 20704,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20704",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I feel that this could be treated differently depending on if the student is spending a lot of time at the department during business hours, or if the student is only going to a class. If you are only seeing the student in one class you may want to endure? I could easily see a student complaining about a teacher that is having opinions about his/hers perfume. If you are to complain I would open the conversation with <em>\"I am terribly sorry to bring this up but I have an allergy and..\"</em>. It doesn't matter if it is true or not but it is a smooth way of handling it, which would save the student any embarrassment, and settle the issue effectively.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29062",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718/"
] |
29,070 |
<p>I am an instructor in a medium-sized state school in the USA. The price for the textbook to the introductory math course that I teach just increased. Again. A new, paperback copy costs 170 USD. I want to put pressure on the publishers to reduce their price, but I am not sure what the best strategy is. </p>
<p>Has anyone had any success in such an endeavour? Any ideas? A strongly worded letter, signed by the faculty?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29071,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If you don't have the authority to change the textbook on your own, at least for your own section, then your target should be, not the publisher, but the person or committee that <em>does</em> have that happy power.*</p>\n\n<p>Show them this: <a href=\"http://aimath.org/textbooks/approved-textbooks/\">http://aimath.org/textbooks/approved-textbooks/</a> and propose that you teach a section of your course using the appropriate open access textbook. (Edited to add: Pick out the appropriate book and an alternate before you talk to the committee or coordinator and be prepared to defend your choice vs. the approved text.) In the following semester, compare how well your students did in the next course in sequence vs. those who used the standard text.</p>\n\n<p>Your secret weapon: work like hell to be sure your students are well prepared for the next course.</p>\n\n<p>In the comments, Ben Crowell has said: \"Here is a catalog I maintain of free books, including many open-source textbooks: <a href=\"http://theassayer.org\">http://theassayer.org</a>\" I've edited it into my answer so it doesn't get lost. Thank you, Ben.</p>\n\n<p>* <sub>Hat tip to Professor Severus Snape for \"happy power.\"</sub></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29073,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I suspect—although I don't have actual proof for this—that the number of textbooks being sold has been rapidly declining, forcing upwards pressure on prices as publishers try to maintain their profit margins. </p>\n\n<p>That said, I fully understand why teachers are reluctant to ask students to spend hundreds of dollars on a textbook. (Books that I spent $50 on as an undergraduate less than two decades ago now regularly sell for $150-$200!) I think this has also led to more and more instructors providing alternatives:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Having departments order limited quantities of texts, and depositing them as \"restricted reference\" materials in the university library.</li>\n<li>Producing their own reference materials, either by making lecture notes and slides available online, or producing \"prepared\" materials closer in style to a textbook.</li>\n<li>Reducing the reliance on <em>individual</em> textbooks, so that students can choose whichever appropriate reference they wish.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I know from personal experience that all three approaches are useful (and I've used them in different classes, depending on the nature and structure of the course).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29075,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At my institution, we asked a publisher to make us a \"custom edition\" of one of their expensive texts. The content wasn't really any different (I think we had them omit a chapter or two that wasn't in our curriculum) but they printed it in black and white, and it was somewhat cheaper than the four-color standard edition and still perfectly adequate.</p>\n\n<p>We did encounter some difficulty in communicating to the bookstore what exactly they were supposed to order and stock.</p>\n\n<p>I think the publishers like doing this because (a) it makes them feel more responsive to the needs of their customers and (b) it further fragments the used market. So I couldn't really say it turns the tables; maybe just wobbles them a little.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29136,
"author": "ChrisS",
"author_id": 22348,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22348",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many publishers will publish the same book at a much cheaper price for sale in markets in the developing world. These copies will be exactly the same (even down to the typesetting and graphic design) except that the paper, printing and binding will be of inferior quality, and the cover will be a generic design.</p>\n\n<p>I've bought the South Asian editions of third year physics textbooks for $20 from various sellers on <a href=\"http://www.abebooks.com\">AbeBooks</a>, whereas these textbooks would retail for over $150 in my university bookshop. I've only done this on AbeBooks, but this might be possible on other websites as well.</p>\n\n<p>Perhaps you could search online to see whether cheaper editions of your text are available, and if so, recommend that students purchase their copies there.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29150,
"author": "RedSonja",
"author_id": 22355,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22355",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If there isn't too much of a difference, or if the differences aren't relevant, use the previous edition. This is always cheaper, and will be available second-hand.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29157,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have never <em>had to</em> buy a book for a course¹. All the lectures were absolutely self contained, and I only used the books when I needed a clarification or a different explanation on a particular thing, in which case I borrowed it for a few days from the library. I did buy a few books, but only these that I though would be useful as a reference beyond the particular course.</p>\n\n<p>The best way to reduce the impact on the student's pockets is not to require purchasing the book at all. The library should have a bunch of copies of different books, so the students can compare and choose what suits them best.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>¹ Actually, once I did. It was not <em>compulsory</em> per se, but the professor was referring to <em>his book</em> every day. He was a bad lecturer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29191,
"author": "o.m.",
"author_id": 22389,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22389",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Two comments here ...</p>\n\n<p>I know a professor who once wrote a popular textbook. When he wrote the next one, which was expected to be equally successful, he asked several publishers who could promise him the <em>lowest</em> sticker price. It might even have been a smart business move, because the next textbook was another bestseller by textbook standards. The author had bargaining power and used it for the benefit of his students.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, I know that some textbooks have relatively low print runs and complicated layout/typesetting. Computers can only do so much, a good textbook needs manual attention. These overheads have to be divided over the print run in order to make <em>any</em> profits, and they might dwarf the costs of paper, print, and binding.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29248,
"author": "Martin Thoma",
"author_id": 4092,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4092",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One \"easy\" way to pressure textbook publishers to reduce price for a textbook about a given topic you know a lot about is by writing a textbook yourself and giving it away for free. So you become the publisher.</p>\n\n<p>I did so for a German lecture about Geometry and Topology. I am a student and the professor did not provide a textbook. So I create one from my lecture notes (he prepared the lectures very well; but it still was a lot of work).</p>\n\n<p>Here is the result: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://github.com/MartinThoma/LaTeX-examples/tree/master/documents/GeoTopo\" rel=\"nofollow\">GitHub repository</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"https://github.com/MartinThoma/LaTeX-examples/blob/master/documents/GeoTopo/GeoTopo.pdf?raw=true\" rel=\"nofollow\">A5 - rendered PDF</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Students now have something that fits exactly what is taught in lecture (plus some very small extras I've added) together with training material. They can print it for <strong>less than 10 Euro</strong>. If they build groups / if the institute would decided to print 200 (which should not be a problem) I guess the price could go down to <strong>5-7 Euro</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>Another advantage of this OpenSource / science / education approach is that it gets easy to create derivates. In my case, another student asked me if it would be possible to create index cards for definitions. It turned out that it was quite easy to do so (<a href=\"https://github.com/MartinThoma/LaTeX-examples/blob/master/documents/GeoTopo/definitions/definitionen.pdf?raw=true\" rel=\"nofollow\">index cards for this project</a>). I could imagine that students or other teachers could come up with other variations of the text.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29070",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22304/"
] |
29,079 |
<p>Like many academics with an active research program, I am asked to review many papers. Borrowing an idea from peer-to-peer file sharing companies, I try to keep a rough sense of my recent "ratio" of <strong>reviews I have done on other's papers</strong> over <strong>reviews my papers have received</strong>. I try to make sure I have a ratio that is consistently above 1:1. Since many of my papers (and presumably the papers I review) are co-authored, this seems very generous to me.</p>
<p>How many reviews should I be doing? How many is normal? Is a ratio an effective way to keep track of one's reviews? Is a minimum 1:1 ratio appropriate and defensible?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29080,
"author": "Bjørn Kjos-Hanssen",
"author_id": 11257,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11257",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You could count each n-author paper you are on as 1/n of a paper. Thus each time you submit for publication a 2-author paper, a 3-author paper and a 6-author paper, it's time to referee another paper.</p>\n\n<p>If the journal uses more than one referee per paper, adjust up accordingly. </p>\n\n<p>In some sense this must be what most people do, on average. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Edit:</strong> One could ask the editors how many referees they use per paper. Better yet, the editors should volunteer that information.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29084,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have wondered about the same question. One thing that I've noticed is that there is an incredible amount of variation in the amount of reviewing done. I have two good friends who are strong, active mathematicians. The last time I spoke to them they were each at least six years past their PhD and had never reviewed a single paper. This seems bad, but it's not their fault: they are not being asked.</p>\n\n<p>I suspect that the lack of coordination among journals in the same field causes the same small number of people to be asked to referee papers over and over again. I am not a journal editor, but I have begun to wonder how editors choose referees: I am someone who is getting (what I think is!) a large number of referee requests. I submit maybe 2-4 papers per year. Not so long ago I used to get that number of referee requests per year, and they were all from people who knew me directly and pertained to topics related to my thesis work or to the areas in which I have written multiple papers. Now I get at least a dozen referee requests a year, and in addition to the above I get some very strange-looking ones. Not so long ago I got asked to referee a paper in (what I think is!) control theory. This was so baffling that I assumed it was some kind of email crossed wires situation and asked the editor about it. It turned out that the paper on real analytic solutions to Bezout equations had been sent to me because of a question on math.SE that I answered, in which I explained why the ring of analytic functions on the complex plane is a Bezout domain. This is distressing: I can see why google would make a connection like this, but in the realm of academic experts, is it not obvious that we are on different sides of mathematics? Experiences like this make me wonder who is refereeing papers. </p>\n\n<p>I'm not sure that counting papers is the right way to gauge whether you are pulling your weight referee-wise. As I mentioned in a comment to another answer, many -- I think most -- papers are refereed by more than one person, either simultaneously for the same journal or sequentially, as many (most?) papers are submitted to more than one journal before they are accepted. Here are some things that I have thought about:</p>\n\n<p>1) It cannot be appropriate for everyone to referee the same number of papers. More experienced people should referee more papers, but also should referee more important / difficult papers. People who have permanent / senior positions in academia (especially: tenure) should have more obligations than those who are struggling to stay in the profession. </p>\n\n<p>2) Not all papers take the same amount of time to referee: not even close, actually. I try to make a point of quickly processing especially short and simple papers: I probably do 3-5 of those each year, and I often process them in a week or even a day. But it would be silly to equate this kind of referee work with the long, difficult papers that you spend weeks or months <em>working on</em>, perhaps having to do considerable outside reading in order to adequately evaluate. Doing 2-3 substantial papers a year is what really keeps me busy as a referee. I suppose I try to keep my eye on the total amount of <em>time</em> I've spent refereeing rather than on the number of papers, although I admit that I don't do this in any formalized way.</p>\n\n<p>3) Unless a paper is clearly of the \"one day\" variety as above, I try not to let my queue exceed 2 papers. This is also out of respect to the authors: if I have to read two papers <em>before I get to yours</em>, then you'll be waiting for at least six months, probably more. If at any given time every sufficiently experienced/qualified academic had either 0 or 1 papers to referee and made a point of processing papers faster than they submit them, then things would work relatively smoothly, I suppose.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31715,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Speaking as an editor and conference organizer, good and reliable reviewers are hard to find. For somebody to be a good reviewer, in addition to being in the right discipline, they must be:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>A strong enough scientist that I trust their opinion</li>\n<li>Capable of expressing their analysis of a paper clearly and constructively</li>\n<li>Good enough at time-management to return the review rapidly</li>\n<li>Not too overloaded with other responsibilities to accept</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Lots of authors fail these tests, especially the first one---anybody who has spent significant time reviewing knows that there are a lot of <em>very</em> bad papers being written. Moreover, papers that are rejected often get revised and sent elsewhere, so they may require multiple sets of reviewers. All of this adds up to the following: if you are a good and trusted reviewer in your community, you will be in high demand, and it's reasonable to have a ratio of greater than 1:1. </p>\n\n<p>For example, in the last three years, excluding grant and tenure case reviews, according to my records I have reviewed 31 papers in 2012, 24 papers in 2013, and 30 papers so far in 2014 (with a few more committed to return before the end of the year). This puts my ratio well above 1:1, with the actual value mainly depending on fluctuations in the denominator.</p>\n\n<p>In sum, I recommend viewing reviewing not in terms of ratios, but in terms of how much time you are comfortable devoting to quality reviews for venues that you wish to support. Don't accept review requests from journals or conferences that you do not respect: there are many low-quality publications that can waste your time. Also, don't accept more reviewing than you can handle, even if that means your ratio is lower: it's better to give one well-thought review than two hasty and shallow reviews that may miss important points and piss off the authors. Do <em>respond</em> yes or no to every review request promptly: otherwise, you are making a problem for an editor who doesn't know whether they need to recruit more reviewers or not.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 64063,
"author": "Significance",
"author_id": 48584,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/48584",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Four times as many as you submit as corresponding author.</p>\n\n<p>My reasoning is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Most journals solicit between two and four referee reports for each paper that is sent out for review. Add to this the time of the volunteer editorial board member who is probably handling the manuscript.</li>\n<li>Some academics do not do their duty to the community and decline all review requests, so the rest of us have to make up for them.</li>\n<li>By my reckoning, this works out to about 4 x the number of papers you submit being a fair load.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 84334,
"author": "orezvani",
"author_id": 24008,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24008",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First of all, I totally agree with the answer of <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/29084/7269\">Pete L. Clark</a>.</p>\n\n<p>However, I do not agree with the mentality that thinks: \"Reviewing a paper is <strong>JUST</strong> doing a favour to the community\". We all read papers to stay on top of our fields, get a better understanding of the world around us and to get new insights. I personally read several papers every month. Nonetheless, every paper that I read, I must maintain my critical view. So, there is no harm in reviewing many papers.</p>\n\n<p>When you receive a paper that seems interesting to you, you can decide to review it (of course there is a burden of writing down your thoughts, which is negligible). If the paper is not interesting, you can just decline the review request and move on.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29079",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962/"
] |
29,089 |
<p>It comes as known that some experimenters have died or suffered other ill effects because of consequences of their experiments, such as Marie Curie. What is the distribution by gender/sex of those who perform potentially hazardous experiments in academia? How does their compensation for their work in terms of salaries or other benefits compare to other academics who have less physically hazardous jobs?</p>
<p>I'd like research with supporting citations if available.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29091,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Academia is unusual (in some countries possibly unique) in that it typically does not need to offer additional reward for exposure to hazards.</p>\n\n<p>That's because of academia's fairly unusual characteristics: the people who expose themselves to the hazards are very well-informed about them, and uniquely positioned to mitigate them. And academia is not a profession that the unskilled and economically vulnerable are forced into by hardship: instead, it is very often an active choice.</p>\n\n<p>In addition, several countries, including Britain, have pay structures that do not, and have never needed to, incorporate risk as part of compensation.</p>\n\n<p>So, in Britain at least, there is no \"danger money\" or other compensation for exposure to risk: the market doesn't require it, and employees are far more empowered than most to handle the risks.</p>\n\n<p>In terms of exposure by gender, STEM fields continue to have a problem with entrenched sexism (predominantly inherited from the 20th century), being very male-dominated at the top levels, where the power and money concentrates. Even today, STEM is still majority male at the level of undergraduate admissions in many countries at many universities: in <a href=\"http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75-006-x/2013001/article/11874-eng.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">Canada</a>, the <a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/06/20/stem-fields-and-the-gender-gap-where-are-the-women/\" rel=\"nofollow\">USA</a>, <a href=\"http://felixonline.co.uk/news/3199/looking-into-the-gender-balance/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Britain and globally</a>, men dominate STEM subjects. And the risk exposure concentrates in STEM subjects- no physical risks in maths; but science, technology, engineering are where the physical risks concentrate; and those that expose themselves to them, do so with knowledge of what they are doing, and the ability to mitigate those risks.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29132,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>While I'm not aware of any research on employees <em>exposed</em> to safety risks in the academic workplace, there are statistics on actual workplace injuries in a variety of occupations, including scientific occupations. <em>If</em> the incidence of injury is uniform across gender among those exposed to safety risks (I don't know if it is), then you can take this as a proxy for the gender distribution of those exposed to risk in the scientific workplace.</p>\n\n<p>In particular, the <a href=\"http://data.bls.gov/gqt/InitialPage\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">United States Bureau of Labor Statistics</a> collects information on workplace injuries, which you can query at will.</p>\n\n<p>According to their statistics, here are the numbers of nonfatal occupational injuries involving days away from work among employees whose occupation is classified as \"<a href=\"http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes190000.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations</a>\":</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/FrMIj.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/FrMIj.png\" alt=\"count of occupational injuries by gender\"></a></p>\n\n<p>I was also interested in the ratio of the number of injuries to the number of thousands of people of each gender employed, again in \"<a href=\"http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes190000.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations</a>\":</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/DHtnb.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/DHtnb.png\" alt=\"ratio of injuries to thousands employed by gender\"></a></p>\n\n<p>Please <a href=\"http://www.bls.gov/help/def/gqt_profile.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">visit the BLS website</a> to learn more about how they collect these statistics and what they mean.</p>\n\n<p>You can query their dataset yourself if you're interested in getting numbers specific to one area of science or another.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29089",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7158/"
] |
29,090 |
<p>I have contacted a potential PhD supervisor and currently he is reviewing my work, however this evaluation process seems to be taking too long. </p>
<p>Is it ethical to give my research proposal to another professor (another university) while he is reviewing my work? Will this reflect negatively on me if he finds out about it?<br>
There is a good chance that these two professors are in contact with each other ( though I can't be sure!) </p>
<p>He is the foremost expert in my field and I would prefer to have him as supervisor. I just don't want to lose my other opportunities.</p>
<p>Note : I have already secured funding for my PhD. I am only looking for a reputable school (and supervisor). I am considering two institutions in Europe, in Netherlands and Germany. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29095,
"author": "choener",
"author_id": 8826,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8826",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm assuming you are a normal student, i.e. you don't have single-author papers in science or something similar. If you have, contact your only choice again, if he has money he should hire you.</p>\n\n<p>Assuming you are a normal student, then yes, contact other Professors and programs as well. This is normal (at least in the natural sciences) and increases your chances of actually having a position in the future. Don't worry about this reflecting negatively. If someone does, you maybe wouldn't want to work with this person anyway. Honestly, however, there are many applicants that individual withdrawels don't bother us too much.</p>\n\n<p>Also, consider being less picky. If your choice of Prof. is indeed the foremost expect the (prior) probability of him actually hiring you is rather low. To increase the (posterior) probability of being hired, you need to stand out.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29102,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Finding a PhD advisor, like finding a job, is not a serial process. You can—and <strong>should</strong>—have multiple applications out simultaneously. If you get an offer you find acceptable, then you should take it. </p>\n\n<p>If you are concerned about missing out on an opportunity with your first-choice advisor if someone else makes you an offer, then you can send a polite email informing the first-choice advisor something like:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I would really like to work with you, but I am starting to receive offers of admission from other advisors. They would like to have an answer by <<em>date</em>>. While I understand you need time to make a decision, would it be possible for you to give me an answer by then?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If they're serious about having you as a PhD student, they'll respond.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29090",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21893/"
] |
29,094 |
<p>I have the following dilemma: I am finishing my Master's degree in pure mathematics this academic year (summer 2015) and I hoped to apply to a PhD program (US schools) starting from September 2015. Therefore, I have to apply this fall (till December 2014 in most places).</p>
<p>However, I have the following problem - my first article has just been completed and I have to go through a painful publication process which will not be finished in time (surely not till December). Second problem is that I have not particularly high GRE Math results (around 750 I guess, still waiting for results); the exam can be retaken only in April 2015.</p>
<p>Therefore, the only strengths I have are high GPA and solid letters of recommendation. I guess I could send the article to Arxiv.org, but I am not sure if that is acceptable to admissions committee and I am not familiar with the process of placing the article there.</p>
<p>So my questions are:</p>
<p>Is it OK to apply this fall and in case I am not accepted to the desired program, reapply next year, in the fall of 2015?</p>
<p>Or there is some kind of cooldown like the one you have in industry jobs and it is wiser to skip this year's admissions and apply in 2015 with a solid application profile?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29101,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A solid GPA and letters of recommendation is nothing to sneeze at—particularly if one of the people who wrote your letter of recommendation is a co-author on the publication.</p>\n\n<p>You don't need to publish the paper on arXiv if you and your co-authors don't feel it is appropriate; however, you can mention that you have a manuscript available, and submit it along with your application (if the department to which you're applying permits it!).</p>\n\n<p>However, I wouldn't wait an extra year just to \"improve your odds.\" Apply this year—if you don't like the results, try again next year. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29114,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From context, I'm going to assume your field is mathematics and you are applying in the US.</p>\n\n<p>I don't see any reason why you shouldn't apply this year. In particular, don't worry about your paper not being accepted in time. Just having a paper submitted is already pretty good for a PhD applicant. People in mathematics are well aware that the peer review process takes a long time, and will not fault you for the fact that it isn't finished. And many applicants are accepted without any completed papers at all.</p>\n\n<p>However, it would be a good idea to make sure at least one of your letter writers is familiar with your paper and can give a credible assessment of its quality.</p>\n\n<p>Posting to arXiv is really orthogonal to the publication proces. Most people post to arXiv <em>at the same time as</em> they submit to a journal (not \"instead of\"). It's a convenient way to distribute a paper that has not yet been published, but it isn't at all the same as publication itself, because arXiv doesn't do any peer review. So it's perfectly fine to upload your paper to arXiv. I think an admissions committee will see that as a sign that you (and your coauthors, if any) are sufficiently satisfied with the paper that you are willing to share it with the public, but in itself it doesn't signify much more than that.</p>\n\n<p>And to answer your title question: yes, if you do not get accepted to any place you like this year, you can certainly reapply next year, typically without prejudice. Of course, it will help if your application next year is significantly stronger, so the committee can think \"Wow, look at all the progress this person has made since applying last year.\" </p>\n\n<p>But often a better alternative is to apply to a variety of places this year, so that you have a better chance of being accepted at somewhere that's reasonably good. If you are rejected by your first choice but accepted somewhere that's decent, it's probably a better idea to go to the decent place rather than waiting another year to try again. The grad school process is long enough without delaying it by a year to try to go to a slightly more prestigious place (which you might not get next year into anyway).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29121,
"author": "Jeffrey Weimer",
"author_id": 22283,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22283",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As long as you meet the minimum requirements otherwise, go ahead an apply as often as you want. You may be able to have your application put forward to the next review cycle if it is rejected in the first. In all cases, acceptance of your application would be helped when you have a faculty member who knows of you and wants to take you as their graduate student.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29094",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22327/"
] |
29,117 |
<p>Warning: Extremely long post. Not really even the full story but one must stop somewhere.</p>
<p>My problem is the following:</p>
<p>I am a pure mathematics PhD student in (a remote part of) Europe and am part of a Doctoral Programme, which means that financially I am in a good position (relative to other grad students anyway). This is the same university in which I completed my undergraduate education. I was chosen together with a handful of other applicants from a pool of over hundred candidates (all natural scientists, not just mathematicians). I'm on my first year.</p>
<p>During my stay I have struggled to find a suitable problem (In fact I have overheard graduate students leave work early in my university because the feel that they didn't have much to work on). Basically my supervisor suggested some problems, I didn't like them, I tried desperately to invent my own problems to fill the void and to find something in the intersection of my interests and my supervisor's interests (and expertise). I realize now that with many of those problems neither I or my supervisor could really judge whether the problem was good or not (or whether it was known or not). During the summer the possibility that this arrangement is nonsensical started to dawn on me and I started to wonder if I should just consider moving to another university in another country to do a PhD.</p>
<p>My interests have sharpened and shifted somewhat during my stay as I got a better understanding of the current state of the field. On a couple of occasions I tried to tell him about my interests. Quite recently my supervisor told me that I need to start working on something and offered some problems that I didn't care about. Inspired by some advice of Sir Michael Atiyah (<a href="http://www.math.utah.edu/~zzhu/Advice_to_a_Young_Mathematician.pdf">"Advice to a young mathematician"</a>) and AMS blog post <a href="http://blogs.ams.org/mathgradblog/2014/08/29/tips-grad-students/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tips-grad-students#sthash.cMEdMTAn.dpbs">"Tips for New Grad Students"</a> I brought up the possibility of changing supervisor/university/country. He was certainly not relieved, and was concerned about the reputation of his research group, among other things.</p>
<p>I have discussed my concerns with doctoral programme coordinator and the person in charge of the PhD studies in our faculty. I am considered extremely fortunate to be part of the doctoral programme and losing a student would be unfortunate for the faculty. Changing supervisors or universities is something that doesn't generally happen here.</p>
<p>To an outsider the differences between my interests and my supervisor's would probably appear like splitting hairs. Indeed this is the position of my supervisor. The topics are likely to be outside of his expertise. He has offered to study together some of the subjects that I am interested in and to later study abroad with a more knowledgeable professor (the supervisor does have connections). He claims he will eventually find suitable problems if we study the topic together. Basically I envy students who get to study in a big active university or get to work with a guru who dispenses expertise and problems matching students' interests. I would be glad if I was offered even a low hanging fruit problem if it at least would teach me something in a modern and interesting field. It seems backwards to me that to learn a field together <em>with</em> the supervisor, instead of learning the stuff <em>from</em> the supervisor.</p>
<p>Our relationship has suffered as a result of this debacle. I think he is frustrated about my doubts.</p>
<p>So should I:
Go seek the frontier where the actions seems to be (I believe the things that interest me are being actively studied):</p>
<p>Pro: Potentially more efficient and stimulating PhD experience.</p>
<p>Pro: Potentially more prestigious university and/or supervisor.</p>
<p>Con: Changing universities is risky, the fact that I got funding in one university doesn't mean I will get it elsewhere, etc.</p>
<p>Stay where I am and try to make it work:</p>
<p>Pro: Safe in the short term.</p>
<p>Con: Uncertain if I will get suitable problems and sufficient knowledge to tackle such problems and continue a career in research.</p>
<p>Con: I have learned that people doing their undergraduate and graduate studies in the same university do less well.</p>
<p>Con: The track record of the supervisor to get PhDs to good places is not great.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29119,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't really know your situation, so this is just a first impression but: slow down. Take a breath. You're describing frustrations with things not working out...but you're still in your <em>first year of the PhD program</em>. Where I come from, students find advisors and problems much more gradually than this. If you were given problems \"quite recently\", then how do you know you don't care about them? If you don't care about the problems suggested to you because you have your own problems that you want to work on: find out if your own problems are viable, and if so find out who can help you with them. But if you don't have anything else you're dying to work on, I'm tempted to say: spend at least a month or two working on every problem your advisor gives you before you decide it's not for you. Why be so picky?</p>\n\n<p>However, if you feel sure that you are not interested in anything your advisor is doing, then...sure, go study with someone else. The \"reputation of the research group\" is not really a sensible thing to be worrying about at this stage. Look, I went to (what is, along with a few others) the top PhD program in mathematics in the US. Nevertheless in the five years that I was there I watched students: (i) drop out of graduate school entirely, (ii) switch to a math PhD program in a different university and/or country, (iii) switch to a different department at my university, (iv) switch fields and/or advisors within my math PhD program. I never heard a peep about any of this damaging the reputation of the department or the university. People change programs <em>all the time</em>. Someone who is telling you otherwise may not be looking out for your best interests... </p>\n\n<p><b>Added</b>: Maybe my answer is US-centric. Other questions and answers on this site have suggested that European academia may be less flexible on these matters. If so: maybe consider going to school in the US. In every US PhD program in mathematics I know about, you apply to the program as a whole rather than to any research group or to officially work under any one faculty member. Then you have a period of 1-3 years to find your footing, pass some general qualifying exams and decide who you want to work with and then more time to decide what you want to do for your thesis. The whole process can take longer than in Europe, but in your case it sounds like you would find it more pleasant than your current situation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29120,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First of all I agree with @Pete L. Clack's answer. Changing supervisors is not the end of the world, it happens all the time and it is your right to do so. But the question you should ask yourself is why should you change?</p>\n\n<p>I assume that your supervisor is an expert on the \"great\" math area you want to focus on, otherwise you would not have chosen him. By that assumption, expecting your supervisor to spoon-feed you a specific problem that you will like 100% and all you have to do is just solve it and get a PHD is an unrealistic goal in any PHD program. Supervisors suggest possible problems or usually specific scientific areas to focus on, close to their expertise. Then the problem is gradually refined as time goes by, as the student works intensively on the suggested area. This is a gradual process that does not happen magically overtime. In that sense, you cannot simply dismiss ideas (ideas are hard to come by) without sufficient knowledge of the research area (\"could not really judge whether the problem was good or not\") for some vague idea on what you want to do, without actually be able to judge if the problem you are suggesting has any merit or not. Choosing a problem is something that needs research maturity which frankly you do not have. At least in your first year of a PHD, you should trust others (your supervisor) to \"show\" you the way. You should at least start by his suggestions, do the required research literature search, get a firm grasp on the problems he is suggesting and not just \"brush them off\", because \"you do not like them\". </p>\n\n<p>Note that your supervisor also seems like a nice guy, who is willing to study more on a area he is not familiar with, to help you. Not many professors a) admit their lack of knowledge on a subject b) go this far to help an inexperienced student like you. And believe me, this is an important quality for any supervisor. Also, lack of knowledge on a tiny area now, does not mean that when he actually does his \"homework\", he will not be able to guide you towards the new area. Professors and researchers change directions and progressively expand to areas less familiar to them when they \"run out\" of problems on their main expertise and this also something that happens quite a lot.</p>\n\n<p>So, I suggest caution. Your funding is good, your supervisor seems nice, your university / department is reputable. Do not blow them all away for a mislead ambition on what problem you consider important or not. You can always walk away but you do not need to do it now, before you examine your options carefully.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29140,
"author": "GreenAsJade",
"author_id": 11468,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11468",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The <strong>most</strong> important thing is to have great communication with your supervisor. More than just \"we talk respectfully to each other\" - you need to feel backed up and supported and understood by your supervisor. You need rapport.</p>\n\n<p>If you don't have this, even at the beginning when everything is easy, then you are on a trip for disaster later as things get harder.</p>\n\n<p>Reading between the lines, my sense is that this important rapport is not there. </p>\n\n<p>If it seems hard to change now, wait till 2 years down the track when you discover just how poorly understood you are by your supervisor.</p>\n\n<p>However, before you decide if this means you should change <strong>supervisor</strong>, you need to assess where the gap is. Maybe you need to change <strong>you</strong>?</p>\n\n<p>Some of your statements are a little worrying. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>It seems backwards to me that to learn a field together with the\n supervisor, instead of learning the stuff from the supervisor.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>What is is that you think you will be learning? In your PhD you are learning <em>how to do research</em>. It is an apprenticeship, not a life work. It's your first, not your last.</p>\n\n<p>You will be learning <strong>from</strong> your supervisor <em>how to do research.</em> Together <strong>with</strong> your supervisor, you will be learning about some <em>small new element</em> in a field of interest, in the process.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>He has offered to study together some of the subjects that I am\n interested in and to later study abroad with a more knowledgeable\n professor (the supervisor does have connections).</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>On the face of it, this is a generous offer. Can you look back at it and see if this generous person might actually be a good partner ... or whether in fact he's making this offer only to try to save face from losing you? </p>\n\n<p>This is the crux of it, in a way. If you can appraise the difference, you will be able to make the right decision. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Basically I envy students who get to study in a big active university\n or get to work with a guru who dispenses expertise and problems\n matching students' interests.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This would be a bad reason to change. The grass is always greener on the other side - you have no idea what debarcles all those folk are dealing with!</p>\n\n<p>Priority #1: establish whether you can have rapport with your supervisor, take it from there.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29154,
"author": "MadMike",
"author_id": 22360,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22360",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Another thing, when you find a job, it is not always exactly what you wanted to do. It is difficult to find a job where you are happy all the time. I imagine as a post doc, you get to work with problems that you are not super excited about. Is it realistic to find a job where you are super happy and everything is fine? I doubt that? Life will always be like this; you will work with things you are not really interested in. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 47239,
"author": "RebaFL",
"author_id": 35891,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/35891",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For what it is worth....</p>\n\n<p>y experience also supports the idea that professors and programs are more flexible in the U.S. After working in academia with a Master's degree in the U.S. and now working on a PhD in Switzerland, I have experienced and heard about how much less flexible the professors in Europe are (mind you, there are exceptions on both sides of the Atlantic).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29117",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
29,125 |
<p>I have a rough draft of my PhD dissertation, on which I was working on and off for about a year, but mostly I was doing other coursework. I have about 90 pages so far.</p>
<p>My dissertation advisor tells me that what I should do is pretty much make sure it is well-written and apply the theory to a few examples. By my estimates, if I go berserk on this, I can finish all that in under one month.</p>
<p>However, the dissertation advisor says that usually, it takes about 3 years to complete a dissertation in my department, and I should not expect to complete it soon. Also, he says that the level of my draft was intermediate (some time ago) and not yet advanced (but he hasn't reviewed the current one yet).</p>
<p>When I ask or suggest about expanding the scope of the dissertation / adding additional chapters, the dissertation advisor says he does not think it is necessary.</p>
<p>So, it appears that the dissertation is almost complete, but I should not expect to complete it soon. How should I interpret this apparent contradiction?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29128,
"author": "Benedikt Bauer",
"author_id": 10039,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10039",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>My PhD advisor once told me that one aspect he considers when rating a thesis is how much the candidate did try to go beyond the initial idea or goal. If they are like \"I solved the initial problem, here's the thesis, I just want to finish a fast as possible\" then they will earn an intermediate grade at the end. Only if they try to go beyond the initial problem, try to at least estimate the further implications or steps or apply the outcome of the initial problem to further problems, they really can earn a top grade.</p>\n\n<p>To my experience, to successfully finish a physics PhD within roughly a year, you have to have had really great luck to find something really excitingly new that provided a huge progress to your specific field. In most cases after one year you can't even tell for sure what the final focus of the thesis will be. Those applications of the theory to some example cases can easily take up more time than the whole development of the theory as there might come up issues and flaws that you were not expecting. Also their importance is not necessarily reflected in the number of pages they make up in the final thesis.</p>\n\n<p>Therefore it seems to me, that you are somewhat belonging to the first type of people mentioned above who are just heading to leave before really having understood the implications of what they were working on.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29130,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Trying to get a PhD in a year or two is a bad idea, because employers will not take such a degree seriously. The only exception is if you're a once-in-a-generation talent (and the odds are you're not the next Albert Einstein or Lev Landau), in which case you'd already have a number of publications to your credit and enough work to justify a PhD.</p>\n\n<p>So I would echo Benedikt Bauer's advice and not try to rush through things. Instead, focus on the <strong>quality</strong> of your thesis project. Have you completed publications? Have you personally explored the ramifications of the work you've already done? What else have you done \"beyond the basics\" of the original problem?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29131,
"author": "Danny W.",
"author_id": 21704,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21704",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Science is really a publication driven field, not a dissertation driven one. I would <em>highly</em> encourage to you to put your time in to turning your research into peer-reviewed scientific publication, instead of doing just enough for a dissertation. If you can publish 2-4 papers out of what you have written in established journals your adviser will most likely graduate you. However, I imagine, since this was my experience too, that as you start to write your papers you will find holes that need to be fixed, etc., and fixing those holes will be a substantial part of the work.</p>\n\n<p>Bottom line: focus on doing publishable research and getting published first! After you've done that, the dissertation will be easy and you'll graduate without a problem. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29160,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In all the programs I am familiar with, <strong>you become a \"doctoral candidate\" (or something similar) only after having successfully proposed a topic for your dissertation</strong>. Usually that proposal includes several pages of detail regarding <strong>what will be accepted by your committee as successful completion</strong>. Of course, research is uncertain and there must be some flexibility, but your proposal can be viewed as the basis for deciding when you are done.</p>\n\n<p>If you have such a document, you should reference it specifically in discussions with your advisor. If you do not, perhaps you should create one and iterate with your advisor until he/she is willing to agree to it.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29125",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21222/"
] |
29,133 |
<p>In graduate school I have found that along with being a producer of good research, fellowships/post-doctoral advisers/faculty search committee are also often interested in what one has done <em>outside</em> of research (or teaching/TA-ing) as well. Examples of such activities include (but are not limited to) volunteering with younger students in science, organizing a journal club, mentoring undergraduate researchers, etc. In some cases, the importance of these activities is immense: for the NSF CAREER award, for example, having outreach is a substantial part of the application. </p>
<p>However, clearly, spending all of one's time on these activities is not the best idea, since then no research gets done. </p>
<p>So, my question is:</p>
<p><strong>What is the optimal fraction/amount of time to spend on "outreach" activities like those mentioned above, which are explicitly not research or teaching activities, for someone looking to pursue a career at a research university?</strong></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29128,
"author": "Benedikt Bauer",
"author_id": 10039,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10039",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>My PhD advisor once told me that one aspect he considers when rating a thesis is how much the candidate did try to go beyond the initial idea or goal. If they are like \"I solved the initial problem, here's the thesis, I just want to finish a fast as possible\" then they will earn an intermediate grade at the end. Only if they try to go beyond the initial problem, try to at least estimate the further implications or steps or apply the outcome of the initial problem to further problems, they really can earn a top grade.</p>\n\n<p>To my experience, to successfully finish a physics PhD within roughly a year, you have to have had really great luck to find something really excitingly new that provided a huge progress to your specific field. In most cases after one year you can't even tell for sure what the final focus of the thesis will be. Those applications of the theory to some example cases can easily take up more time than the whole development of the theory as there might come up issues and flaws that you were not expecting. Also their importance is not necessarily reflected in the number of pages they make up in the final thesis.</p>\n\n<p>Therefore it seems to me, that you are somewhat belonging to the first type of people mentioned above who are just heading to leave before really having understood the implications of what they were working on.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29130,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Trying to get a PhD in a year or two is a bad idea, because employers will not take such a degree seriously. The only exception is if you're a once-in-a-generation talent (and the odds are you're not the next Albert Einstein or Lev Landau), in which case you'd already have a number of publications to your credit and enough work to justify a PhD.</p>\n\n<p>So I would echo Benedikt Bauer's advice and not try to rush through things. Instead, focus on the <strong>quality</strong> of your thesis project. Have you completed publications? Have you personally explored the ramifications of the work you've already done? What else have you done \"beyond the basics\" of the original problem?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29131,
"author": "Danny W.",
"author_id": 21704,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21704",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Science is really a publication driven field, not a dissertation driven one. I would <em>highly</em> encourage to you to put your time in to turning your research into peer-reviewed scientific publication, instead of doing just enough for a dissertation. If you can publish 2-4 papers out of what you have written in established journals your adviser will most likely graduate you. However, I imagine, since this was my experience too, that as you start to write your papers you will find holes that need to be fixed, etc., and fixing those holes will be a substantial part of the work.</p>\n\n<p>Bottom line: focus on doing publishable research and getting published first! After you've done that, the dissertation will be easy and you'll graduate without a problem. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29160,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In all the programs I am familiar with, <strong>you become a \"doctoral candidate\" (or something similar) only after having successfully proposed a topic for your dissertation</strong>. Usually that proposal includes several pages of detail regarding <strong>what will be accepted by your committee as successful completion</strong>. Of course, research is uncertain and there must be some flexibility, but your proposal can be viewed as the basis for deciding when you are done.</p>\n\n<p>If you have such a document, you should reference it specifically in discussions with your advisor. If you do not, perhaps you should create one and iterate with your advisor until he/she is willing to agree to it.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29133",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21704/"
] |
29,137 |
<p>I have several questions related to open-sourcing the source code used for a research article.</p>
<p>Is there any research/study that addresses any of the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>What percentage of research articles are provided with their source code? (i.e. the source code is made available somewhere online)</li>
<li>What percentage of research articles provide the source code at or before the publication date?</li>
<li>What percentage of research articles who promised they will release the source code actually do so?</li>
<li>What percentage of research articles provided the source code at some point but then the latter disappeared?</li>
</ul>
<p>I am mostly interested in the field of computer science > machine learning, and English-speaking venues.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29192,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Here's a relevant study on computer science systems research that addresses your first question, \"What percentage of research articles are provided with their source code?\". The study is described in a tech report:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"<a href=\"http://reproducibility.cs.arizona.edu/v1/tr.pdf\">Measuring Reproducibility in Computer Systems Research</a>.\" Christian Collberg, Todd Proebsting, Gina Moraila, Akash Shankaran, Zuoming Shi, Alex M Warren. March 21, 2014.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The authors of this study observed the following protocol to determine code availability:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>We downloaded 613 papers from the latest incarnations of eight ACM conferences (ASPLOS’12, CCS’12, OOPSLA’12, OSDI’12, PLDI’12, SIGMOD’12, SOSP’11, VLDB’12) and five journals (TACO’9, TISSEC’15, TOCS’30, TODS’37, TOPLAS’34), all with a practical orientation. For each paper we determined whether the published results appeared to be backed by source code or whether they were purely theoretical. Next, we examined each non-theoretical paper to see whether it contained a link to downloadable code. If not, we examined the authors’ websites, did a web search, examined popular code repositories such as <code>github</code> and <code>sourceforge</code>, to see if the relevant code could be found. In a final\n attempt, we emailed the authors of each paper for which code could not be found, asking them to direct us to the location of the source. In cases when code was eventually recovered, we also attempted to build and execute it. At this point we stopped — we did not go as far as to attempt\n to verify the correctness of the published results.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Here is a summary of their findings:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Total papers examined: <strong>613</strong></li>\n<li>Papers that appeared to be backed by source code (not purely theoretical): <strong>515</strong></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Of these 515 papers, 105 were excluded from consideration so that the resulting set of papers had no overlapping author lists. That leaves 410 papers, with results as follows:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Papers with link to source in the paper: <strong>85</strong></li>\n<li>Papers not in above category, where source was found via web search: <strong>65</strong></li>\n<li>Papers where author shared source following email request: <strong>81</strong></li>\n<li>Papers where author declined to share source following email request: <strong>149</strong></li>\n<li>Papers where author did not respond to email requests for source: <strong>30</strong></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>More details of methodology and results, as well as all the data and other materials used in this study, may be found at <a href=\"http://reproducibility.cs.arizona.edu/\">this web site</a>.</p>\n\n<p>There is an \"Anecdotes\" section appended to this tech report, which I think you may find very interesting, as it relates to some of the other points in your question. It documents the author's struggles to get authors to give up their source code :)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 103987,
"author": "Franck Dernoncourt",
"author_id": 452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From <a href=\"http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/missing-data-hinder-replication-artificial-intelligence-studies\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/missing-data-hinder-replication-artificial-intelligence-studies</a> (<a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20180216221212/http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/missing-data-hinder-replication-artificial-intelligence-studies\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">mirror</a>):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In a survey of 400 artificial intelligence papers presented at major conferences, just 6% included code for the papers' algorithms. Some 30% included test data, whereas 54% included pseudocode, a limited summary of an algorithm.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>(Source: \" At the AAAI meeting, Odd Erik Gundersen, a computer scientist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, reported the results of a survey of 400 algorithms presented in papers at two top AI conferences in the past few years.\")</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29137",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
29,149 |
<p>In the past term, my teaching evaluations were full of complaints that I assign too much homework. To solve this, I've scaled back the assigned workload and threw several assignments into extra credit. This seems to make many student happy:</p>
<ul>
<li>Students just passing through complete the basic coursework and meeting the course objectives, without feeling the course is harder than other courses.</li>
<li>Students who enter the course finding the material is too difficult can complete the extra work to offset their poor mid-term exam grade while getting additional practice for the final.</li>
<li>Students eager to learn the material are happy with the extra work and feel they can get more out of the course.</li>
</ul>
<p>In the next term, I hope to offer much more extra credit, equal to 20-30 hours of work, to meet the needs of those top 20% eager learners.</p>
<ul>
<li>All of the work aligns with the course objectives.</li>
<li>The point values are kept low, to discourage students from skipping regular work.</li>
</ul>
<p>I have never seen a course instructor ever give more than a little amount of extra credit. Is there any reason why it would be a poor choice to offer a great deal?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29169,
"author": "msouth",
"author_id": 12746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12746",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the answer to your question is \"No one knows, but you are about to find out.\" The only thing that can be guaranteed is that there will be some unexpected consequences, because the nature of human interaction--and the diversity of things like motivation and preparation--is such that it's too complex a system for us to know what the introduction of a novel approach is going to do.</p>\n\n<p>You are attempting to transfer power to the students which is traditionally vested almost exclusively in the instructor. I feel that this is a good thing, but that it is difficult to predict what people will do when given power that they previously did not have.</p>\n\n<p>To give you an example (which I don't think will happen in your case, but there could be some analogous effect), I know of an instructor that tried dispensing with grade pressure altogether by announcing on the first day that everyone in the class had an A for the course [the highest rating possible, for those not familiar with common practice in the US]. The consequence that surprised him was that at the end of (or perhaps during as well, I don't remember) the course, students expressed resentment toward the policy. The realities of time pressures put on them by other courses meant that they ended up spending little to no time on the gradeless class, because they knew ultimately that it would not affect their record. The resentment came from the fact that they wanted to learn the material, but with nothing to force them to spend time on it, they ended up not giving it any time but instead allowing the other demands on their time to crowd it out completely.</p>\n\n<p>In my opinion, I think you've covered your bases as well as you can (in particular, it's not a wild shot in the dark, but a further change to a previous, successful modification), and all there is for you to do is observe the effects and see what student feedback is. The most interesting question in my mind is whether the most talented students will do as well (in terms of \"total learning outcome\") under this system as they did under your original one. For similar reasons as the example I gave, they may just make a decision not to put as much effort in because of time pressures from other classes.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29171,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are a couple of points in your question that I don't quite understand:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>You're proposing to offer \"much more extra credit\" but \"keep the point values low\": don't those two things work against each other? In my experience, students don't do much extra credit when they do not in fact feel that it will lead to a higher course grade.</p></li>\n<li><p>You speak of using extra credit to offset poor midterm grades and also speak of meeting the needs of the \"top 20% eager learners\". Those are different pools of students.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In my own experience, the second bullet point is a major point of tension for extra credit. Students would like extra credit to be routine work that they can do to improve their grade, possibly even to offset more challenging or time-consuming course tasks at which they didn't excel. But instructors usually see extra credit as a way to reach the \"eager learners\" at the top of the class and end up giving extra credit that is <em>harder</em> than the normal material. For instance, when I teach freshman calculus if I assign extra credit it's usually the less routine and more theoretical problems. Most students (correctly!) perceive that just doing the standard work would be a more efficient route to a good grade.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I have never seen a course instructor ever give more than a little amount of extra credit. Is there any reason why it would be a poor choice to offer a great deal?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I think that most instructors feel that students who get bad grades on exams and then make it up with ancillary work should not get similar final grades to students who do well on exams. In other words, since many (most, maybe; certainly not all) courses have \"mastering the material, as shown in exam performance\" as the primary goal, giving too much extra credit works against this goal. Most extra credit is a kind of \"homework\": I hope that people know that in 2014 it is all but prohibitively difficult to ensure that homework is being done by the student. In an earlier question you asked about assigning <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Mechanical_Turk\" rel=\"nofollow\">Amazon Mechanical Turk</a>-type questions to the students as extra credit. That very terminology raises the objection: maybe the students will use the MTurk website to get others to do their work for them!</p>\n\n<p>But there is no absolute right or wrong answer here: you do get to decide what works best for you. Honestly, I think you're essentially proposing \"rebranding\" some of the course work as extra credit in an attempt to make the students more excited about it. Could that work? Yes, it could! You are certainly entitled to give it a try. However, since most students do substantial amounts of extra credit only when they are trying to increase their grade, if you repackage too much \"normal credit\" into \"extra credit\", then you risk decreasing the amount of work done by the typical student in your course. So you should analyze the incentives carefully.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, speaking of the mind games that get played out in a classroom:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In the past term, my teaching evaluations were full of complaints that I assign too much homework. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This need not imply that you are assigning too much homework! </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29189,
"author": "chmullig",
"author_id": 6024,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6024",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can't speak for your institution, students, or department, so take this with the usual grain of salt.</p>\n\n<p>At a highly competitive and stressful institution like Columbia, many courses are graded on curves based on the final overall grade. Particularly as a result, anything offered as extra credit becomes de facto mandatory. When the extra credit simply gets added into the numerator of the grade it's pretty irrelevant whether those 15 extra points came from a \"midterm\" or \"extra credit.\"</p>\n\n<p>I suppose there MIGHT be ways of constructing a syllabus such that the extra credit was less distortionary, but I can't come up with one. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 58814,
"author": "Tom Au",
"author_id": 755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/755",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Extra credit work is good for telling you how much <em>ground</em> a student has covered. \nThat's usually to the advantage of the learning process.</p>\n\n<p>The one advantage that \"tests\" have over extra credit is that tests measure <em>proficiency.</em> That is how fast a student can produce the work within a short period of time. Some employers prefer to judge their employees on this basis. If the students can earn extra credit just by putting in time, the extra knowledge could come at the expense of proficiency.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29149",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
] |
29,151 |
<p>I teach a lab class that is only constrained by some broad learning objectives. I have been using the same project now for 5 years. It now runs very smoothly and I know what difficulties the students are likely to have. I think that is an advantage, but teaching the class is beginning to feel stale and I am worried that hurts the students. Given I could easily chose a brand new project and still deliver the learning objectives, how do I know when it is the right time to change topics.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29156,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The interesting question is, does the project feel stale for <em>you</em> or for the students? The students are, after all, only doing the project once, so there is in principle no harm in using the same project year after year.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, there is the possibility that the project that was cutting-edge when you defined it is now an old relic, using methods and technologies that nobody actually cares about anymore. In this case, you should of course move on, but if this is not the case, I see no inherent value in changing the project (especially since any change also means that the first iteration of the new project will be a bit rough around the edges).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29161,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My high school Physics teacher changed his course every two years. The reason was that after that time, he would start thinking that what he was teaching was way easier than what it actually was, and he wanted to remind himself of that. Of course, the content was almost the same, but the notes and the preparations were brand new.</p>\n\n<p>A lab is of course very different, and having a rock solid set up is very useful (better than spending an hour just to find out that one of the cables was broken inside, happened to me).</p>\n\n<p>You could take advantage of your knowledge of the instrumentation by using the same machinery, but slightly changing and improving the experiment. For example, instead of reading values from the LCD screen of a multimeter, you could upgrade to a USB one and get the full stream of values (budget allowing). Then, one could try to do a finer analysis of the data. Another option is to look into the residuals of your data from the theoretical curve, and see if there are any patterns beyond noise, and try to figure out why.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29151",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929/"
] |
29,152 |
<p>I had two advisors for my master thesis. One, as my first advisor would take the theoretical part to guide me. I have been meeting with my first advisor once every two week and he has been examining each part of the text. During these meetings, he continued to tell me how good I am doing and I should keep writing in this way. There were never real feedback, which could be pointing out my mistakes. </p>
<p>So I developed a full confident in myself and in the work. He offered me that I should consider starting a PhD with him. In short, during the time I have been writing my masters thesis, he gave me all signs that he approves and likes my work. </p>
<p>My presentation took place a week ago, and was pretty much successful in my opinion and in the opinions of other people who came to listen. But at the end of the presentation, I received a totally different attitude from my first advisor. He started to criticize the work in a way he has never done in our meetings. </p>
<p>I was shocked about how my first advisor could not defend me and his own ideas in front of the committee and I am incredibly disappointed. Not only have I lost my belief in him and his judgments but also, I am now doubting my own skill of writing. </p>
<p>I am going to meet my first advisor next week and planning to talk about his twist of judgment and criticism. In this talk, I will question the PhD idea. I'm not sure though, how to put my anger, disappointment in right words, without making him feel that I am attacking to his personality. Also, when I asked him if we can meet earlier than next week, he refused. I have the feeling that he knows what i am going to say and now trying to construct a distance. </p>
<p>I know that trust is a very important issue in between the advisor and the advisee. If we will continue work together, I have to ask him an explanation but as I said, I'm afraid of my own frustration and if I cannot express myself in a right way.</p>
<p>My question is, would it be wise to express my disappointment in him, especially now that we will start to focus on my PhD? On the other hand, I need him to justify his inconsistency, which is quite crucial for me to keep working with him.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29163,
"author": "afaust",
"author_id": 21371,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21371",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You cannot go after him for asking questions, that's his prerogative. You can choose to work on your PhD with him, or without him. That's what the conversation ought to be about.</p>\n\n<p>Check out Crucial Confrontations:<br>\n<a href=\"http://www.frumi.com/images/uploads/CrucialConfrontations.pdf\">http://www.frumi.com/images/uploads/CrucialConfrontations.pdf</a></p>\n\n<p>With a crucial discussions like that, it is always good to give yourself a pep talk and imagine why would a rational being do something like that. Was is really that bad? Were you his first student, and was he nervous? Could he have had some personal issues to deal with? Perhaps he feels embarrassed for his behavior? </p>\n\n<p>That will help you develop compassion and temper your anger (regardless how justifiable it might be). The goal is really to channel your emotions.</p>\n\n<p>Then you are ready to develop a focus for your discussion. You can pose it as the discussion about your concerns about doing PhD with that advisor. Let's face it, you were not going to do PhD with him, there wouldn't be need for the conversation. Ask questions, at this point.</p>\n\n<p>For example, I was surprised with the level of question received during the defense. I was left doubting the quality of my work, and now I am concerned about proceeding with PhD because my work is not as good as I thought it would be. What is your take? That should be enough to start the conversation without accusations. </p>\n\n<p>Keep in mind, they are supposed to ask you hard questions at the defense, it is an exam. It might even be a compliment - he wouldn't have asked you these questions, if he didn't think you can handle them. My advsor holds practice defenses. The labmates and the adviser ask hard questions then. For my defense practice, I was answering questions for an hour! If it wasn't for the practice, these questions would have come at the defense time.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29165,
"author": "dvanic",
"author_id": 22372,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22372",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Concurring with the comments above, I would suggest you:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Calm down</li>\n<li>Consider (on your own, at first) whether you want to do the PhD with this supervisor given how the defence went (do you feel that the questions were valid and having them asked earlier would have made your research MUCH stronger and hence your PI should have asked them before, or were they more tough questions to show how good a student you really are). </li>\n<li>Prepare for a polite but emotionally challenging meeting. DO NOT criticize or in any way express your \"disappointment\" in your supervisor - ask him why the questions he brought up were not asked during practice runs. Then consider (again) whether you want to commit to a PhD with him/her, depending on the answer.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Most importantly - understand that a Masters (and <em>especially</em> a PhD) is YOUR project, it's not your supervisors job to defend your ideas and results - it's YOURS...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30847,
"author": "Adam",
"author_id": 21517,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21517",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I feel you, I had the exact same experience at larger level, at my PhD proposal defense.</p>\n<p>I spoke with most of them individually to understand the issue. My advisor and my chair were very supportive before the defense and all of a sudden they acted as if they have never seen it before. No question wise but suggesting totally something different with unreasonable justification.\nThe fact that you are considering a PhD may have contributed to their response or else they wouldn't care much about a master thesis. That is probably because they are trying to shape the direction of your future work to particular area in their mind.</p>\n<p>What I found out is that a Lot of office politics were involved in my committee. My advisor and chair didn't like each other much and my chair is more senior so she cared less to what he think nor he were able to stand for me or risk having a conflict with her for some student.\nOn the other hand, the PI who wanted something else were very influential (I didn't know at the beginning since he is from a different department). My chair listen to everything he says and after the meeting her suggestion was as if it was coming out of his mouth.</p>\n<p>Observe them carefully so see what work or grants they are heading to and how they interact with each other. Who is more respected and who have more power in the department structure? Once you find out, I think everything will make sense. Bear in mind that your goal at the meeting is to know, not to complain or express emotions.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29152",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22358/"
] |
29,155 |
<p>I noticed that some scholars in my field are best known for their earliest writing, even if their ideas were later found incorrect.</p>
<p>I am writing a book in my area of interest and hope to publish within a year. The target audience is not academics, but practitioners, although I suspect academics would be the first to seek out a book of this kind.</p>
<p>Year by year, my understanding of the subject matter grows, through reading and experience. It is highly likely that in a few years time I will realize I made many mistakes in the book. Perhaps, for example, I was not aware that some of my described solutions to problems in the field did not actually work as well as I thought they did.</p>
<p>If I later started a PhD in the same area, would such a past publication create problems for an academic career?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29158,
"author": "BSteinhurst",
"author_id": 7561,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7561",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Anything you write places you at risk of being wrong somehow. Certainly a book of this kind is asking for a wider audience that then might be aware of those mistakes. Alexandros points out in a comment that you certainly need to do your due diligence now to assure that what you write is as correct as it can be. No one is going to blame you if you suggest a response to a certain legal framework which is overhauled in three years but if you describe a chemical solution that could never react in the way you claim that one is on you. So how certain you can be that your work will remain correct/useful is somewhat field dependent. </p>\n\n<p>The big question is about this hurting your ability to start and pursue a PhD after writing such a book. I don't think it would. Except in the rather extreme case of your book becoming well enough known and wrong/controversial enough to annoy members of a PhD admissions committee. For the most part I would suggest that already being an active member of a practical field (read: has published work discussing the field) would be a very helpful piece of an application for a PhD program. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29194,
"author": "shozbot shabadoo",
"author_id": 22395,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22395",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, publishing a book full of inaccuracies will make people consider you as a person that publishes inaccuracies.</p>\n\n<p>If you read a book by someone that wasn't even a PhD yet and their book was full of errors, wouldn't you think less of them?</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29155",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
] |
29,159 |
<p>I was wondering if there is a site or something where I can find announcements for all (most of) the special issues of journals (upcoming and past) . For example of Springer, IEEE, Elsevier, ... </p>
<p>If I search for this now, I find scattered call for papers. Also, I can't seem to find this on wikicfp.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29700,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>No, there is not.</p>\n\n<p>Speaking as somebody who has dealt with a number of special issues on both sides of the editorial table, there is simply too little coherence in how different journals advertise their special issues. Sometimes it's hard even to find a coherent explanation of how a journal is approaching special issues even on its own website.</p>\n\n<p>Maybe somebody like Google could address this, but it would be a <em>hard</em> problem requiring either serious investment in human curation or serious natural language processing mojo.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 80683,
"author": "Ébe Isaac",
"author_id": 40592,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/40592",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are similar services for conferences, but there is no such service (as of yet) for special issue journals.</p>\n\n<p>Hence, the better option at hand would be to periodically and selectively look through publisher sites for special issues. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29159",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9236/"
] |
29,166 |
<p>Is someone aware of software that can help me create certain goals and research (sub)questions (digitally) and connect these questions in an organized way with the secondary literature on my computer, as well with my own notes.</p>
<p>I have over 2000 pdf files on my computer. The problem is that I don't want to create a new folder (and copy of the file) every time I come up with a new question.</p>
<p>Ideally, but not necessary, the software should also keep track of edit history and I should be able to make notes on files. It would also be nice if I could access my research organizer from everywhere, though this is not a necessary requirement.</p>
<p>I have looked into some software to manage bibliographies, but the main goal of this kind of software is to export the bibliography, rather than organize my research-questions, computer files, and own notes.</p>
<p>I suppose I want to create some kind of database/tree with the following structure</p>
<blockquote>
<p>WEEK 1 ("short title comes here")</p>
<p>-- more detailed description of research question; goal/workplan/etc.</p>
<p>-- literature to read this week (software links correct files on my pc)</p>
<p>------- book 1</p>
<p>------- book 2</p>
<p>------- article 1</p>
<p>------- etc.</p>
<p>-- output</p>
<p>------- version (monday)</p>
<p>------- version (friday)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The software, ideally, must have a "search function" which redirects me to the correct node of the tree (i.e. "WEEK 1" not "this-pdf-contains-the-string.pdf")</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29357,
"author": "jamesj629",
"author_id": 22513,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22513",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm not sure there exists an all-in-one solution as you would like, however <a href=\"http://www.docear.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">Docear</a> is pretty close to what you want and allows you to organize your thoughts/files and connecting them.</p>\n\n<p>On the meta level, I use a bare-bones website from Google Sites (free), set to private, to record daily thoughts and progress (searchable).</p>\n\n<p>Hope it helps</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 37957,
"author": "Shivank",
"author_id": 28743,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28743",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Try using Microsoft's <a href=\"http://www.onenote.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">One Note</a>. It recently became free to use and is a very good application to store your content, no matter how lengthy it may be.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 37993,
"author": "tikiribanda",
"author_id": 28774,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28774",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can try <strong>Evernote</strong>. It's a simple application yet powerful. You can even sync your notes between devices. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29166",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22371/"
] |
29,174 |
<p>On mathjobs.org, a few jobs request a research statement of no more than 3 pages. Are reference pages typically counted for such requirements in the United States?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29417,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Generally speaking, no. Two reasons:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Nobody reads the references.</li>\n<li>It is unethical to penalize the author for giving credit where it is due.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>That said, an HR staffer may not know about academic practices.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29462,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Unlike the NSF, where references often do not count towards page limits, I would assume that references <em>do</em> count as part of the 3-page limit for a research statement in a job application. </p>\n\n<p>At the same time, few research statements I have seen in mathematics are as thoroughly referenced as an NSF proposal. The main goal of a research statement when applying for a job is to describe your own research and to demonstrate that you will be able to meet the research expectations of the job. As such, you want to keep the research statement relatively brief.</p>\n\n<p>If you really need more than 3 pages including references, you should email the chair of the search committee to find out if it is acceptable. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29174",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4455/"
] |
29,175 |
<p>Here are the features of an advanced graduate mathematics course:</p>
<ul>
<li>24 hours of optional lectures over the course of the term;</li>
<li>No homework, labs, guided assignments, quizzes, tests, previous year exams, or sample solutions;</li>
<li>A concise syllabus;</li>
<li>A list of recommended reading with about 5 items, with titles such as a Harvard University Press textbook;</li>
<li>The final exam lasts three hours and consists of several problems with sub-items.</li>
</ul>
<p>What would be an advisable way to properly prepare for the exam?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29177,
"author": "Danny W.",
"author_id": 21704,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21704",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Hopefully you went to lecture - in my experience, in courses like this, the best you can hope for is that the professor draws questions directly from the lectures notes/questions that he raised during lecture. You can attempt to read the books, but there's probably too much material there. Focus on the lectures notes, and hope the prof is just trying to test \"how smart you are\", i.e., just doesn't give you a bunch of hard questions tangentially related to any material discussed in class. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29188,
"author": "Jake",
"author_id": 21222,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21222",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In my experience, a study method in this case would include the following</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Be present at all lectures if possible.</li>\n<li>It is especially important to be present at the first and last lectures, where key information about the course and the exam is likely to be conveyed.</li>\n<li>A good idea in such a case is to record the lectures in audio or audio and video format, to have a reference to every detail; an alternative would be to write everything down verbatim.</li>\n<li>Read the textbook, if the course has one, or at least the one or two of the items from the reading list, cross-referencing the material with the syllabus. Some relevant material may be skipped with careful discretion without substantial decrease in quality of exam preparation.</li>\n<li>Make a notebook, which summarizes all important items from the lectures and the literature, such as all major theorems, formulas, concepts, and other items that can be expected on exam.</li>\n<li>Find problem sets, which fit well the course syllabus. For example, those can be end-of-section problems in the items from the reading list or problem sets from a similar course offered elsewhere. Also, students that took the same course before might still have exam problem statements.</li>\n<li>As you work through lecture notes, reading list, problem statements, and problem solutions, highlight and annotate the items of relevance to the exam (to the extent of that being possible), so you can quickly go over it later and recall auxiliary information that is not in the text.</li>\n<li>Add all concepts and patterns from problem solutions, as well as, preferably, all concepts and patters from the relevant material in the reading list, to the notebook.</li>\n<li>Ask the instructor if there are any questions in regards to preparation for the exam.</li>\n<li>Before the exam, go over the lecture notes, reading list items, and especially the notebook. In particular, reread the entire notebook several times the day before the exam and several times about one hour before the exam.</li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29175",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21222/"
] |
29,178 |
<p>I met a professor last year through an online search and expressed my interests to his research and his advanced lab technique, in which I lack of experience. </p>
<p>I also asked for a PhD opportunity from him, he says that he has no money or limited funding now, so I agreed to work for 3 months for free. Would be practical that this volunteer experience could lead to a PhD after this 3 months? On one side I am not happy with working for free, as I had employment for 1 year as a research assistant. On the other side, this potential professor appears nice to employees around and keeps his words, and has good tracks of papers.</p>
<p>But am I just wasting of time, what actions should I take to figure this out before too late?</p>
<p>Supplementary information: He said that he was on travel, so I was off for a while. He did not contact me till I found him. Is this normal or just my altitude should be changed? I feel not well, maybe he does not really want me as a fellow at all? </p>
<p>I am really frustrated, should I go further or not, is he just being polite to accept me to practice the techniques in his lab for 3 months? Am I wasting of time to even practice these test methods?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29180,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you <em>WANT</em> to volunteer in the lab as a learning opportunity, it can be a great practice.</p>\n\n<p>If you don't want to, decline the offer and either look elsewhere or come back when his budget can handle bringing someone else in... and hope that he hasn't already found someone who was pleased to work as a volunteer and delighted to be paid.</p>\n\n<p>The world is what it is, not what we wish it should be.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29193,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ultimately, the decision is based on what you feel comfortable doing and at the same time, is consistent with what you want to achieve in research. The fact that you have mentioned that you are feeling frustrated and are having doubts that the volunteer work will even eventuate are not good signs at all - especially as you have indicated that you are not comfortable working for free.</p>\n\n<p>So, some things to consider:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>How important is learning and practicing this lab technique for your future goals?</p></li>\n<li><p>Is it possible to ask to collaborate on any research that will also allow you to learn the test method?</p></li>\n<li><p>Have you checked any other similar labs?</p></li>\n<li><p>What is a new aspect of research that uses the test method that you could offer as a PhD project?</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Some suggestions:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Look at other opportunities while you are waiting to hear back from the researcher (do not pester them).</p></li>\n<li><p>Best not to second-guess the researcher's intentions, give them the benefit of the doubt.</p></li>\n<li><p>Read the researcher's papers and at least master the theory.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Remember, to take on a volunteer may require permission from the researcher's Dean/Human Resources, and may involve aspects such as safety induction (for the lab) etc (and as Moriarty said in his comment, taking on a volunteer may be forbidden).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29200,
"author": "nivag",
"author_id": 14115,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14115",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The most important thing I would work out is what do you want to gain for this opportunity? From your question it sounds like you would like to get a PhD afterwards. </p>\n\n<p>You say the professor has no/little money at the moment. You need to work out if this is likely to change in 3 months. The best way to do this is probably just to ask him.</p>\n\n<p>Such a role may still be useful even if it doesn't lead directly to a PhD position with this professor. He may provide a good reference or may result in a publication. However, you must way up these benefits against the cost of working for free for three months. </p>\n\n<p>Things to consider are what is the reputation of the professor/how much do you want to work with him? What is the likelihood of you getting a similar (paid) role in reasonable amount of time.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, before taking unpaid work it is important to consider how you will support yourself financially. If you can't afford to eat you may need to do something else.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29220,
"author": "Jeffrey Weimer",
"author_id": 22283,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22283",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Besides all that has been mentioned, the liability issues stand foremost. Imagine that you work for free and get injured while on that job. The university has no obligation to pay you any compensation. Imagine that you damage a major piece of research equipment. You and the faculty member could be personally sued by the university for the repair costs.</p>\n\n<p>The other side is, what do you get from this? Sure, experience is a great thing, but it only goes so far. Suppose you work for free and have no achievement from the work. What exactly are you going to put on your CV? Do you believe that a future job interviewer will really care to discuss what you \"experienced\" in your own \"free time\" versus what you have a valid record of doing?</p>\n\n<p>For the first reason, I do not accept students that offer to work for free in my labs. For the second reason, I always attach credit hours for either formal research or a special topics course to the transcript of students who work for me doing research.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29178",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20582/"
] |
29,195 |
<p>I am a postdoctoral researcher in a lab, having person (e.g.) X as a colleague, also a postdoctoral researcher like me, having obtained a PhD two years after me.</p>
<p>Here is the problem: In the last two years, I have taken initiatives that have led to a number of publications. My collaboration with X was not so close, since I ended up doing 80% of the work, in addition to having the original ideas, and he/she was only helping by e.g. writing a Section, having general discussions, or giving general comments.</p>
<p>I have tried "pushing" (with frequent emails, meetings etc.) but it did not have a good result, as I understand that he/she does not feel motivated by me: the result has included some "ugly" emails, not an oral though.</p>
<p>I have been doing this, waiting that in exchange, X would include me as a coauthor in one of the papers that would occur from his/her research (none so far and nothing in-progress from their part, as far as I know).</p>
<p>How to treat this person, given that he/she will not leave, as the professor seems to have some special interest in them.</p>
<p>In my domain, the order of the authors in publications matters, so in our "joint" publications I am the first author, but is this enough? I am thinking that if we both continue independently we would both lose, but do not know how to motivate him/her. I suppose the pressure has to come from the professor, who let's say that cares but has other more important priorities. I have mentioned the problem to the professor, he/she just told to X that they should produce more, and that's it.</p>
<p>How to handle this situation?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29204,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe one possible solution is to bring in understanding of what the scientific community puts in the terms authorship and contributorship. Note that the term contributorship is gaining interest because it focusses on the entire research process, not just the authoring, which can be misread as writing.</p>\n\n<p>The Vancouver Protocol (exemplified here by the <a href=\"http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">ICMJE</a> version; you may find it worthwhile to do a search on \"contributorship\", \"vancouver protocol\" and \"authorship\") provided a first stated criteria for accepting someone as author. Putting this on the table for discussion is always a good idea. Many will probably not like the quite strict rules but when one considers them they do provide a good framework for accepting someone as author. Defining what you or the group within you work sees as acceptable grounds for being listed on papers should definitely help avoid discussions in the future. Anyone disagreeing will have to set their contribution in the light of the rules and convincingly show they fulfil them. Of course some may have a very inflated view of their own contribution but within a group such discrepancies will be harder to maintain.</p>\n\n<p>An interesting idea for establishing is also provided by the <a href=\"http://www.authorder.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=53\" rel=\"noreferrer\">authororder.com</a> (I am not in any way associated) site.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29206,
"author": "Benoît Kloeckner",
"author_id": 946,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/946",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You might simply consider that the current situation is fine: you say that you do get help from your collaborator, so there is little reason to stop working with him or her; you lead the collaboration and, for this, get first authorship. This will earn you much (well deserved) better opportunities; by comparison, your collaborator will have a hard time, because no recent first-author publications will look bad on his or her CV.</p>\n\n<p>You might have wanted a more active collaborator, and it is a good idea to try to help him or her do better, but you just cannot push someone against their will. It is possible that he or she does not have what it takes to handle more core tasks, or that so he or she believes. In this case, pushing too hard would amount to cornering him or her into an impossible situation, no good would happen.</p>\n\n<p>Learn to change what you can (e.g., if you have the option to start another collaboration with someone else it might be a very good idea; if you have another job available with potentially better co-worker, you might want to try it, etc.) and do with what you cannot change. Ultimately, you have the upper hand on your own work, and that is how it is supposed to be.</p>\n\n<p>Ho, and about getting co-authorship in exchange for your work: no one is supposed to <em>give you co-authorship</em> in exchange for anything; you can rather be <em>invited to work on a project</em>, and then this work is what grants co-authorship. I am not sure how you meant it, but giving co-authorship as a mere reward for something unrelated to the publication is a serious academic misconduct.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29207,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>(Peter Jansson's answer is interesting, and I personally do like the idea of documenting contributions more explicitly than is currently fashionable. But I think it is fair to say that this more like tomorrow's solution than today's: though people like us would like to see these protocols followed, at the moment those who follow them assiduously seem to be in the minority, so it will probably not be effective in the short term to try to hold a \"lagging\" collaborator to this standard.)</p>\n\n<p>In my opinion there is relatively little you can do to force your colleague to pull his own weight on your current and past projects, but on the other hand your situation is not so bad.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Here is the problem: In the last two years, I have taken initiatives that have led to a number of publications.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That is certainly not the problem! Rather, that sounds great for you.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>My collaboration with X was not so close, since I ended up doing 80% of the work, in addition to having the original ideas, and he/she was only helping by e.g. writing a Section, having general discussions, or giving general comments.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>At least X did 20% of the work; that's a lot better than nothing. Seriously, a lot of people on this site are complaining about being pressured or forced to add coauthors who have literally done nothing helpful on the paper, or who have even dragged them down / wasted their time. I think that in most academic fields, 20% contribution is certainly sufficient for coauthorship.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In my domain, the order of the authors in publications matters, so in our \"joint\" publications I am the first author, but is this enough?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That's really the good news: by consistently appearing as first author, you are getting the lion's share of the credit. If it makes you feel better: I work in a field in which author order is alphabetical, and in my experience it is relatively common for some coauthors to have contributed less than 20%. So cheer up. By the way, your quotation marks around joint look a little uncollegial: your coauthor did some of the work, so it is joint work. This and other clues make me think that you may be overly worried about this and perhaps pushing a little too hard.</p>\n\n<p>What <em>can</em> you do in the situation?</p>\n\n<p>1) If you don't value someone's contribution, don't pressure them to include you on their own projects. Moreover, if you feel like someone is not pulling their own weight on a project, adding a project where you don't pull your own weight may seem just with respect to the two of you, but from the perspective of the larger academic world you're each trying to take credit for more work than you actually did. It would be easy for most of us to multiply our apparent productivity simply by \"exchanging more papers\" with our collaborators. We must resist that.</p>\n\n<p>It sounds like you are, or perceive yourself to be, a more productive / serious / insightful researcher than Dr. X. If so, the story you want to tell is that Dr. X did some work with you but that his contribution is not a major part of your research program. You accomplish that by doing your own work, not letting your interactions slow you down, and making sure that in your joint work the primacy of your contribution gets documented (as it has been).</p>\n\n<p>2) Make sure that your supervisor knows the situation and can speak and write accurately about your respective contributions.</p>\n\n<p>If you are getting first authorship every time and your supervisor has told Dr. X that he needs to work harder, then you are laying groundwork for him to describe you as being the prime mover in your collaborative work with Dr. X. It would be a good idea to speak to him explicitly about this. Assuming he agrees, he is then ethically obligated not to try to characterize Dr. X's contribution as equal to your own. If you are in doubt that he might not see it that way, I would suggest erring on the side of showing (not telling) your supervisor how capable and productive you are. You do this not by complaining about Dr. X -- just get the facts across; don't rub it in or be bitter about it -- but by going on to do more and better work. </p>\n\n<p>3) If you don't want to collaborate with Dr. X in the future unless he does at least X% of the work -- you can choose a specific value of X, at least up to 50 -- hash that out with him now, before you work on any new projects. You are more than within your right to do so. Indeed, as Peter Jansson indicates, that is a best practice.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29195",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21766/"
] |
29,197 |
<p>Reviewing is time-demanding. It makes huge sense to re-review if comments and changes are submitted. While first review takes a lot of time, the second can be very quick.</p>
<p>If authors provide a version that shows the changes - this makes re-review very fast. They also don't have to spend too much time on resonse-to-reviews letter.</p>
<p>Can I simply reject to re-review if such changes-highlighted version is not provided?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29203,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can certainly ask for it but if the journal does not require authors to provide such files, you are not likely to get one. So why ask? Well, by asking you provide the editors with the wish from reviewers to see this as a permanent feature and in the end such changes may be made by the journal in their instructions for authors.</p>\n\n<p>The reason why I think it is unlikely your request will be immediately heard is that editors usually handle many articles and may work under severe time constraints (often on their free time outside of work). Communicating back and forth with authors of varying background requesting new versions of manuscripts is usually a time consuming venture that could delay the process by weeks, depending on the responsiveness of the author.</p>\n\n<p>So, there may be a good reason to make a request but I would not expect the wish to be heard in many cases.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29234,
"author": "Sergii Dymchenko",
"author_id": 6626,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6626",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What format for such \"changes-highlighted version\" would you like? Maybe you could just use a tool like DiffPDF?</p>\n\n<p>Another problem with your original intent is that you're going to re-review by looking only at the \"changes highlighted\". What if there are other changes, not highlighted by the author? </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29197",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1537/"
] |
29,201 |
<p>(There is a similar question but not exactly.)</p>
<p>When you write a paper, you need various views. So you invite collaborators and it often works well. But assume that out of 5 invited, for example, one or two, don't contribute to the paper much but are kept on the email thread with updated versions of the manuscript.</p>
<p>How do you politely remove them from the author list (paper) and how do you say that politely in email. Do you just send them a separate email or a general "authorship rules" email to everybody?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29202,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Removing people late in the preparation stage of a manuscript is always prone to bad feelings. It is of course unfortunate that this is a fact. This is why it is always a good idea to try to set up some ground rules for authorship (or contributorship). There are many posts under the authorship tag that discusses the Vancouver Protocol which is a set of rules under which authorship/contributorship is determined. I usually provide the link to <a href=\"http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html\">ICMJE</a> as an example. The basic idea is that to be listed as author you need to fulfil certain criteria. Some have even devised a point system to calculate if a person is worthy of authorship/contributorship.</p>\n\n<p>But, to answer the question when you face the fact. There is no easy answer. You could decide to be strict and simply state that no sufficient contribution has been made (quoting the Vancouver Protocol list). How badly this is received is something only you can evaluate. And, only you can assess if you think it is worth it if the consequences are in some way \"high cost\". You can also decide to let this one slip through and make sure you have a clear arrangement around the next manuscript you write. I also think it is a good idea to start introducing ideas around authorship/contributorship in your research environment. I am sure many will dislike the topic but you are on safe grounds. Remember, many, maybe I should say more and more, journals request lists of contributorship and provide a basis for evaluating them (usually following the Vancouver Protocol list)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29257,
"author": "user-2147482637",
"author_id": 12718,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Of course, Peter Jansson is correct to define the rules ahead of time. If you have not, and from your question it is hard to know if you already have authorship order in mind (if this is appropriate for the field), then you could ask to receive contribution statements from each person.</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes, it is hard to gauge others idea of how much they contributed or how other collaborators feel about the others. Instead of making a direct decision without warning, you could email everyone asking for a contribution statement (as Peter Jansson mentions, some journals will require it). From there, everyone can see the contributions from the eyes of your collaborators, and some collaborators may willingly mention to take them off as they had little input.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 54240,
"author": "CyberFonic",
"author_id": 6215,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6215",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some journals provide guidance on who to recognise and not recognise for authorship, e.g. <a href=\"http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">ICMJE</a>. You could also take a look at <a href=\"http://www.phdontrack.net/share-and-publish/co-authorship/\" rel=\"nofollow\">PhD on Track's page on this topic</a></p>\n\n<p>You should discuss this issue with the other co-authors. I'd assume that some might have more experience in this area. Any such decision needs to be taken with the consensus of the remaining co-authors.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, if the non-contributors did in fact provide some useful input during conversations, etc, then maybe you should acknowledge that in a section after the conclusion. This is sometimes even done for anonymous reviewers when there has been a couple of iterations through the review process.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29201",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1537/"
] |
29,205 |
<p>I regularly teach an undergraduate course in which students are expected to complete projects that involve writing code. I also supervise undergraduates in other project and thesis work that involve writing code.</p>
<p>I am considering requiring future students to publicly release their project code, and any other materials needed to reproduce their work, under an open source license. (This would, of course, be stated up front in the syllabus, or before I agree to supervise a thesis student.)</p>
<p>(Fortunately, the research platform on which my students work is very well suited for reproducible research, having been designed specifically with that goal in mind.)</p>
<p>On the one hand, I have this vague idea that it's to the students' benefit to practice participating in open, reproducible science.</p>
<p>On the other hand, students may feel reluctant to release their code (for all of the reasons documented <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10247/why-are-cs-researchers-reluctant-to-share-code-and-what-techniques-can-i-use-to">here</a>). Furthermore, I want to avoid things that distract too much from the main goals of the course, which don't directly involve reproducible research.</p>
<p>Are there any specific pedagogical arguments for or against instituting this requirement?</p>
<p>(Note that I'm asking about the pedagogical impact on my students, <em>not</em> the benefit to the broader research community of having my students do open science.)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29202,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Removing people late in the preparation stage of a manuscript is always prone to bad feelings. It is of course unfortunate that this is a fact. This is why it is always a good idea to try to set up some ground rules for authorship (or contributorship). There are many posts under the authorship tag that discusses the Vancouver Protocol which is a set of rules under which authorship/contributorship is determined. I usually provide the link to <a href=\"http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html\">ICMJE</a> as an example. The basic idea is that to be listed as author you need to fulfil certain criteria. Some have even devised a point system to calculate if a person is worthy of authorship/contributorship.</p>\n\n<p>But, to answer the question when you face the fact. There is no easy answer. You could decide to be strict and simply state that no sufficient contribution has been made (quoting the Vancouver Protocol list). How badly this is received is something only you can evaluate. And, only you can assess if you think it is worth it if the consequences are in some way \"high cost\". You can also decide to let this one slip through and make sure you have a clear arrangement around the next manuscript you write. I also think it is a good idea to start introducing ideas around authorship/contributorship in your research environment. I am sure many will dislike the topic but you are on safe grounds. Remember, many, maybe I should say more and more, journals request lists of contributorship and provide a basis for evaluating them (usually following the Vancouver Protocol list)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29257,
"author": "user-2147482637",
"author_id": 12718,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Of course, Peter Jansson is correct to define the rules ahead of time. If you have not, and from your question it is hard to know if you already have authorship order in mind (if this is appropriate for the field), then you could ask to receive contribution statements from each person.</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes, it is hard to gauge others idea of how much they contributed or how other collaborators feel about the others. Instead of making a direct decision without warning, you could email everyone asking for a contribution statement (as Peter Jansson mentions, some journals will require it). From there, everyone can see the contributions from the eyes of your collaborators, and some collaborators may willingly mention to take them off as they had little input.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 54240,
"author": "CyberFonic",
"author_id": 6215,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6215",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some journals provide guidance on who to recognise and not recognise for authorship, e.g. <a href=\"http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">ICMJE</a>. You could also take a look at <a href=\"http://www.phdontrack.net/share-and-publish/co-authorship/\" rel=\"nofollow\">PhD on Track's page on this topic</a></p>\n\n<p>You should discuss this issue with the other co-authors. I'd assume that some might have more experience in this area. Any such decision needs to be taken with the consensus of the remaining co-authors.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, if the non-contributors did in fact provide some useful input during conversations, etc, then maybe you should acknowledge that in a section after the conclusion. This is sometimes even done for anonymous reviewers when there has been a couple of iterations through the review process.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29205",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365/"
] |
29,209 |
<p>I am completing a master's by research (in Humanities), and thus shall be writing a thesis with no class work. I am using both a mixture of primary and secondary source but one item that has me a bit unsure is the use of other master's theses. Is there an expectation at the master's level that you would only consult documents at a higher level (PhD and up)? I know the simple answer would be to ask your advisor, which I intend to do, but I wondering it their any accepted academic practice or principle on the issue?</p>
<p>Should or can I refer to (and cite) other master's thesis as source material or should I be only using material that would be considered above the master's level, such as PhD theses?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29210,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Firstly, I would ask your supervisor/advisor for advice.</p>\n\n<p>But, generally speaking this should be fine, as Masters thesis are examples of completed and verified research (in that they have either undergone defense or are peer reviewed - as was my case).</p>\n\n<p>One thing you could do though, is to use the thesis almost like a well-referenced Wikipedia page - in that you find the main referenced points that are relevant to your research and seek and peruse the paper that was used - chances are, you may find more information to assist in your specific research.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29229,
"author": "user296844",
"author_id": 18207,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18207",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, you can cite another master's thesis. You also should, if it is relevant to the work. And no, don't just pillage that other thesis for sources and ignore it. That would negate the benefit of access to that thesis, which you should make available to future readers of your own thesis.</p>\n\n<p>Above all, don't think like a student. Think like a writer, which is what you are. Your work, and those of other writers, should be treated with due consideration no matter the pedigree of the writers. Stop thinking of academia like some sort of sacred place where \"students\" are lesser beings. There are no gods here; only flawed men and women with nary a grasp of purpose.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29231,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In general, there is no such widespread requirement or expectation anywhere in academia. (Perhaps a particularly unusual advisor might have such an expectation, but even then, I doubt it.)</p>\n\n<p>If you note the citations of research papers, a decent number of them will cite master's theses—some of my papers certainly do! And if I can submit a paper to a major journal that cites a master's thesis, why wouldn't another student's master's thesis?</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29209",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12454/"
] |
29,211 |
<p>My friends, family, and partner often mention that they worry about my life as an researcher/academic mentioning how I work too much (I love my job!) am never satisfied (I want to go great work, and great work is hard to do!), and that I'm often distracted (I think about my research a lot!). I've tried to explain these facets of academic life to them, but I have trouble completely communicating each of these feelings. </p>
<p><strong>Are there any good articles or stories that you have found particularly useful in helping others understand your lifestyle as an academic?</strong></p>
<p><strong>For people outside of academia who you feel understand your passion and drive, how did they come to do so?</strong></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29387,
"author": "SteveJT",
"author_id": 22529,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22529",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Might not help you in communicating your thoughts, but will certainly help in understanding what it is you are engaged in.</p>\n\n<p>Serres \"The Troubadour of Knowledge\"</p>\n\n<p>Enjoy.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 46828,
"author": "J. Zimmerman",
"author_id": 7921,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7921",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>[This response may be specific to my culture/situation, so take it for what it's worth.] </p>\n\n<p>As a student in the health sciences, I find it helpful to explain my passion in terms of 'needing to know'. The human body--and it's response to disease--is so complex, with so many interactions that we don't fully understand, I find myself continually in a position of wonderment. \"The more I learn, the less I know.\" </p>\n\n<p>I am passionate about becoming the best healthcare professsional I can be, and the individuals who are important to me seem to be able to understand this. I know that I cannot expect them to totally understand the fascination of research, or the passion that drives me to devote all available time to learning, reading, writing, etc. Both they and I have come to accept this. I do not push my world onto them, nor do they demand that I be able to explain. </p>\n\n<p>Perhaps the really crucial part of this is taking time to be really present with the non-academics in your life. Let them know that you care for them and accept <em>their</em> non-academic lifestyle as well. Understanding and acceptance is often a two-way street--be willing to give as well as get. </p>\n\n<p>This really only answers your second question. Perhaps others may be more able to respond to the first query about stories/articles to help your loved ones understand the fascination of research. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29211",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21704/"
] |
29,212 |
<p>Let's assume, for the sake of example, that I have found a new figure of merit which is of the same complexity as the one currently used, but is much more justified from a mathematical and physical standpoint. However, the whole development barely goes over one paragraph (maybe two), as the "proof" is extremely simple and straightforward.</p>
<p>Now, I was planning on saving this smaller result for a bigger paper on the same topic, where I'd introduce this new figure of merit along with other results, but the future of this other paper has become quite uncertain lately.</p>
<p>Is there any way I could still present this new (small) result?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29213,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can think of publishing it as a <em>short communication</em>, many journals accept this kind of contribution (they can be designated in different ways, depending on the journal). As I recall, the shortest article ever published was of about 3 lines [1] ;-)</p>\n\n<p>[1] F. Lenz, \"The Ratio of Proton and Electron Masses\", <em>Phys. Rev.</em> <strong>82</strong>, 554, 1951.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29216,
"author": "george",
"author_id": 21766,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21766",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would submit the manuscript as a short paper, or even a poster in a workshop. Workshop papers and posters in my domain (computer science) usually demonstrate more early results of ongoing research.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29222,
"author": "R.M.",
"author_id": 22409,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22409",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The reason why you're publishing is because you think you have a new way of doing things that is better than the old way of doing things. Simply publishing a derivation of the new way isn't sufficient to convince people of that fact. You need to <strong>convince</strong> people that your new way is better.</p>\n\n<p>So yes, your derivation is a simple one to two paragraphs, but in addition to that you should spend several paragraphs explaining why your new way is better. Why was the old way used? Why weren't the deficiencies not considered a problem until now? (Or if they were, how were they addressed with the old way, and why is your way better?) What are some of the objections that the people used to doing it the old way will raise? Why might they not want to switch to your new way? What do you say to those potential objections? Are there possible use cases might your new way not be appropriate for, and if so, how do you choose between the old way and the new way?</p>\n\n<p>You'll probably also want to spend several paragraphs in an introduction, explaining how the field got to the old way, and outlining the deficiencies. You probably also want to include and example of using your new way, comparing it to the old way, illustrating why the new way is better.</p>\n\n<p>Basically, you think your paper is too short because you're planning on just presenting the derivation and assuming its merits are obvious to others. They won't be. In all likelihood you'd be chewed up in review - not because your paper is too short, but because you won't have convinced the reviewers that your new method is worthwhile. Fleshing out the paper with necessary background and discussion to presents a coherent argument for your new method can easily take you into the 1-2 page range which is the typical size of \"brief communications\" (depending on field, journal, etc.)</p>\n\n<p>Don't pad your article just to increase its size, but don't omit things which will bolster the arguments in favor of your new method.</p>\n\n<p>Edit: In response to comments, here's an attempt at clarification: An academic paper is not <em>just</em> about presenting results. It's also about presenting a story and an argument. How does this result change the field? How should it change how the readers think about the topic? </p>\n\n<p>I'm guessing that the original questioner thinks their paper is only one to two paragraphs because they were anticipating presenting just the short proof/derivation of the new figure of merit. My point was that the proof itself is insufficient for a decent paper. In addition to the proof you also need to convince the reader that the new figure of merit is better than the old one - and to do so for people who may be unaware that there was anything wrong with the existing way in the first place. Doing this properly can easily extend the paper from 1-2 paragraphs into a size which is more typical for a standard journal article. Write a proper paper, and it's no longer \"too small to be publishable\".</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29212",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8001/"
] |
29,219 |
<p>A <em>Nature</em> paper published in 2000 currently has around 400 citations, but there is a mistake in the paper and surprisingly, still it gets citations. The mistake affects the result of the paper in a way that half of the arguments in the paper are invalid. </p>
<p>I warned the authors two years ago and they confirmed the mistake. I expected them to put some announcement that there is a mistake in the paper to avoid misleading researchers, but unfortunately they have not done so.</p>
<p>How should we address these situations? Should we send a comment and report it to the editor? Is it rude? Or should we simply dismiss it because it is an old paper?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29223,
"author": "ddiez",
"author_id": 21435,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21435",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Some journals accept a type of short correspondence or comment in which objections to some published material can be submitted. If you can articulate your objections in a scientific way suitable for publishing you may try this approach. For example, imagine the original analysis has some error. Reanalyzing the data gives different results and invalidates the previous publication. Conversely in this approach the authors of the original study have the opportunity to reply to your complaints.</p>\n\n<p>An example of this is a <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v39/n7/full/ng0707-807.html\">commentary</a> published in <em>Nature Genetics</em>, where the authors highlight important deficiencies in the design of the experiments in <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v39/n2/full/ng1955.html\">an earlier publication</a> that can lead to incorrect conclusions. Of course, the authors of the original paper are allowed to <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v39/n7/full/ng0707-808.html\">respond to the comments</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Correspondences have the advantage that can be very short. I am not sure at this moment if <em>Nature</em> also accepts this format.</p>\n\n<p>If the material that demonstrates the error in the original publication is substantial it may grant an additional publication. This is for example what happened with the paper that demonstrated <a href=\"http://www.pnas.org/content/110/9/3507.abstract\">the divergence between human and mice inflammatory responses</a>, which led to a response paper analyzing the same data, and <a href=\"http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/07/31/1401965111.abstract\">arriving at the opposite results</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29235,
"author": "StacyKonkiel",
"author_id": 13715,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13715",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In addition to the excellent suggestions above, I'd also suggest blogging about it. <a href=\"https://peerj.com/articles/313/\">A recent study</a> found that corrections to the literature were 8x as likely to occur if blogged about, as opposed to corrections that had gone the traditional route (contacting editors, authors, etc).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29219",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22382/"
] |
29,230 |
<p>Due to the circumstances surrounding my graduation and other factors, I didn't apply in the Fall of 2013 for any jobs. I did happen to see an opening that was still posted in February and applied on a whim. In a short period of time I was asked to do a phone interview followed by campus interview followed by request for more info from my references. At this point it was summer and quite a bit of time went by before I was asked for some start up costs (nothing substantial for my field) at which point the dean said it shouldn't be a problem.</p>
<p>Fast forward 2 months and all I've heard is "you'll hear from us soon" and that the process is moving slowly. Every time I think they must have filled the position they tell me just enough to make me think I am still in the running. At this point we are way off of the normal hiring schedule so I do not know what to think.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any thoughts--is it likely that they have offered the position to someone else and are in negotiations? Why bother getting all of my startup details? Has anyone else had any experiences with a super long, off-schedule hiring timetable?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29223,
"author": "ddiez",
"author_id": 21435,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21435",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Some journals accept a type of short correspondence or comment in which objections to some published material can be submitted. If you can articulate your objections in a scientific way suitable for publishing you may try this approach. For example, imagine the original analysis has some error. Reanalyzing the data gives different results and invalidates the previous publication. Conversely in this approach the authors of the original study have the opportunity to reply to your complaints.</p>\n\n<p>An example of this is a <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v39/n7/full/ng0707-807.html\">commentary</a> published in <em>Nature Genetics</em>, where the authors highlight important deficiencies in the design of the experiments in <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v39/n2/full/ng1955.html\">an earlier publication</a> that can lead to incorrect conclusions. Of course, the authors of the original paper are allowed to <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v39/n7/full/ng0707-808.html\">respond to the comments</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Correspondences have the advantage that can be very short. I am not sure at this moment if <em>Nature</em> also accepts this format.</p>\n\n<p>If the material that demonstrates the error in the original publication is substantial it may grant an additional publication. This is for example what happened with the paper that demonstrated <a href=\"http://www.pnas.org/content/110/9/3507.abstract\">the divergence between human and mice inflammatory responses</a>, which led to a response paper analyzing the same data, and <a href=\"http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/07/31/1401965111.abstract\">arriving at the opposite results</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29235,
"author": "StacyKonkiel",
"author_id": 13715,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13715",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In addition to the excellent suggestions above, I'd also suggest blogging about it. <a href=\"https://peerj.com/articles/313/\">A recent study</a> found that corrections to the literature were 8x as likely to occur if blogged about, as opposed to corrections that had gone the traditional route (contacting editors, authors, etc).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29230",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22413/"
] |
29,239 |
<p>I have a citation that is at the end of a sentence with dual punctuation. What I mean is that I have a sentence of the following form:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Blah blah blah is mentioned by Author et al.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What is the proper way to include the citation in this case?</p>
<ol>
<li><blockquote>
<p>Blah blah blah is mentioned by Author et al[##].</p>
</blockquote></li>
<li><blockquote>
<p>Blah blah blah is mentioned by Author et al.[##]</p>
</blockquote></li>
<li><blockquote>
<p>Blah blah blah is mentioned by Author et al.[##].</p>
</blockquote></li>
<li><p>Other</p></li>
</ol>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29240,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This really depends on the publisher's style guide. If the style calls for the use of periods after \"et al.\" or other such expressions, then you should use them, independent of whether the reference forces an additional period. if the guidelines don't ask for one, don't use it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29241,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <ol start=\"4\">\n <li>Other</li>\n </ol>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Two other possibilities are the followings:</p>\n\n<p>4a. \"Blah blah blah is mentioned in [##]\". This is ok since you are using numeric citations.</p>\n\n<p>4b. \"Blah blah blah is mentioned by Author <em>et al.</em> in [##]\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29243,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Another <em>other:</em></strong></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Blah blah blah is mentioned in Ref. [##].</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>At least this is what is used by all journals using a numeric citation style that I am aware of.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29245,
"author": "Jukka Suomela",
"author_id": 351,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/351",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Blah blah blah is mentioned by Author et al. [##].</p>\n\n<p>(Note the space before the brackets; whether there is \"et al.\" or not makes no difference here.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29247,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Since \"et al.\" is an abbreviation of the latin <em>et alii</em> meaning \"and others\" the period in \"et al.\" should be treated as periods in any other abbreviation such as \"cf.\", \"Op. Cit.\", \"conf.\", \"c.\". In most cases of which I am aware periods are shown after abbreviations but I am not a stranger to styles where the period after abbreviations are ignored. So my bet is that \"et al. [##].\" or \"et al. [##]\", depending on where the preferred location of the numbered references are, in a majority of cases. If you are uncertain you need to consult the journal style sheet (if any exists) or simply check other recent papers published by the journal in order to see how they prefer to have things set.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 147324,
"author": "JazzClubTuna",
"author_id": 118399,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118399",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The IEEE referencing guide can be found <a href=\"http://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/ieeereferencing/gettingstarted\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">here</a> for those seeking IEEE specific referencing instructions.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/09/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29239",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22418/"
] |
29,250 |
<p>I am reconsidering whether I want a professor's (call him X) letter of recommendation for a PhD program. The basic facts are these:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>I took Dr. X's class and did well. He encouraged me to apply to a PhD program in his field, and I took his advice. At that time, he offered to write me a strong letter of recommendation.</p></li>
<li><p>More recently, I requested via email a letter of recommendation from X. I'm certain that he expected this request, and we are on good terms.</p></li>
<li><p>He did not respond to my request. I managed to find him in person to ask; he said that he's already responded to my email and agreed to write it, and brushed me off in a somewhat impatient manner. </p>
<p>I found this interaction off putting and certainly unexpected.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This is my rationalization for what happened:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>X is very busy and does not want to write me a letter. But he promised in the past and I remained in contact with him since. </p></li>
<li><p>Moreover, I already have stronger recommendation letters that I can use.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Here is my current plan:</p>
<ul>
<li>I will see professor X at least one more time to give him materials for the recommendation. I plan to see his reaction then, and how to proceed. </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: Is there a polite way for me to ask whether he wants to write the letter, and possibly "let him off the hook"? (I don't even know whether this is the right question to ask, because honestly I don't what the right thing to do is.)</p>
<p>The problem is that I don't want to second-guess him, but I don't want a negative letter either. Additionally, if he's already written a letter, I don't want to waste his time.</p>
<p>I am based in the US, if that matters.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29254,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The key thing here is that you say that you have stronger letters already. If you no longer need him to write a letter, just reply to your own email to him saying you don't need one anymore. Something like this should do:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"Thank you so much for agreeing to the write the letter. Another professor just got back to me about writing a letter so I should be all set for letters in this round of applications. I really appreciate your offer and I will be in touch in the future if I need one though. Thanks again!\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Keep in mind that most people won't write a letter until they have a deadline in front of them. That said, it is certainly more polite to let any potential letter writer know as soon as you know you won't need it just as it is polite to let them know well advance of when you will.</p>\n\n<p>You frame this question as about \"rescinding\" a request and seem to be worried that the professor is going to be upset. You should understand that for professors, writing letters of recommendations is <em>a thankless chore.</em> Although this is generally the case, it is particularly the case for undergraduates that we only know through a single class.</p>\n\n<p>Writing these letters takes hours on aggregate. Worst of all, because we also sit on the committees that read these applications, we are also all deeply aware that the letters will be read by a few people on a graduate admission committee <em>if we are lucky</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Seriously though, he is not going to hold it against you. By agreeing to write a letter in the first place, he was offering to do you a favor. By letting him off the hook, you are doing him one.</p>\n\n<p>Although it's not part of your question, I think you are spending too much time trying to unpack and interpret what <em>really</em> happened. Maybe he was busy or in a bad mood? Maybe he was emailing with somebody else and was confused? You say that you don't want to second guess him but that is exactly what you're doing. If he encouraged you to apply for a PhD program and said he will write a letter, it seems extremely unlikely that he's trying to sabotage you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31500,
"author": "Mike",
"author_id": 24125,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24125",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Remind him that he's busy. </p>\n\n<p>I'd do it like this</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Greeting</li>\n<li>Appropriate amount of pleasantries. </li>\n<li>I know you're busy, so thanks for taking the time to see me/read this.</li>\n<li>A few weeks back We spoke about a letter for my application to program x.</li>\n<li>Do you expect to have time in your schedule to fit it in in the next few weeks? I understand if you're going to be busy. I think you know me well, so it'd be great if you could manage it. (1/2-1 second silence) but if you cant it's really no big deal, I can manage.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Something like that. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29250",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21561/"
] |
29,271 |
<p>As a PhD student in a US university, my tuition fees are ~44,000 USD per year, despite the fact that I don't take any class: only 6 classes are required during the PhD program, and I've completed them during the first two years. Why are tuition fees so high? (tuition is paid by fellowship / RA / TA / ...)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29273,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are costs to you being on campus and using university resources whether you sit in a lecture or not. True, my non-lecture years were a lot cheaper for the university, but that doesn't mean the costs were zero.</p>\n\n<p>My university required me to register for place-holder Research and Dissertation courses which never met so that they would have some way to account for how much to charge me. My real courses and these fake courses had the same per-credit-hour charge (more or less). Imagine if you only had to pay for the real classes that actually met. Your tuition bill for the first couple of semesters would have been $100,000 to $150,000 and then your later semesters maybe only a few thousand. This is pretty imbalanced and hard to justify to some people, so many universities average the costs across all their students rather than piling it on the ones that have lectures. It's not the only model (see Aru Ray's comment about Rice), but it mostly works out. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29274,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I think it is essentially a scam. There are essentially 3 types of students (1) self funded, (2) departmentally funded, (3) externally funded. For departmentally funded students the tuition fees are essentially meaningless and just represent money being shifted around internally. Self funded students can be really hurt by large tuition fees, but departments can offset these fees by partial departmental funding (again just internally transferring money around). The scam comes when students are funded externally and the external funder is required to pay the full fee (and potentially even indirect costs on the tuition fees). Things get messy when the funding has a cap on tuition fees. For example the <a href=\"http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-14-046.html\">NIH NRSA</a> pays 60% of the tuition up to $16,000 plus a $4,200 \"institutional\" allowance. Most departments I am aware of offer a tuition subsidy to individuals who get an NRSA.</p>\n\n<p>It is worth noting that high fees not only puts PIs at expensive universities at a disadvantage (okay to be fair, it reduces their advantage) in that their research is more expensive than someone at a cheaper university, but it also puts them in an ethical dilemma. When tuition fees make hiring a PhD student more expensive than a post doc, it is hard for a PI to justify hiring a PhD student.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29277,
"author": "zxq9",
"author_id": 13156,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13156",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Because, as you mentioned, they are paid for by someone other than you. This happens in any subsidized industry/system. Interestingly, the subsidies grow over time instead of shrink -- the reasons beyond that are something you should ask an economics professor; it is a distinct trend.</p>\n\n<p>You'll find folks who say this is the way things should be as much as you'll find folks who think its a scam. It is a logical outcome of the current academic system, may be a leading indicator of its eventual demise, and at the moment is something you should probably not dwell on unless you happen to actually be an economics postgrad (in which case I doubt you would have posed the question in the first place).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 142558,
"author": "Jake",
"author_id": 21222,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21222",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Consider this. A PhD dissertation advisor has one to a few PhD students, and their salary is somewhere in the range of 100k to 200k USD per year. Advising PhD students is a higher level work and may be considered, as a matter of an abstract principle, more challenging or meritorious than teaching a course. While 44,000 USD per year is probably somewhat on the high side, considering the above and that tuition also covers various campus services and facilities, I think it is still quite fair.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29271",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
29,279 |
<p>What does academic community think of anglicising foreign names in their research? For example, saying Istanbul rather than İstanbul (with capital "İ"), or, author's name, Tasan, instead of Taşan.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29283,
"author": "mhwombat",
"author_id": 10529,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10529",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>EDITED</strong> to clarify the type of spelling changes I'm referring to, and to address other types of spelling changes.</p>\n\n<p>As someone with an 'é' in my name, I'd say that it depends on whether or not there's a good reason to leave off the diacritical marks.</p>\n\n<p>I'm aware that you may not know how to type special characters, or your keyboard may make it difficult to do so. So if you send me an email, I wouldn't be offended if you leave off the diacritical marks, spelling 'é' as 'e', for example.</p>\n\n<p>I'm aware that computer file systems and programming languages sometimes don't deal elegantly with non-ASCII characters. So if you name a module in a computer program after me, I wouldn't be offended if you leave off the diacritical marks.</p>\n\n<p><em>But if you publish something</em> (e.g. an academic paper), <em>there's no good reason not to spell my name correctly</em>. (You can cut and paste, can't you?) I would be annoyed if you didn't take the trouble to do so. Not only have you been lazy, but you've made it more difficult for others to know the correct spelling of my name.</p>\n\n<p><strong>EDIT:</strong>\nAs for names that aren't written in the Latin alphabet, I agree with David Richerby that it makes sense to transliterate them. Unless the name is extremely well-known, the first time I use the name I would probably add the original name in parenthesis. That way, the reader can search for additional information under both names.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, if Владимир Путин chooses to go by Vladimir Putin, I would respect that. I wouldn't insist on writing Владимир Путин.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29284,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>For anything that's not written in the Latin alphabet, use the standard transliteration from the relevant alphabet (e.g., \"Vladimir Putin\", not \"Владимир Путин\"). For people's names written in the Latin alphabet, keep the accents if possible. For place names, if there is a standard Anglicization, use that (e.g., \"Cologne\" rather than \"Köln\", \"Istanbul\" rather than \"İstanbul\"); otherwise, keep the accents (e.g., \"Lübeck\" and \"Şanlıurfa\").</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29302,
"author": "noonand",
"author_id": 22480,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22480",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As with so many questions in life <em>it depends</em>. In Irish there's one major accent, known as a síneadh fada (pronounced sheena fa-da, meaning <em>length accent</em>, usually abbreviated to <em>fada</em>). It occurs over vowels only i.e. á, é, í, ó, ú are the long equivalents of the vowels a, e, i, o, u and it dramatically changes the sound (and as I'll illustrate below, the meaning).</p>\n\n<p>The canonical example that I use here is the word \"sean\" pronounced in the Munster dialect as \"shan\"; this means <em>old</em>. Put a fada over the a and it becomes the name Seán (Irish for John, pronounced <em>Shawn</em>); put it over the e and and it becomes a verb meaning to <em>disavow</em> or <em>repudiate</em>, pronounced <em>shane</em>. So with ostensibly the same word, the accents create three different words which you can construct a sentence from:</p>\n\n<p>Séan sean Seán [Disavow old John]</p>\n\n<p>This is one example why you might want to spell words as they are originally.</p>\n\n<p>Another reason, and this is purely opinion, is that it feels somewhat arrogant to me to insist that your pronunciation and spelling is so much better than the people who live there.</p>\n\n<p>In summing up I'd exhort you to focus on the impact of your message rather than the intent; IOW tailor it for your audience.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29279",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13112/"
] |
29,286 |
<p>A PhD is supposed to be an "original contribution to knowledge". In my own PhD (in an area of Earth Science) I have so far focused on developing a particular method of computer modeling that will hopefully have a range of applications in my field. In short, my question is: Is the development of an original/novel <em>method</em> a contribution to knowledge worthy of a PhD?</p>
<p>The reason for asking this is that my supervisor seems concerned that I am drifting away from the 'pure science questions' in my field - i.e I ought to be trying to address a fundamental research question with this new model, rather than spending most of my time developing and testing a new method.</p>
<p>My instinct says that it should be just as valid, and browsing some of the other PhD theses from the department suggests that a few others have gone down this route. I also see plenty of papers published that are more 'methods-focused' than 'fundamental-question-addressing'. Personally, I get a lot more satisfaction from pursuing the former kind of research, even though I accept I am not directly answering 'the big questions' as my supervisor puts it. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I don't predict an entirely healthy academic relationship down the line if our opinion on what constitutes an interesting PhD thesis differs so fundamentally, and I also consider the possibility that I could just be plain wrong in my interpretation of "original contribution to knowledge".</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29287,
"author": "Danny W.",
"author_id": 21704,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21704",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While developing a method has merit within science, that method needs to be useful to answer a question which is not currently answerable. I too have worked primarily on methods development in graduate school, and got stung by this in some of my early work. So, while it's good to focus on the method, always have the question in front of you: \"what do we want to know, that we can't know yet, that my method will be able to tell us?\" </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29288,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes. This was the basis of my successfully completed PhD.</p>\n\n<p>Scientific methods must be able to solve something that can not yet be solved, or be (as was my case) an innovative improvement on an existing methodology that is more accurate, more accessible and if possible, more inexpensive. The latter requires considerable validation of the data produced.</p>\n\n<p>It is critical that the method be able to be scrutinized scientifically for repeatability and reliability.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29289,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is the development of an original/novel method a contribution to knowledge worthy of a PhD?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This depends largely on what you mean with \"method\". Coming up with a theoretically sound way to tackle a specific class of research problems better than currently possible is likely a good contribution (with potential for very high impact). If \"method\" means a technical improvement of an existing approach or tool, the contribution may be too technical.</p>\n\n<p>However, as you indicate yourself, this really isn't the important practical question in your case. Even if we all here agree that a new method is a solid research outcome for a PhD student, what good is this to you if your advisor disagrees? At the end of the day, your research needs to make both, you and your advisor happy. Doing something that your advisor does not think is PhD-worthy will lead to no ends of trouble, no matter what we random people on the internet have said.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29286",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22454/"
] |
29,294 |
<p>Suppose that a famous mathematician E (long deceased) made a conjecture (C), but no written record of this can be found (either because none exists, or because it exists in a very obscure source). Then, a senior mathematician S, who knows for a fact that (C) was conjectured by E, tells another mathematician X about this problem, and indeed X manages to prove (C). Just to clarify: S is sure about the conjecture, but does not have a publicly available source for it.</p>
<p>This creates a problem: one of the reasons for X's interest in the problem was the question asked by E. Without context, the problem is still interesting, but less so, and it would be better to include a reference to the conjecture whenever communicating the result. Presumably, in verbal communication this is not a problem, since one can simply explain how things are. But what about publishing the result?</p>
<p>I see the following options. Which of these are most widely accepted? Is there any better alternative?</p>
<ol>
<li>Not mention E at all, simply state the result as is.</li>
<li>Mention that (C) was conjectured by E but not make effort to justify this.</li>
<li>Mention that (C) was conjectured by E, try to use elaborately justify that.</li>
<li>Keep digging for a reference (the real question here is - for how long.).</li>
</ol>
<p><em>The question is most natural in mathematics, but I suppose it makes some sense in other disciplines. Feel free to post non-mathematics based answers/comments.</em></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29300,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>\"Which of these are most widely accepted?\" sounds like you're asking a poll-type question, which is not quite kosher for this site. I believe that the situation is sufficiently unusual that there is no \"standard\" answer. Nevertheless I will say what I think. </p>\n\n<p>First of all I want to express some skepticism of the premise that the information that Conjecture (C) was made by famous, long-deceased professor E is an important to the extent that the work of the paper would be less interesting without it. If Conjecture (C) had been well known to the community and many other people had worked on it and/or written about it, then its provenance would be key information: those who knew about the conjecture would make a clear audience for the paper and would vouch for the prestige and value of the work. But if no one -- or almost no one -- except S has prior familiarity with Conjecture (C), then the information that it is due to professor E becomes more of a piece of trivia / personal motivation for professor X. If the provenance of the conjecture had really been a key motivation for X, then one wonders why X did not verify this before working on the problem.</p>\n\n<p>Second I want to say that I think you are using \"knows for a fact\" in a way different from the way I would use it. If S is \"sure\" about the provenance of the conjecture because he saw it in print once but now cannot locate that printed source -- then actually he is not sure, I would say. Often someone thinks they saw a certain piece of information in print, but when they go back to check it turns out they did not remember it accurately. In fact probably every working academic has had this experience more than once. I'm sure S is great, but \"S says it, and S can be relied upon\" is not really convincing to me no matter who S is. In a professional context, the things that one is \"sure\" about should be verifiable: if E is a famous mathematician, then it should be possible to get a comprehensive list of their publications, and then with sufficient effort one can look through all of them, including \"obscure conference proceedings\".</p>\n\n<p>The way I would handle the situation is by first corresponding with S and making sure that S is completely comfortable with being attributed the claim that Conjecture (C) was first made by E: if this gets published, then S may get asked some questions about this. If they are not comfortable I would go with something more mild like mentioning S in the acknowledgments. If on the other hand S really insists that Conjecture (C) is due to E, then that is what X knows and X can put that in the paper in that form, i.e., something like</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Conjecture (C) was conveyed to me by S. According to Professor S, the Conjecture was first made in a paper of E. Unfortunately we have not been able to track down a reference.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I would also be prepared to get some questions about this from the editor or referee when you submit the paper.</p>\n\n<p>Finally: have you asked about this on MathOverflow? This would be a very appropriate question on that site: if the paper exists then <em>someone</em> ought to know how to find it, though you may not know nor even know how to find that person. Even if the question does not get answered in this way, you (or X) can still point to it as proof of your due diligence in the matter.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 181338,
"author": "pedroelpanda",
"author_id": 151392,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/151392",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is a very old question. I would like to add that in my experience, this is actually quite a common occurrence in mathematics, counter to the belief of the previous answer. It's not usually that Famous Mathematician E whispered their conjecture into the ear of Professor S in secret. Rather, that Famous Mathematician E (potentially in an informal context, perhaps not) made a conjecture, and that conjecture---now in a <em>very</em> modified form that fits modern notation and perhaps a more generalized conclusion than was originally postulated---is still referred to as the "E Conjecture" even though it's hard to find an original source (and that original source would not be helpful to the problem at hand).</p>\n<p>The solution is simple: find another paper in the literature that names the explicit form of this conjecture (with the right assumptions, etc.) that you want to work with, and cite it as a conjecture in your paper, with something like "E Conjecture (as stated in [reference]).</p>\n<p>Examples:</p>\n<p>When writing something about the Sato-Tate conjecture, for instance, I was unable to find the original reference for the conjecture: as far as I understand, the conjecture was made by John Tate, to explain computational data recently found by Mikio Sato, about the distribution of Fourier coefficients of modular forms corresponding to non-CM elliptic curves. The statement was later expanded to correspond to <em>all</em> non-CM automorphic forms with trivial nebentypus, and was then proven in 2011. However, it is still referred to, even in the most generalized form, as the "Sato-Tate conjecture" in most of the literature. (even though it is not a conjecture anymore, and the now-proven statement is far more general than what Tate originally envisioned envisioned).</p>\n<p>Similarly, suppose you're writing something about the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis for a specific class of L-function, say, Dirichlet L-functions, Rankin-Selberg L-functions, or Symmetric power L-functions; you're unlikely to find a single, first postulation of the conjecture as the "Generalized Riemann Hypothesis for ____ L-functions," even if it is commonly referred to as such in the literature.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29294",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7328/"
] |
29,301 |
<p>I have completed my masters in English Literature from India and now want to do my PhD from the US. Should I take both the tests, i.e. TOEFL and GRE? Or only TOEFL will be enough? And if I need to take the GRE, then is it a must to take the subject test as well?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29305,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is no general rule here. The only solution is to look up the requirements of each program you are interested in applying to. Some schools may require both, others the TOEFL but not the GRE, or vice versa. (As for the subject test, it will most likely be required of all applicants or not required for all students. Domestic versus international likely won't matter.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29306,
"author": "Aru Ray",
"author_id": 948,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/948",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The TOEFL and the GRE are quite different. The 'point' -- in as much as standardized tests have one -- of the TOEFL is to figure out if you have sufficient mastery of English to study (and potentially be a Teaching Assistant/Instructor) in an English-speaking environment. The TOEFL is generally required of all non-native English speakers. Graduate programs often waive this requirement if the student is enrolled in and about to complete a degree from a US institution (or did so recently). It's possible that they might waive the requirement for a similar student from a university in other English-speaking countries such as the UK, Australia/NZ, etc. but I am not sure (I don't know anyone who has tried.) Sometimes graduate programs will state that they will waive the TOEFL requirement for a student from a bachelors/masters program with English as a language of instruction. Most Indian colleges/universities I know of are English-medium, but I've never heard of an Indian student applying from India who has had the TOEFL requirement waived this way. (I am an international student from India. I was an undergraduate in the US, and the TOEFL requirement was waived for me by all the graduate programs I applied to.) </p>\n\n<p>The GRE on the other hand is generally required for <em>all</em> applicants, domestic and international. Wikipedia says that it aims to measure ''verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills that have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not related to any specific field of study.'' </p>\n\n<p>The TOEFL is more of a checkbox - programs just want all their international students to have some minimal mastery of English so they can perform the usual duties of a graduate student. The GRE is more of an actual comparative tool for all the candidates which can actually affect an admission decision. The two tests are quite different in content and questions --- the TOEFL might contain a question which will play an audio clip of a 'usual' conversation between a student and a professor and ask you whether you can understand what was said; whereas GRE questions might ask you to critique the logic of an argument or perform some high-school level problem-solving task. </p>\n\n<p>Notably the TOEFL obviously does not have a quantitative section whereas the GRE does. </p>\n\n<p>At this point in the US, I believe there are very few graduate programs that do not require at least the general GRE of all its applicants. Subject tests are not as widely required, but in my experience the better programs require them. </p>\n\n<p>tl;dr: you will probably need to take both the GRE (general) and the TOEFL. Look into the programs you want to apply to to figure out whether you should take the GRE subject test. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22478/"
] |
29,312 |
<p>Is there any research/study/survey that looked at the pedagogical benefits of assessing students with closed-book exams for graduate-level courses (vs. open-book exams)?</p>
<p>I'm mostly interested in computer science and math education in the USA, if the answer is field- or country-dependent.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31775,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends on what you're trying to teach, and what you're trying to assess.</p>\n\n<p>If your goal is to convey concepts, or to teach the things that everyone needs to be able to do without consulting references in order to be productive, closed book may be entirely appropriate.</p>\n\n<p>If your goal is to test their ability to combine and apply the concepts, open book may be more appropriate.</p>\n\n<p>(And yes, I too remember tests with \"official\" cheat sheets as a balance between these. Then again, I also remember one test whose official cheat sheet was essentially a set of mathematical jokes, because the test itself didn't require any of the rote-memorization material. Then again again, I also remember closed book tests where one of the tools I used was a set of mnemonics that would let me quickly scribble out my own cheat sheet for the formulas/simplifications I most needed -- I can still recite \"quasineutrality, uniformity, equilibrium, low-level injection, steady state\" but I'd have to hit the books to again remember how those assumptions were used.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31777,
"author": "Neil Strickland",
"author_id": 12638,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12638",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A Google search for \"research on open book testing\" gives many results. For example, there is a paper \"Examining the testing effect with open- and closed-book tests\" by Agarwal, Karpicke, Kang, Roediger and McDermott (<a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/acp.1391\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/acp.1391</a>) with abstract as follows: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Two experiments examined the testing effect with open-book tests, in\n which students view notes and textbooks while taking the test, and\n closed-book tests, in which students take the test without viewing\n notes or textbooks. Subjects studied prose passages and then restudied\n or took an open- or closed-book test. Taking either kind of test, with\n feedback, enhanced long-term retention relative to conditions in which\n subjects restudied material or took a test without feedback. Open-book\n testing led to better initial performance than closed-book testing,\n but this benefit did not persist and both types of testing produced\n equivalent retention on a delayed test. Subjects predicted they would\n recall more after repeated studying, even though testing enhanced\n long-term retention more than restudying. These experiments\n demonstrate that the testing effect occurs with both open- and\n closed-book tests, and that subjects fail to predict the effectiveness\n of testing relative to studying in enhancing later recall.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29312",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
29,318 |
<p>Various research articles<sup>1</sup> have been published on the prevalence of stimulant medicine (Adderall, Concerta, Ritalin) abuse among undergraduate students. </p>
<p>By "abuse of stimulant medicine," I am referring to the practice of students taking prescription medication that is prescribed to someone else (or, that is prescribed to them under false pretenses) in order to improve their focus and concentration while studying.</p>
<p>There is some <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/popping-pills-a-popular-way-to-boost-brain-power/">anecdotal evidence</a> of university faculty taking Adderall and related medications to enhance academic performance (and <em>not</em> to treat an attention disorder).</p>
<p>Is there any reference to research<sup>2</sup> on the prevalance of stimulant medicine abuse among university faculty?</p>
<hr>
<p><sup>1</sup> Here is a review article that covers some of them:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Varga, Matthew D. "Adderall abuse on college campuses: a comprehensive literature review." <em>Journal of evidence-based social work</em> 9.3 (2012): 293-313.
DOI: <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15433714.2010.525402">10.1080/15433714.2010.525402</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><sup>2</sup> I am looking for answers that are a reference to such a study. I am not looking for answers from anecdotal evidence not supported by a study or citation. I am also not looking for answers explaining why such a study is unlikely to exist, or why it should not be trusted if it did.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 36884,
"author": "Sydney Everhart",
"author_id": 27867,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27867",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There were several prominent publications in Nature, spurred by a survey that they conducted of their readers who were able to broadly identify their area of work. See this link here for information about the survey, which also cites the papers that were published in Nature. <a href=\"http://network.nature.com/groups/naturenewsandopinion/forum/topics/1309\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://network.nature.com/groups/naturenewsandopinion/forum/topics/1309</a></p>\n\n<p>In researching this topic, I used google scholar and the search terms \"stress stimulants faculty -students\" and published 2008 or later to arrive at meaningful search results. </p>\n\n<p>The most likely reason there is more work published on student use is that students as a demographic group are both easier to study and are a more similar group of cohorts than faculty as a demographic group, which are more diverse in age, race, ethnicity, etc. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 37050,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is a more detailed answer explaining the results of the survey given by <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/36884/11365\">Sydney E. Everhart's answer</a>.</p>\n\n<p>The results of the informal 2008 Nature survey<sup>1</sup> found that</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>One in five respondents said they had used drugs for non-medical reasons to stimulate their focus, concentration or memory.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>More specifically, a <a href=\"http://network.nature.com/groups/naturenewsandopinion/forum/topics/1309?page=1#reply-3604\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">comment</a> attributed to the author of this article clarifies:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>For the record, our poll didn’t parse out academics, or practicing scientists very thoroughly and the overall results can’t really be tied to scientists exactly. But our demographics do allow us to make some assumptions. We asked what category generally describes your field and included among the limited choices, Biology, Chemistry, Earth & Environmental Science, Engineering, Medicine, Physics, and Education. So if we assume those are ‘academic’ fields and academic respondents, we have 817 respondents out of a total 1,400 that fit that loose demographic. Of those we found that 106 (13%) used neuroenhancing-type drugs for medically prescribed reasons. And 159 (19%) used drugs for non-medical (i.e. cognition-enhancing) purposes. That’s pretty consistent with the overall distribution in the poll.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, the data from that survey - which was previously freely available for download - seems to no longer be online.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><sup>1</sup> Maher, Brendan. \"Poll results: look who's doping.\" Nature 452 (2008): 674-675. DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/452674a\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">10.1038/452674a</a></p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29318",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365/"
] |
29,322 |
<p>At my university, most lecturers and professors use slides in teaching. This is true for most engineering, mathematics and science courses. I am more comfortable with doing the board work and then sharing my hand-written lecture notes with the students. From my personal experience, I feel that the latter is a better way of teaching.</p>
<p>So, what are the advantages of using slides? Why do <em>you</em> use slides?</p>
<p>Secondly, does the answer to the above question change if you were teaching graduate students?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29325,
"author": "thescouser89",
"author_id": 22495,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22495",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am a student and I much prefer lecturers who write on the board than the ones who use slides.</p>\n\n<p>Profs using slides generally go into loop mode where they have the objective of going through all the slides before the end of the class. As such, profs tend to go in a very fast pace.</p>\n\n<p>Writing on the board brings some dynamism to the lectures. The lecturer tends to pace himself much better, and students are then more encouraged to ask questions as they go along. </p>\n\n<p>Also, having students write notes help them become more active and aware during the lecture.</p>\n\n<p>In my experience I've seen lots of profs who just read the stuff from their slides without elaborating any further. The students then tend to fall asleep since they know the lectures are basically in the slides. </p>\n\n<p>Also, I have the impression that profs using slides are lazier in their teaching, in the sense that they don't even review the slides they are about to present before the lectures.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29329,
"author": "Shawn Patrick Rice",
"author_id": 22498,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22498",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Slides can be great to force you structure your lectures before class and actually stick to them, and they are always more legible than writing on a board (plus less messy if you have to deal with chalk rather than a whiteboard).</p>\n\n<p>That being said, the slides remove some of the dynamism from the course in that they have students think less critically than when watching you work with a board. Part of this disengagement simply comes from lighting, but another part comes from the way that slides can't easily be amended during a lecture.</p>\n\n<p>The most fun aspect that I've noticed when I use boards is that the students who are taking notes write down <em>everything</em> that I write on the board. Those notes are much less structured than what I could produce with slides that they would later download, but the actual process of writing out the notes keeps students mentally engaged as well as promoting a discussion rather than just a lecture.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29342,
"author": "The Almighty Bob",
"author_id": 16086,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16086",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First of all, let me say that I think that there are lectures that are better taught with slides (e.g. more applied lectures) and lectures that are better taught on the board (e.g. most math lectures).</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>So, what are the advantages of using slides? Why do you use slides?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The most common (but imho the worst) reason is probably: because it is easier and less work in the long run. You can concentrate on what you want to say and you can easily reuse your slides from last year. You can also just upload your slides which is less work than writing down everything that you have written on the board.</p>\n\n<p>It is easier to implement pictures/sound/videos/... what ever media works in your context. For example you can show data, output or interface of a program, how a plant looks like, ...</p>\n\n<p>Students don't have to copy everything from the board and have more time to concentrate on the lecture and just make their own notes on the slides and fill out the blanks you left for them to fill. In addition there are no handwriting issues.</p>\n\n<p>You can do more material in less time which is, when used incorrectly, a disadvantage but can be extremely useful if the material is very easy or if you just want to show some interesting applications/examples.</p>\n\n<p>And ,you can still use the board for things that have to be done slowly, e.g. proofs, and to keep things less static, e.g. if there is a question you can just switch to the board.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Secondly, does the answer to the above question change if you were\n teaching graduate students?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>No. Graduate lectures are more often in the category that I personally would present at the board (more proofs and complicated things) but that has nothing to do with the students, just the things I want to cover in the lecture.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29344,
"author": "Ian",
"author_id": 22000,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22000",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I use slides as</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>I'm more likely to get the details correct on slides than when I'm trying to explain <em>and</em> write at the same time (e.g., writing out a moderately large matrix example);</li>\n<li>I much prefer heavy use of figures in explanations, but I can't draw to save my life;</li>\n<li>I'm often teaching courses on numerical methods, and if I can't show how it could be done on a computer \"for real\" then I'd feel I was cheating the students.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>However, my personal preference for any \"proof\" sections of the course is never to <em>just</em> use slides, but to use both slides and board. The slides hold the statement and maybe a key step or detail that's a pain to write down. The steps of the calculation are done on the board. This can be a pain in rooms where the projected slide overlaps with the board, but can be made to work in my cases.</p>\n\n<p>I have used the same approach for UG and PG teaching without change: concepts and figures on slides, details on the board. The only difference I find, as a rule of thumb, is that in the graduate case it's tempting to give more details on the board as the concepts are harder and the steps involved longer. Using the slides helps me resist this and keep focused on the big picture, but the slides still tend to be shorter.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29345,
"author": "zxq9",
"author_id": 13156,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13156",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Advantages of slides over boardwork? Laziness, clean hands, digitally distributable product that represents all the work you didn't actually demonstrate in class.</p>\n\n<p>And... those are also the disadvantages.</p>\n\n<p>Board work is usually more engaging, and at least the classes I've taken and given, board-based classes kept the students (<em>and the instructor!</em>) mentally and verbally engaged in the material. Its naturally more exciting to watch an animated instructor write things out, check himself mentally for a moment, subconsciously sharpshoot him yourself as he moves along, etc. than to just listen to what may as well have been a recorded session flashing by on screen.</p>\n\n<p>People who write on boards tend to <em>only</em> write the important bits on the board, and have prose handouts full of other details for reading and reference later. The constraints of live board work perform a magically precise editorial function which <em>forces</em> the instructor to either be concise or fail. Handouts retain every benefit of the slides but without exposing the instructor to the temptation of drifting into a passive or mentally absent teaching mode.</p>\n\n<p>This is particularly important in graduate or corporate classes where the material may be new, originated by the person teaching and not yet fully baked (a wonderful situation where the gallery's questions actively deepen the instructor/researcher's knowledge <em>right then</em> -- is there any greater ideal?). People who write on boards usually have either rehearsed their material or know it intimately enough to pace through an essentially hands-on class as they go -- even (or especially) in the case of new research. This is as good as it gets for live instruction!</p>\n\n<p>And this leads me to the worst thing about slides...</p>\n\n<p>The laziness permitted by slides is paradoxically compounded by the temptation to be verbose in the slides themselves. This is the worst form of detached instruction and often devolves to the point that the \"instruction\" consists of an underprepared instructor who feels prepared (he's got his slides, right!) essentially reading whatever is written on the slides to the class. In these cases equal time spent with a book in a quiet place benefits a student more than having suffered through the presentation. Such sessions are a sad satire on modern pedagogy; but satire is not what your students came for.</p>\n\n<p>The points above also happen to be relevant in organizational briefings. The cardinal rule is that the person doing the talking <em>is</em> the class, not the board or slides or other AV assistance. Someone with something to say who knows how to say it doesn't require anything but his energy and voice -- the other stuff is either enhancement or distraction.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29350,
"author": "nyi",
"author_id": 22508,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22508",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From the perspective of a student, I have seen good and bad teachers, irrelevant what method they used (board or slides).</p>\n\n<p>However, I never liked boards. You need to copy everything from the board. That is, you concentrate pretty all of your brain time on copying (depending on the teacher's writing speed which is usually quite high). This might be a good practice in your early school life, but in higher levels of education we can assume that students know how to write.</p>\n\n<p>The advantage of using slides is that students can spend a small amount of their time on writing (additional notes) and most of their time thinking about the content. Hence, allowing them to connect and understand the information they hear and ask interesting questions.</p>\n\n<p>For me, that's the critical and important advantage. If I want to read, I read a book. If I go to a lecture, it should be interactive. I should be able to ask questions. And answer questions posted by the teacher to the class!</p>\n\n<p>In my opinion, it does not depend on the level of education. You should learn how to think and ask questions early on.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29354,
"author": "Murphy",
"author_id": 16078,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16078",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not huge, you have more freedom to respond to students responses and questions with board work while slides tend to have a better structure. </p>\n\n<p>If the class is looking a little lost it's easy to expand on something on the board but you can't make more slides on the fly. </p>\n\n<p>If you do choose board work please do provide handouts or similar with the actual material you'll be scribbling up on the board. </p>\n\n<p>when I was a student I could either be writing down what you just said or I could be thinking about what you just said. Your choice.</p>\n\n<p>If you try to force students to scribble down everything while you're talking they're going to be thinking \"damn, where's my spare pen, this one is going dry\" not \"Hm. I wonder how that principle applies to....\" when you say something.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29359,
"author": "Greenstone Walker",
"author_id": 8335,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8335",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I teach courses written by other people. Thousands of trainers around the world teach the same courses. Using slides generated by the courseware authors gives us consistency and repeatability. Our courses prepare students for certification exams, so the course content must be consistent.</p>\n\n<p>I do, however, also use whiteboards, mostly for scribbled quick diagrams. If the diagram is complicated I'll create and make it available electronically.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29372,
"author": "pocketlizard",
"author_id": 21458,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21458",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I use slides when I teach because:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>It forces me to prepare for class in advance. (This is usually not a problem for me, but I had a professor in undergrad who only wrote on the board because he didn't have a lesson plan or anything prepared for the day. I vowed to never ever teach like that!)</p></li>\n<li><p>I have time to articulate my thoughts on my slides.</p></li>\n<li><p>The information that I want the students to know is on the slides. That means that EVEN IF I was lecturing too fast or a student couldn't take notes fast enough or the student couldn't read my handwriting or a student couldn't come to class, it doesn't matter. Because all the information is on the slides and I provide them with digital copies.</p></li>\n<li><p>I get way more joke opportunities with slides and I can keep the students engaged.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29378,
"author": "xenocyon",
"author_id": 22526,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22526",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Advantages of using slides:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Students get insufficient sleep, and a slideshow presentation allows them to catch up on their sleep hours somewhat.</li>\n<li>Slides decrease student-teacher interaction, and we are all introverts nowadays, so less interaction is a good thing!</li>\n<li>Slides make it less likely that a student will take notes in class, thus saving on ink.</li>\n<li>The presumption that slides or video will be posted disincentivizes students from attending class, thus allowing for smaller classrooms.</li>\n<li>Slides are good for ignorance, and as we all know, ignorance is bliss!</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29381,
"author": "Chris Okasaki",
"author_id": 13752,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13752",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is, of course, possible to use slides in good ways and bad ways, just as it is possible to use blackboards/whiteboards in good ways and bad ways. I hardly ever use slides for reasons I document here:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://okasaki.blogspot.com/2008/01/why-i-dont-use-powerpoint-for-teaching.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://okasaki.blogspot.com/2008/01/why-i-dont-use-powerpoint-for-teaching.html</a></p>\n\n<p>But you asked for ADVANTAGES of slides.</p>\n\n<p>One is for showing pictures. For example, if you wanted to talk about brush strokes in the Mona Lisa, you probably wouldn't try to duplicate those brush strokes on a blackboard. Many fields have plenty of pictures to show. (But note that I'm not talking about gratuitous pictures like 99% of clipart and stock photos.)</p>\n\n<p>A second advantage can be when the presenter has a terrible memory or otherwise gets confused easily. The slides can be helpful reminders that keep you on track (but written notes might work as well). One place where I run into this situation is if I have to give the same lesson more than twice in quick succession, when it can be easy to become confused about whether you've made a particular comment during THIS session, as opposed the same presentation an hour ago, or the one an hour before that.</p>\n\n<p>A third \"advantage\" is that slides made by somebody else can be a great timesaver for a lazy teacher. For example, some textbook publishers offer slides to go along with the textbook. So if you are a teacher who wants to put very little time into a class, using the premade slides can seem like a great choice. As a less perjorative example, I have sometimes provided slides to somebody that I was asking to fill in for me when I was sick or on a trip.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29400,
"author": "Jyrki Lahtonen",
"author_id": 17484,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17484",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I teach math - mostly to undergrads. As of late I have started using slides more and more. The reasons (and my rants):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Our sciences building is being renovated, so the math department is \"temporarily\" relocated in social sciences building. Thus we need to use whatever sorry excuses for lecture halls they, the nearby law school, and the adjacent educational sciences building have to offer. In a metrosexual climax those had largely opted to \"modernize\" and only equip their auditoriums with video projectors and stamp sized whiteboards, whereas I used to fill up a set of 8 blackboards of total area 6ft x 30ft every 45 minutes.</li>\n<li>Students have been complaining about the legibility of my handwriting for quite some time. Moving to the whiteboards made the problem worse. Also, the standard of cursive taught in our schools has changed a number of times since I did time in grade school. Thus my handwriting is a twice removed cousin to what the students expect.</li>\n<li>Try as I may, my 3D-sketches suck, which makes it a bit more difficult to explain my points in, say, multivariable calculus. When I leave rendering to Mathematica I have extra tools at my disposal. Such as full control of the perspective and color - colored chalk has always been hard to find (when the need springs up), and some colors are hard to see on a whiteboard. Also animations become feasible.</li>\n<li>I have always been complaining about how the students concentrate on frantically taking notes instead of trying to follow my thought process. Thus it is simply intellectually honest to provide them with copyable documents about those examples that I really want them to spend time on. </li>\n<li>I have not observed noticeable dips in the attendance as a consequence of me using slides. Some freshmen are intoxicated about their newly achieved \"academic freedom\", and cut a class or three. Quite irrespective of whether I use slides or a blackboard. The choice of method of learning the material is their responsibility. My role is to provide them with various ways of achieving that goal. They are free to pick and choose.</li>\n<li>Also, is there a significant difference to copying the notes from the course web page as opposed to from a \"designated writer\" class mate? If anything, the quality of the copy I provide is probably better. If somebody missed a class for family reasons or illness, they have a sporting chance of keeping up, when the lecture slides are available.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Edit: Having said all that I do agree with the point of another answerer that it is easy to make the slides too polished, and only present the end product - a solution, a proof, whatever. This may be a problem on those occasions when the journey is more important than the destination. I am trying to learn how to capture that on the slides, too. At least the most scenic points. Also, I still like to give the students who do show up something extra. In those auditoriums, where the video projector's screen won't roll down in front of the whiteboard/blackboard I can do both.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29402,
"author": "Superbest",
"author_id": 244,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/244",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is quite controversial whether slides are better than a board, and I think this also depends very much on what and how you are teaching. But you have asked specifically for advantages, so I will try to focus on those. I will, however, mention caveats.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>As Shawn says, slides can work as a very nice conceptual map of where you want your lecture to go, compared to just going up to an empty board with a chalk. The caveat is that you can simply prepare a few sheets of handwritten notes, and use these to accomplish the same goal.</p></li>\n<li><p>It is much easier to pace yourself, both because the slides serve as a detailed outline and also because you can use the number of slides as an estimate of how long you will take. (but this can also be done by preparing notes, counting the pages or doing a practice lecture with a stopwatch)</p></li>\n<li><p>You can return to previous slides easily or peek ahead as needed without having to erase the board and re-write everything.</p></li>\n<li><p>There is no risk of students having trouble reading your script (unless your slides are truly pathological), everything is clear. Of course, you could just write legibly.</p></li>\n<li><p>Typing is faster/less tiring than writing for many people. Perhaps it takes you 50 minutes to type up everything on the slides you will use, but it would take you 70 minutes of lecture time to write it all out in class. Plus, all the time is invested before the lecture, so you can devote all your lecture time to lecturing, instead of writing.</p></li>\n<li><p>On that note, with slides you can focus on your lecture without being distracted by writing (eg. which part of the board to write the next bit on, how big to write, how to lay it out, whether to erase some parts first). This may sound silly, but for instance my script is beautiful on paper but hideous on a board - every time I must use a board, I always feel very insecure with how ugly and not-neat my writing and drawings look, and this is very distracting to me because it makes the usual public speaking anxiety that much worse.</p></li>\n<li><p>Generally, the maximum speed you can write legibly at is not guaranteed to be greater than the optimal speed of covering the material. With slides, there is less danger of having to spend a long time writing out lengthy material that can be understood very quickly, but only once all of it is displayed/written. But conversely, if you are lecturing faster than you can write, how will students keep up with their notes?</p></li>\n<li><p>You only need to prepare slides once, and can reuse them with minor updates. If you tend to write on the blackboard, you will have to write all of the material again and again every time you teach the class (although you can reuse your notes).</p></li>\n<li><p>You can (and should) speak information which is related, but not identical, to what's on the slides. Often slides have more basic, fundamental points as you develop more complex ideas verbally. In this way, students can easily solve problems like \"what does that new term that the lecturer just used mean again?\" and follow more easily. You can essentially have 2 parallel threads running simultaneously, and students can switch back and forth between them depending on which one is easier to follow. Imagine you are teaching archeometry to a class that is half chemists and half historians. During the chemistry slides, the chemists can listen to you talking about the intricacies of the chemistry, while the historians focus on the basics from the slides. Then during the history part (eg. metallurgical developments), vice versa. But it can be argued that such heterogeneous teaching is not a good idea in the first place.</p></li>\n<li><p>The slides can be given out to students for study in their own time. (but so can scanned notes, photos of the board, video recordings of lectures, etc)</p></li>\n<li><p>If slides are given ahead of time, students can print out slides, and significantly reduce how much writing they need to take by writing down only things which you say that are not on the slides (because they are better explained verbally, or because they came up after a question, etc). The caveat is that writing helps retention, so this may actually impair students' ability to learn the material on the slides.</p></li>\n<li><p>With slides, you can display arbitrary images. For instance, complex patterns that would take time to draw on a board, plots that are hard to draw just right, photographs (both ordinary and technical such as micrographs), busy figures with many intricate features (sometimes the figure simply cannot be any simpler). <em>But</em>, you can just print handouts with the pictures, or use a good old fashioned slide projector.</p></li>\n<li><p>You can include things like animations, video and audio. Animations are useless 99% of the time (although they may help at times). Video and audio can be invaluable in some classes, for instance videos of behavioral psychology experiments or audio in a music theory class. But then again, you can still teach your class on a board and only go to slides for the audio/video.</p></li>\n<li><p>A bright rectangle of light in the middle of a dark room will focus everyone's attention on it. But on the other hand, it also makes it very easy to zone out and catch up on some quality Z time. (plus, if you darken the room it will be hard to write notes)</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<h2>Conclusion</h2>\n\n<p>It is possible to name many advantages of using slides, especially if you don't mind very specific advantages. However, most aren't real advantages, in the sense that you can have a lecture that's as good, and probably better, by:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Preparing paper notes for yourself.</li>\n<li>Practicing the lecture before class and timing yourself.</li>\n<li>Thinking about your learning objectives for the lecture and being mindful of them to stay on track and not get derailed.</li>\n<li>Preparing handouts if you must show many images that are hard to draw or many equations that take too long to write out.</li>\n<li>Using the computer only to show video clips and so on, and then returning to your usual lecture after the video is over.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If you follow these, there are very few real advantages of slides, and many disadvantages (distraction, restricts your freedom of drawing and writing to PowerPoint's formatting options, not effective for learning). This is, of course, if your goal is to have a very effective lecture.</p>\n\n<p>Sadly, often people aim instead to spend as little time and effort as possible on the lecture. In that case, PowerPoint will produce a mediocre lecture, while writing on the board will produce an awful one. Too often people take the idea that \"old fashioned teaching on the board is better than slides\" and then think they can do a good job with inadequate preparation by just teaching from the board instead of using slides. They end up rambling on and on, and after the lecture all the students say to each other, \"What the hell was he going on about up there? I didn't understand a single thing!\" (unless this happens to be an extremely talented teacher)</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, it is impossible to lecture from slides with zero preparation (since you do have to <em>make</em> the slides at least) so it forces some semblance of coherence on you, although not much. So, if you are going to do your students a disservice by not preparing adequately, you are better off with PowerPoint (but only in the sense that you are better off losing a hand than losing your arm).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29410,
"author": "java bear",
"author_id": 22546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22546",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Powerpoint corrupts absolutely ... but you can write slides that help students memorize what is the main point you are talking about.\nThen I use lot of board space to illustrate what I am saying.\nI taught once in Sweden and was very happy: there were boards all around the room so I could keep important drawings and assertions still alive and well!\n(I teach programming and programming is an art and what you say should be tailored to your students way of thinking so pre-cooked slides are not extremely detailed but often show images intended to illustrate a problem and help students memorize a path to their own re-engineering of the topic)..</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29470,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Another alternative is to use a tablet device with a computer projector to hand write notes. This has the advantage of slowing the lecturer down (just like writing on a black board) while being visible to a very large audience and easily recorded by a lecture capture system. I've switched to this approach in recent years and find that students really prefer it to prepared slides (which just fly by too fast.) </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29597,
"author": "Shahryar",
"author_id": 10773,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10773",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Edward Tufte has an essay on \"The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Piching out corrupts within\" (<a href=\"http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/powerpoint\" rel=\"nofollow\">link</a>). As you may expect, it criticizes slide show style in favor of hand outs, speeches and non-bullet listed slides. The essay is not a direct answer to your question but I think it contains relevant points.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 54298,
"author": "John_dydx",
"author_id": 8901,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8901",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some great answers contributed so far. I think slides are great for illustrative purposes and to give some kind of structure to the lecture. However, there are certain subjects that are better done on the board-for example mathematics. On the other hand, subjects like biology are better illustrated on a slide. You can use slides to illustrate graphical displays, videos, etc (In my experience most lecturers don't use enough of these anyway). The pace of the lecturer is more difficult to control when using slides compared to boards. Using boards encourages students to ask questions and this makes the class more interactive-there's just something about approaching a blank board with creativity. If you have a bigger group, it may be more appropriate to use slides as students may not be able to see a board from afar-however, electronic boards would be a solution to this. </p>\n\n<p>All in all, I think slides are often used inappropriately and a combination of the two won't hurt in most cases.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 54307,
"author": "dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten",
"author_id": 440,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/440",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The reason I use slide in my gen-ed science classes is </p>\n\n<p>...wait for it... </p>\n\n<p>to get the students <strong>to engage</strong>.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>This runs counter to much of the advice that you see in other answers because slides by default make it very easy for watchers to <em>not</em> engage.</p>\n\n<p>I'm doing what PER people call \"active engagement\" in these classes and it takes the form of making them interact with me and their peers on the topic of the day. The slides are so that I can quickly put up question that will be the focus of interaction sessions five or more times a class: I force them to interact with me through class polls, answer cards, and direct questioning; I force them to interact with each other by asking them to convince one-another of their answer to these polls with there is disagreement and circulating to hear how they are approaching the problem.</p>\n\n<p>This is not without it's costs. If I have misjudged how much the class will actually get I won't finish my material that day, or will finish early. I haven't been able to get this working to my satisfaction in classes other than gen-ed sections, though I am trying to do a little of it.</p>\n\n<p>So, the slides aren't really the focus of the instructions. It's the interactive questions that make up the bulk of the class time, and the slides help me put them up without a lot of fuss. Of course, I also put the structured part of the lecture on the slides because I am going to have the lights dimmed and the projector on.</p>\n\n<p>I also only lecture for about 60% of these classes, turning the later part of class over to activities, group exercises, and directed follow-up investigations. I can circulate during those times and try to help out students who were floundering during the lecture part of class.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>I've had less luck porting this style to my deeper and more math intensive courses, and mostly lecture from the board for those classes, though I do fall back on the questions-on-slides style for some foundation building days.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29322",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9104/"
] |
29,326 |
<p>I am applying to a tenure-track assistant professor job in an applied math department,
for which the job posting states</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Applicants should state their current and expected salary in the application.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Questions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Why does the department ask for "expected salary"?
Is it because they are trying to exploit my naiveté?</li>
<li>What number should I state in my application?
If I state a number that is on the low side,
will they use that to offer me a lower salary?</li>
</ul>
<p>At the moment, I am thinking of just stating my estimate of the mean salary
for new assistant professors at math departments,
which according to a <a href="http://www.higheredjobs.com/salary/salaryDisplay.cfm?SurveyID=24">Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty Salaries Survey</a>
is $71,412.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29327,
"author": "Danny W.",
"author_id": 21704,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21704",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you want to take the safe approach, it may help to choose the mean assistant professor salary for the kind of school you are applying to, and where the school is: a state school in Wyoming will have a lower average assistant professor salary than a private research-level school in Cambridge, MA, for example. </p>\n\n<p>And, although I haven't been on the job market, I know (from discussion with my adviser about this question) that while this may be a factor, others are more important: how much does the department want you and what your other offers are, being two of the biggest. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29328,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I feel it's kind of obnoxious to ask for an expected salary, and it does raise issues of whether the answer could be used to lower the initial offer (or decrease the applicant's negotiating power). I don't see anything wrong with giving a vague answer or just saying you are flexible. If you specify a number, you should try to choose one that's representative of the type of school you are applying to, as Danny W. suggests.</p>\n\n<p>As for why they do it, one reason is that salaries vary enormously. A regional liberal arts college may pay less than half as much as a leading research university. Some U.S. states scandalously underfund their state universities, so there can be dramatic salary differences between what you'd think are comparable institutions. The net effect is that schools that aren't able to pay a lot worry about attracting candidates who have no idea how little they pay. They don't want to waste time trying to hire someone who will never accept any amount they could plausibly offer. One way to get around that is to announce a salary range. However, some departments are hesitant to do that, perhaps because they don't want to publicly emphasize how little money they get (and thereby humiliate themselves or discourage applicants). Instead, they ask for an expected salary and filter out anyone who names a figure far out of their range. I don't like it, but it seems to work well enough that departments keep doing it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29335,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If it's a public university, look up the local/regional salary website that covers it (like the <a href=\"http://salaries.texastribune.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Texas Tribune site</a>). Record the names and salaries for all of the Assistant Professors in that department. Estimate via Google search when each of them started at the university in question. Add a year (since the salary sites are usually a year out of date). Assume 2%/year annual raise. Work backwards to their starting salaries. Decide where you think you would rank among the tenure-track professors if you were all starting at the same time, and pick that percentile among the salaries and submit it. If public data isn't available for the university you are applying to, model a similar university in a similar town that does have data available, and then adjust for cost of living. </p>\n\n<p>This is an applied math problem <em>par excellence</em>. You best option is to use your skills to predict a reliable answer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29338,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Taking the numbers from higheredjobs.com, you'll see that there is considerable variation across types of institutions- the number you quoted was for \"research universities\", while \"doctoral universities\" was a separate classification with a lower average salary. The survey also didn't distinguish between private universities and public universities (salaries at top private universities are considerably higher.) </p>\n\n<p>The American Mathematical Society also publishes an annual salary survey that I'd encourage you to examine. The AMS numbers actually show higher starting salaries at the most prestigious research universities (over $80K), but also show much smaller starting salaries at the bachelors and masters level institutions where most of the jobs are. I think this AMS survey is more reflective of the variation in salaries than the CUPA survey that higheredjobs.com reports. </p>\n\n<p>I also searched AMS's web site for job ads that featured this requirement. There were five such ads, Two were for positions outside of the US (where these salary surveys aren't meaningful.) One position is for a department chair (an administrative job that these salary surveys don't cover.) One position is for a postdoc. The last ad is for a named associate professorship (an endowed chair) where the department will be looking to hire talent away from other departments. </p>\n\n<p>Asking candidates for a more senior level position (department chair or the named professorship) what their salary demands are is a reasonable thing to do- you don't want to waste everyone's time interviewing someone who is already much better paid than you can afford. It makes a lot less sense when you're talking about an entry level tenure track position where most of your candidates are applying from temporary positions (VAP or postdoc.) </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29370,
"author": "Ben Webster",
"author_id": 13,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's easy for me to say this, since I'm not applying, but I simply wouldn't list anything. There's always some risk when leaving out a part of the application that someone is very bureaucratically minded, but I think in this case, the chance is pretty small. It's very hard for me to imagine the conversation in the hiring meeting going: \"This application looks very promising.\" \"But it doesn't list his/her current salary. Well, in the trash it goes!\" </p>\n\n<p>It'll be trickier if someone directly contacts you, points out that you missed this and asks you to clarify. At some point, if you decide getting the job is more important than optimizing your salary, you may have to just tell them. I personally find this a pretty insane request, though.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29383,
"author": "A.S",
"author_id": 22447,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22447",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Q.1: The dept wants to know whether you have realistic expectations about compensation for this position. Trying for >$20k over median for entry level position for institution of this type/location may raise eyebrows. </p>\n\n<p>Yes, they are also trying to exploit an applicant's naiveté (although obviously this should not be taken personally). In particular, a reasonably low figure might suggest to them that salary will be a non-issue. If their resources and room for negotiation for this position are tight, it might tell them which applicant may be worth their time and which might not be worth a significant investment of time if their offer is likely to be out-matched by another institution.</p>\n\n<p>Q.2: If the number was not used at all, it would likely not have been part of the application. So most likely, a very low \"self-appraisal\" might yield a lower offer. </p>\n\n<p>That said, it does not necessarily mean you should <em>not</em> be modest in your self-appraisal. It is unlikely that your final decision will be solely based on salary. Money only matters when you don't have any. As soon as you have a sufficient amount, other things kick in and shape the quality of life. Friendly colleagues in the department. Overall budget situation at the university and on the state level, and projections for the next 5-10 years. Location, amenities, recreation opportunities, and cost of living in the area. How long you plan to stick around at this institution (keep in mind the likelihood of raises, which over 5 years can lift a salary to a level higher than what you may be shooting for now, risking rejecting offers that might not be quite up there from yr1). Good luck and hope this helps.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29391,
"author": "Orion",
"author_id": 19732,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19732",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Just write negotiable. That's it. Then negotiate when the time comes. </p>\n\n<p>As a rule, I avoid salary discussions before an offer. If asked, I answer that I'm flexible and I'm confident we could come up with a mutually agreeable figure. Then I move on and start asking questions about the job.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29326",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8802/"
] |
29,331 |
<p>Whenever I open a graduate text (on pretty much everything), I'm instantly overwhelmed as most topics are not well motivated, book reads like an encyclopedia and extremely high level topics maybe mixed in with an introduction to a specific topic. Oh, the text also tends to be printed in a horrendous font that does not at all induce eagerness of reading!</p>
<p>Think of Springer series on mathematics if you want to know exactly what I'm referring to.</p>
<p>Why are graduate texts written that way? Why isn't there a plethora of classic texts at the graduate level? </p>
<p>Just out of curiosity.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29332,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The font aspect is a rant, not a question; take that up with the publishers. (I don't think I've especially noticed it, but I have a wide tolerance range. It could be worse, it could be dot-matrix.)</p>\n\n<p>For the rest: \"Graduate texts\" are written with the assumption that the reader already has a fairly sophisticated understanding of the subject and the symbology/shorthands/jargon it uses. They're also often intended to be reference material that supplements a class, rather than tutorial material readable by itself... \"prescriptive rather than descriptive\". Different audience, different needs, different focus, more context is assumed so informational density can be higher and presented more rigorously.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29333,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The differences between undergraduate and graduate texts seem to me to be no more dramatic than those between high school and undergraduate texts, and I don't consider it especially problematic. But there are some differences:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Why are graduate texts written that way? Why isn't there a plethora of classic texts at the graduate level? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>There certainly is, but there are also plenty of mediocre books. There's nothing special about graduate texts in this respect. Classic examples of anything will always be rare and noteworthy, more or less by definition.</p>\n\n<p>You should keep in mind that graduate texts cover an enormous breadth of material (far beyond the undergraduate curriculum), and the upper limits of their depth can be impressive. Some books are written for very advanced courses aimed at senior graduate students specializing in a certain area. Of course they won't be easily accessible, since the research community barely understands this material. With luck, fifty years from now we'll have clearer expositions. In the meantime, we should be grateful that the author at least managed to distill the research literature into a coherent textbook, even if it is not yet easy to read.</p>\n\n<p>Other graduate texts are intended for introductory grad courses. Certainly there are some bad books out there, but in my experience there are plenty of beautiful introductions that are accessible to students with a strong undergraduate background. It may still take more effort to read them than a typical undergraduate textbook, the same way an advanced undergraduate book may be tougher than one aimed at first-year students, but that's not a bad thing. The increased difficulty comes with corresponding rewards.</p>\n\n<p>You can also find especially accessible textbooks. For example, some graduate texts are written specifically to ease the transition to graduate school for students with weaker backgrounds. They aren't necessarily advertised that way (to avoid putting off readers), but some books are pretty widely known to be less demanding than others. They can be a great way to fill in any missing background or just get used to graduate texts.</p>\n\n<p>And it's worth having many different texts available for the same material. Undergraduate courses can sometimes be fairly regimented, with clear expectations regarding exactly what students should already know and what they need to learn now. Graduate school is much more diverse. One book may be entirely appropriate for someone with certain preparation, but utterly inappropriate for others.</p>\n\n<p>If there's a subject you'd like to learn about, the best approach is often to ask for reading advice from someone who knows your background and tastes. If you can't get personalized advice, you can always take a look at lists <a href=\"https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/21344/what-should-be-in-every-grad-students-library\">like this</a>. Once you have some candidate books in mind, it's worth going to the library and gathering copies of them as well as any similar books that catch your eye on the shelf. Then you can spend an hour or two comparing them to see which might best serve your needs. It's going to take you far longer to actually master the contents, so a couple of hours is nothing if it helps you find the right book for you.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29331",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22501/"
] |
29,334 |
<p>I am in a PhD program in mathematics, and I am in my last year in the program. This is the last year that they will fund me for. If I need more time, I will either need to pay the tuition on my own, or not complete my degree. </p>
<p>I feel that my advisor and department do not support me well. I am not going to go into the details, but if I had known better, I should have left with a Master's three years ago and applied for another PhD program. <strong>I was wondering how feasible it would be to re-apply into a PhD program at another institution.</strong> Keep in mind that I am entering my sixth year into the program, and I've already passed to candidacy. I realize that this may look bad on my part, that I've stayed at my own institution and at the last moment decided to leave. I am looking for advice and thoughts on this.</p>
<p>I realize that the reasonable thing to do would be to stick it out in my own program and try to finish, and if that doesn't work, then possibly try to apply somewhere else. One of my professors told me that it may be just as hard for me to get a postdoc as it is for me to be accepted into another PhD program. So I am curious if anyone has any experience with a similar situation. The reason why I am considering re-applying to grad school is that I feel that I may thrive at a different institution and have a better possibility of landing a postdoc or an academic job if I started all over.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29339,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Unfortunately, it's probably not feasible to start over elsewhere in the near future. You can certainly try applying, and it might work out, especially if you have a really compelling explanation. However, I think the chances are slim.</p>\n\n<p>The basic question is how much progress towards a thesis you have made during your six years in grad school. If you're close to finishing, then nobody will think it makes sense to start over from scratch in the same subfield (or even a related one). At that point, you're not genuinely starting over, but just extending your time in grad school beyond six years. In particular, continuing in a similar area will come across as a request for another school to provide the additional funding your current university won't give you, and that won't sound like a good use of money. Most schools wouldn't give their own students a seventh year of funding, so why would they give it to a student from another university?</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if you aren't close to finishing after six years, then starting over might make sense, but your track record will look bad. You'll need to present a powerful argument for why you'll do much better the second time around. In particular, there are people who have strong backgrounds and excellent grades but somehow don't end up succeeding at research, and the admissions committee will worry that you may fall into that category. Taking a chance on a fresh graduate student will seem like a much better bet than admitting someone who has already spent six years in graduate school but been unable to finish.</p>\n\n<p>So basically you're stuck. Either you are too far along for starting over to make sense, or you have a track record of failure.</p>\n\n<p>Of course it's difficult to say without knowing more about your specific situation, but I'd guess your best chances lie in two possibilities:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Even if you don't get admitted now, you might fare better in a few years. As your previous time in graduate school fades into the past, you can try to make a case that you have increased perspective and maturity and a renewed desire to get a Ph.D. in math. I don't know how likely this is to work, but at least it gives you a chance to explain that you have changed since your first attempt at grad school.</p></li>\n<li><p>You could try radically changing your research area. For example, from algebraic geometry to bioinformatics. Of course this depends on being able to make a good argument for your change of interests. You have to really demonstrate that you've finally figured out what you want to do, in the face of skepticism (many people will assume you are just flailing about looking for any chance to try something new). However, it gives you a ready-made explanation for what went wrong the first time: you were trying to do something that in the end just wasn't suited to your interests and talents, but you've discovered that this new topic is a much better fit.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Whatever approach you take, I expect it will be difficult to get admitted. It can't hurt to try, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. My gut feeling is that it would be easier to try to finish your Ph.D. and then salvage your career (but of course I don't know enough about your situation to say that with any confidence).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29347,
"author": "Willie Wong",
"author_id": 94,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While this does not answer your stated question, I think it is important to point out that <strong>the end of the normal enrollment period is not the end of the road</strong>. At a research university, it is often accepted that some students will, for reasons possibly beyond their control, require longer time to finish a degree than typically envisioned. And schools are often willing to accommodate this by offering special enrollment status to these <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_but_dissertation\">ABD</a> candidates, often at reduced tuition rates, and at effectively part-time or in absentia physical presence, which would allow you to continue towards finishing your graduate degree while at the same time holding on to an external job. </p>\n\n<p>I do not know how close you are toward finishing your dissertation, but I will assume here that</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>You have completed all coursework requirements. </li>\n<li>You are well into the process of writing your dissertation. </li>\n<li>By \"last year in the program\" you meant the last year in the standard program length and not the last year in the standard program length + any additional special terminal status. </li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Under such assumptions you may want to contact the graduate school of your university to see if they offer anything similar to </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://gradschool.princeton.edu/academics/statuses/degree-seeking-statuses/dissertation-completion-enrollment-dce\">Princeton's DCE status</a> which gives up to two years of additional enrollment past the regular period at a heavily discounted tuition rate. </li>\n<li><a href=\"https://gradschool.princeton.edu/academics/statuses/degree-seeking-statuses/enrollment-terminateddegree-candidacy-continues-etdcc\">Princeton's ET/DCC status</a> where you are actually not enrolled as a graduate student. But you get a little extra time during which you are expected to keep in touch with your advisor and finish your dissertation on your own. In particular, you will not get charged tuition at all. </li>\n<li><a href=\"https://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/registrar/students/special-graduate-status\">Stanford's TGR status</a> in which you remain enrolled but at a reduce tuition rate. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>I should also remark that while the job market has not yet rebounded entirely to the pre-2008 glory, it has improved sufficiently that this year I saw some advertisements for teaching positions that are willing to take ABD students if will complete their dissertation within one year of the start date. So if you are really close to finishing, but just need a little bit more time, you should consider that as an option. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29334",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22503/"
] |
29,341 |
<p>I'm looking to do a graduate course in computer science in the US and was particularly attracted to several non-terminal MS CS programs, which you'd enroll as a PhD student, but acquire the MS en route. Some of these MS-PhD programs have better financial support by the institution compared to the terminal MS program.
For example Harvard offers all of its PhD students full financial support. </p>
<p>My question is:
If I'm enrolled into say Harvard's or any other PhD program looking to get MS en route.
After acquiring the Masters Will I be able to have the flexibility to not progress towards after PhD for whatever reason, without any consequences like having to pay back the financial aid or something? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 29348,
"author": "Willie Wong",
"author_id": 94,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/94",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>(Copied from my comments)</p>\n\n<p>Firstly:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>In some cases the terminal MS program costs you more because you are expected to only do coursework, whereas in the MS-PhD program you are expected to service the department as a research or teaching assistant. </p></li>\n<li><p>I would expect that if a school offers both options they would frown upon your entering the PhD track with the intention of quitting after the MS </p></li>\n<li><p>Most importantly, this is something that you can and should ask the administrators at the schools you are looking at. There's a good chance that the policy is different school to school. </p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>To answer your second question, it depends on what you mean by consequences:</p>\n\n<p>If you meant only financial ones: I've known many cases (not in CS) where students quit after the masters, and in none of those cases were they asked to pay the school back. Mostly because of point (1) above. In fact, some departments offering the MS-PhD program seem to take it as a given that some students will drop out. But depends on what you want to do, there could be non-financial consequences: People who've invested time in you may be reluctant to write you recommendation letters etc.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29745,
"author": "jonescb",
"author_id": 22774,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22774",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my experience in looking for graduate programs, many schools won't let you graduate with a Masters if you apply for a PhD.</p>\n\n<p>That isn't entirely true, however. Depending on the school, you can drop out once you reach ABD status (All but dissertation) and they will give you the Masters. This means you have to complete all the PhD course work before granting you a Masters.</p>\n\n<p>Speaking with one of my professors as an undergrad, she told me that if she knew a student intended to be a terminal MA/MS, they'd throw their PhD application out.</p>\n\n<p>To my knowledge the reason for this is mostly because of what Willie Wong said in his answer. PhD students who receive funding are taking resources from the school that could otherwise have been given to another applicant. They don't want applicants who intend to drop out after getting a Masters using up funds intended for PhD students. It requires applicants to be serious about completing the program.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 29747,
"author": "Franck Dernoncourt",
"author_id": 452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The answer depends on which program you enroll into. Extrapolating from the small number of universities I have looked at when applying for a PhD in computer science, many universities do allow students to leave after getting an M.S..</p>\n\n<p>E.g. at MIT, <a href=\"http://web.mit.edu/accreditation/report/selfstudy/chapter06.html#s2b\" rel=\"nofollow\">~10% of students</a> get the M.S. but leave before getting the PhD, so it's far from being an exception:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>MIT closely monitors the retention and graduation rates of its\n graduate students. When preparing the data schedules for our\n accreditation report, the Office of Institutional Research analyzed\n several graduate student cohorts and confirmed that retention rates\n are high. For example, <strong>among those entering the School of Science\n from 1996 to 2001, approximately 90 percent graduated with a masters\n or doctoral degree (roughly 80 percent earning doctorates)</strong>. Further\n information can be found in the Graduate E Schedule. Many of our\n efforts to support and retain graduate students are described in the\n advising section of Chapter 5.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/29341",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22504/"
] |
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