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34,493 |
<p>What is the rough salary one should expect from a research university in New Zealand, say in mathematics or sciences areas, at the beginning assistant professor (called Lecturer in NZ) level professor?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34524,
"author": "Jeromy Anglim",
"author_id": 62,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Wikipedia suggests that \"assistant professor\" is equivalent to \"Lecturer\" in the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_ranks_%28Australia_and_New_Zealand%29\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Australian and New Zealand Academic ranking systems</a>.</p>\n\n<p>My guess is that you can google any New Zealand university and they will list salaries for a Lecturer. For example, I searched for \"university of auckland academic salaries\"\nand obtained <a href=\"http://teu.ac.nz/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/Terms-of-settlement-2013-2015-Academic-Staff-signed.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer\">the following document</a></p>\n\n<p>So if you were employed as a lecturer in 2014, you'd probably start at $76,535 (New Zealand Dollars; <a href=\"https://www.google.com.au/search?sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&q=new%20zealand%20to%20us%20dollars\" rel=\"noreferrer\">exchange rate</a> as of 19th Dec 2014 is 1 NZ dollar buys .78 US dollars; so starting salary would be around $60,000 USD) and each year you'd typically go up an increment (i.e., about $2,500 NZD; $1,950 USD) until you hit the top of \"lecturer\". At that point, further pay rises would be contingent on applying for a promotion to senior lecturer.</p>\n\n<p>The relevant section from the University of Auckland agreement is shown below.</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/OH2f5.png\" alt=\"nz academic salaries\"></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34525,
"author": "Michael Homer",
"author_id": 17740,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17740",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can find the current <a href=\"https://teu.ac.nz/explore/find-your-branch\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">collective agreements for all universities on the Tertiary Education Union's website</a>. Entry-level salaries for a lecturer, and the low point of the senior lecturer range, at the start of 2021 were as follows (all NZD):</p>\n<div class=\"s-table-container\">\n<table class=\"s-table\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>University</th>\n<th style=\"text-align: right;\">L1 salary</th>\n<th style=\"text-align: right;\">SL1 salary</th>\n</tr>\n</thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Auckland</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">83,602</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">106,285</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>AUT</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">73,966</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">91,226</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Waikato</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">77,402</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">95,883</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Massey</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">74,478</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">93,335</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Victoria</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">79,276</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">99,870</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Canterbury</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">79,671</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">102,142</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lincoln</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">73,018</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">92,723</td>\n</tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Otago</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">82,416</td>\n<td style=\"text-align: right;\">103,678</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody>\n</table>\n</div>\n<p>The average is about NZ$78,000. These generally have annual percentage adjustments built in, so the base rate increases each year. There is generally also an automatic progression within a grade for current staff across several steps spread between the lecturer base and senior lecturer base, and it is generally possible to be appointed mid-grade as well according to experience (e.g. working time since PhD). All of this varies from school to school, and there are also other payments that may apply, so you should check the agreements for particular details you're interested in. If you're not a union member these rates will generally apply to you when you start as well (by law, historically, but the situation may change).</p>\n<p>A couple of the agreements linked above have expired, and may have been replaced but not yet made available on the website, and some contain increments that hadn't come into effect yet. The general area of the numbers is right, though. There is a fair amount of variation between institutions, particularly the largest and smallest universities. There's also quite a bit of variation in how the scale works above that lowest-level entry point and how many steps there are (between 6 and 9 before moving to SL).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34493",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20950/"
] |
34,498 |
<p>I've been applying for tenure track positions in computer science.</p>
<p>Recently I visited university X for an interview and they have hinted that they are likely to offer me a position after my second visit. Assuming all goes well, how much time can I expect to be given for deciding on that offer? </p>
<p>I have also applied to several other places where any decision won't be made within the next few months. So my worry is that I might receive an offer from X "too soon" and hence won't be able to also take into account other opportunities. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34502,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my experience, this depends somewhat on the level of the hire. </p>\n\n<p>A search for a full professor, named chair, department chair, or dean might result in a long period of negotiations with the candidate. These kinds of searches often go \"one candidate at a time\" rather than bringing in all candidates for on campus interviews at nearly the same time. Since the process is sequential, there's obviously more room to give the candidate time to consider the offer. </p>\n\n<p>However, when it comes to hiring a new assistant professor there are typically several reasonable candidates that were all interviewed on campus at about the same time. If the university suspects that a top candidate isn't likely to take the offer they may make an offer with a short deadline in hopes that they can still get their second or third choice. </p>\n\n<p>In the past when I've made offers as a department chair (in mathematics) the offers were open for one or two weeks (with some possibility for an extension if there was negotiation going on.) I have had to say \"no\" to requests for extended time to consider an offer. </p>\n\n<p>You can always ask for an extension of the time period, but I wouldn't count on getting one. </p>\n\n<p>I've also participated in searches in other academic departments. The only reason for extended time on offers that I've ever seen was negotiation of startup packages- in the physical sciences and engineering new faculty often have very specific needs for laboratory space and equipment that have to be negotiated and this can take time. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34507,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I have also applied to several other places where any decision won't be made within the next few months. So my worry is that I might receive an offer from X \"too soon\" and hence won't be able to also take into account other opportunities. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I'm sorry to be the one to tell you the bad news: if you get one offer \"unseasonably early\", then it is very likely that the intent of this offer is to \"squeeze you\": more precisely, to place you in the position of having to turn down a tenure-track offer without any other offers in hand. This is hardball, but it's legal hardball: at least they're squeezing you with a job offer.</p>\n\n<p>I don't think there's anything you can do to respond to this until you actually get that first offer. At that point, you should:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Write back immediately to the department which has offered you a job, expressing your delight and serious interest. Say that you will need to receive the offer in writing before you can respond to them in any way. (Often this delays things for a few days.) Make sure that whatever deadline you get counts from your receipt of the formal written offer. </p></li>\n<li><p>Write immediately to all the places which you would consider possibly preferable to the offer you've gotten. Tell them that you've received an offer from University X. If you haven't heard anything about your application then you can't really say much more than this. On the other hand if they've contacted you about an interview, then you should offer to reschedule the interview ASAP, in time to have the interview, get an offer from University Y, and consider which of the two (or more) offers is preferable.</p></li>\n<li><p>If you have any bites from University Y then you have to keep writing back to both universities, doing everything in your power to get two job offers simultaneously rather than sequentially. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Trying to deal with multiple offers with not fully compatible time frames is a rather stressful situation. To try to keep your stress levels down, remember how much more awesome it is than not having any offers at all. Also, don't be shy about asking for what you want or need: this is your life, after all. </p>\n\n<p><b>Added</b>: I didn't directly address the title question because Brian Borchers already did that nicely. But to corroborate: it is extremely unlikely that you will get a few months of deliberation. Really stretching things out -- including negotiations about startup, equipment, and so forth -- could get you maybe a month, but if you asked for that much in advance you wouldn't get it. Your potential employee simply can't afford to spend the entire hiring season waiting for one (tenure-track) candidate.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34498",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26784/"
] |
34,510 |
<p>A professor agreed to write me a letter of recommendation for a military program. He said 'yeah, send me a vita'. What is a vita? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34512,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This is simply shorthand for curriculum vitae, also called a CV or resume. He's just asking you to send him your resume so he can list stuff you've done when writing your letter.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34513,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A \"vita\" is just a short term for a <em>curriculum vitae</em> (i.e., CV) which is similar to, but not exactly the same as, a resumé.</p>\n\n<p>There are many questions on this site, like <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9884/curriculum-vitae-in-application-for-phd\">this one</a> asking about how to create a CV and many other webpages which can help with figuring out how to write one.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34510",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17694/"
] |
34,520 |
<p>From John Baez's <a href="http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/advice.html"><em>Advice for a Young Scientist</em></a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Your talks should be clear, concise, fun, exciting, and <em>never ever run over time</em>. For each extra minute your talk runs over, 10% more of the audience will decide you are a jerk and start fantasizing about you falling down a trap door.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>After 11 minutes, 110% of your audience will start hating you.</p>
<p>That makes perfect sense, because that includes the people waiting for the room to open up for the next talk to begin.</p>
<p>But some people at my college like to take the opposite view. One lecturer never releases his class until he's run at least five minutes overtime. In the mandatory presentation class, the teacher maintained that going five minutes over the twenty minute talk period time was ok, but when one student went one minute undertime, she insisted that he repeat the assignment.</p>
<p>My question is: how should the speaker treat overtime?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34521,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's very different to require a 20 minute presentation. It would follow that speaking more than 20 minutes is okay; perhaps the recommended time is 20-25 minutes but the professor is very strict about the lower limit to make sure you have that much material. Perhaps not the best didactic method but analogous to a minimum page length in writing.</p>\n\n<p>You are trying to see a generalization where there shouldn't be one. There's a culture of being late in America just like there is a culture of going over on talks. It's problematic though, especially because some prefers eschew the boundary entirely and run well into your next class. So yes, that is a thing, and it is problematic, but you should not treat assignments as the same category.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34522,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The speaker should follow the guidelines given. Granted, normally one should limit a presentation to exactly 20 minutes. A range is much more common, and much more reasonable. Indeed, I would say the limit that was given was really 20-25 minutes (though not given in a very clear way).</p>\n\n<p>It's like speeding. The posted speed limit is 65, so how should you consider yourself when you go over 65? You should slow down and fit within the posted limits.</p>\n\n<p>In presentations, when you cannot fit your material within the allotted time, it shows your lack of preparation. If you just keep blabbing away, it shows your inability to follow your own structure. If you simply do not think the limit is important then you are showing a great disregard for the audience.</p>\n\n<p>This is true of lecturers, too. If they do not care about the time limit they are simply being disrespectful. A philosopher would say being disrespectful to anyone is really showing your own disrespect to yourself.</p>\n\n<p>In the end, people who do not follow the limits are saying they are special and the rules do not apply to them. Sadly, this attitude is all too common. Trying to change others is futile but we should do what we can to set a good example for others, regardless of our position.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34523,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Speaking for longer than the allotted time is unprofessional, and it can be very damaging and offensive in some circumstances. For example, if a conference schedules talks back to back, then it's not acceptable for one speaker to try to use part of the next speaker's time.</p>\n\n<p>It may not be quite as bad in other cases, but it's still disrespectful to the audience. It tells the audience that the speaker believes his/her final words are more important than whatever else the audience might need to do, and it forces anyone with other obligations to risk drawing attention by leaving before the end of the talk.</p>\n\n<p>Classes are something of a special case for two reasons. One is that the professor has a certain degree of power over students in the classroom, unlike a typical seminar speaker; another is that it's easy for professors to rationalize that they are going over time for their students' own good. Going over time is still problematic, but some people don't feel bad about it.</p>\n\n<p>As for how to handle it, this problem should never even come up if the speaker is on top of things. It's important to keep track of the remaining time and adjust the presentation to omit details as needed to finish on time. If you screw this up, then you are out of luck if anyone is scheduled to use the room after you. Otherwise, you could apologize and offer an extremely brief summary of your remaining points. (I.e., if you suddenly discover that your time is up, that's when you should switch to the 30 or 60 second summary of your conclusions, rather than continuing with the seven minutes remaining in your talk as planned.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34529,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Going overtime in a conference is a nightmare for the organising committee. Usually, there are parallel sessions focusing on different topics, and people try to make their own collision-free schedule to make the most of the conference, if one talk gets shifted, the people changing rooms will be affected. Also, it is common to have a few keynote speakers for the whole conference, but if one session is very delayed, you are either forcing the whole conference to wait for you (and then you will get the hate of 10x the audience of your talk), or make people miss the keynote (that is presumably of particular interest).</p>\n\n<p>Exact timing of a presentation is difficult, but perfectly doable. You should rehearse it until you are confident. You can always take an extra minute from the questions, but then be aware that you are depriving another person from speaking.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34534,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the amount of time leeway in how long you can talk is proportional to how long you are talking. If you are supposed to give a 4 minute summary and it takes 6 minutes, that is too long. Similarly, giving a 4 minute summary in 2 minutes is too short. Alternatively, I think it is perfectly reasonable if a 60 minute lecture takes anywhere between 58 and 62 minutes. I think audiences will generally give you up to a 10% margin for error. Many talks, both research and teaching, also include a small period of time for questions at the end which provides a nice buffer.</p>\n\n<p>For a typical teaching scenario a 1 hour time slot is often only 50 minutes of teaching and you might allocated your self 3 minutes for questions at the end. This means you should be aiming for your class to take between a 43 and 51 minutes. If you hit 51 minutes, you apologize and tell the students they can stop by your office to ask questions and that there will be a chance for questions at the next session and you let them out 1 minute late. If you finish early you can ask for questions. If you do not get questions you can recap the syllabus and schedule for a few minutes and let them go 5 minutes early.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34536,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the presentations teacher who is forcing students to repeat talks if they run too short is not working in reality. Her students will be very ill-prepared for real conferences, where such behavior is not likely to be appreciated.</p>\n\n<p>As someone who has chaired a lot of sessions at conferences, I have to admit that I have <strong>minimal</strong> tolerance for people who try to run over their allotted slots. If your slot is 20 minutes, I will warn you when you have five minutes left and again at two minutes. If at 20 minutes, you're not on your conclusion slide, I will cut you off and ask the next speaker to set up their talk. </p>\n\n<p>However, a lot of that issue comes up when one of two situations occur:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The organizers of the event where the talk takes place do a poor job of managing the session and ensuring speakers stick to their time slots.</li>\n<li>The speaker is clearly unprepared for the time slot they have been allotted.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I recently attended a talk which should have been about 45 minutes long. When the speaker stopped, after nearly <strong>75</strong> minutes, he had only completed two parts out of <em>seven</em> in his outline. He had way too many slides, talked about each one for far too long, and generally ticked off the audience in the process. </p>\n\n<p>As for lectures, as a student, I would tolerate a minimal overrun to \"tie things up\"—if the lecture is 90 minutes, for instance, a one- to two-minute overrun would be OK. But an extra 10 or 15 minutes would be unacceptable. As an instructor, I would rather end the class five minutes early and leave some material uncovered rather than run that far overtime. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34542,
"author": "Ed Daniel",
"author_id": 26820,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26820",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Keeping to time is just basic respect, for your audience and for any fellow speakers.</p>\n\n<p>Admittedly, it varies somewhat with context - the only presentation at a group meeting going over probably doesn't have many knock-on effects, whereas at a conference there's coffee going cold outside, parallel sessions getting out of sync, and generally far more going on and more people to annoy.</p>\n\n<p>That said, a rule of thumb: Is your time worth more than that of everyone in the audience combined? No? Then don't finish late - even when they all filed in five minutes late (another pet hate of mine). Yes? No, it isn't.</p>\n\n<p>At the courses and conferences where I've presented, I've always been the last speaker before lunch, where you're already struggling to keep the audience's attention before you start. With a bad chairman, half of that last slot can disappear easily; that speaker is then faced with either making everyone late for lunch or mutilating his/her presentation. Bad chair or not, it's disrespectful for earlier speakers to put other speakers in that position. Admittedly, my experience is that you get massive brownie points for getting back on track and saving the lunch break, and you can get some interesting conversations in the lunch queue as a result, but you shouldn't have to.</p>\n\n<p>Within the department, where we're being kept from actual productive work, I like to count the people in the room, calculate a rough figure for their combined hourly cost, and hence work out how much of our hard-earned funding is being wasted every minute that the speaker goes over. Needless to say, I'm not paying attention while doing this.</p>\n\n<p>The worst example of going overtime that I've experienced was at a conference with a number of lunchtime sessions. Someone whose name started with Sir was assigned one of the first ones, and he was still talking (and his audience still hungry) when the second sessions were over and we were meant to be back in the main auditorium. As it happens, that was the same room where we were booked to give the second session; we ended up giving a software demo standing in the hallway, with one of us holding a laptop for the other and people pressing in to see what should have been projected on the wall.</p>\n\n<p>So, having been on the receiving end of it both as audience member and speaker, my personal tolerance for it is very low indeed. From discussions with many colleagues over many years, I haven't found one yet who's OK with it, even when they find the topic interesting.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34554,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Amongst the answers presented so far, I see a lot of strong sentiment, but am missing two things that I think are extremely important: 1) context-sensitivity, and 2) <em>how</em> a speaker should manage timing.</p>\n\n<p>To the first point, the degree to which a speaker should be concerned with running over (or under) time is highly sensitive to the precision with which their talk is scheduled. Contrary to what most of the answers have said thus far, this can vary highly depending on venue.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Lecturing a class is the most rigid context, as students often have other classes that they must leave to go to immediately at the end. You need to stop on time, period.</li>\n<li>Conference talks are typically designed for a five minute question period, which provides a cushion for going a couple of minutes over: you just get less questions.</li>\n<li>In settings aimed at discussion, such as workshops, there is often a looser schedule with more flexibility and buffer times built in. Here, one can feel comfortable running over somewhat longer as long as the extra time is primarily caused by interaction with the audience, as that is the purpose.</li>\n<li>In informal settings, such as an invited presentation in a group meeting, you can go over as long as the discussion takes you. In this type of setting, I have had a 15 minute talk turn into a 90 minute talk, because the people I was presenting to wanted to dig deep into discussion with every slide.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>To the second point, for the more tightly constrained talks, it is important to also have a way of thinking about time management in order to ensure that one can end on time.\nA very useful method that I learned from one of the best speakers I know is to include an \"accordion section\" toward the end of the talk, containing material that\nis enriching but not strictly necessary. If you are running ahead of schedule, you can dawdle in the accordion section, explaining all of the lovely details. If you are running behind schedule, you can skim through.</p>\n\n<p>For example, I might give a talk that ends with a couple of case studies. The first case study will get an in-depth treatment no matter what, while the second case study is there to show the generality of what I have been talking about. If I have enough time, the second case study can be presented in the same detail as the first. If not, then I can instead say something shorted, even to as short as, \"X is fairly general, as can be seen by the fact that is works just as well in case study Y as well.\"</p>\n\n<p>Thus, you should always plan your talk to be precisely on time, and include an accordion section that simplifies the task of controlling your timing. In settings where there is flexibility in the schedule, however, you should feel free to allow the audience to extend the time of your talk within the bounds of schedule flexibility.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34568,
"author": "supercat",
"author_id": 21086,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21086",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are many contexts where it is extremely important that talks fit the allocated time as precisely as possible. Some other contexts benefit from more flexibility. A speaker may be able to precisely predict how long it will take to present a certain corpus of material, but it's much harder to predict how long it will take to present the amount of material the speaker has <em>which the audience will be interested in</em>. In some contexts it may be better to have the speakers guess what the audience will want to hear and present a fixed corpus of information, but in others it may be better to have speakers adjust the lengths of their presentations according to the audiences' levels of interest. The latter approach would likely be better most of the time <em>but for the fact that speakers and audience members may have conflicting time obligations elsewhere</em>. The problems created by conflicting time obligations, however, often outweigh the benefits of such flexibility.</p>\n\n<p>If in a certain context a speaker could go overtime without creating difficulties for himself, the audience, or anyone else who would want to use the space, then it may be good for the speaker to adjust the length of his talk according to what the audience wants to hear. Such situations are not the norm, however. If a particular conference or convention has many activities which people will be able to do at \"any time\", and most visitors will be expected to want to spend a lot of time on such activities, then it may make sense to have talks which might benefit from going overtime be followed by \"free time\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34607,
"author": "Akka Demic",
"author_id": 23986,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23986",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Don't do it. If you do, don't expect attention from anyone after your allotted time. The busier people in the audience may very well need to leave at the scheduled end-time in order to make their next meeting.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34520",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24274/"
] |
34,530 |
<p>After a successful PhD in computer science (including some awards from top conferences, internship at top industry research labs, and a good number of citations to my ~15 papers) in a top-10 US school, I got a postdoc at a top-3 US school.</p>
<p>I had a number of postdoc offers and chose the one whose topic more far-related to my phd thesis, in order to learn new things, get out of the box, and show that I'm not a one-trick dog (or doc? ;) ).
The topic is different but not too much far away (i.e., I didn't move from theory to systems, rather from algorithms to (applied) machine learning).</p>
<p>I've been in my new position almost 6 months and feel like a complete failure.
I can't go on with one of the projects I was assigned to and it is not for lack of trying: I just don't understand the results I'm getting because I don't know the field well enough and I can't figure out what I am actually supposed to do to improve them. </p>
<p>My supervisor gets quite "adversarial" when I ask for feedback and I try to explain what I don't understand. On the other hand, he says that I'm very helpful on other projects, helping the students, and a valuable addition to the group, and he would have told me if it wasn't so. Indeed I think it is true and I'm doing a good job on other projects (which are not "mine").</p>
<p>The project I'm failing at could have a great impact on science (not just CS) on the long term, but I feel like any engineer trained in the field could lead it to completion, so I don't find it particularly exciting.
I guess I'm missing the excitement I got when I had to prove theorems during my PhD. Right now, the project involves just messy data analysis, and a lot of try-and-error coding (mostly error), all without much feedback from the supervisor (who actually told me to ask the students...which I did and they weren't exactly helpful). </p>
<p>Anyway, this is getting me extremely stressed (I actually started seeing a therapist about this), and I'm thinking of moving away from this position, although I may have the possibility of renewing for another year (if my supervisor would even still consider the option, which he gave me when I started)</p>
<p>What are the pro/cons of moving away after 1 year with not exactly much positive work done yet, especially of which I could claim ownership? I believe that right now my supervisor would not, in the future, write me a very positive recommendation letter, in my opinion. </p>
<p>Note that I already have offers for next year, on topics more related to what I did during my phd.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34684,
"author": "CuriousCat",
"author_id": 17548,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17548",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You specifically asked about the pros/cons of leaving after one year without much to show for, so I will start with that. In my experience, you build credibility over time. And the more of that your resume shows the better. </p>\n\n<p>Imagine the following situation:<br>\nYou leave this position now and move to another school. Likely not in the top-3 anymore. Your next university takes you, after all you come from a top-3 school, even without published results one could assume you profited from that. But now, after another year, funding completely dries up at your new university and you have to leave again. Now you already have two very short post-doc employments on your resume. It might start looking like a downward spiral. If you decide to leave academia then, you would have to explain why it took you two years at different schools after completing a PhD to figure out that you were not cut for academia.<br>\nI am not suggesting that this is bound to happen. I am just pointing out a negative scenario to consider. And there will always be people who made something like this work. </p>\n\n<p>An argument in favor of leaving would be, if you cannot at all imagine turning the situation around, \"wasting\" more valuable time and ultimately having nothing to show for after 2-4 years - or however long you stay. </p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>But aside from the pros/cons, I believe a careful examination of your situation is called for.<br>\nYou say, \"<em>I just don't understand the results I'm getting because I don't know the field well enough and I can't figure out what I am actually supposed to do to improve them.</em>\", however, later on you point out: \"<em>any engineer trained in the field could lead it to completion, so I don't find it particularly exciting. I guess I'm missing the excitement I got when I had to prove theorems during my PhD.</em>\" </p>\n\n<p>With regard to the struggle of not knowing what to do, I would respond: You have a PhD! You should have acquired the ability to do a thorough literature search and familiarize yourself with almost any topic within a reasonable amount of time. Especially, if your new field is not too far from your old one. Read publications, text books (if they exist) and talk to others in your new field. Is your new supervisor the only faculty member at your top-3 school that deals with this matter? Or are there others with a similar interest? After six months, you should have gained some understanding of what you are doing and what the results mean. </p>\n\n<p>This brings us to the second part, the lack of excitement. As a general advice for career choices, I would recommend putting down a list of expectations that you have with regard to what you do. And then assign each item a priority. But only assign each priority once. Based on your question, this list could contain:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>I want to conduct research at a top-3 university </li>\n<li>I want to conduct research in a field with which I am familiar </li>\n<li>I want to conduct research in a field that I find exciting</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Once you have assigned a priority to each of those, only one has the top spot. Follow that top priority. If you current position does not satisfy that, move on. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34689,
"author": "Jessica B",
"author_id": 20036,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20036",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not really an answer, but some advice: it's normal to need time to get going as a post-doc. Usually you end a PhD at the end of a fairly large project. You have completed what you've been building up to. Therefore you need to start pretty much at the beginning with new projects as a post-doc, and it takes time before they come to completing. After that you'll usually have different projects at different stages, so the start of post-doc time is likely to be unusually slow results-wise.</p>\n\n<p>In terms of the question: the main problem with trying to move when you've not produced much recently is in not being able to secure a job. If you've already got offers, you might want to think more about the personal side of moving jobs.</p>\n\n<p>PS. You might like to look up 'imposter syndrome'.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34709,
"author": "Lev Reyzin",
"author_id": 10,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you've realized after a year that you want to go back to doing theory research, you should simply do that. It's not \"bad\" to leave a post-doc after a year and take a different one (I did that, though for different reasons). When you apply for permanent jobs, if you don't have a letter from your current host, that should be fine as long as you have good letters overall, including one from your PhD advisor. Your overall record will matter a lot more than what project you did where.</p>\n\n<p>In trying to figure out what you <em>should</em> do, I would suggest simply figuring out what you <em>want</em> to do. It is sometimes possible to \"overstrategize.\"</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34530",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26810/"
] |
34,547 |
<p>Let's assume that some scientist discovers a phenomenon that has never been noticed before. </p>
<p>He wants to write a paper about it but he doesn't want to constantly write "effect of change of some properties blahblahblah". Can he therefore name this effect with a name of his choice? For example "<em>Discoverer's name</em>'s effect". Or "<em>fluffy puppy</em> effect" (just because he likes <em>puppies</em>)?</p>
<p>The same for constants. Can one name newly discovered constant "<em>my name</em> constant"?</p>
<p>This question can be simplified to: "what are standards for naming new physical entities?"</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34548,
"author": "Floris",
"author_id": 15062,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15062",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Usually the way this works is that a researcher discovers some phenomenon and publishes it without giving a name. Then someone else comes along and writes about \"Jones' discovery\" and before you know it the world talks about the \"Jones effect\".</p>\n\n<p>Giving things a name yourself is done in some fields - for example, in MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) it is conventional that people who develop a new pulse sequence will give that sequence a \"catchy\" name (usually some clever abbreviation, never really their own name). So you have names like CAIPIRINHA (which is really the name of a drink, but stands for \"Controlled Aliasing In Parallel Imaging Results IN Higher Acceleration\").</p>\n\n<p>In the end, the name that the community adopts is the name by which something will be known - so you are free to call it the \"teletubby galaxy\" but if everybody insists on calling it Andromeda-X42 you will be a lone voice. If you have the good fortune of discovering something new and valuable, name it wisely or be ignored.</p>\n\n<p>Reiterating the point made by Nathaniel: suggesting that a particular phenomenon/constant/equation should be named after you is considered a major <em>faux pas</em>. Others will do it for you - when you try to jump the gun and suggest that it be named after you, you will come across as conceited. I can think of no example of a well known effect that a discoverer named for themselves. Some examples where they did not:</p>\n\n<p>Newton's Laws (he called them \"Axiomata sive Leges Motus\")</p>\n\n<p>Hooke's Law (\"Explaining the power of springing bodies\")</p>\n\n<p>Josephson effect (for which he got the Nobel prize... not available for Newton or Hooke, or surely they would have qualified) was described by him (Physics Letters Vol 1, No 7, 1962) as \"new effects\":</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/2XMMy.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>he didn't say \"we present here the Josephson Effect\".</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The list could go on and an. If you are the greatest, you don't need to say so - others will do it. No offense intended, Mr Ali.</p>\n\n<p>If you are interested interested, there is a follow-up question on a sister site, History of Science and Math: <a href=\"https://hsm.stackexchange.com/q/691/543\">What famous laws were named by their discoverer?</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34549,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Usually if the results are important enough, the scientists peers will name it appropriately. For instance, if I am the first to write a paper about the gyrostability of felines, I may talk about this \"self-righting tendency\" and if the context is clear, simply \"tendency\" or \"effect\". If I want to name it, and hope that the name sticks, I would choose something catchy and descriptive, but I probably wouldn't name it after myself. A common way to do this is to say something like, \"the tendency for falling felines to self-right, which we will henceforth refer to as the Buttered-Side-Up effect, has been recognized since the 15th century {{citation_needed}} but a satisfactory treatment has not been made to date\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34550,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are several levels in your question. A researcher can certainly come up with a name for, say, and effect observed in research. This new name should be descriptive to stand a chance to catch on because it is only when accepted by peers in the field that the name may stick. It is also possible to name effects after their first discoverers and the same applies, if any agree on it it may become used. naming something after one-self is probably a really bad idea. Trying to be funny or ambiguous equally so.</p>\n\n<p>As for constants, one can certainly name a constant anything you wish but if the constant has any wide relevance there are usually organisations that will have to accept names and numbers. some of this work is done within <a href=\"http://www.bipm.org/en/measurement-units/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Bureau International des Poids et measures (BIPM)</a> that maintains the SI-system. The different Unions within the <a href=\"http://www.icsu.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">The International Council for Science (ICSU)</a> also organise working groups (equiv.) to work on terminology and propose standards for the different fields. within different fields there are varying additional international bodies that organizes nomenclature and terminology.</p>\n\n<p>So standards are usually set by standardizing organisations. There focus on terminology , constants etc. that have wide significance and where accuracy both in terms and numbers are required. On top of that the scientific community self-organizes softer terms such as those of effects or theories but the success of introducing new terminology or what have you is always depending on the peers accepting it in a longer perspective.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34575,
"author": "Tom Au",
"author_id": 755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/755",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Chemists who discover a new element of the Periodic Table have the right to name it. Marie Curie, who won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, named her discovery \"polonium\" after her native Poland.</p>\n\n<p>I would not be surprised to see this practice followed in other scientific fields.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34594,
"author": "Stephen",
"author_id": 26848,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26848",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You may absolutely call your findings whatever you want. I have seen it done many many times - but some people may consider you to be an 'arrogant jerk' (shall we say) for naming things after yourself - especially if they are trivial.</p>\n\n<p>I have seen trivial things being named as if it were something incredible or ground breaking, and all I think is: <em>what a loser</em>. Adding two numbers together that both end with the number 3, does not deserved to be called \"Peter's Second Principle of Arithmetic\" (this isn't actually a thing, but makes my point)</p>\n\n<p>Honestly, unless you discover a new element or your finding is truly notable don't name it anything. As others have mentioned, the academic community will name it for you if they deem it notable enough.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34547",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/41071/"
] |
34,552 |
<p>In my job before grad school, I could expense items as soon as I had a receipt and I knew exactly when the money would arrive (typically the following pay cycle). In grad school, it seems to be a mystery when I will receive reimbursement. </p>
<ul>
<li>I bought tickets and airfare on day 1 of this scenario</li>
<li>I was not allowed to request reimbursement until 6 weeks later, after the conference</li>
<li>The conference ended, I requested reimbursement. 6 weeks later, still nothing!</li>
</ul>
<p>So for the last 12 weeks, my account is down airfare and tickets, and for the last 6 weeks, I'm down the hotel, transportation, and meal costs. I've sent all the emails I can and have asked around -- the response I get is "The finance department does not give exact days of deposit."</p>
<p>Is this the norm in academic institutions? What is a reasonable reimbursement time for conference travel from a department?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34553,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Just my two cents.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Departments pay after they receive the necessary invoice from the student. So, they cannot pay hotels before you return from the conference.</p></li>\n<li><p>In my department, buying the air tickets is not enough. I also have to provide the boarding passes that I actually used the tickets. That means you can only get the air tickets money AFTER returning from the conference. This makes partly sense, because if you got sick and cancelled the trip they would not have given any money to you in advance, so you would not have to return them back.</p></li>\n<li><p>In many conferences (for CS), you get the registration invoice at the desk and not when you pay online. Again, this invoice is needed for getting back the money you paid, since most institutions cannot provide funding without invoices.</p></li>\n<li><p>Logistically you might make a reservation in 2014 and the trip is going to be in 2015. Institutions cannot pay money in 2014 for an invoice issued on 2015. This might also occur for smaller logistic periods (every 3 or 6 months) as well, depending on the country's tax laws.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Bottom line</strong>. You should start counting time AFTER coming back from the conference. Expecting to be paid in advance without providing the proper invoices is simply not possible. After that, it depends on each department's bureaucracy on how soon you will get the money. And believe me six weeks does not seem that far fetched too.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34567,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>It is standard for departments to wait until after travel to process reimbursements.</strong> In fact, many require boarding passes or other proof that travel occurred that are impossible to provide before travel finishes. Some departments will reimburse before but this is (in my experience) the exception not he rule.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Reimbursements after the fact will vary based on the specific bureacratic rules for approval, the people doing the processing, and the backlog that the administrators are facing.</strong> I've had travel reimbursements processed in three days and in three months at the same institution.</p>\n\n<p>Two general pieces of advice:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Remember that administrators are humans who understand that carrying the costs for travel can be difficult — especially for graduate students who are more likely to live paycheck-to-paycheck and carry these kinds of bills on their credit cards than faculty. I've made my situation clear to the folks doing the processing and had my reimbursements bumped to the head of the queue.</p></li>\n<li><p>In the future, keep in mind that administrative assistants can often purchase plane tickets, conference registrations, and hotels on university credit cards. If cashflow is tight, look into doing this ahead of time to keep this situation from occuring.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 89855,
"author": "einpoklum",
"author_id": 7319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7319",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While - as others suggest - it is standard for departments to only reimburse after travel, it is also customary in many (? / most?) universities and research institutes to advance some of the expected expenses upon request. This can involve some bureaucratic procedure, or could be very simple and based merely on the pre-existing approval of travel, but in any case you may very well get most of you expect to pay before actually paying it, or at least before traveling.</p>\n\n<p>This balances out, to some extent, the annoyance of being payed the exact amount after the fact; and also makes it less of an issue if the university is late in concluding the payment of the final correct amount.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34552",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12227/"
] |
34,555 |
<p>It is often considered a very bad idea to try to name a discovery (a law, phenomenon or an invention) after yourself.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there are many species names which seem to be a bastardized Latin of the discoverer's name. With gene names, I'm not sure, but I've seen many frivolous gene names, such as those inspired by cartoon characters. I wonder if you could get away with naming a gene after yourself if you wanted to.</p>
<p>In other cases, such as names of synthetic strains and plasmids, it is in fact preferable to use the researcher's name. Off the top of my head, I recall <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GFAJ-1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">G<strong>F</strong>AJ-1</a> - the surrounding controversy aside, given all the work she's done, what is so wrong about her wanting to name it after herself?</p>
<p>However, why is this so? Apparently, it can even advance to an extreme where many years after a discovery has become established and associated with Dr. Jones, when he writes a review article on applications of the Jones Effect he will still carefully avoid acknowledging this name.</p>
<p>Isn't it convenient to simply name something after yourself when no clever acronym exists? Isn't doing the work of the discovery enough to earn the right to name a thing? Doesn't the fact that the discovery is important enough to be published automatically imply that it's important enough to be named after oneself?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34560,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My sense of this is that a name on a scientific artifact is seen as a form of immortality. Newton's Laws will remain Newton's Laws for untold centuries to come, and Isaac Newton will be remembered as an important figure of science for discovering them, just as Carl Friedrich Gauss will be remembered, and Leonhard Euler, and Edsger Dijkstra, and Marie Curie, and so on. Even when the students who use their names don't know their biography, they honor their memory.</p>\n\n<p>If you name something after yourself, you are saying that your accomplishment is as significant and deserving of going down in history as the ones that I have named above. Most scientific work, however, doesn't turn out that way. Even the work that does is mostly identified only by how it stands the test of time. So if you name something after yourself, you are effectively saying that you are so smart that you can see into the future and tell that history will judge your work as super-important.</p>\n\n<p>What a massively egotistical assumption!</p>\n\n<p><em>Note: Some things, like synthetic plasmids, are exempt from this principle because they are not so much immortalizations as card catalog indices. You are not likely, for example, to find \"Janet Wang's plasmid,\" but rather \"pJanetWang-73j-v2\" meaning something like Janet Wang's 73rd plasmid, type j, version 2.</em></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34561,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Traditionally naming after scientists has been considered an honour bestowed upon somebody by their colleagues. This is why there are plenty of such names in latin animal or plant names. one very good example is <em>Strigiphilus garylarsoni</em>, a chewing louse, named after Gary Larson, author of the <em>Far Side</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Naming can also be subject to strict laws. In some countries, it is, for example, not possible to name official places after persons until after they have passed away. This is to prevent people to inflate their own reputation while alive (it is quite easy to see where such behaviour is going overboard). But, this is a digression.</p>\n\n<p>The main point is that etiquette indicates that one does not name things after one-self, one can hope that the work is so appreciated by others that a naming occurs. It is probably also a good thing that everything we discover is not named after a person. I drove my Smith at 120 kiloJones per Dickens.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34562,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One reason is that academia tends to frown on self promotion of all sorts (not just naming things after yourself). This is certainly not a universal rule, and some areas are more tolerant of self promotion than others, but it's a good first approximation.</p>\n\n<p>Another reason is avoiding conflicts of interest. A meaningful, descriptive name is better than naming something after its discoverer (imagine if black holes were called something like \"Smith objects\"). Furthermore, several people are often involved in any given discovery, either as coauthors or as authors of related papers, and it can be tricky to decide who really deserves the most credit. If you let people name things after themselves, they will naturally have a bias to choose that name instead of a more meaningful or appropriate name. Ruling this out of course doesn't eliminate all bias, but it's a start.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34570,
"author": "BrianH",
"author_id": 6787,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6787",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The one word answer is: culture. The culture of academia — and indeed many other areas of life — has a variety of rules placed on self-promotion and naming. These are, in many way, arbitrary, capricious, and often illogical or unreasonable, but that's just how culture is. It serves various functions, some good and some bad.</p>\n\n<p>The general rule is: complimenting someone is an honor, while complimenting yourself is usually frowned upon. The cultural mores are that you should be concerned with other people's opinion of you and work hard to win their high regards, but you should be humble and uncertain of your own personal values. </p>\n\n<p>This is partly due to a myriad of psychological mechanisms, like the fundamental negative bias (people are naturally better at spotting and remembering negative things), <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribution_bias\">attribution bias</a>, <a href=\"http://www.livescience.com/26914-why-we-are-all-above-average.html\">illusory superiority</a> (everyone thinks they are above average), tactics to combat free-loaders/loafers/cons, and vested/conflicted interest.</p>\n\n<p>In short: we are highly skeptical of people who are trying to tell us how great they are. Also, <a href=\"http://martinfowler.com/bliki/TwoHardThings.html\">naming things is hard</a>, at the same time as having something named after you is considered an extremely high honor — a truly grand compliment.</p>\n\n<p>If I said, \"Man, that Brian guy is really an amazingly great person\" or if I discovered a previously unknown kind of rock and named them \"Brian rocks\", there are many people who would immediately have the urge to punch me in the face. </p>\n\n<p>It is further generally recommended that you avoid doing things that make people instinctively want to punch you in the face. And so it goes in academia. You are free to ignore it and <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_Tower_%28New_York_City%29\">name a tower after yourself</a> or try to place your own name on a discovery, but you should just be warned that some people might not react well to this.</p>\n\n<p>Ultimately, it's just a weird social truth: it's always better to have people compliment you than to have to do it yourself. That's not to say you can't toot your own horn (especially when no one else seems to want to), but it's way better to get yourself a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shill\">shill</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Man, that Superbest guy asks great questions...</p>\n\n<p>Note: Not all cultures are this way. Indeed, in business it is generally accepted that you can name the business or product after yourself all you want, and self-promotion is often actively encouraged with far less limitations. This is, one might imagine, an area where business and academia don't always see eye to eye.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34576,
"author": "supercat",
"author_id": 21086,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21086",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In general, the name of a thing should indicate an aspect of it which is very important to the person assigning the name. A person who creates something and names it after themselves implies that they think the most important thing about it is that they created it. That would in turn suggest to anyone who isn't interested in the person who created it would likely not be interested in the thing thus named.</p>\n\n<p>Thus, naming something after oneself is not necessarily a sign of ego, but rather the opposite. If Alex Johnson (made-up name) publishes a paper entitled \"Alex Johnson's Laws of Quarkions\", the title would suggest that the paper was primarily relevant in relation to Alex Johnson's other work and would have little relevance outside that. If instead the paper had been simply published \"Laws of Quarkions\", that would have a stronger implication that the author believed laws described therein to be universal, and thus relevant everywhere.</p>\n\n<p>It is only after the importance of something becomes self-evident that the attaching of the creator's name to it really serves to elevate the status of the creator. Until such time, the attachment of the creator's name will tend to deprecate the importance of the thing thus named.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34555",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/244/"
] |
34,556 |
<p>I have seen quite a few students editing the Wikipedia page of their advisors. I wonder what the view of the academic community are on this. There might be some conflict of interest since promoting one's advisor can be seen as indirectly promoting oneself, but at the same time it can be argued that a student (especially graduate student) may have a decent amount of knowledge about his advisor.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34557,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>According to <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons#Dealing_with_edits_by_the_subject_of_the_article\">Wikipedia's policies</a>, a living person <em>or their representatives</em> (which would include a student, because the student could reasonably be seen in this way by others), are permitted but discouraged from editing that person's article. Obvious gaps or errors can be addressed, but <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Autobiography\">since it is difficult to maintain a neutral point of view</a>, the suggested procedure is for the subject of an article to put material into its talk page instead, where others can decide on notability. I think that this would be the appropriate route for a student as well.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34558,
"author": "Compass",
"author_id": 22013,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22013",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is not ethical, and is, per <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest\">Wikipedia guidelines</a>, a conflict of interest.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If you have a personal connection to a topic or person, you are advised to refrain from editing those articles directly, from adding related advertising links, links to personal websites and similar, and to provide full disclosure of the connection if you comment about the article on talk pages or in other discussions.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>There is an exception. For example, let's say Dr. Potato is listed as a life-long sprout, when he is actually a tuber.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>An exception to editing an article about yourself or someone you know is made if the article contains defamation or a serious error that needs to be corrected quickly. If you do make such an edit, follow it up with an email to WP:OTRS, Wikipedia's volunteer response team, or ask for help on WP:BLPN, our noticeboard for articles about living persons.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Other examples of non-controversial edits would be like fixing spelling and grammar errors, or linking to an article on Wikipedia that may be missed.</p>\n\n<p>It is also encouraged that, instead of providing edits and information, you provide:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Those with a potential conflict of interest are encouraged to upload good-quality digital media files that are appropriately licensed for Wikipedia and that improve our coverage of a subject.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Images and media that are non-controversial can then be used by others to be cited, as they wouldn't express an opinion.</p>\n\n<p>Examples of non-controversial stuff would be like a picture of the person, preferably doing nothing controversial.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34573,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is a lot of discussion and ambiguous or conflicting advice in Wikipedia about so called <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:COI\" rel=\"nofollow\">conflict of interest (COI) editing</a>. COI editing is any editing by article subjects, or those closely associated with them. The situation you describe sounds like it will usually qualify. </p>\n\n<p>Fundamentally, the ambiguity stems from the fact that <strong>COI editing is not necessarily a problem itself but that it very frequently leads to problematic behavior and contributions</strong>. The most frequent problems with COI editing are with <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:NPOV\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikipedia's neutral point of view policy</a> (NPOV). Violations of this would be a breathless or non-encyclopedic tone, inclusion of details that are trivial or unencyclopedic, or in the most problematic case, systematic removal of material that is critical of the subject. </p>\n\n<p>Because these problems are hard to avoid for people without distance to the subject, and because COI editing can call into question the neutrality of the encyclopedia in general, <strong>COI editing is not forbidden but is generally discouraged — especially from new editors</strong> who are not familiar with Wikipedia's policies and experienced.</p>\n\n<p>There are other problems as well. For example, conflicted editors might create articles for subjects that don't satisfy <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:NOTE\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikipedia's notability policy</a> (or <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:PROF\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikipedia's notability policy for academics</a>) because these determinations are inherently subjective and editors close to the subjects are not neutral arbiters.</p>\n\n<p>It's a tricky balance because, on the other hand, Wikipedia does not want to prohibit editing by everybody with the most expertise about the subject. That said, my advice is that if someone is new to Wikipedia editing, they should avoid COI editing and/or try to focus on <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:COIU\" rel=\"nofollow\">the types of uncontroversial edits explicitly allowed by the COI policy</a> like typo fixes, references, categorization, etc. If a connected contributor wants to make a potentially controversial improvement, they should always raise it on the talk page of the article first and ask other non-conflicted editors to make the change. Creating new articles about a subject to which you have a connection is also discouraged.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, revealing the presence of a COI is recommended but not required. Moreover, it is against Wikipedia policy to reveal the identity of an editor against their wishes even if it reveals a conflict of interest. Doing so is a violation of <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:OUTING\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikipedia's harassment policy</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34585,
"author": "smithkm",
"author_id": 26841,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26841",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Besides the obvious issues of conflict of interest, Wikipedia also considers original research improper as it leaves no external source to cite. If you include a fact about something in a Wikipedia article based on your personal experience, there's no way for other editors to verify it.</p>\n\n<p>So including information about a professor based purely on knowing that professor yourself is a violation of the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research\" rel=\"nofollow\">No Original Research policy</a>. This isn't an inherent problem as students can certainly be careful to cite sources for the information they add but it is important to keep in mind when writing about a subject you are closely familiar with.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 130468,
"author": "anon",
"author_id": 108667,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/108667",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The other answers to date seem to be focussed on what Wikipedia says about the ethics of this action. But you do not owe anything to the biased, rotten edifice that is Wikipedia (in fact, I sometimes add a few bits of deliberately false information to Wikipedia articles, so that I can quickly spot when undergraduates have relied on Wikipedia instead of checking the literature!), so my answer will focus on the ethical issues of publishing information about a colleague/superior on the world wide web.</p>\n\n<h1>Privacy</h1>\n\n<p>First, it is really important that you <strong>do not add confidential information about the subject</strong>, unless you are entitled to do so or have permission to make it public -- in particular, do not disclose anything about:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>his/her family (some people do splash photographs of their children all over the place, but others prefer to keep even the existence of any children secret -- whatever your views on this, it is not your place to decide on someone else's behalf which course of action is right for him/her);</li>\n<li>a \"protected characteristic\" (exact definition varies by jurisdiction, but this would usually encompass religion, sexuality, marital status, race, disabilities, medical history), unless the information is already published <strong>with the consent of the subject</strong> on a www page accessible to anyone (again, whilst some people will talk very openly and publicly about \"protected characteristics\", others do not want anybody to know about them, often for very good reasons -- for example, if you are looking for a job or applying for a big grant, you might not want anybody knowing that you have just recovered from a serious illness or are about to get married).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<h1>Accessibility vs discoverability</h1>\n\n<p>Secondly, keep in mind the difference between <strong>accessibility</strong> and <strong>discoverability</strong>. For example, it may be possible to <strong>access</strong> someone's address or date of birth on the internet (in the UK, if someone has ever been a company director, such data are likely to be available via the <a href=\"https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Companies House online register</a>), that does <strong>not</strong> make it a good idea to publish such data on a highly <strong>discoverable</strong> website such as Wikipedia.</p>\n\n<h1>Not distracting unduly from the public persona the subject wishes to cultivate</h1>\n\n<p>Thirdly, you should probably refrain from writing anything that is unrepresentative of the subject's professional life, or likely to cause the subject significant embarrassment/distress, unless there is a strong public interest. You are under no obligation to care how Wikipedia feels about anything, but you should consider the feelings of the subject, since a Wikipedia biography is likely to have a significant bearing on his/her reputation. If a subject is notable for one thing (e.g.: <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Parncutt\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">a controversial article</a>; <a href=\"https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11257058/Polish-gang-who-attacked-professor-had-criminal-records-in-home-country.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">being the victim of a notable crime</a>; <a href=\"https://theconversation.com/academic-freedom-and-the-suspension-of-roz-ward-60375\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">campaigning on a social/political issue</a>), you should ensure that any coverage on a highly discoverable site also gives a balanced overview of his/her professional profile overall. A Wikipedia article is likely to be very near the top of a search engine's results, and may well end up higher than an official university profile page. From the subject's perspective, writing an article about the big notable thing will make the professional persona he/she wants to convey less discoverable, and may result in less attention going to the great research/teaching he/she is doing.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34556",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
34,566 |
<p>Do I have to (or is it wise or unwise) to mention having survived a life-threatening illness (such as cancer, a (early) heart attack, etc when applying for a new (non-leading) academic position?</p>
<p>Assume that my health condition is now good enough (and the past health troubles are not obvious from my outward appearance) such that from a medical point of view nothing speaks against my further persuing my academic career and interests. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, due the specific medicaments I have to take for the rest of my life and some remnants of the past health issues, there might be times my productivity might slightly be lessened. Also, even though the probability is not very high, it can in principle not be 100% excluded that the illness will come back at some point.</p>
<p>Of course I would not mention this in a written application, but should I talk about my health condition in the context of an interview or before things are getting serious and it comes to signing the contract?</p>
<p>BTW I currently live in Germany</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34569,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>If you think it helps explain a work or productivity gap in your career, I would mention it and I would do so in writing rather than let your prospective employers speculate.</strong> Because overcoming a major medical challenge can help you align your priorities and strengthen you in other ways, doing so can definitely be done in a way that leads one to conclude that it is a strength, not a weakness, of your candidacy.</p>\n\n<p><strong>If your previous condition is not relevant in these ways, I don't think you have any obligation to bring it up.</strong> Sure, your illness <em>might</em> return but <em>nobody</em> is 100% immune from serious illness impacting their ability to work or be productive. For that matter, severe chronic illnesses that unambiguously affect productivity (e.g., cramps, migraines, etc.) are simply not the kind of thing that people bring up while interviewing and candidates have no responsibility to do so.</p>\n\n<p>Reminding prospective employers of this can open to the door to (illegal) discrimination based on your medical history and I don't think you are helping either yourself or your prospective employers by bringing it up. When you take an offer, it might be good to let your future department know about your history as background but you might even let this just be raised socially.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34579,
"author": "eternalsquire",
"author_id": 26838,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26838",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you live in the United States, you are not obligated to provide any information pertinent to disability, including life-threatening illness.\nWhat with competition for jobs being so fierce, you may find yourself\novertly or covertly discriminated against in favour of someone who is\nhealthier. That's why the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed\ninto law. Any questions regarding your health from an employer are\nalso illegal, so you are not obligated to answer. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34566",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5904/"
] |
34,574 |
<p>Research reports published on the webpage of the home institution are sometimes updated during the revision process. Suppose a first version was published in 2013, and the update came in 2014, and suppose the first version is not available anymore. The web page may say something like "XYZ, 2013. Revised 2014". Which date to use for citation?</p>
<p>Argument for</p>
<p>"2013":
This may please the sensitive among the authors.</p>
<p>"2014":
This is factually correct as I'm citing the content of this version which is also currently online. But what if they update again?</p>
<p>"2013. Revised 2014":
This has its obvious benefits, but is probably too cumbersome to be consistently implemented.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34569,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>If you think it helps explain a work or productivity gap in your career, I would mention it and I would do so in writing rather than let your prospective employers speculate.</strong> Because overcoming a major medical challenge can help you align your priorities and strengthen you in other ways, doing so can definitely be done in a way that leads one to conclude that it is a strength, not a weakness, of your candidacy.</p>\n\n<p><strong>If your previous condition is not relevant in these ways, I don't think you have any obligation to bring it up.</strong> Sure, your illness <em>might</em> return but <em>nobody</em> is 100% immune from serious illness impacting their ability to work or be productive. For that matter, severe chronic illnesses that unambiguously affect productivity (e.g., cramps, migraines, etc.) are simply not the kind of thing that people bring up while interviewing and candidates have no responsibility to do so.</p>\n\n<p>Reminding prospective employers of this can open to the door to (illegal) discrimination based on your medical history and I don't think you are helping either yourself or your prospective employers by bringing it up. When you take an offer, it might be good to let your future department know about your history as background but you might even let this just be raised socially.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34579,
"author": "eternalsquire",
"author_id": 26838,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26838",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you live in the United States, you are not obligated to provide any information pertinent to disability, including life-threatening illness.\nWhat with competition for jobs being so fierce, you may find yourself\novertly or covertly discriminated against in favour of someone who is\nhealthier. That's why the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed\ninto law. Any questions regarding your health from an employer are\nalso illegal, so you are not obligated to answer. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34574",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26830/"
] |
34,580 |
<p>When I read very old, classic papers in biology, I am struck by how few sources they cite. Watson and Crick, 1953 cites 6 sources. Luria and Delbrück, 1943 cites 9. Sanger, 1977 cites 14.</p>
<p>This is in contrast to contemporary papers, which often have a whole page, in very small type, listing the sources.</p>
<p>What is going on? Am I correct in concluding that over the past century, the number of sources referenced by each paper has increased? What does this mean? Is biology (and perhaps other sciences) simply maturing and becoming more collaborative? Has the availability of computers and the internet made it easier to find more sources? Are standards higher nowadays about grounding your work in literature? Is it just that <a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/blog/academics_do_a_lot_of.php">stuffing your bibliography with copy/pasted sources</a> has become fashionable?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34583,
"author": "Ornello",
"author_id": 23374,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23374",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Because as time goes on, more and more research is performed, and knowledge is accumulated and published. Early on, the literature is not abundant. Also, it is easier to identify and locate relevant literature now.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34587,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Contemporary publications definitely cite more sources. There are likely quite a number of different forces in play, and I think that you have touched on a number of them in your question. In my experience and opinion, however, much of it can be derived from the basic purpose of citations: to acknowledge the context and foundations of a piece of work. Over time the \"density\" of context has increased in at least the following ways:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>The number of active researchers has massively and progressively increased over the past century. This means that for any given area of interest, there are likely to be more people doing work that pertains to that area.</p></li>\n<li><p>Frequency of publication has been increasing for a number of reasons, including the continually increasing ease of manuscript preparation and (more recently) the increasing use of publication metrics in evaluating researchers.</p></li>\n<li><p>Improvements in information systems mean that it has become progressively easier to become aware of and obtain copies of the publications of others, such that there is less \"excuse\" for not citing a relevant publication.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Each of these increases the amount of information that can reasonably be considered relevant context and that a researcher is expected to be responsible for knowing about, and thus naturally the number of citations.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34590,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>jakebeal has pointed at the more technical reasons for the increase of references. We should, however, not forget some of the more subtle, but perhaps also, more fundamental changes that has happened.</p>\n\n<p>First, there is a gradual change in how science is communicated. Scientific papers have developed from letters that were read aloud in front of scientific societies and also published as personal letters. The scientific debate was more closely akin to debates between persons making observations. Obviously this was possible for the reason that there were very few involved in any one research question. So, in part the development seen is due to a development of publishing driven by changes in the form and volume of debate. </p>\n\n<p>Second, research questions have become more complicated involving larger and larger groups of scientists with varying expertise. This increase in complexity also means references are no longer required to cover just a specific question but also information from adjacent or supporting fields.</p>\n\n<p>Third, science is disseminated in smaller parts today that what was the case back in time. This is partly out of necessity related to the second point above. Additionally, and this is perhaps not the greatest aspect of developments, there is the pressure to publish due, mostly, to the fact that academic careers are measured in terms of number of publications and number of citations. The number of publications has thus increased for several reasons and hence also the number of somewhat relevant papers to cite. I will not get into bad behaviour such as self-citations here but it is clear that any system will have flaws and some people will make use of such flaws to benefit themselves.</p>\n\n<p>So at least some of the change in number of publications is due to developments in the way we perform and communicate science and also changing pressure from the academic world on researchers to publish and be cited.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34611,
"author": "Abramodj",
"author_id": 26858,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26858",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I tend to motivate this mainly with two facts:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>As science advances and topics become more complex, research papers become more specific, so that one may need to put together many \"little\" pieces in order to deduce and/or motivate new insights.</p></li>\n<li><p>Thanks to the internet and more advanced channels of communication, it is nowadays easier to discover and exploit the work of other researchers</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Luckily, we have the second point! Otherwise we would be lost ;-)</p>\n\n<p>I like to think of this as a <em>world-sized brain</em> which keeps on growing, where every researcher plays the role of a single neuron, and the network between them makes it possible to expand our knowledge.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 148812,
"author": "Ben",
"author_id": 87026,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/87026",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Although other answers have already mentioned this as one factor, I believe that the main driver for increased citations is simply the fact that it is <strong>much, much easier</strong> to rapidly and exhaustively search academic literature now than in the 1940s or 1950s. (In economic parlance, the \"search costs\" have decreased.) Academics who are operating now can easily use online search resources like JSTOR or Google Scholar to find papers on a topic of interest, and it is extremely simple to identify large numbers of related papers very rapidly. In my experience, I can begin research on a topic where I have no previous knowledge of the literature, and within a few hours I can comfortably identify twenty or thirty relevant papers.</p>\n\n<p>If one compares this to the difficulties of research through libraries in the 1940s and 1950s, the difference is quite staggering. In those days, even finding one paper would have required travelling to the library (no sitting on your computer in the office for you!), searching printed index-cards, and finding physical copies of the paper in the stacks. It could also require journals to be physically transported between libraries before being available to you. Obscure works might be present in only a small number of libraries, and it would be difficult to be alerted to their existence at all. While it is certainly true that there are other factors at play (e.g., the accumulation of more work over time), my suspicion is that most of this is down to diminished search costs.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34580",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/244/"
] |
34,581 |
<p>My question is similar to <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21749/which-is-more-important-for-phd-applicants-quality-or-quantity-of-research-pap">this one</a> but it applies to PhD who wants to find a postdoc position after graduation.</p>
<p>I am a PhD student who publishes a new paper as soon as there is an improvement in my research. Each year, I manage to publish 2 or 3 papers into high quality conferences but not the top one in my field.</p>
<p>Recently, a senior researcher suggests me to combine few improvements into one paper so that it will have more improvements in comparison to the previous one. It will result in less papers per year but increase the difference in term of research contribution between them. She argues that, in order to get into a good postdoc programme, the quality of paper is more important than the quantity and I should aim for top conference in the field with very high quality paper instead of good-but-not-great conference.</p>
<p>I wonder if my colleague's suggestion is correct and I should reduce the number of published papers per year in order to increase the difference in research contribution between them.</p>
<p>My field is computer science but answers from other fields are also welcome.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34582,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't know what publication rates are typical in computer science, but in mathematics it is true that quality is more important than quantity, when it comes to getting postdocs and competitive research positions. </p>\n\n<p>This does not mean quantity is irrelevant. But postdocs are partially given based on your promise as a researcher. To that end, one truly excellent paper may be enough to land a job (along with good references), because it suggests you have the potential to produce more excellent papers. On the other hand, 10 truly mediocre papers is not likely to be as impressive, because it only shows you can publish lots of mediocre papers. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34584,
"author": "user3550416",
"author_id": 26840,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26840",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Coming from the marine sciences field, the impact factor (prestige) of the journal where you publish is more important than the number of papers you're able to churn in the <strong>short-term</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>I know a post-doc who has published at least 5 papers in 3 years describing new species in different, but rather obscure, journals. This same person shared with me that he is currently working on papers with more analytical content to be submitted to more prestigious journals. He needs higher-profile publications to really boost up his resume.</p>\n\n<p>So my recommendation would be to wait until you have some substantial findings that could lead to a quality publication in a high-profile journal or conference.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34588,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I need to disagree somewhat with the other answers posted. \nPublication quality is very important. Do not, however, confuse quality of a publication with the impact factor of the venue where it is sent.</p>\n\n<p>If you have completed a piece of work that is significant for a narrow community, then you should publish it in an appropriate place for that community to be able to find it. This can be a high quality publication and good for your citation indices, even if it is not a high impact factor venue, if it is the right place for the paper. </p>\n\n<p>High impact venues typically require research that is more broadly relevant. High impact venues are definitely better for your reputation and future career. You cannot, however, turn several narrow papers worth of research into a broad paper just by stacking their results together. Rather, you need to take a step back and look deeper into the work that you are doing. The postdoc from the answer by @user3550416 is a good example: those five new-species publications in obscure journals are probably in the right places, and the important decision is to start looking for deeper analyses rather than more species.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, getting obsessed with high impact can get you into big trouble because you are placing more weight on less outcomes in an unpredictable process. If you are shooting too high for the work that you are doing, you might end up going a <em>long</em> time without a publication, and feeling increasing pressure because each individual publication is so high stakes. Likewise, you place yourself in danger of getting scooped, which is much less of a worry if you are publishing at regular intervals.</p>\n\n<p>In short: do not think of this in terms of adjusting the unit size of packaging a homogeneous product. Instead, look at it in terms of how you scope the work that you are doing in order to make your research products more broadly relevant.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34596,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>With time number of publications will be almost everything. The quality of the publications is usually determined by the impact factor of the journals in which they are published even though this under no circumstances is a guarantee for the quality. Now someone may easily object to this description but the point is simple. As a senior researcher you will have so many papers that no-one will read and evaluate them and so people resort to proxies for their evaluation. So what about your situation?</p>\n\n<p>for early career scientists your list of publications is not that long and so it is more likely that people actually read all, some or parts of the papers apart from judging where they have been published. In an early career your number of citation will not be large since it takes time for the impact of a paper to become known. All this points at the importance to not just be prolific but to also to have some stamps of quality in the list. This does not mean that publishing smaller or shorter studies in lower impact venues are bad. </p>\n\n<p>I would argue that a healthy mix showing you are productive but also capable of quality productions is a good way. To provide a number is pointless because it is difficult to plan and succeed in publishing according to some plan within only a few years so people do generally expect quite varying types and number of publications. A short and condensed narrative that describes your research efforts can also help set the specifics of your list of publications in perspective.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34613,
"author": "fedja",
"author_id": 6118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6118",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My idea of how to evaluate the candidate is completely orthogonal to what you are asking.</p>\n\n<p>1) What counts towards evaluating your research potential is what you proved and what tools you developed. You can put 15 theorems into one paper, and the theorem count will still be 15. You can repeat the same idea in 20 different variations in 20 papers and the idea count will still be 1. You can have 3 tricks and publish 7 papers with all possible non-empty combinations of them and the trick count will still be 3.</p>\n\n<p>2) What is derived from how you split and group your results for publication is your maturity as a writer. At the graduate or postdoc level, as far as I can tell, almost nobody cares about this aspect because it is commonly assumed that the choices here are made not as much by you as by your mentors and advisers (especially if the publications are either joint with them, or just thank them for helpful advice anywhere in the text). </p>\n\n<p>3) Ideally, a single paper should contain a single statement. This statement may be simple or complicated, long or short, a startling novelty or a small twist of a routine, etc., but it should be a statement that can be understood and digested as a single block like a sentence in a book. Of course, it is not always possible, but still this is what (in my eyes) determines where to put a comma and where a full stop when writing. The other considerations are far less relevant because you write not for the members of hiring committees, but for unknown people for most of whom you exist merely as a combination of the ideas you share and who do not care in the slightest about your personal status or reputation. </p>\n\n<p>4) With all that said, if you want to land a good job, you need to show up on radars. So, write sparingly and concisely, but talk profusely. Don't hesitate to go to conferences, to meet with people, and to use any other opportunity to get acquaintances. Quite often \"I see John is applying...\"; \"Yeah, Peter told me he would...\"; \"They also consider him at...\" can secure you a position better than \"Look, this theorem is just brilliant!\"; \"Theorem by whom, you said?\"; \"I cannot tell much because it is so far from my field, sorry...\". The second approach works too, but you need to be really good to just throw things into the wind and see how they soar higher and higher. Most of us, poor mortals, need to hold the strings of our kites firmly and pay attention to their tension :-).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34581",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12635/"
] |
34,618 |
<p>I want to conduct research independently once done with school. Where can I go to get IRB approval? I know that some businesses have collaborated with universities to get IRB approval but want to know more. What is the process? Do universities normally give IRB approval to non-university members? Where else can I go?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34621,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Most university IRB's won't involve themselves in research that isn't conducted by employees and students of the university. The alternative (widely used by pharmaceutical companies) is an \"independent IRB\" (the term is an oxymoron since the IRB isn't part of the institution that is doing the research...) </p>\n\n<p>See the consortium of independent IRB's web site for some information about these IRB's.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.consortiumofirb.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.consortiumofirb.org/</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34623,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No. </p>\n\n<p>The purpose of an IRB is to protect the institution from allegations of unethical behavior. There is no reason for the university to do a review of non-affiliated projects -- in fact, it makes the university liable for the research it approved, thus increasing its liability.</p>\n\n<p>Alternatives would include:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Asking for university affiliation and then undergoing review.</li>\n<li>Asking your professional association if they provide a review service</li>\n<li>Self-review if your organization is large enough</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34624,
"author": "user-2147482637",
"author_id": 12718,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This completely depends on your country and its laws. Some countries have National IRB, run by the government. The most common users are businesses and national research labs. Unless you have an affiliation or collaboration to the university, you do not do IRB through them.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34618",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26863/"
] |
34,619 |
<p>I know what a literature review is and was wondering what makes such a review <em>systematic</em>? What extra steps do people usually go through when they do a <em>systematic</em> literature review? how is it different from regular literature review? The field is software engineering if it matters. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34622,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Wikipedia:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systematic_review\" rel=\"nofollow\">A systematic review (also systematic literature review or structured literature review, SLR) is a literature review focused on a research question that tries to identify, appraise, select and synthesize all high quality research evidence relevant to that question.</a></p>\n\n<p>One among many roughly equivalent <a href=\"https://www.google.com/search?q=define+systematic+literature+review&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8\" rel=\"nofollow\">definitions easily found on the web</a>. Some place a higher emphasis on having precisely defined criteria for defining \"high quality\" and \"relevant\", so it might be worth doing a systematic review of these definitions and synthesizing a combined definition from them.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34625,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The quintessence of the systematic review is that it's, well, systematic. That is to say, you have a system by which you do the review: a detailed protocol that you work by, just like when you run experiments. The protocol sets out how you will define your search terms, where you will search, what your criteria are for inclusion are, what your criteria for exclusion are, and so on.</p>\n\n<p>The idea is that, just as with an experiment's protocol, it would allow someone else to reproduce your work: in this case, your trawl through the literature. It gives you and your reviewers and readers a basis for assessing how comprehensive your review is. It may include a detailed protocol for quantitative meta-analysis or qualitative synthesis.</p>\n\n<p>Systematic reviews can be hugely varied in form and scope: I've got 3 books that each provide part of the answer to this question. Check your library (possibly in the medical / epidemiological section) - they should have at least one of these.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.uk.sagepub.com/books/Book235174?siteId=sage-uk&prodTypes=any&q=Systematic+review&fs=1\">Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review - Andrew Booth et al</a> - encyclopaedic</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.uk.sagepub.com/books/Book240606?siteId=sage-uk&prodTypes=any&q=Systematic%20review&fs=1\">Doing a Systematic Review: A Student's Guide - Angela Boland et al</a></li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.uk.sagepub.com/books/Book234152?siteId=sage-uk&prodTypes=any&q=Systematic%20review&fs=1\">An Introduction to Systematic Reviews by David Gough et al</a></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 184516,
"author": "Syed Rahman",
"author_id": 155699,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/155699",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>More recently, I find that Prof Justin Paul has published a few good articles (guidance) on systematic literature review (SLR) [See his 2019-2022 articles in <a href=\"https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=QONdoqoAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Google Scholar</a>].</p>\n<p>Among those, this could be particularly helpful: Paul, J., & Barari, M. (2022). Meta‐analysis and traditional systematic literature reviews—What, why, when, where, and how?. Psychology & Marketing. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21657\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21657</a>. According to this article (also see Table 1 for details),</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>SLR method is considered to be a scientific and highly informative\nmethod for systematically collecting, reviewing, and synthesizing\nresearch findings on a particular topic to determine what is known –\nand what is not known — at domain.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Regarding extra steps in SLR - a current trend is to use software R for collecting literature for review quickly. A few videos are available online, and these 2022 articles could help: <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2022.102724\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">SLR on Cybersecurity</a>, SLR on <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-04-2021-0114\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">safety and security elements in omnichannel Retailing</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 184602,
"author": "AudreyL",
"author_id": 155624,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/155624",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This question is a bit older, but I thought I would add a couple other suggestions for resources to hopefully help anyone else with a similar question.</p>\n<p>Grant and Booth, 2009 (<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x</a>) offers a typology of 14 different types of reviews, including systematic reviews, and compares and contrasts between the different types in detail in terms of their methods, strengths, weaknesses, and applications. Their basic description of a systematic review is: "Seeks to systematically search for, appraise and synthesis research evidence, often adhering to guidelines on the conduct of a review".</p>\n<p>I have also included below two examples of manuals that describe systematized review guidelines in detail.</p>\n<p>The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (<a href=\"https://training.cochrane.org/handbook/current\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://training.cochrane.org/handbook/current</a>) is one of the most widely recognized resources for planning a systematic review, particularly in the health sciences though it is also used by other fields (including I would imagine software engineering). Cochrane was also one of the earliest organizations to produce and publish systematic reviews. Their handbook provides a comprehensive description of their systematic review requirements and best practices, which they update regularly.</p>\n<p>Similar to Cochrane, there is the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence which also publishes its own manual on systematic reviews that may be more applicable to other fields in the life sciences (<a href=\"https://environmentalevidence.org/information-for-authors/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://environmentalevidence.org/information-for-authors/</a>).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34619",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532/"
] |
34,630 |
<p>I struggle with the exact question (or at least will have to face it near in the future) that was asked here: <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34566/do-i-need-to-mention-having-survived-a-life-threatening-illness-when-applying-fo/34617">Do I need to mention having survived a life-threatening illness when applying for a new academic position?</a></p>
<p>When I was a kid, I had a cancer. Now I work at the university as a research assistant and I'm on my way to a PhD. After finishing my PhD, I would love to apply for a post doc, preferably in Sweden, Iceland or Norway (but my advisor suggests US or Australia, so I'm not sure <em>where</em> exactly I'm going to go).</p>
<p>There is a serious possibility that I will have a reoccurrence in few years (talked with my oncologist many many times about it), or will not have, nobody could tell that, but there is a strong possibility.</p>
<p>At my current university (middle Europe) it was not a problem, I wasn't obliged to mention it to anybody, however, I informed my employer about my illness. My previous condition is almost not relevant today, however, I do have days when I do not feel good and just want to rest and sleep (but have to go to the University anyway, and of course, I go).</p>
<p>So, with my condition, is it possible to find a university and apply to post doc or not? And another, not less important: do I need to mention about my health when applying for a post doc position?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35162,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Serious health problems can strike anybody at any time. You know that you have a much higher than background risk of having your condition return, but you also have a pretty good chance of getting into a serious traffic accident or having a parent come down with a serious illness or getting hit by major depression or any of the myriad other ways that your ability to do your work can become impaired. No sane organization expects its employees to be in a protective bubble where bad things cannot happen to them.</p>\n\n<p>If you can do your work effectively now, and don't have a known crisis expected in the near future, then the only sensible thing to do is to carry on with life. You don't need to inform potential employers, any more than you would need to tell them that you might get into a traffic accident because you commute. As noted in the comments, though, you definitely <em>do</em> need to make sure you have good access to health care that will cover your condition if it recurs.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35190,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me put in a cautionary note about a potential problem that could arise. When I applied for my position in Germany, I was required to submit a <em>Gesundheitszeugnis</em> (health certificate) that was signed by an authorized doctor registered with the German embassy. I do not know how a diagnosis of cancer will play out in such circumstances. </p>\n\n<p>However, if you are an EU citizen, this may very well not apply to you, because you will be able to relocate from one EU country to another through \"freedom of movement.\"</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34630",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26862/"
] |
34,631 |
<p>I am a PhD student, and was recently approached by a (very bright) student in an exercise class I teach, requesting a reference letter for his PhD application. This makes me wonder: Is it OK for a PhD student to write a reference for a PhD applicant? </p>
<p>There are obvious reasons why I might be able to say something informative: I saw a lot of his solutions to assigned problems, and I saw him work through an extended period of time (as opposed to say, a lecturer, who only sees his grades, and possibly final exam). However, I am concerned that I am not senior enough for my opinion to be taken seriously. Is it a legitimate concern? Would the student be better of asking someone more senior?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34633,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I think this is in part a cultural question. For example, in the US, I think letters from current graduate students are not given nearly as much weight as from more \"senior\" professionals. However, in German schools, it is quite common for senior doctoral students to write letters of recommendation for undergraduates, particularly in disciplines such as engineering, where the group sizes tend to be quite large, and in many cases the professor in charge of the group may never meet the undergraduate in question. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34634,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the United States, there is nothing against it, but it is better to get the letter from a professor if possible. Usually, especially with a junior graduate student, the graduate student's supervisor will be involved in the work as well, in which case the recomender really should be the professor.</p>\n\n<p>That said, there are situations where the graduate student is the right person to recommend, because there has not been a professor significantly involved. If the only options are:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>a letter from a graduate student explaining in detail how they have worked with this student and praising the excellent research that the student has done, versus</p></li>\n<li><p>a letter from a professor saying \"this undergraduate exists and other people have told me good things\"</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>then the letter from the graduate student is the right way to go. As a graduate student, I ended up writing some letters like this for undergraduates who worked for me. While it's impossible for me to know how their admissions committee rated my letter or what other letters they had, the people that I recommended did end up in Ph.D. programs, so it at least must not have been a problem to have me recommend.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34631",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7328/"
] |
34,636 |
<p>My PhD supervisor says that I am overly curious and spend too much time studying lots of different area. However, he does say I am generally doing well and on the right track.</p>
<p>I am usually keen to meet new researchers, and I also spend time helping other PhD students to understand papers, even if they are not directly related to my field. I tend to keep studying a topic until I feel I fully understand it.</p>
<p>This has led my supervisor to believe that I am not working up to my true potential and just moving among areas too much. I have asked him directly and he says I just need to focus on one thing at a time, which I have started doing. I am just curious as to whether it is normal for PhD students to change and be immersed in different topics frequently, or am I just thinking too much? What strategies can help with staying more focused?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34654,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The main point of a PhD is to learn how to be a scientist. Involved in this is to focus on the work that needs to be done but also to pick up the necessary skill to solve the problem. As an advisor, I would get nervous if a student kept moving into new areas without a plan as to what these would be useful for. So from that perspective, if a student made good progress on the research, diversions would not be a concern; without progress, it would be a problem. Where you stand in this is not for anyone to say except based on a discussion between you and your advisor.</p>\n\n<p>During my own PhD, I spent a fair amount learning tools that were only of marginal use in my own work. I am now very happy I did because as now a long-time faculty member, I have come to realize that the time I had as a PhD student to immerse in topics, is hard if not impossible to recreate after the PhD. I therefore advise PhD students to use their time wisely since the tools they learn during their PhD make up the core of their future toolbox. Contacts with other researchers and research directions is a similar issue in my mind. BUT, I always had in my mind that I needed to show progress and stay with my own research tasks as a priority. Balancing between the core work and forays into other areas is a necessity.</p>\n\n<p>From your question, it does not sound as if you have a good balance and I therefore think you need to discuss the thesis work more with your advisor to make sure it is clear and structured to you. Only then will you be able to see your won progress and judge when you are on track.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34669,
"author": "Nicholas",
"author_id": 1424,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1424",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's nothing wrong with being curious - that's crucial for being a successful research scientist. Your supervisor telling you that you are <em>overly</em> curious is with respect to completing your PhD studies in a timely fashion. </p>\n\n<p>You have started to discipline yourself and to concentrate on one topic at a time. There is a potential problem of finding interest in a number of topics on first look, and superficially getting involved, then getting attracted to something else before completing something substantial in your previous topic. As Peter notes, the PhD is the formal process of finally demonstrating your capacity to be a scientist. Part of that is dedicating yourself to a topic, addressing it with all the skills expected of a professional scientist, presenting your results and drawing a suitable conclusion. You need to do these things. I think your supervisor is concerned -- rightly -- that you are unlikely to do this if you continue to allow yourself to be distracted.</p>\n\n<p>Strategies - Discuss with your supervisor a topic that you agree is mutually interesting and shows promise for research. Have that topic more in the forefront of your mind as you go about your work. Write it down and stick it to your computer monitor. Ask yourself if what you are doing is more or less likely to further your progress towards achieving what you need to do to be awarded a PhD. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34670,
"author": "Jessica B",
"author_id": 20036,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20036",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In terms of ways of keeping focused, I think it's important to keep in mind that it is your job (as in, full time employment) to produce a cohesive block of research. Learning other things is also part of the job, but a smaller part. It might be helpful to allocate specific bits of your time to different tasks you need to do - eg spend some mornings reading new stuff related to your thesis, afternoons on doing the actual research, Friday afternoon reading whatever you're interested in (I'm not saying this is the right balance, just an example).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34675,
"author": "teh tarik 101",
"author_id": 26641,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26641",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>During the first or second years it's fine to do that, venturing around for areas.. this is important as this is the literature review phase. But towards the final you must focus on your experiment and write up. And focus towards that. This includes deactivating your Facebook or delaying checking email until you write something in your thesis.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34636",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2823/"
] |
34,642 |
<p>I would like to directly quote some sentences of another author who uses a word <em>A</em> which is a synonym for a word <em>B</em> I'm using in my text. Note: I would like to use my word <em>B</em> as the word <em>A</em> is very rare.</p>
<p>So I placed the text of the author into quotation marks and a footnote at the word <em>A</em> stating that in the following the word <em>B</em> will be used in my text. At the end of the quotation I put the source of the quote.</p>
<p>Is that correct or could it be misinterpreted as a footnote of the text I'm quoting? Should I add e.g. "Authors note:" before my footnote text?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34643,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>My preference would be to avoid the footnote altogether, as I find them distracting. Keep the quote verbatim, give the source, and then explain the terminology in the next sentence of your text:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Smith claims that \"the best breakfast is a soft boiled ovum\" [Smith87]. (Smith's \"ovum\" refers to what our paper calls an \"egg.\")</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Another option, if you don't really care about showing Smith's exact words to the reader, is to make the change in the quote itself, indicating the change with brackets.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Smith claims that \"the best breakfast is a soft boiled [egg]\" [Smith87].</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34645,
"author": "virmaior",
"author_id": 19769,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19769",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have no idea what your field is ... so I'm going to give a slightly different piece of advice than Nate Eldredge's answer.</p>\n\n<p>When writing in Chinese philosophy, it is acceptable practice to at the beginning of your paper indicate that you are going to use Pinyin throughout including in quotations and then to change all quotations to Pinyin rather than marking each and every instance of such a change with []. </p>\n\n<p>I have seen a few other places where similar conventions are allowed for changes in the common name used for a text, e.g., <em>Practice in Christianity</em> instead of <em>Training in Christianity</em> the for the Kierkegaard [Anti-Climacus]' text.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34642",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24963/"
] |
34,644 |
<p>I've always been interested in communicating research to the public. I also strongly believe that research publications should be in the public domain, especially if the work was funded with public money.
I found the responses to <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27557/how-to-publish-under-a-creative-commons-license?newreg=26015a910b1b4c54bcac6d758192a93b">this question</a> to be pretty interesting, and they got me thinking about scientific blogging as a solution.</p>
<p>So my question is -- can I put up my scientific findings on my blog or webspace that is not written exactly like my published article but contains essentially the same data and results?</p>
<p><strong>Edit</strong>: I am <strong>not</strong> suggesting blogging as an <em>alternative</em> to publishing, but as an additional mode by which I can communicate my research and not be handcuffed by any publishing magnate.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34657,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I think the answer is <strong>yes</strong>, but you should aim higher: the line you're drawing in the sand is uncomfortably close to you and that's causing more work for you than is necessary.</p>\n\n<p>Namely, trying to put the essential content of your papers on your own website for the purpose of freely disseminating your work seems wrongheaded: instead, you should be putting your own papers on your webpage and/or freely available preprint servers like the <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/\">arxiv</a>. In order to do so fully <em>legally</em> (which is not necessarily the same as ethically: it is possible to feel that the law is unethical, in which case the ethical thing to do could be to break the law, but be willing to live with the consequences of that) you need to arrange this as a condition of the publication. This is <strong>absolutely feasible</strong> with all of the major scientific publishing companies. How common the deal is seems to depend on the individual journal and on the standards of the field. In my field (mathematics), I do not know of a reputable journal which would not allow its authors to post on the arxiv. (Once I dealt with a journal which initially asked me to remove the copy of the paper from my homepage. After some back and forth, the editor in chief told me that it was absolutely okay for me to do that and he was surprised that the editorial assistant had said otherwise. In retrospect, this was a clear warning that I was dealing with a shady journal.)</p>\n\n<p>I gather that in some scientific fields, there are \"popular\" journals which do not allow authors to put papers on the arxiv (or, alas, there may not be an arxiv or clear equivalent) or -- gasp! -- on their own homepage. I find this strange, because in my understanding in most scientific fields the majority of journals are owned by Elsevier, Springer, Science Direct... -- i.e., by enormous multinational, multibillion dollar publishing magnates which are not renowned for their generosity or enthusiasm for open access. But when you publish a paper in (e.g.) mathematics in one of these journals, the copyright notice that you sign allows you to post the paper on the arxiv and your own webpage. I find it hard to believe that the copyright notices for different journals by the same publisher would be so different on this point. So the battle has already been won in these hardest places. If there are trade journals specific to your field which are less generous to authors than the evil empires I've mentioned above: well, if you care about this sort of thing, <strong>don't publish there</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>In terms of putting copies of published papers on the arxiv, in light of the comments above let me share my understanding. What you publish should not include any journal-specific formatting: it should not <em>look like</em> a Journal X publication. As a general practice, most authors upload to the arxiv <em>before</em> submission, and then only upload a new copy if some kind of significant, content-related change was made. In particular, if an error was pointed out, then it would be good to correct that. If the journal did copyediting for you -- which is not the same as directing you to do copyediting after acceptance -- then maybe it is best all around not to incorporate those changes in the freely available version: on the one hand, aside from formatting, this is the only place in which the journal itself is contributing to the paper; on the other hand, going back and manually incorporating the copyediting for an entire paper could take some time and effort.</p>\n\n<p>To respond to what was said in the comments: in my opinion, whether your revisions were motivated by a referee report should not have any bearing on whether you want to change the freely available version. If you are making changes in response to a referee report, then including that information in a \"comments\" section on the paper would be a classy move. But as a frequent author and referee, I feel strongly that the changes you made in response to the referee report are not proprietary to the journal in any way (or in any other way from the rest of the content of the paper).</p>\n\n<p><b>Added</b>: The task of checking out policies of publishers and journals with regard to preprints is not something that an individual researcher needs to address from scratch: there are several online repositories of information about this. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_academic_journals_by_preprint_policy\">Here is one</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34677,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p> can I put up my scientific findings on my blog or webspace that is not written exactly like my published article but contains essentially the same data and results?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is completely OK with the copyright: as you describe it, the blog post would be a new work. It is even clearer if you want to reword it so that it is readable for a larger audience. Copyright is about a particular piece of work, it does not prevent anyone from using the idea expressed in the work. </p>\n\n<p>Problems could arise if the blog is copy & paste from the paper (figures?, tables?). However, I'd say that blog format and paper usually more or less require different renderings of figures and tables, and producing a new figure/table containing the same data is OK as far as I know. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://softclassval.r-forge.r-project.org/2013/2013-01-03-ChemomIntellLabSystTheorypaper.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">I do copy and paste the abstract</a> assuming that the publisher won't object to <em>their</em> paper being more prominently visible. I always put a link to the official version (as well as to the manuscript, e.g. on arXiv or on my personal web page, as the copyright transfer allows)<br>\nNote that I chose not to put in the additional work of writing yet another new text, and instead basically link to the paper.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Detail thoughts:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>The copyright of the publisher does relate to the facts (data points in the figure/table). </p></li>\n<li><p>Thus, if the paper has a LaTeX-looking LaTeX table you put together and the blog has a HTML-looking HTML table you put together, there shouldn't be trouble. </p></li>\n<li><p>I'm not sure about, say, microscope images. But then you may have chosen one of several photos for the paper, and there is maybe a second-best photo for the blog. </p></li>\n<li><p>For graphics, again, the plotted data is not owned by the publisher. I often prepare at least two versions of my plots: for presentations I choose a different layout (larger text, sans serif font) than for the paper (serif font, often smaller text compared to the actual plot canvas). I'd anyways think that the presentation version is more suited for the blog. </p></li>\n<li><p>In the end, you'll have to read the copyright transfer agreement as this lists which rights you retain. </p></li>\n<li><p>Or maybe even to tell them before transfer of the copyright that you grant them the non-exclusive right to reproduce the schematic diagram in figure 7b (if you know in advance you'll want to reuse it).</p></li>\n<li><p>My experience in asking for permission to include tables and figures into another paper (with citation of the original) is that I got the permission without hassle. </p></li>\n<li><p>I'd argue that the blog post you describe is at least as different from the article as, say, a presentation you give. But IANAL</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34719,
"author": "Aubrey",
"author_id": 26682,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26682",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm not an expert on the copyright part of your question, but previous responses are more detailed. </p>\n\n<p>The short answer to the <em>ethical</em> part though is: <em>yes, of course, and thank you for doing that</em>. \nScientific research is too important to just let the scientists understand that. The aim of <em>open access</em> is to spread scientific results and notions to the largest audience as possible. It is also good <a href=\"http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2012/04/19/blog-tweeting-papers-worth-it/\" rel=\"nofollow\">for you as a scholar</a> (you gain readers and widen your audience, you're more likely to receive citations). </p>\n\n<p>Remember the goals of the <a href=\"http://openaccess.mpg.de/Berlin-Declaration\" rel=\"nofollow\">Berlin Declaration</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Our mission of disseminating knowledge is only half complete if the\n information is not made <strong>widely and readily available to society</strong>. New\n possibilities of knowledge dissemination not only through the\n classical form but also and increasingly through the open access\n paradigm via the Internet have to be supported. We define open access\n as a comprehensive source of human knowledge and cultural heritage\n that has been approved by the scientific community.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I don't see how your blogging and explaining your scientific results does not comply to those words. \nMaking science accessible for everyone is one of the deep, perennial goals of academia: more, it is crucial for democracy.<br>\nSo, thanks!</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34644",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26883/"
] |
34,658 |
<p>Many PhD programs only confer their degrees one, two or three times per year. If you successfully defend and submit your dissertation after the scheduled conferral date, you must wait until the next one to get the PhD. At many of these schools you can ask for an official document that basically states that all requirements for the PhD have been successfully completed and the degree will be conferred on the next conferral date.</p>
<p>Do postdoctoral research positions accept this type of official document in lieu of a PhD, to begin work, if a PhD is required? Is this specific from position to position or country to country? I will be receiving a PhD in the US and looking for postdocs in either the US, Canada, Europe, Japan or Australia.</p>
<p>Note this question is less about applying to postdocs and more about officially starting them. In other words, assume you have accepted a post doc offer, and the job requires a PhD, would having an official letter from the University stating the dissertation is done and everyone has signed off suffice to start?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34659,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If the postdoc requires \"degree in hand\" by a certain date, then there's little flexibility. The actual degree must be conferred by the university.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, a good number of postdocs instead require that all of the requirements for the PhD be completed before a certain date. This usually means that that the dissertation has been deposited, if not defended. On the extreme end of flexibility, some will simply take the word of the dissertation advisor that the dissertation <em>will be</em> finished by the start date.</p>\n\n<p>Some postdocs will even allow you to start without a degree in hand if all of the requirements for the degree have been satisfied. Some will be satisfied with a letter from the advisor, others will require a letter from the registrar. How strict they will be may be correlated to how many times they've been burned in the past with non-completers. </p>\n\n<p>I don't think there are stats are on how many postdocs (and in which fields) are strict vs. flexible. What I think you'll find is that once a flexible department has been burned by a \"postdoc\" who never finished their PhD, then they shift to being more strict.</p>\n\n<p><strong>tl;dr:</strong> Ask the postdoc program if they are willing to be flexible and if so, which documentation they require.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34661,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Most postdoc offers come with the condition that the candidate will have a PhD by the time that they start the job. In many cases showing the PhD is part of the initial paperwork.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to start a postdoc with a document saying that all requirements have been met and the degree will be formally conferred at such and such a date, I think the only way to proceed is to <strong>ask the institution whether this will be acceptable</strong>. I don't think you can predict the answer by looking through the nuances of the job ad. </p>\n\n<p>I was once asked by someone who had accepted a postdoc offer at my university (UGA) whether or not she could start the position with such a document. She came from an institution that only formally conferred degrees once a year. From my perspective, the key point is that I had no idea what the answer was, but I brought it up with my colleagues and the department head, it went further up in the university, and the answer came back: <em>OK, so long as all requirements have been met</em>. (In the end the candidate decided to push harder and actually get the degree awarded in the summer before arrival.)</p>\n\n<p>I have also seen a postdoc -- at a very prestigious American university -- started by someone who had not written her thesis by the time of arrival. The next semester she accepted a second, semester-long postdoctoral position and only around the end of the spring semester did I learn that she was still writing up her thesis. (It worked out fine for her, and today she is a well-known strong person in the field.) The idea of starting a postdoc before completing your thesis is one of those things that would simply never have occurred to me, but apparently it happens. As with most things, having a very influential advisor couldn't hurt.</p>\n\n<p>(My understanding is that in the humanities, it is relatively common for someone to start a <em>tenure-track job</em> without a PhD. They are then given a certain amount of time to complete their PhD while simultaneously navigating all the difficulties of their new job. This practice -- which is almost begging for trouble, in my opinion, and most of the stories I have heard that start this way end badly -- is all but unheard of in mathematics, because there is usually a postdoc done in between. You should probably have a PhD by the time you <em>finish</em> your postdoc!)</p>\n\n<p>Moral: you really need to ask. </p>\n\n<p>Let me end with a remark which leans towards the obvious: nothing is for sure until it happens, but if you have some specific reason to doubt that you'll have a PhD by the start time of a postdoc, you should bring that up ASAP and ideally before you accept the position in the first place. In the current job market, there is no lack of qualified candidates with PhD in hand.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 161696,
"author": "WetlabStudent",
"author_id": 8101,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8101",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I, the question asker, ended up accepting a postdoc in Australia. The University offered me to start the postdoc without the degree, but at a slightly lower salary (which would then be raised once I had the official degree). I countered by saying that I was willing to wait a couple of months to start the postdoc with the degree, to get two years at the advertised salary and have some time off. The job ad said the start date was negotiable. The University then gave in; they let me start right away anyway, at the advertised salary, without the degree, as the PI really wanted me to start ASAP. Later I found out the rules which hold pretty much universally in Australia. At Australian Universities, you are allowed to start a postdoc without the degree in hand. Australian Universities have a minimum wage for someone with an official PhD. Therefore, Australian universities are allowed to pay you less than the advertised postdoc wage if you don't officially have the degree, and some PIs/Universities will try to get away with this if they can, to save money. However, they are not forced to pay you a lower wage, so you can negotiate to get the advertised wage. Just thought I'd post a follow-up answer in my specific context.</p>\n<p>You might wonder, why do Australian Universities allow you to start without the degree. One of the big reasons is that Australian dissertations go through a form of peer-review by people external to the University (rather than just the thesis committee and a department chair/impartial rep). You can imagine all the delays this could create. Therefore, to avoid having all PhD candidates being unemployed for months/years while their theses go through peer review (and foreign students immediately being deported!) it is generally seen as fine by PIs to start a postdoc as long as the thesis has been submitted for external peer-review. Most PIs will want the thesis written so they aren't working too much on their thesis while doing their postdoc.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 190509,
"author": "Chris Jefferson",
"author_id": 20453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20453",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the UK it is common to begin a "post-doc" while still working on your PhD - my funding stopped after 3.5 years. I then did a 6-month 'postdoc', and began a second 'postdoc' while finishing my PhD and submitting it.</p>\n<p>There is an expectation that you are still working towards your PhD, and you will often receive a lower salary until you have your PhD.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34658",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8101/"
] |
34,662 |
<p>I am applying to a master's degree in computer science and while writing my SOP I see two options:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I participated in a bunch of competitions, read a bunch of papers, worked with a senior scientist and produced a draft of a paper which is about to be published. These are all chronological events. Should I describe each one of these events in a separate paragraph and explain what I have learnt from these that caused me to develop a research interest?</p></li>
<li><p>Should I just directly mention all the events very briefly in 5 ~ 6 sentences and the next couple of paragraphs talk about the specific topics I am interested in conducting research in, without mentioning the motivation behind what got me interested in these topics. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>While concluding I would like to mention few specific faculties whose work fascinates me. I would like to describe the works of few particular faculty members which I would like to work under(Possibly have them as my thesis advisor if it is fine by them).</p>
<p>Are either of these two options fine or which one should I choose preferably? Also how the should overly narrative(Tone and everything) of a SOP be?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 43823,
"author": "Kasra Manshaei",
"author_id": 32385,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32385",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To the best of my knowledge nobody cares how you got interested in a specific topic in details but the idea which got you there is important (i.e. something that shows your point of view to the topic). After this you better jump into the main body and start writing experiences. </p>\n\n<p>I strongly recommend to avoid <strong>being arrogant</strong> i.e. do not mention all the positive points directly but try to put them between lines in a smart manner e.g. if you have worked with a great scientist you do not mention that but having a sentence like <em>\"when I was working with Dr.xxx\"</em> or <em>\"Dr.xxx whom I used to work with encouraged me to do this\"</em> or stuff like that.</p>\n\n<p>about <strong><em>\"I would like to describe the works of few particular faculty members which I would like to work under(Possibly have them as my thesis advisor if it is fine by them).\"</em></strong> I'd say in a maswter program you have enough freedom to choose your supervisor so there is no need to mention in the application phase! that option is for PhD applications usually. On the other hand when you mention your special interests, people out there figure out which direction you'll probably go and who is better to be your supervisor. But in the section that you are showing your enthusiasm for this program you can name 1 or 2 faculty member and a keyword of what they do just to show that this is not just a <strong>random</strong> application but you know where you are applying to!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 43829,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To answer your top-level question:</p>\n<h2>Absolutely not.</h2>\n<p>Your statement of purpose should be an account of what you want to do in graduate school, and your qualifications to undertake that research. Admissions officers do <strong>not</strong> want to read about everything you've done as a researcher since you were a child. Nor do we want a blow-by-blow account of your research career.</p>\n<p>Instead, briefly summarize your history, and move on from there. The bulk of your essay should be what you plan to do, not what you've already done.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34662",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15418/"
] |
34,663 |
<p>I did a bunch of code projects like implement a algorithm or use the code from a paper on a different dataset. These may not be unique (they may be, but I am not sure). I wouldn't say that these projects have the best efficiency/accuracy for a particular problem. But these are stuff that I was just messing around with and got some interesting outputs. I maintain a blog about all these activities that I do. These projects are related to machine learning, a subject in which I am interested in pursuing a MS degree.</p>
<p>Should I mention these blog posts in my SOP?</p>
<p>My SOP is a research statement, and these are not entirely research projects, but they do reflect my interest in machine learning. Would mentioning these projects benefit me in any way?</p>
<p>If you do recommend that I mention them, how should go about that?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34666,
"author": "Ooker",
"author_id": 14341,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14341",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1529/choosing-research-ideas-to-include-in-a-statement-of-purpose\">a notorious question in Academia.SE</a>, JeffE has stated this:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <ul>\n <li>What have you already done? What problems have you solved, or at least worked on? What independent projects have you been part of? What were your key contributions? What did you learn? What did you teach the world? How do your results compare to what was already known? What original ideas are you most proud of? Be specific, technical, credible, and confident (but not arrogant). <strong>Refer the reader to your web page for more details</strong>. Have a web page with more details: preprints, project reports, source code, videos, etc.</li>\n </ul>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So yes, yes you can.</p>\n\n<p>However, personally, I would like to mention it in my CV.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34667,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Yes</strong>. You could mention it in your SOP and/or in your CV.</p>\n\n<p>I have received some applications from students in which they mentioned a technical blog, and so far it has always left a positive impression. In my opinion, keeping such a blog demonstrates:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Maturity in writing and communicating (especially if your blog communicates something technical in an informal way that is not sloppy).</li>\n<li>Organization of thought and effort.</li>\n<li>Initiative.</li>\n<li>Love for learning ideas relevant to your discipline.</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34671,
"author": "Ben Bitdiddle",
"author_id": 24384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24384",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>On the one hand, having a blog shows initiative. It shows you are interested in your subject and spend a lot of time learning on your own.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, when I think of these blogs I don't think of my PhD classmates. I think of foreign students who have no formal credentials or experience and are desperate to prove themselves outside of the system. This is doubly true if no one reads your blog, or if it's written in poor English. Most of my classmates have no time to write blogs because most of their working time goes towards classes, research, or projects that involve other people.</p>\n\n<p>I would say that if you have real credentials, you should not mention your blog, because it lumps you with those other guys. But if your application sucks otherwise, you may as well mention it because it's all you've got.</p>\n\n<p>(I have a similar opinion on Coursera classes, which is another path taken by students who are desperate to prove themselves outside of the system. Except Coursera classes are even worse because it's harder to measure what the student learned.)</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34663",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15418/"
] |
34,665 |
<p>When do we write a mathematical expression on a separate line, and when do we write it inline with the text?</p>
<p>I believe that the answer is the same for researching papers and Ph.D. theses, or maybe even textbooks; but please correct me if I am wrong.</p>
<p>Here I am referring to a paper/thesis on mathematics. When one writes a mathematical paper, sometimes one writes a mathematical expression in a separate line such as in the following example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We know that the identity<br>
a<sup>2</sup>+b<sup>2</sup>=c<sup>2</sup><br>
holds true if ....</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While sometimes one writes the mathematical expression inline with the text, such as in the following example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Let f:X->Y be a one-to-one map, ...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>My impression is the longer the expression is, the more likely it is written in a separate line. But is there any (possibly unwritten) rule for it?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34668,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As with any style question, work through these rules from the top, and stop when you have an answer:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Read the style guide / advice to authors carefully, and follow its advice. It will often contain the answer.</li>\n<li>Ask your editor / supervisor, and follow their advice.</li>\n<li>Copy the style from recent works that are in the same category as yours; so if yours is a review article to the Journal of Studies, copy the style from recent reviews in the Journal of Studies; if it's a PhD thesis to the Institute of Thinking, copy the style from recent PhD theses to the Institute of Thinking. This will only be successful if there's an obvious pattern present. Look at several works, don't just pick one: you're looking for a <em>pattern</em>, not just a single <em>precedent</em>.</li>\n<li>Follow best practice in typography and graphic design. If your own eye isn't yet trained, ask someone who does have a good eye for these things. One way to assess this is to try several things, and pick whatever's clearest to a reader new to the material. But don't do this too often: you don't want to exhaust the goodwill of your style-checkers.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>(you might wish to swap around numbers 2 and 3, e.g. if you know that the rules have not changed recently)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34672,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The book \"Handbook of writing for the mathematical sciences\" by N. J. Higham shortly discusses that point in Section 3.7 (\"Displaying equations\"). I cite the first sentence of that section:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>An equation is displayed when it needs to be numbered, when it would be hard to read if placed in-line, or when it merits special attention, perhaps because it contains the first occurrence of an important variable.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In all other cases, equations should be put inline (being a mathematician, the book author does not mention this explicitly).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34676,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In the areas in which I work, there are no formal rules and it is left up to the author when to separate an equation and when to embed it in the text. When I am writing, I find that there are three fairly straightforward principles that work well for me in determining whether an equation (or other mathematical statement) deserves its own line or can be inline with the text:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Will I need to refer to the equation elsewhere? If so, it needs its own line, and equation numbering as well.</p></li>\n<li><p>Is it more than ~1/3 of a line long? Anything so long that it is likely to get broken across lines and otherwise be a typographical mess should be pulled out onto its own line. Numbering is not required.</p></li>\n<li><p>Do I want the reader to \"pause\" and contemplate the equation, or do I want it to \"flow\" as part of the sentence encompassing it?</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>This last needs a little bit more explanation... let's elaborate on one of the examples from the original question. If I write the sentence this way:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>We know that the identity a^2+b^2=c^2 holds true if the system is in condition X.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>then the equation should be inline, because the sentence is really about condition X, rather than about the equation. If, on the other hand, the reader's attention should be directed to the equation, then it is better to use something like the following form, with the equation on its own line:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>We know that if the system is in condition X, then the following identity holds:</p>\n \n <blockquote>\n <p>a^2+b^2=c^2</p>\n </blockquote>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Note: these principles reduce to a similar effect as the style guide given by @silvado</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34679,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You may want to check the book <a href=\"ftp://ftp.ams.org/pub/author-info/documentation/howto/mit-2.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">Mathematics into Type</a> published by the <em>American Mathematical Society</em> (AMS). See particularly section 2.5 in the Updated version (1999).</p>\n\n<p>There are basically no fixed rules for what should be typeset as so-called <em>display</em> (on a separate line) versus run into the text. Length of the equation as well as importance are key parameters in making such a decision.</p>\n\n<p><em>Length</em>. Long equations will be difficult to set and to read if set into the text. Hence they need to be set in display mode. </p>\n\n<p><em>Importance</em>. If an equation is important to the text then it is likely better to set in in display mode since it will be easily seen.</p>\n\n<p>Running everything in display is not useful. in-text equations save space while display equation break up the text. From this it is evident that the mix should also consider the length of the final text and the readability of the text.</p>\n\n<p>There may of course be specific instructions for individual journals so check, in your case earlier PhD theses for hints, perhaps with the book mentioned above in one hand.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34665",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24832/"
] |
34,678 |
<p>I've applied to three US universities (A, B, C) for PhD programs. Universities A and B offered me interviews on two separate weekends, which I accepted. I then made travel arrangements with Universities A and B for interviews.</p>
<p>I was then offered an interview with University C on the same date as my University A interview. I asked C for an alternate date, which happened to be the same weekend as my interview with B. I informed C of this and gave them a list of dates that I was free to interview but was told that those were the only two dates possible at University C. </p>
<p>I asked A and B about changing my interview date but was told that I could not since travel arrangements had already been made (through the university/a university-sponsored travel agency).</p>
<p>Universities A and B are both higher on my list than University C, so I've decided to decline University C's interview.</p>
<p>How can I do this politely? I don't want to burn any bridges with University C.</p>
<hr>
<p>Related question: <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15019/what-should-be-done-about-conflicting-invitations-for-graduate-school-interviews">What should be done about conflicting invitations for graduate school interviews?</a></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34681,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>They seem to have all the facts already. Just tell them that you had already made travel arrangements to visit A and B on the dates that C wanted you to come out, and that you have to regretfully decline to come to C. They're not going to be mad at you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34683,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You have asked for an alternative interview date, gave them a list of options where you're available, and made efforts to reschedule conflicting appointments. I don't think there's anything more that could be expected of you, so it should not be perceived as impolite if you just inform University C that unfortunately you can't come to any of the two offered interview dates due to conflicting appointments. If you want, you can explicitly mention interviews at other universities - that will make it clear that you're genuinely interested in doing a PhD, and it will be understandable to most academics that everybody has a ranking of opportunities in such situations.</p>\n\n<p>You could offer to retract your application, or state that you expect that they won't consider your application any further, but I don't think any of these would be required.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34707,
"author": "user4384060",
"author_id": 26938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26938",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Personally, I would recommend simplicity and honesty. Tell them what you have told us: I’m sure they will understand your problem. They are people too.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34708,
"author": "galois",
"author_id": 25375,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25375",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't see any reason they would be upset by you telling the truth. In fact, trying to get too deep in explaining <em>\"why I am choosing to go to A and B instead of you\"</em> could potentially be more \"offensive\", if that's what you're worried about. Concerning politeness, I would call if possible; quickly, too. There's no reason to leave them waiting to hear back from you if the answer is 'no'!</p>\n\n<p>Be short, sweet, and to the point.</p>\n\n<p>\"I am sorry to say that I won't be able to attend an interview on either of the dates provided. If a time comes up other than those provided, please let me know. I apologize for any inconvenience.\"</p>\n\n<p>It's also possible to leave an opening for a possible interview with University C later that way.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34678",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17331/"
] |
34,685 |
<p>English is not my native language and when I read mathematical papers, sometimes I saw sentences such as</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The matrix A has rank ≥ n. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am wondering if this sentence should be considered as grammatically wrong. I think the correct expression should be </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The rank of the matrix A is greater than or equal to n.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Are expressions such as "The matrix A has rank ≥ n" considered as acceptable in mathematical papers/theses/textbooks? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34686,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Are expressions such as \"The matrix A has rank ≥ n\" considered as acceptable in mathematical papers/theses/textbooks?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>No, it's often considered poor style to incorporate fragments of equations like this into text. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's ungrammatical, but many people consider it bad writing. Some others don't care about this issue, which is why you sometimes see it done, but this is more common in informal or unedited writing.</p>\n\n<p>The issue is that \"rank ≥ n\" is mixing together English and mathematics within the same construction. If this doesn't bother you, imagine a more dramatic case like \"n + five\". (By contrast, when someone writes \"if x ≥ y\", the inequality \"x ≥ y\" is a self-contained unit within the sentence.) There's no logical reason why mathematical writing conventions couldn't allow this sort of mixing, but they don't.</p>\n\n<p>Saying \"The matrix A has rank at least n\" is shorter and cleaner than \"The rank of the matrix A is greater than or equal to n\", but they are both acceptable. I'd recommend avoiding \"The matrix A has rank ≥ n\" (I can't think of a good reason to prefer it, and avoiding looking bad is a reason not to use it).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34687,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In principle, it is generally acceptable to mix together mathematical and prose statements, as in your example: either construction would be technically be grammatically correct.</p>\n<p>In practice, which to choose depends on how you want your reader to think about the statement that you have written. Prose emphasizes the relationship, in your example focusing the reader on "greater than." A mathematical statement tends to instead be thought of as a unit, in your example focusing the reader on "rank." You should thus choose accordingly.</p>\n<p>One exception: small integers referring to counting within a small range should always be written as prose. Some examples of this distinction:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We selected eight conditions to test.</p>\n<p>We found that 8 of the 73 samples were positive.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>The boundary of "small" is a bit hazy: certainly less than 10, usually less than 20.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34716,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>(Copy Editor and mathematician speaking)</em></p>\n<p>I, for one, allow these mixed constructions when editing the articles. I do know that it is not the best grammatical style, but not everything in math is easy to put down in proper English grammar. The two rules of thumb I use for these boundary cases is: Is the text clear to the reader? Can you <em>easily</em> make it grammatically correct?</p>\n<p>For instance, the sentence "For matrix A, the equation rank(A) ≥ 5 holds." is cryptic and long. A better option might be "For matrix A, we have rank(A) ≥ 5." or "Matrix A satisfies rank(A) ≥ 5." I would be fine with "Matrix A has rank at least 5." However, this gets complicated if you have more such expressions in a row, like in:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>... which is defined as a non-real algebraic integer in modulus >1 whose Galois conjugates except its complex conjugate are in modulus <1.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>vs.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>... which is defined as a non-real algebraic integer in modulus greater than 1 whose Galois conjugates except its complex conjugate are in modulus less than 1.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>I prefer the first option. This went through the AMS language editorial, as far as I remember, without any problem.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34718,
"author": "fedja",
"author_id": 6118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6118",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I let it pass if the sentence is unambiguous and can be pronounced normally when reading without any special effort like in \"If $A$ is $\\ge B+C$ and $f:[0,A]\\to\\mathbb Z$, then... (If the quantity/parameter/number $A$ is larger than the sum $B+C$ and the function $f$ maps the interval $[0,A]$ to the set $\\mathbb Z$, then...) because in this case the extra words just slow the reader down. However, when seeing any ambiguity like \"If A, B, C.\" (which comma is \"and\", and which is \"then\" here?) or something that, if attempted to be read as a sentence, violates not only the rules of the grammar, but also those of common sense as far as structuring sentences is concerned and which, if one needs it to be said at the board in a classroom, will have to be split into separate sentences and totally restructured to be comprehended by ear, I usually object.</p>\n\n<p>Side note: what's the point of not enabling mathjax on Academia? </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34685",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24832/"
] |
34,690 |
<p>I like maps very much, any common maps, geographic, historic, statistic, etc., or I would say reading maps is my favorite hobby. I can sit at table and read maps for several hours without any stop. </p>
<p>I was studying courses about math and physics in university. I am planning to pursue a PhD degree in the future. It would be great if I can convert or leverage the my map hobby as my career.</p>
<p>So my question is, considering my background, Is there any research direction which is closely related with map reading? If difficult to find such position in academia, is there any jobs in industry can greatly fulfill my idea?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34686,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Are expressions such as \"The matrix A has rank ≥ n\" considered as acceptable in mathematical papers/theses/textbooks?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>No, it's often considered poor style to incorporate fragments of equations like this into text. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's ungrammatical, but many people consider it bad writing. Some others don't care about this issue, which is why you sometimes see it done, but this is more common in informal or unedited writing.</p>\n\n<p>The issue is that \"rank ≥ n\" is mixing together English and mathematics within the same construction. If this doesn't bother you, imagine a more dramatic case like \"n + five\". (By contrast, when someone writes \"if x ≥ y\", the inequality \"x ≥ y\" is a self-contained unit within the sentence.) There's no logical reason why mathematical writing conventions couldn't allow this sort of mixing, but they don't.</p>\n\n<p>Saying \"The matrix A has rank at least n\" is shorter and cleaner than \"The rank of the matrix A is greater than or equal to n\", but they are both acceptable. I'd recommend avoiding \"The matrix A has rank ≥ n\" (I can't think of a good reason to prefer it, and avoiding looking bad is a reason not to use it).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34687,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In principle, it is generally acceptable to mix together mathematical and prose statements, as in your example: either construction would be technically be grammatically correct.</p>\n<p>In practice, which to choose depends on how you want your reader to think about the statement that you have written. Prose emphasizes the relationship, in your example focusing the reader on "greater than." A mathematical statement tends to instead be thought of as a unit, in your example focusing the reader on "rank." You should thus choose accordingly.</p>\n<p>One exception: small integers referring to counting within a small range should always be written as prose. Some examples of this distinction:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We selected eight conditions to test.</p>\n<p>We found that 8 of the 73 samples were positive.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>The boundary of "small" is a bit hazy: certainly less than 10, usually less than 20.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34716,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>(Copy Editor and mathematician speaking)</em></p>\n<p>I, for one, allow these mixed constructions when editing the articles. I do know that it is not the best grammatical style, but not everything in math is easy to put down in proper English grammar. The two rules of thumb I use for these boundary cases is: Is the text clear to the reader? Can you <em>easily</em> make it grammatically correct?</p>\n<p>For instance, the sentence "For matrix A, the equation rank(A) ≥ 5 holds." is cryptic and long. A better option might be "For matrix A, we have rank(A) ≥ 5." or "Matrix A satisfies rank(A) ≥ 5." I would be fine with "Matrix A has rank at least 5." However, this gets complicated if you have more such expressions in a row, like in:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>... which is defined as a non-real algebraic integer in modulus >1 whose Galois conjugates except its complex conjugate are in modulus <1.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>vs.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>... which is defined as a non-real algebraic integer in modulus greater than 1 whose Galois conjugates except its complex conjugate are in modulus less than 1.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>I prefer the first option. This went through the AMS language editorial, as far as I remember, without any problem.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34718,
"author": "fedja",
"author_id": 6118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6118",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I let it pass if the sentence is unambiguous and can be pronounced normally when reading without any special effort like in \"If $A$ is $\\ge B+C$ and $f:[0,A]\\to\\mathbb Z$, then... (If the quantity/parameter/number $A$ is larger than the sum $B+C$ and the function $f$ maps the interval $[0,A]$ to the set $\\mathbb Z$, then...) because in this case the extra words just slow the reader down. However, when seeing any ambiguity like \"If A, B, C.\" (which comma is \"and\", and which is \"then\" here?) or something that, if attempted to be read as a sentence, violates not only the rules of the grammar, but also those of common sense as far as structuring sentences is concerned and which, if one needs it to be said at the board in a classroom, will have to be split into separate sentences and totally restructured to be comprehended by ear, I usually object.</p>\n\n<p>Side note: what's the point of not enabling mathjax on Academia? </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34690",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26917/"
] |
34,700 |
<p>Young male student soon to receive an Engineering Degree unsure about the next steps to follow. Undecided whether to go for a PhD directly or do a Master studies first (if he goes for the Master, he will first have to do a thesis work anyway). Has to decide between a PhD position to which he has promising chances to get a scholarship funded by a top company in the world, or apply for a prestigious scholarship for a Master's degree to which he stands good chances and that could probably lead to study in a top US university. His goal is to study at a top university and do research at the highest level. Seeks advice from experienced or knowledgeable advisors and academics about what to do next.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34701,
"author": "afaust",
"author_id": 21371,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21371",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should ask yourself what is your dream destination, and make decisions that will lead you to the destination. Is studying at a US University a destination or point in a journey?</p>\n\n<p>If I read your post correctly you are already accepted to UK. So, on one hand you have the opportunity to go in UK, or on the other hand possibly be accepted for Fulbright which will maybe get you to US. What is the alternative if Fulbright/US do not pan out?</p>\n\n<p>Last note, never underestimate the value of a good advisor, even from a lesser University. Attending the best school with an adviser who will not advocate for you, limits your options later on. Again, what you choose depends what your destination is.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34702,
"author": "Ben Bitdiddle",
"author_id": 24384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24384",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It seems like you're choosing between</p>\n<ol>\n<li>A (nearly) guaranteed PhD offer at a middling university.</li>\n<li>A fully funded master's program that you <em>may or may not</em> be accepted to, but may offer you the opportunity to jump to a better PhD program <em>if</em> you get the Fulbright scholarship and perform well in your master's.</li>\n</ol>\n<p>Some factors you may consider are</p>\n<ol>\n<li><p>If you take the master's offer you will spend a lot of time preparing for a PhD. You will need to perform extra well for two years to secure your letters of recommendation, and it will look bad if you don't accomplish anything significant during that time. In the end you might not get into your school of choice, and then you will have worked very hard for no visible gain. How confident are you that you can (1) get the scholarship, and (2) perform consistently well once you're actually there?</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>A master's degree will give you more background in computer science, and you will learn more about theoretical CS than "it involves both programming and mathematics." A <em>lot</em> of things involve both programming and mathematics, and getting more experience (in coursework and research) will let you better evaluate your options before jumping into a long commitment. Most theoretical CS students I know entered their PhD program knowing they wanted to study "approximation algorithms," "cryptography," etc, not just "theoretical CS" or "some field that involves both programming and math."</p>\n<p>It's also kind of a red flag that you're undecided between a PhD and a master's, and I think before you go for a PhD you should have a stronger opinion on this. If you are uncertain about your career and your research area you will be at a significant disadvantage compared to your classmates who aren't.</p>\n</li>\n<li><p>If your first choice is the PhD offer, you can easily apply to both and turn down the Master's offer, but if your first choice is the Master's offer, it would be awkward to apply to both and turn down the PhD offer.</p>\n</li>\n</ol>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34700",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22302/"
] |
34,737 |
<p>Presumably, evaluations are anonymized to protect the students from possible retaliation by the instructor or institution. </p>
<p>Is there anything in the reverse direction (keeping that information hidden is beneficial to the instructor)?</p>
<p>What are potential consequences if a student chooses to place identifying information (e.g. knowledge of a particular conversation) onto an evaluation?</p>
<hr>
<p>The exact situation is that one of my friends was considering discussing a very long conversation she'd had with the professor on the class evaluation, and how it exemplified issues she'd had with the class. She's taking a class with that professor next semester, which is a big issue for the student. That issue aside, I'm wondering if there would be good reaons to avoid this even if she would never take another class with this instructor.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34738,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The only ramnifications I can think of is that whoever handles, edits or publishes that class evaluation may recognise the deanonymisation, consider it accidental and thus decides not to pass it for that reason.</p>\n\n<p>As you can always pass deanonymised criticism to an instructor, be it by mail or by putting it on public display, there seems little point to me to protect the instructor from it on this particular medium.</p>\n\n<p>Something else you might consider though is that even if the professor does not want to retaliate that criticism, they will have more difficulties to fairly evaluate the critic, which may have effects in either direction. While this is some annoyance you could spare the professor, it would also happen with non-anonymous critique made in other ways.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34739,
"author": "Ben Bitdiddle",
"author_id": 24384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24384",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>On the flipside, I was going to write a very nice teaching evaluation about my advisor. Part of the reason I respect him so much as a teacher is because I've had conversations with him that reveal that he cares deeply about his teaching and puts a huge amount of effort into his class.</p>\n\n<p>But I didn't write any of those details in my evaluation, because I didn't want him thinking I was sucking up to him, and I thought it would mean more to him if it came from a student who was not his. So I just gave him good numeric scores and a few comments that could have come from any student.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 40324,
"author": "sevensevens",
"author_id": 14754,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14754",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general, class evaluations correlate pretty strongly with the grade the student received in the class, so evaluations aren't given much weight by the department, and most faculty are not likely to change the course based on them. </p>\n\n<p>Given your specific situation, where the student will be taking another class, it would probably be best not to out yourself on a negative evaluation. He is not likely to change is teaching style (the good outcome), but if the professor is vindictive, it may make the next class more difficult for your friend. I don't see anything positive coming from outing herself, but I could see a potential for abuse from the prof.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34737",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8158/"
] |
34,740 |
<p>I was reading up the <a href="http://www.reddit.com/comments/rbgcz/my_friend_got_his_acceptance_letter_to_memphis/" rel="nofollow">Reddit page here</a>, which described a case of admissions error, in which:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The person obtained an acceptance for a PhD program in writing.</p></li>
<li><p>The person personally called the university and confirmed acceptance of the program</p></li>
<li><p>The university then said that they had made a mistake, cancelling the acceptance.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>What would be some things that the person can take, and if some of these actions required specific conditions, what would be the conditions be?</p>
<p>For the purposes of answering this question, we will assume that there is no stipend involved, and the acceptance was confirmed by the departmental admissions staff. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34738,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The only ramnifications I can think of is that whoever handles, edits or publishes that class evaluation may recognise the deanonymisation, consider it accidental and thus decides not to pass it for that reason.</p>\n\n<p>As you can always pass deanonymised criticism to an instructor, be it by mail or by putting it on public display, there seems little point to me to protect the instructor from it on this particular medium.</p>\n\n<p>Something else you might consider though is that even if the professor does not want to retaliate that criticism, they will have more difficulties to fairly evaluate the critic, which may have effects in either direction. While this is some annoyance you could spare the professor, it would also happen with non-anonymous critique made in other ways.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34739,
"author": "Ben Bitdiddle",
"author_id": 24384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24384",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>On the flipside, I was going to write a very nice teaching evaluation about my advisor. Part of the reason I respect him so much as a teacher is because I've had conversations with him that reveal that he cares deeply about his teaching and puts a huge amount of effort into his class.</p>\n\n<p>But I didn't write any of those details in my evaluation, because I didn't want him thinking I was sucking up to him, and I thought it would mean more to him if it came from a student who was not his. So I just gave him good numeric scores and a few comments that could have come from any student.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 40324,
"author": "sevensevens",
"author_id": 14754,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14754",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general, class evaluations correlate pretty strongly with the grade the student received in the class, so evaluations aren't given much weight by the department, and most faculty are not likely to change the course based on them. </p>\n\n<p>Given your specific situation, where the student will be taking another class, it would probably be best not to out yourself on a negative evaluation. He is not likely to change is teaching style (the good outcome), but if the professor is vindictive, it may make the next class more difficult for your friend. I don't see anything positive coming from outing herself, but I could see a potential for abuse from the prof.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34740",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26713/"
] |
34,748 |
<p>Are there alternatives to Academia.edu and ResearchGate if one is searching for a venue that promotes "informal" (*) cooperation and networking among scholars (specifically, in mathematics and science)?</p>
<p>(*) As far as I know, the aim of two sites mentioned above is mostly sharing papers rather than opinions, insights, and interesting material of various sorts related to research. I would like this alternative site to be more informal: a scholarly social network rather a mere preprints repository.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34738,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The only ramnifications I can think of is that whoever handles, edits or publishes that class evaluation may recognise the deanonymisation, consider it accidental and thus decides not to pass it for that reason.</p>\n\n<p>As you can always pass deanonymised criticism to an instructor, be it by mail or by putting it on public display, there seems little point to me to protect the instructor from it on this particular medium.</p>\n\n<p>Something else you might consider though is that even if the professor does not want to retaliate that criticism, they will have more difficulties to fairly evaluate the critic, which may have effects in either direction. While this is some annoyance you could spare the professor, it would also happen with non-anonymous critique made in other ways.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34739,
"author": "Ben Bitdiddle",
"author_id": 24384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24384",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>On the flipside, I was going to write a very nice teaching evaluation about my advisor. Part of the reason I respect him so much as a teacher is because I've had conversations with him that reveal that he cares deeply about his teaching and puts a huge amount of effort into his class.</p>\n\n<p>But I didn't write any of those details in my evaluation, because I didn't want him thinking I was sucking up to him, and I thought it would mean more to him if it came from a student who was not his. So I just gave him good numeric scores and a few comments that could have come from any student.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 40324,
"author": "sevensevens",
"author_id": 14754,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14754",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general, class evaluations correlate pretty strongly with the grade the student received in the class, so evaluations aren't given much weight by the department, and most faculty are not likely to change the course based on them. </p>\n\n<p>Given your specific situation, where the student will be taking another class, it would probably be best not to out yourself on a negative evaluation. He is not likely to change is teaching style (the good outcome), but if the professor is vindictive, it may make the next class more difficult for your friend. I don't see anything positive coming from outing herself, but I could see a potential for abuse from the prof.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34748",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
34,752 |
<p>I wrote a mathematics manuscript (see <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34735/extremely-mild-punishments-for-academic-misconduct">Extremely mild punishments for academic misconduct</a>), and sent it to a professor, who then attempted to have it published after adding coauthors to the paper. His misconduct is not my concern. My concern is that the manuscript is not of publication quality, and I would prefer that my name not be attached to it. Virtually all of the manuscript is written by me, and all the work was done by me, so I can't claim that it is not my product.</p>
<p>My question is: What excuse do I use to have him take my name off the manuscript?</p>
<p>I would prefer to remain on good terms with this professor. I would also prefer not to mention in any way that the manuscript is worthless, because it solves a problem that he had been attempting unsuccessfully for quite a while, and such a statement would be deeply challenging to his pride.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34762,
"author": "padawan",
"author_id": 15949,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15949",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You have a third choice:</p>\n\n<p>Do not forget that all the authors should sign a contract before publishing a paper.\nI am not telling you not to sign it.\nHowever, it would be a good approach if you told your professor</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I am sure that huge improvements can still be made on this paper.\n Could you please delay the submission and let me work on the paper for\n another period of time?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This way, you told that paper is not of publication quality and implicated that you're not comfortable with your name on it.\nIf the professor still insists on publishing, only then you may say</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>It's not like I'm not trusting your judgmental skills but when I know\n that I can do better, I cannot do with less. So please do not\n misunderstand me but I don't want to be a coauthor of a work that is\n less than my potential.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If your professor is professional enough, he will hear what you say.</p>\n\n<p>Maybe not the best solution, but I would go with this one.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34770,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think cagirici's advice is sound but, of course involves a bit of confrontation. In fact there are no actions other than letting the whole thing pass that would not involve something that would do so. It sounds to me as if your work although not of publication quality at this time really is yours. This makes the action from the professor problematic to say the least.</p>\n\n<p>So what can you do. First, regarding unwanted co-authorships: you could argue that you want to see the contributorship of the new co-authors. Search here on academia and on the web for the term contributorship and you will find many good hints on what can be counted as enough contribution to be on the paper. One link, I often use is to the <a href=\"http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">ICMJE</a>. I realize the thoughts of coauthorship/contributorship varies between fields so you will have to imagine how to set the rules in perspective for your field.</p>\n\n<p>Second, about just adding authors: clearly from your post the ownership of the work is yours so to have somebody else add authors is not right and you have the right to say no. You can even dump the professor and go elsewhere.</p>\n\n<p>If you really want to leave your work in the hands of others you could just say that you are happy to see someone trying to take your attempt and turn it into something useful and that you do not feel you should be part of that development and that your \"meagre\" contributions in your view doesn't merit co-authorship. After that type of grovelling, you may wish to have a drink or two. I personally think such actions would be going too far and you really should take the bull by the horns and try to see how a proper paper could emerge and with contributors that really contribute. You can at least start by talking to the professor about the merits of your draft and how the professors sees it developing and being published in the end</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34771,
"author": "Kimball",
"author_id": 19607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19607",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, I'd say try as hard as you can to see if what you've done is already known. It sounds like there's a good chance for this to be the case if it's simple mathematics (which I infer from your question and the comments). (Math Stack Exchange might be useful here.) If so, you can just provide the professor the reference and say it's already known, so you can't publish it. Problem solved. </p>\n\n<p>If not, answer this: is the problem a pure mathematics problem, or a problem in another area that just has a simple solution for mathematicians? If it's the latter, then it may not be so embarrassing to publish something with simple mathematics. Alternatively, if the question itself is pure math and interesting, but just has a simple solution, you could aim for a \"recreational\" journal like Math Magazine (I think that's the name of one).</p>\n\n<p>Otherwise, here's one possible route that <em>might</em> work, but it really depends on the professor and the situation. You can tell him that it's his problem and that your mathematical contribution was not enough to warrant coauthorship (both true), so please not include you as an author but just mention you in the acknowledgements.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34802,
"author": "Dave31415",
"author_id": 15074,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15074",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Just publish the paper and move on. No one is going to hold you accountable for publishing some paper that is not spectacular. Academics are judged by the number of successes and not penalized by the number of subpar efforts. Don't create a confrontation that is not necessary as this person is going to have an effect on your future. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34752",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26808/"
] |
34,753 |
<p>Anybody has idea, how much copying is allowed in a recommendation letter and whether they really run a copying test on the letters of recommendation?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34754,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There isn't much creativity involved in most recommendation letters. And frankly, that doesn't matter. The important thing to a school or employer is that the individual who signed the letter believes it accurately describes you. </p>\n\n<p>Yes, it would be nice if every letter was rewritten completely de novo. It isn't very surprising when it doesn't happen that way.</p>\n\n<p>Don't worry about it. The worst that will happen is that they'll contact the recommender, he'll say you're a good candidate, and that'll be the end of it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34755,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While our university occasionally submits statements of purpose, research statements, and writing samples through plagiarism detectors (and gives the admissions committee the results), I have never seen this done to letters of recommendation.</p>\n\n<p>There are just very limited ways of saying nice things about students. I use the same variation of an opening for all my letters, with only minor changes in intensity (I am very/slightly/marginally pleased to write this letter of recommendation) and close with the same sentence on all of them. </p>\n\n<p>I wouldn't worry.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Addendum given the changes to the the original question: I don't know if people have seen the output of plagiarism detectors but they don't provide a simple YES/NO answer. Instead, they provide a statistical quantification of how much unquoted text <em>might</em> be drawn from other sources (e.g., 3-5% of the text appears duplicative). Each report is several pages long with parts of the student text highlighted and possible prior sources highlighted. </p>\n\n<p>The reports are quite \"noisy\" with many false positives -- notably in one case that I remember, highlighting text in the <em>bibliography</em> because the citations matched citations in other bibliographies. [facepalm] </p>\n\n<p>Running LORs through plagiarism detectors would serve no useful evaluative purpose in terms of how the admissions committee views the <em>candidate</em>. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34764,
"author": "sevensevens",
"author_id": 14754,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14754",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Almost every prof I know uses a template for recommendation letters, and adds a paragraph or two specific to the student. I'm not surprised a about the reuse of a paragraph and similar wording.</p>\n\n<p>Remember, the purpose of a letter of recommendation is to make the case that you are a good student, and will be a dedicated, ethical researcher, not to introduce new research or new ideas. A letter of recommendation would likely not pass several requirements of publish, professional research as it does not present a novel idea, nor does it have external references. </p>\n\n<p>A recommendation letter is a vote of confidence in the individual. Its difficult to see how similar content between letters would hurt either the recommend-er or the recommend-ee, so long as the recommendation accurately reflects the opinion of the recommend-er.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34765,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Anybody has any idea, how much plagiarism is allowed in a recommendation letter and whether they really run a plagiarism test on the letters of recommendation?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I have read literally thousands of academic recommendation letters, and I have never run one through plagiarism detection software. I don't understand why you did that <em>after</em> the letter was submitted: what were you hoping to gain?</p>\n\n<p>You also sound slightly naive about how \"plagiarism detection software\" works. Such software does not directly detect plagiarism; it only makes a more or less compelling case for it according to the degree of similarity. The letter is a highly structured, ritualized writing style. Having 10% of a letter be the same as some other letter is not itself problematic, and it certainly need not imply \"10% plagiarized\". </p>\n\n<p>A recommendation letter is not an academic paper, and most people who write many (graduate school) recommendation letters keep a basic template and fill in information accordingly. Therefore a lot of recommendation letters are going to be a lot more than 10% alike without there being anything problematic. This is another reason why putting a graduate recommendation letter through a plagiarism detector is not a very plausible thing to do. </p>\n\n<p>In summary: I think it is overwhelmingly unlikely that anyone except you will know what percentage of this letter the plagiarism software reported as copied. I doubt you'll have a problem.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, I am not quite willing to say that including an entire paragraph in a letter that one found on the internet is a good practice. It depends a lot on what the paragraph is. If the language in that paragraph is boiler-plate or standard, then I certainly don't care. (In particular, I hope you would have told us if the copied paragraph was the very last one, e.g. something like \"In summary, Ms. X is a very strong candidate and deserves the highest consideration. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require further information.\") However, if the paragraph contains distinctive, poetic or especially clever language and your writer lifted it from the internet because he liked someone else's clever language better than his own: well, it has nothing to do with <em>you</em>, but I don't think is a good practice, and it doesn't fill me with confidence about his writing skills or professional ethics.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34769,
"author": "March Ho",
"author_id": 26713,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26713",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am surprised that nobody has mentioned the possibility that the supposed \"plagiarist\" recommender used his/her own text, which was also coincidentally found online. </p>\n\n<p>While a cut-and-pasted paragraph of 50 words strongly suggests copying of some kind, it is not necessarily the case that the 50 words were plagiarism (i.e. usage of another person's text without attribution). </p>\n\n<p>It could very likely be the case that the recommender posted up one of his/her old recommendation letters online, and it got picked up as a template text by the anti-plagiarism software, which then detected the similarity. I would not at all find it surprising that my recommender(s) were reusing parts of their old recommendation letters, as they clearly have much better things to do with their time than write a completely new recommendation letter for each application. </p>\n\n<p>In fact, it could even be the case that your recommender did not even post his/her letter online. Assuming your recommender has also forwarded their recommendation letter to his/her past students, it is not a stretch to consider that the student could have posted that letter online. </p>\n\n<p>With the limited information, I find it rather uncalled for to immediately jump to the conclusion that your recommender has committed plagiarism. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34835,
"author": "A E",
"author_id": 23260,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23260",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, the title isn't quite asking the same question as the question body. </p>\n\n<p>The direct answer to \"Is there any copyright on letters of recommendation?\" is that it depends on the country you're in (because copyright law differs from one country to another), but if you're in the UK or the USA then copyright automatically attaches to the creation of an original written work such as a letter. No need to register the copyright or declare it. Letters of recommendation are not exempt by virtue of their subject matter.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>copyright in the United States automatically attaches upon the creation of an original work of authorship</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_United_States#Registration_procedure\" rel=\"nofollow\">WP: Copyright law of the United States</a></p>\n\n<p>So the general answer is: Yes, letters (whatever the topic) do fall under copyright law.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"how much copying is allowed in a recommendation letter\"?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Copying from oneself is fine (so long as one still owns the copyright in the work being copied). Copying from someone else is not, unless they've given you permission to do so.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34836,
"author": "jamesqf",
"author_id": 25355,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25355",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This seems like a strange question to me, because if I were a new-ish prof asked to write a letter of recommendation, the very first thing I would do would be to type \"letter of recommendation template\" into Google (12.9 million hits), and use the first one that seemed to fit. Since I think I am not much lazier than the average new prof (and in STEM, have the advantage of being a native English speaker), I'd expect the majority of letters to be created the same way.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34753",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26982/"
] |
34,759 |
<p>I am 15 years of age and I have studied Computer Science.</p>
<p>This said, I normally read computer science papers on <a href="http://www.arxiv.org" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>arXiv</strong></a> (cryptography and security, mainly), and I have noticed that some of the papers published are tutorials, basics of fundamental theories and analysis of the most basics topics or techniques. I still read it in hope of discovering something new.</p>
<p>However, I sometimes end up learning nothing new and so I am starting to think that these authors are just publishing these material for sake of it or to reach some sort of goal.</p>
<p>I would love to publish in peer-reviewed journals but I feel like my age may hold me back from my work getting accepted and my lack of connections with the academia again due to my age.</p>
<p>I have done a lot of research pertaining to the pros and cons of publishing in arXiv, I have noticed far too much negativity about it but since I am far younger than most researchers, would it actually raise my stature by showing my knowledge and interest at a young age and build my future opportunities in Academic grounds or is it more likely to tarnish it?</p>
<p>If it may tarnish opportunities, could you specify on how I could avoid this?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35141,
"author": "David M W Powers",
"author_id": 6390,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6390",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Reading just arXiv or even some top journal is not likely to be very helpful.</p>\n\n<p>It used to be that subscribing to a journal (or ten) was the best way to keep up.</p>\n\n<p>But the subscription model is dead, few academics subscribe to journals, few publisher retain print as their primary mode of distribution, and open access publications tend to get 5 or 6 times as many citations as papers that require purchase or subscription. I presume you read arXiv primarily because it is free.</p>\n\n<p>I presume you are still at high school but finding that not sufficiently challenging.\nI presume you have read what you school library has to offer, and need to go beyond.\nI presume you have looked at what's available from your local community/university.</p>\n\n<p>Been there done that... I spent my high school years doing my own physics and chemistry experiments, extracting my own reagents and building my own equipment, building electronic devices and computers, programming unbeatable AI games/programs, programs to solve problems in mathematics, joining maths clubs and winning prizes in competitions, making use of university programs designed to encourage budding scientists and mathematicians... exploring my interests in the broadest possible way!</p>\n\n<p>Contact the local university and talk to people there. E.g. I'm happy to take on high school students, and indeed at Flinders University we have the Australian Science and Mathematics School (years 10-12 only) on campus to facilitate just this encouragement of gifted students - but students need to be reasonably local. Even without a formal program or relationship, academics are happy to talk to high school students, and I've run courses and competitions for high school students, given work experience opportunities and summer scholarships (not exactly restricted to local, but focussed in the state and the surrounding regions that the university draws from). Sometimes I've just responded to high school kids contacting me out the blue, by working out a program for them. My university actually has a bit of a history of this, with Terry Tao being the most famous example.</p>\n\n<p>What kind of program would I recommend for someone like you... I'd start out by recommending some of the classic papers, introducing you to the originators of the seminal ideas of the field, making sure you had the basics first hand - not via the Chinese whispers of arXiv, review papers or textbooks. Review papers are often written by PhD students as part of the process of organizing their ideas - it gives them a free publication before they done any significant work on their own. It also gets them lots of citations, and some people have an h-index that is mainly about their ability to write review papers or text books. But yes, if there was a particularly good review paper or text book, I'd recommend it - unfortunately for my research area there are no good text books I can use, although I do encourage students to dip into some of those that are around - but my research oriented courses would have at least a dozen original sources of information, and perhaps half a dozen texts or reviews. This leads to an idea from Information Retrieval... Hubs and Authorities.</p>\n\n<p>You've probably heard of Brin & Page's PageRank, which became the basis of Google's ranking based on how much pages linked to each other - it is closely related to singular values/vectors, looking at relatedness of pages in a symmetric way. But an earlier approach (Kleinberger's HITS/CLEVER) developed around the same time distinguished between the source and target of links, distinguishing hubs (sources of lots of links) and authorities (targets of lots of links) - these relate to the left and right eigenvectors.</p>\n\n<p>What you need to find for your field is the hubs and authorities. A hub might be a review paper, or a website or society that coordinates the research area. The authorities are the people/papers that developed the seminal ideas and everyone cites. Always go to the source, cite the earliest and latest works in their developmental path. Look for the citations of that work (on Google and Google scholar, concentrating on relevant papers with hints like filetype:pdf and/or site:edu.* | site:edu | site:ac.* to get the papers by academics and find where the open access versions are lurking). A relationship with a university with relevant subscriptions would also allow you free access to IEEE, Springer etc. But all major publishers now allow people to archive preprints or postprints of their papers for free access - and this is what arXiv should be used for where allowed, but sometimes this permission is restricted to authors' own websites, or their employers'.</p>\n\n<p>There are two ways to explore the field - and you can start from a single of interest. You can try to go deep and specific (citations of and by that paper). You can also go broad and applied (citations of the citations). Modern citation analysis is closely related to PageRank/HITS/CLEVER, and your library may have tools to help.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35180,
"author": "ᴇcʜo",
"author_id": 26850,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26850",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's great to get involved in these types of things at a young age. Before I say anything else: don't stop - be curious, but don't be curious to impress people. I was exactly like you. But don't let that get in your head. There are literally students in their teens working to cure cancer and have had publications. That proves how smart they are. You need to do the same.</p>\n\n<p>Actually I have indeed seen many people get \"pre-print\" published and not get it published anywhere else.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to get published, Look for a journal/conference with a double-blind reviewer process (that way they won't know that you are from high school). Next, do <strong>a lot</strong> of readings in the area you wish to publish in. You need to understand the lingo of the field immensely before publishing in it (not just ten or a hundred; honestly, I would spend countless days reading papers - you <strong>MUST</strong> absorb everything in the field).</p>\n\n<p>This is coming from a guy who worked as a research assistant while in high school. In fact, I know several friends who were in high school when they got their first publication; one was at an IEEE conference.</p>\n\n<p>Another route, would be to look out for the Intel Science Fair or the Google Science Fair to show case your work. I'd highly recommend looking into those.</p>\n\n<p>As one of the other posters said, professors usually love talking to bright students - But, they are looking for bright, humble students (not people who will waste their time) - So be careful!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 175978,
"author": "Ben",
"author_id": 87026,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/87026",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h4>No, it definitely isn't --- use the peer-review system, at least until you get good</h4>\n<p>You are correct to note that one of the frustrating aspects of open-access repositories like ArXiv is that they include many low-quality submissions, which makes it harder to find the good papers. Consequently, the absolute <em>last thing</em> that academia needs is to have these repositories become even more clogged up with vanity papers written by fifteen year-olds. Sorry if that sounds a bit harsh, but it is the reality of what you are proposing.</p>\n<p>Since you are very young, a much better pathway is to try to master your field through coursework, self-study, etc., and then submit to peer-reviewed journals once you are ready to do so. Ordinarily, students pursuing an academic path go through an undergraduate and graduate education, and they are usually in their mid-twenties or older when they are in grad-school and first start to publish papers. There are many drawbacks on the traditional peer-reviewed academic journal system, but the great advantage is that these journals provide you with peer-review and a filtering mechanism. This is especially useful for novice researchers, to help them develop up to a level where their papers are worth publishing.</p>\n<p>You are not going to raise your academic stature in any serious way merely by demonstrating your <em>interest</em> in a field. In terms of trying to demonstrate your knowledge, be careful what you wish for --- given your age, it is likely that your level of knowledge is extremely low compared to older researchers, so any work you publish is likely to exhibit your <em>lack of knowledge</em>.</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I would love to publish in peer-reviewed journals but I feel like my age may hold me back from my work getting accepted and my lack of connections with the academia again due to my age.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>Anyone can submit a paper to a peer-reviewed academic journal --- just hop onto their submission website and follow the submission procedure. Most peer-reviewed journals use a blinded review system where the reviewers have no information on the identity of the author and no idea what "connections" they do or don't have. Even in the ones that don't use blinded review, the paper will usually only contain your name and maybe your institution, but not your age. So, unless there are some cues to infer your age from your writing, the referees reviewing your papers will have no idea whether you are 15 or 80.</p>\n<p>The only thing that will hold you back from publishing in peer-reviewed journals is limitation on your ability to write a scholarly paper at the required standard. Some recreational/college journals publish simple papers and have had some young authors in their teens, often co-authors working with an older established researcher (see e.g., the <a href=\"https://www.maa.org/press/periodicals/college-mathematics-journal/the-college-mathematics-journal\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><em>College Mathematics Journal</em></a>). Some conferences and their conference proceedings are also places where a very young researcher might be able to meet the requisite standard for publication.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34759",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
34,767 |
<p>I'm currently a third-year student at UC Berkeley studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics. I'm still on the fence regarding whether or not I want to pursue a masters degree, and am quite stressed about my chances if I do pursue that route.</p>
<p>My major concern is my GPA. To give some context, entering my sophomore year, I had about a 3.65. About to enter the spring of my junior year, I'm sitting at about 3.12. It hasn't been that the work has been "too difficult," it's that I honestly didn't put in the necessary effort these last two semester and as a result, received less than satisfactory grades. I've done the math and calculated that if I can average around a 3.8 for my remaining semester, I can get to around a 3.4 cumulative by graduation.</p>
<p>As far as outside the classroom, I've done a little bit, but not much. I did a very small research stint last summer, as well as being an academic intern (basically a tutor), and am working at a small start-up on the side right now. I'll also be doing my first internship this summer (most likely at Visa).</p>
<p>I'm just wondering if anyone could inform me about my chances of getting into a graduate program in CS. I realize that I probably won't be able to get into Stanford, MIT, or a school on the level of my undergraduate institution, but I would still like to go somewhere good (been looking at USC and Purdue).</p>
<p>Has anyone been in a similar situation and have any advice regarding grad work?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 38114,
"author": "Alireza",
"author_id": 28811,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28811",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's up to you to decide whether to pursue a master degree or going for the industry. However, in case you selected to pursue your master degree I would see no reason to be so pessimistic about your chances. You're currently studying at a prestigious university and that's an important point to consider.</p>\n\n<p>The grades of the last 2 years of bachelor program is so important as you would take most of your specialized courses during the last 2 years of the bachelor program.</p>\n\n<p>Be optimistic and keep up working towards achieving your dreams!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 38130,
"author": "Inquisitive",
"author_id": 27985,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27985",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes. You can get into a \"good\" program with that average. Keep working hard now and continue working hard once you gain access to the masters program. Study hard and do well on any entrance exams.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 41103,
"author": "sevensevens",
"author_id": 14754,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14754",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I can get to around a 3.4 cumulative by graduation.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>A 3.4 GPA will not take you out of the running for most masters programs (even at prestigious universities like Stanford or MIT), but you will have to demonstrate research potential.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I did a very small research stint last summer, as well as being an academic intern (basically a tutor)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Continue doing research with faculty as much as possible. You will need 3 letters of recommendation, be sure they all have great things to say about you.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>and am working at a small start-up on the side right now.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>While its great that you are working, start-up experience will not carry the same weight as research experience for top grad schools.</p>\n\n<p>Depending on your situation, it may make sense to quit this job and focus on undergraduate studies and research. I can't tell you if quitting the job is the right thing to do, but focusing on getting a great GPA and getting research experience will matter.</p>\n\n<p>You'll also have to take the GRE to be admitted to most schools (I think MIT may not require it). Study hard and ace it. A good GRE score will provide a counter-point to your GPA.</p>\n\n<p>Consider casting a wider net. Apply to other good schools besides just Stanford and MIT.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34767",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26995/"
] |
34,768 |
<p>I have never been to grad school, but I have several publications, in good journals, as well as planned future projects. Some very prominent experts know me and think well of my work. In this case, should I apply for postdoc or just go to grad school?</p>
<p>If it matters, I am working in a subfield of mathematics.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34773,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>At this point in time, a Ph.D. is generally a non-negotiable requirement for a postdoc position. If you are already carrying out independent research, however, then it might be possible for you to <em>obtain</em> a Ph.D. in graduate school in a significantly shorter period of time than normal.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34779,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 11565,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11565",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should certainly apply for grad school!</p>\n\n<p>If your credentials are as you say, you will probably have the opportunity to go to one of the very best universities. Is there anyone whose work you have always admired? You now possibly have the chance to study under him or her. Take advantage of it!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34784,
"author": "Doug Lipinski",
"author_id": 19615,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19615",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>What are you hoping to get out of a postdoc?</strong> Typically postdocs offer a chance to enhance your research credentials and capabilities before moving on to a more permanent position either in academia or a serious research institution. <strong>If you do not have a PhD and wish to follow this career path, the best way to enhance your credentials and capabilities would be to pursue a PhD.</strong> A very capable PhD student can certainly do work of equal quality to postdoctoral researchers while also gaining a degree in the process. The only drawbacks to a PhD position compared to a postdoc seem to be somewhat lower pay and receiving slightly less individual credit for your work (in some fields anyway).</p>\n\n<p>To more directly answer your question: Given enough funding flexibility, it's not unheard of for a professor to fill an advertised postdoctoral position with a very capable grad student. It would be very uncommon for a non-PhD, non-grad student to hold such a position.</p>\n\n<p>As an aside, by definition you cannot hold a postdoctoral position without having a doctorate. The term literally means \"after doctorate\" and therefore requiress first gaining a doctorate. Any position you hold before obtaining a doctorate is by definition a pre-doctoral position.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 68971,
"author": "Eli",
"author_id": 54374,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/54374",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are some research assistant positions that might fit into your qualifications. Some of the RA positions may only require a masters degree.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 180349,
"author": "Monkey Tang",
"author_id": 151490,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/151490",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The expression <em>Postdoc</em> is often misunderstood: it is an academic post, a job title - not a degree. In contrast, a PhD is a degree program not a job program.\nPost Doc means literally "After Doctorate".</p>\n<p>A postdoc positian can be held by anyone with a "Terminal Degree", in the majority of fields, including all sciences, the PhD is the terminal degree. However, some very special majors often in the humanities have terminal degrees at the masters level. These degress can hold post-doc positions without a PhD, and are very rare.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34768",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26998/"
] |
34,775 |
<p>I'm so confused. I can't distinguish between them. It seems to me that sometimes the statement of purpose (SOP) is the personal statement (PS), sometimes it is not the PS, and by the definition I'll give below, academic statement (AS) is the SOP.</p>
<h3>Is the SOP a PS (or not)?</h3>
<p>I think most people will agree that the SOP is another name for the PS, and you only need one statement beside your CV and research proposal (if necessary) to be written. That explains why in Academia.SE, we only have a <a href="/questions/tagged/sop" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged 'sop'" rel="tag">sop</a> tag but no PS tag or AS tag. And most of the time I see people ask about a PS question under the SOP tag, and accept the answer only says about the SOP. Except these two questions, where the posters notice that SOP is not the PS (I find them when searching for <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/search?q=%22personal+statement%22+%22statement+of+purpose%22">"personal statement" "statement of purpose"</a>):</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14216/academic-statement-of-purpose-vs-nsf-personal-statement">Academic Statement of Purpose vs NSF Personal Statement</a></li>
<li><a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34698/how-to-best-answer-the-question-please-provide-us-your-personal-statement-why">https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34698/how-to-best-answer-the-question-please-provide-us-your-personal-statement-why</a></li>
</ul>
<p>To be clear, the first question asks about <strong>academic statement of purpose</strong> and only localize to the NSF Fellowship application. But the (sole) answer only discusses the SOP, so I understand that ASOP is the other name of the SOP (don't know if it also be the AS as well).</p>
<h3>Is the SOP the Academic Statement?</h3>
<p>Now, in the <a href="http://home.vef.gov/download/2016_VEF_Fellowship_Announcement_ENG.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">announcement for a fellowship I intend to apply for</a>, it requires me to have both an academic statement and a personal statement. It defines them like this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>ACADEMIC AND PERSONAL STATEMENTS. Each applicant must prepare a one-page Academic Statement and a one-page Personal Statement. <strong>The first essay addresses the applicant’s academic and scientific background and preparation, previous research, and a description of the study and research proposed</strong> at a U.S. graduate school department. The Personal Statement includes information about the applicant’s background, practical experience, special interests, and career goals, with some attention to plans after degree completion. Applicants should also address how they might represent Vietnam as students in the United States and how they might represent the United States and contribute to Vietnam upon return.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>More explicit details are provided in the link. Based on the definition of the AS, I think that it is the SOP as we widely know (or at least is <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1529/choosing-research-ideas-to-include-in-a-statement-of-purpose/1555#1555">this SOP</a>). If then, what is the PS in this case? Is it the place for the "my first trembling steps" stuff?</p>
<p>Or, does the aggregation of AS and PS in this situation equate the SOP as we widely know, and the recruiters just want to make it explicit?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34820,
"author": "Ben Bitdiddle",
"author_id": 24384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24384",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your application is a chance for you to <em>sell yourself</em>, and prove to the admissions committee that they should give you money to do research. Your personal statement should address your \"background, practical experience, special interests, and career goals,\" but only in ways that prove you are a good researcher.</p>\n\n<p>You shouldn't waste space talking about your childhood dreams, because usually those say nothing about your research potential. Instead you should highlight parts of your personal history that would make someone want to hire you for their lab.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35117,
"author": "Ooker",
"author_id": 14341,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14341",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>At least in the scholarship I'm about to apply, the SOP as we widely know is the academic statement. I still haven't got a satiate answer.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34775",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14341/"
] |
34,781 |
<p>I was browsing someone's thesis from a US university. I found several typos and missing (incomplete) sections. There was no plagiarism and dishonesty though. What would happen if I write to their advisor? Can some action be taken or is it a closed case once a thesis is accepted and signed.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34787,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should do nothing and hope that the people who find the errors in your own documents are kind enough to do the same. (There is at least one error in my own master's thesis and at least one in my doctoral dissertation. There are also errors in textbooks by respected authors. I've found one in a fifth edition of a book; I checked and it's in the first four editions, too.)</p>\n\n<p>If the document were a book, a web page, or something else amenable to revision, one would send the author a polite note. The \"do nothing\" advice is for a \"one and done\" document like a thesis or dissertation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34789,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Generally no official action can or should be taken regarding errors in a dissertation (assuming they are not a sign of dishonesty or fraud). However, it could be worth pointing out errors to the author in case he/she is preparing a publication based on the dissertation. I wouldn't do this if it's from long ago or you see that the material is already published, but you could be providing a useful service to the author otherwise. (If these errors have already made it into publications, then it's worth reporting them to the authors if they are substantive, so they can decide whether to publish errata, but it may not be worth reporting typos. I'm a perfectionist and would like to know of typos in my publications, but others might be annoyed.)</p>\n\n<p>But you certainly shouldn't write to the advisor. That comes across like you are reporting bad behavior to an authority figure, so it's not appropriate unless that's the message you want to send (for example, if you discover plagiarism). Instead, you should communicate directly with the student who wrote the dissertation. If you can't figure out how to track down the author, then you can assume he/she isn't pursuing a research career and you don't need to worry about it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34803,
"author": "Remy",
"author_id": 27015,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27015",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think that not finding an error in a thesis would be much more impressive. If you've never seen errors in a scientific piece of work before, it is that you are not very attentive. You probably know of <a href=\"http://theconversation.com/the-reinhart-rogoff-error-or-how-not-to-excel-at-economics-13646\" rel=\"nofollow\">the famous Excel error of Reinhart-Rogoff</a>. Actually, this kind of thing happens all the time, in the best papers too. And it's normal. Scientists are human beings. That is why science is about replication. \nI don't even speak about typos and such. 90% of scientists writing in English are not English native speakers, so of course they (we) make a lot of mistakes. And so what ? Is it better to spend 100 hours reading again and again the same paper to correct a handful of spelling mistakes without any consequences, or should this time be better employed solving scientific problems ?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34806,
"author": "fedja",
"author_id": 6118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6118",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I do not know really. After all, it is the adviser, who bears the primary responsibility for checking the results of the thesis (the student is not mature enough most of the time and the rest of the committee do not care much this way of the other). </p>\n\n<p>My personal experience with this was that my adviser gave me a 50 page thesis of his former student (written like 5 years before) and asked me to close the gap between the lower bound of $m$ and the upper bound of $m\\log 1/m$ for some quantity depending on the small parameter $m$. With my usual laziness, I decided just to see what I can get myself instead of reading anything someone else did, and after a few weeks I had a lower bound of $\\sqrt m$ with a short and very clear proof, which, obviously contradicted the upper bound in the thesis. </p>\n\n<p>Now, it is today that I'm a middle age cynical person with fairly low opinion of human abilities and standards of behavior, including my own. At that time I was a young boy to whom my adviser looked if not like a semi-god, then, at least, as an impeccable mathematical professor of intelligence bordering on supernatural. <strong><em>It was absolutely impossible that he could pass anyone with a wrong result!</em></strong> </p>\n\n<p>So, I set up looking for a mistake in my own argument. By the end of the second week of search I was feeling like in a few days I would need to be sent to a mental asylum if I spend just a few more hours on it. The argument was absolutely clean. The heretical thought crossed my mind that the thesis <em>might contain an error, after all</em>, and I started to sift through 50 pages of dense text in which I didn't even know some words. In three more weeks I had read all of it and saw no error either. Back to my proof. Watertight. Back to the thesis and its half-page long computations. Nothing. When I finally found the mistake in the thesis (which was as stupid as $\\sin x\\to 1$ as $x\\to 0$ done en passe in the middle of a long sophisticated limit computation with trigonometric functions), I was half insane. </p>\n\n<p>Moral. <em>If you see an error in a (at least, mathematical) work, by all means, let it be known!</em> It can save if not the life, then the sanity of someone in the future, while all you can harm is something as ephemeral as \"self-esteem\".</p>\n\n<p>The story is real though I omitted the names (some of which are easy to figure out and some are not). </p>\n\n<p>The best way to report the error is, of course, to figure out what should really be there yourself first and to offer both the criticism and the way out simultaneously. Some good joint papers have been written exactly this way :-)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34807,
"author": "Chris Leary",
"author_id": 11905,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11905",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are at least two errors in my thesis. One I corrected in preparing a portion of the thesis for publication. The other remains unresolved, but I believe it can be patched up. I'm sure there are some others as well. It bothers me that they are there, but not to the point that I lose sleep over it. At this point in my career, it is probably almost irrelevant. I work in another area now, but I would like to go back and fix them some time, when I can find the time.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34809,
"author": "SeasideMaths",
"author_id": 27021,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27021",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What are you really hoping to accomplish by emailing the person's advisor? It sounds like you want to have the student's \"case\" re-opened and that you possibly disagree with the person's worthiness of his or her qualification. This is a huge deal (not a small one, by any measure). I think you are opening up the proverbial can of worms, and for no good reason I might add. Sorry to be blunt, but is this your business, really? (The question is only semi-rhetorical, but I think the answer is \"no\".)</p>\n\n<p>Please read the responses of \"Anonymous Mathematician\" and Bob Brown above --- they are quite on the mark.</p>\n\n<p>If the author wrote the thesis relatively recently, then do let him or her know directly (not through the advisor), as your constructive criticism could be useful as he or she prepares publications. If the person submitted their thesis some time ago, check to see which publications, if any, arose from it. Maybe the gaps have been closed in those publications.</p>\n\n<p>These things are all that you should do. Leave it alone, otherwise.</p>\n\n<p>A committee of experts at some point decided that the person's thesis was worthy of a degree. They may not have cared that certain gaps existed in the write up. What was presented in the thesis was sufficient and interesting enough for them. The student succeeded in demonstrating a sufficient expertise, by their standards. The thesis may not live up to your own personal standards, but that doesn't matter at all. When you are on a graduate committee, you can apply your standards as you see fit.</p>\n\n<p>If no academic dishonesty has been committed, then I say that you should leave this issue alone. Focus your efforts on your own work and achieving something that meets your own standards.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34781",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26986/"
] |
34,792 |
<p>I have a masters degree in Physics and I have worked in Italian high school for 15 years. Now I'm 47 and I wish to have a bachelor or masters degree in Math, because I'd like to change job. How difficult might be for me to have a Phd after the degrees, considered my advanced age (even if I don't feel it)? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34796,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It doesn't get easier as you get older, but neither does age make it impossible or even difficult. What is needed is the self-discipline to do the work. I was nine years older than you are when I started the Ph.D. </p>\n\n<p>The important thing to remember is that the Ph.D. is training for research. In the United States, at least, the work of the Ph.D. student is very different from the work of the undergraduate or even the master's student. Substantial independent work of high quality will be expected of you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34798,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I'll give an answer which is specific for the PhD in Italy. In other countries, things can be/are different.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Now i'm 47 and i wish to have a bachelor <strong>or</strong> masters degree in Math</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you want to apply for a PhD in Italy, you should have a Master's degree. Since you have already an MSc in Physics, you can probably stop to a BSc in Math, but I suspect that this would strongly limit your chances of being accepted for a PhD in Math. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>How difficult might be for me to have a Phd after the degrees, considered my advanced age?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In principle, no more difficult than if you were 20. In practice, it depends on several factors. </p>\n\n<p>I want to highlight one practical factor: Do you plan to drop your current (or another) job during the PhD or do you plan to pursue the PhD while employed? In the first case, you would have to cope with the fact that you should get a scholarship and that PhD's scholarships in Italy are around EUR 1000/month [*], which is probably difficult to accept when one is about 50 years old with 15-20 years of work experience. In the second case, it might be difficult to find an advisor willing to accept you as his student, considering that you would not be able to work full time on your PhD. Moreover, it would be difficult for you to follow the mandatory courses which are requested by some universities.</p>\n\n<p>[*] Currently, they can vary (free of taxes) from about 1100 €/month to about 1500 €/month (rare).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34792",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27007/"
] |
34,804 |
<p>I just found my grades for the fall semester, in an introduction to international relations class that I took, I got a B. </p>
<p>I got a 93% on the midterm, which was worth 25% of the grade. </p>
<p>I always came to class prepared, having done the reading, and actively participated, so I probably got an A in participation, which is 5% of the grade. </p>
<p>There was a mock UN simulation which was worth 20% of the grade that I felt my group did pretty well on, but I never got an actual score back. I made some small mistakes, but worse case scenario, I think I got around an 85%. </p>
<p>My final paper, worth 25% of the grade, everyone said that it was a really good paper, and that it deserves an A, even people who took the same class from her, as well as writing tutors that I went to. </p>
<p>The other 25% of the grade was reserved for quizzes that according to the syllabus, we're supposed to take place every two to three weeks. However, she only gave us two. The first one, she failed everyone, and said that she did that to scare us, and make sure that we read the material. The second one, I got an A on. </p>
<p>I asked her about the quizzes, and she said that they were used for extra credit, which doesn't make sense according to the syllabus. </p>
<p>I am really confused about why I got a B, and I think that she might have made a mistake. </p>
<p>Should I talk to her about it when I go back to school, and if so, do you think that she made a mistake?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34805,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, you should talk to your professor. Do not use the word \"mistake.\" Just ask how your grade was calculated.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34808,
"author": "Nobody",
"author_id": 546,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/546",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To expand Bob Brown's answer, yes, you should talk to your professor <strong>politely</strong> with the objective how to improve your study <strong>in the future</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>In my opinion, your grade is probably on the borderline between A and B. You need to ask her what grade you got for the final paper (worth <strong>25%</strong> of the grade). <em>[E]veryone said that it was a really good paper, and that it deserves an A</em> is not enough for you to say you did get an A on it. You need ask her how well was your final paper.</p>\n\n<p>Generally speaking, it's not easy to change a grade after it's out of the professor's office unless there was an obvious calculation error.So, don't expect she will change your grade from B to A unless your final paper was extremely well written.</p>\n\n<p>I won't be surprised if she tells you that your final paper was okay but not good enough for an A. In that case, you should ask her what you can do to improve your writing skills so that you can get better grades for the future essay writing assignments in other courses. Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34818,
"author": "fedja",
"author_id": 6118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6118",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can always come and say that you suspect a clerical error somewhere and want to check the calculations. Such a request is totally reasonable and I see no reason to get it rejected because when 4 people (1 professor and 3 TA's) grade 120 students, a few grading errors are inevitable and when one instructor grades 10 students and something distracts him, errors are still possible. </p>\n\n<p>However, the only thing you can insist upon is what is <em>explicitly</em> (yes, explicitly, nobody cares about how you (mis)interpret the words: the Supreme Court role here belongs to the instructor and the instructor only) written in the class syllabus. Again, no argument should ensue if you just say: \"Look, it says 120 points is an A, and I have 123\".</p>\n\n<p>Everything else is at the discretion of the instructor. You <em>can</em> make a sad face and say \"Poor me! Just getting my very first non-A grade after all that hard work!\" (or something else with the same meaning) and it <em>may</em> work, but don't get offended or frustrated if it doesn't. As long, as the formal computation yields B, getting anything better is a favor that may or may not be granted in exceptional cases, but not a right to fight for (no \"Give me a perfect grade or give me death!\", please. Remember that even if your name is Patrick Henry, you are standing not in front of convention delegates, but in front of His Majesty Colonial Army officer, so his choice may be not quite the one you expect... ;-) ) </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34804",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27019/"
] |
34,821 |
<p>After getting into some top schools, I linked my statement of purpose on my personal website so it could serve as a resource for others. Are there any reasons this might be a bad idea?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34823,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In general, I think this sounds like a great idea. I would further say that the same essential content is often a good starting point for your personal professional website.</p>\n\n<p>The only potential downside that I see is that in the future you might look back with embarrassment on naive ideas in your statement where your feelings have evolved over time. If you have enough self-confidence to be OK with with that, it's fine: nobody will expect a mature researcher to believe all of the same things they did when just starting grad school.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34829,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it would be a good idea. I often field letters from applicants asking about how to frame an SOP and have trouble pointing to good (and bad) SOPs as examples. </p>\n\n<p>That being said, you should add a note to the top of your SOP saying that you've submitted it to turnitin.com and other plagiarism detectors -- even if you haven't and never intend to, it should serve as a deterrent for a lazy applicant who just wants to copy/paste your text in and submit it as their own.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>In comments, I was asked if graduate admissions use plagiarism detectors. The graduate school at my R1 started doing so a year or two ago. The results are included with the dossier. The admissions committee is free to ignore it, but the DGS or Chair is asked by the Provost about applicants whose statistical coincidence is higher than the norm. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34821",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24384/"
] |
34,833 |
<p>I want to be able to store the software projects my students submit so I can catch plagiarism. Some students copy work from previous years and it would be really helpful if I could find a way to store all projects so I could compare. </p>
<p>My university currently uses moodle but I can't find a way to create a project repository to detect plagiarism. (We do have the JPlag detection system but that only works for projects submitted under one particular group (assignment)). </p>
<p>Any ideas? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35020,
"author": "Prashast Mehra",
"author_id": 27201,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27201",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A software program can be coded in multiple ways, which renders plagiarism softwares impossible to detect similar projects/files. Students often change the variables, method names, comments, etc.</p>\n\n<p>In case somebody simply copies a project without a single modification, It can be detected by jPlag. But in case of slight modifications, it is impossible for such softwares to detect plagiarism. Maybe in future AI can prove this whole thing possible.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 51166,
"author": "Ryan",
"author_id": 19685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19685",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I and my university have used MOSS (Measure of Software Similarity) by Stanford (<a href=\"http://theory.stanford.edu/~aiken/moss\" rel=\"noreferrer\">theory.stanford.edu/~aiken/moss</a>) - I'm not sure of its effectiveness to detect slight modifications, but it seems to be the standard of most university CS programs. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 131785,
"author": "Manoov",
"author_id": 109576,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/109576",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Have been using a Plagiarism plugin integrated on Moodle Server. This plugin integrates with assignment, forum and workshop activities in Moodle to check user-submitted content for plagiarism <a href=\"https://moodle.org/plugins/plagiarism_unicheck\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">provided by UniCheck</a> Course faculty can view the complete plagiarism report, including plagiarism within the class. Plagiarism score/Report can be also shown to students (Optional).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34833",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27047/"
] |
34,837 |
<p>Is it possible to enroll into and complete a graduate school in China while having only English language skills, without speaking Chinese at all? In particular, I am interested in (theoretical) physics.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34841,
"author": "Jill Clover",
"author_id": 6962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6962",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Short answer:</strong><br>\nYes for other majors. Probably not for PhD in physics (you need to search).</p>\n\n<p><strong>Long answer:</strong><br>\nOver the past ten years, many university from US and UK launch joint institution, ranging from summer language program to university with PhD program, in China with local universities. You could search for NYU shanghai, Duke kunshan, Michigan shanghai, Nottingham Ningbo, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University etc (The words you do not recognize are name of cities where the university is located in China, except the last one since I forgot where it is). </p>\n\n<p>The good news is that English is the official communication language in those colleges.</p>\n\n<p>Another good news is that they welcome (truly) international students, since almost all the students are Chinese.</p>\n\n<p>Something you may not be interested in:\nI do not know where the OP comes from. If OP comes from Africa, Chinese government provide special program with language program for those who can not speak Chinese.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Comment on comment:</strong><br>\nWhat most Chinese people speak and their English language skills are irrelevant to the question. Most of the time you would communicate with your professors and fellows, other than some random guys on street.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34843,
"author": "Ahmed Ekri",
"author_id": 26948,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26948",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't think so, I am a medical student at China and it is compulsory for us to take Chinese Language. My friends doing their post-graduate degree already know Chinese, so I think it was a requirenment to apply.\nOther than that, there are some universities which take Chinese into account but without having it in the actual degree. So just to help you while you're staying at China.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34846,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Absolutely. Here is just <a href=\"http://www.cgeschina.com/beihang-university/programs/masters/masters-physics-beihang-university/\">one example</a>.</p>\n\n<p>There are many trans-national programs all over Asia (China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Myanmar, etc.). Many of these programs are from partner universities in the UK or the US (and other countries). In these programs, the language of instruction and assessment is English. I teach in one such program (not the one linked above and it is related to business, not physics).</p>\n\n<p>Can you get by without being able to communicate in the local language? That really depends on you. For example, if you are a social person you will really need to be able to communicate in the local language. While everyone (staff, faculty, students) at the university (in your department) will speak English others outside the school often struggle (as you would likely struggle picking up Chinese if you lived in the west).</p>\n\n<p>If you are the kind of person who prefers isolation, then the local language is not so critical. Depending on where your city, you can usually find stores where you can buy most of the food you like (that is, western food) and even a place which will rent to you.</p>\n\n<p>Some schools may well require you to learn the local language. The link above clearly shows it is offered (and you should take advantage of it). If you want to actively avoid learning Chinese, then you need to make sure the school you select does not require it. A quick email should sort that out.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34850,
"author": "user3611727",
"author_id": 27058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27058",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you include Hong Kong as part of China, the answer is Yes but limited to Hong Kong. English is an official language of Hong Kong. Universities in Hong Kong all use English as the media of teaching and the common language for research is English. No Physics courses are taught in languages other than English and no faculty members are not proficient in English. See <a href=\"http://www.grad.edu.hk/grad/\">this official website</a> for reference. The best are University of Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.</p>\n\n<p>Otherwise the choices are limited to those high-ranking universities in China such as Peking University and Tsinghua University. In Tsinghua, most faculty members use English for publication purpose but not at all for communications in research. Most teaching and administration stuff are in Chinese. So you have to learn chinese at least in conversational level to survive a Phd there.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34876,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As an academic who has traveled to quite a few places where I had no idea (despite some study) of the ambient language, but/and also to quite a few places where I <em>did</em> have an adequate idea of the ambient language...</p>\n\n<p>... and in contrast to the sort of wishful thinking that, for example, leads some tourists to say \"oh, everyone speaks English there\"... and leads some academics and business people to claim that English is the universal language of ... :</p>\n\n<p>The psychological/cognitive load/burden of disconnectedness from the environment (apart from jokes about starving because one cannot ask for food) is highly non-trivial. </p>\n\n<p>To be in a bubble for a week or so is maybe-tolerable, but for a year or more... I'd not do it. Either find within yourself the incentive to learn the language at least to the level of an 8-year-old, or don't go. The quasi-intellectual, quasi-independent-of-environment pose that has some mythological cachet is not good, in my experience. The people who fare best, in all ways, are those positively <em>interested</em> in the ambient language... and the culture depicted in it, etc.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 37851,
"author": "Alex Quan",
"author_id": 28685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/28685",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Depending on your home country, you'll probably end up with a scholarship.\nMost foreigners coming to an average run of the mill Chinese university would qualify for such. It would be a feather in the cap of XXX Agricultural Normal University to have you as an honored graduate student, so much so they would fork out $$$ for you to come there. </p>\n\n<p>www.csc.edu.cn is an amazing portal for higher education in China and can search by \n\"English-taught\" programs. I'm sure there's one for you, China is a large place, many cities and many universities. And there's Hong Kong (and Macau) to go to for English taught programs at a higher price. </p>\n\n<p>Many a student have come to the land of China with zero Chinese but stuck it out and made friends and money. Inevitably, you'll pick up Chinese along the way I'm sure. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 80273,
"author": "liuergou",
"author_id": 65216,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65216",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Maybe you will meet some difficulties at first. You will find difficult to listen to the class and do homework in Chinese. But at Chinese university, usually you can find Engish text book in the library and your classmates will be willing to teach you Chinese. Teacher's PPT sometimes uses English too. As long as you study hard, you will be accustomed to.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 85028,
"author": "Neo X",
"author_id": 69162,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/69162",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Short answer, possible, but I highly recommend you against it.</p>\n\n<p>Generally, US students are welcome to universities or research institutes in China, especially the top ones (Tsinghua U, Peking U, SJTU, ...) in Beijing and Shanghai. You would get used to everyday life in less than a semester, without learning much Chinese.</p>\n\n<p>However, physics is not a typical major to do so in this case. Top universities have many young professors with their PhD or postdoc done in US, as well as part time professors from top US universities. But there's almost no pure English physics graduate program in main land China.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 101335,
"author": "Scientist",
"author_id": 66782,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/66782",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am a postdoc living in China since almost 2 years. I came here without knowing any one phrase in Chinese.</p>\n\n<p>My answer to the question is: <strong>No, it is currently impossible to study in Mainland China for years in a row without learning any form of Chinese.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Apart from the fact that few locals are proficient in English, almost all daily, and probably administrative communication runs in Chinese, and automated digital translators will not provide always a satisfactory solution. Surely local students and deputies will help in the beginning but after a certain time they will become less accessible. </p>\n\n<p>Moreover, Chinese comes as a package: one cannot truly learn the culture without understanding some of the language and vice-versa. Therefore interacting below the surface with locals will depend on learning some of the language even if not at any functional level. </p>\n\n<p>I cannot speak for Macau, Hong Kong, or Taiwan as I have not lived in these areas. I suspect it should be doable in these places, particularly in Hong Kong.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 102082,
"author": "Phil",
"author_id": 21815,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21815",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Generally, one can enroll in some graduate programs in China that are taught in English， and in some cases, even if the program is not offered in English, some courses may still be taught in English, so there might be a possibility to still accept you. This will depend on the university and programs. For example, at my university some general undergraduate and master degree courses offered to Chinese students are taught in Chinese while some others are taught in English (it depends on the professor and topic). Besides, I know some Vietnamese Master degree students who did a master in computer science in Changsha without speaking Chinese... and another doing a PhD in computer science in Harbin without speaking Chinese. And there is some post-doc researchers and professors who also do not speak Chinese. I don't know for physics but if you look around, I think you can find. But of course, if you know some basic Chinese, you will better enjoy the life in China. At least, you should try to learn how to buy stuff, ask for the price of something or ask for directions using Chinese, to make your life easier! There is also some universities in China, where taking some Chinese training is mandatory for graduate studies. For example, in Xi'an Jiatong Univ. some students told me that for PhD they had to take 8 months of Chinese class on the first year. But in the end, they found that it was useful for daily life. Also if you speak Chinese, I heard that you may more easily get scholarships from the Chinese government perhaps for your studies.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34837",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/845/"
] |
34,851 |
<p>What are the benefits of poster awards? Is being awarded at a conference really useful for one's career (e.g. when applying for a PhD or a job) or is it just scene? In other words: Can I say that having such award on my resumé is better than just nothing?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34852,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In my field the thinking is</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>It draws attention to posters from conference participators.</p></li>\n<li><p>It provides encouragements to individuals (students) to make an extra effort</p></li>\n<li><p>It encourages discussion about \"good poster design\"</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The selection criteria is always focusing on good communication of good science, never one or the other. Since such awards are given only to students and there ids usually also a similar student presentation award both selected by a set of valued senior scientists, the award should be and is seen as a merit.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34917,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/34852/5962\">Peter Jansson's answer</a> provides a good description of the general benefits of poster awards mostly from the perspective of the conference organizer. My answer focuses on your latter questions.</p>\n\n<p>A poster awards is definitely a positive signal of your quality as a researcher. If it was from a major conference (and perhaps even if it is not), it might do quite a bit to distinguish you from other prospective students in a PhD program applicant pool. Although its value while applying for non-academic jobs is more dubious, it can only there as well.</p>\n\n<p><strong>It is clearly better than nothing</strong> and you should put it on your resumé or CV.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34851",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19761/"
] |
34,854 |
<p>In the US, many (most?) states have laws which require the publication of full salary details for all employees of state universities. For example, California has <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/state-pay/#req=employee%2Ftop%2Fyear%3D2013" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a full online database of all state workers</a> it seems which includes UC Berkeley amongst others. Salary details to varying levels of approximation are also available for public university employees in some countries outside the US. <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26487/in-which-countries-are-academic-salaries-published">In which countries are academic salaries published?</a> has more details .</p>
<p>What effect on state (or public) universities has this publication of academic salaries had? Specifically,</p>
<ol>
<li>Have they had to pay more on average in salaries because private sector competitors (including private universities) now know exactly how much to offer someone to entice them?</li>
<li>Have they found it more difficult to recruit people from the private sector (including private universities) who might not want their financial details to be public?</li>
<li>Have there been any other negative or positive side effects?</li>
</ol>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34866,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The UC system has made a concerted effort to keep salaries at its flagship schools (UCLA, UCB) competitive with those at other R1s (including private ones) in order to attract and retain top faculty. They haven't always succeeded. If you look at <a href=\"http://chronicle.com/article/2013-14-AAUP-Faculty-Salary/145679?cid=megamenu\" rel=\"nofollow\">AAUP faculty salary data</a>, UCLA and UCB salaries are close to but are rarely higher than their peer private institutions (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Caltech, etc.). </p>\n\n<p>That being said, this has largely been possible through the large scale shift in funding at the UC from the state to private funding sources (tuition+alumni gifts+<a href=\"https://research.usc.edu/for-sponsors/frequently-asked-questions/\" rel=\"nofollow\">research administrative overhead</a>+endowment+sports franchising). </p>\n\n<p>Other state schools have not privatized as much as the UC system and have kept salaries and tuitions modest. </p>\n\n<p>Now as to whether the publishing of salary data of individuals has had an effect, this is unclear and to my knowledge no one has analyzed it in great detail. However, there are some side effects to publishing faculty salaries:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Greater legislative and voter scrutiny of faculty salaries (i.e., \"why does a professor at a public school make $180,000\"?) puts pressure on chancellors to either reduce salaries and risk faculty flight or to move towards privatization of income</li>\n<li>Salary compression between ranks becomes much more visible </li>\n<li>Salary inequity between genders and disciplines becomes more visible</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34868,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Have they had to pay more on average in salaries because private sector competitors (including private universities) now know exactly how much to offer someone to entice them?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I've occasionally heard of these lists being used to identify woefully underpaid faculty members who might therefore be disgruntled and easier to recruit. However, I don't think this has had a substantial effect overall on salaries at public universities. Most faculty members don't inspire bidding wars between universities, and recruitment is based on many other factors beyond just salary.</p>\n\n<p>For context, note that average salaries vary substantially between universities, and these differences are sometimes pretty widely discussed in the community. Even in the absence of data on individuals, that's potentially useful information for recruitment. However, there seems to be no trend towards salaries evening out. Instead, they tend to end up balanced with factors like desirability of location.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Have they found it more difficult to recruit people from the private sector (including private universities) who might not want their financial details to be public?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Not to a noticeable extent, at least for ordinary faculty positions. This could be more of a factor for mid-level administrators, whose salaries might come under greater scrutiny. (By contrast, the salaries of top administrators are public information for every non-profit university in the U.S., public or private, because they must be reported on IRS Form 990.)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Have there been any other negative or positive side effects?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Transparency about salaries has a weird mixture of effects. On the one hand, it makes the overall patterns clearer, and anyone can judge for themselves whether the results are fair. For example, it's easy to gather data on whether women are being paid less, whether there's salary compression or inversion, whether different people receive comparable salary increases upon achieving tenure, etc. I don't know of any formal studies (which could be interesting), but there's at least a fairly widespread belief that this transparency helps cut down on abuses.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, it can also increase disgruntlement. The actual salaries are almost guaranteed not to align perfectly with what would seem just to any given person (because of course different people have different visions of what would be appropriate). I've certainly looked on occasion at salary lists and wondered why on earth X was being paid 15% more than Y, and I once talked with a friend who had discovered that he was Y in such a case.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34854",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/37765/"
] |
34,857 |
<p>I would like to know, if possible, how long it takes on the average to reach a first admission decision for doctoral programs?</p>
<p>Let us say a doctoral program promises to inform the applicants of the outcome three months after the deadline for submitting application packages. Does this really mean that to reach a decision requires exactly three months? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34858,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am assuming that you are referring to programs that offer <em>rolling admissions</em>—that is, programs where you can submit an application at any time of the year. </p>\n\n<p>The key words in your question are <strong>on average</strong>. If you consider all of the applications received by the committee, it will take the committee approximately three months to reach a final decision on a randomly chosen application. However, that is definitely not an exact number—in clear-cut cases, they could reach an answer much sooner. Similarly, applications received during \"peak\" periods or during the summer—when many faculty are on travel and therefore not as readily available to meet for such decisions—it may take a bit longer.</p>\n\n<p>Part of the reason for this is that several layers of decision are usually involved: first the applications need to be reviewed, and individual members of the admissions committee will have a chance to weigh in. Then, if needed or part of the program's process, interviews will be conducted. After that, the application will still need to be approved by the entire admissions committee, and possibly departmental-level approval will also be required.</p>\n\n<p>If you have not heard anything after three (or better, three and a half) months, then a <em>politely worded</em> email to the admissions office to ask about the status of your application would be appropriate.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if there is a single admissions cycle per year, the decision-making schedule is usually more or less the same each year. Thus, regardless of when you actually submit the forms, notification of the decision comes at the same time for everyone.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34861,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In my experience it's common for academic departments to have a graduate admissions committee that meets periodically to make admissions decisions and decisions on financial aid. Sometimes decisions on financial aid are made separately from decisions on admission. </p>\n\n<p>In our department we review applications as they come in and typically respond with a decision on admission within a few weeks. However, decisions on financial aid are made only a few times per year. For example, we'll meet in early April to decide on assistantship awards for the fall semester. </p>\n\n<p>Under this system, if you applied for admission now, we'd review your application and reach an admissions decision by the end of January, and you'd either be told \"no\", or \"you've been admitted but we'll make decisions about financial aid in early April.\" </p>\n\n<p>I've seen other institutions where all of the applications are held until one meeting where both admissions and financial aid decisions are made at the same time. Under that system, you probably wouldn't hear anything at all until the committee met and made its decisions. </p>\n\n<p>A couple of other comments:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Applications are often sent to a central office (\"graduate studies\" or something similar) and then distributed to the departments to make admissions decisisons. In my experience, there are many incomplete applications received by our graduate office. We don't see them in the department until and unless all of the required materials have been submitted. You can and probably should check with the office where you sent your application to make sure that the complete application has been received. </p></li>\n<li><p>Christmas (December 25) and New Year's Day (January 1) are important holidays in the US. Traditionally, fall semester classes end before Christmas and spring semester classes don't start until after New Year's Day. Many colleges and universities are effectively closed for a few weeks around these holidays. You shouldn't expect to hear anything from any university in the US until after New Year's Day because of these holidays. </p></li>\n</ol>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34857",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18107/"
] |
34,859 |
<p>How damaging are writing errors like typos in faculty application documents?
Do search committees usually tolerate a couple of small errors in cover letter, sample publications, etc?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34860,
"author": "padawan",
"author_id": 15949,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15949",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends on the conditions, for sure.</p>\n\n<p>If there are a lot of applicants of your quality, then they should look for some criteria to eliminate people among applicants.\nAnd that criteria, in your case, would be the grammar of the cover letter.</p>\n\n<p>If your work is outstanding, then they probably would overlook a few typos.</p>\n\n<p>However, keep in mind that there can always be a pair of grumpy(!) professors in the committee.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34862,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's a minor factor, but certainly one that does influence my judgement of an applicant. If I'm down to deciding between two candidates to interview and they otherwise look to be about equally good, this is something that could be a deciding factor. </p>\n\n<p>Since you're likely to be in competition with many other applicants, it's in your interest to make sure that there aren't any typos in your application. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34864,
"author": "Bitwise",
"author_id": 6862,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6862",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To me, typos in a faculty application suggest one or more of the following:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Detail - you do not pay enough attention to details.</p></li>\n<li><p>Rigor - you were not rigorous enough to ensure the document is error free by double checking and letting other people check the document.</p></li>\n<li>Importance - if the application was important enough you would have made sure it is error-free, therefore it may not be very important to you.</li>\n<li>Culture - you come from a culture where typos are acceptable, and did not bother to adapt.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Having said all that, in the end it is just a tiny factor amongst many more important factors. If you are awesome, this probably won't matter.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34865,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>It varies enormously among the faculty evaluating candidates.</strong> There are faculty I've worked with who read applications extremely closely and point out the existence of typos, misspellings, and formatting errors in faculty meetings when we are discussing candidates. Some people are bothered by small errors and see them as a strong signal of a lack of professionalism, respect for the application process, attention to detail, and potentially as evidence of an inability to teach students how to write well.</p>\n\n<p>Personally, I don't read application materials with an eye for these kinds of mistakes so only the most glaring and disruptive mistakes will even be noticed. When minor issues are pointed out (e.g., in a faculty meeting) I don't think it affects my feelings on candidates.</p>\n\n<p>If the former type of person is a search committee chair or member, an applicant with typos in their material might be in big trouble. If the search committee is made up the latter type, it might not matter.</p>\n\n<p>Since there <strong><em>are</em></strong> at least some of the type who care deeply, and since small mistakes <em>really are</em> evidence of a lack of attention to detail and time spent on the application process, <strong>take the time to carefully proofread your documents.</strong> If mistakes tend to slip past you, ask others (either friends or a professional proofreader or copyeditor) for help. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34867,
"author": "March Ho",
"author_id": 26713,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26713",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is literally <strong>no good reasan for you</strong> to have typos of any kind in your application, whether it be for faculty or student positions. </p>\n\n<p>While more difficult than simply running the text through a spellchecker, you should definitely go to some effort to find someone to proofread your application for spelling and grammatical issues.</p>\n\n<p>Since there is a nonzero chance that at least one person in the application committee is a pedant for spelling/grammar (and such people are clearly overrepresented in the academic community), it would be rather risky to submit any piece of application without having it proofread by a native speaker first. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34859",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
34,869 |
<p>In scholarly journals, or publicising in certain magazines you are expected to hold true to a certain design pattern and citation style. However, when publishing your own work independently you are free from those constraints, or are you?</p>
<p>I am a designer by heart and every couple of years I create a new template that I use for future academic papers, following contemporary design patterns. In my opinion, my templates look nice. Not too strict, though flirting with kittenish. I am convinced that a nice design leads to a fruitful first impression. However, I am aware that this might be very subjective.</p>
<p>My question is, then, do academics generally look down on "design hippies" and should all retain a strict - possibly even chippy - style? Or does all of this matter not as long as everything is legible and well-formatted?</p>
<p>I use hand-written, cursive fonts in informal paperwork all the time. That's why I posted this question: even though certain fonts are well-suited for distinguished forms of design and publicity (such as magazines or webdesign), how does a formal academic world react to such patterns. On a (possibly less formal) website, for instance, Pacifico would be used without question. Of course, an academic audience is an 'ole other bunch all together. That's where my inner designer and outer academic struggle with one another. Should we stick to the trusted, formal (and, let's be fair, boring) style, or can we go a little (just a tad!) crazy? Note that I'm not strictly talking about fonts. It can be anything, going from structure (column layout), to colours and highlights, to bold face and font families. Heck, maybe even illustrations!</p>
<p><em>Update:</em> people in the comments seem to focus a lot on the fact that I mentioned Pacifico, a cursive font. First of all I should clarify that I only brought it up as an example. Secondly, I only considered that font as a candidate for large <strong>headings</strong> with a font size of 24pt or larger - which increases readability. I did not imply to use this particular font as the <em>main</em> typography for my text, but merely as a means for catching titles. I'd also like the emphasise - again - that I am aware that certain fonts are not formally applicable and would annoy rather than refresh an academic reader's mindset. But as said, I am a big fan of design trends (focusing on, but not restricted to, fonts) and innovation, and I am simply curious to know how academics think about this: how far can one go. How different is an academic design style from for instance web, advertising, magazines and newspapers.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34870,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I read papers, I don't hang them on my wall. That is the main objective, and your design should subdue to it. I enjoy a well crafted book, but I get extremely annoyed when some unnecessary decoration gets in the way of usage.</p>\n\n<p>In your case, the font of the titles requires a mental effort from my part to read them, which I find unacceptable, and thus, annoying. When reading a paper, I usually skim through the sections to get a broad picture of it; with Pacifico, I need to waste neurons in deciphering it while constructing my mental idea. I also find that the numbers in the text stand out a lot, probably more than they should, as they are not information I would like to get while skimming.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, I have encountered a few unique and very nicely crafted documents, and those made a more long lasting impression. If not for anything else, I remember the general image of the article. </p>\n\n<p>Bottomline is, if your design is good, it will be welcomed; but if it has flaws, some picky people like me* may get displeased and cause a worse first impression. A standard template is a safer option; but more difficult to stand out.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>*To give you an idea of how much, I find several citation styles to be rather annoying because they are clearly inferior to others. For example, anything without DOI in the modern times.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34871,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As March Ho mentioned in the comments, one important factor is legibility. This is true both at the level of fonts and more broadly in design/structure: if your most important goal is to communicate your ideas, then it's worth optimizing for ease of reading and comprehension. Unfamiliarity is itself an obstacle, so even if your design would be superior if widely adopted, it might prove inferior in practice.</p>\n\n<p>Another issue is demonstrating membership in the community of scholars. Choosing an unconventional design amounts to announcing \"I am an outsider,\" and although being an outsider is not a bad thing in itself, it can come across to readers as a terrible sign. For example, when I see mathematics papers with highly nonstandard formatting, they are almost always crackpot papers of no value whatsoever. That's not company you should voluntarily join. I wouldn't consciously ignore a paper just because of the formatting, but I can't help approaching it with a strong prejudice. Unless your papers are really exceptional, unconventional design is likely to decrease your readership.</p>\n\n<p>The fundamental issue here is whether you are writing for yourself or others, which is a common tension within academia. You can take the position that you are creating a work of art and aren't willing to compromise on your vision even if it will hurt the work's reception, or you can try to do what's necessary to increase your work's impact on the scholarly community. Different authors end up balancing these concerns in different ways.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34872,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are self-publishing, then you are free to format your work however you please. However, as the others have already pointed out, the harder your work is to read, the less it's going to be read, and the more trouble you will have getting others to take your work seriously.</p>\n\n<p>As you mentioned in your question, you yourself find the font \"borderline legible.\" That's already a huge strike against its use: why would anyone else want to read it if you, the designer, find it only marginally legible? </p>\n\n<p>As someone who greatly appreciates good page design, I have to admit that I find it too \"cute\" for its own good. There are many fonts that could serve your design purposes of being \"original\" without sacrificing legibility. Pacifico is not one of them. Also, the bold numbering in the text is probably not good unless those are going to be hyperlinks.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34873,
"author": "A.G.",
"author_id": 10318,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10318",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There certainly is room for improvement of scientific writing. The question is, are you trying to convey your work in a more efficient way, or are you just adding noise? </p>\n\n<p>I can think of several examples of positive attempts at improvement: Don Knuth's TeX project, the special fonts created for his book <em>Concrete Math</em>. Or the work of Tufte on graphics and page layout. Even though these can at times be annoying, inasmuch as novelty often is, they do help and some of their stuff gets picked up and ends up going mainstream.</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes, reading older research (say, 50+years old) can be rather refreshing as well.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, you have to be extra careful and really ask yourself if your design really helps. If you, and several others you will show your work to, are convinced of the improvement, then definitely go for it. You may even suggest to your readers that you are open to comments and feedback.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34898,
"author": "Floris",
"author_id": 15062,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15062",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Academia should be in part about the transfer of existing knowledge, and in part about pushing the boundaries and discovering new things. For the former, being a little bit formal and traditional is OK - although it's also good to bring a new and personal style to the way you convey the information (think of Richard Feynman's incomparable physics lectures that brought a new clarity to a traditional subject).</p>\n\n<p>I like it when people try different things - as long as these things contribute to the over all purpose of the paper. For example, I was very impressed the first time I read an internal report in which the author used pull-quotes to help in the process of following the narrative - very powerful, but rarely used in scientific publications. That kind of experiment - specifically aimed at aiding in the understanding of the document - is laudable. Just tinkering with fonts - especially fonts that are not so legible - is something I appreciate less. I'm OK with showing individuality of thought, and in the expression of the individuality in any form: but it has to support the main aim of the publication.</p>\n\n<p>Some people publish to show how clever they are: they use long words, complicated structure, difficult mathematical derivations... this can indeed give the impression that they are \"a notch above the rest of us mortals\". But it does not provide <em>access</em> to their thoughts, and limits the dissemination of their ideas and contributions. And that, ultimately, is what publishing ought to be about.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34934,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe the guidelines can be stated fairly briefly.</p>\n\n<p><em>The typography</em> should convey the message without providing resistance to the reader. Selecting good type faces and setting the text according to typographical guidelines regarding line spacing and line length (number of characters) is key. Remember many journals are set to conserve space rather than readability as a prime target.</p>\n\n<p><em>The illustrations</em> should as show (in Edward Tufte's terminology) graphical excellence, that is give the viewer the most ideas in the shortest amount of time with as little \"ink\" as possible.</p>\n\n<p>Just remember that if the main point is communicating science, then the ease with which the reader can access the information is more important than personal design ideas. The challenge thus lies in achieving \"excellence\". Fortunately, excellence usually also <em>is</em> beautiful (my personal note)</p>\n\n<p>References\nEdward E. Tufte, <a href=\"http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_vdqi\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>The Visual Display of Quantitative Information</em></a>. Graphics Press.</p>\n\n<p>(e.g.) Robert Bringhurst, 2012. <em>The Elements of Typographic Style Fourth Editions (vesion 4.0)</em>. Hartley & Marks.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 36811,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my experience, academic culture seems to be of two radically different minds when it comes to design:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>For papers, there is virtually no appreciation for design innovation, qua innovation. I suspect that the cultural focus on <em>content</em> makes a glitzy presentation seem \"suspicious.\" In practice, there actually can be a good bit of innovation, especially in the design and presentation of figures, but it needs to be within some indefinable bound of scientific \"good taste,\" whatever that means.</p></li>\n<li><p>For presentations, on the other hand, the sky is the limit, and innovation in communication seems to be highly appreciated. For example, I've seen a number of talks using <a href=\"http://prezi.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Prezi</a> in the last few years, which are definitely following a trendy new tool and playing with its capability.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Perhaps a good way to think of the differences is like the differences between forms of poetry: papers are like a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet\" rel=\"nofollow\">sonnet</a> where you can make beautiful art within a absolutely rigid form, while presentations are <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_verse\" rel=\"nofollow\">free verse</a> where there is much more freedom of choice for both good and ill.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 36815,
"author": "Superbest",
"author_id": 244,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/244",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the best outlet for such creative yearnings is presentations, and perhaps posters. In these there is so much heterogeneity to begin with that you will not experience much prejudice due to simply being different.</p>\n\n<p>Another good candidate is figures. Here, there are 3 chief cases particularly suited to creativity that I know of:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Diagrams, especially flowcharts showing steps of a project</li>\n<li>\"Soft data\" where precision is less important. For instance, when you have a graph of number of PhDs over time not to present it as data, but to make the point that it is increasing, you can get away with some fancy colorful designs such as the default Word chart themes.</li>\n<li>In complex and unusual datasets, where no good way of visualizing them has been agreed on. For example, in genetics, with heatmaps showing various signal levels across the genome you have some latitude in picking colors and adding little icons and so forth.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>For publications, you couldn't easily mess around with the typography because most journals precisely specify their visual style, and they have some uniform theme across all the papers in their issue and across different issue they want to maintain. They won't let you choose your own font.</p>\n\n<p>For <em>informal</em> texts, you do have an advantage: 90% of scientists use either Times New Roman, Arial or Calibri (the Word default). Another 9% use whatever came with their Mac or Linux system. If your font is slightly different, but largely similar to these (Pacifico doesn't work, Lato is fine) most people won't notice, and those that do notice would appreciate a good font (assuming you made good design decisions).</p>\n\n<p>When I use Latex to type my own informal writing, it ends up in Computer Modern. Granted, this is a very good font, but although being vaguely similar to Times New Roman, it clearly isn't even to an untrained eye. Because of this, I doubt anyone is bothered that I used a different font, and the comments I got tended to be favorable.</p>\n\n<p>So for your informal texts I'm sure you can get away with taking some liberty in your font choice. It's still worth erring on the side of being conservative, though: First, don't make it too weird. For instance, writing a report in Comic Sans (I'm sure it is obvious) is a bad idea. Writing it in Helvetica instead of Arial - the rare person who notices will think better of you for it. Second, don't change it too often - if every other letter you send to a collaborator is a different font, I imagine the charm will quickly wear away.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34869",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7121/"
] |
34,882 |
<p>I want to defend my thesis in the computer networking field on master degree . all things are done. And now I want to write my thesis document. Is this document important for judges in the defend day or not to evaluate my thesis.</p>
<p>I ask this question because I think they just pay attention to your suggested method and result and presentation. </p>
<p>Is the document are so important for them? because if they do not pay a lot attention to that I do not like take a lot of effort on that maybe you say that I can put that on the internet for any citation By our language is not English.</p>
<p>If the answer is yes. I mean they pay attention to the document in case of evaluating my thesis. What parameter are important for them. Or better to say, I should bold which part or how to write my thesis in order to the judges pay attention to that? and they say themselves this student try hard and I should give him good score ( D: )</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34883,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is this document important for judges?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You are really asking the wrong question. Any official document that bears your name <strong>eternally</strong> is <strong>important for you</strong> and your future. You are a MSc student with probably small number of publications (if any) and a MSc thesis is an important milestone on your transition from a student to a researcher. It is also a quite large document (much larger than the typical scientific publication), so writing an excellent document at this scale is a valuable lesson even if you want to work in industry, where technical reports / documentation and deliverables are quite common. </p>\n\n<p>Conclusively, you must always strive for excellence and always do the best you can. You must change your student mindset from \"Would doing A would get me a better grade\" to the adult mindset \"Is this really the best I can do <strong>within the time constraints I have</strong> or could I do better?\". So you should focus on producing the best thesis document you can (within your time constraints) regardless of how lenient the committee might be on judging it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34885,
"author": "AliceD",
"author_id": 23423,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23423",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have written three master's theses, out of which one turned out to be mostly for my own interest, one turned out to be pretty much useless, and the third was actually passed on to my later PhD supervisor. The latter scenario may happen when you decide to proceed in academia, or perhaps even in industry - future employers may show interest in it to assess your strengths and weaknesses. </p>\n\n<p>In any case, for future employers theses, and for that matter your theses-supervisors (being potential referees), are <strong>far more important</strong> than any of the grades you made on any of your exams. So personally, I would say, <strong>yes MSc theses are important</strong> for your later <strong>career</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>The answer by @Alexandros may be a more direct answer to your question, mine may be providing a more long-term drive to deliver a qualitatively good thesis! </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34882",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19761/"
] |
34,886 |
<p>As you can read on Wikipedia, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Goodreads is an Amazon company and "social cataloging" website founded
in December 2006 and launched in January 2007 by Otis Chandler, a
software engineer and entrepreneur, and Elizabeth Chandler. The
website allows individuals to freely search Goodreads' extensive
user-populated database of books, annotations, and reviews. Users can
sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and reading
lists. [...] On the Goodreads website, users can add books to their
personal bookshelves, rate and review books, see what their friends
are reading, participate in discussion boards and groups on a variety
of topics, and get suggestions for future reading choices based on
their reviews of previously read books.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>My question is: </p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Is there a scholarly alternative to Goodreads, that is, a website
where you can shelf papers, journal articles, scholarly websites, and
preprints as well as books?</em></p>
</blockquote>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34921,
"author": "just-learning",
"author_id": 10483,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10483",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There indeed is plenty of web sites where you can shelf articles, preprints, etc. (<a href=\"http://mendeley.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Mendeley</a>, <a href=\"http://zotero.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">Zotero</a>, <a href=\"http://www.citeulike.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">CiteULike</a>, and so on; a fairly comprehensive <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_reference_management_software#Password_.22protection.22_and_network_versions\" rel=\"nofollow\">list</a> is available on Wikipedia) but if you also would like to have the possibility of adding <em>reviews</em> like in GoodReads, the things are somewhat different. </p>\n\n<p>One site that I know of that allows you to do this, in addition to merely bookmarking the items, is <a href=\"http://www.researchgate.net\" rel=\"nofollow\">ResearchGate</a> with its <a href=\"http://www.researchgate.net/publicliterature.OpenReviewInfo.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Open Review feature</a>, but you can only bookmark and review items that already are in their database (you can add the articles that you (co-)authored but I doubt that reviewing them is your intention). Perhaps there are some other sites with a similar functionality: e.g. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CiteULike\" rel=\"nofollow\">according to Wikipedia</a> CiteULike has it too; on Mendeley you can <a href=\"http://www.mendeley.com/features/read-and-annotate/\" rel=\"nofollow\">share articles' annotations within private groups</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Also, there is a number of sites allowing you to bookmark and review <a href=\"http://arxiv.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">arXiv</a> preprints (e.g. <a href=\"https://scirate.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">SciRate</a>) but not the other kinds of items like the books.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52738,
"author": "Pierre",
"author_id": 6456,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6456",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://f1000.com/prime\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://f1000.com/prime</a> \"is composed of 5,000 Faculty Members — senior scientists and leading experts in all areas of biology and medicine — plus their associates.</p>\n\n<p>The Faculty recommends the\nmost important articles, rating them and providing short explanations for their selections.\n\"</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34886",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
34,889 |
<p>I teach English as a second language to pre-college adults in the U.S., and I'm interested in the idea of using essays from previous students as examples in a writing class. At a previous institution we used a permission form that students signed giving the university the right to reproduce or modify written work, in part or whole, and with identifying information removed. </p>
<p>However, as an adjunct who will likely work at multiple schools, I would like to have that permission myself as well. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>What would be the legalities to consider doing such a thing? </p></li>
<li><p>If I have students' written permission, should I still have permission from the institution to do this? </p></li>
<li><p>Will a signed statement (in English), given by someone whose understanding of English is demonstrably weak, function the same as any other? </p></li>
<li><p>Is there a precedent for instructors to gain this permission? As opposed to the institution as a whole. </p></li>
<li><p>Would a blanket statement applying to all assignments work, or should it be for each individual assignment? </p></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Edited to clarify:</strong> I'm interested in both positive and negative examples. Perhaps more so negative ones since the errors produced by international student populations would be more authentic and difficult for me, a native speaker, to reproduce. </p>
<p>I also have no intention of publishing them outside of classroom materials. Anonymous Mathematician made an excellent point that withdrawal of permission would be impossible if I did this. The only foreseeable publishing I can imagine would be as a course pack or teacher's guide given to the institution or other teachers, but I would still want to ask for additional permissions to do this.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34890,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Good question! </p>\n\n<p>I ask students individually by e-mail if I can use their essays as examples for future classes. Almost always they are thrilled and happy. Then again, I only ask people who serve as positive examples. But I think if you explained to an ESL student that they have the bones of a good essay and that you would like to use it as a sample essay for future students to work on to help improve, I think they would be similarly pleased.</p>\n\n<p>This would be more problematic if I wanted to use the examples in a textbook, used negative examples, or if I posted essays publicly on the internet. Then I might want a stronger version of a copyright waiver, such as what your previous school uses. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34892,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm not a lawyer and can't address the legalities, especially for students with a weak grasp of English. I'd imagine it would be best to write a clear, straightforward permission form that gives some explicit examples of what you have in mind in addition to an overall statement. I'd recommend the following principles as well:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Students should be assured that they don't need to agree to this and can withdraw their consent at any time in the future by getting in touch with you. (The main drawback I see to this is that you wouldn't be able to use their work in published teaching materials, since that wouldn't be compatible with withdrawing consent in the future. However, if you have in mind large-scale public distribution or anything that hints of profit, you should really make this explicit anyway.)</p></li>\n<li><p>To avoid the appearance of coercion, it's best not to ask the students until after the course is over. That way, they won't worry that their decision could affect their grade.</p></li>\n<li><p>I'd mention this in advance to your department chair in e-mail, not necessarily to ask permission but just to make sure he/she is aware of it. That way you'll find out quickly if the chair considers it a problem, and you'll have the e-mail as documentation if you run into any difficulties later. (Adjunct positions can be precarious enough that it's not worth taking unnecessary risks.)</p></li>\n<li><p>If you request permission for a small number of carefully chosen essays, you can explain to the authors why each one would be a useful teaching tool. That would likely get a better response than just asking for blanket permission, although it would be more work and cut down on your flexibility.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35111,
"author": "Aubrey",
"author_id": 26682,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26682",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A technical but not legal suggestion (as I'm not a lawyer). \nYou <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/choose/\" rel=\"nofollow\">can choose a license from Creative Commons</a> and ask your students to release their work in such a license. </p>\n\n<p>Given your needs, you could have something like a <strong><a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/\" rel=\"nofollow\">CC-BY-SA</a></strong> or <strong><a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/\" rel=\"nofollow\">CC-BY-NC-SA</a></strong>.</p>\n\n<p>Pros: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>these licenses are internationally recognized</li>\n<li>there are many translations (so you can actually let the student understand the terms of the license)</li>\n<li>you would be given the right to modify the text, print it, share it. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>You would have though to release <em>your</em> material with the same license (and I see as a feature, not a bug, but that is a personal opinion): often this is seen as a limitation if you want to <em>publish</em> something, but as long as you don't want to incorporate these excerpts outside classroom materials it's not your problem.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34889",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27095/"
] |
34,893 |
<p>I am currently writing a book in mathematics. I have written a few pages and often stumble upon the question "is this good pedagogy" or is this "good typography". The chances of my work getting published is slim, but I am using it for a personal collection of notes and ideas in addition to learning writing a longer text. Below is an excerpt from my notes</p>
<p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/TVAmg.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>
<p>An older version of my notes can be found <a href="http://folk.ntnu.no/oistes/Diverse/Integral%20Kokeboken.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>.As now the notes are dividied into a somewhat strict pattern with lemmas, propositions, corollary with theorems reserved for the main purpose of each section. I have a ton of questions about layout, design how formal to be in my writing, and how spiced up I should make the text. I see modern calculus books like to divide the text into blocks (a different color for theorems, proofs etc) while published articles tend to keep a much more minimalistic presence. I just do not know if I am on a good path, or if I need to do some fundamental changes. </p>
<p>To summarize </p>
<ul>
<li><p>What are the do's and dont when writing longer notes (mainly aimed at undergrads). </p></li>
<li><p>Are there any books or literature on writing longer academic texts? </p></li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34895,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are many books and online resources on mathematical writing. These range from style guides that deal with issues from type setting to copy editing to books that talk about mathematical writing at a somewhat higher level. Here are a few of my favorite sources:</p>\n\n<p>Nicholas J. Higham. Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences. SIAM 1998. <a href=\"http://www.worldcat.org/title/handbook-of-writing-for-the-mathematical-sciences/oclc/697886419\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.worldcat.org/title/handbook-of-writing-for-the-mathematical-sciences/oclc/697886419</a></p>\n\n<p>Steven G. Krantz. A primer of mathematical writing : being a disquisition on having your ideas recorded, typeset, published, read, and appreciated. American Mathematical Society, 1997. <a href=\"http://www.worldcat.org/title/primer-of-mathematical-writing-being-a-disquisition-on-having-your-ideas-recorded-typeset-published-read-and-appreciated/oclc/797735421\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.worldcat.org/title/primer-of-mathematical-writing-being-a-disquisition-on-having-your-ideas-recorded-typeset-published-read-and-appreciated/oclc/797735421</a></p>\n\n<p>SIAM Style Manual for Journals and Books. <a href=\"http://www.siam.org/journals/pdf/stylemanual.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.siam.org/journals/pdf/stylemanual.pdf</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34896,
"author": "Christian Clason",
"author_id": 13852,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13852",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general, my advice would be </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>look at other books or lecture notes and copy the things you like, change the things you don't;</li>\n<li>get feedback from your target audience;</li>\n<li>don't overthink it for your first draft: you can (and likely will have to) edit it multiple times anyway.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>But mostly I want to recommend Paul Halmos classical essay, <a href=\"http://retro.seals.ch/cntmng;jsessionid=5D10D817325382AB2D2EB6EEF8E7A93A?type=pdf&rid=ensmat-001:1970:16::59&subp=hires\" rel=\"nofollow\">How to write mathematics</a>, L’Enseignement Mathématique, Vol.16 (1970).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34893",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15597/"
] |
34,899 |
<p>If you are seeking an engineering job, do employers care about which university you attended? Do they look at your grades, or bias their decision based on the college's reputation? There are stories of Ivy League graduates struggling to find employment, while another person at a small, virtually unheard-of college grabbing that opportunity. So if you are attending a prestigious school, and your grades are lower than someone who is attending a small, high-school-like school, how will that affect your employment opportunities?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34902,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As much as we'd like it not to matter, many large employers <em>do</em> have \"preferred\" schools, whose graduates don't have to go through as much scrutiny. </p>\n\n<p>That said, the effect is diminished when you're applying to smaller firms, where there are less layers of HR involved in the hiring process.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34906,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many firms tend to prefer certain schools -- drawing exclusively from CalTech or from MIT, etc. Some hiring managers tend to feel that this builds coherence and loyalty within the engineering ranks. </p>\n\n<p>(Heavens forbid that you put an MIT engineer with a Caltech engineer on the same team unless you want to have them compete against each other.)</p>\n\n<p>Some hiring managers have intense loyalty towards their own school and want to promote their own. </p>\n\n<p>Others simply choose the best available in a specific domain. </p>\n\n<p>It all boils down to the hiring philosophy of the company. </p>\n\n<p>My own advice is that you should choose the program that you feel has the best fit with your interests. There's no point in going into a 'good' program if it's weak in your own area of study. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34911,
"author": "Mad Jack",
"author_id": 11192,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11192",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>If you are seeking an engineering job, do employers care about which university you attended? Do they look at your grades, or bias their decision based on the college's reputation?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you have a solid foundation in the skills that matter for your engineering discipline/sub-field, and can convey that to recruiters in a phone/on-site/on-campus interview, then I would say that to a first-order where you did your degree does not matter <em>so long as you can get the recruiter's attention.</em></p>\n\n<p>Getting the recruiter's attention is the trickier part for those coming from lesser-known schools. For example, at the engineering schools I'm familiar with, new grads can find a lot of good fresh-out career opportunities by attending on-campus engineering career fairs and the like. The downside of attending a lesser-known engineering school is that they may not have a decent attendance of engineering companies that come to the campus for recruiting purposes in the first place. This puts the burden on the student in getting a recruiter's attention. </p>\n\n<p>Engineering students (and students in other fields, I'm sure) from any institution can greatly benefit from networking with peers at other institutions and those already in industry. For those from lesser-known institutions, networking can be an invaluable tool for opening doors to career opportunities. Also, while obtaining an internship may be equally as difficult as obtaining a full-time position for those from lesser-known schools, participating in several internships along the way to obtaining your degree if at all possible (and performing the duties of the position well) would really go a long way to improving your chances of success.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34913,
"author": "Cort Ammon",
"author_id": 25234,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25234",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Does it matter: yes.</strong> Everything matters. Next question please! Upvote at your leasure!</p>\n\n<p>The question you should ask is <strong>\"How much does it matter?\"</strong></p>\n\n<p>The answer really depends on how well you know your field. A brand-name school is most likely to help you get through an initial screening, but unlikely to land you the job. If you're on the fence, technically, and you need a large number of interviews to land the job, a brand-name school may be the ticket you need. On the other hand, if you actually know your stuff, you won't be so dependent on \"good luck\" in the interview, and you can afford to get missed in the screening once or twice... all you need is one interview and you're set!</p>\n\n<p>Alternatively if your activities stand out, you wont need the brand-name school to sell your way past the screening process -- what you've done will speak more than your alma mater.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34927,
"author": "Wan",
"author_id": 27123,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27123",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Traditionally, yes but more and more companies are beginning to move past that. Government jobs however are different. They would select based on school and also background.</p>\n\n<p>But, anyone who has worked in a diverse environment would know all that very surface level. Engineering is all about finding solutions to problems. It always depends on the company's business model, hiring policies, alliances and other factors. It is not as clear cut as school where an A is an A regardless of the person getting it.</p>\n\n<p>The whole \"go to a good a school, graduate and get a good job\" line is very misleading. It might work out for a lot of people (especially back then when a select few go to college) but do not depend on it to work out for you (unless daddy's the boss, then why are we even discussing this). Depend on yourself first and keep at it till it does work out. It sucks but you will be able appreciate every bit of it much better than you struck gold at first strike.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34899",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26632/"
] |
34,900 |
<p>I have to cite a multi-chapter report. Every chapter has different authors. Should I cite with the name of the main author and then the specific chapter? Or should I use the first author of the chapter I am citing?</p>
<p>If the main author is Smith but Jeff is the author of a chapter where Smith is not in the authors’ list, should I cite with “(Smith et. al 2000, Ch 6)” or “(Jeff et. al 2000)” and then add a citation for each chapter in the cited literature section?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34908,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>should I cite with <strong>(Smith et. al 2000, ch 6)</strong> or <strong>(Jeff et. al 2000)</strong> and then add a citation for each chapter in the cited literature section?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I've checked <em>The Chicago Manual of Style</em> and the <em>New Oxford Style Manual</em> and it seems that the second style is preferable. I don't know if there is a standard way to abbreviate if one has to cite many different chapters.</p>\n\n<p>However, if you're writing for a journal, there might be a preferred style, which can be described in the journal style guide or applied directly by the typesetter. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34932,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Remember that the reference in the text is \"only\" a flag to enable the reader to find the important information, the reference, in your reference list. With the \"author-year\" form the in text information provides a knowledgeable reader with a flag that can make the reference known without looking into the reference list but in a system where references are provided with only numbers (Vancouver style). So the important information is in the reference list.</p>\n\n<p>With that background, it is clear that referencing the authors of the chapters is the way to go. If no clear author exists for chapter the compilation or book editor can be referenced but adding the specific chapter number in the reference (assuming the chapter IS numbered). There is no major point in adding the chapter number to a reference pointing to a chapter given by its author. All such information will be given in the references. Even if more than one chapter has been written by a specific author (team) you can still provide only the usual \"author-year\" but label the references, for example, (Smith et. al 2000a), (Smith et. al 2000b) etc. All will be explained in the reference list. </p>\n\n<p>So as a conclusion, use references as if the chapters where articles in a journal but be careful by providing all necessary information about full publication information of the chapter (number and name of chapter) as well as book editor, title, publisher etc. in the reference list. Please refer to journal instructions (equiv.) for details.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34935,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If authors are identified for the chapters, then this document is best treated as an edited collection. In this case, the chapter authors are the author and the chapter title the title. The overall report title is then the collection title (filling a similar role to journal title) and the \"main\" authors the editors.</p>\n\n<p>The exact details of how this is formatted depend on the style where you are submitting, but if any names are appearing in the main text, they are of the chapter authors.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34943,
"author": "J. Zimmerman",
"author_id": 7921,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7921",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In your example, you are citing the <strong>chapter</strong> author's work, not the work of the compiler/editor of the book as a whole. According to the APA <em>Publication Manual</em>, use the following reference format for this situation. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Author, A.A. (1967) Title of chapter or entry. In A. Editor & B. Editor (Eds.), <em>Title of book</em> (pp. xxx-xxx). Location: Publisher </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Of course, your intext citation would reference the chapter author too, not the book author/editor. The same general format holds for other reference styles as well. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34900",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4050/"
] |
34,901 |
<p>there are similar questions on how to list on CV publications that have not passed the accepted or in press stage when applying to junior research positions ( PhD/postdoc).</p>
<p>I am not clear if such publications should include the journal name or not, and what would be the reason for either choice.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34903,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would definitely include publication titles for \"in press\" articles, since they've already been accepted (and you could provide the confirmation email if asked to do so!).</p>\n\n<p>As for \"under review\" articles, I would only list them in the CV at all:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>If I were a graduate student or postdoc</li>\n<li>If I needed to demonstrate that the articles were under review (internal performance reviews, etc.)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In both instances, I would also include the journal name.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34904,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Everyone I know feels that \"accepted / in press\" is just as good as appeared: the delay between acceptance and publication has nothing (or anyway, too little) to do with you. You should certainly list them on your CV, no matter who you are. I don't even list these as in a different category as the ones which have already been published: the only difference is that (roughly speaking; electronic publication and DOIs complicates this somewhat) I can't tell you the bibliographic information if it hasn't appeared. I think it is very important not to list a paper as accepted without listing the journal, because therein lies the route to verifiability that your paper has been accepted.</p>\n\n<p>In my opinion, you should list submitted articles on your CV no matter who you are. (I would be interested to hear why @aeismail feels differently about this.) This advice comes from someone who works in a field (mathematics) for which recently submitted articles ought to be freely available: if you want to get credit for having submitted an article, then whoever you are trying to get credit from ought to be able to see the article. Ideally they don't have to ask for it specifically (because maybe they won't), so you should include a weblink to submitted papers on your CV. (This last part is more for people who are in a potential-hire situation...which is not restricted to grad students and postdocs. Nowadays, lots of academics are in a potential-hire situation or would like to be.) </p>\n\n<p>In mathematics, each paper takes a long time: the period between when you say \"Aha, I can prove the theorem\" -- and e.g. start to give talks about it -- and the period which it gets accepted is probably over a year in many cases, and closer to two for serious, important work in many cases. Who is reading this part of your CV and isn't interested in what you've been working hard on for the last year or two?!? </p>\n\n<p>Whether to list the journal submitted to is a well known question mark. I do not put this information on \"external\" documents -- i.e., the CV and the publication list which are on my professional website. I do usually list it on \"internal\" documents -- annual reviews, grant applications, job applications (well, it's been a little while). There are a lot of nuances here: one is that it is really hard to know how much credit to give someone for <em>submitting</em> a paper to journal X. After all, anyone can submit a paper to the most prestigious journal in their discipline, and in many cases they will spend a nontrivial amount of time before rejecting you. So you want to be careful about this. Nevertheless, where you submitted a paper is an important piece of information about how you feel about the paper, which is worth including in various cases (e.g. grant applications, where the panel will be suitably skeptical). Another issue is that one commonly submits to more than one journal (not at the same time, but in sequence) so the information about where you submitted a paper is likely go out of date, so is less suitable for a sporadically updated CV and more suitable for a CV guaranteed to be complete up to such-and-such a date. </p>\n\n<p>Note also that in my discipline, many people -- especially young people but not always -- also include papers which are \"in preparation\" on their CVs. This is, frankly, a little shaky: I have papers on my own CV which have been \"in preparation\" for getting on a decade. But the above philosophy still applies: if you've been working on something for five years and you're 75% done, then shouldn't you say something about it? </p>\n\n<p>One last piece of advice: it behooves you to make absolutely clear <em>the distinction between</em> all these categories. I get annoyed as a hirer when people use categories that don't fit easily into any of these boxes: e.g. some job candidates list papers as <strong>provisionally accepted</strong>, <strong>conditionally accepted</strong>, or <strong>accepted pending revision</strong>. What a hiring committee litmus test that becomes: their proponents will insist that these be counted as actual publications, their detractors will insist that they don't count as any more than submitted, and people in between will get a headache. </p>\n\n<p>(I don't mean to imply that it's necessarily the candidate's fault. Sometimes the journal tells me that my paper has been provisionally accepted, and when I need to create a CV for a grant application that gives me the very same headache: please give me a paper status that has a clear, unambiguous meaning! They do enjoy their little games, the journals...)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34914,
"author": "o4tlulz",
"author_id": 6978,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6978",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>An accepted article is as good as a published article and you should include it in your CV / Resume. As pagination - issues etc are not yet final, including a <a href=\"http://www.doi.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">DOI</a> with the details of the articles is good practice. You should also try to publish pre-print versions of these articles if your publisher allows that to get some further exposure. </p>\n\n<p>In my area (Electrical Engineering), a submitted article does not mean much. It takes almost no effort to prepare a couple of articles and submit them to even the highest ranking journals for review, only to have them rejected a few months later. In many cases, it is seen as an effort to fluff publication records. If the manuscript has been through the first or second stage of reviews and you need to show some more publications (and honestly who doesn't?) then you can include them but the distinction that the paper has been through some stages of review, together with the name of the journal, should be clear. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34901",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4050/"
] |
34,912 |
<p>I did my undergraduate and graduate degrees at a university that includes course evaluations as part of the transcript. My evaluations from my professors and instructors generally are good to excellent. </p>
<p>I am applying for jobs right now, and some ask for graduate and undergraduate transcripts. I can order two kinds of transcripts, one with evaluations, and one without. </p>
<p><strong>Would it be beneficial for me to include my evaluations with the transcripts in my job applications materials?</strong></p>
<p>It would be attached in the same file as my transcript, not attached as a separate file.</p>
<p>For reference, my undergrad/grad transcripts with grades and records is composed of four pages. The evaluations are an extra 14 pages.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34916,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If your course evaluations range from good to excellent and there is nothing harmful in them, including them can only be helpful.</p>\n\n<p>In the worst (and probably more likely case) people will simply not read the additional 10 pages of transcript. This is, of course, exactly where you would be if you didn't send them in the first place.</p>\n\n<p>A thick application file is not a problem. Just remember that it falls on you to help narrate and explain what you include. For example, if there are a few choice quotes from the evaluations, you might want to call those out in your application front-matter.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34918,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I assume that by course evaluations, this is a narrative <strong>faculty evaluation of your performance in a class that you are taking</strong> -- and not the case where you are TAing or teaching a course and your students are evaluating you. </p>\n\n<p>You can include it but undergraduate and graduate grades are very peripheral to most academic job applications -- except for entry level and post-docs when we have little else to evaluate you by. Even then, their use is fairly deprecated. You're not going to be <em>taking</em> classes, you're going to be <em>teaching them</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Include them just to be complete.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 177003,
"author": "fectin",
"author_id": 73396,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73396",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>It won't make any difference.</h2>\n<p>No-one outside of HR will look at your transcripts at all, and HR will only look for whatever hard qualifications the job requires: bachelors/masters/PhD, what field it's in, very rarely even that you have specific coursework. It's possible that they will check your GPA if there's some recruitment incentive tied to it.</p>\n<p>No-one will read your evaluations. That may feel like a waste, since it took up a good chunk of your life, but your transcript's contents really just don't matter outside academia. It's very important that you <em>have</em> a transcript, but in practice it acts like an especially elaborate version of a diploma.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34912",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22503/"
] |
34,919 |
<p>I could not find a PhD advisor and the person in charge of my PhD program suggested that I leave with a master's degree. He said that I was good at carrying out tasks but I did not have the motivation to advance the state of the art in my field. Some time later I found an advisor in a different department, and he seems to like me. But I still cannot get over what the graduate coordinator said, and now I hate visiting the building because I feel I do not belong and I don't want to talk to anyone I know. What should I do?</p>
<p>After I found an advisor the graduate coordinator said something like "I knew you had it in you, I just wanted to see how much you wanted it." But I don't know if he really means it, and if he did, I think that's kind of a mean thing to do.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34920,
"author": "Orion",
"author_id": 19732,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19732",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You mentioned that your new advisor is in a new department. So, can you cut the losses with the old department? </p>\n\n<p>But, although the comment stings, and your feelings are understandable, being able to handle it is part of completing Ph.D. To complete a Ph.D., you need (within a reason) to go against the grain, latch onto something, not listen when you are told it can't be done, and pursue it against the odds. In the process you grow a thicker skin and not let doubtful comments get and define you. </p>\n\n<p>So, it is possible that your advisor meant to test you, and see how determined you are to continue the process. I am not saying that it is the best approach, but I have seen this happen.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34922,
"author": "fedja",
"author_id": 6118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6118",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, all you can really do is to clench your teeth and work. It may take a few months to a few years before you get to the point when you'll be certain that you are worth something and then a few more years before you finally realize that your brain is ridiculously slow, blind, and malfunctioning and you slide into the normal stable depression state any working mathematician lives in (I'm not so sure about other sciences but do not see why it should be any different there) :-). </p>\n\n<p>The point is that what people see is what you produce: above a certain level, you are judged by your output, not by your working habits and other \"test\" criteria. On the other hand, above the same level, you spend the rest of your life walking a narrow path between being dissatisfied with yourself to the extent of quitting and being not enough dissatisfied with yourself to strive for improvement. You just have veered too much to the left, that's all. </p>\n\n<p>As to the graduate coordinator, the second phrase puzzles me way more than the first (the first one makes sense and I can easily say it myself when I see that the things just do not work out after a few years, the second one looks more like a lame excuse for saying the first). Well, who cares? If you can do something, you'll see it yourself. If not, some other people will take care of showing it to you.</p>\n\n<p>As to the feeling of \"not belonging\", the internet won't help here. Either talk to your psychiatrist (if you believe in psychiatry), of just take time out and do some physical activities on fresh air. </p>\n\n<p>Above all, remember that we have all been there at the beginning of our careers: stupid worthless students struggling with the most routine homework and learning that the first problem of solving which they were proud was actually put on the test just to console those who cannot figure out anything interesting. </p>\n\n<p>So, veer a bit to the right (not too much though) and continue walking forward (and, of course, as it was said in the final song of Monty Python's \"Life of Brian\", always look at the bright side of life...)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34942,
"author": "Scott Seidman",
"author_id": 20457,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20457",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In many departments, the ability to match up to a source of funding is a <em>de facto</em> qualifying exam. If no adviser is stipending you, and the department needs to cover your stipend, you are a burden on the department. In current funding environments, departments often need that money for other things -- especially carrying faculty salary during funding lapses.</p>\n\n<p>This creates a funny situation for students who can't find an adviser. They haven't failed a formal qualifier. Is there something \"wrong\" about the student such that no adviser accepted them? Maybe, maybe not. Could be the research interests didn't match up. Programs do their best to try to match the research areas of accepted students to those of faculty who can support students-- but sometimes they miss. Could just also be that such a student isn't the best student, and that potential advisers feel that there will be too much work in dragging them through to a degree. Could also just be that there were better students in the group who attracted the offers from advisers, and no one with funding was left to pick them up.</p>\n\n<p>In any case, I recommend trying to be a little introspective about how you could have made yourself even more appealing to potential advisers such that you could have paired up earlier. In the career path you've chosen, you'll perpetually be selling yourself. Use this as an opportunity to figure out how to sell yourself better. If you want to feel more welcome, publish as much as you can, and early. Apply for every funding opportunity you can reasonably apply for. Take your teaching responsibilities seriously. Show your department that you're the opposite of a burden.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34919",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27109/"
] |
34,923 |
<p>I am part of the organizing committee for a workshop in a STEM field that historically has problems with underrepresentation of women (and other groups, but let me focus on women in this question). I would like to help foster an inclusive environment at the workshop and more generally in my department and am looking for suggestions for how to proceed. </p>
<p>The topic of the workshop is slightly out of my field of expertise and I do not have a long list of qualified speakers (of any gender) that I can offer suggestions from. </p>
<p>I suspect that the senior member of the committee will take the attitude that he is "gender blind" and chooses speakers to invite based only on their quality but that because of implicit biases, the invitee list he draws up will be something like 90% male. I do not think he will be particularly open to a direct conversation about gender and underrepresentation.</p>
<p>I saw <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21117/">this question</a> which was asking <em>whether</em> preferential invitation of female speakers is normal; I am instead asking <em>how</em> to foster diversity (perhaps by preferential invitation or by other means).</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34926,
"author": "Jessica B",
"author_id": 20036,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20036",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This idea is based purely on my own experience:</p>\n\n<p>As a young researcher, cost is a reasonably significant factor in deciding whether to attend a conference. In some settings the cost can be reduced if you can find someone to share a hotel room with. Finding such a person though can be difficult, particularly if there is no public list of who is attending the conference and your gender is under-represented. I think it might be helpful if the registration form had an option along the lines of 'I would like to be put in touch with people who might be interested in sharing a room' (with appropriate follow-through, of course).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34956,
"author": "Tom Church",
"author_id": 563,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/563",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Aimed at a different point in the pipeline, you can try to make it more possible for speakers to accept your invitation. One step that can make a huge difference for certain people (in many cases, converting a 100% impossibility into an acceptance) is to provide resources for <strong>childcare at or near the conference</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>For some ideas about specific steps you can take, Matilde Lalin recently wrote <a href=\"http://terrytao.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/matilde-lalin-attending-conferences-with-small-children/\">a nice overview</a> of different ways conferences can and do support attendees traveling with children (published on Terry Tao's blog).</p>\n\n<p>One that's not mentioned there is to allow attendees to purchase a hotel room in the conference-reserved block for a nanny. I know that the <a href=\"http://aimath.org/\">American Institute of Mathematics</a> does this, and it can make the difference if the only other option would put the nanny somewhere far from the conference. </p>\n\n<p>Depending on the size of your conference, this needn't necessarily mean that you subsidize or even organize the childcare; it can help even just to put attendees in touch with local daycares/nannies/babysitters, or provide other information. However unless your conference is very small, I hope you'll give thought to implementing some of the other steps that Lalin outlines.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Added February 2015:</p>\n\n<p>Greg Martin has written an excellent paper <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/abs/1502.06326\">\"Addressing the underrepresentation of women in mathematics conferences\"</a> that addresses exactly this question, which is simultaneously scholarly and actionable. In particular, in Section 4 (pp 17-21) he gives <strong>thirty-eight</strong> concrete suggestions that organizers can follow. Not all of them will be applicable in a given situation (including that of the original question here), but many will be.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 100272,
"author": "Noah Snyder",
"author_id": 25,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One helpful thing is to find lists of women in the relevant field to look through to find potential participants to invite to speak. For example, in Number Theory you can look at the list of participants in the <a href=\"https://womeninnumbertheory.org/win-4-2017/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Women in Number Theory conferences</a>. Not every field has such easy sources of lists, but there are a lot of them out there, and it can help to find speakers whose research interests you but who you hadn't met before or otherwise didn't come immediately to mind. Similarly, social networks being what they are, having women co-organizers of the conference can also be quite helpful in brainstorming great women speakers who you might not have thought of on your own.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 100281,
"author": "Anna SdTC",
"author_id": 69614,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/69614",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First of all, the suggestion of making sure there is childcare and it is possible for everyone to attend the conference is very valid and relevant.</p>\n\n<p>Second, is there more than one person in the committee who can suggest experts in the field? If you suspect that the most senior person will claim to be \"gender blind\" while not being so, can you involve more than one person in the selection process? Not only this is good to mitigate everyone's potential biases, but it's good too because more people can have potentially more connections. Hence, the more people you involve in the selection committee, the longer list of experts you can reach, and therefore you can possibly aim for a higher quality of speakers. If only one person makes the selection, this person will likely overly represent their collaborators, coauthors, friends and the people they are more connected too, while forgetting about other experts that they may not know as well or not know at all.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34923",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27118/"
] |
34,924 |
<p>I'm writing an essay, and want to know the promotion rate and average duration from assistant professor to associate professor and associate professor to professor in recent years. Sadly I don't know the data for the US. Could anyone tell me?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34925,
"author": "Dan Fox",
"author_id": 4189,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4189",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The US National Science Foundation collects a lot of data from surveys of recent doctoral recipients that it publishes on this <a href=\"http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/publication-series.cfm?seriesId=13\">web page</a>. The precise thing you are looking for (tenure success rate) does not seem to appear, but there is a lot of relevant information. Specific professional societies collect similar information. For instance, the American Mathematical Society publishes an <a href=\"http://www.ams.org/profession/data/annual-survey/survey-reports\">annual survey</a> of information on recent doctoral recipients; it includes data about the salaries and employment situation of recent doctoral recipients in the mathematical sciences.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 43544,
"author": "Kimball",
"author_id": 19607,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19607",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, I'm sure this is too late for the essay, but I happened to come across some (old) <a href=\"https://www.aamc.org/download/121130/data/aibvol9_no7.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">data for US medical school faculty from the AAMC</a>. They look at average number of years to promotion and percentage of faculty promoted within a ten-year period, both from assistant to associate, and associate to full, broken down into various categories (gender, degree earned, whiteness, clinical vs theory, etc).</p>\n\n<p>The 10-year promotion rates, both to associate and full, are generally in the 30-50% range, and for those specifically in tenure-track positions, around 50%.</p>\n\n<p>I suspect the numbers would be higher for Arts & Sciences or Engineering faculty.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34924",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27117/"
] |
34,929 |
<p>I am applying for a lecturer position at a university, and one of the application materials is a publication list.</p>
<p>I am a graduate student in my last year of PhD, and I plan on focusing my job search on teaching positions. I currently have no publications, nor will I have any anytime soon.</p>
<p>It looks like on the application, I have to upload something in order to submit it. <strong>What do I upload if I have no publications?</strong></p>
<p>I was considering just a page that says "no publications" but I thought I would check here before I make a move.</p>
<p>For context, I am a student in mathematics. I have been told that it is not unusual to have no publications as a math PhD student.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34930,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If you do not have publications (including papers \"in press\") then the publications list can be left empty. If you have papers. You can, however add headings for publications \"under review\", if you have any or \"manuscripts in preparation\", again, if you have any. You may also have unpublished reports of different types. Such contributions can also be listed under a separate heading. What can be included is difficult to say but in my case, I used to include annual reports I had to write to a super-computer center and a research station, both which were collated with others and printed by the organising body. So any report sitting in a drawer is not valid. </p>\n\n<p>Obviously the a \"manuscript in preparation\" will not be very strong but it will at least indicate that something is ongoing. But, note that a manuscript in preparation should be something worth reading to make it to such a list. In a situation like yours any written material prepared for some official body and with some distribution, can be used to indicate your activities. There is a grey zone which is undefinable (which is why one generally avoids such listings later in the career), so do not put in anything. In short, you need to be able to show these \"claims\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34931,
"author": "BiA",
"author_id": 22989,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22989",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some online application tools are not considering the possibility that you have no publication record. Your idea is ok OP, I would do the same if I was in your position. An empty page is not good since the potential employer can think of a wrong application and dismiss it.</p>\n\n<p>Anyway let me say that you should have some publication to apply to a university position, the suggestion of Peter Jansson are good. Try to follow them.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34944,
"author": "Ethan Bolker",
"author_id": 7018,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7018",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think your <em>cover letter</em> is one of the most important parts of your job application. It's what I always read first when recruiting. In it you can describe - in a nonapologetic way - why you will be good for this particular institution (presumably with its focus on teaching). Since you are getting a PhD you can legitimately say that you know what mathematical research calls for, perhaps that you enjoy it, even if you don't see much cutting edge publication in your professional future. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34929",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22503/"
] |
34,933 |
<p>For reference, I am a woman of color in mathematics and I am applying for academic jobs.</p>
<p>I noticed that many of these applications say something like "Women (and other underrepresented groups) are encouraged to apply," or "We especially welcome applications from minority groups, women, persons with disabilities,..."</p>
<p>Yet there is also a non-discrimination clause saying " All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, etc. ..."</p>
<p><strong>Is preference actually given to these underrepresented groups? What impact does knowledge of the underrepresented group the applicant is a part of have in the reviewing process?</strong></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34936,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think this depends on the policies at the individual institutions. </p>\n\n<p>For instance, here in Germany, I believe that institutions are required to ensure that their search committees have, where possible, female faculty members on the committee, as well as representatives from the human resources department to ensure that qualified female candidates are not excluded on flimsy grounds. I have also heard of searches where the faculty especially recruited female candidates to apply. (The recruiters are not the same faculty as on the search committee, reducing conflict of interest issues.)</p>\n\n<p>However, in the US, I think the issue is more to ensure that candidates of all backgrounds apply (through job fairs at conferences, targeted advertising, and so on), and ensuring that all candidates are treated equally during search committee deliberations, rather than biasing the choice toward members of underrepresented groups.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34938,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>While I am in a corporate position, our process has some similarity, and I also discuss these issues frequently with colleagues in more traditional academia.</p>\n\n<p>What I have observed is that at the level of faculty or other primary investigator hiring, direct comparison of candidates is almost always impossible: it is always apples vs. oranges because every candidate is qualitatively different in what they bring to offer the department. Thus there is no opportunity for a simple positive discrimination like \"given two equally qualified candidates, pick the underprivileged one.\"</p>\n\n<p>Instead, any strong candidate will have an advocating faction whose interests they would support, and opposition from another faction whose interests would be better supported by a different candidate. These pragmatic interests are likely to dominate over diversity considerations in the final decision in many cases.</p>\n\n<p>Where diversity considerations are more likely to factor into the process is earlier on, when candidates for interview are being selected. Here, demographic information can be used so that a group can notice, \"Hey, we're only planning to invite white males... maybe we are being biased in our evaluation and should look deeper into the candidate pool.\" It probably still isn't enough to make up for the implicit negatives, however.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34933",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22503/"
] |
34,947 |
<p>I have two papers presented at state and national level conferences. These conference proceedings were not published in any journal. Now, should I list these papers in my list of publications or not?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34948,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>These conference proceedings were not published in any journal.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Were they published at all? If there were no proceedings, then they don't count as publications, because nothing was actually published. (You could still list them as talks rather than publications.) If there were official proceedings in which other people can read and cite the paper (not just an abstract) even after the conference is over, then it's a form of publication, regardless of whether the proceedings appeared in a journal or as a stand-alone volume.</p>\n\n<p>There may be other considerations you should take into account when including this material in your CV. For example, were the papers peer reviewed? Does your field consider them to be archival publications? However, these are more of an issue of how meaningful the publications are, rather than whether they count as publications in the first place.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34949,
"author": "Makenna",
"author_id": 27133,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27133",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Depends a little on your field. What do other people in your field do? </p>\n\n<p>But maybe list it as a presentation rather than a publication. </p>\n\n<p>Because in some fields, conference handouts are freely available on the personal websites of the presenters and it's totally acceptable to cite other people's conference handouts. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34947",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12880/"
] |
34,950 |
<p>Is it OK to put my non English internal conference or journal paper on my social media profiles such as Google Scholar, Academia, Research Gate, etc? and also, should I translate their title and other information into English?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34952,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is your work, you can of course take credit for it. Translating it will help the international audience to get a feeling of what you do; nevertheless, in the interest of archiving, you should keep the original title next to it. In case it is not clear, indicate that the original paper was in another language.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34953,
"author": "Aubrey",
"author_id": 26682,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26682",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Yes, it is. English is a <em>lingua franca</em>, but that doesn't mean that all scholarly literature <strong>must</strong> be in English. Make sure your paper is in a institutional or disciplinary repository, if you like the idea of your paper to be <em>open access</em>. Translate it, as Davidmh suggests, to make it even more available. </p>\n\n<p>Regarding indexing in Google Scholar, that depends by the site you archive your paper into. You can make <a href=\"http://scholar.google.it/intl/en/scholar/inclusion.html#indexing\">some arrangements to be indexed</a>, but in my experience even if you suggest resources to GS you cannot be sure you'll be. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/29
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34950",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19761/"
] |
34,959 |
<p>Given that undergraduate projects and publications can be of a lesser quality than later works, some may be discouraged from adding them to their CV. On the other hand, perhaps a CV should simply be a raw record of your work, good, bad, and middling.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34960,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your publications are your publications, and unless they have been retracted, you should list them all on your CV. It is up to the reader how to interpret your undergraduate work, and you have minimal control of that in the rather raw format of a CV, whether or not you list them. But consider: if you do list them, then your degree history makes it clear they are from undergrad and to be judged accordingly. If you do not list them, however, then the reader may easily come across them anyway online and be left to wonder what awful shame you are attempting to hide.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34962,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As jakebeal said, you don't really have a choice. A CV is supposed to contain a complete list of your publications, end of story.</p>\n\n<p>But I don't think you need worry. Nobody expects your first papers to represent the best work of your career. If you are early in your career (e.g. undergrad or grad student), it is much better to have some papers on your CV, whatever their quality, instead of none. And if you are later in your career, nobody will pay much attention to your earliest work. You might be judged based on your best papers, or your latest papers, or your total number of papers, but not on your first papers.</p>\n\n<p>As to your enumerated concerns: </p>\n\n<p>(A) There's nothing wrong with that. If you do any amount of collaboration in your career (and you should), you will be a coauthor on papers where the main idea came from someone else. That's fine, as long as there are also some where the main ideas are yours. (If you have great ideas, wouldn't you want other talented people to be willing to help bring them to completion? So you should be willing to do likewise, within reason.) </p>\n\n<p>(B) Nobody writes exclusively great papers; every CV has papers that are not so good. Good papers get noticed, not-so-good papers (unless they are plagiarized or egregiously substandard) just get ignored. Mediocre papers don't directly hurt you, they simply don't help you. So don't worry about having written papers that aren't great. </p>\n\n<p>(C) As above, the start of your publication history is not something that people care about, so there's no particular advantage in going to great lengths to ensure that your first (acknowledged) publication is super awesome. If you write that super awesome paper eventually, it will overshadow the others, and if you don't, at least you'll still have something to show.</p>\n\n<p>Note also that a common convention on a CV is to list papers in <em>reverse</em> chronological order: newest papers first, and earliest papers at the end, where nobody is likely to pay them much attention.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34968,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The general rule of thumb: List all in a reverse chronological order. (Thanks for pointing the omission)</p>\n\n<p>The answer to your question will have some subjectivity. In many cases, a person might have done some extremely novel work worthy of elaborating briefly in CV. This enhances chances to get into graduate school or jobs of his/her liking. Most of the jobs people do (from the statistical stand-point) are volunteering or 'Do-it-this-way' kind of projects.</p>\n\n<p>Even if your project/research is not a major endeavor, there is no harm in adding a piece on information. But make sure that you are not incessantly harping on it. Your CV should be a concise document which highlights your skills, interest and character. The person evaluating you should get sufficient information about you. Too much details on any one thing (about a minor project especially) tends to work against you, from my experience.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34959",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27141/"
] |
34,965 |
<p>I'm a new assistant professor in my first year of my first tenure track position. </p>
<p>For several reasons, I am seriously doubting whether my current position is a good fit and am considering applying to a couple open positions that may provide a better fit. I'm not sure whether the nature of my reasons is relevant but assume </p>
<ul>
<li><p>My reasons do not involve salary or any personal conflicts (they are more related to the teaching load, the types of classes I'd be teaching, the background of the students I'd be teaching, and the possibility of advising PhD students) </p></li>
<li><p>I have no two-body problem or moving reasons for seeking a new job (the open positions are relatively nearby)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>My question is: are there any serious problems with attempting to change tenure track positions this early? </p>
<ul>
<li><p>From the perspective of the hiring committee, will this (even with an explanation in the cover letter) raise a red flag that will cripple my candidacy? </p></li>
<li><p>If I did apply, would my current employer be justified in being upset? Is it generally considered unacceptable to leave a tenure track position this early? </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Thanks for any perspectives on this. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 36433,
"author": "Buzz",
"author_id": 27515,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27515",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you have a compelling reason to want to move, you should explain it upfront in the cover letter. How much effect it will have on your job prospects will depend a lot on the kind of institution you are applying to. If you have a strong research record and are applying to another research university, the hiring committee will probably not judge you harshly for leaving a place where you decided that you did not fit. It could still be more of an issue at a primarily teaching school, however. Some people might interpret your leaving so early as a sign that you are difficult to please or difficult to get along with.</p>\n<p>Leaving early is probably going to be a net negative for you in your job search, but having already been a tenure-track professor does have a few advantages. You should also emphasize in your letter your experience having a full-time faculty position. Even if you haven't had all the opportunities you wanted to at your current institution, play up what you have learned and accomplished in your limited time at your current job.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 36471,
"author": "A.S",
"author_id": 22447,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22447",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Before committing to leaving, it might also be beneficial to re-consider the current job situation. You mentioned the reasons for leaving are:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>more related to</p>\n \n <blockquote>\n <ul>\n <li>the teaching load, </li>\n <li>the types of classes I'd be teaching, </li>\n <li>the background of the students I'd be teaching, </li>\n <li>and the possibility of advising PhD students.</li>\n </ul>\n </blockquote>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Regardless of which aspects of each of these items you consider problematic, it appears your fundamental assumption is that <strong>all these things will be different in the new job</strong>. Until you actually do get the new job and let these four elements play out as they may, this will remain an assumption. </p>\n\n<p>Even if you believe the situation will be different based on some 'inside knowledge' at the universities/departments you are applying to, these are merely perceptions and beliefs at this point. There is simply no way of knowing what the new situation will be like until after the fact. </p>\n\n<p>In the world of tenure-track academe, these assumptions seem risky.</p>\n\n<p>Based on what I hear from peers working in the academe, and <a href=\"http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/the-implications-of-teaching-load-increases/30636\" rel=\"nofollow\">occasional reading</a>, your issues are not unique, but are endemic to the professional lives of junior faculty in the academe. </p>\n\n<p>With this in mind, the problems you are facing may be reframed as truly excellent <strong>opportunities</strong>. As the likelihood of these issues resurfacing in your career is high, what better way to prepare for this reality than wrestle with it a bit during the first years on the job? I can hardly imagine a better means of gaining invaluable experience and proficiency in dealing with these problems! </p>\n\n<p>See how you might address these issues now. Whether you succeed or not in changing some things to your liking, there will be valuable lessons learned regardless. The process of this learning might involve struggle and compromise, but the result is you will become a better-heeled junior faculty member, potentially capable of mentoring other peers on such matters or becoming (with time) a change agent after spending time in the trenches and earning credibility in these matters among your colleagues. </p>\n\n<p>These are not simple or quick lessons, but they may be things are will pay of time and again over the course of your career in the long term. After all, your initial years on the job are not an end but a means toward something even more fulfilling later, correct?</p>\n\n<p>As you see, I got stuck on your initial assumptions before even getting to the questions at hand. But I believe it is well worth to dwell some more on the reasons for leaving, prior to investigating the pros and cons of the actual decision to do so...</p>\n\n<p>What if the same issues crop up in the new job? You will be left with a strange-looking one-year-long stint in a tenure track role, stuck forever on your CV. </p>\n\n<p>The fact that neither salary nor personal conflicts with colleagues are causing any problems is also not to be taken for granted. Entering a new organization always carries risk of new \"people issues\" (conflicts related to personality aspects/working style/opinions/character/attitudes/integrity/whatever). I would count my blessings to be in a workplace where these are not major issues. Perhaps you don't even realize how lucky you are! For these reasons, I hope you might be willing to re-evaluate your current position prior to making the decision and evaluating it purely on the groups of career move timing.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Bottom line:</strong> Unless the issues you mentioned are absolutely killing you, and you just can't do it any more no matter what, then I guess there is little choice but leave. In which case the question you ask are a mute point. But if you can see some promise in that these experiences might pay off in the long term, then I would encourage you to stick it out a little longer. </p>\n\n<p>After all, what does a year after which you leave a challenging job say about your ability to persevere, adapt, and succeed despite hurdles? Not too much. On the other hand, getting a few years under your belt in less-than-ideal conditions, and potentially being on the forefront of improving the situation for yourself and your colleagues, will say a <strong>whole lot</strong> about your professional character. That is worth the time served, in my book.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 36472,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 11565,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11565",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>\"From the perspective of the hiring committee, will this (even with an explanation in the cover letter) raise a red flag that will cripple my candidacy?\"</p>\n\n<p>Probably not. It might hurt your chances somewhat, but if they would have wanted you otherwise, then they will probably still want to interview you.</p>\n\n<p>That said, remember that the job market can be a crapshoot so I wouldn't worry about this too much. Unless you are a superstar and/or a perfect match for what they are looking for, even without any \"red flags\" the most likely outcome of a small number of job applications is that you won't get any interviews. If you don't have connections at these institutions, then there are no bridges to be burned by a job application; and if you do, then an unsuccessful job application is very unlikely to burn them.</p>\n\n<p>What you should worry about is your relationship to your current department -- especially if you only make a small number of applications and are therefore unlikely to be successful. (This is not to say you shouldn't apply for other jobs if you believe they'll be a better fit.)</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34965",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27148/"
] |
34,969 |
<p>I used wrong font for my statement of purpose, rather than the one prescribed under the department’s specifications. Will this hamper my chances of admission into that university?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34971,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As far as I can tell, the reasons behind font prescriptions are usually:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>To avoid silly or unreadable fonts such as Comic Sans or blackletter fonts.</li>\n<li>To avoid biases.</li>\n<li>To be able to quickly assess the character count of a document.</li>\n<li>To prevent the circumvention of page limits or similar by using a narrow font or similar.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>(Whether one should care about character counts or page limits to the extent that the last two points matter at all is another discussion.)</p>\n\n<p>Now, the if rules were only made with these purposes in mind, they would be something like:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The statement of purpose must be set in a traditional sans-serif font such as …</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>or if the restriction is due points 3. or 4.:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The statement of purpose must be set in Arial, Helvetica, Liberation Sans, … or any metrically similar font (in 11 pt with double line spacing …)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, the people making these rules usually do not know sufficiently much about typography or are even aware of that not everybody has Arial and Times New Roman pre-installed on their computers. Similarly, some applicants may be confused by such instructions. Therefore you end up with prescriptions that just require a Arial or Times New Roman, though probably nobody really thinks that you must use those very fonts.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Thus to evaluate the impact of your font choice, you first have to find out for which reason the font prescription was made. To this purpose, ask yourself questions such as the following:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Are other aspects such as font size, linespacing and borders prescribed as well? If yes, the prescription is likely due to point 3 or 4.</li>\n<li>Is there any prescription on the length by other means as the word or character count? If yes, it’s almost certainly point 4.</li>\n<li>Is a wide variety of fonts offered? If yes, the description is probably due to point 1, perhaps 2.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Finally, you need to consider, how much your actual font choice sabotages this purpose. Some examples:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>If Times New Roman was prescribed due to reason 1 and you chose another traditional serif font such as Georgia or Baskerville, it will likely be without consequences. Even, if you used a traditional sans-serif font, you might fare well, as whoever is reading your submission may not even be aware of the prescriptions in this case.</li>\n<li><p>If Times New Roman was prescribed due to reason 4 and you used Liberation Serif, which was designed to be metrically equivalent (i.e., each character takes up the same space), this will likely be without consequences. You need to have a trained eye to even spot the differences between the two, if you are not specifically looking for them:</p>\n\n<p><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/AZKGk.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></p></li>\n<li><p>If you used Comic Sans and it was not the prescribed font, this will likely have disadvantages, no matter what the reasons behind the prescription are and even if there was no font prescription to begin with.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>However, at the end of the day, you can only guess the intentions behind the prescriptions and your document may get into the hands of some pedantic who radically enforces for these rules for their own sake (especially, if submissions were to be made in a format that allows to easily control the used font). Thus, if you want to be sure, only time (or asking the university) can tell.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34990,
"author": "BrenBarn",
"author_id": 9041,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9041",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The short answer is: no, it will probably not hurt you, as long as the font you used is normal-looking and/or similar-looking to the original font. In that case, few people will even notice the difference.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34969",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27158/"
] |
34,981 |
<p>I'm a computer science student, currently at the Bachelor level. I'm also not a native English speaker. My native language is Dutch. This year, I have to write a thesis.</p>
<p>I've always been told at my university that whilst being a Bachelor-student all courses, assignments, etc should be available to us in Dutch, <strong>but</strong> we've had lectures in English before after an agreement with the professor.</p>
<p>Personally, I find it easier to write in my mother tongue (naturally), but maybe it's worth to go the extra mile and write my thesis in English. Also, all the research I've done so far, has been in English. So it's not really a problem for me.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Question:</strong></p>
<p>Should a (computer science) thesis be written in English or in the writer's native language? What are possible pros/cons? Can it pay off to go the extra mile?</p>
</blockquote>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34982,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>As was suggested in the comments, if you want to share your thesis with researchers in other countries, it is better to write it in English than in other languages.</p>\n\n<p>However, I will go further than that and say that in the 21st century, English is the <em>lingua franca</em> of communication in most technical fields. If you want to participate in the wider technical community in a meaningful way, developing your ability to express yourself in English, both orally and in written form, is essential. Therefore, you should avail yourself of opportunities to work in English whenever practical. </p>\n\n<p>It is still important to be able to communicate in your local language, but this is becoming less of an issue as time goes on: for many people, they do scientific work in English, even if their everyday workplace conversations are in another language!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34983,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If your english isn't very good and it would be a considerable hardship to write it entirely in English then there is a third option:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Write the thesis in your native language but write an extended abstract in English.</strong> </p>\n\n<p>By extended abstract, I mean a more detailed summation of your key findings than is usually provided in the short (250-500 word) abstract that prepends dissertations. </p>\n\n<p>Quality is better than quantity. I would prefer having a short 3-page well-written English summation that has been meticulously written and proofread than 300 pages of poorly written English.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34984,
"author": "fkraiem",
"author_id": 12864,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12864",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Pros of writing in English</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>You can share your work with non-Dutch-speaking people. Especially important for graduate school applications, since after that unless you did something really brilliant nobody will care much about your undergrad work.</li>\n<li>It gives you some experience in English-writing, which it seems you need (since you are still somewhat uncomfortable with it). There is no denying that, like it or not, you will probably need to express yourself in English a lot in whatever your future career is. You want to do it well, beause working in English with people who are bad at it is a real pain.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Pros of writing in Dutch</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Avoids having your point obscured by English mistakes, though based on this question it doesn't seem you would do more English mistakes than can be found in the average paper.</li>\n<li>Less effort, but I would argue that the fact that it is less effort to write in Dutch is an argument for writing in English. It's something you want to fix.</li>\n<li>You may (the question does not make this clear) simply <em>prefer</em> Dutch. Even though I am equally comfortable writing in English or in my native French, I still vastly prefer French, simply because I think it's a nicer language. (Yes, I may be biased.)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>All in all, at this point I agree with aeismail that you should probably write in English. However, due to the point immediately above, I think his answer ceases to apply if and when you have attained a satisfactory level in English expression. Then, you shouldn't feel any need or obligation to use English \"whenever practical\", just because mostly everyone else does it. In fact, I think I do the opposite: I use French whenever practical, and only use another language when French doesn't work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 158460,
"author": "tripleee",
"author_id": 20411,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20411",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Even if you are planning to continue to do a PhD in your field, very few people will want to read a Bachelor's thesis. If you find something interesting during your work on your Bachelor's thesis, write a separate, smaller paper in English and share that.</p>\n<p>I wrote my BA in English - against my professor's recommendation - because I was hoping it would be worth sharing with a wider audience; but I understand now that too much of the substance of a Bachelor's is just footwork to prove that you have what it takes to complete the formal requirements of a thesis.</p>\n<p>I should perhaps add that I actually found it easier to write in English because so much of the terminology in the field is ad-hoc and/or awkward in my native language. I don't have a problem writing in my own language otherwise, but I felt constrained by having to look up the correct terminology where I had learned all of it in English anyway. (Most of the lectures were in one of the local languages here, but all the literature was American.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 158469,
"author": "fgysin",
"author_id": 5757,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5757",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since you're talking about Computer Science: <strong>absolutely write your thesis in English</strong>.</p>\n<h2>Academia</h2>\n<p>If you want to stay in Academia, then you'll have to start writing English research texts anyway - so you might as well get started now.</p>\n<h2>Industry</h2>\n<p>Let's be honest - chances are fairly high that computer scientists end up in industry either after graduation or some years down the line. The <em>de facto</em> language for all technical documents will be English.</p>\n<p>Also chances are high that in an IT career you'll have to...</p>\n<ul>\n<li>work with colleagues from abroad</li>\n<li>work with remote teams in near-shoring / off-shoring locations</li>\n<li>cooperate on open-source projects</li>\n<li>communicate on online Q&A sites, message boards, forums, bug trackers,</li>\n<li>read obscure manuals</li>\n<li>...</li>\n</ul>\n<p>--> All of this will happen in English.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34981",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27174/"
] |
34,986 |
<p>I'm going to apply for a Master's program. Although I'm not going to change my general field of study, I'm going to change my 'track' (from Information Technology to Geoinformatics).</p>
<p>In the application form of the aforementioned Master's program, I've been asked to specify <em>my area of interest</em> and state a <em>research topic for my Master's thesis</em> and describe my <em>methodological approach</em>. I honestly have no idea how to fill this part, how can I choose an area of interest and more importantly a topic for my <em>thesis</em> when I haven't even started the studies? Besides, can someone please kindly tell me what the part about the "<strong>methodological approach</strong>" means? (Is it talking about choosing one approach between Qualitative, Quantitave, etc. approaches? If so, is it enough to just write down the name and add no details?)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34991,
"author": "Tim",
"author_id": 12703,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12703",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can't really choose your topic definitively until you have \"mastered\" the related material, but you can give a strong, well-informed description of what your topic might be.</p>\n\n<p>A methodological approach is the approach you will take to exploring your topic. For example: \"I will perform neural network simulations of the PFC and BG of a decision making agent while recording neuronal activity and behavior. I will supplement this computational approach with validation of behavioral results in humans.\" The approach should be carefully thought out (as the above example was not) and worded to make it sound nontrivial yet feasible within the scope of your program.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 138898,
"author": "B. Dada",
"author_id": 115413,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/115413",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A methodological approach may refer to way in which a researcher intends to carry out his/her research from the specified or known methods in a discipline</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 138930,
"author": "nick012000",
"author_id": 81424,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81424",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I’m not super familiar with the specific field you’re researching, but I would say that there are three general approaches to methodology in the IT space: quantitative/scientific, qualitative, and artefact-oriented. Each of these general approaches, in turn, would have specific methodologies encompassed within them (for instance the Design Science Research Methodology within artefact-oriented research).</p>\n\n<p>With quantitative/scientific, you’re starting off with one or more hypotheses, gathering numerical data, and then using that data to perform statistical analyses to try to disprove your hypotheses.</p>\n\n<p>With a qualitative approach, you’re taking an exploratory approach to gather categorical data, usually from humans, and then examining it to see if you can spot any patterns within it, without performing any statistical analysis. This might take the form of examining user behaviour interacting with a computer program, or analysis of the contents of social media posts.</p>\n\n<p>With an artefact-oriented approach, you’re looking at a problem and existing methods of solving it, designing a new method that you think might be better (or applying a method from a different area to the problem), building an implementation of this new method, and then evaluating its performance.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34986",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26860/"
] |
34,987 |
<p>I remember having heard of a large distributed computer network being operated by several universities. As far as I remember, it would be possible to get several (hundreds) of virtual machines to perform computations, testing, evaluations, etc.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I do not remember this network's name, but I have the feeling that it was similar to "ResearchLab" or "ScienceLab". However, I was not able to find a network with such a name...</p>
<p>Hope that anyone out there can help. Thanks a lot!</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34992,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You're probably thinking of <a href=\"https://www.planet-lab.org/\">PlanetLab</a>.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>PlanetLab is a global research network that supports the development of new network services. Since the beginning of 2003, more than 1,000 researchers at top academic institutions and industrial research labs have used PlanetLab to develop new technologies for distributed storage, network mapping, peer-to-peer systems, distributed hash tables, and query processing.</p>\n \n <p>PlanetLab currently consists of 1335 nodes at 645 sites.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>More generally, there are lots of \"testbeds\" (as these networks of distributed resources are called), including Emulab, PlanetLab, ORBIT, DETER, Seattle, and many others. Each has various advantages and disadvantages, depending on what you're trying to do. These are often <em>federated</em> so that users can access resources from multiple testbeds; projects like GENI and FIRE are federations of testbeds.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34993,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am currently aware of two large research networks of this type:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.emulab.net/\">EmuLab</a> allows experimentation with large numbers of virtual machines co-located within a facility at the University of Utah.</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.geni.net/\">GENI</a> is a large-scale distributed networking testbed that also allows reconfiguration of the network switching hardware.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Both are primarily sponsored by the US National Science Foundation as public testbeds. I have previously used EmuLab myself and found it delightfully easy to use. I have not personally had an occasion to use GENI; the company I work for runs the GENI project office, though, and I hear that the testbed has been working out well.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34987",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27177/"
] |
34,988 |
<p>I'm currently working on a PhD in cognitive science, but my research and interests straddle the line between cognitive science and mathematics. Right now, I am most interested in pursuing an academic career, and I've begun looking at job openings for postdocs and assistant professorships just to see what's out there (fully realizing those exact positions will be long gone by the time I graduate). I noticed that some positions listed in statistics/mathematics programs seem to fit my overall interests and skills; however, they almost universally state that a PhD in mathematics or statistics is required to apply. </p>
<p>When the time comes to apply for positions, should I even bother applying to the ones where my PhD is not technically among the ones listed on the job opening? Obviously, if my PhD was in a completely different field than the position in question, my chances of getting it would be low. However, what about positions where my research is within the scope of the field in question, even though my PhD is not (e.g., my PhD is in cognitive science, my research deals with statistical approaches to study cognition, and the position is in a statistics department)? Would I be disqualified on a technicality?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34989,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Different departments handle hiring decisions differently. If your discipline hires according to \"we need someone in field X to teach classes in Y and do research in Z,\" then it's probably not going to help you so much if you don't do X, Y, or Z. On the other hand, if they're recruiting according to \"best talent available,\" then you could be outside what they're looking for and it's still okay.</p>\n\n<p>However, the important point is this: <strong>if you don't apply, you won't be hired.</strong> So if you're already sending out <em>N</em> applications, why not send <em>N + 1</em>?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34994,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In mathematics in particular, the question that search committees will have about you is your willingness and ability to teach a variety of undergraduate mathematics courses. If you have significant experience teaching main stream undergraduate mathematics courses, then you should make sure to highlight this in your application. If you have no such experience, then it will be a significant negative factor in your application. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/30
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34988",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26958/"
] |
35,001 |
<p>In my PhD program everyone talks about how passionate they are about their field of study, and how they go to seminars because they're fun. Is it expected that PhD students truly love their subject, or is it enough just to do good work and publish papers?</p>
<p>This thread was prompted by discussion <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/19859/24384">here</a>.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35003,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In my experience, good primary investigators are always rather unbalanced human beings in one way or another. If you aren't intensively passionate about <em>something</em> closely connected to the research process, then you can't last, because so much of leading research involves shaping your own agenda. That said, you can still be doing work in research, even at a Ph.D. level or beyond, without having such independence and drive, but instead being a \"super-technician\" following somebody else's agenda and leadership.</p>\n\n<p>The scientific ideal holds that every scientist should be of the primary investigator type, and Ph.D. programs are typically designed to select for and cultivate this. That said, in practice it depends a lot on the group that you are in. Some professors expect their students to develop their own research agendas very strongly, others are (whether they admit it or even realize it) more looking for good technicians to execute on their grants, and a Ph.D. is more of a byproduct.</p>\n\n<p>We don't really like to admit this as a community, but with the current market structure of academia, we actually need to have the second type of education and people as well. Look at it from the perspective of simple flux balance analysis: the rate of Ph.D. students entering programs is far higher than the rate at which primary investigators retire or die. If every Ph.D. student either ultimately ends up as a primary investigator or a \"failure,\" then it means most Ph.D. students are failures. But I don't think that is actually the case: people who aren't hyper-passionate to the point where it distorts their lives can still succeed just fine in a Ph.D. program and at research, they just are likely to take one of the other tracks besides being a professor or other form of PI.</p>\n\n<p>That said, even if you don't end up going the harrowing road of PI-ship, research work is very hard, and there are a lot of easier and/or more financially rewarding ways to make a living. To get a Ph.D., you need at least enough passion for the subject to find more value in this difficult and low-paid path than in any of your alternatives.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35005,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Allow me to offer a dissenting point of view. In the words of <a href=\"http://5brainybirds.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/if-you-dont-eat-sleep-and-breathe-scienc\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">5 Brainy Birds</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <h3>If you don’t eat, sleep, and breathe science, get out of the lab! ... is an antiquated view</h3>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I know many successful academics (at all stages of the academic lifecycle) who do not \"live and breathe\" their field of study, and manage to do excellent, creative, interesting work regardless.</p>\n\n<p>Does it help to enjoy your work and feel passionate about it at least some of the time? Yes, sure. But the stereotype of academics as people who are single-mindedly obsessed with their field of study is unrealistic and unnecessarily discouraging to the huge numbers of PhD students who feel otherwise, and who worry about not feeling \"passionate enough\" (people like <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27762/practical-strategies-for-increasing-ones-passion-and-excitement-about-research\">this OP</a>). PhD students are a diverse group with a tremendous range of passions, motivations, and ambitions. </p>\n\n<p>Also, all of the PhD students I know personally (including myself) <em>passionately hate</em> their field at least some of the time.</p>\n\n<p>How much love for/devotion to your subject do you <em>really</em> need? In the words of <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/27639/11365\">aeismail</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>It should be interesting enough to you that you're willing to put up with the failure that is a necessary component of successful research. But it's not necessary, or even practical or desirable, to spend every waking hour thinking about or doing research.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35010,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As I see it, there's a big difference between being obsessed with something (to the exclusion of other interests) and loving it. Obsession is neither necessary nor helpful, but love is certainly helpful and perhaps even necessary if you want to achieve your full potential. Love dramatically increases your powers of concentration, beyond what can be achieved through self discipline alone. Love makes all the little details memorable and engaging, while also drawing everything together into a meaningful story that illuminates the big picture. Of course it's still possible to do good work without love, but that just makes everything harder.</p>\n\n<p>It's important to keep in mind that different people express love differently. Some people are dramatic and expressive, while others are quieter and more reserved. You can have a perfectly good love for your subject without feeling the need to tell everyone, and comparing yourself to more vocal classmates may be unhelpful.</p>\n\n<p>If going to seminars isn't fun, then that's a little worrisome. Some people simply don't enjoy attending talks, regardless of the subject, and that's OK. However, if you like talks in general but not so much in your research area, then that could be a sign that you haven't yet found the right area for you. (Or maybe it's just not a very good seminar.)</p>\n\n<p>Love not only makes things easier, but also more rewarding. Having a job you love is a wonderful thing, and if you could better achieve this by following another career path, then that's worth serious consideration. However, you shouldn't feel any external pressure: if you can do good enough work, then nobody else will care what's in your heart. Ultimately, the only person this really concerns is you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35014,
"author": "Chiel",
"author_id": 27193,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27193",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my experience, passion can manifest itself in multiple ways. Some people are passionate about their fields, whereas others are passionate about the methodology. For me, the challenge of understanding and modeling of a complex system is my main motivation. I enjoy the process and the model development. I do enjoy my work a lot, but I could be a happy scientist in a different field.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35028,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is it expected that PhD students truly love their subject, or is it\n enough just to do good work and publish papers?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I think that whatever you decide your job is, you should love it. Consider you are going to spend a large proportion of the rest of your life doing it, so you better look for something that makes you go out of bed five days a week like you are going to a playground.</p>\n\n<p>In a PhD program this is particularly important because research can be very, very frustrating. You can easily find yourself thinking about the same problem (literally) for months, repeating the same experiments, validating data, once and again. Then you write a paper and it's rejected and you must spend some more time on the same problem. If you don't like it, it's the closest thing to work in a factory floor you could find. </p>\n\n<p>In summary. Find what motivates you and pursue it as a career. If it happens to be research, then good luck with your PhD. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35074,
"author": "George Flanagin",
"author_id": 27238,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27238",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The question and its answers have parallels outside academia, and that is something to consider if you perceive one of your options to be \"getting out of academia.\" </p>\n\n<p>I have seen the problem from a few different sides: I was a student. I worked in the private sector from 1985 to 2001, taught university for a couple of years, and I now work in a staff position at another university where I do not teach. </p>\n\n<p>Being in a field that you \"live and breathe\" benefits <em>you.</em> Find it, and get in it, and stay there. In the private sector I always preferentially hired people who demonstrated true interest in their field; it seems to be no different in academia, nor do the reasons seem different. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35080,
"author": "Noah Snyder",
"author_id": 25,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Doing a Ph.D. and working in academia both involve being self-motivated on projects with a long time horizon. For example, it's important to go to seminars in the long run even though any given one is not likely to pay off in the near future. One common place that motivation comes from is deeply loving your subject in a way that means you don't need as much self-discipline to work when no one is looking. But that's not strictly necessary in order for people to be comfortable working in a self-motivated way on projects with a long time horizon. If you work best to external motivation or with clear deadlines, then a Ph.D. program is probably not the best place for you, but living and breathing the subject as such is not crucial.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35158,
"author": "WoJ",
"author_id": 15446,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15446",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When I was a child I read a lot of books about scientists and decided to become one. Fast forward a few years, I graduated in Physics and decided to do a PhD. I loved the research part, I loved (and still love) Physics but the exact field I was in was not at the same \"love\" level. It was nice, challenging but I discovered what I really liked were computers and simulations.</p>\n\n<p>I started to administer my department servers and gradually got involved with business companies. When getting my PhD I was immensely proud of it, happy to have done research but ready to try something else.</p>\n\n<p>I now work in IT, love it, do not use anything from what I studied but, looking back, I would not have chosen another path.</p>\n\n<p>This is just to say that what you actually love may not be the exact subject of your PhD studies (and further research) but the academic environment is such an interesting environment (challenges, teaching, how achievements are measured) that it may be the optimum place to blossom. You may also find after some time that your exact interest is somewhere else but your PhD studies helped to reveal it.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35001",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24384/"
] |
35,006 |
<p>I submitted my paper by e-mail one week ago. How long is it reasonable to wait for the receipt acknowledgement? What to do if they won't acknowledge receipt of the paper?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35015,
"author": "J.R.",
"author_id": 780,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/780",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You don't mention when the deadline is. If the deadline is a good two months away, waiting a week or so is nothing to be alarmed about. </p>\n\n<p>Moreover, you've asked this question on the week between Christmas and New Year's – a time when many offices resemble ghost towns. Given that New Year's Day falls on a Thursday this year, I'm guessing it's sitting in someone's inbox, and there's a good chance it will remain there, unread, until Monday, January 6th. Even then, there may be a backlog of email and other submissions, so give it another week after that.</p>\n\n<p>If the person responsible for reviewing submitted papers works in academia, there's a chance it might even go longer than that, depending on their institution's academic calender. (In other words, they might not get back into the full swing of things before the semester begins.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35016,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Most journals work with electronic submission systems but some still work with manual handling. Regardless, both systems require a person to handle the manuscript once it arrives. Since the past week has been the Christmas holiday for many and persons working with journals such as editors are usually not employed to work with the journal but do it aside their regular job, it is not strange that not much will happen during the holiday season.</p>\n\n<p>I am sure you will receive notice of your submission sometime in the next couple of weeks into the new year, once the persons responsible will have a chance to have a look.</p>\n\n<p>As a side note, as an editor, I can see that the number of submissions is slightly increasing before summer (holidays) and Christmas/New Years (holiday season). Authors, naturally, want to get their works away before taking time off, unfortunately, editors and reviewers, naturally reluctant to take on reviews during the holidays, do the same so the increased flux of manuscripts creates something of a traffic jam at these times. From this perspective, submitting a manuscript away from these times of the year will likely result in, at least slightly, faster response and turn-over times.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35006",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24800/"
] |
35,018 |
<p>Many books, particularly in mathematics and related disciplines, contain sentences like "the proof is left as an exercise to the reader", which actually mean that the claim should be easy to prove for anyone reading until that point.</p>
<p>Can I write such a sentence in a paper submitted to a journal? Or will the reviewers consider it rude to omit a proof in such a way?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35019,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There are two separate issues here: omitting the proof, and calling it an exercise.</p>\n\n<p>It is relatively common to omit some proofs in research papers. In particular, proofs that are long but routine, or that re-use the same method as other proofs in the paper, are often abbreviated or removed. It depends on the intended audience for the paper, to some extent. You will get a sense of this by reading more research papers. But caution is needed: one of the first places to look for errors in a paper is in results where the proof was omitted! </p>\n\n<p>The question whether to call something in your paper an \"exercise\" is more difficult. I wouldn't be surprised if some people do it -- but some people don't write very well. The audience for a paper includes your peers, and you are not really in a position to assign them homework. There are other ways to indicate that a proof is easy besides calling it an exercise: \"the following theorem follows directly from definitions\", \"the proof of the following theorem is routine\", \"the proof of the following theorem is similar to the proof of Theorem 1.3\", etc. Giving a small hint of how to prove the result can make the paper stronger, and it helps any readers who are not experts in the area. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35037,
"author": "user155002",
"author_id": 27210,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27210",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it depends on the context: If it is a research paper, it is definitely rude. As a referee, I would return such a paper to the author to fill it in. If it is a review paper or aims at education in math then it’s fine in my opinion. A different story are textbooks with or without exercises, where it is apropriate.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35018",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/787/"
] |
35,021 |
<p>I'm writing my Master's Thesis with LaTeX and I'd like to know what are the best margins I should use.</p>
<p>My university doesn't force any template. LaTeX default margins seems to me too large. Do you have any recommendation?</p>
<p>In addition, I would like to know if I should keep two different margins for even and odd pages. I'm using the book class.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35022,
"author": "Federico Poloni",
"author_id": 958,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can find a good and easy-to-read resource on changing margins with the <code>typearea</code> package here: <a href=\"http://www.khirevich.com/latex/page_layout/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.khirevich.com/latex/page_layout/</a> A more detailed discussion of margins, text density and binding corrections is found in the <a href=\"http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/koma-script/doc/scrguien.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">manual</a> for the KOMA-script bundle (which, incidentally, is a good alternative to <code>book</code> if you want a class that guides you more directly in the formatting of a long document).</p>\n\n<p>Asymmetric margins can be obtained with the <code>twoside</code> option to <code>book</code>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35023,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your question may not be completely appropriate for academia.sx but probably not for TeX.sx either.</p>\n\n<p>Anyway. rather than focussing on the width of margins you can consider the width of the text area. Research (I do not have references at hand at the moment) has shown that around 65 (within the range 45-75) characters per line is optimal. This means that if you switch type face or size, the number of characters will change. Hence the same text area may not be optimal for 10, 11 and 12 pt or conversely your text optimal area will change with type face and size. To some extent, this is built into LaTeX which is at least partly why the margins may seem less than optimal.</p>\n\n<p>So to approach the question of margins, try to select the type face and the type size you want to use and then check the resulting text area size for line lengths between 45 and 75 focussing around 65 characters.</p>\n\n<p>The question of right and left page margins is a matter of simplicity. If you centre the text area on the page the areas will appear the same on all pages. When viewed as a pdf the text will not move around from page to page which can be slightly annoying, particularly if inside and outside margins have widely different widths. So will your text be read frequently in digital format use simple margins, if the print is important differing in- and outside margins may be preferable. Just make sure any printer does not screw up the margins by removing or missing printing blank pages that will result in a shift of left and right hand pages.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35021",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27200/"
] |
35,025 |
<p>Is common practice to release an academic software before the publication of the accompanying paper in a scientific journal?</p>
<p>What are the pros and cons of a prior release?</p>
<p>Edit: I am not concerned about patents, software will have an open source license.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35026,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This may be field-specific, but within neuroscience, the typical path seems to be as follows:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Publish papers detailing new signal processing/statistical analysis/etc techniques</li>\n<li>Write software that makes use of these techniques</li>\n<li>Continuously add techniques, refine the code, and improve the UI (well, sometimes)</li>\n<li>Write a paper on the software itself</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>The main benefit of this approach is that the algorithms that power the program are vetted via peer review and the general community even before you attempt to write the first line of software code. The only novelty to the software is that it makes the techniques available to a larger audience, specifically, those who can't write their own analysis code. Even better, as you write and publish new algorithms and analysis techniques, you can eventually add those to the software.</p>\n\n<p>Some software that follows this approach is <a href=\"http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/spm/\">SPM</a> and <a href=\"http://martinos.org/mne/stable/index.html\">MNE</a>, among many others.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35035,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My experience in computer science has been that papers are rarely about software per se, but rather about the science that is either enabled by or instantiated in the software. Computer science also typically seems to have a fairly open culture where people don't worry much about being scooped. As such, research software is often available on open repositories like GitHub or Bitbucket long before it is published---it's just that nobody notices or pays attention to it before there is a significant paper to motivate them to do so.</p>\n\n<p>So, to finish answering the question:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Pros: demonstrate commitment to openness, people might use it before publication</li>\n<li>Cons: you can't do this with something you want to patent</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35052,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Note: In the US, the time window for submitting patents starts when the invention is first disclosed \"publicly\" (which can include publicly demonstrating it even if you don't discuss how it works) and ends a year from that date. Depending on your plans for this work, you may or may not want to release earlier than you must.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35059,
"author": "abought",
"author_id": 22693,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22693",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This varies very widely by field, but also by PI preferences; in my experience, younger faculty (and newer software packages) are more likely to be open early. My experience in Chemistry has been similar to what @eykanal describes (especially when patentable methods or results are involved)... </p>\n\n<p>BUT: software often contains bugs, which may change the results you get in ways that are not obvious from a paragraph description of the algorithm. In some cases, this has lead to <a href=\"http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/24647/title/Retractions-unsettle-structural-bio/\" rel=\"nofollow\">huge, sweeping errors</a> (like a retraction of papers cited 729 times), and some journals or funding agencies are adopting policies that encourage release of code alongside the <strong>first</strong> paper that uses it. If it's not already part of your peer review process, releasing the code early might become a requirement in the future. (It is difficult to properly review findings when they depend on subtle, unstated decisions in potentially buggy code)</p>\n\n<p>So, just be sure to separate what you are <em>expected</em> to do from what best accomplishes your goals. Norms involving software are still evolving, and it's a good idea to evaluate your strategy based on time, resources, and expected audience.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35025",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27203/"
] |
35,027 |
<p>I am not an English native speaker and I wrote my thesis in English. If in the title page of my thesis I would like to write</p>
<p>Advisor: "The name of my advisor"</p>
<p><em>M</em>: "My name",</p>
<p>then what should <em>M</em> most commonly be?</p>
<p>My choice for <em>M</em> is "student" but am not sure of that.</p>
<p>Note: The common culture of my country makes me write the title page as what I show in my question. I may very well be considered "improper" or even "rude" if I do not do that, and consequently would incur unnecessary judgements.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35071,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For any specific thesis, you should check the regulations of the institution the thesis will be submitted to. There are often strict rules about the formatting of the title page.</p>\n\n<p>I've not come across the advisor being listed first. The format I'm most familiar with would be something like the following:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <h1>Why there are no Frogs on the Moon</h1>\n \n <h2>Neil Armstrong</h2>\n \n <p>Advisor: <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_O._Paine\">Dr Thomas O. Paine</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>There's no need to write a word before the author's name. It is understood that any title page will contain the title and the author so any name that is not explained as being something else (e.g., \"Advisor:\", \"Editor:\") must be the author. You see the same with academic papers: the authors are usually not explicitly described as authors; it's just implicit that the list of names below the title is the list of authors.</p>\n\n<p>Note also that the name(s) of the author(s) usually come before any other people who have contributed to the document. Authorship is regarded as by far the most important contribution.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35073,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Firstly, let me remark that, as other have suggested, it is better to check the preferred format of your university. </p>\n\n<p>In case you can't find any, a possible alternative to <em>Author</em> (or nothing) can be <em>Candidate</em>, because, at the moment, you are a candidate to some kind of examination and the thesis is the work you have to present before a board of examiners to pass it. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35233,
"author": "Ali Sultan",
"author_id": 24846,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24846",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Simply write (<strong>By:\"Your name\"</strong>), that's it.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35027",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18107/"
] |
35,030 |
<p>I have seen several different metrics that are applied for ranking journals: Impact Factor, SJR, and H-index. Which of these is the most useful and robust for comparisons with respect to the quality and prestige of journals?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35034,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In short:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_factor\">Impact factor</a> is the traditional measure of mean citations per year shortly after publication. It can refer to either the official Thomson-Reuters computation (which has lots of problems), or other competing similar computations.</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCImago_Journal_Rank\">SJR</a> attempts to improve on impact factor by using an algorithm like PageRank to more heavily weight citations from \"better\" publication venues.</li>\n<li><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-index\">H-index</a> for journals is just the same as for people, essentially looking for the volume of consistently good work. The only large place I know of that applies this to journals is <a href=\"http://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=top_venues&hl=en\">Google Scholar metrics</a>.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>All of these are subject to manipulation and gaming, all are highly field-dependent, and none are very good actual ratings of quality. Still, they can be used to get a rough sense of the significance of a venue that you are unfamiliar with.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35082,
"author": "fileunderwater",
"author_id": 7223,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7223",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One difference between the traditional <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_factor\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><em>Impact Factor</em> (JIF)</a> (the official Thomson-Reuters score) and the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCImago_Journal_Rank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><em>SJR score</em></a> (SCImago Journal Rank) is that the former is based on the ISI Web of Science database and the latter on the Scopus database. Depending on the field you are in this can translate to differences in coverage, which can affect the relative rank of journals. The <em>SJR score</em> is also a weighted score, which takes journal prestige into account, and this is not the case for the <em>Impact factor</em>.</p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-index\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><em>H-index</em></a> is strongly influenced by the number of papers published by a journal, since this translates into the number of "attempts" of a journal to obtain highly cited papers. This is the main reason why journal rankings based on the H-index usually deviates quite alot from ranking based on avarage-based metrics (such as the Impact factor and SJR). When using the H-index to rank journals a small top-journal within a field (based on article impact) can be surpassed by large journals. As an example, journals from the publisher <a href=\"http://www.annualreviews.org/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">"<em>Annual reviews</em>"</a> generally come out much lower on H-index rankings compared to IF or SJR-rankings. Personally, I find the H-index a poor proxy for journal prestige, but it might be somewhat useful to determine overall influence on a field (as in number of relatively highly-cited papers). Overall, I think that the H-index is much better for evaluating individual scientists than to compare journals. Why Google Scholar chose it as the only score to present when comparing journals is beyond me.</p>\n<p>However, there also exists many other indicies of journal performance, influence and prestige. <a href=\"http://library.queensu.ca/ojs/index.php/IEE/article/view/4949/4966\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Hocking (2013)</a> provides a comparison between 11 different journal metrics, using ecology journals as a case study. This study show that while all indicies are positively correlated, they form 3 relatively distinct clusters. The traditional impact factor is closely related to SJR as well as to <a href=\"http://www.eigenfactor.org/about.php\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><em>Article influence</em> (AI)</a> and <a href=\"http://www.journalmetrics.com/snip.php\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><em>Source Normalized Impact per Paper</em> (SNIP)</a>, while the H-index and the <a href=\"http://www.eigenfactor.org/about.php\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Eigenfactor</a> are part of other clusters. This means that journal rankings based on e.g. JIF, SJR, SNIP will be very similar, while rankings based on the H-index or Eigenfactor will emphasize other aspects of journal performance.</p>\n<h3>References</h3>\n<p><a href=\"http://library.queensu.ca/ojs/index.php/IEE/article/view/4949/4966\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Hocking. 2013. Comparing the influence of ecology journals using citation-based indices: making sense of a multitude of metrics. Ideas in Ecology and Evolution 6(1).</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 47712,
"author": "zircon",
"author_id": 36231,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/36231",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Among widely-available indicators, SJR and the Article Influence Score (AIS) are best for characterizing journals. An important property of those two indicators is that they weigh citations with the relevance of the citing journal, whereas in computing the impact factor (IF) or the h-index all citations are considered equally, regardless of the relevance of the citing publication. While all these metrics are typically highly correlated, taking into consideration the relevance of the citation sources can matter especially when trying to assess journals that are not among the top ones. For example, in the case of a journal that would artificially inflate the IF through self-citations or by participating in a citation ring within a publisher, or in the case of a journal hosting publications of a relatively isolated field, the SJR and AIS would remain relatively low if citations would come from low-quality sources. Another advantage is that the typical values of SJR and AIS vary less among different fields than the values of the IF and h-index. There are established methods for field-normalizing the IF (see, e.g., the <a href=\"http://www.journalmetrics.com/snip.php\" rel=\"nofollow\">SNIP</a> indicator), however is more difficult to field-normalize the h-index.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35030",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21716/"
] |
35,031 |
<p>I saw the phrase “In Proceedings Of ...” many times on Google Scholar. What is the meaning of that?</p>
<p>For example, “In Proceedings of the International Conference of ...”. Does that mean that you send this paper to that conference and they accept it?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35032,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>When it comes to conferences, if there were submitted papers, and they were published as a volume, that volume is called the proceedings. </p>\n\n<p>A paper that was published in the proceedings must have been accepted by the conference. </p>\n\n<p>Sometimes the proceedings are published as a standalone work, and sometimes they are published as a special issue of a journal.</p>\n\n<p>It should be noted that some societies publish a journal that has \"Proceedings\" in the title, such as the \"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences\" or the \"Proceedings of the Royal Society\". These should be distinguished as standalone journals and not confused with the proceedings of a conference.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35064,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Consider this an extended comment to complement Bill's answer.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Articles published in <em>conference proceedings</em> have lengths that can vary from one page to several or many pages, depending on the conference. Each conference specifies the length requirements. Some conferences do not publish proceedings, but give to the participants a list of short abstracts. This is typically called the <em>Book of abstracts</em>.</li>\n<li><em>Proceedings</em> might be published not only by conferences but also by schools. For example the <a href=\"http://en.sif.it/activities/fermi_school\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><em>International School of Physics \"Enrico Fermi\"</em></a> publishes a series of <a href=\"http://en.sif.it/books/series/rendiconti_fermi\" rel=\"noreferrer\">proceedings</a> collecting articles and lecture notes from the school's courses.</li>\n<li>At least one conference that I'm aware of does not call the published volume proceedings, but <em>digest</em>. This is the <a href=\"http://icpem.org/\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><em>Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements (CPEM)</em></a>. I don't know if there are other conferences which don't use the name proceedings. </li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35031",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19761/"
] |
35,036 |
<p>I am submitting a research paper to a journal and they asked me to sign the copyright agreement in favour of the editor before the paper is accepted. Is this right?
And what happens in this case is if the paper rejected?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35038,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Have you checked this journal against Beall's list of <a href=\"http://scholarlyoa.com/publishers/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Preadatory Publishers</a> and <a href=\"http://scholarlyoa.com/individual-journals/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Preadatory Journals</a>? There's little reason to sign over the copyright until the article is accepted, and this practice seems sketchy at best to me.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35039,
"author": "paul garrett",
"author_id": 980,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/980",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Do not sign any copyright release before the paper is accepted, in any case.</p>\n\n<p>The irregularity of this practice is itself a bad sign about the legitimacy of the journal.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35040,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Unfortunately, a number of large-scale publishers expect you to sign over the copyrights before the article is accepted. For instance, the <a href=\"http://pubs.acs.org\">American Chemical Society</a>, as well as the <a href=\"http://www.mrs.org\">Materials Research Society</a> will continually hound you about the transfer agreement until it's submitted, and moreover will not formally accept the article until they have the transfer agreement.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35043,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is rather normal for <strong>non open-access articles</strong> in my field (Physics), however all journals I have submitted to until now had a clause that the copyright transfer is voided if the paper is not accepted or withdrawn. For example IOP’s copyright agreement contains the following sentence:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In the event that the Article is withdrawn prior to acceptance, or is rejected, this agreement shall have no effect and no party shall be bound by it.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If such conditions are included, requesting such an agreement at an early stage seems somewhat reasonable to me, since it would be a waste of time to review your paper if you did not agree with these terms.</p>\n\n<p>If such conditions are not included, this is a clear warning sign that the publisher may be up to nothing good. However, even with such a clause, problems may arise, as the publisher may just instantly accept your article.</p>\n\n<p>For <strong>open-access articles</strong> (pay-to-publish), a similar situation holds, however, the copyright agreement usally requires less commitment from you, as you should retain most rights on your article (since the journal does not make money with being the only one making your article available). This not applying to the copyright agreement is another warning sign of a predatory publisher.</p>\n\n<p><strong>In both cases</strong>, you should read the copyright agreement carefully and ensure the reputability of the publisher.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35044,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many big publishers will often start asking pretty much immediately (I don't know if this is policy or just brain-dead software configuration). You can generally safely ignore these requests until the article is actually accepted, however, because until then the idea of copyright transfer is moot. That is certainly the policy that I follow, and it hasn't caused me any trouble yet.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35036",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27211/"
] |
35,047 |
<p>My professor, a co-author and I have been working on a paper for more than a year. I was doing the math and simulations, my co-author was responsible for the writing, and my professor was editing the paper. Now editing of the paper is done. Unfortunately, the co-author is no longer available. My professor called me today and told me he has observed that my co-author copied some sentences from the reference papers. So he asked me to check all of the sentences and highlight and rewrite them again if I found that they were copied. He believes that, these days the reviewers are more concerned about the use of similar sentences in the paper. </p>
<p>So, What should I do? Check all sentences with other papers? This is not possible without using a machine. the paper contains more than 8000 words. Do you know what software I can use to do this?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35067,
"author": "Jool",
"author_id": 9004,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9004",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your institution may use a standard service which you would have access to - you could contact your academic admin service and ask them. \"Turnitin\" seems quite widely used.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35068,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am both confused and concerned about the description of your work process:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I was doing the math and simulations, my co-author was taking the care of writing and my professor was editing the paper.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It seems clear you are making a contribution worthy of authorship, but as for your \"co-author\" and professor, it is not clear if their contributions are worthy of authorship. the fact that the co-author is unavailable make the situation difficult. High end plagiarism detection software is still not particularly good and I would be hesitant about using any work written by someone who is known to have plagiarised in the past, especially in the absence of drafts to confirm the absence of plagiarism.</p>\n\n<p>The issue with using software like TurnItIn is not its abilitity to detect and parse copied material, but the limitations on its underlying database. Plagiarism detection software generally does not have access to non-open access publications. If your co-author copied from non-open access publications, then the software will likely miss it. A publishers, like elsivier Edith a large amount of pay walled material may add their own publications to their database making it easy for them to catch the plagiarism.</p>\n\n<p>My suggestion would be to rewrite all the material by the co-author. You could either work from his version and maintain his authorship, or if his only contribution was the writing as you say, then rewrite those sections from scratch and drop him from the list of authors.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 45051,
"author": "Corvus",
"author_id": 27900,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27900",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While <a href=\"http://turnitin.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">TurnItIn</a> is designed for undergraduate assignments, <a href=\"http://www.ithenticate.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">iThenticate</a> is designed for this exact scenario: detecting plagiarism in academic publications. I've used it successfully in the past, and while it is not cheap you can purchase a license to check a single document at a time. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35047",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8294/"
] |
35,048 |
<p>From what I have seen, most people list postdocs under Employment/Experience on their CV. But recently I saw one that listed a postdoc under Employment <em>and</em> Education. </p>
<p>Is this typical/appropriate?</p>
<p>NOTE: According to comments on <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/29631/746">this</a> relevant question and its answers, postdocs are kind of regarded as students, in some cases.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35049,
"author": "Ben Norris",
"author_id": 924,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/924",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>A postdoctoral associate/fellow/whatever <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2173/who-actually-is-a-post-doctoral-fellow/2181#2181\">is usually an employee</a>. While the purpose of the postdoc is educational, it is not \"education\". A postdoc is (usually) not taking classes, following a curriculum, and completing other activities toward the earning of an academic degree/certificate/whatever. Postdocs should have a contract, do not pay tuition (or have tuition paid for them), have a definite end date to their employment (although that can be renewed), etc. Since a postdoc is an employee, it should go under employment.</p>\n\n<p>However, in some fields and countries, it may be custom to place the postdoc under education because the postdoc is the journeyman stage of your academic career. Ethically, it should not be listed in both places. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35051,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would more unequivocally state that the only example I can think of a postdoctoral situation where it would be appropriate to list it under the \"education\" section of a CV is if one is pursuing a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habilitation\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Habilitation</em></a> in the countries that use such a system. In such a case, one is acquiring an actual \"qualification\" that can be recognized. In traditional postdocs, such as those offered in the US (and most other countries), there is no degree track, and no course requirements or anything else that the postdocs are following.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35077,
"author": "mankoff",
"author_id": 185,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/185",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>NSF <a href=\"https://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg15001&org=NSF\" rel=\"nofollow\">Grant Proposal Guidelines (GPG) 2015</a> Biographical Sketch have PostDoc listed under both Education (although they call it \"Professional Preparation\"), and presumably it would be listed under the \"Appointments\" section too. See <a href=\"http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf15001/gpg_2.jsp#IIC2f\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf15001/gpg_2.jsp#IIC2f</a></p>\n"
}
] |
2014/12/31
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35048",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/746/"
] |
35,062 |
<p>I have added a paragraph from wikipedia in my thesis. Now I need to add reference to that wikipedia page. What is the IEEE formatting and citation style for that? Currently I use as below.</p>
<p><strong>In chapter of thesis added copied content from wikipedia as below</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>The waterfall development model originates in the manufacturing and construction
industries; highly structured physical environments in which after-the-fact changes are
prohibitively costly, if not impossible. Since no formal software development
methodologies existed at the time, this hardware-oriented model was simply adapted
for software development [1].</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>In References page</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>[1] (2014, April 22). Waterfall Model [Online]. Available:
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model</a></p>
</blockquote>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35063,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For correct citation of Wikipedia, see Wikipedia's <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_Wikipedia\">guide to citing Wikipedia</a>. Since you are using IEEE styles, you should probably be using BibTeX to manage your citation, in which case you can directly use the BibTeX formatting template provided.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35235,
"author": "o4tlulz",
"author_id": 6978,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6978",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>IEEE Publications use Webster’s College Dictionary, 4th Edition as formatting and the IEEE Citation Reference is available <a href=\"http://www.ieee.org/documents/ieeecitationref.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">here</a>. But as @EnergyNumbers <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35062/what-is-the-ieee-citation-style-for-content-obtained-from-wikipedia#comment78016_35062\">commented earlier</a>, primary references to wikipedia are not always well received. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35239,
"author": "Has QUIT--Anony-Mousse",
"author_id": 17690,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17690",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Citing Wikipedia is always risky. Not everybody consides it to be reliable, and high-quality. </p>\n\n<p>May I suggest a very simple approach: <em>find a better reference</em>. </p>\n\n<p>By definition of an encyclopedia, it is supposed to give a brief and aggregated overview only. So there must be a better source somewhere. </p>\n\n<p>Citing Wikipedia is often indicative of “did not bother to look up the real source, but used the first hit on google”. This is probably not what you want your reviewers to write... </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 41837,
"author": "Daniel Mietchen",
"author_id": 11244,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11244",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are very few circumstances (e.g. if you are doing research <em>about</em> Wikipedia) when it is legitimate to cite anything from Wikipedia (or any other encyclopedia, for that matter).</p>\n\n<p>If you think your case is such a legitimate one, please cite the <em>specific version</em> of the article using its <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Permanent_link\" rel=\"nofollow\">permalink</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 60003,
"author": "Edward Huang",
"author_id": 46005,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/46005",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Usually a Wiki page has its own reference. Read through the reference for the Wiki page, and maybe cite it (the wiki page's reference) instead citing the Wiki page in your writing.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35062",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27226/"
] |
35,065 |
<p>I have BE and MS from the University of Tokyo (a research university in Japan) and
I'm planning to study and do research in US as a PhD student.</p>
<p>My questions is: which is more important, GPA at graduate school or GPA at undergraduate school?</p>
<p>I have a GPA of 3.8ish at graduate school and a GPA of 3.4ish at undergraduate school.
So this is a very important problem to me.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35123,
"author": "Roger Fan",
"author_id": 20375,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20375",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are several competing concerns that make this question difficult to answer.</p>\n\n<p>As BrenBarn notes in his comment, more recent information is more indicative of your current skills. Especially if you show significant improvement, which most programs will take into account. Graduate programs will also (hopefully) consist of more difficult classes that are closer to the difficulty level of the material you will be tackling in graduate school.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, applications seem to be very comparison-based. Applicants for a year are compared against each other and also against successful (or unsuccessful) candidates from previous years. This is anecdotal, but I know that some programs explicitly group and rank candidates based on their undergraduate institution for their first round of decisions (e.g. the top couple from each top-5 school are always accepted, the bottom third from most schools are rejected). The fact that most applicants to US PhD programs don't have a graduate degree means that your undergraduate GPA may be more convenient for these comparisons, so it might actually get looked at more.</p>\n\n<p>In programs that do this, I suspect that your undergraduate GPA will be more important for getting into the group of applicants that will actually be considered, but that your graduate GPA will become more important after that, as the committee examines the borderline applications more closely. But this is probably dependent on the specific program and their procedures, and I don't think that there is a consistent answer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35125,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the answer is very geographically dependent. If, as brenbarn and Roger suggest, you are applying in the US, the undergraduate grades will be used as a means of comparison, since that's the common \"core\" that all US students will have. Your additional experience will also be taken into account, and can be useful, particularly if it goes beyond coursework and encompasses research.</p>\n\n<p>If you are applying in most of the rest of the world, where a master's is expected <em>before</em> beginning PhD studies, then I think the rough \"pecking order\" in terms of importance is given to:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Core graduate classes</li>\n<li>Core undergraduate classes</li>\n<li>Elective courses in your major</li>\n<li>Courses outside your major</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>So courses early on (especially in subjects outside your \"main\" discipline) will automatically weigh less in an evaluation. Exactly how much less is impossible to say, but most graduate schools will be willing to overlook one or two weak grades that don't directly pertain to your PhD program. A poor grade in a master's level \"core\" subject, however, would be very damaging to your chances. (As a chemical engineer, I would be reluctant to admit to a PhD program someone who struggled in thermodynamics, for instance.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 82830,
"author": "Jennifer Rae Pierce",
"author_id": 67391,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/67391",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Every university is different in this regard, so it is a good idea to just ask the admissions department directly. I did this when working on my application, as I had a much higher graduate GPA than undergrad. In my case, I was told that they didn't care about the undergrad grades at all, and would only look at graduate (these were urban planning departments at top-tier universities in the U.S.).</p>\n\n<p>However, it might be different if your PhD field matches more closely to your undergraduate field and not your graduate field. It may also make a difference if your graduate work was in another country so that it is harder to compare grades or at a less respected institution.</p>\n\n<p>So, don't be afraid to just ask! But contact admissions, not any of the professors, since they (1) don't usually make those kinds of decisions and (2) wouldn't appreciate being bothered for this type of inquiry.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35065",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27230/"
] |
35,076 |
<p>When you take the GRE, you get the percentile score. Do US universities publish such distributional data about how to interpret their grades? Can it be requested specifically?</p>
<p>I ask because if you are charged with evaluating applicants, it would be helpful to know how they performed compared to their peers during their bachelor or master's degree. For example, in the UK first honors is around top 9% of the cohort.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35083,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The US has no organized system of class rank comparisons. Some individual universities (or departments within a university) may track this, but at the university level the educational approaches are so diverse, even for different options within a single department, that direct rank comparison would make little sense in any case. It is for this reason that a number of high ranked universities (MIT being one example) explicitly refuse to create such ranking comparisons.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35084,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My university does not publish cohort rankings. It does award some degrees \"with distinction\" but these like other awards are given by departments on the basis of nomination by faculty, and not by grades.</p>\n\n<p>Remember that you only get grades for coursework, which is a tiny part of your graduate experience.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/01
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35076",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4050/"
] |
35,086 |
<p>I am working on resubmitting a paper to a journal and am working on my response to reviewers. I need to refer to a bunch of line numbers in my response to reviewers and it is frustrating because every time I make a change to my manuscript the line numbers change a bit.</p>
<p>For instance, say a reviewer writes: "you should use the word 'correlate' rather than 'co-occur' in line 243"
I would then reply. "'co-occur' was replaced with 'correlate' in line 245". Note the line number is now higher because I added a sentence to my paper. This is fine, but say I have a whole bunch of these lines, and then I decide to add one more sentence to the beginning of my paper. Right now, I would have to go through my response and update all of the line numbers. I feel like there must be a better way to keep track of these. Maybe with some sort of dynamic field or something in word or open office. Does anyone have a suggestion?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35089,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This is always a pain, but I find it's not actually hard to deal with, just somewhat tedious. My method for doing so is rather low-tech: I keep a copy of the old document to be able to track the old line numbers, then leave all of the line numbers in the response as XXX until I am done with the revision. Then, for each entry, you just cross-index in both places and write both line numbers, e.g., </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>'co-occur' was replaced with 'correlate' in line 245 [prev. 243]</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>For minor wording/grammar edits, however, I usually don't actually respond in such detail, but simplify both my life and the reviewers by just saying something like: \"thank you, fixed\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35101,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Just refer to the line numbers mentioned in the comments. There is no need to go through the pain of also checking where the changes occur in the new document. If you work in Word you can keep the track changes and provide both a file with all the changes visible and one which is a clean version of the new version. If you work in LaTeX you could possibly put all changes in, for example, bold (since bold is usually not used anywhere else in a manuscript, still retaining a version without any highlighted changes. There are a few attempts for revision tools in LaTeX as well but as far as I have seen require intervention with a script or external software.</p>\n\n<p>In any case, I do not know of any journals, including \"my own\", that would require such extensive reporting so as to keep track of both old and new line numbers for minute changes. This does not mean they do not exists but is is usually way over what will be required. </p>\n\n<p>When it comes to small changes such as rephrasing of the type you mention, it would be more than sufficient to provide a letter itemizing all changes and just say \"changed 'to occur' on l. 243 to 'correlate'\". In fact your can also consider lumping all your made minor changes into one statement to the fact that you have made the changes and then follow up on the ones where you have decided not to do so or have done something differently.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35102,
"author": "Aubrey",
"author_id": 26682,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26682",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Also, depending on the field you are into and the confidence with technology of the reviewer, consider using <a href=\"http://github.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">GitHub</a> or even a wiki: they have a version-control systems and you can actually add comments coding-style.\nStartups like <a href=\"https://www.authorea.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Authorea</a> or <a href=\"https://www.penflip.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Penflip</a> are trying to solve the problem of collaborating on these kind of documents (it's not just the review, but the whole writing papers).</p>\n\n<p><em>I'm not affiliated with any of these projects, I just like collaborative tools an think they are important, especially in academia</em>. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35379,
"author": "Jeromy Anglim",
"author_id": 62,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My preference where the journal allows is to avoid making references to page and line numbers. It's a time consuming process and can generally be avoided.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>If the change is really simple (e.g., fixing a typo; changing one word), I'll just acknowledge that the change has been made.</li>\n<li>If a sentence or paragraph has been substantially reworded, I'll first paste a copy of the original paragraph and then a copy of the updated paragraph into my response document, possibly highlighting new text in bold.</li>\n<li>If text has been added to a paragraph, I'll paste the updated paragraph into the response document with added text in bold.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The general logic of the approach is to make the reviewer's task as simple as possible. The reviewer generally wont want to have to perform complex cross-referencing of responses with page and line numbers in the manuscript. Instead, I think it's easier for the reviewer to make such responses self-contained in the response document. If the reviewer really wants to check that the changes have actually been made, there's enough text in the response document to enable a quick search on the manuscript PDF to find the location.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 120477,
"author": "Giezi",
"author_id": 101012,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/101012",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Just asked this question to myself and wanted to add my solution here.</p>\n\n<p>In latex, you can use a combination of the packages <code>lineo</code>, <code>hyperref</code>and <code>xr</code> to dynamically generate line numbers.</p>\n\n<p>In the manuscript: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>use <code>lineo</code> to number your lines (<code>\\linenumbers</code>)</li>\n<li>enable <code>hyperref</code></li>\n<li>wherever needed, use <code>\\linelabel{lne:label1}</code> to mark the line.\n\n<ul>\n<li>You could for instance add <code>\\linelabel{lne:fromLine}</code> at the beggining of the sentence you want to refer to and <code>\\linelabel{lne:toLIne}</code> at the end.</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In the answer to the reviewers:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>use <code>xr</code>to link to the manuscript and get all the labels you defined there.</li>\n<li>Wherever needed use <code>\\lineref{lne:label1}</code> to link to the needed line.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Some lecture on <code>lineo</code>: <a href=\"https://texblog.org/2012/02/08/adding-line-numbers-to-documents/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://texblog.org/2012/02/08/adding-line-numbers-to-documents/</a>\nSome lecture on <code>xr</code>: <a href=\"https://texblog.org/2016/08/23/adding-references-from-an-external-file/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">https://texblog.org/2016/08/23/adding-references-from-an-external-file/</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 120526,
"author": "allo",
"author_id": 79727,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/79727",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When I revise a paper, I like to use a <code>\\revised</code> command, which e.g. changes the color to blue. When submitting a new version, you just need to change the command and remove it only in the final version.</p>\n\n<p>When you now changed your document, you see your changes in blue and can use their line numbers, which will not change when you change the color back to black. This may be a bit faster than looking in the final document for the places where you changed something.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35086",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27219/"
] |
35,088 |
<p>Is there a comprehensive style guide aimed at academic slideshow-type talks? Googling has given me random style suggestions from various sources of dubious credibility. Most give obvious information, like opt for effective pictures over text. Most seem aimed at business presentations, so might compare the virtues of pie charts and bar graphs. </p>
<p>The issue that sent me finally looking for a style guide is looking for the best practices on "uncovering" information on a slide piecemeal. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't, but I've never used a thoughtful decision process. I would appreciate suggestions about this in particular.</p>
<p>You can, of course, avoid "uncovering" just by putting the uncovered information on its own later slide. So related to uncovering, I'm also interested in ideas about when two pieces of information should be separated into different slides or when it is best to put them on the same slide. </p>
<p>If one exists, I'd like a reference made by an organization known for this sort of thing, e.g. something like AP, MLA, a university committee, or an discipline-specific academic organization. I'm also interested in the general thoughts of practicing academics, whose credibility will be clear from their experience and from upvoting of their answers.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 37708,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/\">Edward Tufte</a> is classic and well-recognized authority on scientific communication. His book, \"<a href=\"http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_vdqi\">The Visual Display of Quantitative Information</a>\" is a wonderful guide for thinking about your visual communication (including slides). He also has a fierce <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Tufte#Criticism_of_PowerPoint\">critique of PowerPoint</a> which serves as a good negative guide of pitfalls to avoid.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 38935,
"author": "just-learning",
"author_id": 10483,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10483",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A book I found quite helpful is </p>\n\n<p>Michael Alley, <a href=\"http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/csp.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Craft of Scientific Presentations</a> </p>\n\n<p>It centers around the assertion-evidence approach described in detail in Peter Jansson's answer.</p>\n\n<p>Also see two nice short guides</p>\n\n<p>Simon P. Jones, <a href=\"http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/67052/giving-a-talk-slides.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">How to Give a good research talk</a></p>\n\n<p>R. Geroch, <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/pdf/gr-qc/9703019\" rel=\"nofollow\">Suggestions For Giving Talks</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 38963,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Hopefully you explored <a href=\"http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/speaking.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Michael Alley's site</a> for the <em>Assertion-Evidence approach</em> (AE) to making slides. The concept involves a total re-think of slide layout and follows on earlier criticisms of bullet point-based presentations. Such presentations tend to be more key points for the speaker than conveying a message to the listener/observer. The AE improves on slide impact on the audience but at the same time puts the presenter under more pressure to provide a good account.</p>\n\n<p>The site linked above contains examples and more which is easier to take in then the book by the author. The AE has also been <a href=\"http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/ae_comprehension.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">tested in the class room</a> and found to yield significant improvements. The basic idea is to head the slides with a conclusion and let the slide and the talk support this <em>assertion</em> with <em>evidence</em>. This is widely different from the common approach to have heading such as <em>Introduction</em>, <em>Methods</em>, <em>Results</em>, etc. which is just a form of table of content rather than substance.</p>\n\n<p>So from the supporting evidence the AE is a better way to build a presentation but, it involves significantly more work on the part of a presenter than putting together bullet-point slides. Having tried the approach, I strongly endorse it but will just add that preparing such slides requires both care and time beyond a regular power-point template.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 75090,
"author": "Michael Greinecker",
"author_id": 1588,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1588",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The topic of \"uncovering\" has been adressed in:</p>\n\n<p>Doumont, Jean-luc. \"Striptease.\" <a href=\"http://sites.ieee.org/pcs/files/2013/05/septemberoctober-1999.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">IEEE Professional Communication Society newsletter 43.5</a> (1999): 18.</p>\n\n<p>Doumont has Stanford PhD in applied physics and understands the needs of presenters in technical fields. You can find an excellent talk on <a href=\"https://youtu.be/meBXuTIPJQk\" rel=\"nofollow\">\"Creating effective slides\"</a> by him on youtubbe, which I strongly recommend. </p>\n\n<p>He also has a book on scientific communication, <a href=\"http://www.treesmapsandtheorems.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Trees, Maps, and Theorems</a>, which I haven't yet read, but which has received a lot of positive reviews, see <a href=\"http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=5313651\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a>, <a href=\"http://www.jowr.org/articles/vol1_3/JoWR_2009_vol1_nr3_Leijten-review.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a>, and <a href=\"https://tug.org/TUGboat/tb33-1/tb103reviews-doumont.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a>.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35088",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27247/"
] |
35,094 |
<p>My supervisor wants me to include another professors name in my paper just because he was declared as my second adviser on the project. But the problem is that this man has not done anything but giving foolish and useless comments on my work. By foolish, I do not exaggerate since my supervisor thinks the same but it seems that he made a deal with the other one.
What should I do? I can't really tolerate the fact that he will get acknowledged for the work which he doesn't know anything and didn't do anything about.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35098,
"author": "galois",
"author_id": 25375,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25375",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Have you simply talked to your supervisor about it? You have a valid point, and don't need to worry about upsetting the professor (he likely won't be) by leaving his name out of the list since he hasn't contributed anything towards the actual content of the paper. Your supervisor is more than likely just trying to do a 'fair' thing for the professor since he \"helped out\".</p>\n\n<p>Anyways, the best thing to do would be to simply speak your opinion. If you have real evidence (or there is a mutual knowledge) of the lack of contribution, you'll be fine.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35099,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Is it possible that you misjudge <em>why</em> your advisor wants to see the other prof. on the paper? You say that the reason is that he was \"declared as my second adviser on the project\" ... but then you go on to explain that he actually <em>was</em> part of the discussions leading to the paper, so it does not, or at least not entirely, sound like a courtesy co-authorship to me.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, you (and maybe even your advisor) do not value the input he had, but unilaterally throwing him off the paper for this reason is a dangerous road to go down. If he had <em>any</em> part in actually doing the research or writing the paper, I would at least talk to the guy first and ask him whether he thinks that he contributed enough to become an author.</p>\n\n<p>However, prepare that there is a non-zero chance that the answer to this question will be <em>\"sure, I advised you regularly on the project since it's start, why wouldn't I be a co-author??\"</em> (and mean it!). Decide in advance how you will react to this. Note that, if the prof. feels this way, there is likely no way to remove him from the paper without him being annoyed or worse. Your task then becomes to decide whether you want to add him to the paper purely to keep relations intact (or not).</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35094",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17830/"
] |
35,095 |
<p>i am a MSc Computer Science student writing on a Work-in-Progress publication for ACM SIGCHI.</p>
<p>This format including PDF drafts is defined here:
(<a href="http://chi2015.acm.org/authors/works-in-progress/" rel="nofollow">http://chi2015.acm.org/authors/works-in-progress/</a>)!</p>
<p>At the beginning of the paper the address for each author is defined separately. Both my mentor (PhD student) and his Professor have their institute address standing under their names, both the same address (institute at our Uni for electrical engineering). Me and my fellow student are studying at the institute for computer science, i.e. another faculty with significant another address and we are not working nor having an office/address there.</p>
<p>What address should be stated under our names? </p>
<p>I think we need an address, under which letters arrive us, which I think is not the case for the electrical engineering faculty nor the computer science faculty of our Uni. Do you think so, too?</p>
<p>Consequently, I think our personal home addresses have to be stated. But then it appears strange or unprofessional, because it looks like we are not affiliated with anyone.</p>
<p>What would you think?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35096,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Having a publication is, I think, a good enough reason for requesting a mail box from your institution, so you have a possible solution there. If that was not possible, you can always put the professors' addres as a c/o, so the letters are sent to him, and he will forward them to you.</p>\n\n<p>Note that nowadays, the main use of physical addresses in papers are to send you snail mail spam, like professional societies affiliation offers and such. Almost all communications related to the paper would be via email.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35097,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Many templates include a place for authors to put street addresses, but they aren't necessarily strictly required. </p>\n\n<p>In your case, if you look at <a href=\"http://chi2014.acm.org/proceedings\" rel=\"nofollow\">last year's CHI proceedings</a> you can see that plenty of papers omit it.</p>\n\n<p>For your submission, communication related to your submission will be via email, not snail mail. You can either omit the address entirely, or put the address of your computer science department, it doesn't really matter much. (In the general case, I think it's likely that if a publisher <em>does</em> want to communicate by snail mail, they will ask for the preferred mailing address in the paper submission process, not read it off the submission.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35104,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Just give your department as your address. In the twelve years since my first publication appeared, I have never received a single piece of snail-mail related to a publication so, to be honest, the address is largely a vestige of the days before emails. It's much more important to make sure that your email address can easily be found: <em>that</em> is how anyone who wants to contact you will try to do so.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35105,
"author": "Chris H",
"author_id": 8494,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8494",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In most departments mail for an undergrad/masters student will go to an appropriate admin office, and they'll send you an email - unless you're well known to the front desk staff who would keep it for you - so you can put your own department's address and not worry about it. It would seem like a good idea to do so as your publication history will match your CV better.</p>\n\n<p><em>Some</em> journals will require this field - or if you don't give it, assume the lead author's address is applicable - again it woul dmake sense ot give the right address.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35114,
"author": "Andreas Blass",
"author_id": 14506,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14506",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The authors' addresses on a publication serve not only (nor even primarily) to help people to contact the authors. They indicate where the work was done, so that the universities or companies involved get appropriate credit. Some journals (most of the journals that I'm familiar with) allow an additional field called \"current address\", where an author who has moved since the work was done can indicate where (s)he can be reached.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35095",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27254/"
] |
35,106 |
<p>I've come across a problem during my bachelor thesis.</p>
<p>I'd like to cite a single page in a document, but it uses the "section-page" style of numbering pages of the document. It appear like I'm referencing pages 7 to 23, even it is just a single page. (I am using ISO 690)</p>
<p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/cpL7p.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>
<p>What's the proper way to cite such page? Thank you.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35107,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>It appear like I'm referencing pages 7 to 23</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>A different symbol should be used in the two cases: when referencing page 7-23, the symbol between the two numbers should be a <em>hyphen</em>; when referencing from page 7 to page 23, it should be an <em>en dash</em>, which is slightly longer than the hyphen. </p>\n\n<p>So, use the appropriate symbol.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35119,
"author": "Andreas Blass",
"author_id": 14506,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14506",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You can write \"page 7-23\", so that the singular word \"page\" gives the reader a clue. A range of pages would be \"pages 7–23\".</p>\n\n<p>Alternatively, I would have no objection to \"Section 7, page 23\", though apparently JeffE wouldn't approve of that.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35106",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27261/"
] |
35,109 |
<p>There are many questions here on how to address someone by their title or current status. </p>
<p>What should one do in the case they are addressed by a title they do not have?</p>
<p>Some example of this:</p>
<p>A student submitting a paper and the editor emailing using the Professor/Dr. title.
A PhD in a research lab (not university) being invited for a talk and a letter stating "Dear Professor..."
A researcher (non PhD) being referred to as Dr.</p>
<p>If this is too broad, the question can be edited to just one situation.</p>
<p>In this type of case, should one reply and directly address the title?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35110,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The standard answer to such issues is to <strong>ignore</strong>. By and large, these situations arise because the editor etc. did not care to look up the recipient's real title. There is no malicious intent, actually there is likely no intent at all other than trying to use a catch-all title that the editor assumes will not offend anybody (typically Dr. or Prof.). No harm is done by not rectifying this error, and indeed spending more than a short chuckle on this is too much effort.</p>\n\n<p>(also, being addressed by the wrong title is, at least for me, so common that I mostly stopped noticing it)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35113,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Before I <em>finally</em> finished the doctorate, my syllabus said, \"Call me Bob or Mr. Brown, whichever is more comfortable for you. but not 'doctor' or 'professor.'\" Other than that, I didn't worry about it with students. Faculty all call each other by first names anyway, so it never came up in that context. (Now the syllabus says, \"Call me Bob or Dr. Brown, whichever is more comfortable for you.\")</p>\n\n<p>My professional correspondence (email and postal mail) includes both my degree and my academic rank, so anyone corresponding with me has the correct information whether they need it nor not.</p>\n\n<p>Outside school, I corrected those with whom I expected a long acquaintance, such as a new dentist, by saying, \"Please call me Bob.\" If that didn't work, I added that I did not hold a doctorate. For everyone else, I ignored it.</p>\n\n<p>In my institution and many like it, \"professor\" is used as a courtesy title by students for faculty who do not hold the doctorate, and less as a title of academic rank. How one reacts to \"professor\" will depend on local custom. Whether to correct those who call you professor depends on how it's used where you are. If one is a faculty member and \"professor\" is used as a courtesy, no correction is necessary. </p>\n\n<p>I am reminded of a novel in which a character addressed as \"doctor\" says, \"Oh, no! Not 'doctor.\" I'm only a humble <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellowship_of_the_Royal_College_of_Surgeons\" rel=\"nofollow\">F.R.C.S.</a>\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35116,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When I was a graduate student, I was often called \"Doctor\", and now as a working research scientist I am often called \"Professor.\" I also frequently have people misattribute my affiliation, e.g., saying that I'm at my alma mater rather than my current affiliation.</p>\n\n<p>How I respond depends on the context. My main categories are:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><em>Interactions with an organization that doesn't care about me (e.g., review request from a journal, conference spam):</em> I don't bother to correct: they aren't making a judgement based on the title, and they may not actually have a reasonable ability to correct it if they do, given that many journal and conference management systems use atrocious software.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Interactions with an organization that really does care about credentials (e.g., serving on government review panels):</em> Here, I note the misattribution and check to make sure that my actual credentials satisfy the requirements of the organization, because otherwise I might be wasting everybody's time and money.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Interactions with colleagues and long-term interactions with students (e.g., co-advising):</em> Gentle correction when I feel the misattribution could be perceived as giving me status that I do not have.</p></li>\n<li><p><em>Brief, role-based interactions with students (e.g., questions at a guest lecture in somebody's class):</em> I feel it would be actually rude to correct a student who really doesn't care about the title at all, and just wants some help understanding something.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Mostly, I take the stereotypical American position that we shouldn't care too much about title and affiliation, because we are all ultimately judged by our works, and most of the time nobody involved in the interaction really cares all that much about your title. In those cases where getting it right might actually matter, though, don't be shy about inquiring and correcting as needed.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35118,
"author": "WoJ",
"author_id": 15446,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15446",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is going to be a large cultural bias depending on the country. </p>\n\n<p>I have been addressed \"Professor\" even though the person speaking to me had \"Dr\" in front of his eyes, just because this was the tradition there. </p>\n\n<p>In Italy you are a \"doctor\" when you get a MSc. </p>\n\n<p>In Germany titles are very important, you do not want to make a mistake there.</p>\n\n<p>In many other countries you address someone who graduated from medical studies as \"doctor\", however in Poland they do use \"<em>lek. med.</em>\" as opposed to \"<em>dr med.</em>\" -- the first one being the generic title for someone who graduated and is licensed, while the second clearly indicates that he or she has a PhD. You would still address that person as \"doctor\" in a conversation, but would refer to him or her as \"<em>lekarz</em>\" (the official name, where the abbreviation <em>lek.</em> comes from) when talking in 3rd person.</p>\n\n<p>So it really depends on the place.</p>\n\n<p>The only case where I would care is if this gets formalized (in a book, in proceedings, ...) or at the beginning of a long-term relationship.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35109",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718/"
] |
35,120 |
<p>Related questions: </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15119/should-one-mention-multiple-albeit-somewhat-unrelated-research-interests">Should one mention multiple, albeit somewhat unrelated research interests?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/34693/should-i-talk-about-a-unpublished-paper-in-my-sop">Should I talk about a unpublished paper in my SOP?</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Besides physics as my major, my other interest is linguistics, and as you can see, there is no overlap. When I was in high school, I wrote my first article in linguistics. It hasn't been read by any professor or published in any specialize journal, not because it was rejected, but because I haven't tried to do so. I had a graduate student in linguistics review it for me, and it seems that she finds it interesting. As far as I know, there is currently no material on the topic I researched available on the internet, which indicates that the topic is new.</p>
<p>Because (1) it is the first article I have ever wrote, (2) I did it when I was 16 or 17 (although I have updated so much it lately) and (3) the topic is new so far, I consider it my proudest scientific activity. I think putting it in the SOP will make a steady point that "I was born for scientific research." Will it be useful if I do that, or just mention the latest article in physics I wrote?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35175,
"author": "Florian D'Souza",
"author_id": 26958,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26958",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I wouldn't mention it. As Chris C states in the comments, it is not peer-reviewed and is not directly relevant to your area of future research. </p>\n\n<p>My answer would change if the article were peer-reviewed and/or published in a journal, however. I think demonstrating that you have the ability and motivation to submit an article for publication is a positive attribute for a potential graduate student, regardless of whether the paper is in your field of research or not. For example, my first publication was not in my current research area, but several reviewers of my application later told me that just having a published paper set me apart from other applicants.</p>\n\n<p>Since you claim that at least one person in the field finds it interesting and that the topic is new, why don't you want to publish it? Is there a way to at least submit it for publication before your applications are due? </p>\n\n<p>In my opinion, it is a little dangerous to put unpublished articles on a SOP or CV. A reviewer might arrive at the (potentially false) conclusion that you're trying to pad your CV or SOP with articles that may never actually be published, which can hurt you. Others might wonder why you feel that the article is important enough to include on a graduate application, but not be important enough for publication. </p>\n\n<p>Overall, I think the safer thing to do is omit it for now. If you end up moving forward with disseminating it further, then I would consider mentioning it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 49846,
"author": "Ooker",
"author_id": 14341,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14341",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>Before continue to read this answer, I think you should read <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/35175/14341\">Florian D'Souza's answer</a> first.</em></p>\n\n<p>Well, after consider many aspect, I decided to take the risk and included it into my SOP. My motto is \"Do whatever that doesn't harm\". The hardest part is to know the distinction between the good things and the looking good things. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Note: this answer is my own experience</strong></p>\n\n<p>Turn out that's a good idea. In the interview room, at first of course the interviewers wanted to focus on my \"on-topic\" research. After they satisfied with my answer, they couldn't hide the curiosity about my \"off-topic\" one. I think it's reasonable since I come from the natural side of science, applying to the STEM scholarship but have my first research in social science. They still kept their critical thinking, asking me about the assumptions, the model of collecting data, the explanation, the result, etc. But I think that they also got entertained with my presentation.</p>\n\n<p>Unlike what I was cautioned before, they didn't care if the work was published in any journal or not. In fact, all they care was the research itself. I think this is because they were not linguists, so they couldn't evaluate the value of the work.</p>\n\n<p>But to be fair, they also didn't ask whether my \"on-topic\" research was published elsewhere or not. I think at the level of mine, a published paper is not expected. But making a research outside my field is also unexpected.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35120",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14341/"
] |
35,122 |
<p>I have a master in physics and philosophy and have a keen interest in mathematics. Currently I am doing a PhD in philosophy. On a personal level, however, I cherish the interdisciplinary ideal of combining mathematics, physics and philosophy. I am well aware that realizing this ideal requires an enormous amount of work and talent – and that very likely I cannot 'completely' realize it. </p>
<p>On a structural level, I suppose this is an unfortunate side-effect of the level of specialization in academia today. On a subjective level, however, I feel the need to “revolt” against such over-specialization. It a shame that some "philosophers of science" in my branch haven't solved one differential equation in their life; yet they intend to reflect on what physicists do. I am convinced that combining different disciplines is a worthy thing to do. I suspect many people would agree with me, but the competitive reality of academia makes it very hard to realize.</p>
<p>The time one invests in a secondary area of interest (i.e. mathematics, physics) takes away time to do research in one's main area (i.e. philosophy). The reduced time would (on the short-term) make me less productive and successful. However, in the long-term, it might allow me to produce work of more value and depth.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>(1) Is it wise for a PhD student, somewhere below on the academic ladder, to gamble already on long-term investments, or should one give in to the short-term safety and (over)specialize in one area? </p></li>
<li><p>(2) Is there some middle-way between the two extremes? </p></li>
<li><p>(3) Is it more useful in later stages of one's career to have a broad skill-set or have more publications in one (limited) area?</p></li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35126,
"author": "BrenBarn",
"author_id": 9041,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9041",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think this is a good question, but I have only a brief, partial answer: you may have to accept that, in pursuing the interdisciplinary topics that interest you, the time and energy you spend will <em>not</em> be repaid with any kind of academic currency, but only in less tangible forms. In other words, you may never get a better job, get an extra paper published, or even get an extra pat on the back from a colleague; but you may nonetheless, in a subtle and unsung way, advance the anti-specialization principles you espouse simply by doggedly producing quality work that embodies them. This may sound cynical, but I mean it seriously. Of course, you need enough tangible reward to keep your career going, but it sounds like you're asking about how or whether to invest the energy to go the extra mile above and beyond that. It's possible to derive internal comfort from believing that you're doing your best to produce the kind of work you think needs to be produced, even if doing so doesn't earn you any praise or advance your career in any concrete way. In the end, whether you continue to do this work will depend on whether you can be happy and sane doing it, and drawing strength from your inner conviction, rather than from external validation, can help with that.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35127,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Good question, but likely to be closed as \"opinion-based\" or \"too broad\". My (opinion-based) take below.</p>\n\n<p>Career-wise, you can likely luck out or strike out with either approach. You can turn into the world's foremost expert on a <em>teensy, tiny</em> special sub-sub-sub-field. If this turns out to be an important field for the next decades and your reviewers like it, then you are in luck. However, every subfield will likely be sucked dry at some point in time, so even the most specialized specialist will need to switch fields, methods or something else at least at some point in their career. Suppose you were the world's top expert on some obscure topic sexy in 1985, as a freshly-minted Ph.D. - I don't think this will still be quite as hot today. So a one-trick pony will need to switch tricks now and then.</p>\n\n<p>Note that you need some consensus in your field that your one trick at the moment is actually hot. It's bad if you write a grant application and your reviewers groan \"not again; he's been milking this particular technique for ten years now, when will he finally stop?\"</p>\n\n<p>Alternatively, you can do what you seem to prefer: become proficient in multiple connected fields. This will mean that you won't be the mother of all experts in any of them. But you may just become the person who can actually see, explain and analyze the connections between these fields. Given that there is more and more emphasis on interdisciplinary research these days (which I'd say makes a lot of sense and likely is here to stay), you are well placed to become the linchpin getting disparate single-topic experts together to write grants or papers.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, you still need to pick fields that actually have some connection with each other. You may be interested in all of Shakespeare's plays, high-dimensional complex geometry and parallelized software development, but it will be hard to bring these disparate strands together into a coherent whole.</p>\n\n<p>So you will again need to impress reviewers that your combination makes sense. If your interdisciplinary approach is reviewed by focused experts, these may not appreciate what they perceive as \"no expertise\" in your research.</p>\n\n<p>(Incidentally, by beautiful wife goes the second route. She is likely not the world's greatest geneticist, nor the world's greatest clinical psychologist or therapist, but she does pretty good <em>interdisciplinary</em> research on the genetics of certain psychological conditions and their therapy. Among other things. She started this type of jack-of-multiple-trades approach after her Ph.D.)</p>\n\n<p>I have seen the metaphor of \"T-shaped people\": people who have a limited understanding of a lot of things (the horizontal bar of the T), but are experts in depth in at least some particular topic (the vertical bar). This is the ideal my employer wants us to strive for - we should neither be \"I-shaped\" (all expertise, no general knowledge) nor \"minus sign-shaped\" (all general knowledge, no expertise). This makes sense to me.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35147,
"author": "BCT",
"author_id": 27291,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27291",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have found that a middle-of-the-road approach works best. Scientifically minded individuals tend to be perfectionists. While it is important to pay attention to details, perfection does not exist and life is short. Keep your eye on the prize and make your mark on the world but don't forget to have a life.</p>\n\n<p>Read some of the books about Richard Feynman. By all accounts a genius but by his own admissions said he was mostly like others but had developed a few special \"tools\" or ways of looking at a problem. So yes, explore avenues that may not have immediate rewards but may have value for the future. Great discoveries are often overlooked by the unprepared mind... </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35122",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22371/"
] |
35,128 |
<p>I just finished my master's and I am about to start my PhD studies. As I am very used to do many independent projects during my bachelor's and master's, I am willing to continue a side project on a fairly related topic. Actually, this is project is on a topic completely related to my potential PhD project and even during my job interview my supervisor said it is a plus for me to have experience with these kind of projects. </p>
<p>I have been working on this project from second year of my master's and I worked only about 3-4 hours per week on that, so I guess I can manage to keep it as a side project. The thing is it still needs some work to lead to some acceptable results, but I'm sure it will pay off, if I can make it. Yet, learning about the methods used in the project are really helpful for my PhD project as well. The problem comes where most professors want concentration from their students and this might not be Ok with working with another researchers. Besides, my collaboration in the side project seems not to be very efficient since it is a side project for my collaborators as well.</p>
<p>The question is should I discuss this with my professor even if I want to dedicate some of my free time to that? Should I risk my relationship with him in the early stages of my PhD studies (in case he is not Ok with that?)? Do I look like some trouble maker if I ask him about this? Do you think I should continue this project or just simply drop it and concentrate on my PhD project?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35146,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Let me answer in two parts:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>With the right advisor, projects undertaken on your own initiative will be <em>valued</em> rather than seen as a problem.</li>\n<li>You definitely need to talk to your advisor <em>now</em> to make sure you're with the right advisor.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Expanding on this a bit... one of the hardest things for many people to learn in a Ph.D. program is how to organize and initiate their own research portfolio. You show signs of doing this right from the start, so as long as you are willing to accept feedback and guidance, this is potentially a really good thing. </p>\n\n<p>Whether it is a good fit for your advisor, however, depends on what your advisor's needs are at their current stage in their career. Some professors really need their students to be focusing on particular problems that the professor currently wants or needs to tackle. Others are able to give their students more freedom to wander intellectually. This is partly based on career stage (pre-tenure professors are likely to demand more focus), and partly on personality (a control freak or an empire-builder will not be mellowed by tenure; a highly confident professor may give much free rein even before tenure).</p>\n\n<p>So: talk with your advisor about your desires and plans. If your advisor is receptive to the idea, great: now you can sort out how to balance things and make sure you aren't neglecting any responsibilities or making strategic mistakes. If your advisor is not receptive, you need a different advisor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35148,
"author": "teh tarik 101",
"author_id": 26641,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26641",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe it is more productive to pursue your work from Masters to PhD rather than having them running separately, as PhD requires a dedication and focus. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35149,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As an addition to jakebeal's answer:</p>\n\n<p>I am sort of terrified of an advisor for which a side project of 3-4 hours / week, strongly related even, would be a dealbreaker. That being said, you need to make sure that the side project runs <em>on the side</em>. That is, don't let the 4 hours become 15 or 20 hours, and never, ever use the side project as a reason to justify why you can't achieve your goals in the main project.</p>\n\n<p>This also means that there are side projects which are more suitable than others. It needs to be ok that there will be weeks where you spend a total of 0 hours on your side project, because there is e.g., a deadline in your main project. If there are hard deadlines in your side project as well, you may get into problems if the hard deadlines end up coming in at the same time.</p>\n\n<p>For example, what is a notoriously bad side project for PhD students is any kind of light consulting work (as my students in applied Computer Science are sometimes prone to take on). Yes, helping some non-IT company with some technical issues now and then takes almost no time and pays quite well, but if there is a big problem at your customer's side at the week of the deadline of our major conference, we <em>will</em> get into arguments, <em>even if you worked more than 40 hours per week</em> (or whatever your nominal contractual workload is) despite being at the customer's site for a day.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 68313,
"author": "Jessica Su",
"author_id": 53764,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53764",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends on how good you are at multitasking. You don't want to neglect your advisor's projects because you're working on a side project. At the same time, you don't want to neglect your side project because you're working on your advisor's projects. (Your collaborators will probably be happier parting with you on good terms than collaborating with you on a project that you'll never actually work on.)</p>\n\n<p>Keep in mind that you'll also have other side projects with more urgent and demanding deadlines, like classes or being a teaching assistant. As a PhD student my attention is normally split between two or three tasks, even without external side projects.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to continue your side project, you should definitely ask your advisor if you can keep working on it, so he knows about all your commitments (and is okay with them). You might even be able to pull your advisor in as a collaborator, and then everyone's happy!</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/02
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35128",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
35,130 |
<p>I am currently applying to graduate programs in physics across the US, though primarily in California. I am a New York State resident currently on parole for a violent crime committed in 2005. I have been on parole for over 3 years, and will be released in the Summer of 2016. </p>
<p>I am going to have to transfer my parole with only several months notice, which will be a hassle. My hope is that my academic accomplishments will result in my parole transfer being completed without resistance.</p>
<p>If anyone has any idea what I can expect from a graduate institution in terms of assistance in the process, please respond. I foresee the process being a rough transitions if the state to which I transfer is not welcoming. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35136,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can't say I've had any practical experience with this, but my suspicion is that the university will probably not make extensive efforts to assist you in this matter, because it's not something they will have significant experience with, either. </p>\n\n<p>I also suspect their willingness to provide assistance will in large part be dependent on the amount of help they have to provide. If you need letters confirming that you have been accepted to the program, and that they have supported your admission with knowledge of your prior record, that's probably reasonable. On the other hand, if you're expecting them to send a representative to a hearing, or something more intensive, that will likely be much more complicated. </p>\n\n<p>However, your best advice in such a situation is <strong>contact a competent attorney</strong> who can provide more guidance.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 45393,
"author": "Sean Bearden",
"author_id": 27283,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27283",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To answer my question based on my experience:</p>\n\n<p>I did not find that any institution was particularly wary about my past. Of the many institution to which I was granted admission, only SUNY Stony Brook asked me to go through a review process. Most institutions found my past inspiring. I cannot say how the institutions that rejected my application felt about my history. However, my rejections came primarily from top 10 universities, so it is likely competitiveness of those programs led to my rejection.</p>\n\n<p>I have accepted admission into a Ph.D. program at a University of California institution. In the process of transferring parole, the department of my studies has been very helpful. The chair of the department has provided a letter to parole, and the staff has assisted me in obtaining housing. </p>\n\n<p>My experience was much less troublesome than I had feared.</p>\n\n<p>Most helpful to me was:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Creating connections at my undergraduate institution. I have been an active student regarding campus activities. I volunteered often to help the department. I wanted to create a track record of assimilating into the campus community.</p></li>\n<li><p>Being honest in my applications and statements of purpose. Many may believe that my history should not be highlighted, but I have found that having a unique story sets me apart from other students. Everyone seems to enjoy a good comeback story. (It has also helped me win scholarships.)</p></li>\n<li><p>Letters of recommendations from professors with whom I have worked. These letters did not mention my history. They show that I am more than a good student with an interesting story; I have the ability to function as a productive student researcher.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35130",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27283/"
] |
35,133 |
<p>I've heard anywhere from 2,000 - 10,000 words is typical for a publication in an average journal. What's your experience?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35134,
"author": "galois",
"author_id": 25375,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25375",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://www.informationr.net/ir/14-1/paper391.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">This source</a> mentions that they're \"typically 3,000 to 10,000 words in length\". <a href=\"http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">This page</a> may give you some tips on the length of specific parts of the paper, as well.</p>\n\n<p>BTW, I think the length of the publication can also be dependent on where you are submitting it. Also, you can check yourself creatively by going to sites like <a href=\"http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/</a>, and copy+paste the text into a <a href=\"http://wordcounttools.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">word counter</a>. ;-)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35140,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A typical publication in the areas of biology that I work in, is like an iceberg. The \"paper\" per se is likely to be only a couple thousand words (for example Nature articles are only 3000 words long, and a number of other high profile publications also have tight limits). That small portion sticking above the surface is typically backed by anywhere from 10 to 50 pages of supplementary material, which contains the bulk of the paper.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35174,
"author": "pocketlizard",
"author_id": 21458,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21458",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My experiences with \"average\" journals (by which I mean that they aren't extremely high-end like Nature or Science) is that typically a publication is around 4,500-7,500 words.</p>\n\n<p>My old adviser used to say that if his manuscript reached 30-40 pages (typewritten, Times New Roman, size 12, double-spaced), he would split it into two publications instead. I wouldn't suggest this method because it's a lot of work to write one manuscript, and this way you would have to go through many more drafting stages to get two manuscripts that were thorough, told the complete story, and yet did not overlap.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35133",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27287/"
] |
35,144 |
<p>I am a Hispanic student (senior undergraduate) from a socioeconomically disadvantaged background pursuing a graduate degree in Physics in US (I just finished submitting my applications). I do not know anyone from my neighborhood that attended college, much less pursued an advanced degree, and I find myself abhorred by the educational inequality in the US (and the world) on a daily basis. I've undertaken some personal outreach endeavors thus far, I act as a mentor via email for minority students in K-12 (for example, I send them updates about what projects I'm doing and links that I think are suitable for their age group) and I stay in contact with minority undergraduates in STEM whom find themselves faced with (socioeconomic) obstacles similar to those that I have faced.</p>
<p>My parents were hard workers, but they had little time (or money) to stimulate me intellectually as a child, and they also had no idea what it meant to pursue a PhD in anything besides a <em>medical</em> doctor. Thus, I really only became familiar with the notion of pursuing a career in <em>scientific research</em> when I arrived at college; prior to arriving at college, <em>engineering</em> was my idea of what it meant to be a "scientist", or, to "do science" as a career.</p>
<p>I would say that over the course of the past three years I have become a relatively successful researcher, and in some ways I have made up for lost time, but to this day I can only cringe thinking about where I (or someone in my same shoes) might be today if I had been exposed to science at a younger age. </p>
<p><strong>Does anyone have advice as to how I can begin making a significant impact in scientific outreach as a graduate student?</strong> I have a knack for programming, and the majority of my research is computational in nature, so I think I might be well suited for helping individuals learn programming remotely, or something of that effect.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35150,
"author": "user3426338",
"author_id": 23764,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23764",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can completely relate to you. There are plenty of programs out there where you can do some outreach. You can check out Code2040 : <a href=\"http://code2040.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://code2040.org/</a> . Its a program that helps minorities get their foot in the door in the tech world. It might not be exactly what you had in mind but I would try to network with the coordinators maybe they can give you better advice on your journey. You can also try doing outreach through your local library. I know that some libraries offer tech literacy courses so that maybe good place to start. You can also try to create a non-profit organization for your cause as well.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35151,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Outreach comes in two flavours: creating interest (<em>wow, this science thing is actually cool!</em>), and educating (<em>this is how you program</em>). I think both are necessary, so take your pick (or both).</p>\n\n<p><s>Also, don't even think of making it a one man effort.</s> I don't advise to do it alone. There will be times where you will be swarmed in work, and then your outreach will just fall out of priority. Instead, team up with undergrads, schools, youth centres... whoever is willing to help you. If your university has something in place, you should probably go for it, as it will probably suit your primary needs the most. If you cannot find anyone, you can always start alone and get people on board along the way, but do make this a priority to ensure continuity.</p>\n\n<p>Story time: when I was an undergrad, I joined the astronomy club at my university and we did a lot of outreach, mostly talks and workshops about different topics. It was a very good starting point, as I met people that have been <em>in the business</em> for some time, and could help me avoid some of the beginners mistakes. To give you an idea of our success, in some years, we (a dozen of undergrads), single handedly organised half of the events for the Science Week at the Physics Department, usually getting fully booked in less than a week since opening the registrations.</p>\n\n<p>My experiences showed that:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Many teachers are overworked, underpaid, and frustrated; and they would take your activities as a way to relax for an hour. A few others are still passionate and will go out of their way to get you in the classroom and make the most of it.</li>\n<li>Teenagers are difficult to begin with, but once you break the toughness layer, they have a bunch of interesting ideas. Also, beyond that point there are not many differences between posh and underprivileged schools.</li>\n<li>Ideally, all fronts should be covered. This includes schools, family activities, talks for adults, elderly centres, giving teachers ideas... But of course, you don't have to do them all.</li>\n<li>Be engaging. Get small groups, if you can. Prefer interaction in person. I wouldn't recommend teaching programming remotely, as it is too easy to ignore it. It would only work with kids that are <em>really</em> interested, but then, there are tons of online resources to learn.</li>\n<li>Sometimes, kids behave like mushrooms, and there is nothing you can do about it. Don't let that frustrate you. Don't be impervious to (self) criticism, though.</li>\n<li>Talk to professors active in outreach, even if they are out of your expertise. In my university there were a couple of them from the Optics department, that taught me a few nifty low budget experiments.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35159,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Outreach - to start with, once you know something worth sharing (and for sure you do, as you are a PhD student), the biggest thing is your motivation and drive for it.</p>\n\n<p>There are various styles of doing outreach, and for various audiences (of different age, specialization etc).</p>\n\n<p>In some sense its up to your taste to choose topic and the audience. As you are from a disadvantaged group you should know the best what kind of help and stimulation would had benefited you the most.</p>\n\n<p>It's important to look at the \"added value\" - i.e. how much they benefit from it. (Sometimes a spark of inspiration can be better than concentrating knowledge; but also sometimes a lecture can be cool but provide little long-term value.)</p>\n\n<p>What you can do?</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Giving lectures.</li>\n<li>Doing workshops.</li>\n<li>1-1 mentoring.</li>\n<li>Running some blog (but this is less sure, as there is less direct feedback).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In any case, it's mostly practice, practice and practice. You will learn which things work the best, and which - do not. Which things are interesting for the audience, which - not as much as for you.</p>\n\n<p>If you are in programming, it is a good way to start, as it gives them tools they can play with by themselves, and it is beneficial in many different job scenarios. </p>\n\n<p>It's of course good to contact people in your department, who are involved in outreach - very likely they can provide some advice and it may be possible that there are organizations or events you can join (whether run by univ. or something external).</p>\n\n<p>Also, some of my experiences are captured here: <a href=\"http://warsztatywww.wikidot.com/en:indie-camp-for-hs-geeks\" rel=\"nofollow\">An independent camp for high school geeks</a> (some lessons can be used in different settings).</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35144",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26832/"
] |
35,152 |
<p>Student presentations were a part of my grading policy in one of my classes. I had a student who tried hard to get a higher grade in the class. But after his poor presentation, he persistently asked me to give him full credit on his presentation. I told him that his presentation was not good enough to get full credit. But he has persisted and persisted in asking for full credit.</p>
<p>The student told me that this is what he does in all of his classes. How should I deal with this behavior? He does not deserve the full credit he says he needs. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35153,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There are multiple issues here.</p>\n\n<p>The first is a student persisting, pushing for higher grades. For this, you should see the link scaaahu left <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9014/what-to-do-about-grade-grubbers\">What to do about \"grade grubbers?\"</a> If you continue to entertain this student they will keep pushing. Why would they stop? There is no cost and a chance for a gain. However, you need to be strong and clear. \"You got this grade because of your performance. You want a better grade then give a better performance.\"</p>\n\n<p>Second issue, which I think you mentioned (but I might be mistaken here) is students needing a higher grade than they deserve. I just dealt with this issue (again) this past month. The student (and even an admin on behalf of the student) were practically pleading with me saying \"I really need a higher grade, I know the semester is over, and I know I did not do a good job, and I know I misbehaved in class, but could you pleeeaaaase give me a higher grade?\"</p>\n\n<p>When you encounter this second kind of issue remember that you are acting as a judge. Because of this, your decision is going to set precedent which will be held against you (and perhaps others) in the future. So, if you really want what is best for <em>all students</em> (including the one asking) then you must hold steady and show that students must do the work for the grade they want. Otherwise, they will think there is a way they can avoid the work and still get good grades and that is clearly not the signal we, as educators, should be sending.</p>\n\n<p>In short, tough love and make sure they respect the educational process (don't allow them to badger you).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35178,
"author": "Simon Drew",
"author_id": 27313,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27313",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If <strong>you</strong> have explained the ways in which he has failed to reach the standards required for a higher grade, then <strong>he</strong> should be mature enough to accept your professional, dispassionate assessment. </p>\n\n<p>College is where childhood ploys of appealing for leniency should be discarded: hard work and rigorous application are more appropriate behaviour.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35183,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree with the other answers: \"No!\"</p>\n\n<p>I want to address specifically grading of presentations. That can look very arbitrary to students, and the appearance of arbitrariness in grading leads directly to whining of all kinds.</p>\n\n<p>Have a rubric for grading presentations, and supply the students with a copy of it early in the term, before they start preparing. A <a href=\"https://www.google.com/search?q=grading+rubric+for+presentation\">Google search for \"scoring rubric for presentations\"</a> provides a number of useful examples from which one could start.</p>\n\n<p>Make yours as granular and concrete as you can stand. So, instead of writing, \"Information is presented in a logical sequence: 5 points,\" try something like this:</p>\n\n<p>Organization of the presentation:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>All parts of the presentation were in a logical order and build on one another: 5 points</li>\n<li>Most parts of the presentation were in logical order: 4</li>\n<li>Presenter \"skipped back\" to include points not mentioned: 3</li>\n<li>Presenter skipped back more than once: 2</li>\n<li>Order of points in the presentation was difficult to discern: 1</li>\n<li>The presentation appeared to have no logical order: 0</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>This is a lot of trouble, but you'll only have to do it once in your entire teaching career. Have a rubric sheet for each student, mark the rubric sheet, preferably with comments, and return them as \"graded work.\"</p>\n\n<p>You may still get questions, but they'll necessarily be of the form, \"I deserved a 3 instead of a 2 on organization.\" These are <em>much</em> easier to deal with, and quickly reach the level of <em>de minimis.</em></p>\n\n<p>Once I get to that level, I say to students, \"If, at the end of the semester, but before I turn in final grades, you believe this item will change your course grade, I'll look at it again.\" No one has <em>ever</em> come back to me at the end of a semester with such a question.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35186,
"author": "Lightness Races in Orbit",
"author_id": 12378,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12378",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What do you mean \"how to deal with it\"? He's behaving like a child. Say \"no\" every time he asks. There is nothing else you can or should do.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35207,
"author": "Daniel Wessel",
"author_id": 26614,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26614",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It seems like the student has learned that \"persistence\" leads to success. Unfortunately, instead of learning from prior presentations on how to continuously improve his presentation, he learned to get a good grade by pestering the instructors. Given that your colleagues have given in, you are in the unfortunate position of disabusing him of this notion.</p>\n\n<p>But I would not try to outlast the student in endless discussions, but inform him that you will not discuss this grade with him any longer. Because there is nothing to discuss. You have your reasons, you have stated them. A good student can learn from them to improve his presentations. His persistence in the wrong issue is not your responsibility.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 60163,
"author": "Captain Emacs",
"author_id": 45857,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/45857",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Core message: explain <strong>why</strong> he received the grade and where he lost marks. Don't just refuse to budge. As a student, I remembered that I found fuzzy and indistinct reasons for lower grades unacceptable. If clear criteria and well-reasoned arguments were given, I would accept, and never argue, even where the marks were bad.</p>\n\n<p>However, I remembered to have argued to the end with a marker about a downgrading my submission which fulfilled the requirements of the exercise but I happened to understand that differently from those who set the questions (which, in fact, led to a far more complicated, but equally valid, solution). I would not let no pass for an answer here. The marker wasn't interested in the topic and did not exert himself to look outside his immediate comfort zone to look beyond the immediate task. I ended up getting the marks. I didn't care so much about the marks as about the principle. Had he argued that my solution was far too complicated and had lost marks for elegance, I even would have accepted. But he didn't, he just said it's wrong.</p>\n\n<p>In another case, in an relatively intricate problem, the marker did not see the complications arising in the problem and marked down my (again more complicated) solution. Again, I went to the Prof and argued about that, until he conceded; again, the mark was irrelevant to me (and of minor importance, anyway) - it was about the principle. </p>\n\n<p>I do not have the impression that this is the case in your example, but one should be prepared to concede if one made a mistake. But if you have good reasons for marking him down and you are not handwaving anything, state them clearly and close the case.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 68560,
"author": "thebishopofcalc",
"author_id": 54015,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/54015",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Be forewarned, you may well find it all but impossible to dislodge said student from your office if they haven't gotten the \"yes\" they want. Even after telling them that you will not be entertaining any further discussions about re-scoring this assignment, and that any further appeals will have to be done as a larger conversation in conjunction with the department chair, said chair may have to be drafted to get them up and out of your office. </p>\n\n<p>A colleague (/wife) believes one should go even further, advising recalcitrant students that if they cannot accept a well-meaning, legitimately-arrived-at \"no\" and leave, then an advisory that campus police will be enlisted may become necessary, but that has always seemed to me to be a bridge too far. (I know, I know, but I still love her.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 115759,
"author": "jvriesem",
"author_id": 32794,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32794",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Rather than answering the question and repeat what others have said better than myself, I'd like to add a few comments for when people apply these answers when they encounter similar situations.</p>\n<h1>1) Context matters</h1>\n<p>There's a big difference between a student who shamelessly begs/whines for a better grade in all their classes and the student who did poorly because of something outside their control (e.g. assault). Insofar as we know the context of a given situation and have the power to be flexible, we must not treat all cases identically; doing so would be an injustice to the student.</p>\n<p>(It's important to note that the above case is different than many (most?) other cases in that the student admitted to doing this in all their other classes. We can afford less grace for such a student.)</p>\n<h1>2) The approach of your response matters</h1>\n<p>Your approach depends on what the student is saying or asking of you. For the students who are whining for a better grade without any justification, a simple, yet firm, "no" may suffice. Other students may be asking why they received the grade they did, and then you should explain why. (If you do, a brief explanation is usually sufficient.)</p>\n<p>Typically, your response should be clear and concise. If they have questions beyond what you said in your response, they can ask in a follow-up email. Avoid being too standoffish or defensive when it isn't warranted.</p>\n<p>Be professional. Don't be overly congenial (which students may mistake for favoritism, or worse), but don't be antagonistic, either.</p>\n<h1>3) Compassion matters, but use judiciously</h1>\n<p>Usually, teachers do not know what baggage their students are dealing with. Some students are more sensitive than others, and they may need a more compassionate response.</p>\n<p>It's possible to validate some of their complaints but still be firm. For example, it might be okay to say that you know the student is smarter than is reflected by their grade, but that they didn't demonstrate their knowledge during the class. In other cases, you could say that you know how hard it can be to balance two jobs and taking classes, but that the grade they earned is a reflection not of their overall effort in life, but rather just their performance in this class.</p>\n<p>Avoid making judgments about the student's situation. Avoid blaming the student for their situation. If the student put themselves in their situation, you can let them learn from it without heaping blame on them. (I've heard stories of teachers telling students that they're a failure and should drop their program or major. This can be very damaging to a student's psyche. Even when warranted, this is rarely a teacher's responsibility to say.)</p>\n<p>Also avoid being too kind or soft, as the student may try to take advantage of this in further emails, or tell their friends to do so in the future. You don't want to have the reputation of being a pushover.</p>\n<h1>4) Fairness matters</h1>\n<p>Be very careful about making exceptions for one student that you are not able or willing to make for other students. Everything else equal, making an exception for one student is not fair to the other students.</p>\n<p>If you are willing/able to let one student make up some work after the semester, be sure to allow other students to do the same (barring special circumstances).</p>\n<h1>5) Precedent matters</h1>\n<p>If you decide to be flexible for one student in one thing, realize that you are establishing a precedent that you may be held to in the future, either by students or by your institution.</p>\n<p>This is partly why rubrics are so useful: they set a precedent and expectation for graded work. If a student claims you graded an assignment unfairly, you can point out on the rubric where they lost points.</p>\n<h1>6) Knowledge matters</h1>\n<p>Know the policies and options at your institution, and know what situations fit with these policies and options. For example, some schools allow teachers to give a student an "incomplete" mark rather than a letter grade for special circumstances.</p>\n<p>If you know that it's too late to change a grade (e.g. institutional policy), you can tell this to your student and point out that if they were concerned about ____ that affected their grade, you could have worked out a solution if they had told you before the deadline.</p>\n<p>If a student persists in pestering you, it's good to know whether you are obligated to respond to them (usually you aren't), and to know at what point to report them for harassment.</p>\n<p>Finally, if you really aren't sure how to handle a situation, it is useful to know where you can get help.</p>\n<h1>SUMMARY</h1>\n<p>Be clear and concise in your response. Be firm, but don't be a jerk. Make sure you take context into account when responding. Know what options you have in a given situation.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35152",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19761/"
] |
35,154 |
<p>I personally know a male graduate student who works in a different area (in STEM) than mine and who has a potentially controversial view. He opposes to affirmative actions for women in academia and outreach activities for female teenagers conducted by a university. He's repeatedly and openly expressed his idea on his public Facebook post, in his (and my) native language, which is not English.</p>
<p>This particular student is soon graduating and has been granted a post as a post-doc at a very prestigious university in the U.S., from (I suppose) this fall on. I don't think that whoever in charge of hiring him knows his view, since, albeit they are public, his posts are not written in English.</p>
<p>While I don't know if his beliefs should prevent him from being hired, I do think that this may be a potential concern to his future employers.</p>
<p>Obviously I'm really concerned about his views and feel that, since they are expressed openly, it might be appropriate to make sure his prospective employers know about them. Is there a professional way to do this, or is it the case that no matter how baleful and publicly expressed the views may be, I should play no part in informing his prospective employers?</p>
<p>Corrigendum: I should have been really, really careful as to how to put my question. For one thing, I don't see his view <em>anti-feminist</em>. The word <em>anti-feminist</em> appears there (with quotation marks) because I couldn't think of a good adjective. It could have been anything else. Since so many people are distracted by this, I remove the word completely.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35160,
"author": "JeffE",
"author_id": 65,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/65",
"pm_score": 8,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>Mind your own business.</h2>\n\n<p>If you believe that your colleague poses an <em>actual threat</em> to someone, it is of course your duty to warn them. But opinions are not threats. It is entirely up to your colleague who he shares his opinions with. Revealing your colleague's opinions to his future employer, no matter how offensive you may find them, would be a violation of his privacy.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35176,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>He opposes to affirmative actions for women in academia and outreach activities for female teenagers conducted by a university.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>While I disagree with that view, I am not ready to call it \"anti-feminist\". Anyway, it is possible to have an academic job and hold anti-feminist views. A postdoc who holds (only) these views does not present an \"immediate danger\", in that it is unlikely that he will be involved in hiring, personnel or policy decisions. </p>\n\n<p>Such a person is (I think) more likely to engage in poor or unacceptable behavior while on the job. However, that has certainly not happened yet at the postdoc job (it hasn't started yet) and you say nothing about such behavior as a graduate student. Whether Facebook is <strong>public</strong> or not -- it's clearly somewhere towards the middle of the increasingly complicated spectrum of public versus private life -- it is certainly not <strong>professional</strong>: that is, he did not post these things in the context of his job. </p>\n\n<p>If I had hired a postdoc and received information about such messages on Facebook, I almost certainly would not reconsider the hiring decision. It would be hard for me to forget it, and I might keep an eye on the postdoc to see whether they behave in any inappropriate way...but the whole thing would make me a bit uncomfortable. We hire (especially STEM?) postdocs for their technical abilities, not for their political and social right-thinking. A lot of postdocs are from foreign countries, and I do not assume that foreign postdocs occupy the same position on the socio-political spectrum as most American academics. I assume that they will mostly stay out of trouble, and that if they get tenure-track positions they (as with everyone else) keep an open mind and learn about what their colleagues and superiors value. </p>\n\n<p>I would say that if the writings concern you -- which I find quite reasonable -- then you should consider responding to it at the source: i.e., on Facebook itself. I try to reply to a positive proportion of emails / posts I see which I regard as being sexist / racist / morally wrong: it can be tedious to do so, but you don't want to politely say nothing while other people say terrible things. On the other hand, you may want to simply stop receiving posts from this person. I became Facebook friends a few years back with someone I had gone to junior high and high school with, and I got treated to a barrage of postings about how employers shouldn't have to cover women's health expenses that they didn't morally agree with. I think I responded once or twice, and after that I blocked the posts. I feel much better!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35179,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can argue this both ways.</p>\n\n<p>On the one hand, I do believe that while public speech should be free, people are also free to react to that speech. So if you really believe that this candidate should be rejected for shooting off his mouth, you're entitled to say so. (Exactly as entitled as he was to make the comments in the first place ... which comparison may indicate why you might <em>not</em> want to do so.)</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, a person's views -- however obnoxious you find them -- are their own. If they <em>act</em> on those views, including voicing them in a way/time/place that creates a hostile workplace, that's a problem and should be addressed at that time.\nUntil then, they're entitled to disagree even if you find that disagreeable. </p>\n\n<p>I guess my answer would be: <em>If asked,</em> you can certainly voice your concern. I'm not at all convinced it's appropriate to do so if you aren't asked. Remember that the folks accepting/hiring this grad student are perfectly capable of websearching him themselves, and these days have probably done so as part of their HR process. If they've taken him anyway, odds are that you won't change their mind unless there's more going on than you've told us.</p>\n\n<p>And really, how important is it for you to sabotage him, and why? Let him get himself into trouble, if he's going to. Or let him learn how not to. It really doesn't sound like he's a danger to anyone.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35184,
"author": "Federico Poloni",
"author_id": 958,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>There is no way to do this in a professional way.</strong></p>\n\n<p>First of all, if he has been admitted already, <strong>it is too late</strong> to blow the whistle. Unless what you are revealing is a criminal offence, changing idea and refusing to give him a position to which he has been accepted is legally impossible.</p>\n\n<p>Secondly, sending an e-mail or contacting the hiring committee out of the blue would sound very strange. <strong>You are probably the one that would appear as a 'hater'</strong> if you write to a professor 'hi, you don't know me at all, but I wanted to tell you that this guy is a horrible person --- to prove it, here are two sentences out of context from a Facebook post that I translated myself'. My first reaction would be thinking that you hate him for personal reasons and are trying to destroy his reputation with fake claims.</p>\n\n<p>Thirdly, as noted already by other users, you are basically trying to shame him for what <em>you</em> regard as a <strong>thought crime</strong>. What you have objections on are his opinions, not his actions. In most countries, freedom of thought and speech is highly regarded. Unless what you are trying to report is something universally considered abject, such as apology of paedophilia or of the Holocaust, the odds are that people will consider you, not him, the bad person. Sexism isn't high enough on the horribleness scale to elicit such a reaction.</p>\n\n<p>That said, I prefer not to comment at all on whether what he wrote is a sign of sexism and/or morally wrong; this is a different issue.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35212,
"author": "reirab",
"author_id": 12999,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12999",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>TL;DR</strong>: Don't do this. In the case of a U.S. public university, it would be illegal for them to take any action based on what you want to tell them. Additionally, telling them is a bad idea for the reasons other answers have already given.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><strong>Disclaimer</strong>: I'm not a lawyer. The quotes below, though, are from lawyers who also just so happen to be U.S. Supreme Court justices or U.S. Court of Appeals justices.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>In addition to the excellent answers already here, what you are suggesting has actually been ruled <strong>illegal</strong> for U.S. public universities (or almost any other government job in the U.S., regardless of whether it's at the federal, state, or local level.) Furthermore, anyone deemed to be acting to discriminate on such a basis on the behalf of the state <strong>can be sued individually</strong> in addition to the state institution itself being sued. If anyone acted on your advice not to hire this person because of his political beliefs, he could sue them. Additionally, he might even be able to sue <strong>you</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>For more information, see <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_v._Republican_Party\">Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois</a>, a U.S. Supreme Court case which <a href=\"http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5322176927652912012&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr\">ruled</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Today we are asked to decide the constitutionality of several related political patronage practices — whether promotion, transfer, recall, and hiring decisions involving low-level public employees may be constitutionally based on party affiliation and support. We hold that they may not.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Additionally, see <a href=\"https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/427/347/\">Elrod v. Burns</a>, which ruled similarly:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Patronage dismissals severely restrict political belief and association, which constitute the core of those activities protected by the First Amendment, and government may not, without seriously inhibiting First Amendment rights, force a public employee to relinquish his right to political association as the price of holding a public job.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In a more recent case, <a href=\"http://www.bna.com/the-eighth-circuit-differentiates-between/\">Wagner v. Jones</a>, a law professor was able to individually sue the Dean who made an illegal decision not to hire her based on her political views. Due to unrelated technicalities, that case is still winding its way through the courts, though the <a href=\"http://media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/11/12/102588P.pdf\">8th Circuit Court of Appeals has already ruled that</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>[T]he First Amendment prohibits a state from basing hiring decisions on\n political beliefs or associations with limited exceptions for policymaking and\n confidential positions. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>[Near the bottom of page 10]</p>\n\n<p>and that:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Section 1983 provides a civil cause of action against any person who, under\n color of state law, causes a deprivation of the rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States. 42 U.S.C. § 1983 </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>[beginning of Section II at the bottom of page 9]</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35214,
"author": "Daniel Wessel",
"author_id": 26614,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26614",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let's look at this question by looking at affirmative action, the university setting, and your role in it:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Affirmative Action</strong></p>\n\n<p>It's hard to gauge his specific position, but being against affirmative action/outreach programs does not mean that this person is against the group that is supposed to benefit from these programs. It can simply mean that this person sees affirmative action as the wrong solution to an issue that might or might not be an actual problem.</p>\n\n<p>For example, this person can think that the gender of a student should be irrelevant, and they themselves have no preference for, e.g., male or female students. In fact, they do what is ostensibly desired -- they treat men and women the same. Interest, persistence, grades, performance, etc. should count, not whether this person is/identifies as male or female. They might even welcome women if they have similar competence (a requirement for the contact hypothesis to work). <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-6usiN4uoA\">They might see the differences between the percentages of men and women in certain domains within STEM due to a different distribution of interests, not due to discrimination that requires affirmative action</a>, or think that Academia is not specifically hostile to women but hostile in general (many PhDs, few tenure track positions). There is also the counter-intuitive finding that affirmative action might hurt those it should benefit. At least for race there was an <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm5eph0g_Ag\">interesting \"intelligence squared\" debate</a>.</p>\n\n<p>In the following, I'm assuming that this person has thought about his position.</p>\n\n<p><strong>University Setting</strong></p>\n\n<p>Now let's look at affirmative action in the university setting. Unfortunately, some people think that anything but (at least) 50% women in highly prestigious fields like STEM indicate discrimination (ignoring, e.g., prior interests). And for some, it's an ideological issue where questions or an open debate with arguments based on theory and evidence are not tolerated. If you are not for positive discrimination, you are seen as acting actively against women -- even if you just apply the same standards to men and women.</p>\n\n<p>Even worse, I get the impression that some universities get more and more infected by ideology. They are turning into indoctrination places where having the right (or rather: the left) point of view is all that counts (FIRE is an interesting source here). Personally, I think that universities can and should do better. If you cannot discuss \"potentially controversial views\" at the university then where can you discuss them? But realistically, in some universities open discussion of controversial ideas can draw a lot of outrage (<a href=\"http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9376232/free-speech-is-so-last-century-todays-students-want-the-right-to-be-comfortable/\">including from students</a>).</p>\n\n<p><strong>Your Role as 'potentially concerned person'</strong></p>\n\n<p>Given the explosive nature of the topic for many people, exposing a contrary view of someone <em>could</em> cause damage. Not necessarily because of the issue, but because you make it an issue. Especially if it is done without this person's knowledge. Or would you tell him in advance that you translated or summarized his postings and gave them to his prospective employers because you were \"concerned\"?</p>\n\n<p>If you inform his employers/colleagues, I would hope that they have even a shred of integrity and have a look (and a translation) for themselves. Depending on how thought out his views are, they might conclude that he is not the problem but the informant is. They might even regard the informant as a backstabbing snitch who is envious that their new employee was accepted to \"a very prestigious university\" despite (what the snitch considers) his \"potentially controversial views\". Even if it damages his career (which it easily might), I don't think that the snitch would come out with a good reputation.</p>\n\n<p>If the new post-doc on the other hand is open about these issues, good. I hope so. Issues should be discussed openly. But considering how easily criticism of a publicly widely accepted view can be misunderstood and misconstrued, it's his decision whether or when and how to talk about it in an Academic context. Personally, I do not think it would belong in a talk with a prospective employer as the topic is too complex and explosive for a superficial conversation and is likely to be misunderstood.</p>\n\n<p><strong>A better solution</strong></p>\n\n<p>If you are \"really concerned\" about his views, then you can -- as others have written -- talk to him. Discuss the issue with him on the platform of his choosing (here: Facebook). Of course, the same ideologues for whom affirmative action is \"not debatable\" might regard <em>any</em> person having a debate about the topic as a problem. At the very least you consider something debatable that for them is a no-brainer! And how would you react if he made a point? But perhaps that's a bit too much \"censor in the head\". ;-)</p>\n\n<p>But <em>if</em> affirmative action really is a no-brainer, you should be able to argue for your point of view and try to convince him. Because frankly, no view -- even if it is/were \"right\"/\"true\"/\"correct\"/\"the best solution there is\" -- should prevail just because those who have a different position were stabbed in the back when it came to hiring and promotion.</p>\n\n<p>(edit: spelling)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35312,
"author": "Greg",
"author_id": 14755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14755",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My understanding that in said country (you are in USA, correct?) freedom of speech is at least as important right that the \"need to uniformly and loudly support\" a specific policy whatever is your moral concern. </p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35154",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
35,157 |
<p>I have to defend my master's thesis in the field of computer science in about one week.</p>
<p>Of course I will put the main focus of the presentation on the thesis itself, i.e. the research question, the methodology and the results.</p>
<p>But besides the evident results, I also feel that writing the thesis thought me some really important personal lessons. For the first time in my student career I think I got a feeling about what research really is about to be - Spending long hours in front of a problem, constantly discarding and revising ideas while trying to stay positive when coping with setbacks and self-doubt. That I eventually finished the thesis despite all struggles was a very positive experience for me and somehow I'd like to mention that in the defense.</p>
<p>I know from other answers on this site that such things seem to depend a lot on the faculty. However, the guidelines of my faculty only specify the hard facts of the defense such as number of senate members, the schedule and the like.</p>
<p>So I wondered, if I sum up my personal lessons and experiences in 1 or 2 slides, would you as a senate member feel that this is appropriate or something that totally is out of place within the context of a defense?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35161,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A bachelor's or master's degree is about the knowledge that you have gained. A Ph.D., on the other hand, is about the knowledge that you have <em>contributed</em> to humanity. As such, the defense is not really about you: it's about your work, and you need to treat it as such. Think about the other high-level scientific talks that you have seen (or given), and treat your defense in exactly the same way.</p>\n\n<p>That's not to say that you can't weave in personal experiences or anecdotes if they make sense as part of the presentation of the technical content. Some of the best talks that I have ever seen have a component of the personal in them. The important distinction is that any use of the personal should serve to illuminate and illustrate the scientific point, rather than standing apart and distracting from it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35209,
"author": "Daniel Wessel",
"author_id": 26614,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26614",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>That you have made these experiences is probably nothing new for most people who have ever worked in science. Esp. in a thesis -- you do learn a lot. So I think that general issues like:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I got a feeling about what research really is about to be - Spending long hours in front of a problem, constantly discarding and revising ideas while trying to stay positive when coping with setbacks and self-doubt. That I eventually finished the thesis despite all struggles was a very positive experience for me and somehow I'd like to mention that in the defense.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>are personally highly relevant, but not really interesting for the members. To be honest, I think they are expected (in a finished thesis).</p>\n\n<p>However, there are a few things you can do, e.g.,</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>thank your supervisor in the beginning/end for the support (e.g., during setbacks and self-doubt) <strong>but take care not to damage your credibility or to give the impression that the supervisor did the hard work for you</strong>.</li>\n<li>move from a personal level to a more factual one. For example, what have you tried/discarded and why? But make sure you have a clear structure and focus on the work that you have done,</li>\n<li>you can show your enthusiasm in your presentation, e.g., in your voice when you present the solution that worked,</li>\n<li>mention some personal notes as side-note during the presentation.</li>\n<li>if there's a question period, you'll likely also have the opportunity to provide some context.</li>\n<li><strong>Perhaps most importantly:</strong> Many disciplines want a <strong>critical look/reflection on one's own work during the discussion</strong> (near the end of your presentation). How do you evaluate your work? Can you take a critical look at it? This does not mean to destroy/sabotage your work bluntly, but to point out that -- while it did the job and was really good, it could have done better <strong>given what you have learned while doing the work</strong>.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Just make sure that the focus is on the thesis (which usually has a clear structure) and if in doubt, show the hard facts and what you have achieved. And if you got the chance, do a test run with people who have experience with a defense presentation in your discipline.</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35157",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27300/"
] |
35,166 |
<p>Well, I like maths, I like studying it and applying it. But I always feared the moment when I'd actually have to do a thesis. I'm in my third year of bachelor's studies. What I was wondering about is what kind of topic should I be looking for, for my thesis? It just is hard to me to see how I could actually research and contribute something to the field as a bachelor's student, as in something not trivial and that no one with much more education has come up with before. </p>
<p>From merely passing courses to coming up with something of mine is a huge leap for me, and I can't see how I can do something meaningful with the limited education I have. I'm feeling a bit like in maths, before say a phd there would be nothing new for me to come up with.
I am interested in cryptography, so I was given by one of my teachers a paper on elliptic cryptography that seemed interesting and a nice starting point. But now I realise I don't know where to head.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35182,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What is expected varies dramatically between different schools. In my experience, bachelor's projects in math can vary from trivial to nontrivial, and also from expository to original research, and the two scales are somewhat independent. I have supervised both trivial and nontrivial expository papers, as well as several undergraduate original research projects. </p>\n\n<p>The concerns you have about being able to do research are common, but they are somewhat misplaced. You can almost certainly do more research than you believe you can do. </p>\n\n<p>Here is an anecdote. In the 1980s, U.S. math departments began to offer \"Research Opportunities for Undergraduates\" (REUs), summer programs for undergrads to work on research. At the time, these were viewed very skeptically by many mathematicians. I have heard personal anecdotes that the NSF and NSA gave out a few initial grants on a purely experimental basis, not expecting to see very good results. But the projects flourished! Now there are <a href=\"http://www.ams.org/programs/students/emp-reu\" rel=\"nofollow\">many math REUs</a>, and grants that allow schools to offer them are very competitive. The math community went from doubting that undergraduate research was possible to embracing it. Many math faculty are now required, or at least strongly encouraged, to mentor in undergraduate research if they expect to get tenure. See \"<a href=\"http://www.ams.org/notices/201208/rtx120801112p.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">Undergraduate Research\nin Mathematics Has Come\nof Age</a>\" from <em>Notices of the AMS</em>, 2014. </p>\n\n<p>The key thing is to find a good project - which means finding a good advisor. Your advisor is responsible for finding a question that is accessible to you, for pointing out the background that you need to learn, and for mentoring you as you go. You still need to work on the research - we won't do it for you - but we don't expect you to operate as if you have already earned a PhD. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 123991,
"author": "Marianne Thieler",
"author_id": 103723,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/103723",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As the topic is still relevant to many others, please forgive my very late reply.\n(I sincerely hope that the person who posted this question did well and is in no need to read my response.)</p>\n\n<p>Most bachelor theses are like the \"appetizer\" for a specific problem.\nIt contains enough knowledge to get a good idea about the area, but it's kept simple so that \"rookies\" of that area still understand the content.</p>\n\n<p>The most important questions should be covered. E.g:</p>\n\n<p>(i) What am I talking about? -> Solving a PDE by approximations.\n(ii) Why? -> To approximate the dynamics in fluids\n(iii)Relevance of this thesis\n -> Explaining the advantages and disadvantages of my approach.\n(iv) How? -> Mathematical theory\n(v) How exactly? -> Explaining my code\n(vi) How good is my approach? -> Calculate accuracy\n(vii)Conclusion</p>\n\n<p>As mathematics often tends to be, I sometimes feel overwhelmed with all the needed input. But as long as the chosen topic interests you (and yes, a good supervisor is very helpful), it's quite nice to deepen one's knowledge in a specific area. </p>\n\n<p>Hopefully I could help someone with my experience.</p>\n\n<p>I wish everyone success and passion!</p>\n"
}
] |
2015/01/03
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/35166",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/27306/"
] |
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