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2013/03/11 | 880 | 3,665 | <issue_start>username_0: I've not seen this question before, so I'll ask it after feedback I received on [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8106/how-to-gain-research-experience-after-master-program).
I've finished my MBA in the UK and was awarded distinction but would like to find a research group to work with. I'm no longer in the UK (or even Europe) and would like to find a research group with which I could work on a telecommuting / remote basis.
My goal here is not for income (though it's OK if it led to some). My goal is to build my research experience with the thought of pursuing a PhD (business / intercultural management / something in that general area). My MBA didn't result in a lot of research guidance for me so I feel like there are so many things that I don't know and I want to 'fix' that.
Any ideas how someone can find a research group who would be interested in working with someone remotely for free (obviously there is a time and attention commitment from both sides, which is not exactly free)?<issue_comment>username_1: It is actually of mutual interest, but really hard to find an opportunity. Although, you are offering your time for free, group leaders are reluctant to take this risk to leave their research somewhere that they do not have direct (everyday) control. Note that you should work on a research project currently funded at that research group. In other words, the group leader should complete that project in the corresponding timeframe. Thus, too conservative to put the project completion at risk in favor of having a researcher free of charge.
Sorry for this negative answer, but IMO (maybe others have better approaches), the only possibility is to directly contacting some research groups and negotiating about this possibility. Remember that the judgement will be merely based on your experience and potentials. Once again, IMO, the only chance is if the group leader can find your profession useful for a part of the project, which is not critically sensitive.
Conclusion: there is no system for this, you need to convince the group leader personally.
Note: Another solution can be finding an independent researcher like yourself for starting a personally funded research project, but I think this is not what you are looking for.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Are you referring to [this answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/8326/8966) on how to gain research experience after a masters? That changes things.
That answer suggests to do menial work for some research group. That's one of the few things where people might care less about you being remote, as long as you do the job — after all, they'd likely try to get students to do it. Especially if you can get (with some luck) to coauthor a publication, but that's often hard to discuss upfront.
But is that relevant? I'd disagree with the poster there. But you should ask a professor in your field — possibly one you'd want to apply for; a bit like [this other answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/8114/8966) suggested. If they think this experience might count, then go ahead.
If you don't have research experience, it's hard for you to know how to approach research. That's what you're supposed to learn in a PhD (or to a little extent in a research master).
If you're not followed often enough by a supervisor, I believe you're unlikely to learn enough research skills.
I'd probably recommend some book like ["The Craft of Research"](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0226065669) to get started; the problem is, there's tons of stuff you can only learn from a good supervisor.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/03/11 | 3,039 | 11,441 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm finishing a PhD in Sweden this year and seeking a post-doc in the United States (atmospheric remote sensing). It is clear that a job in academia is not a *nine to five job*; nor do I want it to be. I often work late in the evening when I'm on a productive spur. When an important dead-line is coming up, one needs to work harder, and there is no overtime paid. I accept that. However, no matter how much I'm interested in my research, I do enjoy and need a reasonable amount of spare time, too; relaxing on the weekends, occasionally a long weekend away, and sometimes a longer trip, such as three weeks in the wilderness.
Regarding the normal work ethos for early-career academics in the United States, I have a hard time judging what is normal and what is excessive. Some examples:
* [<NAME> letter](http://www.chemistry-blog.com/2010/06/22/something-deeply-wrong-with-chemistry/) warning post-docs that he *expects all of the members of the group to work evenings and weekends*.
* My apparent naïveté in believing that [a sabbatical means not working](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8427/how-to-arrange-sabbatical-leave#comment14691_8427), despite Wikipedia [describing it](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatical) as *a rest from work, or a hiatus, often lasting from two months to a year*. I was thinking of my friend, who spent a year between his PhD and his first post-doc travelling from France to Mongolia mostly on foot.
* Someone [commenting](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1816/do-interviews-require-taking-vacation-days/1817#comment2888_1817) *I am not a good role model, but when I don't work on a Sunday, I count that as a vacation day*.
* [NASA postdocs](http://nasa.orau.org/postdoc/description/faq.htm) having *no employment-related benefits such as paid vacations, sick leave, or unemployment compensation*.
* Question *[How do we end the culture of “endless hours at work”?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/5005/1033)*
We don't have such a work-ethos where I'm at. I belief that working too hard risks stress and burn-out, and does not increase productivity in the long run, nor human well-being. I want to do science. Doing science makes me happy, but having time to relax while not doing science is important for me.
Does the selection of examples I gave above represent a normal situation in U.S. early-career academia? Should I expect an attitude where asking for a 3-week holiday during the summer is considered as being not serious, or is the situation in practice usually not as bad as the examples above make it sound? How hard to early-career academics in the United States work, really?<issue_comment>username_1: **TL; DR: 51 work hours a week with 12 vacation days a year**
It is very difficult to assess how hard someone works. It is relatively easy to quantify the input (number of hours worked and the number of vacation days taken) and the output (papers and grants). In 2003 the Sigma Xi post doc society in the US began collecting data from 7600 post docs across 46 different US institutes about a number of issues including hours worked, vacation days taken, papers published and grants submitted. A summary report [*Doctors without Orders*](http://www.sigmaxi.org/docs/default-source/Programs-Documents/Critical-Issues-in-Science/postdoc-survey/highlights) is available. [Aggregate data](http://web.archive.org/web/20091108011347/http://www.sigmaxi.org/postdoc/all/your_research_short.html) is available via the Wayback Machine. I believe this is the best data set available to answer questions regarding the input and output.
*The self reports suggest 12 days of vacation a year and 51 hours a week on average with 25% taking less than 7 days and working over 60 hours. The self report of the publication rate is around 3 with one grant application.*
While self reports of hours work and publications are potentially biased, they might be a better measure of the perceived "hardness" of work than the actual hours worked. Obviously it would be nice if the publication and work rates were objectively verified. Obviously, publication rate and hours worked may not be the best metrics of how hard someone is working. [This study](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2008.16551.x/abstract;jsessionid=CC804A06C2CF1F16CA61EAFA01AC2962.d03t01?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false) found that alcohol consumption was negatively correlated with output. It is not clear if high alcohol consumption is positively or negatively correlated with how hard one works, but it might be relevant. Finally, [Forbes](http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/01/03/the-least-stressful-jobs-of-2013/) has a report that University professors have the least stressful job, so maybe despite the hours, we don't actually work that "hard".
The comments to the questions suggest that understanding the input/output function would be desirable. This should be possible from the raw data of the Sigma Xi study, but not from the aggregate data, to determine if the inputs (hours worked) predict the outputs (papers and grants). I would be surprised if there was not a strong correlation, but also wouldn't be surprised if there were a number of outliers (i.e., lots of input and little output and little input and lots of output). Now, publication rate may not be the best measure of output as it doesn't consider quality. A [psychology study](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17470248) found that impact factor is not correlated with publication rate suggesting that quantity and quality, as dubiously assessed by impact factor, are not correlated.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I wanted to follow the *@F'x*'s advice on avoiding *easy answer*, but I had to add some points:
1. There is no constant working style across the United States. In academia, the working fashion significantly varies from university to university, from department to department.
2. IMO, there is much more emphasis on effectiveness in Sweden. Instead, in the United States, there is more focus on timeframes.
3. To my knowledge, it is rare to *force* post-doc and other researchers to work during weekends, though many of them normally work during off-hours to be successful in the forthcoming competition (in continuing their career).
4. Duties during sabbatical (simple teaching and lecturing) is much less than official duties at home. In other words, an academician needs a long refreshment leave far from heavy duties, but not completely off. It is similar to working holidays (in immigration terminology).
In conclusion, if it is a post-doc position, the working rules are mainly defined by the group leader, and for assistant professors, this is the university atmosphere, Dean, and department chair controlling the working fashion.
**Note:** Once again, this answer is based on personal experiences rather than statistical data.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Why is this question being singled out for a higher standard of "statistical" reasoning than any other post on this site? I offer my experiences as an early career engineering professor in the US as "anecdotal" evidence, and do so with at least as much credibility as respondents on an anonymous survey.
In my experience, it's not at all about how "hard" you work (i.e., the number of hours per week) - it is about what you accomplish. In my first year as an academic I attended 7 conferences, authored or coauthored 4 journal articles, wrote three NSF grants (one of them successful), began projects with 2 grad students (both of whom eventually graduated with PhDs), taught three classes (two of them new to me) and served on the curriculum committee. That's the kind of involvement you should be expecting. With that said, nobody is going to look at how many days of vacation you take, how many hikes you take in the mountains, or how many times you spend an extra day or two at a conference location exploring the area. It is about managing your time effectively and accomplishing things (that will appear on your CV). Finally, the day of truth arrives at the tenure decision, and no one will care about weekends or vacations: but about your contributions to the field (papers, conferences, grants) and academic reputation (as evidenced in your letters of recommendation).
As for the sabbatical question, it is not a vacation. Most academics who take sabbatical go to another institution (industry or University or lab) and work with new people in an effort to learn about new things. Sure, there are fewer responsibilities (no teaching, no committees) and fewer distractions, but this is why it works! The last sabbatical I had, I finished writing a book and entered a new research field (helped by my new colleague-friends). At my school we have a laughable method of oversight: at the start of a sabbatical one writes a two or three page description of what the planned activities are and why they are beneficial to the researcher and the school. At the end of the sabbatical, one writes a two or three page summary of what has been accomplished. As a whole, professors are self-motivated, love their work, and care about the intellectual legacy (the works, students, and influence) that they leave behind. Sabbatical is an effective way of getting out of ruts, of opening new doors, and of expanding knowledge.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: I would like to put username_1's instructive [answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/8543/31917) somewhat into perspective.
In a survey\*, 55 percent of newly hired faculty (tenure-track) at a large regional university in the U.S. called the present year the busiest of their life. These faculty members were also asked to self-assess their weekly working time. They estimated a mean of almost 60 hours per week, not very much above the finding reported in username_1's answer.
However, when the same persons were asked to keep record every fifteen minutes of whether or not they were doing productive work, they recorded a mean of **some 30 hours per week**. (This probably excluded things like writing emails or taking phone-calls, but it expressly included teaching with preparation and grading, office hours, committee meetings, scholarly reading and writing.)
This is not to suggest that these scientist were hypocritical; they probably felt overworked most of the time. The divergence between reported and actual working-time could be due to the social expectation, possibly more entrenched in the US than in Sweden, that scientists must be "hardworking", or due to biased self-perception grounded in a high stress-level, or both.
From this, one may take the practical lesson that it is extremely important both for sanity and productivity to separate work from recreation and "having a life". As to the OP's primary question, **early career academics in the U.S. do work hard, but there is a difference between working hard, working long hours, and working productively**; moreover, at some point, the former and the latter may be inversely correlated.
---
\*[<NAME> (1989). Procrastination, busyness and bingeing, in: Behaviour Research Therapy 27(6), 605-611.](http://www.academiccoachingandwriting.org/assets/uploads/Boice%20Procrastination,%20Busyness%20and%20Bingeing.pdf) ([PubMed link](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2610657))
Upvotes: 5 |
2013/03/12 | 322 | 1,351 | <issue_start>username_0: Many times, the page number in pdf is different than the printed page number. How to make sure the other person doesn't get confused when we say "it's on Nth page".<issue_comment>username_1: Refrain from referring to the printed/PDF page number at all, and refer to something more concrete, like "in section X" or, of course, a particular figure number if you're referring to a figure.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If you're talking about the PDF of a paper published in an academic journal, then the answer is unambiguously: *refer to the journal page numbers*, i.e. the numbers at the bottom of each page. Those are the ones features in (almost all) citation styles.
Otherwise, if the document is a random PDF found on the web (not coming from a journal), just avoid referring to pages. If you absolutely must, refer to the page numbers printed on the paper, as it is the only thing that makes sense to someone who would print the document.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: In informal communication like email I use a notation along the lines of "page X (PDF page Y)". By providing both numbers, it is easy for whoever is browsing the PDF to figure out if X or Y is referring to the internal page numbers or the PDF page, and then use whichever one they want to find the content.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/12 | 923 | 3,694 | <issue_start>username_0: The [Wikipedia definition](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatical) of sabbatical doesn't match how I think of an academic sabbatical. What does it mean to go on academic sabbatical, and does it depend on the country?<issue_comment>username_1: The definition of sabbatical in Wikipedia refers to labor terminology rather than academic sabbatical leave. As a privilege to employees, they can have temporary unpaid leave (for any personal reason) without losing their job.
However, academic sabbatical historically is somehow different. When a scholar needs peace of mind to focus on a challenging issue, s/he will visit a new institute to experience a new atmosphere. While still being in the academic environment, not having heavy official duties.
There are several motivations for a sabbatical leave (at least as I have seen):
1. A manager finishes an administrative position (e.g. Dean), and wishes to rest in a different atmosphere, but not far from academia.
2. A researcher working on a new idea, prefers to focus on his/her work somewhere with less commitments on everyday responsibilities (e.g. teaching, advising, etc).
3. A researcher is exploring new possibilities and opportunities, spend some time in a new department to live with new colleagues for a while.
4. A researcher is collaborating with another group and spend a year in the host research group as a visiting scientist/professor while being on sabbatical leave from his/her institute.
5. A professor in a mid-level university finds a temporary position in a top university. This is the base for many visiting professors in the US universities, e.g. international professors can experience working in the US universities. Even there are associate/assistant professors who find a post-doc position in the top universities, and use sabbatical leave, not to lose their job at home.
In any case, sabbatical allowance mainly depends on the university employment rules.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Situations will depend widely on country and on the employer, because a sabbatical leave is something between you and them: **it's an arrangement between an academic and her employer that lets her “take a break” without fully losing the benefits of their position**.
**The nature of the break, the activities one has during the sabbatical, and the benefits retained during the length of the sabbatical can vary completely**. For example, a sabbatical can take the form of an unpaid leave for six months or a year, during which the researcher will sail around the world. However, in the modern research system, sabbaticals generally consist of periods where the academic gets time to:
* focus full time on a given research project (most often, an emerging project)
* visit another group to advance an existing project or help create a new collaboration
* spend part time or full time launching a research-related business
It is common for universities to support those researchers who are granted sabbaticals with some income, typically somewhere between half salary and full salary.
---
You can browse the web to see sabbatical policies at various universities. Here's the [description](http://academicaffairs.uoregon.edu/academic-and-sabbatical-leaves) at U. Oregon:
>
> Sabbatical leave is a paid period of released time designed to reinvigorate and restore one's academic energies, and to provide a base for future intellectual development and achievement. During the leave period, a faculty member may receive between 50 and 100 percent of salary depending on the length of the leave and the school, college or other administrative affiliation.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/03/12 | 1,881 | 7,149 | <issue_start>username_0: My problem is a bit unusual and I would love to get some advice…
I'm a first year PhD student in social-sciences and I already got my proposal approved. I moved back to my home country (where I am currently doing a PhD) after completing an undergraduate and an MSc. I am very unhappy here.
I would like to have a future as an academic. The only reason I decided to a PhD in my home country and not abroad was because I was determined to try, stay, and make it work here, but recently I been thinking it was a mistake. I am thinking more and more about discontinuing my program here and applying for doctoral studies in the UK, as a new student (after a bit of online research I found that they rarely accept a transfer and it is best to start as a new student).
I would love to get your thoughts regarding my situation,
1. I am considering sending an email to a potential supervisor but I am not sure how to explain why I want to drop-out of my current PhD program without talking my university down? How do you suggest I do that?
2. Did anyone had a similar experience or have some advice?<issue_comment>username_1: 1. **PhD without challenge is meaningless,**
2. **Most of us don't know what is PhD until we are broken in like a baseball glove,**
3. **You will never escape politics in academia, in your household, and elsewhere.**
You should re-evaluate if spending the next 4+ years of your life pursuing your studies is worth the effort; and if you have an actual desire to pursue your studies. There aren't many benefits, and the major contributing factor should be your interest in the subject matter, field/area, or potential position as faculty or other.
I think one year is not enough time to have an opinion, and by the time you are able to have one it will be too late to change!! Last thing you want to do is upset your PI, and odds are they will make you pay in the short or long run.
With that said, many frequently change labs due to advisors departure or other reason. You can certainly find a lab, but I think anyone would be concerned your jumping ship to their own, and want to bring your baggage too! There is such a thing as integrity, and it is uncommon for another advisor to pick up someone's project out of the blue as they are mostly concerned on their own.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It happens that people change their PhD programs (I know a few.)
Basically what you lose is:
* Time (usually you need to start from the scratch),
* Relationship with advisor (the latter is not always the case).
If, for any reason, the first year was bad, it is rather unlikely that the next ones will be better (I have never met anyone who is enjoying PhD more and more with each year...). Moreover, if you don't like it, maybe your advisor does not like it either and eventually you won't be able to finish at all.
But beware - "grass is greener...". You can experience the same problems in other places. So here are the most important things:
* What is not working?
* Do you have any reasonable argument that in the target place such thing is better?
(Anyway - if you are *very unhappy* after one year (of 3-5 more years to come), then just change it to another PhD or to something different (don't disregard other careers). It's better to end up with "wasted" years or a "suboptimal" career than hanging on a tree.)
HOW to do that is a different question (or questions - because it involves both application to a new program and quitting your current one). See e.g.:
* [current PhD applicant applying to another university](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5610/current-phd-applicant-applying-to-another-university)
* [Apply to PhD after expulsion from another](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1243/apply-to-phd-after-expulsion-from-another)
* [Switching from one area of graduate study to another?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/6032/switching-from-one-area-of-graduate-study-to-another)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I think the other answers here are really good and speak directly to the question, but I want to add one other relevant comment. *If you want to have an academic career in the USA, then do your PhD in the USA.* For an explanation why, see my comments [on this previous question.](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16899/canada-vs-australia-for-the-academic-career/16930#16930)
**Edit**
To my surprise, there's a lot of objections being raised against my view here. I'm surprised because I've expressed similar view at least two other times on different questions here: [one](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17879/what-are-the-major-informal-obstacles-students-face-when-they-go-abroad-for-a-re/18284#18284) [two](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17405/how-would-a-small-liberal-arts-college-view-a-phd-from-germany-or-the-uk-factor/17406#17406) and both answers currently (1:30 EST, 18 May 2014) have positive votes.
The explanation for the discrepancy seems to be this. When the remark is something more like: "If you want a job in the USA, do the PhD in America," then it gets up voted. On the other hand, if it's the generalization: "Do the PhD where you want to get a job" (the original, unedited formulation I originally gave above) it tends to get down voted/mixed reception, and most of the negative comments seem to come from folks in continental europe. This suggests that I am inappropriately generalizing from my experience (I'm American), and the advice may be different in (among others) Australia and Continental Europe.
Therefore, I've amended the advice above and suggest you take it with a grain of salt.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: If you are unhappy in the first year itself then you should change it. It is not rare these days. You should not see it as a bad move on your part. However when you go to another place, and if you keep the same attitude and complain again then it will be bad on your part. One advice, if you have already decided to change your PhD, then it would remove red flags if you could ask your referees and get a couple of lines in support of your decision written in your letter of recommendation.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: There are many reasons one might not want to do one's PhD studies in one's home country, especially if that country is in the third world. It might have to do with a low level of academic rigor. It might have to do with the culture shock one gets upon returning to one's native land after living abroad for some time. It might have to do with feeling stifled by family, religion or culture. It might have to do with violence and/or corruption. I'm sure I left some possible reasons out.
Could you send out some feelers to a couple of universities that interest you, to start with?
I agree that you don't want to say anything insulting about your present institution (in writing). You can get a lot across by writing with delicacy. For example you could talk about seeking greater academic rigor, or looking for an institution where independent thought is highly valued.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/13 | 1,481 | 6,540 | <issue_start>username_0: I catch myself too often thinking about how to become more visible and present online instead of doing Great Research™.
But how important is it to be very visible online for academics and researcher anyway?
Here are my assumptions, numbered only for easy referencing.
The bad:
1. Tenure committees and such don't care for twitter follower
2. Public bodies that provide funding don't care how many people have you in your circle
3. Colleagues might look down on you, because your blog posts are not scientific enough
The good:
1. Writing a blog can be a good exercise in writing about your topic
2. If you are looking for a job or position, it can be helpful [iff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_and_only_if) your potential boss is also an 'onliner'
3. It makes it easier to network and getting in contact with other people who work on the same problems
4. It might help you to get work, invited to talks and book contracts in the normal world.
5. (For CS) Uploading and advertising your code will make your research results more used
Are my assumptions correct? What did I miss? How do handle your online reputation?<issue_comment>username_1: The first general answer that comes to mind is that it depends on what you do online. Adding professional material into the public domain will probably be very positive if it is good and useful. Engaging in academic discussions (through a blog for example) on what might be considered serious topics such as ethics, scientific fraud, pedagogics, your research etc. would probably not construed as negative either. At least as long as you treat the writing there as seriously as you would do any academic writing.
The "lightweight" activities such as Facebook and Twitter may have its points especially towards students and attracting students towards scientific activities and thinking. But, ones reputation in such medias would probably not be of much value unless one builds up a reputation that is leading. I suspect you may have to become a leading scientist before anyone really takes notice of your social media contributions.
What single persons find positive or negative of the points in your lists will likely be very variable but I think the different media have their (almost) separate audiences. Social media might be excellent to communicate science to the public. The problem is that it will always be your personal communication and not yours as a representative of your department/university etc. unless the activity is somehow endorsed.
The bottom line as I see it is that what is good or bad highly depends on what *you* communicate not in which way you do it. Keeping a high academic standard should not be negative anywhere.
Becoming buddies as you suggest in "Good 2" sounds almost bad to me since in the case of academic employment, that employer will likely be thought of as having a conflict of interest. On the other hand being visible and not "buddies" is probably only a plus in such a case. About "Good 3" and "4" I doubt anyone will hire you or invite you to give talks based on internet visibility unless you have something solidly academic to back it up. It is your core academic reputation that will open doors for you.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If you are looking for a job in academia, having a presentable website is a plus. If you put your website address on your CV and you also have Google Analytics for your website, you'll notice an explicit spike in your website traffic when (if) hiring committees are looking at your site (unless, of course, your site is popular enough to reduce the extra hits to noise). Google Analytics even has a fancy mapping tool so you can see, for instance, that the Cornell hiring committee is looking at your website when you see fifteen extra hits from Ithaca within a couple of days.
Additionally, having a website is a good place to put your publication listing (and, of course, your CV) with links to all of your papers. When someone meets you at a conference and wants to see what you've produced, searching for your name to find your website should be easy. Many faculty members also have their class listings and curricula on their websites, and those resources can provide other indicators to your hire-ability if you're looking for a job.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Generally speaking, online presence is not so important *with respect to your career advancement in academia*. Your professional stature is based on your publications, presentations, connections, and ability to obtain grant funding. When you look for positions, you'll be judged primarily on these criteria; blogs and media appearances are a very minor factor, if considered at all.
That being said, it may be beneficial in other respects. A strong online presence can significantly boost your visibility to those *outside* the academic environment. This can lead to consultation opportunities, collaboration opportunities with those outside of academia (think business ventures), and possibly job leads in industry. To the extent you're interested in those, you may want to invest in creating a strong online presence to help you advertise yourself.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Consider the [related question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/616/is-web-presence-important-for-researchers) on having a web page. In some communities it would seem laughable NOT to have a personal web page (and in parts of CS it's considered silly not to have your own domain!).
My feeling is that the general issue of an "online presence", whether it be blogs, twitter, or other social mechanisms, will become a non-issue as everyone starts placing their material online by default rather than by choice.
We used to joke in our department that we only want to hire people with active blogs (because a few of us blog actively). But now that isn't even a distinguishing factor: more than not, people have personal blogs and other forms of online presence.
As a general rule, don't force it. Understand that an online presence is something you should become accustomed to having, but take advantage of the fact that it's not yet the norm. Experiment with what works for you. Don't write a blog if it's not something you find comfortable. Or try it and see if you like it before deciding to do it. An online presence is not An Online Presence: it's merely another method to express yourself. If you don't have things to express, it doesn't matter what medium you use :)
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/03/13 | 2,828 | 12,539 | <issue_start>username_0: I have submitted a paper several years ago and its referee process took about three years and I had to revise the paper six times to get the final approval. The paper had two helpful and knowledgable referees and I appreciate their comments and suggestions, but I have also had the following problems with their suggestions:
1. sometimes their comments contradicted each other. For example, one of them wanted me to add a discussion and when I added that part he wanted me to remove it in the next revision.
2. they often wanted to expand the scope of the paper, but due to some technicalities I had to consider some restrictions to get the expected result.
3. they gave me new comments and proposed new modifications after every single revision, while they could suggest all their comments in their first report and this made the referee process this long.
4. one of the referees wanted me to address some related works in other papers in my paper, which was actually unnecessary.
I pretty much obeyed all their suggestions and comments and finally the paper was accepted and now it has been published. Although I learned a lot during the referee process, I wished I could negotiate with referees and do not have to obey them in every little detail. Besides I had this feeling that I have somehow lost my freedom as the author of the paper during this process and I have no control on my paper any more. I had to do whatever they asked me even if I was not completely convinced it is a right thing to do. I have also had some of the abovementioned problems with the referees of my other papers. You perhaps know that journals often have this policy that you either should implement all the changes suggested by referees or withdraw the paper. This policy leaves little room for negotiation. So my questions are:
**An author, in order to discuss his/her points with referees and do not obey some of their suggestions and comments or ask them to not delay the referee process further, what is the best strategy to negotiate with referees? Is there any diplomatic way for this negotiation or we have to obey referees all the time? Have you ever had similar problems with referees of your papers? How did you overcome these problems?**<issue_comment>username_1: >
> You perhaps know that journals often have this policy that you either should implement all the changes suggested by referees or withdraw the paper.
>
>
>
Which journals have such a policy? I don't think this is the case for any AMS, MAA, or SIAM journal, for example, and I'm not aware of any journal with such a policy (although of course I have direct experience with only a small fraction of the journals in mathematics). Here's how it works in the cases I'm familiar with:
Any changes suggested by the referees are merely suggestions, which do not need to be followed if the author and editor are in agreement. If the change involves fixing a mistake or correctly attributing work, then no responsible editor will accept the paper until the situation is resolved (either by making the change or establishing that it is not needed). Matters of clarity are also taken seriously. However, some referee suggestions are just opinions that the author may reasonably disagree with.
It's perfectly reasonable to write to the editor and say "Here's a new draft of my paper. I've made changes A, B, and C proposed by the referees, and I'm grateful to them for identifying these issues, but I have not implemented D and E. I think those changes are not truly needed, because ..."
>
> what is the best strategy to negotiate with referees?
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I'd think of it instead as negotiating/discussing with the editor. The editor is the one who makes the decision, with the referees providing advice and expert opinions. Ideally, you'll be able to convince the referees that not all of their proposed changes are necessary, but the editor is the only person you need to convince if the referees are stubborn.
Editors are used to this. As an editor, I've occasionally written an acceptance letter (conditional on revisions) that says explicitly that only some of the changes are really needed, and even when I don't say so authors certainly don't always make all the changes.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: This is a response drawn from my combined editor/author/reviewer experience (for what it is worth). As has already been stated, you negotiate with editors not with referees. In most cases (there are likely always exceptions) the reviewers provides reports to the editor who makes decisions based on these and should, in my opinion, also evaluate the review reports and provide you with some direction for how to proceed. Reviewers will also provide the editor with comments that you will not see and which can influence the editors final remarks. I think some editors are not taking their responsibility seriously when they let the reviewers "dictate" changes. A review is an (educated) opinion (in the best case) and not a truth (we have to remember that as reviewers). The editor is not a god (or a semi-god) either and it is always possible to disagree with him/her (I have to remember that). Keep in mind that the editor still has the power to reject papers if he/she thinks it is in the best interest of the journal.
1. If reviews conflict, a good editor should provide you with some guidance. You can also weigh the conflicting views against each other. Sometimes one or the other are based on misconceptions which may result from unclear writing so always explore that avenue when you disagree with a comment.
2. Expand the scope. Again, I would expect an editor to provide some final direction. If none is given I think it is fair to approach the editor and state your opinion and ask for clarification.
3. Extending the process. This sounds quite unacceptable to me. I can possibly see this happening when getting new reviewers in after each round but again, the editor should put an end to the process at some point (sooner rather than later). I wonder what your expected turnover time would be for the journal you describe. Several years is completely unacceptable to me and within my field.
4. Requests to quote. If not necessary then they are not necessary. I would make my case to the editor and hope that it is clear why no additions will or should be made.
So if your journal is run well, you should be able to get some direction out of your editor by asking short direct questions about whatever issues you have (suggest how you would like to solve them as well). If you have severe problems like what you describe, I think you need to re-evaluate where to publish in the future. As with all of us include some self-evaluation as well to see if you can improve from any of the problems you have encountered. I certainly have learned and hopefully improved my writing and publishing skills from publishing experiences.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Read the editorial practices and author guidelines of your chosen journal carefully. The details will depend on the field, but I suspect most journals do **not** require authors to implement all changes suggested by referees. However, you *are* required to address all the points raised by the referees. (For example, Physical Review Letters does this; see their [editorial practices](http://prl.aps.org/info/polprocl.html#edproc) and [author guidelines](http://prl.aps.org/authors/tips-authors-physical-review-physical-review-letters).)
Referees are human and are not immune from making errors. If you believe a criticism of your paper is incorrect or a proposed change is superfluous or erroneous, you should state this (politely!) in your response. You alone are responsible for the quality and integrity of your publications, and you should not implement changes you disagree with. If you present a solid argument for why the changes should be rejected, a reasonable editor can and should let your version stand.
(Regarding multiple proposed corrections on material a referee has already seen, I feel that a polite request to the editor, after the first occurrence, that they expedite the review process by preventing such multiple corrections, is well within your rights.)
Most importantly, **know the rules of the game**. Read your chosen journal's editorial practices and all the author guidance at least once during the preparation and submission process of your paper, ideally *before* you submit, and certainly before you reply to a referee report. If a journal states that you must incorporate all referee proposed changes, and you are uncomfortable with this, choose another journal!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Though they make valid points, I feel that the existing answers (esp. by @username_2 and @username_1 and the comment by @JeffE) put too much weight in the role of editors. I think this might be misleading for some folks, and (coming along quite a bit later) I want to try balance those answers out with another perspective informed by own experiences.
Not only **can** you negotiate with reviewers, but any time you submit a revision with a response letter, **you must** negotiate with them.
In my experience, editors are largely hands-off. Typically they won't read the paper in detail, but instead they try to provide a meta-review: a consensus verdict from the reviews given to them and a summary of the main points to address. The editors make the final decision about rejection/acceptance based on the information they have.
But crucially, when you submit a revision and an accompanying response letter, it is the **reviewers** that will look again at the paper and the treatment of their comments and decide how to proceed with their next review (and it is those reviews that are, in turn, considered by the editor). When you submit a response letter, you are implicitly **negotiating with the reviewers**: you are telling them which comments you addressed and how; more importantly you are telling them which comments you only partially addressed or didn't address at all and why; and you are effectively negotiating with them as to why your paper should now be considered ready for acceptance.
To be clear (and this is mentioned in other answers) it is not a good idea to only address the comments given by the editor. Your response letter should be aimed primarily at the reviewers. If the reviewers are happy, the editor is typically happy, not the other way around.
And yep, sure, reviewers will frequently give you comments you disagree with, but you must respond to everything and I highly recommend at least compromising by partially addressing every comment. Sometimes it is even sufficient to treat the spirit of the comment, not the literal content. For example, a reviewer might push you to do additional work that you feel is very clearly out-of-scope; but then you should ask yourself why the reviewer brings this up? Maybe it wasn't made clear in the paper that it was out-of-scope? In the response letter you can state that you did not present the additional work, but instead that you better clarified why it is considered out of scope in the introduction. This way you acknowledge that there was a flaw in the paper and that the reviewer has a point, but as an author, you chose a different solution to fix it.
(From the other side of the fence, I know that as a reviewer, I get p\*ssed off when the comments I volunteered are not even responded to or are dismissed without good reason. Yes probably some of the comments I give are not useful to the authors but I want to at least see that they considered the suggestions.)
---
In summary, though the editors co-ordinate the revisions and the verdicts, it is the reviewers that provide the feedback and, in my experience, it is the reviewers you should aim to negotiate with towards getting your paper ready for acceptance.
Sometimes you may have genuine disagreement with a reviewer or will encounter the infamous [adversarial reviewer](http://www.sigmod.org/publications/sigmod-record/0812/p100.open.cormode.pdf). Making your case to the editor is then the best course of action. (If reviews are going around in circles for three years, as in this case for example, then it is the responsibility of the editor to step in. In fact, in the terminology of the adversarial reviewer, this is known as the "[Iterated Goldilocks Method](http://www.sigmod.org/publications/sigmod-record/0812/p100.open.cormode.pdf)".)
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/03/13 | 539 | 1,924 | <issue_start>username_0: I have a bit of a meta-question about academics.
I am a graduate student and teaching assistant. I often find myself flipping, organizing, and searching through stacks of hundreds and hundreds of sheets of paper, whether I'm grading, reading, or doing research.
I seem to have an issue where my hands get dry quickly, and I find myself licking the tips of my fingers to get better friction. Sometimes I have to do this quite often, and I am wondering if there is a better way. I tried using hand moisturizer, but that wears off.
Are there special gloves, lotions, or anything that can help with flipping through huge stacks of paper?<issue_comment>username_1: Some 20 years ago before all the electronics changed our ways of dealing with stuff, post and bank employees who had to deal with piles of paper (or banknotes) throughout day used a device which was essentially a piece of a wet sponge in a small bowl. They had this on the desk and whenever were about to touch paper, they would simply brush their fingers through it. Something like that could help you... To construct it, I would use a plastic travel-soap container and a small sponge for dishwashing.
**Later edit:** Indeed, [this](https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=wet%20fingers%20bank%20post%20sponge&um=1&tbm=isch) is what I had in mind.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: An alternative to username_1's wetting solution would be to employ [rubber finger tips](https://www.google.com/search?q=rubber%20finger%20tips&aq=1&oq=rubber%20fi&aqs=chrome.3.0j57j5j0.14822&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8).
**On the plus side:**
They protect from drying out of the natural oil from your finger tips, and protect against paper cuts.
**On the negative side:**
Well you are wearing little caps on the tips of your fingers and you lose some tactile feedback. I imagine it would take some getting used to.
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/03/13 | 583 | 2,738 | <issue_start>username_0: I am currently taking a brief course in Technical/Academic Writing. At one point, in passing, the lecturer (who's a researcher in linguistics himself) mentioned that one should not confuse a conference abstract with an article abstract, with the exact phrasing "... that's a whole different story."
Unfortunately, at that moment in time I did not reflect on what those differences might be, but now I am writing a conference abstract I realize that I have never really paid much attention to the fact that I am not writing to a journal. Besides the fact that a conference abstract is preamble to a primarily spoken form presentation (poster/oral) instead of a written one, I don't really see why it would be "a whole different story".
Assuming that there are no differences in requirements and limitations, what are the fundamental differences, between a conference abstract and an article abstract, that one should be aware of?
PS: if it matters, the field I'm mostly concerned about is medical research<issue_comment>username_1: I think your professor was talking about **extended abstracts** (see [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/1351/66) for more discussion). For many conferences, especially those that don't publish their proceedings, people submit an extended abstract instead of a paper. Thus, in that case the 'abstract' is basically a short paper that summarizes results you are working on or planning to publish soon. It is much more detailed that an abstract for a paper, but less detailed than a whole paper would be.
If your conference publishes its proceedings though (as many in computer science, do) then you should treat your conference submission like a journal one and write the abstract accordingly.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: To me an article abstract summarizes the entire article including the overarching questions through methods, results to the major conclusions.
A conference abstract will of course also summarize whatever is presented at the conference. The differences lie in several aspects of variable weight:
* Conferences are often focused on a specific topic so one can be less stringent with the background
* Conference presentations may involve work in progress and as such the final conclusions maybe quite hazy.
* The conference abstract may be written before most of the work has actually been done (this is quite common with some conferences in my field) and becomes an "advertisement" for what might come.
* The conference contribution may in some cases involve a paper but can also be a poster or an oral presentation. depending on which abstracts may contain varying levels of finalized conclusions.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/03/13 | 3,023 | 11,167 | <issue_start>username_0: To explain, let me pick a particular statement: "the electrostatic force is mediated by the exchange of photons".
When a physicist (or a lecturer) says this, they mean one thing: the process described in detail by QED. When a student (or an amateur) hears this, they think of two electrons, and they imagine photons flying between them. You can imagine what follows: questions like ["how do they know where to fly"](https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/197/how-are-forces-mediated), or ["what is the frequency of these photons"](https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/19015/what-frequency-photons-are-involved-in-mediating-physical-force), or "where does the energy to create those photons come from" etc.
When I was growing up, I had no access to anyone who really understood physics. All I had were books filled to the brim with phrases like the above. It is nearly impossible *not* to misunderstand something when such loose statements are used, as popular literature tends to omit the extremely important "but"s.
For example, in the statement above, the "but"s omitted are "but we don't actually mean photons, in fact we don't mean any particle at all; what we mean is a mathematical tool we use to calculate how the interaction works, which is reminiscent of actual photons in so many ways that we can often treat the calculations as if they involved actual photons".
What is the most effective way to educate students about such phenomena, where our language we use to describe them risks obscuring the reality, and/or misleading the students? Is there evidence in the pedagogic literature on this?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, this is a real issue and yes, we are obligated as a community to address it because we ourselves are the source of so many of the misconceptions and errors we so often complain about. The higher the level, the greater the accountability should be, but frequently isn't.
There are nearly innumerable examples of faulty language all throughout the physics literature and physics textbook at all levels. I will list some here. Before doing so, I also want to point out that science, ALL science, is based on progressively sophisticated models. Each new level of sophistication brings deeper understanding, and the process never ends. It's okay to use simplistic models and accompanying simplistic language as long as we warn the listener that in simplifying things, we're introducing errors that will be addressed in the more sophisticated models. We frequently neglect this warning.
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> "Vectors are quantities that have magnitude and direction."
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It is not the case that every quantity that has a magnitude and direction is a vector (e.g. finite rotations). There are also different kinds of vectors, and unfortunately this is rarely mentioned in introductory courses.
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> "Vector components are scalars."
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Well, not always. Components can be vectors as well. In fact, what we call scalar components are really pseudoscalars because of their behavior under coordinate inversion.
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> "Energy is the capacity to do work."
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This is a model of meaningless circularity if ever there were one.
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> "The potential energy of the ball..."
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A single entity cannot have potential energy assigned to it. Potential energy is a property of a system.
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> "Energy or momentum flows..."
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Neither is a concrete physical substance so they can't flow. What we really should say is that we treat them mathematically as though they flow.
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> "Charging a capacitor..."
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Charge is a fundamental property of matter, and yet we routinely use it as both a noun and a verb, which is a huge potential source of confusion. When we use it as a verb, we really mean and should say "accumulating" because that's the physical process we're trying to describe. "Charging a capacitor" simply means "accumulating charge on the capacitor". Actually, upon deeper thought, it amounts to a "redistribution of charge creating the appearance of accumulation of charge on the capacitor." Sometimes more words enhance the meaning.
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> "Electricity is..."
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I can think of the following words used by students to complete this thought: charge, current, potential difference, electric force, power. Electricity is really a meaningless word used as a substitute for lack of understanding of the concepts behind all those other words. If you mean power, then use the word power. If you mean current, then use the word current.
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> "Newton's third law says two objects exert equal and opposite forces on each other."
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This directly contradicts the definition of force as a vector because two vectors cannot be equal if they have different directions. The term "equal and opposite" is inherently self-contradictory.
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> "Dot products and cross products are two ways of multiplying vectors."
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These are very different from students' conceptions of multiplication. Dot products require both multiplication and addition (and sometimes subtraction). Cross products also require more than trivial multiplication. We shouldn't use the simplistic "multiplying" UNLESS we warn students that we're redefining what "multiplying" means.
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> "Moving clocks run slow. Moving rods contract."
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These are very misleading. Time dilation and length contraction are nothing more than consequences of measurement from different frames.
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> "Time..."
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* This problem took too much time. (time as a quantifiable concept)
* Distance is the product of speed and time. (time as a duration)
* What time is it? (time as a clock reading)
* Six times three is eighteen. (times as repeated addition)
* Please time the oscillations of this pendulum. (time as a verb)
* That was a very timely remark. (time as an adverb)
* Here is a time-dependent function. (time as an adjective)
These are a few from introductory and intermediate physics. Perhaps we should create a community wiki of more examples from advanced physics.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I've been thinking of this exact topic from a pedagogic standpoint for years. I taught high school physics where I had classes that ranged from 9th grade Conceptual Physics, to APB (non-calculus) physics, to APC (calculus-based) physics, to a 12th grade second physics class for students who wanted more physics but didn't want the rigor of the AP classes. I'm about to begin teaching a college-level Physical Science class where I'm faced with the same problem:
>
> How do I teach the students "physics" (quotation marks in bold) without (a) saying something misleading, and (b) so they get a clear understanding that won't hinder them in future classes.
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I believe the answer to that question relies most importantly on the level the students are at (teach to their level so they understand), and also with the explicit caveat that *the teacher must tell the students that there are subtleties that will become apparent in future classes.* Indeed, some of those subtleties are more than that -- saying that
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> Energy is the capacity to do work
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may be circular and meaningless (as JoeH replied), but to a first approximation and definition it works for the time being, and can be improved upon in later classes. When I give that definition to my students, I always caveat it by saying, "Guess what? This definition isn't perfect, and in future classes you'll learn a more refined definition that involves other concepts that aren't within the scope of this class." (I say that a lot in introductory classes!) To the students that want more information immediately, I point them in the direction of other resources, or move the conversation to office hours.
The hardest part about proceeding with this method is to make sure that you don't lead the students into an incorrect conceptual understanding that is hard to break in future classes. Joe's example of "the potential energy of the ball" being incorrect without the idea of a system is a good one -- there are many times when simplifying too much leads to a fundamental misunderstanding, and as teachers we have to avoid that as much as possible. Learning what does and doesn't lead to misunderstanding takes time, but being able to formulate precise assessments (whether test-based, or clicker-based, or on homework, etc.) goes a long way towards determining whether or not a student has a proper understanding that doesn't involve misconceptions. If those misconceptions arise during the assessment, it is the teacher's duty to go back and clarify, or re-teach if necessary.
JoeH listed a number of physics concepts that take a concentrated effort to teach properly, but I think all disciplines have those problems:
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> Chemistry: [electrons do not orbit in "shells," despite what millions of students learn every year in elementary school.](http://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=1224)
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> Computer Science: [in some cases, bubblesort does beat quicksort.](http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/%7Ewwu/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=riddles_cs;action=display;num=1264652087)
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> Mathematics: [the internal angles of a triangle do not always add up to 180º.](http://nrich.maths.org/1434) [Five times five does not always equal twenty-five.](https://www.google.com/search?q=hex%205%20times%20hex%205&oq=hex%205%20times%20hex%205&aqs=chrome.0.57j0l3j62l2.3611&sugexp=chrome,mod=17&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&safe=off&sclient=psy-ab&q=0x5%20*%200x5&oq=0x5%20*%200x5&gs_l=serp.3...3323.5222.0.5666.9.8.0.0.0.0.886.3535.2-2j3j1j1j1.8.0.les;..0.0...1c.1.5.psy-ab.vJBN_m1-F2g&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.43287494,d.Yms&fp=205d418cd8aed20b&biw=1401&bih=968)
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> English: [passive voice is not always wrong.](http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/top-ten-grammar-myths.aspx)
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> History: [a historian does not always have to be unbiased](http://www.plentyquotes.com/authors/Philip-Howard/Philip-Howard.html)
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(apologies for examples that aren't perfectly clear -- I'd be happy to amend my answer with better examples!)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: A very good question.
I usually deal with this like:
"Vectors usually have magnitude and direction. Their components are usually scalars. There are more difficult cases, do you really want to deal with them now? [People sigh or say "noooo"] So, here is an example... Now we can continue.".
Of course, strict definitions give some comfort, but may also result in misunderstanding. It's good to confess that every detail is very difficult and even You, The Teacher, can not answer everything.
By default, you must know very well what you talk about. Then you can give some simple example, then a difficult one and ask them if they want to analyse it now. They usually say "nooo" and you proceed.
There are usually enthusiasts and passive people in a single classroom. It's a good practise to let enthusiasts give one or two questions above the course during the break, so that everyone gets what he's interested in. An interaction with your audience gives better feeling of what they actually need explained.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/03/14 | 567 | 2,520 | <issue_start>username_0: A PhD student has started his research about two year ago by research scholarship from university. His supervisor won a huge grant on a topic very close to his research project couple of months earlier. He and his supervisor submitted a 6 page paper to a journal for publication. Editor's decision is that the paper should be published as a communication rather original research. This means that they have to **reduce the manuscript to 4 pages or pay about 500$ for extra pages**. The adviser asked the student to shrink the paper to the shortest possible version.
I have the following questions:
1. Can they pay the publications fees from the grant budget?
2. **Can student ask the adviser to pay for the publication from the grant?** What is the best polite approach for such request?
3. Should supervisor expect to put the grant number in the acknowledgement while he does not pay for the publication fees.<issue_comment>username_1: 1. You already have the answer from your advisor. He is the one who knows the circumstances and can make the call if he want to.
2. You can ask, but be careful how you do it. Remember, if he wanted to do it, he would have done it already instead of asking you to cut the paper.
3. Yes, if its close enough, and he feels that grant has been supporting his activities...
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: 1. Generally yes (depends on whether the grant is tied to any specific spending though, e.g. staff costs, equipment, etc.) - but if the advisor suggests to cut down the paper, it is probably best to follow that suggestion. An alternative would be to provide the longer version of the paper as an official technical report by the university, which should not clash with publication restrictions of the journal. I have seen a number of publications that have a technical report with the same title. (This is in computer science.)
2. See above - but this also depends on the relationship with the advisor. If they're generally friendly, suggesting it sounds reasonable ("would this be an option...?").
3. Yes.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: The other answers give proper solutions to the questions the OP asks. Here is a suggestion to avoid the problem altogether.
Publish the full paper on arXiv, or as a technical report from your own university. Then publish an abbreviated version in the journal, and make crossreferences.
Before you do this, carefully doublecheck the journal's policies on arXiv publications.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/03/14 | 1,844 | 7,441 | <issue_start>username_0: A [comment](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8593/shrink-the-paper-or-pay-for-extra-page-charges#comment15088_8593) in [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/8593/1033) says: *but spending some money to publish in a high rank journal can open more funding opportunities in future, doesn't it?*. In another post, JeffE writes [in this answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/8420/1033):
>
> *Personally, when I read a CV, I only spend a second or two on the self-declared research interests and jump straight to the publication list.*.
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If a candidate (either for hiring or for a grant) has good science but the publications are not in the most prestigious journals, but in slightly less known journals (but still journals that are not obscure), does that significantly hurt their chances? Or is it really the content that matters and is the venue of publication less important?
Note that my question is *specifically* about the *venue of publication*. These related questions do not answer my question:
* *[What can I do as a graduate student to maximize my chances of obtaining a professorship?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/1743/1033)*
* *[How important is number of publications and prestige of the publication outlets for getting a tenure-track job?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/2080/1033)*
* *[How important are citations when applying for jobs or promotions?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/933/1033)*<issue_comment>username_1: There is probably not a single truth here but I would make the following statements:
*Having a good publication record is the basis for basically everything in academia*. The question is then what is good? As a fresh PhD student citations will be near zero (I am guessing in most fields). Having publications in citation index listed journals is therefore a definite plus. Having several as first author is a must (see [What does first authorship really mean?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/2467/4394) for a discussion) I would also argue that having papers not part of the PhD (even if not first authored author) is a plus since it indicates activity.
As a new post-graduate you need to improve the publication record as best you can. You need to show that you do your own new work but also be part of collaborations in some mix. Building a publication record takes time and will partly be up to your own efforts and in some way also by chance (you never know what opportunities lie ahead).
To get employed, you can basically only compete with a good publication list. Everyone knows this takes time and I am guessing all fields have their own "standards" as to what is a reasonable publication rate. In my field where papers are based on field investigations, 2-4 papers per year is considered acceptable, the longer-term average should be towards 3-5. The rate is thus an aspect that should not be over-looked.
Typically you will have a dip post-PhD because it takes time to build or get into a new environment and to start writing new papers. Having something on the back burner for that period may thus be useful to bridge the gap.
As a final note, the citations will be more and more important after a few years. In my field it usually takes a few years to start getting citations because the results will inspire someone to apply for money, go into the field for new investigations, and then write papers. In a lab or theoretical environment such response times may be lower so check with seniors in your field what applies. A good question to ask is perhaps if there are ways to promote ones work to increase citation records, I do not have the answer to that question.
Bottom line: publish in as good journals as possible. Good quality counts but a reasonable publication rate is also necessary. Citations will come with time.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: For what it is worth, this question is discipline specific. In natural sciences, you have to go through 5-8 years of post-docs, and the question of how to get a professor position is such a distant future that you shouldn't even bother at this point, and have to concentrate on getting into a productive post-doc position (rather than the one that will simply suck up all of your energy on 60+ hour work weeks, without giving much in return). In some fields, like economics or statistics, you get a tenure track position right after the Ph.D. In some other fields, like some branches of sociology or anthropology, there is no "research", but there is "scholarship" instead, and the first question you are asked is not "How many Nature papers do you have?" but "What is your book about?".
Having said that, my impression (I am a statistician, also worked with psychologists and economists) is that generally the perceived order of importance is:
1. The prestige of the top journals that you published in as the first or the solo author
2. Whether you have papers in top journals in the field, no matter what order author you are
3. The share of top journals in overall record: if you have 20 publications with only 1 being in a top journal, that's arguably a worse record than 10 publications with 3 top journals (although it depends on a particular university; in some academic incentive systems, you are better off publishing 5-6 crappy papers a year without every attempting top journals)
4. Citations will hardly come into play until you are about 5+ years into the game post Ph.D. (going for tenure in economics or statistics; going for tenure track positions in physics or biology, although I can only speculate about these fields). For some departments, citations may never come into play if you have publications in top journals, which are assumed to generate citations semi-automatically.
As a grad student, you are still learning the rules of the game. Treat academia as such; don't assume that good research will prevail -- it might, but it could be too late for you. You have to be aggressive in pursuing top publications, invited presentations, etc., and a lot of people just don't have it. You have to recognize whether your personality suits academia, and try to seek other venues if it does not. (I don't know if there are psychoanalysts specializing in placing people into academia, but that would be a golden niche for somebody :) ). In many disciplines, there is as much or even more good quality research being done in industry than in the university setting.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Despite the importance of hiring, many departments do not devote all that much energy to it (at least, not until the field is narrowed down to a handful of top candidates being invited to give job talks). For these departments, it can make a big difference if they know that you at least passed the (often considerably greater) scrutiny afforded by publication in a top journal.
Not having publications in top journals will not necessarily sink your chances, but it will *limit* your chances to those places that don't make it a de facto requirement. Check out the publication records of recently hired faculty members at institutions you're interested in to get a hint of what your CV ought to look like.
(Note: getting a good postdoctoral fellowship is typically much less publication-dependent, at least in those areas of the biological sciences with which I am familiar.)
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/14 | 2,668 | 11,172 | <issue_start>username_0: I have an adviser who wants to know every minor details of my work and spend countless amount of time arguing with me over insignificant things. Basically, she tries to control everything I do, from number of hours I spend on homework, what books/papers I read, what font/color I use in my presentations, to whom I talk to with regards to research. Is this considered normal? If not, is this a good reason to change the adviser?
Edit: Sorry for the lack of details.
**Status** I'm an MS/PHD student in my second year of MS. Probably 3 more years of PHD.
**Communication** I've tried to communicate my concerns; but she usually has the "my way or the highway" attitude". If I insist on something, she ends up sarcastically saying, "if I don't like it, I should consider finding another research adviser". Unfortunately, I'm not the only one in this situation; she seems to be having the same problems with her other students as well. I once mentioned to her that I might leave her group, but she told me "she's the one who's admitted me and no one else would work with me." Indeed, she's a very big name in her field, and it seems to me almost impossible to leave her influence if I choose to continue the same line of research/department/school.<issue_comment>username_1: Advisors come in many flavors, from those who are very hands-off, to those who micromanage. If you are really spending countless hours arguing over details that are seemingly unimportant (although what books/papers you read is most certainly not unimportant!), then you need to have a serious conversation with her about it.
That kind of conversation is difficult as the advisee -- if she is paying for your degree, then you work for her, and she has a lot of leeway to determine what she thinks is important. You have to tactfully lay out for her why you think she is micromanaging you too much, and see what she says.
At the end of the day, if you don't agree with how you are being advised, you have a number of possible avenues:
1. Talk to another faculty member (probably the department chair).
2. Talk to the faculty ombudsman, if there is one.
3. Do nothing, and carry on. PhD programs don't last forever (though they often seem like it), and if you can still produce good work while working for the advisor, it can still work out in the end.
4. Try to find another advisor (or, possibly, another school)
Changing advisors is not a trivial thing, although many people do it early on in their graduate career. That also involves tact, as professors generally don't like other professors poaching their students without a mutual discussion about it.
Bottom line: before you make any long-term decisions, have a discussion with your advisor about your perceptions, but be tactful and have a plan on what you are going to say before the meeting.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is this considered normal?
>
>
>
No. The professor is supposed to *guide* the student in an academic way not inspecting every tiny thing *irrelevant* to the student research. However, **some professors do have their own *style*** and want their students to follow them. If their *style* is related to academia then no issue here. Sometimes their *style* is overlap between personal interests and academic interests in this case remember you are required to follow your supervisor style only as long as you are working in her lab.
>
> If not, is this a good reason to change the adviser?
>
>
>
It depends whether you find her helpful through out your research. If she gives you enough time to meet with her and discuss your research in an active manner then I believe this is the most important thing and no need to change.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The first thing I would do is improve/repair your personal relationship with your adviser. You should be comfortable in discussing your concerns about being micromanaged.
Also, your adviser may be correct in her recommendations. For example... We all can assume the font you use in your presentation is appropriate, but we may have the same opinion as your adviser if we learn you are using 33 different font styles and sizes.
My advice is chill out and communicate your concerns to your adviser. You two need to be in a a functioning professional relationship where you can communicate effectively and talk out issues. If it turns out that that there is absolutely no chemistry between you two, then move on.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I have frequently had to micromanage my students' presentations and writeups. That's part of Ph.D training. The tricky thing for an advisor is telling the difference between style choices that are bad, and style choices that are just different.
I also will suggest which papers to read, and will often rule out other things that my students want to read. Of course I can't force them one way or another, but if I feel that my students are consistently making inexplicable choices about what to read or not, I might come down a bit more forcefully, or at least try to talk to them to understand their choices.
Bottom line, as others have said, what you have here is a failure to communicate :). Talk to your advisor and try to understand why she's asking you to do things a certain way. If you're concerned about how to approach the topic, you can lead off by saying that you're quite happy to listen to her recommendations, but you'd like to know the reasons so that you can understand the context she's bringing to the discussion, and so you can learn for the future.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: You mentioning "homework" makes me think that you are possibly in BSc or MSc programme, but not PhD yet (although, you sound like you're heading there). So, I'll try to concentrate my answer on advice useful to somebody just starting off as a (potential) researcher. Sorry on long text, but since the answer is based on experience it wouldn't have any value without an explanation.
I, personally, would have loved if my supervisor from my first standalone bigger project was micromanaging me. Moreover, I explicitly told the guy "I'm very new at this, and would appreciate instructions and directions on how to approach such a big project efficiently". He left me more-or-less alone, I was a beginner, and didn't handle the situation very well: but one important lesson was that that specific type of adviser was not a good match for me.
On the other hand, the professor that was my primary adviser during my BSc and MSc was a very smart, eloquent and confused scientist. When I first told him I am considering continuing with academia after MSc, very often I would get a feeling **he was paying way too much attention to "useless" details, such as**:
* asking me to understand the literature to impossible details
* making me justify using (sub)methods, (sub)approaches and other sub-parts of approaches *he* made me study, which were chosen by the authors of the papers *he* suggested for reading
* correcting and re-writing my written works as one non-native English speaker to another, where I was sure my grammar was fine
* making a loud point of small spelling mistakes in *Drafts V.001*
What helped was, as most people here suggested: *talking to him*. He got to explain to me that **I have to be able to argument my choices**, not by saying (cf. <NAME>: "Important work on the topic"), but by properly explaining the idea behind the approach, and then properly explaining why it is applicable to my situation. He explained that, he, as an expert, **does not know answers to all questions, solutions to all problems**, but is in a **good position to give an educated guess**. A bigger picture here is that if you learn how to express yourself clearly and with arguments, the scientific community can understand you, and build on your work. Bottom line, they can help developing your idea. In the end, in academia today, it is not enough to have a good idea, **you have to explain your idea to everyone**, and it's surprisingly hard to do even after you feel like you understand everything.
So, from that point of view, what **he was doing was actually**:
* teaching me critical thinking, and how to properly read scientific work
* teaching me that just because something is published, does not make it correct
* teaching me that just because something grammatically correct, does not mean it is clear, simple and understandable: and understandable is always your goal
* teaching me that everyone looks down on lazy-asses who don't spell-check their work. It's not nice, but that's how it is :/
In return, since he got my critical thinking working, he would do the same for me: **explain and argument his choices and recommendations**, tell me why something might not seem important now but will be good in my field later, hinting me on his methods to read scientific literature, explain before recommending literature what he is expecting me to learn from it, etc.
The bottom line is, from the *professors side*, I think **it is very hard to develop a good "scientific style" in somebody, unless you're imposing your own**. It's different with somebody with experience and a (semi-)established style, it's different (and possibly more difficult) when starting with somebody new to it all.
And, from *student side*: If you're still advancing, doing good work, and learning, it's not bad. If you're just in the beginning and will soon change supervisor anyway (e.g. from MSc to PhD), it's even better: you get expirience working with different kind of people, and it will be easier for you to find an adviser with a style compatible with yours.
In the end, it all comes down to **communication**: if you are on good terms with your adviser, just the explanations on why she's recommending what she is carry invaluable information that assimilate for years. If it's not just mindless task-giving, it teaches you things in very fast and simple (although sometimes annoying) manner
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I guess you need to understand that as her student, *you represent her*.
You said she was a big name. Do you trust her? My advice is to just follow her advice. After you speak your point about something, *don't argue with her*! Just take her advice and apply it as best you can.
If it's that unbearable, consider looking for a different supervisor for your PhD.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I don't think it's normal, but I also think it's the wrong question to be asking. The right questions are: are you enjoying research? are you being productive? or are you miserable because of your advisor?
In the end, the success of an advisor-student relationship is a function of both the advisor's style, the student's needs, and both their personalities. Some people don't mind being micromanaged, others (like me) would, in your shoes, run. Only you can know what it is that you want and need.
My advice is to first do what it takes so that you're enjoying research, not only because it's terrible to be miserable for years, but also because you won't be as productive while unhappy.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/03/14 | 1,404 | 5,737 | <issue_start>username_0: 1. Is it possible to publish under a *nom de plume* (pen name, pseudonym)?
2. ... and still take credit for the work?
I may have a chance to publish with the professor I am working with soon and if I am on the list of authors I would like to use a *nom de plume*, but I would also like to use the publication to apply to graduate schools next time. Is it possible to have my cake and eat it in the case?
EDIT: Sorry for missing this out; The reason for wanting to publish under a *nom de plume* is that I would merely want my career to be tracked under a different name. Not to hide identity; I am perfectly fine with what EnergyNumbers was suggesting.<issue_comment>username_1: No. You cannot simultaneously be anonymous and still receive credit for your work.
Theoretically, your pseudonym could get the credit, but you can't invite a pseudonym to be a collaborator, or to give a lecture, or to apply for a grant, so I'm not sure how useful that would end up being.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I would like to use a *nom de plume*, but I would also like to use the publication to apply to graduate schools next time.
>
>
>
In principle, you could do this. You would need some way of demonstrating that you really were an author (nobody will believe you if you claim "<NAME>" was just a pseudonym you used for your proof of Fermat's Last Theorem), but a letter of recommendation from your supervisor would suffice.
In practice, why would you want to? You would need to explain in your application why you had used a pseudonym, and I can't think of any explanation that would sound compelling. Even in the best-case scenario, this issue would be a distraction from the actual substance of your grad school applications, and it would probably hurt your chances of admission. Whatever you say, people are going to suspect it's because you are embarrassed by the paper or by your contribution to it, and that won't look good on an application.
I'm assuming here that your *nom de plume* is intended to hide or disguise your identity. If not, then it should be fine. Some people use different names professionally and socially, and this is OK as long as you are clear about it. (It may cause some confusion in your career, but it isn't considered an ethical problem.) If this is the case, then you should include a brief note of explanation, for example "I legally changed my name to Smith-Jones upon getting married in 2012, but I have decided to continue publishing under the name Smith."
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Taking it that your asking about a *nom de plume* (aka "pen name") for reasons of conspicuousness, rather than for reasons of anonymity:
Yes, it is possible to publish under something other than your legal name. A *nom de plume* isn't that unusual in academia, particular for folk with common names who would otherwise be unfindable in literature databases.
You need to make sure that your legal identity is sufficiently tied to your *nom de plume*, so that there's not going to be any arguing about it.
Some people adopt double-barrelled surnames for their *noms de plume*: others add a distinctive first or second initial. As long as its sufficiently close to your real name, that should be sufficient.
Note that this will entail your *nom de plume* effectively **becoming** your name for academic purposes: it's what will be on your email correspondence, your web page, your conference name-badges, and so on. You'll just have to do a bit of tweaking with university administration so that payroll, legal, and travel arrangements are all in your real name, not your pen name.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: As to another reason using a pseudonym is appropriate is when one is living and researching in a country which would frown upon any given thesis or argument of said article. This can be in many fields of research such as anthropology, sociology, political science, journalism, etc., which compels a researcher to work in places such as China and Iran.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: If no one minds me revisiting a 3-year-old question, another idea might be to generate a public/private encryption key, and at the bottom of your works have your public key, a random 100-character string, and the 100-character string after encrypting it with your private key.
Typically digital signatures use the document itself rather than a 100-character string, but in the case of journals/papers, you don't have any control over the final file that the readers download. You might hand the journal a word document, and they'll re-work it into a PDF with their formatting/etc, which makes digitally signing it before hand impossible for you to do.
But with the method proposed above, all someone has to do to check you are the author is to ask you to encrypt a new string, which you do with your private key, and then they can reverse it with the original author's public key, proving you are the original author (or at least, you have their private key).
I was tempted to say you could use the paper's title or abstract instead of 100-characters, but titles can be very short, and also the journal might still mangle it (capitalisation, or weird UTF8 variants of what you gave them originally).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Yes, but you make things very difficult for yourself if you do not stick to that nom de plume for the remainder of your career. And to get credit, your CV and perhaps some other stuff like your email byline, would have to state something along the lines of, professionally known as <NAME>. Which might strike some people as odd and thus could work against you.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/14 | 956 | 4,090 | <issue_start>username_0: My advisor introduced a model 15 years ago, published a lot of papers (including PNAS). Now, he makes me incorporate this model into well-established model from the neighboring field of research. I think he just tries to stay in the known waters (cite his own papers, etc). Of course, he is well aware (but not proficient) that everything we try now to research was already published in this neighboring field.
What should I do?
1. Continue to reinvent the wheel with minor modifications (people from the neighboring field will probably laugh)
2. Try to switch the project (although it will be hard)
3. Freelance in the "spare" time ;)
Edited after Piotr's remark. Hope that nailed it down a bit.<issue_comment>username_1: If you are already very far along in your PhD (which I assume you are doing) I would finish the PhD. If you are still at the beginning, and feeling like this is not where you want to go, and it does not teach you the skills you need, I would consider trying to switch.
But first and foremost, try and talk to your supervisor about your frustration. Of course, keep it civil and professional. You might be able to give your current research a twist that makes it more appeal to you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The issue seems to be that your advisor isn't willing to acknowledge that the problems he's attempting to work on have been solved. I would recommend bringing the relevant papers to him and discussing with him how his proposed projects differ from what already exists in the literature. This way, either (1) he'll clarify how his projects are different from the literature, or (2) you may be able to demonstrate to him that the problem is indeed solved.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: If this is early in your PhD studies, your adviser could be giving you this task knowing that it is solved to test your capabilities. Generally, when you are new to research methodology, you will want to try to repeat previous work to make sure that you know that you are doing it correctly. A test where the correct answer is unknown is a poor test. Your adviser could be taking this approach with you while not explaining his purpose in doing so.
If this is the case, none of your three alternatives are really appropriate, although the first is the best. If you are being evaluated on how you solve a known problem, then you need to solve it very well. Then you will be given better and more exciting work.
If your adviser genuinely thinks this is a worthwhile novel problem to pursue, then see the other answers.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Some of the answers presuppose that your advisor knows what he is doing and that perhaps *you* need to change your attitude. Perhaps they are mistaken. No good advisor would waste his or your time by "testing" you on well-covered ground. There are some stubborn people around who may have a distinguished publication record and who may lead the peripatetic life of the in-demand speaker, but have an acute Achillies heel when it comes to having underlings implement the superannuated visions they cannot implement themselves. The important point is that this is academically low-value work for them, but your time is not valuable. This situation is more likely to arise if your advisor is not paying your salary; it's less likely if you are on soft money. I don't know what advice to give you, except to say that I have been in this position, have rolled with the punches, and in the end there were no publications. And this was a case where the advisor announced to his team that others (better funded and staffed groups) were implementing the kind of thing he wanted (with some minor differences). No matter--he still wanted his team implement his "vision." It was professionally damaging for all parties involved. I decided it was pointless for me to work supporting professors and their students on low academic value, poorly remunerated work if I was not getting published, and made plans to leave. I hope that others in similar situations do likewise.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/15 | 1,111 | 4,705 | <issue_start>username_0: I am not sure whether this question is suitable for academia, if not it would be great to know the site where I should ask this. I am a finishing Ph.D. student in Mathematics at a decent school in the US, and my postdoctoral job applications so far have gone in vein, although I do have published paper in recognized journal. Also, I had to switch my advisor and subject in the middle of my Ph.D., so I think I would have been better off with more experience in the field I am working on or a related field. That would mean even if I get a postdoc, I would feel a little bit inferior to other postdocs or might seek a little more help from my mentor.
I noticed the postings by some European Universities for postdocs where they mention that they are looking for postdocs and Ph.D. students both. Although I will be applying for postdocs in these universities, I was thinking of having your opinion on the following, somewhat irregular backup plan:
Say University U in Europe has a postdoc position P for salary x for 2 years, and Ph.D. position D for salary y for 4 years, where x>y. If I can get P, great, but if not, can I also talk to and try to come to an agreement with the university (e-mail them with explanation etc.) for a visiting position where I will be learning some more stuffs and will be researching as well, but may be with less salary than P but the same (or little more) salary as/than D? In other words, I feel like I need to gain more knowledge in my area, so if I don't get P, I will be happy with almost the same salary y as D, but will try to bend the rule from 4 years to just 1 year? So it will be like a visiting position with less salary, of less time period, but I will like to be treated like a Ph.D. student (that means less independent research, more learning compared to a postdoc). Will that be a ridiculous thing to try? So, I will be somewhat like an advanced Ph.D. student but not expert like a postdoc and so I am willing to negotiate with the salary, I won't need another Ph.D. since I will have had one(if they give another, fantastic!) Do you know whether it might work or create complications enough so that the hiring committee will be offended? Should I try to send an e-mail explaining this situation and see whether they will negotiate with me on this?
Thank you very much in advance!<issue_comment>username_1: In several European countries, for example Germany, Switzerland, or Austria, it will be possible to fill positions in part-time. Whether you then actually work only part-time or not is a different question. In these countries, there is in most cases not a big difference between PhD students and post-docs regarding organizational details of employment, or even salary on a full-time position.
So the way I see your plan possibly working is as follows: A professor has funding to employ someone full-time for 2 years. You could then try to argue that in addition to working on the particular project, you also need time to educate yourself further and get only a half-time position, but stretch that to 4 years. You may want to communicate that it still means that you are working or studying full-time on project-related topics. If the funding is flexible regarding the year when it is spent (which is sometimes, but not always, the case), then I'd guess you have good chances that people are willing to make that deal.
This plan is probably best discussed with the professor offering the position, informally before you apply for the position, or when you go for an interview.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: For France, this will likely not work : for administrative reasons we cannot pay a postdoc with a PhD salary (or a "little bit more than PhD salary"), in fact we must follow some strict salary guidelines.
However, there exists a position in between PhD and Postdoc, this position is called "research engineer". This is not officially a postdoc position, but it could be unofficially a postdoc position, with a lower salary.
But, because there is always a but, I advice you not to tell a person that you are ready to work for less money than the salary offered by this person. This is not likely that you will obtain any position if you follow this strategy.
When I have money for a postdoc, either I don't really "need" (=for a specific project) a postdoc and then I will hire someone who is independent (and it is unlikely that this kind of person is ready to work for a lower salary because independence comes mostly from experience); or I really need a postdoc, and in this case there is no way that I will accept someone I refused previously, even for a lower price.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/03/15 | 1,007 | 4,221 | <issue_start>username_0: I have been doing research into graduate programs and have noticed that some departments have a representation of their own PhD graduates as professors while others have an absence.
For example, a department I have looked at in a top university in Canada had a faculty completely composed of PhD graduates from top American schools, but none from its own.
I can see this as a signal of either two things -
1. That the department may not want to be seen favouring its own candidates.
2. That the department may not have as much faith in its own graduates as that from other schools.
I understand that this may differ from field to field.
But in general, **what is the majority view-point on a department that has no representation of its own graduates on its faculty?**<issue_comment>username_1: Partly, it depends on the size of the department. In a small or even medium-sized department, it means nothing. I wouldn't read anything into it until the department reaches a size where it has five or more graduates of a single school on the faculty (if they have no more than a few from any given place, then random fluctuations could easily push the number to zero). If they have hired five or ten from another school but none of their own, then it's clear they have a preference for that school. It's sensible to set up some barriers to hiring your own graduates, so a modest preference for other schools is actually a good sign. If it gets extreme, it's may be because they think the other school's students are genuinely stronger.
However, I wouldn't worry about this too much. Even if you run across an unambiguous case, it's hard to know what to make of it. Sometimes a department has an incredibly strong research group in a certain area but hires none of their own graduates because they simply don't need any more professors in this area. In that case the lack of hiring is no reflection on the graduates from this group.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It's common in computer science for a university to have few if any of its own graduates as faculty, and should not be taken as a bad sign by itself. This low representation is for two main reasons:
1. **The best five or ten universities in the United States produce a disproportionately large number of strong academic candidates.** In practice universities that have research departments *at all* (let alone the exceptionally strong ones) tend to be filled with professors with Ph.D.s from the elite few.
2. **Going somewhere else leads to cross-fertilization of academic thought.** Presumably after 5+ years of graduate school one has spent a lot of time learning from the expertise available in their department. Going somewhere else allows a professor to transfer her knowledge to a different group of researchers, and to get fresh insight from them in return.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: No, will be my short answer.
This is a matter of "culture". In my Alma Mater in the US, the department did not hire its graduates as faculty. It was perfectly normal. Where I now work, in Europe, the opposite was the norm; it was unusual to recruit faculty from elsewhere. This has, however, changed and I think we have a healthy mix now. To a large extent this has to do with mobility, in the one case mobility is the norm, in the other it is not. You stay where you were born to some extent.
So the No means that in some fields and countries it is perfectly natural not to recruit from your "own ranks".
A follow up question to this might be what the benefits of internal vs. external recruitment might be. I am sure this differs substantially.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: It almost never happens in Finance and Economics, well, except at Harvard, MIT and U of Chicago. This is mostly because there are more people graduating than there are tenure track jobs and people usually wind up upto 50-75 ranks below where they graduate. The top 10 schools graduate enough students to fill the positions in the top 50 schools and so on. Sometimes you hear of some stellar people who move up because they have done great work and are very visible but the general traffic is downwards.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/03/15 | 505 | 2,020 | <issue_start>username_0: Let's suppose you write a paper and you post it on arXiv. If a paper is sent to a journal for peer-review, should you always include this information in the paper comments (including the name of the journal where the paper was sent)?
If the paper is accepted, is it necessary to include in the comments that the paper has been accepted for publication in... (and include the name of the journal)? Or it is better to wait until the paper is published and then include in the comments "Published in... [name of the journal]."?
I understand that it may take some for a paper to be published once accepted.<issue_comment>username_1: I believe you should never include "Submitted to Journal of Blah"; it conveys no information and it's tacky. (And just because <NAME> [does it](http://arxiv.org/abs/1211.6372) doesn't make it okay.)
I won't post a new version of a paper just because it has been accepted. However, if I do upload a newer version, I'll include in the comments "Final version, to appear in Journal of Blah" (here is [an example](http://arxiv.org/abs/0905.2360) from one of my papers).
Once the paper is published, with page numbers and everything (which can often be years -- my paper above was accepted in April 2010, published January 2013), there is a [form](http://arxiv.org/help/jref) you can use to add the journal reference and DOI to the arXiv page. Conveniently, this does *not* generate a new version, so there's no reason not to (you can see this on my paper above -- the reference and DOI were added last week, but no new version of the paper was generated).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: My practice is to replace the initial preprint with the postprint as soon as it is accepted. After it is published (electronically), I go back and add the DOI and such. The reason for this is that the paper is often significantly improved during the refereeing process, and I'd rather have people reading the improved (postprint) than the original preprint.
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/03/15 | 386 | 1,552 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm aware of many mailing-list and RSS feeds advertising about calls for papers/participation, available positions, events, etc, but I find it much harder to know about funding opportunities, such as calls for proposal, grant applications, etc. I'm based in the UK, and there are many funding agencies, including of course EPSRC and the EU, but also many smaller ones, and I'm pretty sure I'm missing interesting opportunities.
So my question: are there some website/systems where I can register my interest, and get to know about existing or soon to come opportunities?
In case it matters, I'm in Computer Science.<issue_comment>username_1: The biggest problem with such repositories is that someone has to maintain them. All the small funding agencies/foundations are usually obscure and will be hard to find on such a webpage.
Anyways, are you familiar with [Research Professional](http://www.researchprofessional.com/)? I use it from time to time, set up alerts for funding possibilities in my fields, so I get mails when someone new comes up. Might be worth a try...
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: These come from my [related question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/131538/is-there-a-free-database-of-grants-available-online) (which asks for **free repositories**, so not sure how much a duplicate it is, but I make the point in case someone wants to flag it as one):
* <https://www.researchprofessional.com/>
* <https://www.grantforward.com/index>
* <https://www.grantselect.com/>
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/03/15 | 577 | 2,463 | <issue_start>username_0: I am a physics undergrad, who is also interested in pure mathematics. I am not very sure what I want to pursue for my PhD. Though I have specific interests in each of the two, and also inter-linked interests, in general I am very confused. My question is it legally and practically allowed for you to chose a guide from another department different than that which you are affiliated to? If not, can someone from another department become a co-guide? In particular, I am looking for laws and practices in the US and Europe (may differ from country to country).<issue_comment>username_1: I have seen co-advisors a number of times. At least three of my computer science colleagues were co-advised by biologists who were working on projects that needed complex and novel data manipulation and/or novel algorithm design (see, for instance, [LUMPY: A probabilistic framework for structural variant discovery](http://arxiv.org/pdf/1210.2342v1.pdf)). There aren't any specific *laws* regarding this (at least in the U.S.), but specific university departments may have guidelines or rules regarding the practice--you would have to check with the schools you are applying to for individual policies.
If your interests bridge two departments, you should probably figure out which department you'd most likely fit into, and contact professors in that field to ask for their opinion on being co-advised. It may turn out that you need higher level mathematics to inform your physics research but that you won't be *creating* new math (for example), in which case you probably wouldn't need separate advisors.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes.
----
At least in the US, it is quite common for PhD students enrolled in department X to be advised by faculty in department Y, either alone or with a co-advisor in department X. Off the top of my head, I can think of PhD students in my (computer science) department who are advised or co-advised by faculty in electrical engineering, mathematics, and industrial engineering. Similarly, faculty in my department who advise PhD students in mathematics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and biology.
That said, if you enroll in the PhD program in department X, you will have to satisfy the degree requirements (courses, comprehensive/qualifying exams, etc.) for department X, even if your advisor and your eventual research interests are in department Y.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer] |
2013/03/15 | 531 | 2,324 | <issue_start>username_0: I heard of this rule/recommendation (or may be its opposite) - `Always let the figures come after they are described in the text.`
What is the correct rule? What's the logic? Is it always followed?
What if (in a single column format) there are two smaller figures side-by-side and second figure's description comes later in the text?<issue_comment>username_1: I've had it as a requirement by an editor at a journal (after mention in text). I guess the rational is that figures are catchy, if you see one, you will probably want to know why it is there and parse the text to find the reference in the text. Doing so, you might omit reading part of the paper.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The following applies:
1. Figures should appear at the first possible place after they are referenced in the text and thus also in the order they are referenceed in the text. (the physical placement of the figure follows typographical rules).
2. A figure may be placed before its reference if they are on the same page. Figures are normally place at the top of pages.
3. Figures must be ordered according to the order in which they are first referenced.
4. The same system also applies for tables. It is however, not necessary for figures and tables to be placed in the order they appear relative to each other, they are two independent series of inclusions and placement depends on typographiccal rules.
The logic is that the order figures are needed in the text also determines their location. Having such a rule makes the location predictable. Thse rules are followed by all journals typeset by professionals.
The case of the figures is dealt with as follows. If a figure has two panes, they would count as one figures but be labelled (a) and (b). thus one can reference figure Xa in one place and figure Xb in another. Combining panes into larger figures is a way to save space but most importantly to group plots that relate to each other in one place. ths is one way in which the order of figures according to the list above can be circumvented.
The important aspect is that figures should make sense and provide the reader with as much information as possible. Placement is done according to a logical and predicatable rule so that we all know what to expect.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer] |
2013/03/15 | 2,202 | 8,800 | <issue_start>username_0: I just saw an ad in mathjobs.org about an opening in a Catholic university, see [here](http://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/4682). I am not christian. So I was wondering to be eligible for employment in a university or college affiliated with a specific religion, should the applicant have the same religion, or other people from other religions (or even non-religious people) are eligible to apply as well?<issue_comment>username_1: This will depend on the institution. This one in particular states that they do not discriminate on the basis of religion.
From <http://www.seattleu.edu/policies/nondiscrimination/>
Seattle University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, political ideology or status as a Vietnam-era or special disabled veteran in the administration of any of its education policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletics, and other school-administered policies and programs, or in its employment related policies and practices.
There are some exceptions for religious organizations but it may depend on the state laws and/or the particular job.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In my experience, the answer is usually **no** but occasionally **yes**.
**Note: This answer is specific to the United States.**
Most employers in the US are forbidden by law from discriminating on the basis of religion; they have to give equal consideration to candidates of any religion or no religion, and generally they will avoid asking about religion at all. This includes non-denominational academic employers.
However, religiously affiliated employers (such as churches, religious charities etc), are **exempt** from this rule, and may use religion as a criterion for employment if they so choose. This includes religiously affiliated academic institutions. Each such institution will have its own policy on whether they consider religion and what the criteria are. These policies will usually be mentioned in job postings.
In my experience, most intentionally choose to not consider religion as a factor, usually giving the justification of creating an inclusive community. These may be institutions that were founded by a church and may still receive funding from them, but operate mainly as a secular institution, accepting students and faculty without regard to religion. Job postings will often indicate this with phrases like "equal opportunity employer". They may have a "mission statement" with religious wording, and a tradition of religious activities on campus (such as regular church services), but nobody is obligated to participate.
There are others which choose to be more overtly religious. They may accept students and faculty only if their religious beliefs align with those of the institution. These are more likely to have formal religious activities on campus, and sometimes strict moral conduct codes. Their job postings often ask explicitly about the applicant's spiritual beliefs.
The institution's name is **not** always a good indicator of where they fall in this spectrum.
As one example, [Nebraska Wesleyan University](http://www.nebrwesleyan.edu/) describes itself as:
>
> an academic community dedicated to intellectual and personal growth within the context of a liberal arts education and in an environment of Christian concern.
>
>
>
However, they also say:
>
> Nebraska Wesleyan University provides equal educational opportunities to all qualified persons in all areas of university operation, including education and decisions regarding faculty appointment, promotion or tenure, without regard to race, religion, age, sex, creed, color, disability, marital status, national or ethnic origin or sexual orientation.
>
>
>
At the other extreme, [Dordt College](http://www.dordt.edu/) included this wording in a recent [job posting](https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/4467):
>
> The Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science department at Dordt College has a history of preparing students for graduate school, industry and K-12 education. This preparation is infused with an unashamedly Reformed Christian worldview, in order to prepare students to be global citizens in God’s service. [...]
>
>
> We look forward to receiving applications from candidates who wish to join us in [...] teaching mathematics from a Christian perspective in the context of educating the whole person.
>
>
> Qualified persons committed to a Reformed, Biblical perspective and educational philosophy are encouraged to send a letter of interest and curriculum vitae/resume [...]
>
>
>
Generally, institutions that will only consider applicants of a certain religion will make this clear at the outset. However, even if not, you will have to decide if the religious environment (or lack thereof) on a particular institution's campus will be comfortable for you. This is an appropriate topic to ask about during an interview.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The same applies in Australia - schools/universities often state that employees do not publicly mock or degrade the religion on campus, even if they don't agree with some aspects of it.
This may be mentioned in the employment ad itself, but occasionally a place will be granted a 'lift' from the discrimation act, to employ someone of a specific religion.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: You may want to look up what the catholic church says about its universities in order to form an opinion whether you agree with their views before applying: [Apostolic Constitution of the Supreme Pontiff <NAME> II on Catholic Universities](http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_15081990_ex-corde-ecclesiae_en.html)
With a work contract with catholic church you agree with their ethical standards. Depending on close your personal ethics is to theirs, this may be anywhere from advantageous (it may be easier to deny conducting certain research because of ethical objections) to a huge source of conflicts (the typical topics, see below).
AFAIK, the requirements they put on applicants will depend on the faculty and on the job, in particular for catholic theology restrictions may apply that do not apply for other faculties (IMHO quite naturally).
In **Germany**, churches (i.e. institutions that have an official status of being religious community) are allowed to ask much more duty of loyality from their employees than normal employers. In practice most conflicts about that arise from catholic etics, e.g. employees of the catholic church may loose their job if they try to remarry after a separation (because they cannot be considered leading an exemplary life according to catholic ethics). Also, they may be homosexual, but you may not practice homosexuality (catholic church).
And you may not leave the respective church (if you are member to to begin with).
This tends to me more pronounced for employees in the "core church businees" (theological staff, parishes), that educate (kindergardeners, school teachers) or have a publicly visible position.
Another practical consequence is that the employees of churches are often paid lower wages compared to "normal" employers as working there is also considered service (in the christian religious sense).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Yes. You can get a job there even if you're of different faith or are not religious. See page 14 of <http://history.siam.org/pdfs2/Gonnet_final.pdf>.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: Take Brigham Young University(BYU) for example,
As an educational institution affiliated with the LDS Church, BYU prefers to hire qualified members of the Church in good standing, as authorized under Title 41 CFR § 60-1.5 (a)(6). Interviewing or hiring a non-LDS applicant requires Vice President approval.
But if you are hired, you are expected as an employee to observe high standards in modesty, taste, judgment, and appropriateness of dress and grooming. Observance of such is a specific condition of employment.
An employee being hired for an assignment or an actual fulltime job, you will review a Standard of Conduct Commitment form, accepting as a condition of employment the observance of:
Church Educational System Honor Code on and off campus, 24 hours a day.
Specific Employee Dress and Grooming Standards on and off campus, 24 hours a day.
Abiding by the rules and standards of the Church.
The candidate will sign this Standard of Conduct Commitment form, accepting as a condition of employment the observance of the Church Educational System Honor Code and Dress and Grooming Standards at all times, on and off campus.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/03/15 | 2,838 | 12,427 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm reviewing a paper whose work is quite related to some of my early PhD work, that was about 2 years ago. I have a paper published in a Journal that proved that method A had good solutions for the problem X.
Now I'm asked to review a paper that does a variation on method A, although they never cite my paper at all, is not exactly the same, but I think there should be a reference, if not because it is my paper, but because by the time I did the survey no one else had used that method.
Now, that said, is it a breach of interest to ask the authors to cite my work, or at least read it?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't believe so.
Conflict of Interest usually deal with people that you are at the same institution with, or have collaborated with in the past, or have some kind of financial investment in, and if there's a conflict of interest, you generally decline to review that article. The journal or conference you're reviewing for likely has reviewer guidelines for what constitutes conflict of interest.
There is a risk that you can "out" yourself as an anonymous reviewer, but if you're able to suggest a few papers from various authors, that risk decreases. :)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, of course there is a conflict of interest in this situation. Reasonable people may differ in their opinions on how the conflict of interest should be addressed in this circumstance, but I think it's obvious that a conflict exists. You are in a position of power over the authors of the paper in your role as a reviewer. If the authors were to cite your paper, that would be of some benefit to you. Therefore, asking them to do it inherently involves some element of conflict of interest.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: If I were you, I would ask myself the following question:
>
> is it better **for the paper** to be aware of my work?
>
>
>
I believe this is the main question you need to ask. If you see your work is relevant to the problem and can **enhance** the paper content, then you **have** to point to it. If you see your work as a **complement** of the paper just **reference** it in the review.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: I don't agree that this is a conflict of interest. The reviewer can point out related work, and recommend that the author cite it. if the work is in fact irrelevant, the author can point this out, and the editor can adjudicate. Referees are supposed to be experts on the material.
This scenario has happened to me a few times. I've recommended that the author cite the relevant papers (including my own as needed).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: Asking whether something is or is not a conflict of interest is generally a misleading question, since it suggests a sharp cut-off rather than a continuum. It's very rare to be so completely detached as to have no problematic incentives (for example, many other authors are friends or rivals). Instead, the question is how troublesome the incentives are and how to handle them.
Recommending that the author cite your own papers certainly has the potential for abuse. However, people generally don't worry about it very much, since the worst-case scenario of a few borderline unnecessary citations is not so terrible (if the referee asks for many citations or they are really not relevant, then the editor should notice and intervene).
What's tricky about it is that some papers must be cited to give appropriate credit. If you discovered X, but the author mistakenly credits it to a later paper based on your work, then you have an obligation to tell the author about your earlier paper. The difficulty is in distinguishing what must be cited from what you wish would be cited. I don't think there is any standard rule for how to make this distinction.
What I do in practice is to make explicit recommendations to cite my work only when I can give a clear factual reason. I.e., if the author says something historically incorrect or gives the wrong attribution, then I correct it. However, I'm reluctant to ask the author to include a citation if everything in the paper would be correct without it. For example, sentences like "Previous applications of Smith theory include X, Y, and Z" are still correct even if I wish W were also included.
On the other hand, the next best thing is to say something like "The author may find the following related papers interesting: ..." There's an implicit suggestion that citations could be appropriate, but it's less pushy than saying it explicitly, and the author can decide whether to include citations.
This doesn't really solve the conflict of interest issue. After all, the implicit suggestion is pretty transparent, and the author may still feel some pressure. However, it seems to me like a reasonable compromise.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Asking the author to cite your previous work is not a conflict of interest, but it may indicate a lack of impartiality on your part. In other words, there is always conflict of interest whenever you act as an expert reviewer and editors implicitly assume some small conflicts exist, they also believe you can be impartial despite the conflict. If you are concerned that by asking the authors to cite your previous work that you are not being impartial, there are 3 things you can do
1. You can reveal you identity and say "for what is it worth, you may want to cite MY work".
2. You can write the review in such a way that the recommended citations can be easily deleted. You can then inform the editor that you have recommended some citations to your work and you are concerned about your impartiality and ask the editor to use his/her judgment about removing the recommended citations.
3. You can leave them in and say nothing. If the editor thinks you are being unfair or too self prompting, they won't ask you to review again.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: Sure it is a conflict of interest. However, this particular type of conflict of interest IMHO cannot be avoided and is quite probable due to how the review process works:
* Reviewers are chosen according to their expertise.
* Therefore, chances are that they have been publishing relevant papers (how else would the editor know of them?).
* Manuscripts are not perfect, otherwise we'd not need the review process. One important point of the peer review process is that someone who's an expert in the field can actually check that the references are adequate (this is often explicitly asked for). People who have been publishing in the field usually know best whether references are adequate.
* In consequence, you want exactly these people for the review, even though it creates a conflict of interest. It is a trade-off between the chance to get a better review from someone who is an honest player in that field compared to a "stranger", and the risk that the reviewer exercises undue power over the authors to advance his citation count.
* So you'll face this quite regularly once you have been making meaningful contributions to your field.
However, usually it is possible to ask that references on this-and-that topic should be given instead of asking to cite your paper.
You may want to look at this related discussion: [How to avoid identifying myself in a review?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/7696/how-to-avoid-identifying-myself-in-a-review)
which discusses a similar situation (though the perceived conflict is slightly different).
Side note: the very fact that you ask here is probably a very good indicator that you are *not* abusing your power as reviewer. Those who do most probably neither ask nor answer here.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: I do not think this is a yes and no question. Furthermore I note that it seems the journal editor is not seen as part of the loop. So from my editor point of view I would make the following points:
* Asking authors to cite one's paper is generally risking to be considered distasteful (by the editor and by the authors). Most of the cases I have encountered is not about improving the paper, but to promote ones own research. Hence, a perspective on the reasons is important.
* If your research is not referenced it could be a sign that more relevant literature is missing. In such a case you are better off briefly researching if that is the case and point that out to the authors and to the editor. Your paper along with others can serve as one of perhaps several examples.
* Do not forget the editor. Point out that your paper is not referenced but please provide a detailed account for why it should be. Appropriate cases could include: it is a first, it is the latest building on earlier work, it contains key information not found elsewhere. If the paper is one of many possible to be cited, your case is probably not strong enough.
So as I see it, "conflict of interest" applies if you ask about adding references for the wrong reason. If you do ask something to be added, make the point very clear why your paper (hopefully along with others) is invaluable and how it would improve the paper. Make your argument primarily with the editor. An editor should evaluate reviewers reports and provide feedback on what should be done to the authors. If you do not have a very strong scientific reason to do it, don't.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: The tl;dr version:
1. Of course it's a conflict of interest--you stand to benefit.
2. You should do it anyway if the work is highly relevant since good citations are important.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: If the work is in your area of interest/expertise, there is always a potential for conflict of interest. If the work is a competing approach that you don't agree with, there is conflict; if the work is a similar approach to your own, there is conflict; if this is a journal or conference you submit to with limited spots available, there is conflict; if it is an application for funds you also are eligible for, rather than a paper, there is conflict; if it is a paper that might be used as evidence in such a grant application, there is conflict.
If you or an editor suppress *relevant* references from your report (whether your own, others you know, or the work of people you have never met) you are compromising the value of the paper if accepted, and impacting the citation chain, and committing a form of indirect plagiarism - people who find this paper will find it more difficult to find the others, and will tend to give attribution to the authors of this paper rather than the original inventors of the ideas (yourself or others). If you are an expert in the area, as your selection as a referee suggests you should be, then you should have a familiarity with the literature and part of your job is to assess the comprehensiveness of the literature review. It may be ideas have been reinvented, it may be an early paper was read or referenced and the idea planted but the citation forgotten or lost, it may be overt plagiarism that the author knows of the work and the similarity, but wants the glory alone.
If you include requests to cite *irrelevant* references (whether your own or others or others previously published in the same journal), that is again a nepotism-like form of misconduct. Conversely, I have seen reviewers/editors reports that discount relevant work because it wasn't published in a venue of sufficiently high reputation, this is a form of plagiarism and chauvinism.
Work should stand alone on its merits irrespective of who wrote it or where it was published. You as a reviewer have a responsibility to judge the work, and whether it has dealt properly with the literature, to add missed citations, and potentially to remove miscitations (often self-citations by the authors that are of no relevance).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: Only argue for you to be cited **if** the paper simply cannot continue without you being cited. People don't need to keep up with every paper in the literature, and shouldn't be expected to. So, people will cite some papers more than others. In my experience, whenever I suggest authors to cite work I've written, it is **strictly** because I think that my method/paper may improve upon the work they're doing. If the paper is otherwise good, without my work being cited, then I really don't care if they cite me or not.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/03/15 | 512 | 2,143 | <issue_start>username_0: I just started teaching three courses at small medical training college: anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, and microbiology. Most of the students have a weak background in the sciences, and come from varying professional/educational backgrounds.
I currently end up preparing 4-5 hours for each hour that I end up lecturing. But find it difficult to keep the students engaged for the duration of the lecture. Any advice on improving teaching/ lecturing methods?<issue_comment>username_1: Teaching 'unprepared' students is always a challenge and prep takes a lot of time (four to five hours of prep for one hour of lecturing sounds about right...and maybe a bit low). So, overall, your numbers seem to be inline with norms.
If you want to make your teaching more effective, you should read some books about teaching (there are many). You should read [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5236/how-to-improve-myself-as-a-lecturer) for some ideas on improving yourself as a lecturer.
Generally, 'active learning' - where the student is the focus of the learning process (as opposed to the lecturer being the center) - focuses on engaging students, putting the load on their shoulders. Group work is particularly useful. I've seen studies (not handy) that say that in every learning situation, group learning (e.g., group discussion) always improves the learning effectiveness.
You should do more prep and you should do less in class (they should do the work in class) and they should do work outside of class. All of this needs your careful planning but some students will think they you are not doing anything...but they will end up learning more in the end.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: My strategy is to focus on very few topics during one class (1 or, at most, 2, depending on time) and cover them in-depth. Generally, I try to link the topics over the whole course together as much as I can.
This is a lot of work and weaker students sometimes think they see repeats (which they don't), but the knowledge tends to sink in better this way.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/03/16 | 736 | 2,968 | <issue_start>username_0: I did my masters in Computer Science last year and it was a taught masters so I didn't do any type of 'Research'. The problem that I encounter now is that I'm going to start my PhD in the next few days and I don't have any idea about how to do it (I don't know how to write a literature review, for example.)
So, Is it possible to do it or will be very difficult in my case? And do you know any books that can help in building the foundation for me to be able to do the research?
Cheers!<issue_comment>username_1: >
> So, Is it possible to do it or will be very difficult in my case?
>
>
>
Unless the faculty in your new department are negligent sociopaths, they would not have admitted you to their PhD program without a firm belief that you could succeed.
Your lack of research experience could make your PhD more difficult than for other incoming students, but mostly because it will take you *more time* to settle into a research pattern. If you want to speed up the transition, **get involved with research as soon as possible.** Do *not* fill your weekly schedule with standard homework- and project-heavy classes. Sign up for independent study/research credit. You're unlikely to produce publishable research in your first semester, but that's okay; your primary goal is to develop research *habits*, not research *results*.
In fact, I'd suggest getting in touch with faculty in your new department **now** to arrange for independent study time in the fall and to ask for reading suggestions. If you know who your new advisor/supervisor will be, ask them first.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Even some of the most clever students are completely lost when it comes to starting out with research.
There are plenty of good books out there that provide general guidance on how to get a PhD and conduct research. These are of course no substitute for first hand experience, but they will provide you with a framework within which to conduct your research. As disciplines differ, it is probably a good idea to find one that is written by someone in a discipline close to yours.
Here is one general one that Amazon (and its reviewers) recommends:
>
> *How to get a PhD: a handbook for students and their supervisors* by
> <NAME> and <NAME>.
>
>
>
There seems also to be such a book devoted to Computer Science:
>
> *The Art of Getting Computer Science PhD* by <NAME>.
>
>
>
Amazon has no reviews, so who knows what it is like. From what is available on Amazon and Google books, it looks like rubbish. (The title isn't even grammatically correct.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Let me say what I believe in here. Doing research is a skill you gradually acquire over years of reading, experimenting and criticizing others work. ***There is no magic here***. If you are dedicated to learn, you will be able to do research. The main keyword here is *critical thinking*
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/16 | 500 | 2,146 | <issue_start>username_0: Master studies start per semester, and in some places PhD studies do, too.
What about post-docs or other positions that do not heavily rely on teaching?
Does the time of year make any difference for openings?<issue_comment>username_1: Because many labs have limited space and/or funding for people, postdoctoral hiring is influenced by Ph.D. program cycles at most institutions. Thus you tend to see the most openings in the summer/fall (in the northern hemisphere), but the trend is not as strong as for Ph.D. programs.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: This is based on my experience in mathematics in the United States (other cases may differ):
In principle, a postdoctoral position could start at any time if grant funding is available. In practice, it is generally tied to the academic calendar the same way other positions are, and any deviations from that schedule would be unusual. If you are doing an advertised search for a candidate, then there are enormous advantages to timing it with the usual job market cycle (at other times of year very few applicants will be available), so off-season hiring typically takes place only when a perfect match is made through personal connections. The other issue is that most Ph.D. students get their degrees at the end of the spring semester, and most faculty positions start in the fall semester, so academic-year-based postdocs are convenient for most applicants.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes. They will operate on whatever system (quarter, semester) the university operates on. So pre-docs and post-docs (at least in my field) are awarded and start at the beginning of a semester.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: At our institute, post-docs can be funded almost any time of the year, but it depends generally on when funding agencies hand out their funding. There are three or four periods in the year where that occurs (January, March, September, come to mind), but generally positions remain open until they are filled by a good candidate. In any case, the timing of these hiring periods are independent of the academic semesters.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/16 | 1,747 | 6,923 | <issue_start>username_0: Here I am talking about teaching positions in Mathematics. In the US, we know of many positions in the US (also in Canada?) that is teaching position or teaching-oriented position. For example
1) Some universities need 'regular postdocs' like other places, but they have more teaching load (3+2 courses or 3+3 courses for a year)
2)some are called 'teaching postdocs'.
3) Positions in liberal arts or community colleges etc.
Is there any such equivalent position in Europe? I have never been to Europe so far, but I hear there is no concept of 'colleges', they only have universities or institutes. I know there are some places in the UK where they advertise positions for teaching purposes. But for Europe minus UK, say Germany, Austria, Scandinevia etc. is there any such position for teaching at a higher level than high school (could be undergraduate courses, beginning masters courses etc.). Where can I find out about these positions? Mathjobs and euro-math-jobs don't seem to advertise them.
If you know any source for it, could you please provide me with the link(s)? And do you have any idea whether these positions are permanent or temporary and how much normally do they pay?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm not 100% sure I understand your question but I'll try to answer it anyway.
There are plenty of tertiary teaching positions in Europe. There are universities and trade schools in every country and all of these need teachers (permanent and temporary) to teach their students (undergraduate and graduate). How much they pay depends on the country.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: From my experience in the Netherlands, there are no teaching (oriented) positions on the university level (assistent prof level and up). There used to be an option to primarily be a teacher at university, without the requirement of a PhD even, but nowadays such a position always includes a mix of researching, teaching, and grant proposal writing.
At tradeschools (we call those HBO) there are (almost) full-time teaching positions, but these are not on a university level, and require you to speak fluent Dutch. This makes these kind of jobs hard to get for foreigners.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: In Spain all jobs of a given category have, in principle, the same responsibilities with respect to teaching and there is no concept of a "teaching position". Obtaining (even applying for) a job requires demonstrating experience in both teaching and research, and in principle there is not much variability in the profile (certainly far less variability than is possible in the US). In practice people tend to like living in big cities and certain universities are stronger than others in research; at the weaker universities the job may in fact be basically a teaching position, and hiring tribunals can adjust the criteria to favor teaching record within certain limits, but the administratative and bureaucratic requirements to get the job still always take into account research.
More bluntly - to even apply for a university position of a particular category one must first obtain a specific "acreditation" for that job category, and the requirements for these acreditations always specify having published a certain (field specific) minimum number of papers. This makes it structurally impossible to have what in the US would be called a "teaching position".
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: The usual disclaimer that Europe is a big place and that it's impossible to give a general answer.
In France, there exist teaching-only positions in universities. They are known by the abbreviations "PRAG" and "PRCE", meaning respectively "**Pr**ofesseur **ag**régé" and "**Pr**ofesseur **ce**rtifié". I've written [an answer about them for another question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/103751/9646), but the question was closed.
Here's a summary. To get this kind of position, you must first obtain a national examination. For PRAG you need to obtain the "agrégation", which is a national competition (people are ranked and a better rank helps getting a better position). For PRCE you need to obtain the "certification", a national exam.
But make no mistake. These two exams are usually for people looking to teach in middle and high schools. PRAG and PRCE positions are few and far between, and there is a lot of competition for them. Once you get your agrégation or certification, then you will need to teach in middle/high school first before having any kind of chance of getting the PRAG/PRCE position. You will have to wait for an opening, and compete with a lot of people. If you refuse to teach in school, you will lose your status and need to pass the exams again. Also, speaking French is mandatory. I would say you need to want to teach in France more than anything to even consider getting such a position.
The upshot is that these are permanent positions. The pay is okay I guess. [The ministry has some info.](http://www.education.gouv.fr/cid101179/la-remuneration-des-enseignants.html) For a certified professor, you start at 1795€ gross salary the first year, and after 30 years you can rise to 3777€. For an "agrégé", you start at 2076€, and after 30 years you rise to 4555€.
(The first kind of position is not to be confused with professors who have obtained the "agrégation du supérieur", in law, political sciences, economy, or management. These professors have a position equivalent to other "usual" university professors and statutorily dedicate half their time to teaching and half to research. Yes, the terminology is confusing.)
---
A completely different alternative is to become "maître de conférences associé" (adjunct lecturer) or "professeur associé" (adjunct professor). This is a part-time position for people who have some professional experience (7 years for lecturer, 9 years for professor), or alternatively a high enough degree (PhD at least). You would keep your main job and teach in the university part-time. It's also possible to be recruited on such a position full-time. In all cases it's temporary, three years maximum.
I am not certain what the recruitment procedure is like, in particular I don't know if universities advertise for openings or if you have to apply on your own. It seems to me that everything is fully at the discretion of the university/department. [The ministry has some information.](http://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/cid60227/devenir-enseignants-chercheurs-associes-et-invites-p.a.s.t.html)
---
Perhaps a point worth stressing is that these are mostly *exceptions*. I haven't met many PRAG/PRCE or heard of many openings. For adjunct teachers, the "exceptional" nature is even clearer (it's a temporary position for industry people who want to teach). The "norm" are the half-teaching/half-research positions and the research-only positions (which are somewhat rarer).
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/17 | 582 | 2,811 | <issue_start>username_0: Some conferences do maintain a percentage for the number of accepted papers to the total number of submissions.
Does this mean some good papers will be *inevitably rejected* just to maintain the acceptance rate? How conference chairs deal with the acceptance rate? or it is not related at all to the acceptance/rejection process.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes.
----
But it would be more accurate to say that conferences have a fixed budget of papers that they can accept, due to scheduling constraints.
At most computer science conferences, every accepted paper is presented in a 20-minute talk; for a three-day conference with no parallel sessions, this practice imposes an upper bound of about 50 accepted papers. Of course larger conferences have parallel sessions, but program committees generally do not have complete freedom to add another parallel track, partly because of *space* constraints at the conference venue (which is planned long before the submission deadline), and partly because major changes to the conference organization usually require input from the community.
So inevitably, if a conference attracts a large number of strong submissions, it must reject some of them. This is generally considered better than the alternative, which is that the conference must necessarily accept some bad papers.
*This answer is specific to computer science.*
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In very large number of conferences, acceptance rate is not really important since authors are paying high for getting their works published. In general, acceptance rate is used as a metric to claim/show reputation and popularity to encourage authors for more submission. I came a cross situations where authors write to the program committee to inquire if the paper is in the scope or not and they are encouraged to submit. Once submitted, they get quick rejection. By doing so, the conference is getting lower acceptance rate which is likely collecting more credits for future. The more submission, the better visibility, the less acceptance rate and higher competition for the next year. I personally believe the acceptance rate is more like a business trick to tempt researchers to submit. Because, if the conference organizers are bound to certain number of publication, they can simply - in plain language- announce the number of papers acceptable for publication rather than saying, we have only 10% acceptance rate. By putting rate, authors are encouraged to submit. If the limit exceeds, the organizer rejects the likely good works and the authors of rejected paper have an excuse that the acceptance rate was very low and nothing wrong with my paper!!! So try harder for next year and this circle goes infinite. Who wins? orgaznier ;)
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/18 | 952 | 4,196 | <issue_start>username_0: I am an engineering student, however, my graduate research is more inter-disciplinary (computational science). Which is good for me in some ways, because one of my better skills is programming, since I've been doing it avidly as a hobby for a very long time. Because of this, it would be much easier for me to create a widely used computational science software tool rather than a highly-cited journal article.
With the specific aim of getting a post-doc at a top-ranked university, how does creating a useful piece of software (like an original, optimized quantum monte carlo implementation for example) compare to a widely-cited journal article? In other words, if done well, both would be highly-cited, but do frequent citations of software carry the same weight as top-tier research articles?<issue_comment>username_1: There's a thresholding effect for software. If you create a piece of software that has a huge number of downloads and has visible impact, that will count for something. However, with papers, you wouldn't need to have the same level of impact to have the same effect on interviewers.
The problem really is that academics don't know how to evaluate the impact of software development, and would need help doing so. I imagine that if your potential post-doc advisor has used your software, you won't need to do much explaining. But if not, and your research credentials are otherwise weaker, it might be difficult to justify.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Attitudes are slowly but surely changing--here is an indication. As of January, the NSF required that the *Publications* section of NSF biosketches be changed to *Products*. It is remarkable how important names are to bureaucrats; in this case, the change reflects the awareness that the publications category excluded much of the work of scientific programmers, inventors and the producers of data sets (data sets are routinely referred to as products in the geo and social sciences). The previous biosketch format tended to make the inclusion of software and data sets (not to mention other contributions) under Publications often seem forced. The practice of citing technical reports and papers on software instead of directly citing it ought to be questioned. Given the ever increasing importance of software and data set production for many kinds of scientific research, it is a welcome development not to have to diminish significant and specialized contributions by citing published reports on products that could be cited directly (in contrast to certain inventions) or by hiding them under Synergistic Activities. In time, administrators will get the message that software production ought to count more than it does.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: *The following applies to the neuroscience and the biological sciences.*
In almost all cases, the article will win. This is typically due to the attitude that writing software isn't research; it's implementation. In some cases, you will have to overcome technical challenges when implementing the software, but for the most part you'll simply be coding up techniques that were developed and iterated upon by a different research group.
Note that there do exist labs that both developing analytical techniques and then have a team as part of the group who translates that into software development. The [Wellcome Trust Center in UCL](http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/) comes to mind here; they have developed a number of techniques used for detecting brain activity, as well as brain mapping, and they maintain a [software suite](http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/spm/) that allows researchers to use their techniques. There are a number of similar groups in different fields (e.g., medical image analysis [(project)](http://www.itk.org/itkindex.html)[(group)](http://www.itk.org/ITK/project/parti.html), MEG analysis [(project)](http://www.martinos.org/mne/)[(group)](http://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/meg/index.php)). These labs have typically demonstrated over time their strength in developing research software, and are able to obtain grants to specifically support development of their software.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/03/18 | 807 | 3,547 | <issue_start>username_0: I recently received a rejection letter from one of my top colleges for graduate studies. In addition to the standard rejection letter(for Program 1), I got another note from the chair of another program(Program 2) at the same university, suggesting that I opt for that program.
The difference between the two programs is that Program 1(which I was rejected from) usually gives out funding while Program 2(while being identical in all other ways) strictly says no funding. Is this usual in US colleges? I always thought that if you're going to get an admit without funding, you will at-least get an admit letter or is there any other reasoning behind this?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no golden rule that I've heard of that since you're not funded that you would be automatically accepted. There are not-for-profit and for-profit institutions, and each may receive public and/or private funding to do x, y, and z.
Sounds to me you were going for a program where you'd receive a stipend, and are being coerced to apply to the program that you would have to pay out-of-pocket (not really clear from the way you wrote it above). In any case, there are some things to consider:
* How competitive is the program?
* What about your transcripts or personal profile can you improve?
* How about applying to more than one school?
* If you received an offer, should you take it and see if you can receive a stipend in the near future?
You haven't provided much information, yet it will be hard to tell you what to do because there's an absence of the representation of what it is you want to do, and how much you want it. If it's something you've already spent your entire adult life to work on and have the acceptance letter, maybe it's worth considering taking the opportunity. Conversely, if you're right out of school and would benefit from some work experience and improvements to your transcript then it may be worthwhile to take a step back and try again soon.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The golden rule in getting fund is to demonstrate and ensure that you and your background knowledge and works are good enough to successfully undertake the project or work. Bear in mind that there are always better or worse competitors around. In funded positions, usually there is a tight competition, no matter if it is in US, Asia or Europe. Moreover, the person responsible for final funding decision is always looking at a person he/she knows well (in terms of achievements and commitments) because he is responsible to the funding agency in case of failure. If there is no applicant familiar with, he/she may look after others. Whereas in non-funding positions, the competition is not high and if the applicant has minimum requirements, he will be given the seat. Don't blame anyone except the competition, luck, and your achievement. Try to increase your networking with influential people and raise your visibility by taking part in public talks, organize a workshop (if you have certain knowledge or proficiency), publish a conference paper and so on. I was listening to a radio station few days ago about recruitment, they revealed the result of a survey conducted among 300 worldwide recruiters. The recruiter (work or study) are always giving better chance to volunteers, I suggest to do that as well. By doing so, you will be given very high chance of getting position with good stipend next time. You should be a glorious competitor to shine among others. If not, no luck.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/03/18 | 1,084 | 4,499 | <issue_start>username_0: Is there a way we can get money for our research paper? Do research journals pay us for a research paper? Or can we sell the research paper?<issue_comment>username_1: I have never heard of a field where journals pay the authors for articles. In the humanities original research is often published as books and publishers will often pay, or at least provide a commission, for books.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> *can we earn money through a research publication?*
>
>
>
Certainly **Yes**.
Good publications make you a stronger candidate when apply to grants. It also help you in securing a job; if you do not have one. Also, collaborating with industry could be another way for earning money. **Selling** publication is something I never heard in my field (computer science). I do not even think it is possible in other fields.
If you are looking only for money then doing research is one of the bad choices you have.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: According to this Scholarly Open Access [blog entry](http://scholarlyoa.com/2012/12/28/oa-journal-pays-authors-for-their-work-2500/), the *Journal of CENTRUM Cathedra: The Business and Economics Research Journal* pays US$2500 for each paper published and also pays US$500 for each peer review. It also seems that the *Journal of Information Ethics* used to pay US$50 per article published.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Also, **Patents.**
If you register your idea as a patent, then everybody who wants to use your idea has to pay to you. However, universities (companies) usually claim the intellectual property of the patents, which means the inventor does not get that much incentive out of a patent. It is an exception if you work independent or self employed. Also, you can negotiate with university to have keep the intellectual property of your invention or discoveries.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: In Germany, the ["VG Wort"](http://www.vgwort.de) collects copyright fees put on copy machines, electronic library copies, etc., and redistributes these fees to authors.
Authors of research papers published in print can give note about their publications to the VG Wort and will then participate in the distribution of these fees. The calculation of what each author gets depends on the length of the articles and the number of authors, and in my experience one should expect a one-time payment of about 20 to 40 Euro per journal article.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Certainly Yes. There are two ways of earning money from publication:
1. Indirect as @username_2 explains by improving your visibility and getting higher chance of being recruited in higher quality institute with higher payment.
2. Direct: In many academic or even industrial institutes, researchers are being paid and are bound to perform research and publish paper in certain journals or conferences (mostly journal). If they fail, either they will be fired or will be punished. In order to avoid such experience, many are hiddenly searching for an opportunity to buy a paper in high price. Moreover, there are some universities that pay incentive to publish in journals (like US$ 2000) for each paper published. For instance, I know several people at such universities that need to improve their world ranking via publication and hence pay good money to publish in high-quality journals. But, selling or buying paper is considered unethical because we believe research is something we cannot buy. If we can buy research, it will not be research and will be a project.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_7: Yes. Through thesis or reasearch. For example the nasa discovers a new planet. Then after that some publishing companies will buy that article regarding that and it will spread throughout the world. Sorry for the bad english
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_8: Certain types of papers can be supported by journals. These can include invited review articles, where the journal specifically seeks out the author to publish something on their field of expertise. The payments are usually minimal relative to the work required - on the order of US$300-500 - and are sometimes referred to as an "honorarium."
The key element here is that this money is paid because the journal specifically wants a paper from that author - presumably because they expect the work to be prestigious or highly cited.
This is by no means universal, but it has happened to me.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/03/18 | 1,784 | 7,495 | <issue_start>username_0: I am a graduate student studying Education. I am currently working on my thesis, am about half-done with this and I expect to finish in one year. For the research, I am visiting classrooms at various public schools.
Recently, one such public school asked that, in exchange for letting me visit, I share my advice about teaching. Since they welcomed me their classroom, I did not see much of a problem with this and did not think that would present any problems. I prepared an outline for a 90-minute discussion covering some areas, drawing somewhat on my findings related to my research. After sending this off to them before the lecture, I found they are quite disappointed and want far more from me, essentially they want the very core of my thesis.
* Is it acceptable practice for graduate students to be guarding of their work? Is this common enough that I can cite it as a reason for wanting to avoid sharing the details?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Is it acceptable practice for graduate students to be guarding of their work?
>
>
>
Without saying **acceptable to whom** it should be, you won't get any good answer. Is that acceptable to you? Is it acceptable to your adviser? Is such a behaviour acceptable in the context of your "contract" with the subject of your research, namely the school you speak about?
>
> Is this common enough that I can cite it as a reason for wanting to avoid sharing the details?
>
>
>
This would be perhaps a bit field-specific, but as far as I can say, this is not a common practice, nor I would accept it if somebody would use it as an argument.
In my opinion, this stance is very much against the purpose of publicly-funded research.
First of all, realize, doing research has a highly ideal objective: generate, advance and maintain knowledge of humankind. If this does not appeal to you, then ask yourself who pays for your research. If it is general public, i.e., taxpayers of the country you reside in, then they deserve to see your results upon request. If it is so, that includes the officials of the school in question. There is your answer.
Secondly, what is the benefit of you keeping the results private? Are you worried about being scooped? On that, see [elsewhere on this site](https://academia.stackexchange.com/search?q=scoop) and build an opinion for yourself whether that is a real threat.
Finally, as a graduate student, you should be rather happy that somebody is interested in your research. Most of your peers do not get that kind of attention at all.
**To sum up:** Unless you are paid from a resource which contractually forbids you to disclose your research results, there is no "objective" reason to refuse sharing your results. It will of course remain your freedom not to share them, but in that case you must stand up to your decision and attribute the refusal to your own personal decision without hiding yourself behind some "common practice". Take responsibility for your decisions!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: The one valid point I can see here(\*) for not sharing the state of the thesis:
>
> For the research, I am visiting classrooms at various public schools.
>
>
>
**You should not share the preliminary details of your thesis if this could affect the outcome of your study.**
As I understood the question, the school (or some teachers or students) may be the *subjects you study*, so they should be as little influenced by you as possible (that is, don't tell them that they are in the placebo group).
(\*) things would be different e.g. if you were in an engineering field and working towards a patent
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm actually a bit surprised by the harsh comments here. I do come from Computer Science, so the situation might be a bit different.
But still, I know more than one student with advisers that *explicitly prohibited presenting ongoing **unpublished** work*. Sometimes it is a bit more relaxed (e.g. it is okay to present it to the people in your team or lab), but in general, **it is not uncommon *in my area***. The explanation I got once is that if a senior researcher with a lot of resources recognized an idea as potentially good and gives it to multiple junior students to work on, he can develop the idea faster than the "original idea holders" (i.e. 1 PhD student + his/her adviser).
On the other hand, I personally believe that the **whole point of research is to expand and share knowledge**, so I frown upon being too protective of one's work. Also, putting a date on your presentation, and making it available online, diminishes the chances of stealing.
That being said, I think offering a 90-minute presentation, with discussion, based at least partially on your work, is a very nice offer. The only reason I can think of why they would not be pleased is that they expected a talk on some specific topic.
Some suggestions about what you could do as an alternative:
* prepare an in-depth exhaustive talk about *just one problem/theory* from your thesis, preferably something already published in an article
* prepare a talk about *motivation* for your theories, problems that dictated the research direction and reserve some time for a *discussion session*, where you do offer your own theories as solutions, but other attendees are expected to participate as well.
* offer to come back after finishing your thesis, and presenting everything in-depth (possibly over several sessions) when all the work is finished, published and peer reviewed (see both my points below)
This should give you enough flexibility to avoid talking about any sensitive areas.
Also, some "guarding" explanations that seem quite reasonable to me:
* a PhD thesis is a 3+ year long effort, often a compilation of many works and ideas by the author. Even though it is centered around one subject, it probably deals with several issues, approaches, angles...
All in all, it is *a lot of material*. Explaining everything is something what is expected at a PhD defense: and even then, in that 1+ hour talk, some students can't cover all their work.
Thus, explaining that presenting everything simply requires **too much time**, and offering the school to **choose a issue you deal with that is of particular interest**, does not seem bad or disrespectful or overly protective.
* if you are against disclosing details of your ongoing work, you should be able to come up with some legitimate reasons. If the work is ongoing *and unpublished*, you can argue that you do not want to present **ideas that did not go through peer-review process**.
Peer-review is the process that (should) ensure excellence and relevance of published research. Judging the relevance and correctness of your own work is something *not left to the author*, and it *should be fine if you do not want to present something in detail that is not yet accepted by academic community*.
But, even in this case, and after such an explanation, offering to include some of this work **as a smaller part** of your presentation (e.g. ideas for future work, or discussion), with a **beforehand explanation** that those are just **discussable, underdeveloped ideas** and should be treated as such.
Bottom line is, *it is **not** acceptable to guard your research just because others do it*. But, if you look at **why** others do it and understand their reasons, you can decide whether that reasoning applies to you and your work.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer] |
2013/03/18 | 467 | 2,059 | <issue_start>username_0: I have heard that it is 'bad' to continue to publish with your adviser after you get your PhD. Or is this something that is debated in the academic community?
In my situation, after my PhD, I can get a job in industry, but I am allowed time (half a day a week) to continue my research at my local university. This allows me to continue researching something that I am interested in, rather than researching something that someone else is interested in.
I can understand that every publication should not be between myself and my adviser. And I can understand that I should show that I am an independent researcher. But does that mean I should stop publishing with my (ex-)adviser?<issue_comment>username_1: By continuing to publish with your advisor, you are not showing that you are an independent researcher. People will always question whether it is possibly your advisor that is doing the work, coming up with the ideas, guiding the research plan, and simply by looking at your publication record, there is no evidence that this is not the case.
If on the other hand, you publish papers alone or with different coauthors, and you have a clear research plan, independent of your advisors, then you will start to demonstrate your independence.
But it is okay to continue publishing with your advisor – I still do – as long as your record says **I am independent**.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There's nothing “wrong” with continuing to publish with your (ex-)adviser. You have correctly identified the issue to avoid: **after getting your PhD, the next step in your career is to establish yourself as an independent researcher.** Thus, of course: *depending on the context,* publishing with your adviser might send the wrong signal!
So, you should continue to publish with her, but you should make sure that it's not 100% of your research (and publications). Another point that makes a big difference is if you can, maybe now or maybe after some time, take the lead in that collaboration.
Upvotes: 5 |
2013/03/18 | 591 | 2,463 | <issue_start>username_0: I am a new assistant professor in my department. While all faculty members have been welcoming so far to me, I find there are two or three distinct groups or *coteries* within the department. The coteries are distinct and comprise set of people who wouldn't mingle with people from another coterie. It is a bit awkward for me because there are even senior professors in different sets, and I want to be affable with everyone in my department.
How do I handle this sense of discomfort? Should I talk with the Chair? But the sectoring is pretty well-known and prevalent for a long time and there is little the Chair can do about it (or so I think!)
How do academic departments handle this situation of clash of egos usually? I am sure mine is not the only place where this clash is seen.<issue_comment>username_1: The best advice anyone can give you, in my opinion, is: **Don't get involved**.
You're entering a new environment and it's in your best interests to just get along with everybody, as you already suggest you are trying.
If the issue pops up in any discussions, just avoid it. The last thing you want to do is get caught-up in a territorial dispute of which you probably don't want to know the origins, and that serves no purpose to anybody, least of all to you.
I would only advise discussing things with the Chair if these divisions start negatively affecting your work, and only discuss it in terms of how it affects your work. As you've pointed out yourself, chances are he/she can't do anything about it, or worse, he/she may be involved.
Things like this can happen even in the best departments, and the best thing that can happen in such a case is that new staff bridge whatever divide may be there by ignoring it completely.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: With respect to coteries there is no difference between a university department and any workplace, corporate board, political party, sporting team, primary school playground, etc...
Coteries are just a fact of life everywhere one goes...
At some point in time you will start collaborating with people in your department on research in which you have a shared interest. Hence, by default you will eventually drift into one of the coteries, otherwise you'll be a loner in the department...
So, you'll have to eventually choose one of them, and to be a successful academic the correct choice should be based on shared research interests.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/03/19 | 645 | 2,736 | <issue_start>username_0: I require photocopies of "Archival Manuscript/Mixed Formats" from the Library of Congress. They have a collection from one author which has otherwise unpublished technical documents that are very relevant to my area of expertise. Judging by the indicies, there are at least 20 boxes (out of 106) that are relevant. None of these are digitized and most are very technical documents with information not seen by people in my field.
I'm not sure the best way to attack this problem because travelling there is far from where I live now (6 hrs by plane) and the librarian I spoke on the phone with didn't think that our library could request it. LoC seems very restrictive about working with their material, that is they won't let me personally go the stacks and browse the boxes, and they say they only allow 5 books to be reviewed at a time.
Are there any tips or alternative ways to get the materials? Our research team is rather large for an academic team, so would it be worthwhile to ask a Congressperson to request it on our behalf? Just looking for input.<issue_comment>username_1: The best advice anyone can give you, in my opinion, is: **Don't get involved**.
You're entering a new environment and it's in your best interests to just get along with everybody, as you already suggest you are trying.
If the issue pops up in any discussions, just avoid it. The last thing you want to do is get caught-up in a territorial dispute of which you probably don't want to know the origins, and that serves no purpose to anybody, least of all to you.
I would only advise discussing things with the Chair if these divisions start negatively affecting your work, and only discuss it in terms of how it affects your work. As you've pointed out yourself, chances are he/she can't do anything about it, or worse, he/she may be involved.
Things like this can happen even in the best departments, and the best thing that can happen in such a case is that new staff bridge whatever divide may be there by ignoring it completely.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: With respect to coteries there is no difference between a university department and any workplace, corporate board, political party, sporting team, primary school playground, etc...
Coteries are just a fact of life everywhere one goes...
At some point in time you will start collaborating with people in your department on research in which you have a shared interest. Hence, by default you will eventually drift into one of the coteries, otherwise you'll be a loner in the department...
So, you'll have to eventually choose one of them, and to be a successful academic the correct choice should be based on shared research interests.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/03/19 | 981 | 4,234 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm working on my Computer Science thesis. I have a two solution proposals until this moment, and I've been wondering about the following:
Sometimes **you know** that if you implement it correctly, it **will** work (eg. when building a website or a desktop app for some trivial purpose, etc), but some other times you try to solve your problem with some specific solution proposal. A few examples:
* I will do some preprocessing, I'll represent the documents that way and use this metric, and then I'll apply this clustering algorithm. Theoretically, it **should** work.
* I will use *this* computer vision technique for breaking the captchas, and then... In theory, it **should** work.
but when you implement it, you don't get the expected results (eg. bad text classification in the corpus you're using, low-rate successfuly captchas solved, etc.)
In those cases, **is it a valid work?** I mean, is it good to publish your work, saying that **your solution proposal doesn't seem to be good when solving some specific problem**?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm not sure what you mean by "theoretically it should work". The examples you refer to are cases where you're positing some kind of model for the data. That the experiments failed suggests that the implied model is wrong. The question then is: what is a good model, and what went wrong with the model you tried.
It's that kind of investigation that will set you on the path to a paper.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> In those cases, is it a valid work? I mean, is it good to publish your work, saying that your solution proposal doesn't seem to be good when solving some specific problem?
>
>
>
At least two advice:
1. Don't worry
2. Don't succumb to the urge to publish immediately
There is always a venue to report about your work, however little significance it bears. Workshops collocated with conferences are places where you can honestly report your work, including dead ends.
I recognize a more important thing going on here. You embarked on a research, from what you wrote, it seems you are convinced that the problem is sound and worth pursuing, but so far performed an experiment in the field only to find out you reinvented a wheel, or the thing is not good enough. One way of seeing what happened is that it is a kind of a failure. That's what you seem to suggest. Another optics applicable on your situation is that you embarked on something worthwhile, but since it is not an easy problem, the first approach did not yield a result. There are two observation to make here:
1. your problem is probably a good one. Easy problems, or non-problems yield a result usually very quickly (any approach is good enough);
2. you are on the right track to discover something. Eventually. Realize that the path from nowhere to the bleeding edge of human knowledge (state of the art) is never an easy one. You started and did not arrive to the edge yet. Expect few more experiments of "reinventing a wheel" flavour. After a while you'll get to the boundary and since you walked the path the hard way, you will have all your weapons sharp and enough insight to push the boundary. That's the positive message about your situation.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Not every solution method is a valid approach for solving every problem. When you believe you have a tool that is universal, then you start running into the "hammer complex": when all you have is a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail, even if it's actually a screw.
What I mean by this is that this is a reasonable finding. Acknowledging the benefits and disadvantages of your strategy is an important part of open science. It makes it easier for others to follow on, adapt, and adopt your work. If you declare a problem "solved," it makes it much more difficult for others (including yourself) to continue to work in the same "problem space."
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: **Getting unexpected results is not problematic**, it happens more times than you think. Note that with these test results you have achieved something, even if different from what you expected, but it is something that may be relevant to your research.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/19 | 1,054 | 4,614 | <issue_start>username_0: I have recently started my PhD studies. My advisor, as member of a program committee, has delegated a the review of a conference paper to me. This is my second peer review.
Since I have not done research in the area of this paper, I find it very hard to review. Not only does it require much effort for me to grasp the content. First and foremost, I do not think that being able to understand the content of a paper is sufficient for reviewing it. Ideally, reviewing would mean *judging* the paper for its scientific merit as a peer, considering content, presentation, relevance and relation to other work in the area. Especially the latter aspects I feel unable to judge.
I consider declining to review, but this seems like a drastic step with conflict potential. Certainly, there is an incentive to formally complete the assignment and write a review of little value to the authors, the venue and the scientific community in general. Would it be acceptable or prudent to decline?<issue_comment>username_1: **Yes**. It is much better to decline as soon as you realise you're not up to the review, than to write a useless review.
Normally, you first get an abstract based on which you accept or decline. If you accept, the editor may be annoyed if you decline based on seeing the manuscript, but sometimes it's inevitable; only so much can be judged from the abstract. If you do decline, however, you should let the editor know as soon as possible.
I recently read a publicly reviewed paper where both reviews clearly did not really understand the topic, but still handed in a review. To me it was quite clear that the paper needed a statistician, which neither of the reviewers were. One reviewer didn't get much further than pointing out that the introduction was too long, with not a single comment on 10 pages of detailed description of advanced statistical methods. When reading the reviews, I found it a bit embarrassing that the peer review was so clearly insufficient, and the paper virtually got published without proper peer review.
I know someone who accepted his very first paper review, only to discover when he received the manuscript that it had *130 pages*. He returned it to the editor.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Since your advisor assigned the paper to you, I suspect that your advisor believed that you were either able to do the review, or capable of getting the information you need to do the review, or simply wanted a second opinion.
It's rather normal for advisors to assign to their students papers they get from being on committees. A conscientious advisor will also review the paper by himself/herself though and double-check the student's work, as well as providing feedback to the student about how to write good reviews.
Thus, in your case, your review may not actually go back to the authors - your advisor would take your review and his/her own review and integrate them (or write a new one). In that case, I would do your best to review the paper and then speak with your advisor about how to improve.
If however you still feel extremely uncomfortable about reviewing the paper, I would speak with your advisor about it. Your advisor may have some advice about where to look or what to consider; alternatively you might get a different paper as well.
(Note: If you were reviewing as a PC member or as a journal reviewer, I would instead agree with username_1 above and decline the review.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: In addition to username_1's answer (which I completely agree with), if you are in the situation where it would be hard to decline (conferences sometimes have very short deadlines), you might review this paper as a "non-expert".
It's indeed quite common (at least in Computer Science) that the review should indicate both the score (i.e., reject/accept) and the confidence of the reviewer. If you indicate a low confidence score, then your decision has a lower weight than those with higher confidence. In that case, you can review the paper from a more global point of view (like any non-specialist reader would see the paper): is the problem well explained, does the solution seem consistent with the problem description, is the language correct, etc.
Ideally, it would be better to decline the review, but if the paper is also reviewed by two or more experts, then your review could bring a good non-expert vision. If the paper is reviewed only by non-experts, then either the paper is off-topic, and it's the author's problem, or the PC chair didn't do the job correctly.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer] |
2013/03/19 | 2,107 | 8,545 | <issue_start>username_0: I am about to become a Ph.D student in mathematics. I am having some doubts about where I should do my Ph.D and I would appreciate some advice, or anything really.
1. I could do research with a very competent professor that is internationally well-known and is also very interested in me succeeding, having helped me with much already. He is also a really kind person. The area he is working in is one of the most fascinating areas in all of mathematics to me. However, it is in a different city from where I live now. As I live now, I have a really good apartment and a girlfriend too who lives here. She would be OK if I moved, although a bit sad. I am afraid of moving to a new city, and more than that, also somewhat scared that if I am not as good as my advisor belives me to be, it will all go terribly wrong.
2. I could do research where I live. However, the advisors are not as competent as he is, nor as interested in me (so far, I am not their student yet). Further, the areas are not as fascinating (although very fascinating!). I could continue with living my life as of now.
So, what should I think about regarding these choices when it comes to making a future career? I am a bit vague here, since I want general advice to think about.<issue_comment>username_1: I can't make a definitive recommendation one way or the other here. What I can tell you is that you need to consider the following:
* **Don't change jobs to get away from your present situation.** Running and hiding somewhere else is neither productive nor psychologically healthy. (In other words, make sure you are *going to* another opportunity, not *walking away* from a situation—although it doesn't sound like that this is an issue here.)
* **Is the cost of what you're leaving behind worth what you're gaining?** You seem to like living where you are. Is the opportunity for you to work with the big-name advisor important enough for you to give that up?
* **Before beginning a PhD, make sure that it's something you *really* want to do.** Is the project you will be working on something that fascinates you enough that, even if your work doesn't go well for a long time, you'd still want to go in day after day to get things back on track?
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You mention your "future career", and the answer to your question also depends on how you consider your career *after* your PhD. If you don't want to stay in Academia, and go for instance working in a bank or in some international organisation, then it's likely that the content of your PhD or the quality of your advisor does not really matter. In that case, if you think you can reasonably enjoy working where you currently live, it might not be worth changing location.
On the other hand, if you want to stay in Academia, then it's very likely that you will keep facing the problem you're facing now. Perhaps you'll be lucky, and the best PhD topic will be in the place you are, and then the best Postodc, and then the best Assistant Prof. position, and then the best Prof. position ... but it's quite likely that you might need to move, at least if you want to get the best position. I know few academics who work in the same place where they've done their graduate studies. I'm not saying it's impossible, but if you want the best opportunities, you might need to consider, at some point in your career, to move across the world.
There is no easy answer, and it's entirely up to you, but if you don't have a clear priority yet between going for what you might think is the best work opportunity for you and your personal/private life, you might not enjoy Academia ... (this is of course a pessimistic view, and plenty of academics have a remarkable career and a great personal life! but I'd rather point out the negative aspects so that you won't be disappointed later).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It's hard for anyone to tell you what to do. Ultimately your decision comes from within your own blend of views, feelings, and priorities.
But there are common patterns of thought that we've all encountered, and it helps to understand how others have dealt with them.
**Fear of change.**
This is a very natural feeling to have. Whenever you're thinking of moving out of a comfort zone into a new situation, it's easy to focus on the fear of the unknown, because there's nothing else to focus on. In your case, there's fear of the move to a new city, and fear of how this will affect your relationships.
One way of addressing this is to try and find out more about the new situation and how the change will affect you.
* where will you live ?
* what will your work schedule be like ?
* what will your office look like ?
* how will you and your girlfriend manage the distance in the relationship ?
and so on. Right now, your ability to make a decision is clouded by uncertainty. Thinking concretely about these questions will help make the new scenario more real, and you'll be in a better position to evaluate whether the move is worth it or not.
**Imposter syndrome**
The other fear you've expressed is that "your advisor will discover that you're not as smart as you/they thought". This feeling is called the I[mposter Syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome) and is typically associated with academics or those preparing for advanced study. Ironically, your feelings of inadequacy might qualify you already !
But the imposter syndrome is just that: it's a psychological filter that's caused by a focus on negatives and a dismissal of positives. It sounds like your advisor-to-be is very supportive and wants you to succeed. While it's possible that you might find a Ph.D is not for you, it's also entirely possible that you'll do very well for yourself. What will make the difference is not some fate stamped on your head the day you were born, but the work you do, the effort you put in, lots of luck, and many things that are beyond your control.
Here again, getting more information can help - if you haven't already done this, maybe you can talk with the prospective advisor and map out what the first year or so of your Ph.D might look like.
Ultimately whether or not you choose to move depends on many factors, and there's no wrong answer here. But it's helpful to recognize where some of the thoughts you express might be coming from.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: So I'm just some random stranger on the internet, but you asked for advice, so here it is. Given only the information in your post, I think you have a difficult choice ahead of you:
**Move or propose.**
From a strictly professional standpoint, you make a *very* strong argument for moving. Having a more competent and more supportive advisor, and working in a field that excites you more, will have a *tremendous* impact on your several-decades-long mathematics career. As Dan C [writes](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/3091/65) [elsewhere](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/2712/65), if you want to do math for a living, you should enroll in the strongest PhD program you can. (I'm assuming here that you actually *want* a career in mathematics; otherwise, getting a PhD in mathematics is kind of stupid.)
From a personal standpoint, you make a much weaker case for staying put. It's just another city; you'll be fine. You can always find another apartment. Do not listen to the Impostor Syndrome; *everyone* is afraid that they're not good enough. Your girlfriend is OK with your moving. There's some possibility that your current relationship won't survive the move, but the fact that you call her your *girlfriend*, and not your *wife* or even *fiancée*, suggests that you don't really think of the relationship as permanent anyway.
Yeah, I know, that's harsh. And maybe I'm totally off-base. Maybe your current relationship really *is* more important to you than the rest of your professional life. If that's true, tell her so.
Who knows? Maybe you can do both!
But whatever you decide, **don't base your decision on fear**. Instead, ask yourself: What do you really want? What really matters to you? Fear of change and Impostor Syndrome are completely natural, and *far* more common than most people think, but they're just voices in your head. Letting them control your decisions is not healthy. You have people in your life who believe in you, who support you, who want you to succeed and be happy, and who know you far better than Some Random Stranger on the Internet—**listen to them!**
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/03/20 | 1,683 | 6,512 | <issue_start>username_0: Since reviewers don't check the experimental results by trying to reproduce the experiment, is it possible for someone to submit a paper which basically says "Method X was proposed in paper Y and according to them it improved performance by 15% as compared to baseline. However when we tried it, it didn't work so well (only 2% improvement). Hence we propose its modification which actually achieves 14% improvement as compared to baseline on the same train/test data."?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes. To improve on others findings is a common situation. The fact that the first paper overstated performance may not necessarily be wrong from th epoint of their experimental setup but they may have missed some component that negatively affected their experiment. I would say that this reflects `incremental improveents` in the development of ideas in science. As someone once said: "If I knew what I was doing, it wouldn't be science".
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: 1. Make sure the **difference** comes from the experimentation **not from the
adopted technique/method**.
2. Make sure you have the **same settings** as the other paper. Sometimes
people make assumptions for the sake of simplicity in
experimentations. For example, I remember I did experimentation
assuming acyclic graph exists.
3. Do you have some kind of **randomness** (i.e. generating random
instances of the problem)? If yes, revise
its output. Sometimes you examine easy instances while others base
their experimentations on hard instances of the problem.
4. In some areas, there are **benchmarks** and robust solvers for particular
problems/structures. If your field have benchmarks, try to compare your method against it.
Either way, I am sure you have important parameters to control the experimentation (i.e. number of variables..etc). check their role.
Most importantly, you need to **theoretically** justify why your method will save 14% while other method saves only 2% in practice.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Some fields deal with exact numbers in which case you don't have a contradiction, you have identified an error. When you are dealing with inexact numbers that have "measurement error", you need to be careful. As much as I dislike statistics, they can be, and really are, your friend when dealing with measurement error.
You say Paper Y found that Method X was 15% better than baseline. Did they do a statistical comparison to see if Method X was better than baseline, or did they calculate confidence intervals and really say that it was 15%+/-0.000001 better than baseline? Is your 2% difference from baseline statistically reliable? Is your 2% difference from baseline statistically different from 15%? Then we have your statements about the modified methods. Is the 14% statistically reliably different from the 2% improvement you saw?
If there is measurement error then all you can say is that it is extremely unlikely that your implementation of their method is the same. This doesn't really contradict them, and it definitely doesn't say they are wrong.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: JeffE commented:
>
> It's obvious that it should happen at least 5% of the time, but my impression is that it happens a **LOT** more often than that.
>
>
>
The 5% aren't all that obvious to me: if I understood correctly, the 5% are the (in)famous p-value.
That is, of every 100 false null-hypothesis, 5 are rejected ("we found something") by mechanically rejecting H0 when the p-value indicates that the probability of observing such or more extreme results as we got reaches 5%.
```
| what the paper does |
| reject H0 not reject H0 | sum
------------------------+---------------------------+------
truth | null hypotesis | 5 95 | 100
v alternative h. | ? ? | ?
------------------------+---------------------------+------
sum | ? ? |
```
The number of contradicted papers, however, should depend on the number of falsely accepted hypotheses among all *accepted* hypotheses (whether true or not). The problem is, we'd need to know the number of correctly accepted alternative hypotheses to calculate which percentage should lead to contradictions.
This we don't know, but of course it depends on the number of true alternative hypotheses among all hypotheses, which we may call the "prevalence of good ideas".
If we stay in analogy to medical terms, the percentage of contradicted papers should be (1 - predictive value of rejected null-hypotheses). And this will be much larger than 5% if lots of "bad" ideas are tested.
Literature:
* [<NAME>.: Why most published research findings are false. PLoS medicine, 2005, 2, e124](http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124)
* [Der Schein der Weisen](http://www.amazon.de/Der-Schein-Weisen-Fehlurteile-t%C3%A4glichen/dp/3499614502) [popular science; in German]
---
Here are two comments from pharmaceutical companies reporting on the issue for (mostly oncological) drug development:
* [<NAME>. and <NAME>. and <NAME>. Believe it or not: how much can we rely on published data on potential drug targets? Nat Rev Drug Discov, 2011, 10, 712](http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrd3439-c1)
Only for about 1/5th (14/67) of the projects, the reports from literature could be reproduced, of which 1 was reproduced directly, 12 after some kind of adaption.
* [<NAME>. and <NAME>. Drug development: Raise standards for preclinical cancer research. Nature, 2012, 483, 531-533](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v483/n7391/full/483531a.html)
Confirmed findings from 6 out of 53 "landmark" papers. The authors also report how often the studies got cited: no difference between the studies they could not confirm and the confirmed ones (huge spread, if there's a difference, non-reproduced articles got cited more often).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: It is completely commonplace, particularly in finance publications, to fabricate results.
A previous thesis adviser of mine actively encouraged not reporting results which did not support the story he was trying to tell, and to completely change test design and the statistical tests performed when it was possible to get results which did support the story.
It should come as no surprise that papers report results which contradict each other.
Upvotes: -1 |
2013/03/20 | 6,197 | 25,388 | <issue_start>username_0: Is it achievable to perform a doctorate while working in a private company (not in college) full time (8 hours per day, 5 days per week)? Or is it too much work or stress?<issue_comment>username_1: The universities that I am familiar with in the US and UK have regulations about the number of hours that can be worked for full time students. These rules would prevent you from being both a full time PhD student and having a full time job.
For example, the [UPenn Psychology policy](https://psychology.sas.upenn.edu/graduate/manual) states:
>
> The Department expects full time effort in return for its support during the five years of the program. Thus, students may not engage in outside employment while on departmental support.
>
>
>
and the [MIT policy](https://odge.mit.edu/gpp/assistance/employment/conflict-of-interest-commitment/) states:
>
> The student interested in working part time off campus, and who is a US citizen or permanent resident, should first speak to his or her research advisor about the nature of the proposed work. The advisor must be assured that the work will not compromise the time that the student is expected to devote to research at MIT, and that the outside work does not compromise or infringe upon patent or intellectual property rights related to the student’s MIT research. The student also must ensure that the outside work does not violate any departmental policy.
>
>
>
There are many universities that take part time PhD students and expect them to be working full time. So yes, one can get a PhD while working full time, but as for the second part of the question
>
> It can be too much work, stress, etc.?
>
>
>
Not only can it be, it likely will be. This is equally true for both full time students without family commitments and part time students with other work and family commitments.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: **Virtually Impossible**.
Doing a PhD is a full-time job that requires vast amounts of commitment in terms of mental effort and time. If the PhD research comes in number two position, then the results will never be very good. Also, not being available in the department to interact with your colleagues and supervisor will severely reduce the benefits you gain from the experience. Even if you finished the PhD, it may not be really worth anything, because you won't have been able to fully commit to doing it well.
On the other hand, you may have staggering genius and be ridiculously productive and have a fountain of energy, and then it should be doable.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: Each situation is different, and it might be hard to generalise, but roughly speaking, you can see a PhD thesis as requiring about 3-4 years working full time. For some people it might be a bit less, for others a bit more, but that's a good average. In addition, a PhD includes of course "technical" work, but also "academic training", such as learning how to write a paper/thesis, presenting papers at conferences, supervising students, etc.
Now, two cases are possible: either you already have some technical material from past work (e.g., you've been working 20 years in industry), in which case you have already completed some of the 3-4 years, and you mostly need to focus on how to output your work; or you don't, in which case, you still need to complete all of the work.
I've known some people in the first case, and they managed to do a PhD while working full-time. They would usually come in half a day per week (in agreement with their company), and work at home in the evening. In the second case, it seems unrealistic to do both a full time job and a full time PhD. In some fields, you might be able to do a PhD over 7, 8 or even more years (I've heard about someone in history who wrote his PhD in 7 years, while working full time as a school teacher in the mean time), but it might not be the case everywhere.
In addition to Daniel's answer, and including Sylvain's comment, I'd add that some French universities forbid starting a PhD without having some source of income, either through some funding or through a full-time job. Most funding forbid to have a full time job on the side, and if your full-time job is completely unrelated to your PhD topic, then you might have the green light from the administration, but not from the academic institution in charge of the PhD programs.
EDIT: I somehow forgot to mention that the indicated amount time in my answer concerns *good* PhD, and by good, I mean a PhD that will allow you to get a job in academia afterwards, which mean not only getting the degree, but also getting good publications, good collaborations, good reference letters, etc. If you only care about the title, then you might find some universities happy to make you pay tuition fees to deliver you a diploma after a few years. If you want to go to academia later, then you need to be a *junior researcher* for a few years, in order to demonstrate that you might be worth hiring as a *confirmed researched*, and then later as a *senior researcher*.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: The big question here is what you mean by "completing a PhD". At one extreme, there's completing a minimal PhD: choosing the least demanding school that offers a PhD in your field, finding a flexible advisor, and doing only what is absolutely required to get the degree. This could be worth doing in certain circumstances: to develop greater expertise in a personal interest, or for certain sorts of career benefits. (For example, in the U.S. high school teachers with doctorates often receive extra pay, but they are not expected to do any research or really make use of the degree, so there is no need to write an outstanding dissertation.) Completing a minimal PhD can certainly be done while working full time in an unrelated job, if you are very diligent. That's a big if, though. The danger of working full time is that you won't make progress without constant effort. If you slack off or become distracted from your dissertation, nobody will complain since it's not your real job, and you can easily let months or years go by with very little progress. This is a common pattern, with an enthusiastic start that gradually trails off and never actually leads to a completed dissertation.
At the other extreme, you might aim to become a well-known researcher and have an academic career at a top university or industrial research lab. This requires doing far more than the minimal requirements, which is almost impossible while spending 40 hours per week on something else, since you'll be competing against people who are similarly talented and hard working but have an extra 2000 hours per year. It's possible in principle, if you are really exceptional, but most people will just find it too difficult to catch up. For example, imagine a competitor who spends 60 hours per week for 5 years on a PhD. If you can spend only 20 hours after work, it will take you 15 years to put in the same number of hours. Even if you do this, you won't really be in as good a position, since many of your hours will have been spent 10-15 years ago and won't reflect recent research trends. The only way to catch up is to work harder or more efficiently than your competition, and that's difficult if you are competing against the smartest, most diligent people in your field.
Most paths lie somewhere between these extremes, but generally closer to the second case (since all academic or research jobs are very competitive). I would not recommend holding a full-time job while working on a PhD unless you have very modest goals for what you intend to do with the PhD.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: I am doing that right now. I have a full time job and am working on a PhD in Computer Science. It is definitely possible, but has been the hardest experience of my life. I am past the hardest part and am wrapping up my first publication. I've also been at it for 3 years (already had my masters degree), so it's taken me much longer to get to this point than it would be for a full time student.
It has been extremely stressful and you can kiss your life outside of work+school goodbye. You will also need to be very good with time management and be aware that over the course of several years, there will be life events that pull you away from school.
When I was deciding whether or not to do it, I vastly underestimated the amount of time and energy required. I'm very glad I stuck with it so far, but I have to say, if I had an accurate picture of the workload I probably would have opted against it.
You need a huge amount of dedication to the goal in order to pull this off. If you have only a casual interest in the degree, then you will probably fail. I think I remember somewhere that the graduation rate for PhD's is around 50/50. Add a full time job on that and the odds are against you. But it is absolutely possible to overcome that with enough effort.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: I have done it and do not recommend it. While I did not require an extension of the time required, working a full-time job will generally prevent you from travelling to conferences and from establishing contacts essential for success. You are more likely to end up in a backwater than a vital research area. You become less identified with your research than with your work, which in my case is involves specializations often considered necessary within academia and which are remunerated well outside of academia, but which have low academic value themselves. It has been a struggle changing this perceived identification--I might as well attempt to retrain Pavlov's dogs.
Consider yourself fortunate to have access to academia.stackexchange.com. My relatives were unaware of the commitments involved and provided well-meaning but uninformed advice ("you're smart enough"), not recognizing that scheduling has to be considered independently of ability, effort and experience [see <NAME>, <NAME> and <NAME>. [Don't Spread Yourself Too Thin: The Impact of Task Juggling on Workers' Speed of Job Completion](http://www.nber.org/papers/w16502) NBER Working Paper No. 16502]. Employers often don't recognize or choose not to recognize the independence of these factors either, so I cannot blame my relatives for bad advice. Most of all I blame myself. I am not proud of the outcome. I had published a paper in the beginning in graduate school, but left the field. It was a mistake not to build on early successes, but the distractions of full-time work made it difficult to absorb the right lessons at the right time.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: During the first year of my doctoral studies I had no departmental support and kept myself indoors and fed by working about 2.5 part-time jobs.
Put bluntly that situation was not sustainable: it was physically wearing me down notwithstanding that I did *nothing* but work, study, eat and sleep.
Moreover, later in my studies I needed to devote *more* time to school than I did that first year. Perhaps there are exceptional individuals that could manage it, but if you are merely smart and productive you should not count on managing.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: That heavily depends on your PhD mode, if you have to attend classes it would almost impossible, if your PhD just a research then that will be between you and your supervisor unless the university is hiring you as a full-time researcher, I am working on my M.Sc. the first year I had to attend classes and it was impossible to find job, even my part-time job at the time was hard to handle, however, once I've started my research phase recently, I could find a full-time job which I'm starting tomorrow.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: **That's possible in some fields, impossible in others**
I am in TCS, and I know of several high school teachers who obtained a PhD in TCS after a few years. Basically, they were able to work 1 full day on week-end for their research + a few hours during the week. Of course they needed more than 3 years to graduate, but this is possible.
My wife is in history/archeology, and many (more than half of them) PhD students work full-time in library or other places since there are very few fundings. We have friends who graduated after 10 years. In this field it is difficult for those who work full-time in a place unrelated to their studies since access to old sources is needed for doing research. Most of these students took their holidays to go to libraries/museums/field archeology places in foreign countries.
I have relatives in plant biology and in animal biology. It is impossible to complete a PhD in these fields without working full time in a lab. Indeed, most of the time is spent in doing heavy experiments, with living things, which means being available when needed.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: I was able to complete my PhD while working full time as a consultant. Based on that experience ...
1. Have a mentor that's done it, preferably one at the school you're thinking about attending. A lot of the 'for profits' have very interesting models for keeping students on track. For me, it was someone who remains an important mentor in my life. Prior to applying, I spoke with her and she mentioned she earned her PhD while working full time as a consultant and then provided some sound advice and encouragement.
2. Some programs do a better job then others at scheduling graduate level courses so they don't conflict with normal working hours. You might have better luck with a metropolitan university or one that accommodates non-traditional learners.
3. There is a trade off related to there only being 24 hours in a day. The university experience includes many talks and presentations that enrich all scholars, whether or not the scholarship being presented relates to your area of expertise. The more flexibility you can find in your work schedule to take advantage of these unique opportunities the better you'll be for it.
4. Plan 2-3 hours out of class for every hour in class except during final project time. Then, plan lots more. Also, the academic calendar and many industry calendars are tied in subtle manners. The client wanting a project completed before everyone goes on varying summer breaks means extra work during final project time for classes.
5. Have a fairly good idea of what you want to study and/or who you would like to study with sooner rather then later. Find out which professors are able to graduate their students in a timely manner. A lot of time can be spent trying to figure out what you want to write about, and that is time that could be spent either writing or working towards the end goal of graduation with PhD and job still intact.
6. Have a detailed plan/schedule for your day once you transition from classwork to dissertation work. Practice the plan the last semester you're taking classes. Stick to the plan, even when the alarm goes off at 4am and you were up until 2 taking care of something else.
7. Some might be luckier, but for me, for both my master's thesis and my PhD dissertation, I had to scale my work hours way back - 6 months for Masters and 12 months for PhD - to be able to produce work at the level I was demanding of myself. This is something that needs to be planned for re material needs.
8. If you have responsibilities to others (spouse, parents, significant others, kids, some combination of) make sure they're on board as well. I am grateful for the 2 am bottles fed to children as I read through thousands of lines of code because I was up anyway. I'm also forever grateful to my teachers and committee members who understood the work-school-life balance issues and worked with me to be as helpful as was fair.
Finally, know there are a lot of us that viewed earning a PhD as an important milestone in the senior part of our careers. For me, it led to a teaching position in a regional public university that was more rewarding and fun then I had imagined. Hang in there, take it a day at a time, and enjoy what you're learning. Best of luck!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_11: I'm doing it now. The big issue for me was learning how to balance school work with the rest of my life. That's something that needs some thought prior to beginning your program.
Make sure your significant other is TRULY onboard. School takes a lot of time, and resentment can build, if otherwise.
Know how much you can take. I was taking two courses a semester in order to satisfy a university requirement. It was killing me. I'm only taking one course a semester now, but I'm much happier than I was.
Understand how long your coursework stays valid. Coursework only lasts for several years, so plan accordingly.
Make sure your faculty will give you the attention that a full-time student receives. In some programs, part-timers are second-class citizens. Not good.
Try and graduate prior to the fall semester. Appointments usually begin at the beginning of the fall (winter) term. Don't want to wait too long for a position to show up.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_12: Possible: yes - I personally know two persons who did it. The question is if YOU can do it, not if its possible. If you want to finish your PhD, I'm sure you will somehow get the time to finish. But if you are doing your PhD just to get the title, then you will probably not finish it.
Edit: After 7 years, the last 4.5 of them working full a full time job and raising 4 kids, I managed to finish my PhD. So yes, it's possible :-)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Definitely possible, with a bit of planning and scheduling.
I am in the field of atmospheric physics - my research involved a considerable amount of experimental work and field studies, my timetable and deadlines have been and still is (as I am just completing the research) largely based on a *full time equivalent*. My full time job is, for the most part, unrelated (high school teaching). I know it has worked, because I am finishing my PhD and have been published multiple times before schedule (2.5 years).
What I have found is that I had to have an 'adaptable' schedule, as things changed week by week. My tasks were broken into
* long term, or semester goals, these were decided at the beginning of each semester.
* weekly goals, the smaller steps that make up the long term goals.
Making *contingency plans* for the weekly goals is beneficial, for if something goes wrong, there is always a backup.
Make absolutely certain your supervisors/advisors **fully understand** what your duties are in your paid job and what time requirements are needed. Also, what I found worked was making my workplace aware of the study commitments.
What may sound counterintuitive is to give yourself regular study-breaks - once again, be adaptable in this.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_13: Yes it is possible. Just passed my Viva in the last week after submitting at the end of September. I found that in the lead into submitting that I was almost full-time working on the thesis. This may just the way it is or down to my poor time management in the build up. If possible store up your holiday days to use for this final write up period. In the last month I was probably working a day and a half and doing my thesis write up ever other waking hour.
--
I would hope that it is not impossible as currently I am in the third year of my part-time PhD and hope to complete it.
Some background info:
1. I work full-time 5 days a week (9 to 5)
2. PhD is in History (completely unrelated to my work)
3. PhD is self funded
A number of factors need to be considered for what I think you'll need to be sucessful in obtaining a PhD.
* Time Management. You will need to have a fairly regimented time plan that you can stick to so as to ensure a steady workflow. Just to sum up my weekly time spent on my PhD (and this can always vary depending on other commitments.) About 4 nights a week 6pm to about 10.30pm, Saturday 11am to about 10pm and Sunday about 1pm to 7.30pm.
* Regular meeting with your supervisor. In my own experience about once every 4-5 weeks is enough. A good hour meeting can really refocus your work and every 4-5 weeks means you don't go to long procrastinating or mulling over an idea. Also in this time frame would also have sent a couple of emails. Also I work in a family business so this also gives me the flexibility to be able to arrange meetings with my Supervisor at working hours times.
* Get writing as early as possible. In my first year I had got down about 15,000 words of a draft thesis. Now at the end of the day I may half of that in the final thesis it is a good habit to get into. Set yourself weekly, monthly targets. Sometimes you might get sidetracked, like if you have to prepare a conference paper etc but writing early and often can keep you motivated.
* Be prepared to make sacrifices. For example my last 4 holidays were either solely for research or a mix of holidays and research. (I shouldn't complain too much as I was able to go abroad for these trips.) Also though you are probable going to see less of family etc.
* But also be prepared to take some time off. Don't feel guilty if you go for a night out with friends or take a weekend away from it all. Sometimes you will come back to your PhD work rejuvenated from the time off.
* Don't underestimate the support of your family, friends and colleagues. Most people will want you to succeed and will give you much moral and practical support along the way.
Is it too much work and stress?
It is definably a lot of work, but I would like to think so far it is not to much work. Be aware that your university will possibly have many support structures in place for PhD students. Every year my university run workshops on time management, dealing with stress, how to write a thesis etc. Personally I don't think the stress would be any more than say working 2 jobs but that said I think everyone deals with stress differently.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It is possible, as this is how I did my PhD - but it really depends on what subject area you do.
I had a fulltime job (and a part time one as well) - so was working for a combined 44 hours a week. I can say, looking back, it is **very hard work, but can be very rewarding**.
I would do my work and set aside 3 nights per week (when I wasn't working the 2nd job) for about 3-6 hours in the evening. Also, by the nature of my PhD, I worked on it over the weekend (usually between 25-40 hours a week).
A few things I found helped
- A genuine and in-depth love for the subject is extremely important.
Other things that workd for me were:
* Making weekly goals
* Making both my workplace and university adviser aware of what I was doing (I was fortunate that both were supportive).
* Giving myself some time off (every 4th weekend, I did something else).
* Communication when things started to get on top of me.
* Maintaining adequate sleeping, eating and exercise patterns.
* Making time for friends and family - even had a regular poker and chess night.
Also, I coincided some of my leave requests with conferences and meetings with the advisor at the lab (not all the leave time though).
An added bonus are **transferable skills** gained from the research that can benefit your job, and vice versa - examples can include: time and resource management, research skills etc
My stress levels weren't particularly high at all - but that, of course, won't be the case with everyone.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_14: It is possible. But the actual benefit you get from your PhD program is correlated with time spent.
A PhD is not only a title. In the process of obtaining a PhD, you get opportunities for studying a particular topic in-depth, establishing yourself as a member of a particular community of scholars (e.g. by publishing in certain journals or going to certain conferences), acquiring ancillary know-how relevant for an academic professional, etc.
You might complete a PhD program and earn the title, without gaining these other qualifications. And that may be good for you. But when it comes to, for example, landing an academic job, you may be competing with people who have invested more in their development as academic professionals.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_15: This will depend on your program and the policies associated with it. At least where I go for undergraduate studies, it is not allowed because being a PhD student is a full time job and having two full time jobs concurrently would make your life a living hell.
*But*, there are exceptions. There is this one student who was literally the smartest human being I've seen, who came for undergrad, finishing a double major in only two years, then went straight to being a Computer Engineering PhD student at the same school. He's so madman smart to the point that the department granted him an extension, allowing him to work a full-time job at a local software company *in addition* to pursuing his PhD because he's so bright even for a PhD student.
Unless you are that type of madman smart, I would take the peanuts style of living for the sake of preserving sanity. But maybe you might be that type of exceptional.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/03/20 | 862 | 2,929 | <issue_start>username_0: From Nature's "[Getting Published with Nature](http://www.nature.com/nature/authors/get_published/)" guidelines:
>
> Nature has space to publish only 8% or so of the 200 papers submitted each week, hence its selection criteria are rigorous. Many submissions are declined without being sent for review.
>
>
>
This leads me to the question:
>
> **Question**: What proportion of the papers submitted to Nature actually get sent for review?
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>
It'd be nice to know if, in general, the "biggest hurdle" in getting a paper published in Nature would be simply getting it to the reviewers.<issue_comment>username_1: **Edited:** *I found a better answer to the question, the original indicative answer is left below.*
[Here](http://www.nature.com/nature/peerreview/debate/nature05535.html), we have a statement from December 2006 regarding the number of submissions, rate of editor rejections and ultimate acceptance number. While slightly outdated, the acceptance rate of *Nature* journal does not seem to fluctuate widely between 2006 and 2012 (always around 7-8% of submitted articles), hence I believe the number is significant and valid:
>
> *Nature* receives approximately 10,000 papers every year and **our editors reject about 60% of them without review**. ... ... In the end we publish about 7% of our submissions.
>
>
>
From that we have, that in 2006 about *40% of submissions were sent out for peer-review*.
---
**The original indicative answer:**
Not a precise answer, but can be indicative also for *Nature* journal itself: [here](http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v11/n9/full/nmat3424.html#/f1) is a statistics of a decade 2002-2012 of publishing in Nature Materials in numbers, various stats are presented. Specifically [this graph](http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/v11/n9/fig_tab/nmat3424_F1.html) shows that the ratio of peer-reviewed vs. submitted manuscripts is floating around 13%. Out of peer-reviewed, about 60% get accepted. This shows that their first filter, the editorial decision whether to review at all, is extremely aggressive and in fact is *the* filter in the publishing process.
According to a note [here](http://network.nature.com/groups/askthenatureeditor/forum/topics/721?page=1), Nature Neuroscience sends about 30-35% papers for peer-review.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: These data are a bit more recent and specifically from *Nature Microbiology*, one of the newer NPG journals.
>
> We sent out slightly over 20% of submitted manuscripts for review and our acceptance rate was 9%. Of those 126 manuscripts accepted, 86% were published after 2 rounds of review or fewer, while 14% needed to be seen by at least 1 referee a third time.
>
>
>
noting this, it looks like the largest of the hurdles is indeed getting sent out for peer review.
source: <https://www.nature.com/articles/nmicrobiol2016259>
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/03/20 | 1,915 | 8,188 | <issue_start>username_0: I am currently travelling for faculty interviews. Some professors and other interviewers have asked me where else I have interviewed. Should I tell interviewers where else I've interviewed?
Intuitively I would like to give them less information, but I also don't want to appear guarded and defensive as a person, either.<issue_comment>username_1: I cannot speak for faculty interviews personally and this may be redundant information but I interviewed at multiple "top ranked" schools for PhD admissions and in everyone of them I was asked where else I was interviewing and I told them the truth.
Having said this, nowadays, most job talk notifications are available on the website of the university or college or institution where you are interviewing and it is relatively easy to determine this from a google search of your name. For instance, this year our department is hiring for 2 different job lines and there are quite a few faculty candidates giving talks every week. We always Google their names to find out where else they are interviewing. In the case of one particular candidate it was very useful to find out that that that candidate had put up a list of other institutions where he/she was interviewing this particular season.
I do not think personally that giving them information about where else you are interviewing will add or subtract from your overall job application materials and probabilities.
Best of luck for getting a job !
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It may depend on your discipline, but I've noticed that faculty candidates for Computer Science that interview at my university tend to list their job talks on their CVs as invited talks.
Therefore, being cagey about where you're interviewing or trying to obfuscate it would be counter-intuitive. You're probably already leaving a pretty obvious trail from your job search, people in your field probably know others in your field and communicate with them, and it wouldn't be difficult information for anyone to find out, so it would seem like being up front and honest about it would be the best path?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: If you don't want to disclose that, you can simply say: "I'd rather not discuss this", and you can look straight into your interviewer eyes with that. I've seen candidates do that; it may have looked harsh, but there's no obligation on the candidate's side to tell anything beyond the contents of the job talk.
You can also try to convert this into a joke like "Enough to earn me a free roundtrip this year". An American faculty should take that as a hint that you don't want to talk about it. An international faculty may need a more straight answer like the one I gave above. (I am talking about the US here as the largest academic market; in UK, as far as I understand, you won't have more than 30 minutes face time with the faculty of the hiring institution, and they probably have more important things to ask than the # of interviews you have.)
Having said that, you need to weight in the benefits of telling vs. not. For one thing, you may not have all the invitations out yet on your first fly-out, so you really don't know yet what other interviews you might have. On the other hand, by the time you reach your sixth destination (if you are lucky to get that many), the first place may already have told you, "Sorry, we made the offer to somebody else". So nominally you may have interviewed there, but really you won't get an offer from them.
As a bottom line, you need to do what others in your discipline do. You don't want to look like a fool in the environment where everybody keep their secrets by telling left and right about your choosing between Harvard and Stanford (and thus losing a chance to get a far more realistic offer from Alabama); and you don't want to look like a fool hinting at many undisclosed interviews when your adviser had told them that this is the only interview you have when they called him/her, or your other interviews were posted on a [job market rumor website](http://www.econjobrumors.com/).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I don't know about regulations here. Personally, I think that being open and honest is the best thing (and this is how I handled it). Telling that you have been interviewed for some other positions shows that other committees consider you as a possible candidate which is good for you, especially if you have been interviewed at places with higher prestige. One the other hand, I do not think that a committee will think "Oh this guy has been interviewed there, so we should hire him...", but probably I am wrong.
Moreover, I agree that it does not harm to say that you do not want to disclose your other interviews.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> Some professors and other interviewers have asked me where else I have interviewed. Should I tell interviewers where else I've interviewed?
>
>
>
Yes, it is very likely in your best interests. If you have other interviews at comparable schools, then you will benefit from saying so. If you don't, then it's not so clear. However, departments will assume your job search is not going well if you are reluctant to address the issue and they haven't heard impressive rumors about your interviews, so avoiding discussing interviews won't really help. Instead of saying something awkward like "I'd rather not talk about that", it's better to be up front and optimistic. "This is my first interview" is better than "This is my only interview so far".
Here are a few reasons why telling about other interviews can help your case:
1. As a general rule, people want something more if they know other people also want it. Valuing a second opinion is rational behavior.
2. Even when it doesn't change the outcome, competition can speed things up. If a search committee member is trying to make an offer and still needs some final committee or administrative approval, it's helpful to be able to say "Let's move fast, since she is also interviewing at X, Y, and Z, and we'd like to make a good impression by coming up with the first offer." If it's too late for that, they can say "She already has an offer from X, so we need to act before she decides."
In principle, you could hurt your chances if you list a lot of schools typically considered much more desirable (which could make the school you are currently interviewing at feel they would just be wasting their time trying to compete). However, in this case you are probably already in trouble, since the rumors of your busy interview schedule may already worry the search committee. Instead of trying to cover things up, it's better to acknowledge that you have these other interviews. If you are worried about this risk, you can address it by making your interest clear throughout the interview.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: At least in Germany, interviews for academic positions are more like dating than like normal job interviews. If you are good, the department will worry about being rejected as much as you do. If they offer you the position and then you don't accept, they are losing time - they may not be able to fill the position in time -, and it's also bad for their reputation. Each time someone gets an offer from universities A and B and chooses to accept the offer from A, this contributes to the reputation of A and harms the reputation of B.
Whether it's good for you if the committee at one university know where else you have applied and how you are doing there, depends very much on the relative reputations of these universities and how they are judging you. You want them to think that you are the perfect fit, not that you are overqualified and therefore likely to reject their offer (doing well with an application at a much better university) or underqualified and going to harm their reputation that way (as could happen if they make you an offer and at the same time you are rejected by a university with much lower reputation).
PS: I think I should clarify that all of this applies primarily - perhaps exclusively - to professorships, especially to permanent ones.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/03/22 | 562 | 2,477 | <issue_start>username_0: I want to pursue M.S. from USA.
I know that it is required to have a background of publishing technical papers for getting admit in a good University.
But I wanted to know whether is there anything else apart from publishing a paper that constitutes as "Research" by the Admission authorities?
Thank You.<issue_comment>username_1: * A **senior thesis** (or, if you're engineering, your senior project, if you did one) would probably be a good thing to showcase, as it demonstrates both your ability to perform work in a group as well as your ability to write.
* **Internships** are great. They show that you can work and it also can serve as a reference.
If you've done anything else particularly notable (e.g., won a [nationally recognized science fair](http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/)), you can mention it, but the number of people who've done stuff like this is pretty miniscule.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: From your question, it is not clear that what MS do you referring to and seeking advice for. If you plan for MS by course, the admission committee do not usually evaluate you based on publications, because they don't need you to do research and therefore, it is not needed. They are looking for the university from which you did your UG, your marks, and your final project TITLE and your work.
If you are after MS by research, the story is slightly different, but still publication is not the only requirement. I guess, it is okay to have UGs without publications since UGs are busy with large number of subjects to take (depends on the universities they study) and CS is one of the majors that needs mini project for majority of subjects. Hence, you may not have enough time to be exposed to the research and publication, especially if your university does not approve research project as final project.
For MS by research, the main piece of evidence to show you know research is to prepare a very impressive research proposal. If you can impress them, you have the position. Sometimes looking at recommendation letter also works. If you have a good rec letter with some research-based recommendations and the admission committee know the person issued the recommendation letter, it may change their idea and cover some of your weaknesses.
Also, doing vulonteer job is also important to demonstrate your ability to work in a new domain with different people in a team or as an individual.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/03/22 | 2,169 | 8,954 | <issue_start>username_0: As a post-doctoral researcher, I am employed directly by a university. Due to the economic crisis, funds are not overabundant right now, and a lot of expenses have been scaled back or even cut out completely in the last few months (library access, public hall lighting, building opening hours, research consumables, etc.). Now, it's already a week late on my monthly pay check (or more precisely, wire transfer), and we received a collective email from the departmental head. Quoting part of it:
>
> Unfortunately it is not possible for us to pay as usual on today's date, the salaries because of liquidity in our bank account. I apologize for this inconvenience which we are trying to overcome as quickly as possible. Although we cannot precise the exact date when the issue is resolved we are hoping to make payments during the current month.
>
>
>
How do you analyse this email? My initial reaction is very, very negative: **the first two duties of an employer, it seems to me, are to ensure workplace safety and pay salaries**. So, when I read this email, my first instinct is to ***run away*** (I already hear JeffE saying “don't walk, run”).
However, it's a bad time to look for a new job, so: what are my options? Is this a breach of contract? Should I just wait, and how long? **What do you read between the lines of this email, that perhaps I haven't?**<issue_comment>username_1: **Step 0**: Document all your efforts to find a solution to this situation. Save a copy of that email from your chair. If you need to resort to Step 4: Hire a Lawyer, a paper trail is invaluable. Also, as @JeffE noted in the comments: **stop working until you are paid.** This is your most powerful negotiating tool. Don't worry about breach of contract; your employer did it first by failing to pay you.
**Step 1**: Meet with your immediate supervisor. As a postdoctoral researcher, some/most/all of your salary probably comes from grant accounts, and not the department's general payroll. If there is a financial problem in your department you should still get paid.
**Unless**, in order to pay you, money has to be transferred from the grant account to the payroll account. This is how it works at my institution. If the payroll account is wonky, then you cannot get paid, regardless of where the money comes from.
**Step 2**: Meet with your department chair, one-on-one. He/she may be more willing to be forthcoming with the details in a personal setting. There could a rational, if scary, explanation for what is going on. It may be outside of the chair's power. It could be that the department was expecting payments from grants that did not happen. It could be that an allocation from the institution or state or whatever has not arrived due to budgetary problems. If meeting with the department chair is not satisfactory, go on to step three.
**Step 3**: Contact your institution's central payroll or human resources office. Ask about the situation nicely and politely, but make it clear that you want to know what is going on and when you will be paid. As these folks are either 1) removed from the situation if it is department specific, or 2) closer to it if it is institution wide, you will likely get an answer. Indicate that you believe the department/institution to be in breach of your contract and that you are consulting legal counsel (even if you are not yet). Sometimes, that will grease the wheels.
**Step 3.5**: Sit tight for a little while and see if it does not go away. If your institution/department does not have a history of such shenanigans, this could be a one-time, but very annoying, blip. Also, look for another job. Be honest with your supervisor about why you are doing so - this financial snafu has you worried about the security of your contract.
**Step 4**: Hire a lawyer. By failing to pay you per an agreed upon schedule, your employer is in breach of your contract. I would only go this way if you are desperate. 1) The litigation route is likely to take away a large portion of your time that you should be spending doing research or looking for another job. 2) Depending on the ratio of legal fees to missed pay, you might lose money overall. 3) The heavy handed approach may alienate your department, robbing you of recommendations.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In addition to what Ben suggests, you'll probably want to find out some things. Many such legal aspects are country specific, but I'll put in some points about Germany which could give you an idea what to look for:
* Your post sounds as if the wages were usually paid mid of the month. Is that actually legally fixed? (In Germany, if nothing is specified in the contract, wages are due at the last day of the month.)
* Find out whether your social insurance fees were paid on time.
* Find out what general rights you have and equally important: what deadlines apply
* Find out whether your social insurance covers this case.
E.g. in Germany, the unemployment insurance would be the ones to talk to as they cover at least some cases where no wages are paid though a contract still exists ("insolvency money")
And make sure whatever actions you take that they do not cancel your rights there.
* Do you have the right to stop working (so you can use the time to look for a new job)?
In Germany, if you stop working after the employer is too much back with the wages (> 2 months IIRC) you retain the right to receive wages (plus interest if the employer finally pays. If he goes into insolvency, this is still important as it affects the money you can get from the unemployment insurance). IIRC, you have to warn your employer in advance that you'll stop working if he doesn't pay.
* Do you have extraordinary rights to cancel the contract (so you can tell potential employers that you can start right away)? Again, find out if you need to warn your employer that you may use this right.
* Find out what is happening around you. How do other universities deal with payments? Is it the university or your funding agency who don't pay?
Here in Germany universities often have an extremely bad reputation for delaying payments (and have had that for years): Years ago (i.e. before anyone started to speak of any kind of European crisis), I started working at a German university, and it took them 2 1/2 months to wire the first money. It was quite less than a full month's wage and they even had the nerve to call it an advance payment... I also remember that at a certain point later they deceided to shift paying wages from mid to end of the month - IIRC there wasn't anything that could have been done against that (there may have been an extraordinary right to cancel the contract).
Now, you ask what we read between the lines. What I read between the lines is that this office is not nice to you staff. With "not nice" I do not mean that they are not wiring the money (assuming that it is not the accounting staff that defrauds you), but what they could tell you in this situation.
* The text is extremely vague about when/whether the payments will be forthcoming there is hope that they will pay, but I'd have appreciated in your situation if they were hoping to pay *full wages* by the end of the month.
* Of course they cannot write "run and get yourself a new job", but they could have explained whether you are insured in some way, what you need to do in order to get that insurance, what else you could do, etc.
* In short, I'm missing somethins that shows that this employer is still *trutworthy*.
* On the other hand, the accounting staff is probably under extreme stress already for a while, so this may explain why they don't manage to be nice.
When you talk to them, try to let them know that you understand this and know that right everyone is putting pressure at them, and they didn't get their wages, neither. In short: try to be nice to them - being nice doesn't cost any money, and having a good standing there may actually help.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: In the comments I suggested **Walk, don't run** as opposed to **Run, don't walk**. Obviously, at some point you will need to get a job that actually pays you, hence you need to be looking in case things go even further awry. If however, during the next pay period you get paid everything you are owed, I would just let the "one time" screw up slide. A university level screw up doesn't really tell you anything about what your advisor thinks about you. I would talk to your advisor to make sure he/she thinks everything will be fine going forward. If you continue to not get paid, or are forced to take a pay cut, you need to decide if what you have is better than what is out there. As a post doc I would have rather had a few months of unemployment, or unpaid research time, than taking the first available job. You want to make sure you land in a good job, so don't go running off.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/22 | 714 | 3,042 | <issue_start>username_0: I am wondering how many research interest should be included in a statement of purpose. Is it better to include just one core interest or to include up to three as in my case?<issue_comment>username_1: One big problem with writing research interests for graduate school is that you barely know what's being researched. How could you state definitively what your interests are when you aren't familiar with the field?
With that in mind, if you're a member of the minority of undergrads who actually performed undergraduate research and knows what you want to research, feel free to list a single field of interest. If you can list specifics (e.g., "Following up on both the research I did in last summer, as well as the research from the Smith lab in Princeton, I would like to examine...") that would be even better, as it would demonstrate that you know what you're talking about. (Pro tip: make sure you know what you're talking about when writing it.)
If you're like the rest, though, you don't know the field, and that's OK. It would probably be better to give a really vague statement than to list a few things. Compare the following:
>
> I'm interested in furthering my knowledge of the biomedical engineering field.
>
>
>
vs.
>
> I'm interested in the fields of brain-computer interfaces, tissue engineering, and medical device design.
>
>
>
This is subjective, but to me both statements say the same thing, with the first one being concise and the second one sounding like buzzword soup.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: **Be as specific as possible. Do not bluff.**
Remember that admissions committees are looking for strong evidence of research potential. One of the markers of that potential is a deep interest in your intended research area. For that reason, it's important to describe your potential research interests *in specific and credible detail*. Why are you interested in field X? What specific problems are you interested in working on? What projects have you done? What papers have you read (or written)?
It doesn't matter all that much *what* you write about. We know that your interests will change over time. Nobody is going to limit you to the specific research topics you describe in your statement. Your statement is at least as much a demonstration of intellectual maturity as it is a description of research interests.
Eykanal's observations are correct. Most graduate school applicants "barely know what's being researched". A list of buzzwords mined from faculty web pages is not *credible*. You can't effectively describe what your interests are when you aren't familiar with the field. But I disagree with his conclusion; just because it's hard doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. **Don't be most applicants. Know what's being researched. Don't be vague, and don't just list buzzwords. Make yourself familiar with the field.**
After you've done that, writing about your research interests is easy, because you actually *have* some.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer] |
2013/03/22 | 1,493 | 6,491 | <issue_start>username_0: If I write a report and a whole paragraph is based on one source but not cited verbally it seems unnecessary to include the reference after every sentence:
*Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua **(source 1)**. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat **(source 1)**.*
Now I found a Phd thesis that puts the reference after the last dot of the paragraph to indicate that it is based on this very source:
*Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. **(source 1)***
Is this a common practice? Is it generally understood? What are other ways to add the reference for a whole paragraph?<issue_comment>username_1: Generally it is sufficient to cite each source only once in each place where you refer to material from this source. "Place" may be one sentence, one paragraph, one definition, etc.
If you cite a paragraph verbatim from another source, put it in quotation marks or in a quotation block and add one reference to the source at the end.
If you have a whole paragraph referring to one source but don't actually quote it, it gets a little bit more tricky. You have to make sure that a reader clearly understands that the whole paragraph is based on the source you are citing. A simple citation in parenthesis just added at the end of the last sentence may not be sufficient to make this clear. One way to cite in this case is to write something like "The following argument is based on (source)" at the beginning of the paragraph in question.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: The clearest way to show that the entire paragraph is taken from someone else is to set that paragraph off in some way. The two most common ways are to indent the entire paragraph or set the entire paragraph in italics (or both).
The writing should make it clear that the author is not claiming any part of the paragraph as his/her own work and the example in your question simply does NOT accomplish that. The sample could mean that the last sentence is cited and the rest is not, meaning the author is claiming the first sentence is actually his/her own.
It is quite messy to cite each sentence individually and it does not help readability so, better to indent/italicize the entire paragraph.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: This problem is one that I commonly come across. In some disciplines one puts a reference after the last sentence in the paragraph, after the final period. I personally do not like this way of doing it and it may not even be formally correct in most disciplines. Instead I would suggest that you start the paragraph (or paragraphs if appropriate) by simply stating where the material has been sourced in the first sentence of the pragraph(s). Exactly how you formulate this depends highly on the content and what you need to write. It can be something dry such as "The following information is from XXX (1979)" but you can probably see how you can weave in the reference in an introductory sentence or two so that it makes sense and clear that you extracted the information from there.
The main point is of course to make it clear to the reader where the information comes from. Clarily will be more important than nice formulations in this case.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: This happens to me often. I have several tips that I use when writing:
* the placement: it should not be in a section / chapter explaining *your work, algorithm, method, findings*. Probably, it'll be in Discussion, Related works, Introduction or Conclusion
* if it deserves a whole paragraph, it deserves a sentence. Some examples:
>
> The proposed method can be compared to the work of [<NAME>, 2006]. The work in [1] addresses the problem (...) while the method proposed here (...)
>
>
> In this chapter we introduce a related problem examined in [1].
>
>
> The first important step in this direction was made by Doe [1] and here we summarize the most important findings.
>
>
>
* in general, you are putting some reference in relation to your work. Be **precise** with expressions referring to each paper like *the work proposed here*, or *the previous results* and similar.
* if you have more than 1 reference to compare with, *introduce them one by one*, paragraphy by paragraph.. If you mix them, you'll have to cite every sentence or two to avoid the confusion
* you don't have to cite at the end of each sentence, you can cite at the end of each *idea*. If you're making a logical conclusion and just add a cite with the concluding sentence, you're giving proper credit.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: The problem doesn't seem to me to be one of how to format a citation for a full paragraph. Instead, the problem is that you have a lengthy paragraph that draws upon one source for many assertions (claims or statements something is/is not so) or facts. This starts to approach a plagiaristic form of writing.
Another problem is that you are basing your entire paragraph on a sole source, and trusting that it is right (or, maybe, the writer simply doesn't care - I see that a lot with the writing of students who just want to get an assignment cranked out). If you are writing a thesis or dissertation, the care and concern for veracity of the information should, I hope, be greater.
Try including more of your own thoughts, reasoning, or explanatory writing. If the paragraph introduces explanatory statements or other work by you, then breaking up the flow with the appropriate in-text citation from the single source isn't an issue, as it is less frequent than once every sentence. Or, find other sources that support or amplify the material in the paragraph, add in the necessary associated verbiage, and cite them too.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: One common approach is to include the citation in the first sentence, and then use "they" and related words for every subsequent sentence so that the connection between statements and reference is clear.
>
> <NAME> Jones (2000) conducted a study on X and Y. They performed X analysis. They found that blah blah blah. They concluded that foo foo foo. Their studies highlight that blah blah blah.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/22 | 1,096 | 5,060 | <issue_start>username_0: I recently had my first paper to review. Since it was the first one, I took great care to be as constructive as possible and to formulate correct and accurate questions / suggestions. At that time, I recommended two major changes for the paper and a couple of minor ones (figures, typos, ...).
I just received the revised version of the paper, with the response to reviewer. One of the major changes I recommended was not fully taken into account by the authors. They did provide a very short answer, but it did not convince me. I read the new version of the paper carefully, to see if the content was changed to fit my suggestion, but it was not.
I am wondering what I should do now? Should I resend the same suggestion, pointing out it was ignored by the authors? Or should I let it go and tell the editor all the other changes were done according to my review? How should I tell the author they did not take my suggestion into account without being rude?<issue_comment>username_1: There are three possibilities:
* The authors think they have addressed your major comment: in this case, since you think they haven't, either they haven't understood your initial comment, or they believe that another change they have done is enough. It might be your fault (because you didn't explain your comment well enough) or theirs (because they didn't understand it). It's ok to point out that you believe your comment has not been addressed, and explain it in a different way, to avoid any possible confusion.
* The authors disagree with your major comment, and did not change the paper accordingly: in this case, they should have explained it in the response to reviewers. It's ok to mention that your comment is not addressed, and it's up to the editor to decide whether the authors should comply and change the paper accordingly.
* The authors did not see your major comment in the original review, or simply forgot to address it. It's ok to mention that your comment is not addressed, and if you believe that it could be addressed quickly (e.g., some references missing), then perhaps it can go as a minor change for the next version, to speed up the process.
In any case, it's ok to mention that your comment has not been addressed. You might not know the exact reason why, so it's always better to assume that it's just a mistake. The responsibility to accept the paper as such is not yours, it's the editor's. You simply mention that you believe something is wrong with the current paper, you explain why you believe it's wrong, and whether you think it should published without changing it.
A typical response in this case could be: "The new version of the paper addresses most of my previous comments, with the exception of XXX. Indeed, it is not clear how the authors address the fact that YYY (another version of XXX) in the new version."
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It is necessary to keep in mind that your review is likely not the only one, there should at least be a second reviewer. On top of that, thee editor can make suggestions to the author on what must, should or could be changed. I completely agree with the points in the answer of Charles, I also find it strange that you apparently did not receive an explanation to why or how your suggestion was not changed from the authors. It is, however, common that reviewers and authors disagree but what is right and wrong is another question.
What you should do is to reiterate what you think is necessary and if possible support your statement with more arguments. Since it still is up to the editor to make choices and there are also likely other reviewers to consider, you will never have the full picture yourself and you can only provide your view. It is possible the paper will go to publication without your points being met.
In some cases (journals) it might be possible to write a "Letter to the Editor" where one brings up the remaining questions. Such letters will be published along with an open response from the authors. Since you are relatively new to these processes, you could discuss the paper (after it has been published(!), if it is) with colleagues and consider writing such a letter alone or with someone. It is, after all, an open scientific discussion with differences in opinion.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: If I were in your situation, I'd talk to my supervisor before taking action. All of the advice you already got here is quite sound, but it is also a fact of life that people who are new to the review process tend to be more strict than average. I would thus ask someone else in the field whether your suggestion seems reasonable, and if it does, then I would write about it to the editor.
I'm writing this from personal experience - I'm also new to the review process, and I tend to overestimate the importance of the points I'm raising. My own current solution is actually to go easy on the authors once the revised version is in, as a way of balancing this tendency of mine out.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/03/22 | 746 | 3,242 | <issue_start>username_0: There is a [small difference](http://www4.caes.hku.hk/acadgrammar/general/argue/citation/subtopics/sec7refsvsbibl.htm) between a bibliography and a reference: the former includes all works consulted and the latter only those that are cited in the paper. Should we maintain this technical distinction when writing a paper?
Some journal templates require the title of the last section to be 'References'. Does this mean all the references must necessarily be cited in the paper?<issue_comment>username_1: From a practical point of view, whenever you send your paper for a peer review, they check if you have all citations both in your text and in sources. It means that "yes" they must be cited.
Saying so, there is normally clear advise from a journal how to cite and produce bibliography. You should do what it says.
At last you can always solve the problem by adding one sentence in your text: "Additional information about ... can be found in [your references]." With this sentence everyone should be happy.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Yes, all references must be cited. To skip the citation process is to engage in plagiarism. If you put a reference in your reference list but you do not cite it in your text, then you must ask yourself why is it in your references (since you actually do not reference them)?
In my field (business) you would never add a publication to your reference list unless you actually cited (in the text) from that publication. To do so would be to produce a bibliography which I've never seen anyone outside of primary and secondary school require.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Yes, they are different and should be marked as such. For my thesis, I am required to have ***both*** a list of works cited and an annotated bibliography. As mentioned, the list of works cited (reference list) should only contain references that match-up to citations in the text.
Additionally, my thesis also has an annotated bibliography as an appendix. Essentially this is where I can place works which may have influenced my paper, but may not necessarily have been cited in the text. Each entry also has an annotation describing how it is relevant to the paper itself.
An example of this, is that one of the books (which I read while doing research for my thesis) provided insight I used to prototype the testing framework for my project. I did not end up actually using anything from the book for the written portion. But, it did influence the project overall. Therefore I put it in my annotated bibliography, but not in my list of works cited.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I think this is just a misunderstanding about what a bibliography or reference is. If you insist on this difference perhaps you can cite a more reputable source on academic writing. In a paper, references on a subject that you think are useful to the reader, from which you are not citing specific results, also need to be introduced in the text (often footnotes are used for this). How else would a reader know what they are or why they should look at it. It is quite common to write for example: *"For a great introduction on the subject of ... we recommend [1]."*
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/23 | 417 | 1,790 | <issue_start>username_0: I just had my first paper accepted for publication (hooray!), but I'm wondering how copyright works for the paper. I know that for this publication, the publishing house owns the copyright of the final version, but I'm wondering if that means that I still have rights to distribute earlier versions (e.g., on academia.edu).
If so, which version? I.e., how different does it have to be from the final version?<issue_comment>username_1: A little more googling would have served me well - another answer directed me to <http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo>, which looks a good resource for determining rights for each journal.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I suppose you've just answered the question yourself, but I'd like to add that
a) it seems very common to make a copy of the paper available on your own site (or something like academia.edu) so I would think most journals do allow this (at least in CS)
b) it is good practice, too, since it makes it a lot easier for people who research your work to be able to download the paper straight away rather than having to go through institutional logins or have no access at all.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: After accepting the article, the journal will ask you to sign a copyright transfer. This document should describe in detail what rights the publisher gets, and what rights you retain. If it isn't acceptable to you, you can try to negotiate; your institution may have an intellectual property office that could help. If all else fails, you can withdraw the paper and submit it to a journal with different policies (perhaps even an open access journal).
It is pretty common for the author to retain the right to distribute preprints.
Congratulations on your paper!
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer] |
2013/03/23 | 1,426 | 6,256 | <issue_start>username_0: My engineering university offers a relatively new option to do an article-based dissertation, where the primary research is submitted (and hopefully published) in several scientific journals (at my university it's 3). The dissertation is then shorter than a typical PhD, because it describes how the articles fit together to form the thesis, etc.
It's a relatively new idea (for engineering PhDs and for me), which I find interesting as an advisor because it engages PhD students more in the research experience (publishing). Also, it is theoretically more efficient for the advisor and student (as a co-author), since time and energy spent on revising could be more focused on getting publications, and not only on a big PhD dissertation that few people will ever read.
There are other advantages described [here](http://www2.ul.ie/pdf/324176726.pdf) (not my university).
My question is not about whether it's good or bad, but how the role of an advisor on co-authored papers might change in such cases.
For example, when students write a traditional dissertation (masters or otherwise), they often struggle with communicating. Students grow and improve written communication and contents of the dissertation in an iterative and incremental process (draft revisions after feedback from the advisor).
In traditional grad-student co-authorship setting, I would take a more active role as an editor (as my advisor did when I was a PhD student) on a paper, mostly because of experience and to increase chances of getting an article published. Sometimes that role is minimal, if only a workshop or conference is targeted, since it might be easier to publish there.
But with an article-based PhD, it seems that the active approach in editing co-authored journal papers is essential, and in effect *writing a big part of the dissertation* for the student. I realize every case is different.
I'd be happy to know from experienced advisors in this setting to know if and how an advisor's role must change in article-based PhDs.<issue_comment>username_1: I am about to finish a thesis composed of papers published in peer-reviewed journals. I am the only author to half of the papers, and the others are coauthored with my advisor.
The process is as you describe, we do research together, discussing ideas, proofs (I am in mathematics), computer experiments, etc. and I usually write most if not all of the text, any my advisor makes suggestions on improvements.
I really think this process is superior to writing a monograph, since you get experience in the submission/review process, and being published really counts for something. Also, being the single author on some articles is usually a requirement for getting the phd, so people will know that you did some research yourself (of course, you discuss the progress with your advisor).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The system of article-based theses has been the norm in my field and university for as long as we have been in existence, although monographs are also accepted. We therefore lack experience with monographs, although I wrote my thesis as a monograph in the US system once upon a time.
The main differences, as I see it, between monograph and article writing is that with articles, you must reach a high level very early during your PhD study. With a monograph you can work on all of it until the very last moment. With an article-based thesis, articles must be planned and written up early on. I would say that it is both common and useful to have the first paper being mainly written by the advisor so that the student can learn from scratch in every part of the article write-up. Since the goal is to make independent researchers out of the PhD students it follows that the advisor involvement should gradually decrease over time. This is of course good in theory but difficult in practise. The point is, however, that it is important to get an early start with the writing and the structure of the work has to be such that it is clear that publishable results can emerge after the first or second year.
Article-based these need to be thought through so that papers can be produced. We let the advisor and student write up a time plan for the PhD work which also outlines the basic research work and the resulting papers. The plan is filed by the subject responsible. This plan is followed up annually so that changes can be discussed between advisor, student and subject responsible. This is useful since everyone needs to think things through on a regular basis.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: This topic is near and dear to my heart, as the number of days until I finish exactly such a thesis is measured in a single digit number.
If you field is dominated by journal, rather than book, publications, I think its a vastly superior system, leaves you better prepared for what you'll actually have to do in the future, and leaves your CV in hopefully a stronger place.
>
> But with an article-based PhD, it seems that the active approach in
> editing co-authored journal papers is essential, and in effect writing
> a big part of the dissertation for the student. I realize every case
> is different.
>
>
>
This has not been my experience - even the most active members of my committee who are co-authors on papers can't really be said to have written a significant portion of my work. Generally speaking, I would send them a fully fleshed out draft paper for their comments (which is exactly what I tend to do as first-author on a non-thesis paper), and then we'd iterate through the draft several times as they tinkered with language, added their own pet sentences, asked for additional analysis, etc. But the paper, in its final form, is very much dominated by my work and my writing.
One of the keys may be to not wait until the end of someone's graduate career to work on their writing. If someone needs you to fundamentally rewrite massive parts of their dissertation papers, in my mind they're *not ready to defend*. They should be at a stage of maturity where they can produce largely independent writing, in need of only the usual modifications a co-author would provide to a manuscript.
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/03/23 | 1,000 | 4,189 | <issue_start>username_0: My advisor sets the problem. I implement the solution for this particular problem and for the set of similar problems using a programming language.
My question is, can I put the code in the public domain, if I decide to do so. And can I run the code for other people in exchange of co-authorship for their papers?
Again, my advisor did not ask me to write the code, he asked me to solve the problem.<issue_comment>username_1: Most of the universities I've worked for have been quite explicit that they consider such material as "work for hire" meaning that they own the rights. In that case you need to find out what the university policy is.
Often you are allowed to open-source the code, but you *have* to find out.
---
I'm in the United States.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: You really have to ask someone at your department, or take a look at the employment agreement you signed.
My experience is that I often just discuss with my advisor what we are going to do with the code, release it or not, and if so, under which license. A lot of the more general code I wrote is released under a GPL2 license. The problem of ownership often only arises when money is involved. The institutes where I worked until now where very positive towards making any software available under a public license.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Copyright differs a lot between countries. However, here I'd recommend to come to a mutual agreement without thinking about copyright fights in the first place.
That is, try to convince instead of trying to win a copyright fight.
In my experience, in academic context some strong arguments for FOSS licensing are
* Reproducibiliy is becoming more important. And this includes calculations. Questions about correctness can easiest be answered by "look at the code".
* The academic currency are citations. It may be much easier to convert a software into citations (by requiring users to cite you) than into money (this requires a whole lot of infrastructure)
* if it is a larger software: in academia people change institutions fairly often. FOSS licensing is a way to make it clear and legal that you have the right to maintain (and use) code even after you leave that university.
* If you stay in science, this makes a steady state of technology clear and legal: when you change institution, your new institute profits from the work you bring, and your old institution can profit from the fact that you can still look at this work. You profit by not re-writing wheels.
As for
>
> can I run the code for other people in exchange of co-authorship for their papers?"
>
>
>
Only *running* code IMHO is something that would be acknowledged, but it isn't enough of a scientific contribution for becoming co-author. So: **No**.
However, what you can do: write a paper and require users to cite this paper.
---
A few points about the **German** copyright in this situation:
* Copyright for computer programs is *the one topic* where German copyright is similar to the UK/US copyright systems.
* Basically, if you write the program in order to do work related work, the right of use automatically belongs to your employer (i.e. they automatically get a license), and your wage is considered to include the appropriate license fee.
* In Germany, [It doesn't matter where and when you do the programming (it can even be in your spare time at home), what matters is whether it is to "fulfill the tasks and directives [of your employer]"(rough translation from the court decision).](http://www.e-recht24.de/news/urheberrecht/312.html) IMHO the employer doesn't need to specify that you should program this, it is enough that you decide to solve the task he assigned you by programming.
This is different from UK/US I think, and of course it doesn't apply to programs that are not related to your work.
* However, things can be different in academia. Lots of German PhD students have working contracts that do *not* cover the scientific work (the work for hire is looking after lab practica, teaching seminars, etc.). In that case, IMHO the university doesn't hold the copyright automatically.
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/03/23 | 1,023 | 4,335 | <issue_start>username_0: I feel like the answer to this question should be obvious, but it doesn't seem to be.
Anyway, in my second year on the tenure track, I find myself more confined to my corner of the ivory tower than I intended to be, and would like to branch out and meet other faculty in other areas.
My research (in theoretical math) is very specialized, so I don't have collaborations in mind. Also I would rather not volunteer for university-wide committees, as these look rather boring and I don't find myself inspired by the administration's pet projects.
Rather, I have in mind something intellectual and *fun*, that recaptures some of the enjoyment of being an undergraduate and hopefully leading to making new friends. For example, semi-public lectures on chemistry, theology, art history, virtually anything intellectual, ideally followed by discussions and debates over beer...
Obviously, the first step is to do a better job of carefully looking for opportunities at my particular university. (These have been a bit hard to suss out, but I could stand to look harder). Nevertheless I would be interested to hear success stories. What have people done to make connections outside their own field of interest?
Thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: I think this problem is very common.
I'm no expert in making new friends but I can tell you what work out for me in my internship at UT.
Starting from the lab, we use to hang out for coffee and talking about everything, most of the time it was not about the lab work. This was awesome, especially for an better understanding of the culture, food, girls... stuff like that. Dinners are also very good for socializing.
The housing service was also cool, they organized movie streaming sessions and social events, usually with free food (which means a lot a people and something to talk about).
Finally, when I did more and much stronger friendships was at church (I'm Seventh Day Adventist), people received me really, really well. Not directly related with the academia, but there lots of students in church and we talked a lot about our field of expertise.
Probably the most important thing here is find things you have in commom with other people so you have something to talk about and find more stuff, and so on. Sometimes is right in our faces and we don't see it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I organized a beer night for tenure-track profs in our department (and this was later expanded to related departments). the basic rules were: it's once a month, anyone is welcome, and it happens even if I'm the only one at the bar :).
Do you have one person from a different department you can start this up with ? set up a mailing list and ask around to get maybe another 1-2 people involved. Start doing this regularly, and never lose a chance to mention this when talking to professors.
Word will spread. Tenure-track profs need support groups. Our beer night is very popular :).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Just start showing up to seminars in other departments. At my university, there are several different email lists that send out "Events this week." Seek out some talks are interesting and go. Maybe start with closely allied departments (CS, Stats, Physics). Then talk to the speaker if it was interesting, even if it's just to say "Hi, I'm [XYZ] from the department of [ZYX]. I really enjoyed your talk."If the speaker is internal then all the better, if from off-campus then there will certainly be other local people talking. I've had a blast doing this at talks completely outside of my field.
One of the very best things about being an academic is the sheer number of different interesting things that are happening on a university at any time. Academics are driven by curiosity, and a university is a smorgasbord of things to learn. You say that your research won't lead to collaborations, but you never know.
If you really want to stick your neck out, start an interdisciplinary seminar series. Seek out connections between disparate departments and fields.
As a side note: junior faculty should avoid committees above the department level if at all possible. Your department should shield you from these responsibilities. Your job right now is getting tenure. Those committees are for those with tenure.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/03/23 | 511 | 2,309 | <issue_start>username_0: I am asking this on behalf of a relative of mine. He has a PhD with a concentration in Policy Analysis and Environmental Science and is trying to get a position in either a university/public sector or the private sector (research/policy analysis). He has been searching for a while and has had little success and is getting pretty discouraged. I recently looked at his CV and it seems like it needs a lot of improvement.
There is the catch though: he is not able to look for a position in the US at the moment due to visa requirements. Therefore, he is limited to looking outside the US (anywhere really).
**Does anyone have any recommendations or advice as far as CVs go for academic positions outside of the US, particularly Canada or Europe (what should be avoided, what helps/hurts your chances, etc)?** Any advice regarding online resources or CV editing services that cater specifically for someone with a PhD would also be appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: In principle, there isn't *that* much of a difference in the structure of a CV for US-based positions versus positions in other countries. There are a few items related to HR-type issues that you would *never* put in an American CV (such as photo, citizenship status, date of birth, marital status, or number of children) that can appear in an international CV.
However, there may be issues with respect to the kinds of positions that your relative is applying for. Are they appropriate with your relative's accomplishment level? (That is, you're not applying for a full professorship in Germany directly out of graduate school, or the like.) Plus, there is always the issue of demonstrating a match between the candidate and the position in general, as well as the quality of the work being performed.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: While people often spend a lot of time tailoring the format of the CV, the two most important things are: do you have the experience the employer is looking for and can the employer easily find it. So while I agree that career services often suggest a cookie cutter CV one size fits all mentality, it really is a pretty god approach.
Unfortunately what really helps you get a job is a strong track record and not how that track record is presented on the CV.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/24 | 1,768 | 7,844 | <issue_start>username_0: Speculative applications, i.e. application without a job announcement being published, are common (well, at least normal) in non-academic jobs. But I am not sure the situation is the same in academia. Somebody has suggested me to send speculative applications to different departments for teaching or research jobs. I was thus considering the pros and cons of this type of applications.
The pros are almost evident (more exposure). However, I worry about potential downsides. In particular, how would potential employers look at such an application? Could it make me look bad? Is there any other downside I haven't thought of?<issue_comment>username_1: I have a specific email folder for speculative applications, whether it's for jobs of any grade, PhDs, or Masters courses. It's called **Spam**, and all the speculative job applications go in there.
If I'm feeling exceptionally generous, I reply with a link to the University vacancies page.
And that's because one of the defining elements of academia is **rigour**. That means, among other things, being able and willing to follow experiment protocols. If the first thing I learn about a potential colleague is that they can't be bothered to follow our recruitment protocols, even though they're well-documented and linked to from our recruitment pages, they've pretty much already disqualified themselves from being an interesting candidate, unless they're really exceptional. (And as we know from Dunning & Kruger, the ones who think they're really exceptional, typically aren't; and the ones who are, typically think they're not.). Those guidelines are derived from legal advice in the jurisdiction of England and Wales. Other employers in the same jurisdiction might interpret the law differently; other jurisdictions will have laws with different implications.
So, as someone sending out speculative applications, at best you spend a lot of time (that could have been better spent researching, publishing, networking at conferences) customising your CV so that it's targeted uniquely at each recipient, taking account of their unique position, and eventually you find a place that has slacker rules, or you find someone willing to break them. At worst, you send the same application to dozens or hundreds of recipients, showing each of them laziness and contempt.
If someone wanted to get on my radar in a positive way, they **wouldn't** send a speculative application. They'd send me some research they'd done that was likely to be of particular interest to me. They might ask for feedback on an article before submission, or flag it up to me after publication, in a short, concise, email with a link to the article. They might arrange to bump into me at a conference or seminar. They might invite me to work with them on a paper they have in development, that overlapped with some work I'm doing or have done.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: This answer is based on mathematics in the U.S. (I have no idea about other scenarios).
Before electronic job applications, submitting speculative applications was common. It never had a high success rate, and it would be foolish to waste time carefully customizing an application for a job that probably doesn't exist, but occasionally a job opens up unexpectedly. For example, a temporary replacement for someone going on leave. Last-minute openings generally aren't great jobs, but the job market is tough and it can be worth positioning yourself for whatever is available. Receiving speculative applications was only a small burden for the department, since there's no need even to read them unless they are needed.
However, now that most departments have moved to electronic applications, often centralized through mathjobs.org, speculative applications seem to be much less common. One reason is that electronic applications often require the applicant to specify which positions they would like to be considered for. If there's no appropriate opening, then it may not be possible to apply at all. (Another option is to apply for an inappropriate position and indicate a willingness to be considered for any other openings that arise, but this is rude and counterproductive since it wastes the time of the search committee for the position that actually exists.) Most departments still accept paper applications, but they are much more painful for everyone involved, so I would not recommend sending out speculative paper applications. Another reason for the decline in speculative applications is that mathjobs.org makes it much easier to advertise a position on short notice in a location every job seeker is aware of, so speculative applications are simply less helpful than they were decades ago.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Here is my standard advice to PhD students applying for academic jobs:
* First, look for departments that are advertising for faculty in your subfield. **Apply there.**
* Second, look for departments that are advertising for faculty, but not in your subfield. **Apply there anyway.** There is no way to tell *from the advertisement* whether the listed fields are requirements, preferences, or mere examples, or if they just recycled last year's ad without reading it first. (Yes, I have seen all these alternatives.)
* Third, look for interesting departments that are not advertising for faculty. **Apply there anyway.** There is no way to tell *from the lack of advertisement* whether they are really not hiring, or they just aren't advertising widely, or they just haven't posted their ad yet, or they *thought* they posted the ad but didn't. (Yes, I have seen all these alternatives.)
Before anyone objects: Obviously, I'm not talking about *your* department. Everyone knows that *your* department's advertisements are precise, timely, and highly visible. I mean *other* departments.
Of course, if you're thinking of applying to *any* department, whether they're advertising in you subfield or not, it's a good idea to contact someone you know in that department to find out what they're *really* looking for. If your contact says "No, really, we aren't hiring X," you can save yourself the trouble. But if you (or your advisor) don't know anyone well enough to ask? Fire away.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: As an employer, I'll give a feedback somewhat opposite to EnergyNumbers: if I receive what you call a speculative application[1], I will not consider it spam **as long as it is relevant**, i.e. if I would really consider the candidate if I had an open position. I have a ready-made reply for such cases (I must receive one or two a month), and I add these people to the email list to which I send announcements of job openings.
The best inquiry, though, is indirect: if you know someone in that department, ask *them* rather than the other professors.
---
[1] which I call a “job inquiry” or “spontaneous application” (the later is the common term in French, but probably not used in English)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: One thing you could do that's similar to a speculative application, but better in some ways, is to email people in your field to express your interest in their department and ask them to keep you in mind if there are any openings. This can be helpful if there's a late opening, a visiting position which is not widely advertised, or even just to keep people aware that you're interested in case they have an opening the next year. Furthermore, they may be aware of jobs at other schools that opened late or were otherwise poorly advertised. My impression is that this approach makes sense if you are willing to consider a temporary job and if it is relatively late in the hiring cycle. It also can be more effective for your advisor to make these inquiries on your behalf.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/25 | 4,824 | 20,749 | <issue_start>username_0: I've recently started teaching undergraduate students using the case method (management subjects). However, I'm finding that most of the students simply don't do the reading at home. Even though I (so far) have used only short cases (just a few pages), they still just don't do the work.
For those unfamiliar with the case method, if the students do not do the reading before coming to class, there is little to discuss in class. In the end, I feel like the class time is wasted.
Because of the design of the course, I actually don't have the flexibility to have this affect their grade other than to simply fail them. I cannot, for example, reduce their grade by 10%.
If anyone uses the case method with undergraduate students, I'd love to know how you get students to actually do the reading / thinking work required before they get to class.<issue_comment>username_1: I have some experience with lab practice in physics and chemistry, where we routinely ask students to read up on the work planned and do some preliminary calculations *before* they can come to the lab, in order to maximize their use of actual lab equipment. It's sometimes hard to motivate students for things that should be done *in advance*, but there are ways you can improve their involvement:
1. Make sure that **the amount of material is compatible with the time they have to study it**, and the demands on their time by other courses. If you're going to require something of them, it should be within reasonable limits. Also, make sure you convey that point to them: I have, on a few occasions, had to reschedule things to give them more time, because the material was very heavy and taking more of their time than I had assumed, or because they just had many other things to do (e.g., a full week of exams).
2. **Be crystal clear** that reading the material *before* classroom is actually one of the *requirements* of the class, and that it is entirely necessary to actually pass the class.
3. If you want further motivation, **introduce some sort of evaluation of their reading at the beginning of the lecture**: get two or three students to come up, and argue the case (or whatever it is you do in those lectures) before the others. Then, give them a frank assessment of how they fared, including “you failed miserably because you didn't do your homework”. Even if that evaluation doesn't count for the final passing/failing grade, it will motivate them and might introduce some **friendly competition**.
4. **If some of them still don't do a thing, *fail them***. After all, you had told them (and more than once) that reading the material is a requirement for passing.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I teach courses that include lecture and discussion. If reading is not completed it is difficult to get the most out of the material. One thing to try is to begin with a 'low risk' reading assignment - something more fun and popular, or pepper your reading list with scholarly and more popular reading. There has been a lot of scholarship on the value of using graphic novels with college students. Decoding images and text at the same time is good for developing brains and can serve as 'bridging' literature to more complex readings. Fun reading can be a hook.
I also have all my students on Twitter. This is new for me this semester. I have seen increasing participation from students if I ask them to post a discussion question, based on the readings, on Twitter. I was able to assess the depth of their knowledge of the materials based on the relative sophistication of the question. Most posted something, which I measure as engagement, what I am seeking.
I allow the use of social media in class as well - Storify is a fun way to get students to summarize readings by harvesting multimedia from the Internet.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I took a graduate course in immunology a couple of years back. The requirements to pass the course were simple:
1. each student made 2-3 presentations in front of the class of basic research studies from a provided list. We had to create our own powerpoints, include the paper's graphics or provide our own, understand every line of the article, follow the footnotes, and possibly read related studies for perspective. Be prepared to answer questions from the class and the professor. Describe the research in our own words to prove we actually understood it.
2. while others are presenting, we were expected to have already read the article being presented, and be prepared to ask intelligent questions.
3. Write a paper based on other peer reviewed articles.
Each of these requirements was worth about 1/3 of the grade. You couldn't pass if you slacked off on any of them. Everyone had to show up for class prepared.
Obviously, this is a graduate level of responsibility, but I feel strongly that undergraduates can be just as responsible when properly motivated. Presenting a case study in front of their peers and professor is a strong incentive, and it can even get a bit competitive in a healthy way; someone showed up with a $3 laser pointer they bought on ebay, and suddenly everyone was getting one. The powerpoints got fancier and fancier as the semester went on. People really got into it.
For pass-fail I suppose you would simply make #1, #2, and #3 into requirements to pass the course. Why should someone pass if they didn't learn stuff? Anyway, this is just one data point and in a different field probably, but hopefully it might spark some ideas.
And I love username_2's use of Twitter. Best use for that thing that I've heard of to date!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Maybe this could work for you. I once took a course where every lesson started with a brief quiz. We would get a very simple, very general question from the reading material, and use 5 minutes to answer it in writing, signing our names on the top of the paper before handing it in. It was made clear that this was not part of the grade, i.e. that the only purpose was to ensure we read the material. It worked well though, because nobody felt comfortable handing in an empty paper.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I think **encourage and praise** are important.
**Encourage** them to say things even if they have no idea what they are talking about. If they say something wrong, point out why it is wrong. And tell them this is exactly why they need to take this class - they are there to learn.
If they say things right, **praise** them. Particularly, to those weak students. Everybody has his own weakness and strength. The weak students will get things right sometimes. Praise them when they did right.
Initiate the discussion in the classroom is your job. Find some hot, interesting topic to start your class. The topic may seem to be unrelated to what you are going to discuss in the classroom in the first place. Lead them to discuss the issue you want them to discuss. Encourage the discussion. Praise them when they arrive at right conclusions.
Once they are used to the discussions in the classroom, it will be **natural** for them to do their homework. This is because they are afraid of embarrassing themselves. They know they must prepare enough so that they can have something to say in the classroom and say the right things so that they would earn the praise instead of embarrassment.
Of course, you need to tell them if they keep quiet throughout the whole semester, you'll have no choice but fail the ones who never say anything because you have no basis to pass them.
Finally, I'd like to use this place to thank JeffE. I remember he said "scaaahu's excellent advice" in response to one of my first answers here. I was very much encouraged by this remark. I felt like my answer must not be a bad one. Otherwise, why did he say that? Thus, I continue to participate. You can see how important is **encourage and praise** to a mature adult. Not to mention undergraduates.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I know I'm basically just reiterating the earlier answers here, as most of these points have already been raised in one form or another (by [F'x](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/8856) and [scaaahu](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/8874) in particular), but I'd just like to add my summary of how I'd approach the problem.
[*Note: Oh, wow, this answer turned out way longer than I thought it would. If you don't want to read all of it, I've **highlighted** the key parts so you can just skip the rest.*]
For some background, I'm a graduate student in Helsinki, and I've grown up and studied in Finland. While Finns generally aren't quite as focused on "face" as people from some Asian cultures are said to be, we do tend to be rather shy and quiet, and sayings like "*talk is silver, silence is gold*" or "*it is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt*" definitely find resonance here. Thus, getting a lively classroom discussion going here can indeed be hard, something which I've heard several teachers from other parts of the world comment on.
---
First, as you correctly note, you will need to make the students understand the importance of the assignments, and vague threats of "I may have to fail you" aren't going to do it. It's completely natural for students to try to minimize their workload, and if they think they can pass the course without doing the homework, most of them (except the few truly motivated ones) won't do it. And if enough of them think so, it's likely to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, unless you're actually willing to fail the majority of your class.
To address that, I'd suggest that you **introduce a points system** and make it clear to the students that:
* *X* points total are required to pass the course,
* each exam / project (out of *m* during the course) is worth up to *Y* points,
* each discussion class (out of *n*) is worth an additional *Z* points, and
* getting any points for a discussion class requires **active participation in the discussion**.
Having all this clearly set out in advance lets the students make their own informed decisions about how to prioritize their tasks. In particular, setting a definite pass/fail threshold means that they'll know exactly how much work they need to do to pass the course, and that if they don't meet that threshold, they *will* fail.
Yes, some students will probably use this as an excuse to skip some fraction of the discussion classes, figuring that they'll still score enough points in the exams to pass — but those are the same students who otherwise probably wouldn't bother with the homework at all, figuring that you wouldn't fail them just for that as long as they did reasonably well in the exams.
Choosing the point scores and thresholds is up to you, but a fairly common choice around here seems to be that the exams make up 50% of the possible points, and 50% of the total is also the minimum level needed to pass. Thus, in principle, one *can* pass the course without any classroom participation... as long as one is confident of getting an absolutely perfect exam score. (FWIW, as a personal anecdote, I did that once as an undergrad — I signed up for the final exam of a course with such a grading policy, mistakenly thinking it was a stand-alone exam, and managed to just barely pass. Got the lowest possible passing grade, though.)
---
So much for the stick; you'll also want a carrot to go with it. I'd suggest telling your students that the aim of the course is *not* to stress them out, and that you're willing to **adjust the homework to fit their workload**, within reason, as long as they'll tell you in advance when they expect to be busy and when they'll have more time. Depending on how varied your students' schedules are, this might even involve some personalized assignments for students who, for some reason, won't be able to attend as many classes as they want or need to.
Such small kindnesses go a long way towards building goodwill and motivation, but there's a more subtle trick involved here as well: *asking for adjustments to the homework is itself a form of classroom participation*. Sure, it doesn't actually involve the *subject* of the course in any direct way, but as scaaahu notes, an important part of the process is to **just get the students to speak up in class about *something***, whatever it is.
Another reason why discussing the appropriate amount of homework with the students can help is that, psychologically, **being involved in making a rule makes people feel invested in it**, and thus much more likely to follow it than if it were simply imposed on them by an external authority. I'm pretty sure there's actual psychological research on this, if I just knew the right keywords to find it, but it's definitely an effect I've noticed in practice. Effectively, by setting up a mutual agreement with your students about the appropriate level of homework, you're depriving them of the mental excuse that "there's way too much stuff for me to do, I'll never have time for this."
As I already wrote above, I also think scaaahu's suggestion of encouraging classroom discussion in *any* form, just to get the students used to it, is a good idea. In particular, while stressing that active participation is necessary to earn points for a discussion class, I'd also suggest explicitly noting that having read or understood the material is *not* required (albeit highly recommended), **as long as one is willing to ask questions and discuss the topic**. Of course, you can still make demonstrated familiarity with the material a requirement for getting the *full* points, if you want.
One way in which that could help is that, just possibly, some of the students who say they haven't read the material (but can't say why not) actually *have* read it, but just don't feel that they've understood it well enough to discuss it without "appearing stupid" or "losing face". If you manage to convince those students that they'll *at least have to ask questions* about the material, they may even come to realize that their understanding of it is neither as poor nor as embarrassing as they thought.
---
Finally, since I mentioned my background in the beginning, let me include a couple of tips and traps I've noticed specifically regarding Finnish audiences. I can't say whether or not these might apply also to your students, but they may be at least worth considering. (There are also some implicit assumptions about classroom style in the way I've presented things below, but the general points should be adaptable to different teaching methodologies.)
(Also, just to be clear, by "Finns" here I really mean "me, and some other people I've observed in class". Of course, as with any cultural or ethnic group, there's a huge amount of within-group variation, so nothing here should be construed as universal rules.)
One is that Finns generally don't like to interrupt when someone else is talking; it's considered rude. By the same token, if they do feel the need to interrupt you, they're likely to just politely clear their throat (or, in a classroom setting, raise their hand) or say "excuse me..." and wait for you to stop. Thus, *one way to kill off any hope of an active classroom discussion is to just talk too much yourself.*
Going off on a long uninterruptible monologue whenever someone asks something remotely relevant is particularly bad — you may think you're rewarding the asker by seizing on the topic they brought up, but it's more likely that you're just teaching everyone in the class not to ask too many questions if they want to get on with the course. Engaging the asker in a back-and-forth discussion is a much better approach, both because it gives them a better chance to participate, but also just because it gives them a chance to tell you "oh, I get it now, thanks!" without having to interrupt you.
Another trap is that Finnish students tend to be quite reluctant to answer questions which they consider trivial — there are several reasons for that, but I suspect it's partly a side effect of the early school system, where the teachers generally try to learn the progress level of each child and to direct questions of different levels to different students. While this is generally an excellent way of dealing with a heterogeneous group of students and making sure everyone gets to participate, it does have the side effect of teaching the more advanced students (who, of course, are the ones who mostly end up in academia later) not to even bother raising their hand for questions they feel are below their level, since they won't get to answer them anyway.
The problem here is that, if you don't already know your students well, you can end up asking a question and getting no answers, and having no idea whether the question was way too easy or way too hard (or just possibly both). My suggestion for dealing with that situation would be to ask something like "OK, so you all know this?" and seeing who nods. If not all do, direct the question to someone who didn't.
A third point, somewhat related to the first, is that Finns stereotypically don't like asking questions if they believe they can find the answer by just listening or reading more instead. (If you look at [my Stack Exchange profile](http://stackexchange.com/users/178805/ilmari-karonen), you'll see that I'm a perfect example of the stereotype; I just counted that, excluding meta sites and code golf, I've posted well over a thousand answers and just *four* questions across the entire network. And most of those are self-answered.) If your students are like that too, they may be much more likely to speak up if they believe they have a reason to *disagree* with you than if they just don't *understand* something (even if they might actually phrase their argument as a question).
One rather cheap, but potentially effective, trick to encourage student participation in situations like that could be to deliberately make trivial mistakes, like replacing a plus sign with a minus in a simple equation, and see if your students spot them. If they do, thank them and encourage them to keep an eye out for anything else that might seem funny. If they don't, you can always just "notice" the mistake yourself a little later and correct it. Either way, you end up looking a little less like an infallible authority.
And, yeah, I realize that I've gone way off on a tangent at this point, so I'll just stop here. Sorry.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: There are already a lot of answers and I feel a little silly about adding yet another one, but I think my view is very different. I would classify all the other answers as taking a carrot/stick approach to provide an extrinsic motivator. I would push for trying to use an intrinsic motivator. You need to demonstrate to the students that class is better and that they will get a lot more out of it if they read before hand. I would devote some time at the beginning of the next few classes for the students to either read the material or be lectured. You could either use a show of hands or an electronic "clicker" type quiz to decide when to move on. This will allow you to get to the "good" stuff, but obviously isn't sustainably. Stress throughout this initial period that the later portions of class would be better if they spent time before hand doing the reading. Further point out that less material will be covered if they don't do the reading before hand, or that you might have to switch to a less desirable teaching method (e.g., lectures or presentations).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: I encountered a similar situation with some groups, but now only find the problem among the minority of students. When working with students who are not self-motivated, you must make them fear for their grade.
First, assigned students a short reading task to fit each assigned reading. One potential task might be a [KWL](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KWL_table). These are quite simple, but cannot really be completed if the students do not at least actually think about the topic.
Then, set the deadline to shortly before the class (or the night before), asking students to submit their short answers via E-mail. This lets you verify that they read the passage.
To deal with the pass-fail grading system, which I assume is for the total course grade and not for individual assignments, consider telling students that you will count how many times they miss these assignments, and if they miss 3, they have failed the course. Make sure the students see you keeping the record early on and let them see the tally for themselves.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/03/25 | 676 | 2,690 | <issue_start>username_0: How would names with 'van', written in the Dutch style - e.g. <NAME>, J., be ordered in a bibliography?
Do we count the 'van' element so that e.g. <NAME>, J. would be some point after Campbell, S. - or do ignore the 'van' element so that the first letter is and would therefore come before Campbell in a bibliography?
Does this depend on whether the author uses the Dutch 'van X' style or the American 'Van X'? Obviously concatenated forms such as Vancouver, C. would be counted as .<issue_comment>username_1: There are varying conventions, obviously. Pick one, *and* you might have biblio entries "van B (see B... van)" or vice-versa, especially if you have a large bibliography. That way you serve everyone. (I don't know whether automated biblio software can be immediately configured to do this automatically, but there are obviously work-arounds.) That is, functionality trumps everything else.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: This depends on the specific style or country. In the Netherlands, surnames are sorted by the "main" part, so <NAME> would come before Campbell. On the other hand, in Belgium it is sorted by the first letter of the surname. There capitalization is also dependent on how the name is registered in the passport. In the Netherlands, one would write "<NAME>" if the first name is omitted, and "<NAME>" if the initials or first name is there.
In short, it may be difficult to tell if you are not a native speaker. It is probably best to just pick one of the alternatives and stick with that.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The authoritative reference for this type of question (for librarians, at least) would be the publication "Names of Persons" by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, which is available for download here:
<http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/cataloguing/pubs/names-of-persons_1996.pdf>
Here's what it says about 'van':
* If the person is Dutch, "<NAME>" should be sorted under B
* If he or she is Belgian, sort it under V (but note the small print that says Belgian libraries aren't consistent across the country)
* If they're from the US, sort it under V
The problem is that following these rules strictly is rather likely to confuse your readers, so I wouldn't actually recommend using different formats for people of different origin (though you will find this in library catalogues!). Instead, I suggest you pick one style and stick to it, as suggested by the other answers. Nonetheless, I think "Names of Persons" is worth consulting if you encounter name formats you're unfamiliar with.
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/03/26 | 653 | 2,789 | <issue_start>username_0: While reading the **PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH** section of some completed NSF award abstracts, I expected to find papers only within the limited scope of the goals of the proposal. To my surprise, I have found [some papers](http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0914840) in completely unrelated topics credited to the research grant that funded it. It doesn't even seem like a serendipitous finding or semi-related tangent either, but rather a complete deviation from the grant's intended purpose.
I'm sure that there are other justifications for attributing research grants for publications as stated in [this post](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2685/acknowledging-funding), but it made me wonder...
How can one justify using grant money to fund research outside of your intended purpose of the grant? Is this a common practice? Are there any negative consequences to using your grant to fund extracurricular research activities? Under what circumstances is it valid to do so and when is it inappropriate to do so?<issue_comment>username_1: I've also been funded by NSF's Division of Mathematical Sciences, so I can respond personally. To first-order approximation, the only resources that research grants in mathematics (and similar fields, like theoretical computer science) provide is money to buy food to supply brain cells.
If my brain cells (or my students' brain cells) produce research results during the active period of a grant, I *always* acknowledge the grant in the resulting paper and I *always* list that publication in my reports to NSF. It doesn't matter whether the work is directly *or even tangentially* related to the research outlined in the proposal.
If that seems inappropriate, consider the alternatives: (1) Shut off any part of my brain that is not thinking *specifically* about the proposed work. (2) Allow myself to think about other stuff, but don't acknowledge the grant if I actually make progress. The first alternative requires irreversible surgery that I am unwilling to perform on myself, and the second is *completely* unethical.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: A grant is not exactly the same as a contract. When you propose a set of research tasks, you're basically saying that you hope to make progress on a set of problems with plausible directions. Reviewers fund you AND the work. It's common to hear people say in a panel, "This seems like a hard problem, but good things will come out of funding researcher X".
So at least with the NSF (and I don't have experience with other agencies), there's an understanding that you'll work on topics related to the grant, and that you'll work on other things as well - maybe even to fuel the next grant !
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/03/26 | 1,355 | 6,100 | <issue_start>username_0: There are a handful of students in my course who came to class, did acceptably well on the midterm, and contributed to the (group) assignments, but did poorly on the final exam. The exam was a combination of multiple choice and long-answer "problem solving" questions. The class is heavily applied and has a strong emphasis on team project work but there was also a 50% exam component.
These students were surprised that they did so poorly in the course.
Is this an indication of a poor exam or poor instruction on my part? Is there something that I can do throughout my course to avoid this situation in the future?
Some articles (ex: <http://chronicle.com/article/Stop-Telling-Students-to-Study/131622>) advocate moving away from summative evaluations altogether for example.<issue_comment>username_1: Apart from the natural response of blaming someone else for one's shortcomings (as students often do), it is difficult to see where the problem may lie. I have studied under a summative system and always found my grades were very clear and understandable to me, particularly if I understood why answers were graded as they were. Now I usually did not question someone's judgement unless I felt it was absolutely necessary.
Now, many years later, I am teaching in a system where courses are set up with learning objectives. At first I found this quite strenuous since each objective must be underpinned by clear grading criteria for each of the grades A-E and F. Note that the major difference is that the learning objectives means you do not grade on a curve but in terms of how students fulfill the goals.
Working with goal oriented criteria demands a lot from the teacher in first setting up the appropriate goals and then to make sensible criteria for how to judge fulfilling them. At first it seems tempting to describe the fulfillment as good, better, much better and outstandingly good or something of that sort but the point is to pinpoint what characterizes the standard for the specific grade. Since many criteria make up a final grade one must also explain the ways in which the different criteria are weighted together but that is a only a minor problem reminiscent of the summative system.
What I have found in the end is that not only should the criteria give the students better ways to understand where they stand but they actually provide me with more fuel to explain why they got the result they did. I now have a thought-through list of arguments for a specific grade which is not relative to others but relating to a set of goals and how to fulfill them.
If this is manageable everywhere is beyond my horizon to speculate on but I must say that after battling with the system (after it was imposed on us) I have found that it actually works in my favour—and hopefully also the students'). It makes the grading transparent. It is also possible to stake out issues that may reduce grades such as spelling errors in essays or missing labels in graphs or whatever details may matter.
Now so far this concerned the setup of the course in terms of grading. It is of course necessary to also add structure to a class that forces students to work with the new knowledge during the course. This could of course be any activity that makes students read the literature and reflect on its content. As an undergraduate I was in a system where studying was mainly done during a few 24-hour days before the exam. Once it was passed most was forgotten. As a graduate student I was in a system with lots of homework and other activities and I found that I really did not have to study that hard for the exam. So activities may play a role to help students reflect on the material. Exactly what activities can and should be used depends on the subject but the main objective should be to have students digest and reflect on the material.
A final issue concerns examination. Does the examination reflect the type of knowledge in the course? This is a big question and one which needs thought. There are many alternative ways of examining apart from written exams and since I hate correcting exams I try to test other ways. Again, what works depends on the type of course but look into other ways of examining the course to see if that will help.
I do not know if this is helpful as an attempt to answer your question but the topic of learning outcomes is difficult and whereas the learning at university level really IS the student's responsibility, it is the learning activities and assessments we make that can help them reach results.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I was just speaking with another instructor and received this advice:
* Grades are non-negotiable unless there's a clerical mistake.
* Transparency will help avoid issues at the end regarding mistakes. One way to easily post marks is to assign each student a unique number at the start of the course, which enables you to post marks as they come in.
I posted it as an answer to my own question because I believe it's helpful advice to know and something I wish I had considered more strongly at the beginning (especially regarding transparency).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: If you believe these students understood the material (based on other measures like projects), but they did badly on the exam, then it's a problem with the exam.
While I was in college, problems like this came up a couple of times, and the professors handled it with one of the following solutions:
* Not having the exam, or removing the exam from final grades.
* Grading students with and without the exam and giving them the higher grade.
* Changing the grading scale for the exam (not necessarily on a curve).
* Offering a chance to re-take the exam.
Since your class already has projects, the first two seem like good options.
Of course, this is all based on the assumption that you think they understand the material and just did badly on the exam. If they also did badly on the projects, then there's a good chance they're just trying to avoid responsibility.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/03/26 | 681 | 2,679 | <issue_start>username_0: I am currently in the process of completing my dissertation.
I am a big fan of unit tests, so I would like to implement a procedure that corrects my writing ( or removes bugs so to speak.)
A few examples:
* check spelling of all text
* do all figures have a description that is up to date with the picture
* search for "like" and replace it with "as" or a better sounding word
* has every head and subhead one or two sentences of introduction
* are the figures at the right place in the pdf?
I am looking for a lot more of these "Bugs" that I was unfortunate enough to introduce into a text and found them only at the last-minute check. What else are common bugs that need to be eliminated?<issue_comment>username_1: This doesn't cover everything you want, by any means, but it is an attempt to automate similar things:
<http://matt.might.net/articles/shell-scripts-for-passive-voice-weasel-words-duplicates/>
You could probably accomplish some of what you want with similar scripts. Some of the checks you wish to do are easily scripted as long as your thesis file(s) are plain text. If you're using Word, automation will be more challenging.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The python `unittest` framework is very good for this sort of thing: <http://docs.python.org/2/library/unittest.html>. You would need to extend it to include the particular set of features you are looking for; I am not aware of a library that has the specific ones you mention already built it.
However, there are a lot of free dictionary lists for spelling (<http://wordlist.sourceforge.net/>) that would be fairly easy to incorporate.
As for putting the figures in the right place, you would need some kind of specification to check against. I assume you are doing this in TeX? There are a lot of good packages available for that sort of thing. Check out this question (<https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/553/what-packages-do-people-load-by-default-in-latex>) on the TeX stack exchange.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Just to add the previous answers:
To my experience, there usually is something wrong with the title page:
Wrong year, typo in the title or supervisors name *etc*.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: A few that I can think of:
* Check that font is consistent on captions for tables/images. Same for headers.
* Check that referenced items, are in fact in the references at the end.
ex: [2]item2, you have at least 2 items in your reference list.
* Check that you don't skip numbers for labeling tables/images
Note: You can have a software doing this for you, just don't forget to refresh/update it.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/26 | 2,447 | 10,254 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm new to the journal publishing world, and I can't but help wonder why the review process isn't completely blind? By blind, I mean the reviewers don't know who performed the research or (more importantly) what university the research came from. It seems that knowing the identity of the authors could influence the review such that the quality of the research no longer stands by itself. You should be able to read an article and, assuming that the experiment was conducted accurately and ethically, decide if it is a significant scientific advancement. Why are reviews not routinely double-blind?<issue_comment>username_1: The answer is at least partly that many research fields are small enough so that most people know what other researchers or research teams are doing. Anonymity is thus impossible because it does not take much to figure out who wrote the paper.
Reviewers are (in my field) often anonymous. I personally do not like this because it is easier as author to judge the comments when you know who delivered them. When you get anonymous reviews you cannot easily judge the tone if it is just the way someone expresses themselves or if it is rude (positive reviews are usually not difficult to deal with for some reason).
I have also seen in journals with open reviews how anonymous posts are full of abrasive (unprofessional) comments and hence not very constructive. I pesonally think anonymity brings out the worst in some people and openness forces one to focus on the constructive.
So, double-blind reviews can be done but I do not really see the benfit, at least not in my and related fields where communities count a few thousand.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: In fields with a vibrant pre-print culture (e.g. Physics or Math), most papers are already publicly posted on the internet with the authors name attached before the paper is submitted and reviewed. In that context, double-blind reviewing isn't even a sensible option.
Even without pre-prints the same is true of talks in some fields. For many papers, many potential referees will have already seen a talk at a conference on the results in the paper. This may be especially true of math where the process of writing up a paper in full detail is especially onerous, so it's common for people to be giving talks on topics while the paper is in preparation.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Theoretical computer science uses single-blind reviewing almost exclusively. Reviewers know the authors of the papers they review, but authors do not who reviews their papers. (As with many things, we copy this attitude from mathematics.)
I think the main reasons we don't use double-blind reviewing are that (1) we never have, (2) we have a habit of posting preprints (although not to the same extent as math and physics), and (3) there's a general consensus that it's just not necessary.
The standard argument that double-blind reviewing is *unnecessary* is that the decision to accept or reject a given paper is more objective than in other fields. There isn't an experiment to judge. Either the algorithm is faster or it isn't; either the theorem is true or it isn't; either the proof is actually a proof or it isn't. (I don't buy this argument, especially for page-limited conference submissions, but there it is.)
>
> You should be able to read an article and, assuming that the experiment was conducted accurately and ethically, decide if it is a significant scientific advancement.
>
>
>
These are not the only criteria by which scientific research is judged.
---
**Update:** As @a3nm points out in his comment, theoretical computer science is slowly transitioning toward a "lightweight double-blind reviewing" protocol that is already common in other computer science research areas. "Lightweight double-blind" requires the authors to submit their papers without identifying information, citing their own work in the third person, but it does *not* prevent either posting preprints to arXiv or presenting work at seminars and workshops.
[ALENEX](https://www.siam.org/conferences/cm/conference/alenex21), [DiSC](http://www.disc-conference.org/wp/disc2020/call-for-papers/), [ESA](http://algo2020.di.unipi.it/ESA2020/), [FAccT](https://facctconference.org/2020/callforpapers.html), [FODS](https://easychair.org/cfp/FODS-2020), and [LICS](https://lics.siglog.org/lics20/cfp.php) already follow this protocol, as do several conferences at the intersection of theoretical computer science and machine learning. Major conferences like SODA are at least seriously discussing the idea, but change is slow, and many (especially senior) researchers are strongly opposed to the idea.
For more information, see [this report on double-blind reviewing at ALENEX 2018](http://blog.geomblog.org/2018/01/report-on-double-blind-reviewing-in.html) and [this FAQ from POPL 2018](https://popl18.sigplan.org/track/POPL-2018-papers#Submission-and-Reviewing-FAQ).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: While [this article by <NAME>](http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/mckinley/notes/blind.html) is quite old now, it provides a much more nuanced view of the processes that would support a double blind review process. In brief, it's not as simple as "make everything double blind". There are stages where it's important, and there are stages in the review process where it's useful NOT to be double blind.
Roughly speaking, you want double blind review when doing the initial evaluation, because people are more likely to jump to conclusions on a first look. But later on, it's helpful to know who's doing the work because even in mathematical work, there's an element of trust that goes into evaluating a paper (especially in theoretical CS for example, where papers are way too short (and deadlines too close) to do a rigorous evaluation of proofs).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: In the age of Internet is not very difficult to get the name of the author (at least with a high probability), especially in a field with few practitioners. For instance see this: <http://www.newappsblog.com/2012/12/the-journal-reviewing-process-isnt-anonymous-did-you-really-think-it-was-think-again.html>.
So in practice only the reviewer remains anonymous.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: In some fields that involve a high degree of "practical development" (recognizeable prototypes etc.) rather than "just" theoretical concepts, it is often impractical to attempt and conceal the identity of submission authors.
A conference or journal may require submissions to be anonymized, which adds a certain extra burden on the authors: Anonymizing does *not* end with removing the authors list, certain sections such as an *Acknowledgments* section need to be removed, and parts of the text may need to be rewritten (when referencing earlier work by the same authors and would, in the final paper, write "We have already ..."). And as it is sometimes still obvious that the current submission is the direct successor of an earlier work, that reference needs to be replaced with something like *Removed for double-blind review*, thus naturally reducing the usefulness of the references.
And yet, all of those factors may easily be in vain, as, for example, CS often involves prototypical applications that get repeatedly extended. The theoretical possibility exists that another researcher may have gotten their hands on someone else's prototype, but when the screenshots in the submission bear a striking resemblance to those in a previously published work (\*), the most likely explanation is that the two works were written by the same author or at least team.
So, as trying to reliably blind the submission is not feasible in many cases and just leads to extra work for the authors (including the discussions if the double-blind review is optional), various conferences/journals do not offer a double-blind review in the first place.
(\*) I am not saying that the same contribution is published twice. I am referring to "unimportant" aspects such as the general layout of a window, or its toolbar icons, here.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: It's not clear to me that in a small field, double-blind necssarily helps promote more impartial reviews. You gain something in removing bias/prejudice based on knowledge of the author(s). However, it becomes much more difficult to control for conflicts of interest: plenty of non-obvious connections exist between researchers that an editor can't be expected to know about. With single-blind reviewing, there is at least the *opportunity* for the reviewer to decline if they know they've influenced the author's views in some way, or if they feel they have reviewed too high a fraction of that author's output. If everything is double-blind, it seems quite likely that small review circles could form, to the ultimate detriment of the field.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: As mentioned in the other responses, often double-blinding is a thin veil, anyway. Moreover, for some types of papers, *knowing the authors of a paper can help assess the level of contribution*.
For example, *knowing that the authors of a reproducibility study are disjoint from the authors of an original paper often suggests that the original paper has truly been reproduced*. In the case of an experimental Computer Science paper, this often means the code was re-implemented. This in itself is a valuable contribution (the reproduction of results) that cannot be assessed reliably from a double-blind statement like "we implement the algorithm from [7]," which may very well mean the authors just re-used the same code base that they used in [7].
As another example, *knowing the authors of a study can expose their biases.* Drawing again from experimental Computer Science, authors often select a subset of methods in literature against which to compare, but there is an incentive to choose ones own techniques (lower development overhead) over ones that are wildly different. (Here I wish I could find that plot over time of state-of-the-art performance relative to performance of the best chosen competitor, but I recall neither the article name, venue, nor author.)
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/03/26 | 762 | 3,336 | <issue_start>username_0: An academic usually is a member of a professional association. E.g., a professor in meteorology can be a member of American Association of Meteorology. Sometimes, the fee can be something like $300 per year. Is it always the case, that such membership fees are covered by the University (department) or a research institute? Are there exceptions?
The goal is to understand the prevailing norm (e.g., 40% (or 60? or 80?) of universities usually cover single association membership up to $500/year).<issue_comment>username_1: As you've already seen from the comments, there is no single solution to this problem. The rules vary greatly from country to country, institution to institution, and even department to department. You will have to check with the specific rules for your funding agencies, department, and other "revenue sources" to determine precisely which sources of funding can be used to pay for these.
(For instance, in Germany, a professor's "discretionary budget" could definitely be used to pay for such things; in the US, this may or may not be the case.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: As others have noted, you are generally not allowed to use department funds for membership dues. However, some societies allow discounted membership for the remainder of the year (sometimes, even free) if you register for one of their flagship conferences (usually the spring/summer conference), especially if you're a student or an early career scientist. The registration charges can be easily paid via grants/department funding and you just need to fork up the rest yourself.
I have done this successfully for a few years now (with the department's knowledge). I do not know what ramifications this might have as to the "continuity of membership". In other words, I'm not sure if they count the past six years as a single block from 2007–2013 (i.e. member for 6 yrs) or six blocks of memberships ranging from between 6–10 months each. At this point in my career, I do not care for length of membership (it really doesn't count for squat), but I can imagine that if you're a senior researcher, the length might matter if you're being reviewed for possible election to the Fellowship of the society.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I am at an American private research university.
There is no general university or department pool of money that I can use to pay for professional association or conference registration.
However, I am given both an annual conference travel fund as well as individual research funds. I am free to use those as I see fit within reason for purposes that promote my research and scholarship. That would include association registration as well as annual meeting registration.
Fine print: There are some restrictions. For example, I am affiliated with some programs on campus that provide research funds but I am supposed to use those funds for those research categories. Thus, I could use the research funds given to me by the fictive Elbonian Studies Program for registration with the American Association of Elbonian Studies as well as for their annual meeting; I could use it for my general Anthropology association registration, but I shouldn't use it for a conference/association that has no connection to Elbonian Studies.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/03/27 | 4,169 | 17,581 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm looking to apply to a Ph.D program in mathematics. I was going to apply last year, but ended up getting cold feet because I wasn't sure how having a *learning* disability would affect (1) being admitted (application process), and (2) if I were to had been so fortunate, whether faculty would treat me any differently (be less willing to take me on as one of their students, for example). I especially worry about (2) because I have experienced a few awkward situations with professors as an undergrad (at the university I attended, it was quite uncommon to find a student with a learning disability studying maths).
For the sake of simplifying the issue, let's assume that my understanding of mathematics is roughly equivalent to those who I would be "competing" against in the application process.
1. Should I explain my situation in my application and can it affect my chances of getting in? (I do not mean to ask if it is legal or not).
2. How are graduate students with disabilities seen from a professor's point of view?
3. What would happen if I were to need a year or two more than other students needed to finish their doctorate? Would they consider this matter in the admission process? What about funding?
I apologize if I don't provide a clearer picture, but I'm not very comfortable providing too much information. I would really appreciate hearing from those in academia (though others are obviously more than welcome to provide responses) who have either personally been through a similar situation or dealt with a student with a learning disability. Lastly, please don't worry about "softening" any responses, I'd like responses to be as honest as possible.
---
**Update:**
I am looking into programs both in Europe and in the United States (there are programs in both countries I would very much like to attend). I've noticed some programs in the United States state on their website they would like students to finish in 4 years (perhaps this is due to economic constraints in recent years).<issue_comment>username_1: *Edit*: For some reason I mis-read the question as "physical" disability, rather than "learning disability." I've amended the answer appropriately, although I suppose it still has a slant towards physical disability.
>
> Should I explain my situation in my application and can it affect my chances of getting in? (I do not mean to ask if it is legal or not).
>
>
>
This is up to you. If you approach it as "how I've overcome my disability to do well in Mathematics," then it could positively affect your acceptance. If you do put it into a statement of purpose, make sure you have someone else read it over and criticize whether or not it sounds like you're forcing the issue (you don't want to do that).
>
> How are graduate students with disabilities seen from a professor's point of view?
>
>
>
As a high school teacher, I had many students with varying disabilities, and I approached each student's situation differently, always with the goals to (1) make the student feel comfortable, (2) to make the other students feel comfortable, and (3) to minimize any effects on the classroom because of the student's disability (e.g., one student had a pace maker and it affected the types of electrical experiments and demonstrations we could do during physics class, so I had to plan around it to minimize the issue). As a college instructor, I've had students with hearing disabilities, and I wore a microphone during lectures that the student could tune in to with a radio. I've also had students with eyesight disabilities, and we made sure that front-row seats were available, and that they had access to any slides before class (a good idea for any student, actually!).
For students with learning disabilities, I've always encouraged them to use the resources available through the school. As long as a student has a documented disability, they get the benefits of that diagnosis (e.g., extra time on tests -- although I almost always give everyone extra time if they need it).
I never felt any ill-will towards disabled students (physical or learning), and we worked around the challenges mutually. I'm sure you've already handled this individually with many of your previous teachers and professors, so I would continue to do that when you get to grad school.
>
> What would happen if I were to need 5 to 6 years to finish my doctorate?
>
>
>
[You'd be the average!](http://math.stanford.edu/graduate/admissions.html)
*Edit:*
In my first response, I didn't really focus on what might be different in grad school (vice undergrad).
1. You'll have many more one-on-one interactions with your advisor and other professors -- if your disability might somehow affect these interactions, consider that carefully when you decide on your advisor. For example, if your disability involves poor memory skills and you need to read notes before answering your advisor's questions, don't pick an advisor that gets upset when you don't immediately have answers.
2. You will most likely have to give presentations in class and at conferences and workshops, which you may have gotten away with not doing in undergraduate school (and certainly if you have to defend your thesis before your committee). If your disability will prevent you from doing that effectively, you need to think about how to mitigate it.
3. You'll spend long hours at school, in an office or lab, or the library. Consider this if your disability will be affected by it.
4. You'll read a lot. A LOT. If you thought you read a lot in undergraduate school, stand by. Again, if your disability limits the amount of time you can read or the ability for you to read, you will have to figure out how to mitigate it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: EDIT: My answer is about research based PhD in UK from real experience, not from a leaflet.
First of all it depends where do you want to study. I can tell you my experience from my UK perspective (I do PhD at the moment in Engineering, I finished undergrad Math with Stat).
The PhD is completely different than Undergrad. You do not have to much contacts with Professors even with your supervisor quite rare. At least it is completely different than an undergrad level. You do your own study. They expect you to write some forms every three months. After about a year you should have written Literature Review (about 20-30 pages), after that start to produce some results.
The aim of PhD is to make an input into knowledge. You need to find something new and nobody will do it for you. Do not expect that you will go to someone and ask how to do that because nobody will know. After your first year you should be the best expert in your small piece of the field and nobody will know better than you.
Remember PhD is about writing. You have to write articles and only this can give you strong diploma.
All your skills counts and there is no perfect candidate. You can have something what other don't have and this can be your strong point. I think nobody really cares about learning difficulties, because you do not have exams, do not have coursework, but your job is to write articles, if you can do that in your time and space, you fine.
You will get funding usually for three years. After that you have a year to write your thesis but you do not have money. After that they push you to finish, so you need to pay the fee by yourself. Nobody will give you more money because of your difficulties. It is your choice. You can do your PhD part time and have founding for six years or you can try to find some sponsorship.
To finish I would like to tell you what one of the professors told me about his recruitment strategy. I asked him what is the most important factor if he have to chose his postdoc.
He told me that he does interview and ask himself if he would like to spent 15 hours fly to a conference with the guy who is interviewed.
There are all different reasons why one person is selected and another not.
Keep applying, keep in mind you will not get your first, probably not second or even third position, smile and don't give up.
Good luck.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: WARNING: Stay at your home institution, even if it means that you
might not get your ideal pick of subject area. Once you leave
your home undergrad institution, you won't be able to get back
your accomodations so easily. I was accepted and into a Math PhD
program this year with full funding. I moved across the country
to work with a certain professor at this new school.
The math department is awesome, but the disability services is
horrible. I was told that I am the only graduate student that has
ever asked for accomodations...ever! The director of the center
somehow thinks that I am being insincere despite the multiple
levels of documentation that I have sent. The higher your level
of education is, the more likely it is that you are supposed to
be a failure if you are an LD student. Since you'll be going into
math, they simply won't believe that you have any problems.
Do not disclose that you require accomodations to anyone until
after you have been accepted with funding. Get these issues
settled before you start classes. It might even be a good idea to
defer your studies until you get these issues resolved with the
disability services.
If you have poor grades due to a learning disability and want to
get into a grad school, then you must compensate with published
research with your professors. When it comes to graduate
acceptance, they are only looking for research potential. They
will overlook your GRE scores or grades if they are above the
50th percentile and you have a strong research background. The
GRE isn't predictive of anything for math students because it is
a timed exam full of highschool math problems that you can do in
your sleep. With a learning disability, you will get a low score
because you will only finish fewer than half of the problems, but
since you are a math major, you will get all of them
right. Again, they are highschool math problems.
The only grades that really count are are your proof-heavy math
courses. You should try to get As in most of these. Especially
Abstract Algebra and Analysis. The grad school will ignore any
past failures in the pre-calc through calculus sequence of
courses if you have done well in the proof heavy
courses (abstract algebra, analysis, topology, number theory,
combinatorics, graph theory).
Go to all of the mathematics conferences and colloquiums. Hang
out with the professors. Get to know a few of them very
well. Learn about their research. They will give you toy problems
to take home for fun. If you do enough of these, then they will
eventually give you some real problems to work on. Then all of a
sudden, you will be presenting at conferences and publishing
papers with them. They will write you awesome letters for grad
school.
Once in grad school, you will have to deal with another hurdle --
the qualifier exam (quals). These are typically timed exams. You
will have to make a really good impression on all of the
department's professors for several years if you want them to
argue for giving you more time on the quals. Giving someone
without a learning disability more time on the quals will not
change the outcome of the exam, so they will allow more time in
the case of an LD student.
In grad school, you will work with your professors very
closely. Work on their problems for a while. Eventually you will
run into something that they haven't thought of. This will be
your PhD thesis. Every question that you can answer in math
generates new questions.
Your mathematics ability is judged by creativity, not on
speed.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Since I can't see it mentioned yet, I feel the need to point out that not making accommodations is illegal in some juristictions at least. Of course that is not the same as prevailing attitudes, but those change best when someone fights. Whether you are willing to be the person that fights is another question. However, what your experience would be will vary between institutions - some will be better at dealing with disabilities than others, so I would suggest getting in contact with current students to find out what things are really like.
Another big factor is exactly what the nature of your difficulties is. If they are fundamental to your ability to do maths then you probably won't get anywhere, as you don't have a right to be excellent at something. If they are more about how you learn mathematics then you might be OK. Doctoral study is much more individual than undergraduate study, so you should be able to adapt working patterns to suit you better. On the other hand, some aspects of certain disabilities are so prevalent within mathematics that you won't get any sympathy from some people.
I think that a key thing to consider is that the nature of accommodation would very likely change. Doing a PhD requires high level performance. You will not get credit for writing poor quality papers because it's hard for you. What you should get is help to build up your coping strategies so that you can produce high quality work despite your difficulties. The research community at large will not make any allowances for you, so you must learn how you can keep up.
Personally I would think that taking an extra 2 years sounds like a lot. Universities and supervisors are likely to get hassled about a student taking that long. There should be systems in place to deal with people who have unexpected problems while studying and so need time out or just longer, but going in expecting to take that much longer doesn't sound like much of a good idea.
I think you should discuss your needs with the disability office as part of your application process. Also, as I said before, talk to current students to find out what the local culture is like in practice. But also be prepared to take responsibility for yourself.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> 1. Should I explain my situation in my application and can it affect my chances of getting in? (I do not mean to ask if it is legal or not).
>
>
>
Don't disclose until you get in. Research the schools and see what kinds of support are available for students with learning disabilities. From my experience, it is more important to have the support of an office backing you, than to have the acceptance of professors. My Chair and dissertation committee were all supportive and worked with me to finish in the timeframe that I needed.
>
> 2. How are graduate students with disabilities seen from a professor's point of view?
>
>
>
Stigma is real. Most professors that I have dealt with as a PhD student did not understand or help me (not because they didn't want to, they just didn't understand), but I got the support I needed from the disability resource center at my university and I received the necessary accommodations. Professors had to adhere to the law, so they worked with the disability office on campus to make sure that I had what I needed. You are your biggest advocate though, and it is your responsibility to follow through on everything. When you do that and you have an office backing you, you will be able to succeed.
>
> 3. What would happen if I were to need a year or two more than other students needed to finish their doctorate? Would they consider this matter in the admission process? What about funding?
>
>
>
I got 2 extensions and took a total of 10 years to complete my PhD. The average time to complete a PhD at my university is 7.5 years, so 2.5 years longer was no big deal. As long as I was making progress towards completion and submitting my APR (Annual Progress Report), I was granted the time. Like I said though, I had total support from my committee, the university grad studies office, and the disability resource center, but I had to facilitate this process and that was difficult.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Echoing some of the other good answers: in the U.S., "reasonable accommodations" must be made. A modicum of formal documentation, and interview with *our* "Accommodations Office" will easily get accommodations such as more time on timed exams, for grad students or undergrads.
Beyond contests and quiz-bowls, "time" is usually not a key issue in the practice of mathematics. For that matter, some people who've done very well in contests find genuine mathematics not to their taste.
So, in the vein that "slow and steady wins the race", indeed, reasonably-talented (and interested!) people who can stay more-or-less-focused for weeks, months, or years will tend to produce good work, while quiz-kids who can only work for an hour or a day will not.
This does leave up in the air the issue of appraisal of mathematical talent (which is not a scalar... it comes in varying forms) in the face of some sort of learning disability. The fundamental issue would be to convince the admissions committee that you have the talent, perhaps despite problems with standard filtering devices such as GRE... Hopefully, you have faculty mentors who can attest to your talent in much subtler ways than grades and such. If not, things become tricky.
I've been on grad admissions committees for decades, and the bottom-line question is really about capacity and interest in finishing the degree. Achieving a good outcome a little more slowly is not *desirable*, but that aspect is secondary to the quality. Years later, a year or two now won't matter too much.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/27 | 470 | 1,950 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm a very early stage researcher and my first two conference papers could have been better, but that doesn't stop new journals spamming me with offers to publish my work. This morning I received two emails from:
1. Journal of Communication and Computer (<http://www.davidpublishing.com/>)
2. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science (<http://ijpg.org/index.php/IJACSci>)
Now this is clearly spam, they know nothing about my research area or they wouldn't be asking me, and my first reaction is to not waste my time reformatting work that I've already done. But am I missing something here?
Personally I feel that publishing in these general purpose repositories dilutes the (our!) publishing model and makes it harder to find related research.
So what is, if anything, being done about this?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> So what is, if anything, being done about this?
>
>
>
**Ignore them.**
No, you are not missing anything. These journals are scams, not serious scientific literature.
If you plan to publish a longer version of your conference paper, send it to one of the journals that your paper cites, or at least to a journal where you recognize a significant fraction of the editorial board.
Sadly, trying to "doing something about" these scammers is as futile as "doing something about" fake email quota warnings, diploma mills, exiled Nigerian princes, international email lotteries, and three-card monte. Set up your mail program to blacklist their emails if you can, but then move on with your life.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: If you don't regard these journals as worth publishing in, then chances are no-one else will either. If you think you have unpublished work that people would be interested in reading, but isn't worth submitting for whatever reason, [arXiv](http://arxiv.org) seems a good place to put it. There are lots of conference proceedings on there.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/27 | 1,553 | 6,640 | <issue_start>username_0: En route to academia, are professional society memberships useful? So far, I feel like I have been paying ~$100/year for a few societies (with student discounts), just to receive copies of their monthly magazines that I only end up skimming over once. I get tons of emails that are vaguely aimed towards keeping people up to date with current research, but one can do that by reading papers anyways. So I don't really see a point to being a member.
Does anybody else feel this way? Are there actual benefits to being a member for societies like these?<issue_comment>username_1: In my area, (computing and information science) there are 2 primary professional organizations that one is a member of. The first is [ACM](http://www.acm.org/) and the second is [IEEE](https://www.ieee.org/index.html).
In my own context as a graduate student, there are 2 major reasons why someone is a member of ACM or IEEE or both as follows:
1. It gives me access anytime, anywhere to the [ACM Digital Library](https://www.ieee.org/index.html) and the [IEEE Digital Library](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/guesthome.jsp). This is important because it allows me 365 x 7 x 24 access to papers and citations and references in my own area of work that are very relevant and important for me.
2. It reduces the cost of attending conferences (sometimes by 15-25%) whether one is presenting a paper or poster or not (even though the culture in our area is that the adviser pays for conference attending funds but its good to reduce his/her financial burden).
A third, ancillary reason is that you can create your own Author webpages on these websites which is a good supporting place for listing your publications since they appear automatically in your author webpage once you publish and also tracks citations and references to your work.
In my opinion, there are no other practical reasons for being a member of these two organizations. Of course, this may and probably will differ from discipline to discipline but I just wanted to point out the reasons for being a member of professional organizations in my research field.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In addition to the individual benefits they offer (subscriptions, electronic journal access, discounts, the possibility of distinguished or honorary grades of membership, etc.), professional organizations also contribute to the research community more broadly:
1. They organize conferences, publish journals, and support other activities, for example in employment, education, outreach, and public awareness. The academic community would be very different without these services, many of which need financial support.
2. They represent their field to the outside world, such as government funding agencies, and make the case for its importance.
3. They intervene in crises. For example, when the University of Rochester abruptly decided to cancel its graduate program in mathematics in 1995, the American Mathematical Society helped coordinate a very effective response, which led to the program's reinstatement.
4. They monitor the health of the field and help members address any concerns (for example, by investigating ethical complaints).
5. They help shape how the field is viewed within academia, through publicity, prizes, leadership positions, invited lectures, etc.
Membership dues help pay for these activities, which are also more effective when the organization represents a large fraction of the field.
Nobody has an obligation to belong to any particular organization, but it's a simple and valuable way to support the field as a whole. I'd recommend that every grad student join a couple of professional societies.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Give for receive.
If you are a member of a professional society you can contribute, create projects, connect/meet people, improve skills, etc. In the other hand you can get/receive benefits:
* **academic**
+ professional prestige
+ international spot
+ professional collaboration
* **economic (commissions)**
+ training/organizing for events/congresses
+ society funding projects (graduate courses, infrastructure improvement)
The usefulness of a professional society membership depends on your personal interests, society capabilities and is harvested with time.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: This might sound controversial to some but my understanding of it all is that the whole society concept is a bit outdated. I have a feeling that most of those organizations or societies have older roots and try to live on the reputation of what it once was. In my own field I don't know a single person who's a member of the national/regional/global organization. I know some who used to be, though...
The only benefits I have figured out so far are discounts on journals, conferences and in some specific cases travel grants for younger scientists. The "problem" here is that the first two never really mattered much, in my experience. I don't know how it is at other institutes but we normally get access to a wide variety of journals via the university library network (in other words, I never had any reason to subscribe to journals) and likewise we are required to apply to travel grants in order to go to conferences, so having some percent discount does not make a huge difference (we either get the money to go to the conference, or we don't).
To refer to some of the points mentioned:
* as I mentioned in a comment to username_1's answer, providing access to relevant literature should be a responsibility of the department/university/research institute. It is such a fundamental part of the work so that not having access to literature would be a service-professional not getting a hammer/screwdriver from his employer. Access to literature is as much of a vital tool for us as a chisel might be for a carpenter..
* some of the other benefits, such as representation towards policy makers, could be extremely region-dependent. For instance; as a European resident, I see absolutely no reason to be a member of ACS, which is one of the biggest societies relevant to my line of work.
* organizations/societies do organize conferences but you still have to pay to attend, plus I have yet to come across a society-exclusive conference so far. Note that I do not dismiss the possibility, but rather stress how uncommon it is.
All that said, I do not advocate that societies are useless. I only suggest that given the meager salaries we get as grad students, I think you can come up with better use of the money that would have been spent on the membership fee.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/03/28 | 5,132 | 21,998 | <issue_start>username_0: My problem is the following: I teach an honors course in an engineering discipline at a small university. (It is not exactly that, but "teaching an honors course" is a good approximation to what I do). Large US companies sometimes ask me to recommend the best students for an interview, and they are often hired. The policy of the University in general is that it doesn't discriminate on political opinions or religious beliefs or anything of that sort.
Now, I have a student who is a very nice person and has a great academic record but he supports an ideology that many would find abhorrent. (Again, this doesn't mean he is a bad person. For example, the famous mathematician and Fields Medalist <NAME> supported Stalinist communism in his youth, in reaction to unjust practices in the US:
<http://www.ams.org/notices/200011/rev-kirby.pdf> ).
Now, if I recommend him, I think there's a reasonable chance he gets hired because he's pretty good in technical matters. But then I think he might really get into problems there because he supports his "bad" ideology in a rather ostentatious manner, and I'm afraid that this will reflect badly on me and on my ability to recommend other students. I'm pretty sure the overwhelming majority of employees would be hostile to his ideology.
Mind you, I wouldn't have hesitated for a second to give him a recommendation for graduate study, people are usually much more understanding of that sort of stuff in academia, and the only person he really would have to please in that case is his advisor, and if the student's research is good, the advisor would probably forget about all the rest. But working in the industry necessitates interaction with a lot of people, and I think his ideological views may cause problems.
What do you think I should do ? Recommend him or not ? If I don't, I feel it would be a kind of betrayal; especially since he wouldn't even know why he's not getting the interview some people less qualified than him are getting. I also have the impression I'm not the only one to have this issue with him, as he has been already "overlooked" for several positions where less qualified people succeeded.<issue_comment>username_1: Recommendations are an inherently subjective practice: people are free to support whomever they choose (or not to support, as the case may be).
If you do not feel that you can give someone a positive recommendation for any reason, then you are better off not doing so. If you believe that giving a positive recommendation to a candidate will damage your credibility, that of itself, I believe, is sufficient reason not to recommend someone.
On the other hand, if a company asks you simply to list, for instance, the top *X* students in your course, then you should not omit someone from that list for personal reasons; then the onus is on the company to decide who they want. Your job is to provide the objective information the company asked for.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I find your question very intriguing. I have never had a problem of this magnitude but are frequently asked to write letters of recommendation and sometimes for people who I do not think are very capable and so the conundrum is there, what do you do?
If you are asked to rate people for a job where their academic merits are what counts then I think it is pretty clear that you cannot omit this person. After all, what if you recommend someone who has similar ideas but that you do not know about? The question becomes somewhat philosophical in the sense that it becomes: who's responsibility is it? Yours or the company's that hire the person? And add to that, where do you draw the line between what is acceptable and what is not? Other's may set different limits.
If the job involves tasks were the ideology might be key to the company the situation is of course worse and then it may become necessary to state the facts. But again, it is loose grounds on which we move and tactfulness is paramount.
If you are asked to write a letter of recommendation, you can of course deny based on whatever grounds (you can come up with). It is also possible to make subtle points through what you do not say in a letter. Whether such points are picked up on th eother side is difficult to say of course. But it would be possible to stress that "*academically* the person is very good" and other points along the same lines, circumventing the parts that are not something you endorse.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Although username_1's answer is excellent, I will add my opinion that if the student's ideology would cause problems in the work (as implied) that is also a good reason NOT to recommend the student as it means the student would contribute negatively and would harm the company (harm team spirit or other group dynamics).
If you recommend someone who you could foresee having a negative impact on the company, then your reputation would naturally suffer (rightfully so).
It takes more than just good technical understanding to work well in a team.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: As an adherent of Objectivism (an ideology I'm sure many many academics would consider "bad"), I never had a problem with this kind of issue because I am not ostentatious about my beliefs, or the kind of person <NAME> would call a "lapel grabber." It sounds like this student either is not aware or does not care that his manner of touting his beliefs makes others feel uncomfortable and alienated from him.
Here's the hard part: whether you write the recommendation or not, for the student's own sake, I suggest that you bring up this issue to him. He may decide to throw it back in your face (a pretty likely outcome if he's really in the grips of a true believer phase), but he can only benefit from hearing that his methods of pushing his beliefs are holding him back professionally and socially.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: As stated in the other answers, no-one can coerce you to provide a recommendation, you are free to not recommend a student for any reason you choose, or no reason at all - if you are not comfortable recommending this student, then don't.
However, from your description, I would suggest that it's not the ideology at issue, but the student's interpersonal skills. I guarantee you that I have opinions that you would find absolutely abhorrent, and you have opinions that I would likewise. The point is that in a professional context we usually have the good sense to keep these things to ourselves.
It's not clear what your opinion of the student, and their suitability for the role, actually is. If you think that the way he expresses his ideology interferes with his ability do the job well, or his ideological standing is in some way relevant to the job at hand, then there is no conflict here. (For example, a raving misogynist would be completely inappropriate in a supervisory position.)
If you think that he nevertheless really would be an asset to the company, then you can either (i) informally suggest to your contact: "Here is a brilliant student who will produce technically excellent work, but be careful; he has a bit of a problem with appropriate boundaries at work." and/or (ii) write a letter that expresses his technical skills and omits any mention of personality or social skills. The omission will be loud and clear. In the end, it is up to the company to decide if the tradeoff is worth it.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_5: There are different levels of ideologist people. When I was a graduate student, I had friends from other religions and I had very close friendships with them, and on the other extreme, I had a classmate from the same religion as I had at the time, but I did not feel safe around him and I usually avoided any discussions with him. So I think an individual should not be judged only based on his political or religious point of view. Here the important issue is what that person is capable or willing to do because of his ideology. Is he an extremist? Is he an activist who is connected with questionable organizations? Does he have a criminal record? Is he bothering people with comments or discussions coming from his ideology? Is his actions (and his productivity) in the workplace is affected by his ideology? If I have seen one of these issues (or similar issues), I'll think twice about writing recommendation letter for him. Otherwise, I simply ignore his ideology. After all, the company is going to interview him and it is interviewers job to find out if he is a good fit for their organization.
I have to respectfully disagree with you about one thing you mentioned in your question:
>
> people are usually much more understanding of that sort of stuff in academia...
>
>
>
I don't know what your experience is in academia, but I have several very bad experiences about being judged in academia because of my point of view, my nationality, my religion, my personality, even because of my very personal issues like being single. On the contrary, I have worked and had several interviews with non-academic organizations and I have never seen such prejudices in these organizations. The reason is very simple. In business people are trying to make money and as long as you (as an employee) can help the organization to make money you are accepted and nobody cares what your ideology (race, religion, etc) is. But, in academia, money or advancement is not the first priority, and certain people can impose their will against **"officially accepted" academic goals**. Therefore it is easy to be judged in academia just because you think differently. Ironically, the fact that you have recognized this student as a person with a bad ideology shows that in academia people notice and judge people based on their ideology.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I think for an appropriate answer I'd need to know exactly what the 'bad' ideology is. If it is something that could potentially be illegal or criminal, then the answer is clearly: don't recommend this person. However, if the ideology is something that is political, religious, or otherwise legal, you really can't bar this person simply because you don't agree with their allegedly 'bad' ideology.
I'd even go so far as to say, if you don't recommend this person on the basis that they 'hate gays' or support socialism, you might be legally considered to be discriminating against this person.
Ultimately, be subjective about this students work and objective about their qualifications.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_7: If you can't recommend him whole-heartedly, don't recommend him. A lukewarm recommendation will be damaging for him and raise questions about you.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: I think you should try and figure out what your **primary** concern is; to protect your (former?) student from a potentially hostile work environment OR to protect your reputation towards companies that you have been in contact with.
* if you are primarily concerned about how the student would feel going into an environment that might turn out to be hostile towards him/her, just try to explain that his way of thinking, his belief... might not be appreciated and indeed might create tension in the future.
* If it's the latter, in other words if you are concerned about whether or not your reputation would be effected negatively; then I think you should not recommend a person that will likely not be appreciated by peers and employers.
Yet again another perspective to this is whether or not you can distance yourself from the candidate in question. I mean if company A comes to you and asks whether or not you have any talented student, you can recommend whoever, given that their academic/intellectual merits are top-notch. In that case I don't think you would be liable for any personality traits and such.
If the student wants a recommendation towards a specific company, then by giving that recommendation you essentially vouch for that person. If you don't think the student is a good fit for the company/institute, you should not recommend him/her obviously.
I apologize if my answer is a bit too vague, I feel I used too many "if"s there, but in my defense the question is pretty vague as well.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: As soon as you will send the recommendation letter directly to the companies, can't you simply warn about this concern in your letter?
Then it is their responsibility to talk about it with your student, during the interview; and to decide if his positions and attitude is acceptable to them...
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_10: In my opinion recommend him. Whatever his ideology, for you he is a best student and as per the university norms and your academical valuation he is eligible. So let him live his own life. by not recommending you cant help him to escape from "same situations" in future. May be he will change when he get into the work environment. The college life and professional life is different in my perspective. may be he will adapt with the situation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: In your question, you write:
>
> "Large US companies sometimes ask me to recommend the best students for an interview, and they are often hired."
>
>
>
I'd like to underline the words "*for an interview*" here. It doesn't look like the companies you're recommending these students for are just blindly hiring them based on your recommendation alone, *and that's a very good thing.*
It really is the interviewers' job to filter out candidates with unsuitable attitudes or insufficient interpersonal skills — that's the point of having an in-person job interview, rather than just hiring the candidate based on their CV and maybe an e-mail quiz.
Sure, it's possible that the student you're concerned about may try to be on their best behavior during the interview and downplay any problematic aspects of their personality — most people do, after all. But that's something any reasonably experience interviewer will know to account for.
Also, if the student has enough self-awareness to know that they may want to downplay their ideology during the interview, they'll hopefully also be smart enough not to flaunt it excessively in the workplace either.
And conversely, this also comes down to *their* personal preferences regarding their work environment as well — if they don't feel they can be comfortable at a job where they cannot openly profess their ideology, to the extent they feel they need to, then it's unlikely that they would *completely* suppress any mention of it at the interview, either.
And if not, well, I would hope that the company also has a trial period for new hires. Most do, precisely because there are some workplace issues which may not always be caught at the interview stage.
---
Coming at the question from another direction, it looks like your main *personal* concern here is that:
>
> "I'm afraid that this will reflect badly on me and on my ability to recommend other students."
>
>
>
I very much doubt that will be the case, unless you're actually being asked to personally vouch for the suitability of each recommended student to the job — a rather heavy and unusual responsibility for someone not actually working for the company.
Just make sure that you don't say anything untrue in your recommendations: if a student is lazy, don't call them hardworking, and if they are abrasive and prone to conflicts with others, don't say they're a great team player.
Personally, I'd suggest just writing up a fair recommendation of this student, focusing on their technical skills and any other aspect where they actually excel, and leaving those areas where they do not unmentioned. In particular, if you're not *sure* the student's personality would be a good fit for the company, you can just explicitly recommend the student *for an interview* at the company based on their technical skills, with an implied "just talk to this guy and see if you want him or not." Who knows, the company might be just fine with his attitude, or at least might have a slot for him where he can exercise his technical skills without it interfering too much.
(Of course, it's different if you're just being asked to send a list of names. But in that case, the company is definitely accepting the full responsibility for evaluating the candidates anyway.)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_12: Possibly there should be a means to describe emotional intelligence in people and elements like violent or hateful ideologies should be part of that profile.
As to your immediate dilemma, I think you should make it open information in a draft format and give the student a chance to respond.
I think its very important to make this sort of information available
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_13: If your only worry is a possible negative reflection on your judgement, I suggest a recommendation mentioning the students Ideology and his eagerness to share it. I'm sure the recipient will be thankful, because he won't miss out on a qualified candidate and can decide to assume him and handle the situation according to his best knowledge and/or the companies possibilities. Nowadays more companies than one would think have professional coaching services for their employees!
Hope you will recommend him.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: The fact that you have to ask yourself this question says to me that you should not recommend him...At this time. Being a teacher of any sorts has many responsibilities beyond the conveying of the subject matter of your class.
If you think this person has potential, I believe you have a responsibility to approach him on this matter. Try to keep your own feelings on his "belief system" out of it and focus on the issues with his interpersonal skills. Perhaps recommend a course or book that would help him improve in this area. This world needs good minds now more than ever.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_15: The main question here:
>
> is he doing something against the law?
>
>
>
If NOT then judge him **based on the field merit** nothing more nothing less.
I really hate it when academics judge students based on their ideology/race/religion..etc.
Academia is diverse; you will see different students from different cultures, now If you feel uncomfortable with one culture/ideology, then do not let that affect your fairness to the students. If I were you, I can't let my believe in an ideology affects supporting my brilliant student.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_16: If you think he/she deserves being recommended, then do it. And don't be afraid of putting into your recommendation any peculiarities this person might have that you think are of interest to whom the recommendation is addressed.
As an example, I'd rather "warn" people at a slaughterhouse that the candidate is a vegan activist than either send a blind letter of recommendation or not sending it at all. Of course assuming the person fits the job and is recommendable *and* you think that kind of warning might avoid future problems.
If you treasure that person, then you want a good *lasting* position for her/him. Sending a recommendation that you think it will be misleading, will not have any benefit for your referee. If anything try to express why this peculiarity will not be a problem or even beneficial.
If you don't think it will... then don't recommend him/her at all.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_17: Supporting an ideology *in an ostentatious manner* (rather than privately or discreetly) is a *personality* problem.
Discrimination based on personality issues is fair game. Personality is relevant to employment and employability.
Someone who preaches ideology in the workplace clearly has no idea that ideological fanaticism has no place in the workplace. But that could just be because he is a student without much exposure to that world, if any.
Since this person is a student and you're the mentor, you can perhaps "fix" this person. Have a meeting and say,
>
> "Look, I want to recommend you for some potential employment. You have a great academic record and are qualified. But as your professor, it is my duty to you to also prepare you and all your young colleagues for the so-called "real world", in whatever little way I can. Now please stop me if I'm telling you anything you already know. What I'm concerned about that your, shall we say, exuberant enthusiasm in supporting Ideology X will create difficulties for you, if you carry it into corporate environment, which is not as tolerant as the academic environment. Modern workplaces have certain rules of conduct in place which rule out promotion of ideologies (including religions) as a form of harassment. Those rules are not intended to suppress the ideologies themselves, mind you, but only certain *behaviors* which lead to an uncomfortable workplace. So if I send some letters of recommendation and those people are interested in working with you, can you keep in mind what I just said? What you ultimately do is up to you, but I'd like to see you, and all of my students, succeed, and therefore I want to warn you of any potential stumbling blocks in your future such as this, okay?"
>
>
>
In other words, this can be seen as an opportunity to step into the role of educator/mentor and help the student. You and your institution helped to prepare the student so that he is recommendable for these jobs on technical grounds. (Five years ago, you could not have recommended that student yet, right?) So help the boy with something non-technical for once.
Anyway, the student's fanaticism could just be a phase of youth. A few years down the line, he may well have forgotten all about it. People can experience major ideological shifts in their life. When he owns a big property and a sizeable portfolio of equities, he will perhaps think differently.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/03/28 | 1,436 | 5,716 | <issue_start>username_0: I am thinking of getting my M.S. in Computer Science. I chose C.S. because I enjoy programming and because its a solid choice, career wise. Low unemployment, good pay, all that jazz.
But my real passions has always been math and lately I have been thinking about swapping and going for my graduate degree in Math. If I went the math route I would probably go full PhD (since I don't think there is much you can do with just a Masters in math).
But as much as I love math, I can't see myself being a math teacher. I would want to work in research or industry, applying math to solve real world problems.
What kind of non-academic jobs are there for someone with a PhD in math (or what is the best resource to see what jobs are out there)?<issue_comment>username_1: Certain branches of applied mathematics look very promising regarding the job market. For example financial mathematics. However there are also companies which are interested in hiring pure mathematicians to work on real world problems. As an instance, I suggest you look at the web site of [ThinkTank Maths](http://thinktankmaths.com/). Their webpage for [Mathematician - Mathematical Researcher](https://thinktankmaths.com/join/mathematicians/) says
>
> We are particularly interested in applicants with highly abstract or pure mathematical backgrounds.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It really depends on the kind of mathematics you do. For example, if your work involved probability/statistics, or even certain kinds of topology, you could get a job at pretty much any tech company doing machine learning. If you were doing stochastics, then Wall street will beckon.
If your Ph.D has a computational side to it (say in numerical methods for example) the national labs in the US are interested in your expertise.
And so on and so forth. The fact that you're doing an MS in Computer science makes your profile look even stronger.
While this might be viewed as a strongly biased suggestion, you might consider a Ph.D in Computer Science: there are many parts of computer science that are all mathematics, and you'd get to do what you love, as well as getting the CS branding that will make getting an industry job way easier.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: You can look into national lab jobs - see my answer [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17253/what-post-phd-path-alternatives-are-there/17264#17264). Especially with your computer science background. Many mathematicians at the labs work on large-scale modeling problems that require high performance computing. Some examples: [Sea ice](http://oceans11.lanl.gov/drupal/Home) models at LANL, building [software tools](http://trilinos.sandia.gov/packages/) for linear algebra at Sandia (Trillinos), [computational chemistry](http://www.pnnl.gov/computing/cm4/) at PNNL, developing [graph theory tools](http://networkx.github.io/) at LANL (NetworkX).
These are just the US options that I've come across personally, there are national labs in many countries where mathematicians can work.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: **It is not accurate to equate every academic job in mathematics with "being a math teacher"**. I am a professor of (applied) mathematics, and I spend **less than a quarter of my working hours** on what is formally called teaching (including preparation, class time, grading, etc). Probably much less. Applied mathematics professors at research institutions primarily devote their time to "applying math to solve real world problems."
It's true that if you take a position at a SLAC, for instance, you may spend most of your time teaching. And in a broad sense, part of your job will be to teach mathematics, even if you are in industry (the setting is just less formal).
SIAM has a host of great resources on non-academic careers in (applied) mathematics:
* [Careers in the Math Sciences](http://www.siam.org/careers/sinews.php)
* [Thinking of a Career in Applied Mathematics?](http://www.siam.org/careers/thinking.php)
* [<NAME> talk (video)](https://client.blueskybroadcast.com/siam08/hyman/)
* <http://www.whydomath.org/>
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: I listed a few possible options in a comment to a thread that was deleted, so here they are again. These are examples of actual jobs that people I know took as math graduates (most with a Master, some with a PhD), with the exclusion of the ones already mentioned in the other answers.
* network analyst for a railroad company (in a country with a modern, very dense and complex network).
* statistician/analyst for an online gambling/betting platform (I'm guessing casinos and slot machines manufacturers are hiring mathematicians as well).
* grant evaluator, scientific advisor in a national science funding agency (especially for mathematicians with a PhD).
* statistician in an insurance company
* scientific advisor for a law enforcement agency
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Do not do pure math: the job prospects in academia are horrible. Then, once you leave academia you'll figure out that a math degree while highly impressive is completely useless to employers. Yes, it's a fundamental discipline which undergirds every engineering field, but by itself it is abstract and totally and completely useless. You need to couple it with a degree in something that makes sense employment wise. I suppose it's a good field to minor, double major, or do a second master's in. What it is not is a basket to put all your eggs into. I'm not going to speak at length about industry jobs, suffice it to say that positions in industry where a pure mathematician is needed are even more scant than academic jobs.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/03/28 | 2,020 | 6,326 | <issue_start>username_0: This question is closely related to [How should I cite a website URL?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8098/how-to-cite-a-website-url) but more concrete.
I'm currently writing my master thesis. In the section "related work" I give an overview which also includes concrete products (normally software). Usually there is no academic paper published about this work and often there is only a product homepage, a git hub repository or a manual available.
How, if at all, should I cite this "products"? I thought about adding the URL just after the name of the product, adding it as a footnote, cite it as usual with a MISC BibTeX entry or not mentioning a URL at all (usually they are easy to find with Google). I'm a bit worried too blow up my bibliography to much.
I give a few examples to stay concrete, my thesis is about a pattern matching algorithm (well, very simplified) so I want to show tools that help programmers with writing regex:
* The software RegexBuddy (<http://www.regexbuddy.com>)
* The online tool RegExr (<http://gskinner.com/RegExr/>)
* The Statically Checked Regex (a software artifact) in the Git Hub repository <https://github.com/retronym/macrocosm>
* The function ctRegex in std.regex (<http://dlang.org/phobos/std_regex.html>)
Could you please also please also answer if it's OK to include a lot of citations (around 20) to mention this products although the text is only around one page, respective one sub chapter (in a work that is expected to have something around 100 pages).<issue_comment>username_1: According to the [APA](http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/):
>
> Do not cite standard office software (e.g. Word, Excel) or programming
> languages. Provide references only for specialized software.
>
>
>
> >
> > <NAME>. (2002). PsychInquiry [computer software]. New York: Worth.`
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> Software that is downloaded from a Web site should provide the
> software’s version and year when available.
>
>
>
> >
> > <NAME>., <NAME>., & <NAME>. (2003). OTSoft: Optimality Theory
> > Software (Version 2.1) [Software]. Available from
> > <http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/hayes/otsoft/>
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
The IEEE style is [almost identical](http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/cite/ieee/ieee_swarea.html). (I'd reproduce it here, but it's in a stupid flash file which doesn't support copy/paste.)
That being said, I notice that you cited software for parsing and understanding regular expressions. While there is no official rule that I know of for acknowledging software, it is typically only used for software crucial to the development efforts (i.e., an analysis tool). To bring a somewhat extreme example, while everyone uses some form of operating system (Windows, Mac OS, Linux), no one cites their operating system. Recall the purpose of citations; to enable others to understand your frame of reference and replicate your work. You should only cite tools that are specialized to your research that others would need to continue your research.
Additionally, I've seen many neuroscience papers where some software is listed but not cited (e.g., [the Matlab reference here](http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001267#article1.body1.sec4.sec6.p1)). This is typically done for tools developed outside of an academic environment. Here, Matlab is a non-academic commercial, but both SPM and Fieldtrip were developed using grant money, and both specify exactly how they should be cited in publications (e.g., [Fieldtrip](http://fieldtrip.fcdonders.nl/literature); I can't find SPM's now).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Just give as much information as you can to uniquely identify and date the product. To quote one of my own recent papers:
* Nuclear Monkey Software. *Narbacular Drop.* Video game, 2005.
* <NAME> and <NAME>. *Matrix Revolutions.* <NAME>., 2003. Motion picture.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The software manufacturer may be willing to provide a few more details, like the lead developer's name(s) and so on for academic purposes. Software written for academics may already have a citation ready.
See, for example, the [citation for Gaussian 09](http://www.gaussian.com/g_tech/g_ur/m_citation.htm). Note that they already have a bibtex starting point also.
>
> Gaussian 09, Revision A.1, <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; Hada, M.; Ehara, M.; Toyota, K.; Fukuda, R.; Hasegawa, J.; Ishida, M.; Nakajima, T.; Honda, Y.; Kitao, O.; Nakai, H.; Vreven, T.; Montgomery, Jr., J. A.; <NAME>.; Ogliaro, F.; Bearpark, M.; <NAME>, E.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>.; <NAME>. Gaussian, Inc., Wallingford CT, 2009.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: There isn’t really a ‘set’ method to cite products, but rather a paradigm: Give enough information so a veteran can identify the product – novices do not need to be able to do so.
For example, if I use an enzyme from Sigma Aldrich in a biology experiment, I write something like:
>
> 25 ng of amylase (Sigma Aldrich; Missouri, USA; P228) was added to the mix
>
>
>
Notice how I didn’t use a stock concentration. That’s because the information is already there. I simply quote the provider, their origin, and the product code. If a veteran now goes to the website, they can see the exact product I used. I do not write *P228-1g* or *P228-5m,* because those are volumes or masses, and that’s all irrelevant. Sometimes I’ll add a date if I think it’s relevant.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/03/28 | 849 | 3,404 | <issue_start>username_0: The referencing style I am using for online newspaper articles is thus:
<NAME>. (2013) For scouts, the South American youth tournament is hard slog, not high life. Guardian [Online] 28 January. Available at: <http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/mar/28/scout-south-american-youth-championship-football> [Accessed on 28/03/2013]
But how do I reference an article with no obvious author? For example, this is posted on the news website Balkan Insight, but has no author. So far I've been including Balkan Insight where the author name is, but also where the publication name is - i.e. where 'Karlsen' and 'Guardian' are in the previous example. And putting the in-text reference as Balkan Insight (2013).<issue_comment>username_1: There are probably several answers depending on the situation and on the standards in your field.
First there are papers published in journals with no authors that are referenced as:
>
> Anonymous, yyyy. Paper title ...
>
>
>
In some cases an organization can be the author. this is true for, for example, governmental organizations, NGO's etc. In these cases the publications are offically published. References would be listed under the organization (often abbreviated) such as:
>
> WMO (World Meteorological Organization), yyyy. Publication title ...
>
>
>
To reference online material is always a bit more complicated but I guess the anonymous author can be used and the source organization listed as the "Publisher" such as the *The Guardian* in your example. The point is that the source is known but not the author. If you have a lot of these sources there will of course be many "anomymous" floating around in th etext and reference list which may be awkward. In such a case you may consider using the organization as author.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Citing online articles without a clear author depends on the citation format. The format you use should have clear guidelines.
For example, in Harvard Referencing (the most common in my field) if there is a publisher but no clear author then the publisher is considered the author. In your case, <NAME> would be the author. Following this, you are doing it properly (according to Harvard Referencing).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I concur with the opinion of the others that Balkan Insight should be the author based on the information you gave us.
In general, for practical purposes, there is *almost always* a responsible person or an organisation unless they give their very best to stay anonymous. Usually, I try to find the most applicable one in the following order:
* The author(s) as on the paper or the website if they were printed.
* The author(s) of the collection of works if the work belongs to a collection such as a book.
* The meta information of the document, e.g., from the meta tags of the HTML Web-page or from the PDF meta data.
* The organisation or person responsible for the Web site containing the document.
* The organisation or person responsible for the IP address assuming it is static.
If all of the above fails, you have to resort to "Anonymous". However, then you might be doing research on anonymity in the Internet, and you should find a difference representation of your sources than the *Bibliography*, which would be a bad match for your purposes in this case.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/03/28 | 3,022 | 12,229 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm a graduate student with, so far, one published article in a peer-reviewed journal. Since the article came out, I've been receiving increasing amounts of "academic e-mail spam" from people wanting me to attend their conferences, publish in their (usually pay-to-publish) journals or order research supplies from them. (The latter kind tend to be the easiest to filter out — even though my field is *bio*mathematics, it doesn't mean I have any use for frozen mouse embryos whatsoever.)
Some time ago, an e-mail turned up asking me to review a manuscript, conveniently attached to the message, for a pay-to-publish open access journal in a somewhat related field. Googling for the name of the publisher, I found them described as e.g. "a borderline vanity press".
At the time, I wasn't really sure how to react. On one hand, I could think of several reasons to just go ahead and review the manuscript:
* The main complaint about the publisher seems to be that their peer review is insufficient — a claim supported by the fact that they seem to be picking random grad students as reviewers. Still, given that they're at least making *some* effort at peer review, surely I should encourage them in that? After all, if nobody agreed to review manuscripts for them, how could they ever improve their review process?
* Declining to review the manuscript might deprive the authors — who, if the journal is indeed a "scam", are presumably the victims here — of useful feedback. Surely they at least deserve that much return for their time, efforts and money?
* Also, if the manuscript did get published in a scientific journal, no matter how dubious or marginal, it would enter the body of scientific knowledge, and might be used as a reference by others. Given that, surely it is my duty as a scientist to try, given the opportunity, to do what I can to ensure that it is at least correct?
Still, despite these arguments, I initially found the idea of willingly *responding to spam* to be deeply unsettling at a fundamental, almost visceral level. Also, I felt concerned that, by doing volunteer work for a possibly unethical publisher, I'd be supporting their business model and perhaps lending them an undeserved appearance of legitimacy.
In particular, given that the subject of the manuscript wasn't *that* close to my own field, I worried that it might have errors that I would not be capable of spotting, and that, even if I made this clear in my review, the publisher might still use the review to support the publication of a possibly flawed article.
(Edit: Just to be clear, I wasn't worried that they'd reveal the names of reviewers, just that, even if I was the *only* one who sent back a review, they might still use it to claim that "yes, the paper was peer reviewed.")
In the end, the decision was actually rather easy: after a cursory glance at the manuscript, it became clear that there was *no way* I could support its publication as written, especially given that large fragments of it were clearly plagiarized, and I wrote back to the journal stating as much.
However, if I ever receive a similar request again (and I assume I probably will, sooner or later), what do you think I should do with it?<issue_comment>username_1: **No!**
Simply say "No, I'm too busy at the present time."
No one will be hurt or offended, and it is not like you'll be lying.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: You have no obligation to accept reviews from any journals.
In the long term, you should of course accept review tasks, since the review system is built on everyone doing their part in return for the reviews you get on your own papers. But if you think the journal is not serious, there is no need to waste your time on a review.
The problem will lie in identifying what is real and what is not. Apart from researching the journal yourself, as you have done, you should also ask more senior scientists of their opinion.
---
**Edit:** Following up on the request for additional input on whether reviewing for dubious journals could be harmful in some way:
I think the greatest risk is that you may provide legitimacy to a journal that is not legitimate. It may be harmful to you if the journal in some way represents, let's say, creationism, in that you may become associated with something you really do not support.
I do not see any clear problem for the authors whose paper you review. Their greatest problem, assuming they are common scientists, should be that they submitted it there in the first place.
Personally, I delete all e-mails with requests from journals I do not know of. I know the journals in my field, and the new serious journals that have sprung up have a firm basis in the community, so they are also "known". I do check on some of these unknown journals occasionally, out of curiosity, and I particularly check the sort of papers they publish and the editors of the journal. That usually tells me if the journal is of interest.
Some of these journals may be legitimate, but they end up being extremely narrow regionally in terms of the origin of their authors and editors, and thus probably also their readership. A new journal is a difficult thing to get accepted unless you start with a wide base in the community, so some of these journals may be very legitimate but still have to prove themselves somehow. The problem is how to distinguish good from bad, and that is truly not easy in many cases.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: >
> I might actually be doing more harm than good (to myself, to the
> authors, and/or to scientific publishing in general) by agreeing to
> review a manuscript sent to me by a sufficiently scammy journal.
>
>
>
Yes, exactly. Don't encourage predatory publishing. Don't encourage the authors, who almost certainly have no interest in your feedback and just want an additional publication, hoping it will help them get that cosy government job/tenure in a university that doesn't care about quality. All of this is a simulacrum of science.
>
> if nobody agreed to review manuscripts for them, how could they ever
> improve their review process
>
>
>
True, but you shouldn't worry about it. Because **we don't need more journals**, especially not pay-for-publish, low-quality journals.
You probably know very well which are the good journals in your field, and if you publish (or even submit) to these, chances are they will ask you to review eventually. And this is what the scientific community expects you to do, not to give credit to a publisher that has no interest in science whatsoever and just wants to collect as many 'article processing charges' as it can, quickly.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I attempted to review for some of these "predatory" journals, thinking: *if the papers are genuinely peer reviewed, how bad could it be?* I now consider it a poor decision on my part.
1. My impression from the outset was that the editor intended for the paper to be published as soon as possible (from when I first saw it to when it was published online took about 3-4 weeks). I felt like it was going to be published, one way or another. (Although, I felt the authors took my feedback seriously.)
2. There was **a lot of badgering**; I was hounded by emails about deadlines and reviews. For one paper, the initial review had a deadline of 10 days, and a revision had a deadline of 3 days (I'm not joking). Prior to even agreeing to review the revision, I started getting hounded about the 3-day deadline passing. They just expected me to drop everything to immediately review this paper.
3. Prior to finishing reviewing one paper, the same journal sent me a request for another paper, with another 10-day deadline. (At this point, I snapped, and sent a fairly rude email back---they still haven't stopped emailing me.)
All in all, it wasn't a good experience, one I would avoid in future.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: You should decline. In addition to the detriment of encouraging predatory publishing, you make yourself look bad or at least, like you think value of your time/input is low.
If you want to review, reach out to some editors of good journals (at the subspecialty level) and ask for reviews. Include what topics you are most capable of reviewing.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: This thorny question has no easy answer, and a lot is going to come down to your personal values. I'll emphasize just one thing: [there is no universally acknowledged definition of "predatory publisher"](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/124807/has-a-journal-ever-switched-between-being-a-predatory-journal-and-a-reputable-on/124824#124824) (see also [this answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23719/why-do-open-access-consortia-affiliate-themselves-with-questionable-publishers/115704#115704)). The least controversial characteristic (but even then it's not absolute, see the first link) is that the journal does not conduct peer review, but by approaching you they're clearly conducting peer review, i.e. if this is your definition then the journal is not predatory.
Therefore my first reaction to your question is: what makes you say the journal is dubious? You mention several points; let's examine them one by one:
* It is pay-to-publish. More technically this model is called "open access".[\*] If you dislike this publishing model you wouldn't be alone (<NAME> does too), but it would be extremely awkward for you, because an increasingly large number of funders are mandating the papers they fund be [published open access](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-access_mandate).
* It is described by someone, presumably <NAME>, as a "borderline vanity press". See the second link above for analysis of this. There are reasonable people who disagree with Beall. Trusting his judgment saves you from having to do the analysis yourself of course, which is very convenient (same reason why university rankings are so popular), but not necessarily correct.
* They spam you. The line between spam and not spam is not obvious (see second link above). They've already reached you when you work in a related field, which is a sign they're doing selection instead of simply mass mailing everyone. Also, I suspect if you call reviewer invitations "spam" you are on the extreme side. Not necessarily wrong (because what's spam and what's not spam is not obvious), but relatively extreme.
* You end up doing voluntary work. Isn't that the case for [almost all journals & publishers](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20930/are-there-any-journals-that-pay-reviewers)?
* You may not spot errors in a flawed paper, which allows the publisher to claim the paper was peer-reviewed. This wouldn't be unique to this publisher or journal. There are countless published papers that were wrong and the reviewer didn't spot the errors. [Example](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair#Reflections_upon_the_peer-review_system). Obviously the publishers of the two journals in question (*Annals of Physics* and *Classical and Quantum Gravity*, published by Elsevier and IOP Publishing respectively) are going to say the paper was peer-reviewed, which is also strictly speaking true.
In other words, *it is not clear that the review request you received is from a dubious journal*. You may think it is, but not every reasonable person will agree with you. If the journal is not dubious, the question you ask becomes really hard to answer.
Given all this, should you review anyway? It's up to you. You're under no obligation to review no matter who is inviting. You could plausibly say you don't have time for this (especially since papers submitted to not-well-known journals are unlikely to be very exciting). You could say you'll review anyway because of the reasons you gave in the three bullet points. It's something only you can decide about.
[\*] Even more technically, open access refers only to the article being free to read somehow. It comes in many different flavors, some of which [might not require an author to pay to publish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access#Diamond/platinum_OA).
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/29 | 1,062 | 4,734 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm writing a proposal to acquire funding for a competition to be hosted at my university. The competitors are restricted to graduate students who are engaged in *research* under the auspicies of a faculty advisor from my university. In the process of making my proposal more clear and precise, I find myself struggling with the problem of defining what exactly is (and more importantly, what *isn't*) research.
At first, I equated *research* with *publishable* in a peer reviewed journal, but I soon realized that the terms *publishable* and *peer reviewed* would have to be defined... And even if I do that, then I would have to define the words that I used to define those words, et cetera ad nauseam.
I want to approach it the same way I would approach mathematical set theory: it's either research or it's not, and there should be no room for ambiguity. But I suspect that any attempt to define *research* this way will certainly either circumscribe or inscribe the set of all things we call research.
I don't think this is necessarily the best way to approach defining what is research, especially for my purposes. Is there another way I can approach clarifying what constitutes *research* as opposed to other publishable works in the context of academia?<issue_comment>username_1: How about trying to define research would it help to spcify "Scientific Research". Since research is a search for new knowledge it is thus a wide term. Since `Science` is defined as "the body of reliable knowledge itself, of the type that can be logically and rationally explained" ([shamelessly stolen from the wiki page for Science](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science)) the word scientific would exclude everything not included in the definition. Or, is there any academic research that does not qualify as science?
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: For purposes like this, I would define *research* as **loosely, broadly, and generically** as possible. If your definition is too strict, then you exclude valid efforts, and you will likely be bound by the language in your proposal.
For example, if you define research to be "scientific investigation," then you exclude the humanities. If you define research as "investigative work leading to a peer-reviewed publication or conference presentation," then you may inadvertently exclude unpublishable and unpublished results.
If the requirements of the agency do not specify the need for a definition of research, then do not supply one. If you are writing to an agency that regularly supports research proposals, then there is no need to define research - they know what it is. If you are writing to an atypical funding source, like a business, local government, or charity, then they would probably rather you be inclusive (and thus generic) unless you have specific instructions otherwise. Leave the job of deciding whether an entry is qualified research to the judges of the composition.
If you feel that you absolutely need a definition, then "investigative work" is probably generic enough. Your institution's Office of the Provost may also have an "official" definition of research for your institution.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Have you verified that the definition isn't provided by the competition itself? Typically, there are pretty well-defined guidelines as to who is and is not eligible to apply for a given contest (i.e., "only full-time students", or "only students currently funded under a research grant"). I would definitely either contact the competition sponsor or check their website to ensure that they haven't already defined what does and does not count as research.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I suspect that, for your question to be properly answerable, you'd first need to define what you *want* to mean by "research". In particular, from what you write:
>
> "The competitors are restricted to graduate students who are engaged in *research* under the auspicies of a faculty advisor from my university."
>
>
>
I gather that your university also has some graduate students who *don't* do anything you would call research, or you wouldn't feel the need to be so specific.
So, what is it that these students, which you want to exclude from the competition, do instead? Just coursework? If so, why not just write **"research (not merely coursework)"** or something like that?
(If you *do* want a fancy definition of "research", I'd go with something like "original work intended to contribute to the body of academic knowledge". But you'd probably be better served by just explicitly stating what kinds of student activities you want to include or exclude from your admission criteria.)
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/03/29 | 1,039 | 4,305 | <issue_start>username_0: Are there any standards in higher education (any country) on when lecturers (any level, any field) have a private office or a shared office?
I know it's a good idea to provide 'consultation time' for students as one-on-one teaching helps the student in so many ways. However, in a shared office it seems that some of the benefits of one-on-one teaching disappear. For example, the student is less likely to be concerned about how they look in front of others if it's in a private office but if there are other teachers (perhaps with other students) then your student will have those issues again.
So, are there any standards about private vs shared offices for university lecturers?<issue_comment>username_1: You're going to find answers all over the map for this one (i.e., there probably aren't "standards"). I personally like having a private office so I can get the most work done, but I'm generally comfortable with a shared space if it doesn't get too loud. I have found that it is rare for students to worry about how they perform if they are just trying to get help figuring out the material. If there are conference rooms or open classrooms available, that's sometimes a good place to tutor students, too.
For what it's worth, I never have closed door meetings with students because that has the potential to lead to allegations of improper relationships, etc. If a student does have something private to discuss, I'll ask them to take a walk around campus where we are visible but can't be heard, or to go into a conference room that has windows into the hallway.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I don't think there are likely to be any standards that address this issue specifically.
For example, the [Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities](http://www.nwccu.org/index.htm), one of the recognized [regional accrediting agencies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_accreditation) in the US, has published [its standards](http://www.nwccu.org/Standards%20and%20Policies/Accreditation%20Standards/Accreditation%20Standards.htm). The closest they come to discussing office space is Standard 2.G.1:
>
> Consistent with its mission, core themes, and characteristics, the institution creates and maintains physical facilities that are accessible, safe, secure, and sufficient in quantity and quality to ensure healthful learning and working environments that support the institution’s mission, programs, and services.
>
>
>
Obviously this leaves a lot of leeway. If an institution were to assign 17 professors to a broom closet, an accrediting agency might take note, but private offices versus shared isn't likely to be addressed.
In the US, I have seen places where everyone from graduate instructors on up gets private offices, and I have seen places where even full professors share.
If you're looking for arguments to convince your dean that your department needs more office space, I doubt that standards are the way to go about it.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Everybody needs privacy; to really discuss this issue some ambiguities must be removed.
Imagine a chemistry lecturer sharing an office with a political science lecturer? This will only lead to total confusion. Though it might help both lecturers to diversify their ideas, but will not help academically.
I would suggest one senior lecturer with an assistant lecturer from the same field sharing an office. This will help the junior lecturer, and one hopes that the senior academic may learn from his/her younger colleague as well.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: I can give two views:
In France, quite often you share office with other people from the same department. However, offices are in general a no-meeting space as long as your office mates are there and are not part of the meeting. You have black/white-boards on the corridors, several small meeting rooms etc. Of course, coming into an office and chatting for 1 or 2 minutes is usually fine. On the other hand, people even go to the corridor to answer their cell phone, so that they don't disturb others.
In the Czech Republic, it depends mostly on the space available. However, in general at the universities, silence in an office is less a standard than in France.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/29 | 2,565 | 9,895 | <issue_start>username_0: I have completed Bachelor in IT from a third world country in 2008. I have achieved 49% marks.
I am 30 and working in a bank.
Now I want to study MSc in CS in the USA and eventually PhD.
I believe that this world is not all out for me.
* How can I prepare myself so that I can improve my chance of admission in post graduate level?
* Money/GRE/TOEFL/IELTS/Vendor Certification....what should I need?
* how can I show that I have potential research capability?<issue_comment>username_1: Good question,
TOEFL is a must, GRE would be helpful most of the time, in the US universities, different departments really have a huge variation of admission requirements.
For instance, some departments in MIT admit students without bothering the GRE scores - as long as they want you.
For graduate studies, you need to show your mathematical skills - the fundamental for logical reasoning and calculation.
The skill for programming - needless to say it is fundamental and essential.
The skill for doing research - state any related experience, including academic contest, publication, Bachelor thesis, etc...
Some skill for engineering - highlight some of them, but keep in mind that research comes first when considering the ability for potential academic successes.
So fill your personal statement( or statement of purposes depending on the university ) with mathematical skills, research experiences while leaving a few place for your best engineering experience.
And standard test score really varies from time to time and from department to department.
The best way to find out the requirement is to visit your dream school's website an call them directly.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Since you intend to do it on CS I want to point out that the GRE Subject Test on CS (the one usually asked) will not be administrated anymore.
According to the ETS website:
>
> The last administration of the GRE Computer Science Test will be in
> April 2013. The test will be discontinued after the April 2013
> administration. Scores will continue to be reportable for five years.
> (<https://www.ets.org/gre/subject/about?WT.ac=grehome_gresubject_121017>)
>
>
>
I wanted to say this in a comment (since it's not exactly an answer, but I think it's an important information to you), but I can't since I don't have enough reputation on this website to do it :(
Therefore, even though I think you wanted more a opinion from people already in academia, I feel obligated to put some more thought on my answer:
I'm a student, currently undergrad (will graduate at the end of this year) and I'm "kinda on the same boat" (from a third world country, wanna do a Ph.D. on in US in CS and I've being somewhat lost regarding what to do).
Here is a compilation about what I have found so far that may be helpful to you:
The notions of PhD and MSc in the US may be somewhat different from what you are used to. Quoting from something I've read in a university website (can't remember which one right now) "Masters is about breadth, PhD is about depth".
At least in my country (and I'm guessing it may be the same for yours), both are pretty depth-oriented. **-> Keep in mind that, some MSc are breadth oriented, these may not be the droids you are looking for.**
Also, the programs vary a lot from place to place... (And if you are used to the fact that you have to do a MSc prior to the PhD, this is not true for a lot of PhD programs in the US, you can join then directly if you have a bachelor's degree).
Example: At CMU, the masters degree is "breadth-oriented", meaning that you take a lot of advanced courses in various topics, and the PhD is totally research-oriented (average 6 years, in contrast to the average 2-year MSc + 4-year PhD in my country). But in MIT, as far as I've understood, you apply for grad school, if you are accept and you don't have a MSc, you are put on a MSc program, if you already do, you are put on the PhD program (so, seems to be a lot research oriented on both programs). **-> Make sure you read thoroughly how the programs in the universities you intend to apply are, cause there's no "standard".**
About the "money" part of your question, as far as I've seen, it goes something like this:
* MSc: You have to pay for tuition, you may get a paid TA-ship
(Teaching Assitant paid position), you may get an RA-ship (Research
Assistant paid position), but nothing is guaranteed.
* PhD: Top universities usually pay you monthly and if the professor that is orientating your research doesn't have funding, you need to get an RA or TA job. On other universities,you may need to narrow your options to professors that have funding.
**-> Keep in mind that, PhD is a better option money-wise, but harder to get in.**
As pointed on the comments, research capability is a must (for the "depth" programs at least) and matters even more than grades. Quoting from a CMU professor on the "Grad School Talk" available at their website:
>
> It does not help you, in my opinion, to be closer to 4.0 [GPA] as
> opposed to 3.5. It’s a much better idea to spend your time on research
> than on optimizing your GPA.
>
>
>
**- Keep in mind that proving your research capability matters a lot.**
But another important quote from this same pdf regarding grades is:
>
> Your grades may be somewhat low – under 3.0 – because you were having
> a good time in college and you may therefore be having trouble getting
> into a Ph.D. program. In this case, you may want to do an MS and use
> the time to boost your grades and reapply after the MS.
>
>
>
Another important thing to note: The things that each program prioritize when looking at your application seem to vary a lot, even among programs at the same university/department. **-> Try to figure out what the programs you are aplying prioritize.** (eg: by reading their websites well).
About **TOEFL**: It matters a lot, but as far as I understand, it **matters in a sense that it prevents you from getting in a program if you don't have the minimum score needed.** \**Each university asks for a different TOEFL score.*\*
The top universities (regarding CS programs) usually ask for 100 on the IBT (internet based test, out of 120), an exception being Stanford, that asks for 110.
Regarding IELTS: All universities seem to accept TOEFL, a lot of them seem to accept IELTS, but you need only one of them, so I suggest you go for the TOELF (for US universities).
As a **plan of action**, I suggest this one (which is kinda what I'm doing myself).
* **Boost your ability to prove "research capability":** It's VERY important that you have some prior research experience. Have you ever done research as an undergrad? Do you have professors that can write a recommendation letter for you? If you don't, you are (probably) gonna need to pursuit this kind of stuff. My suggestions if this is the case: Pick a professor that does research in a area that you are interested (better if it's a professor that may remember you from university) and try to contact then to see if they can let you assist on any research projects (even if voluntarily), or take some time to read his recent published papers and understand then, then go talk to him about this. Also, try to see if getting a job at any private research company is an option (in case they exist in your country, in mine "private research" is pretty much nonexistent :( ).
* **Figure out what your "level" is:** What universities/programs that you want to get into that you can realistically hope to get in. This can be done by reading the programs/universities' websites, search for some information about the qualifications of people that got in, etc.
* **Make a list about the programs you are interested in:** After figuring out your "level", what universities from this set have programs that you are interested to?
* **Read everything you can about this programs and pick the ones you want to apply:** Learn what these programs prioritize on applications, what options do you have regarding money, etcs. Finally decide which ones you are going to apply and see what each of then require.
* **Get ready for the aplications:** Taking the GREs (or whatever they are gonna use, now that the CS subject test is gone), TOEFLs and bla bla bla takes a lot of time. Prepare for the stuff you need to take, search for example tests on the internet, study for them, etc... and take they as soon as you are ready.
FYI: As far as I've seen, the deadlines for applying for grad programs are usually in December, for pretty much all universities (they gotta have something in common, after all).
**Some useful stuff to read:**
-
* CMU's "Grad School Talk" www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf -
The one I quoted a lot in this answer.
* Demystifying the American Graduate Admissions Process: nlp.stanford.edu/~rkarthik/DAGAP.pdf - I found this paper extremely
helpful, it's written by a guy that worked on Stanford's admissions
committee, he also has a blog where he talks about this stuff (link at the end of the paper).
Additional Notes:
* In case you are unfamiliar with how the GPA works in the US, here is
some explanation:
<http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4619318_a-gpa-work.html>
* If your grades are low, it may be hard to enter the top universities (although I don't see it as impossible) but keep this in mind: A) A lot of "not the top, but good ones" are very good, and may even be very strong in research at an area you are interested in. B) I believe that any recommendation letter saying something like "This guy showed up out of nowhere wanting to assist in my research (even though he was out of academia for some years and was working on a regular job) and helped a lot" shows a lot of "research capability", a lot of self-motivation and can be VERY strong.
Good luck. :)
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/03/29 | 1,243 | 5,086 | <issue_start>username_0: I don't know if this is the case at other institutions but at my university dissertations are published as A5-size books/booklets. There are some regulations on how the formatting is supposed to be but it's pretty relaxed otherwise. Common practice is that the PhD candidate designs the cover themselves.
Typically these covers feature an image relating to the work the person has done in the lab; a molecule, a graph, a microscopy shot etc. Recently a colleague of mine put a painting of herself on the cover. Just for the sake of clarity, not a painting she's done, but rather a painting of her made by someone else. This has raised some discussion among the younger students, such as myself. Thus I wonder, how much of a personal touch is OK really? Would something like I described above be seen as an ego-thing by a potential employer? I am of the opinion that it might be seen as a lack of modesty or "self-distance" (quotes are there as I am not sure if this expression exists in english).
Am I being too critical? As it's a multi-cultural international group of academics here, I wonder if there is a consensus regarding such "customization" of the dissertation.<issue_comment>username_1: Typically, you want as few "personal touches" on your dissertation as possible, as each one will increase time between your submitting it and the university accepting it. There are many places to assert your individuality within the research community (your speaking style, your writing style in your publications, the types of research problems you tackle, your mentoring style), but this is not one of them.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: This probably depends a lot on how things work at your university. In the cases I'm familiar with (U.S. math departments), there are only four types of people who have an opinion about your dissertation:
1. You.
2. Your thesis commitee, particularly your advisor.
3. The bureaucrat who measures the margins and decides whether your paper is fancy enough.
4. Family members and friends who will want to take a look at the nicely bound volume and make polite comments.
Nobody else will pay any attention to your dissertation, unless you do an inadequate job of publishing its contents (in which case someone might be forced to look it up), you become very famous (in which case it will be an interesting historical document), or you do something so weird in it that people pass around copies for the amusement or shock value.
The painting on the cover might fall into the last category if it looks pompous or strange enough. However, most personal touches are not a problem if the four groups mentioned above don't care. Furthermore, the bureaucrat won't care unless you violate a known rule or do something so awful that they feel the need to dig up an obscure rule, and your family doesn't get a vote (you'll just be embarrassed if they think you've done something silly).
So the short answer is "ask your advisor".
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: We have a very similar practice here, although I think our booklets are usually a little bigger (B5-sized instead of A5). Looking at the [local university press guidelines for dissertation writers](http://www.yliopistopaino.fi/fi/vaittelijan_palvelusivut/ulkoasuohjeet) (in Finnish, sorry; there's an English version, but I couldn't find anything similar there), they say (translation mine):
>
> "The cover should describe the content of the thesis and invite one to read it. The cover may either be purely textual, or it may include pictorial elements. For textual covers, it is worth paying attention to typography and text layout.
>
>
> If you want a picture on the cover, it can be either a picture from your thesis, a picture chosen by yourself or an illustration selected by our graphic designers. [...]
>
>
> If the thesis is published as part of a series, however, the cover must follow the graphical guidelines of the series."
>
>
>
Putting a picture of yourself on the cover of your thesis seems a little unusual, because the cover is normally supposed to illustrate the *thesis*, and the person presumably didn't write her thesis about herself. However, as long as there's nothing clearly inappropriate about the cover (I *assume* it was a picture of her *face*...), it seems to be her choice to make.
Does that mean you should follow her example? Probably not, at least unless you believe there's something for you to gain by doing that.
Does it mean you should try to come up with a nice, elegant and unique design, illustrative of your chosen topic, for your thesis cover? Certainly, if you can! (Having friends or relatives who happen to be artists or graphic designers can help here.) At least, it won't hurt, and it just might increase the chances of someone picking it up and reading it.
Does it mean you should stress about it? Certainly not — "a molecule, a graph, a microscopy shot etc." are all perfectly good choices for a thesis cover, and a text-only cover is a perfectly fine choice too.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/29 | 1,303 | 4,765 | <issue_start>username_0: My name is <NAME>. In my country, we have two last names: the first (Fernández de Cossío) comes from the father side, and the second (Díaz) comes from the mother side.
I have been suggested various signatures:
* "<NAME>", without the accents, since I've been
told that this helps search engines locate my paper. The hyphens supposedly help the search engines to not mistake Fernandez-de-Cossio with two or three last names.
* "<NAME>" (with the accents, since that's how my
is actually name spelled)
* "<NAME>"
* "<NAME>"
You can suggest new ones. I want to make sure that the search engines and citation indexes, etc, do not get confused. Also, if in my CV I write my name as "<NAME>", will it be ok if the papers are signed as "<NAME>-<NAME>"?<issue_comment>username_1: In principle, you can use any professional name you like to sign your papers. I have a few colleagues whose *nom de plume* (or perhaps *nom de LaTeX*?) is not the same as their legal name.
But by default, I would recommend signing your papers *precisely* as you sign anything else, including spaces and accents:
>
> <NAME>
>
>
>
It would be helpful for people citing your papers to state, somewhere in your CV and on your professional web page, that your last name contains three spaces. And you'll have to correct copy-editors who incessantly abbreviate it as "<NAME>", but you'd have to do that with the other suggested variants anyway. Modern search engines have no trouble with accents.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: While this decision should really be up to you, and all that you need to ensure is that you're consistent in using the same name, I'll share an anecdote, which might give you a different perspective on long names.
There was a researcher who, presumably from a similar culture/country as you, had a long name, which for the sake of anonymity, I'll call *L. Ipsum Dolór de Sit Amét*. In many journals, the rule for truncating multiple authors to *et al.* is (if using author names in citations, instead of numbers):
* 2 authors — explicitly name both
* 3 authors or more — explicitly name first and truncate the rest
(Some publishers name all authors if up to 3 total and name 2 and truncate the rest if 4 or more, etc., but the general idea remains the same)
Now someone I knew, had to cite a few papers of Dr. Ipsum Dolór de Sit Amét. Although the primary papers were by "J. SingleLongName and L. Ipsum Dolór de Sit Amét" and "L. Ipsum Dolór de Sit Amét and P. SomeoneElse", there was a closely related followup/auxiliary paper written by "P. SomeoneElse, L. Ipsum Dolór de Sit Amét and J. SingleLongName" which also briefly touches upon (as a background) the material in the other two and cite them.
Now this person was in a dilemma. Referring to the first two explicitly where ever they needed to, took up about three-four lines in a two column journal paper, leading to repeated breaks in the flow of reading. On the other hand, "SomeoneElse et al." was short, memorable and saved space and also contained the relevant idea being referenced to. So in the end, the person chose to cite all three once in the introduction, and use "SomeoneElse et al." everywhere else in the article (effectively making it seem more important than it is). You'd be surprised, but this is not an uncommon occurrence at all.
Now there are different ways to look at it — some might say it was unethical (extreme) or unfair to not cite the canonical article just because of the length of their name. Some might say that while they probably wouldn't do it, there is no *real harm*™ done, because regardless of the number of times it is mentioned in the body, it appears only once in the list of references and the web spiders will pick it up correctly. Few more might say that it doesn't matter since it's the same set of authors and if you drill down, it is obvious which is the canonical reference. Well, I'm not here to argue for or against any of that. But I will point out that a big impact of someone doing this is that **your name loses visibility** (not an issue in journals that use numbers for references) and people will only remember it as "SomeoneElse" and a bunch of others. Perhaps you're a special cookie that remembers all 5 authors of every paper, but I don't and many others I know don't.
So if this is a concern, you can use it in full, but abbreviate it to a short one. For instance, use <NAME> in the author list under the title, but in the "cite as" section, use **<NAME>** or **<NAME>**.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/03/29 | 2,834 | 10,380 | <issue_start>username_0: So far, what I have is
```
First and Last Name
Title
Group/Lab Name
School Name
Address and Phone
```
I'm especially confused about the "title". I'm not sure if it should say "Graduate Student", "Research Assistant", or "PhD Candidate".. What do you think is more appropriate?<issue_comment>username_1: Keeping it short, simple and provide only useful information:
```
<NAME>
PhD Candidate / Teaching assistant
Squaring the Circle Research Group
University of North Vermont
http://unv.edu/circle - 1-761-861-1324
```
Four lines is already a lot, don't exceed it. You may not want the phone number (people from inside your university probably have access to a corporate directory, and people from outside would not usually call you except if you set up a call meeting).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Mine looks like this:
```
--
username_2, M.Sc.
Biomathematics Group, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
P.O. Box 68 (Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2b), FI-00014 Univ. of Helsinki
Tel.: +358-41-456 3263, E-mail:
```
That's basically all the relevant information, packed into the traditional 4 lines / 80 characters and preceded by the correct [dash-dash-space-newline](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signature_block#E-mail_and_Usenet) sequence. (Yes, I know that academic signatures often break that old rule these days, but I'm kind of a traditionalist about that. Besides, not having a foot-and-a-half-long e-mail signature is just plain common courtesy. The dashes help many e-mail readers [recognize the signature](http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/help/faq?faqid=1552) and render it differently, and also omit it when quoting the message.)
I haven't actually included any mention of my position in the group, although there would be room to append "`doctoral student`" or "`graduate student`" after "`M.Sc.`" if I wanted to. It's not really as relevant as noting that my current highest degree is Master of Science, though, which already implies that I'm probably a grad student and not e.g. a postdoc or a faculty member. Anyone who wants to confirm that can just look me up on our group's website, anyway.
---
I also have a shorter signature, which just says:
```
--
username_2
University of Helsinki, Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics
```
I use that mainly for informal correspondence with people I already know, who don't really need to be reminded of all the extra details in the full signature.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Keep it simple.
```
-- Name
```
For *initial*, *formal* communication with people who don't already know you, adding a bit more identifying information is reasonable, but keep it short:
```
-- Full Name
http://website.university.edu/~userid
```
If you don't think that's enough, introduce yourself in the body of the email. If somebody wants your physical address, they'll ask you (or Google).
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: I'm not in academia, but my email signature looks like this:
>
>
>
If someone wants to know my name, it's sent in email headers and shows up at the top of the messages. If someone wants to know where I work, they can look at the part of my email after the @ sign.
And of course, if I'm contacting someone for the first time, I'll tell them who I am and why I'm contacting them in the body of the message, so there's no need to repeat it at the end of the message.
Here's [an article](https://web.archive.org/web/20140917123332/http://daniellang.net/please-stop-using-email-signatures/) similar to the one that convinced me to stop doing this. Basically, by including a signature, you make it harder to read an email. This is normally just annoying, but it becomes extremely frustrating in long email chains or mailing lists, since no one bothers removing signature when they quote people. So, save everyone the trouble and don't send it in the first place.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_5: Personally I hate signatures, I see it as trying to make a superficial impression based on a title. Better to have a personal friendly connection with the people you work with both clients and colleagues, they will know you and the quality of your work.
But on my last work place my boss demanded that I add a signature, because it creates superiority in his words ( i believe he is a jerk but that's beside the point), which looked like this:
```
FirstName LastName | Title | Company
email | mobile phone: work phone | Blog Address
```
So you need to ask yourself what is the purpose of your signature based on who is your target audience.
If it's for applying for work, you have all your information in your cover letter and CV. If I were you I would drop the signature, but if you insist on having one than the "Research Assistant" is your best option.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: A link to a profile page that makes it clear you're a grad student should be enough. Putting your phone number and address in every email seems unnecessary.
I'd stick with:
```
Name
Email address
Group/Lab Name, University
Link to web page
```
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Mine looks like this:
```
--
\\//_ Live long and prosper.
```
I prefer to keep email a bit more casual. Granted, most of the people I email are folks with whom I am already acquainted, so there is no need for introductions. But I typically leave the signature even when contacting someone for the first time, if for no other reason than to convey a bit of my personality.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Mine (and that of about everyone in my department - professors, postdocs, and PhD candidates alike - who bothered to find the respective option in their e-mail client, as it is roughly the format suggested by the recommendations for all employees at my university) looks like this (here with placeholders):
>
> --
>
> name and degree
>
> affiliation (in my case: department and university)
>
> address
>
> room number of my office
>
> phone number
>
> e-mail
> work website
>
>
>
This is optimized to cover basic identification and all generally applicable ways to contact me:
* **name and degree:** Who am I? (when writing to someone who doesn't know me, and who would like to know whether I'm a student, a research assistant, a professor, ..., a biologist, an engineer, ...)
* **affiliation:** On behalf of what (kind of an) organization am I writing?
* **address:** In case the recipient wants to contact me by physical mail, or travel to meet me.
* **room number of my office:** In case the recipient actually wants to meet me (and, in the case of students who want to be supervised, probably the most important part of the address information).
* **phone number:** In case the recipient wants to call me.
* **e-mail:** In case the recipient wants to send an e-mail after printing out the contents of the e-mail (and thus not having any access to header data).
* **work website:** Contains all of the above information, but requires an extra step, an internet connection at the time when the recipient wants to look at the information, and is not directly included in print-outs of the e-mail, so it's unsuitable for totally replacing the other information.
Unfortunately, other forms of communication are not standardized enough to warrant inclusion there. There is a dozen of wide-spread instant messenging networks, and another dozen of widely used social networks with a communication feature, so there is no reasonable way to pick one that the recipient is likely to use (if they have any such account at all).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: A signature is the equivalent of a letterhead. It makes it easier to contact the sender on other channels without the need to inquire for details (and thus saves a mail and a reply). [RFC 1855](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1855) defines a maximum of four lines, with 80 characters each. Originally, this was due to bandwidth constraints.
Today, this restraint just makes an email easier to read (less noise), as [Brendan cautioned](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/8993/31917). The [answer by username_1](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/8985/31917) almost hits the sweet spot between too much and not enough information. [Ilmari's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/8986/31917) also follows the convention laid down in [RFC 3676](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3676#section-4.3) to divide the body and signature block by `-- \n` (hyphen-hyphen-space-newline). So far everyone failed to mention PGP, which recently has become [more important than ever](https://freedom.press/encryption-works).
The following example combines all criteria:
```
--
Dr. <NAME> | Smalltown University, Department of
Rocket Science | Main Street 10 | 12345 Smallville
phone: 0123 543 210 01 | web: rocket.smalluni.edu/~doe
pgp: 5DB3 3ADF 806B BD79 A18F D649 AC09 BDC9 9821 A79C
```
One more thing: Please, never use an image or other attachment as a signature. I never know whether the attachment is a substantial part of the mail or just a fancy signature.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: My signature includes my name, current job title, affiliation and website. It is short, fits on one line and gives the recipient a short summary of me and a link to more information such as publications, projects and teaching material. I don't like long signatures or signatures with images.
>
>
>
> ---
>
>
> **<NAME>**, Assistant Professor @ RandomUniversity | Web: [ru.edu/doe](http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive/phd041612s.gif)
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: Some universities have "branding strategy", and therefore ask every employee to use the same template. If this is the case in your university, you should definitely use it.
Here are examples from [Augusta University](https://brand.augusta.edu/signature/), [University of Washington](https://www.washington.edu/brand/templates/email-signature-template/), [University of Florida](http://identity.ufl.edu/resources/email-signature-templates/), [Northwestern University](http://www.northwestern.edu/brand/brand-assets/signature.html), [Seattle University](https://www.seattleu.edu/marcom/brand/templates/email-signature/), etc.
As for your title, I would chose "Graduate Student", to me that's the most accurate description of your status.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/03/29 | 311 | 1,285 | <issue_start>username_0: I am writing my dissertation (word-limit 10,000 words) and am wondering if I should include a separate *List of Figures* and *List of Tables* Section after my Table of Contents? The university guidelines do not specify whether they're required or not.
I will have about 3 figures and 4 tables when I'm finished.<issue_comment>username_1: To be honest, with a short dissertation with only a few figures and tables, it probably doesn't really matter one way or the other.
If your institution's dissertation guidelines say anything about it, follow them. If not, I'd say just include the lists, unless you feel you have some good reason not to. In which case, don't. Your advisor should let you know if they believe such lists should be added or removed, anyway.
Or you could just ask your advisor about it to begin with.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You should definitely ask your advisor but normally you only need a list of tables or a list of figures if there will be more than 5 items in the list. For three or four items, I would not include a list.
However, in the schools I am familiar with, there are clear dissertation guidelines so it is understood what is expected. If it is unspecified then I would go with what I said above.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/29 | 486 | 2,139 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm publishing my first paper soon with three collaborators. We made a conjecture towards the end of the paper and intended to publish with the question still open. Another mathematician heard of the problem and found a solution to the conjecture. Now we have two options:
1. publish our current paper on our own, with the conjecture open, after which our friend would publish their solution as a separate paper, or
2. include their work at the end of our paper and make them a co-author.
Though our paper is pretty good already, the new work is strong and would make a nice addition, so the first option seems nice. On the other hand, I'm an undergraduate senior (entering graduate school this Fall) and so are two of the other collaborators. Thus it seems like adding another professor as a co-author may make my contributions (which I have worked very hard on) appear less substantial. Also in favor of option 2: if the other professor publishes separately, the citation may make our paper look good.
What do you think?<issue_comment>username_1: I think it is not important which option makes your paper look good, but the best question here is "what is the right thing to do?"
If you are such a talented and hardworking undergraduate student who can write a publishable paper, you will certainly have a very bright future in grad school and later as a researcher. So, don't worry how your first paper is going to be evaluated or cited. Hopefully you will write better papers and you can prove yourself in the future. Regarding publishing research papers, the right thing to do is that you publish your paper as perfect as it is possible for you at the moment, which means it is better you add the solution (and one more co-author) to your paper.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I can add that the timing issue is also important, especially to that established would-be coauthor. Sometimes someone decides to write a paper, and it never comes to life.
However, it is also important how adding the proof to the existing paper would slow down the process of getting it out.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/30 | 606 | 2,342 | <issue_start>username_0: My wife has publications under both her maiden name and her married name. How should she indicate that this is the case on her CV, if she wants to mention publications from both time periods?<issue_comment>username_1: I know 2 female professors personally who clarify this fact very similarly. What they do is this:
1. They cite the relevant publications as they were with her maiden name and her new last name.
2. They add a \* at the beginning of the "**Publications**" section in their CV which refers to a footnote to that page which then says something like this "\* Last name changed to Smith from Doe in 1988"
That seems to work very well so far.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: A short answer, I think one can write
>
> "full present name", born "maiden name"
>
>
>
or
>
> "full present name", formerly "maiden name"
>
>
>
and put this in the top of the CV where you have personal details and/or also as a subheading for the publications list.
I also bold face my name in all publications, This way it should not pass anyone where I am in the publications list.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Unique ID services for authors like ORCID (<http://orcid.org/>; non-profit) and ResearcherID (<http://www.researcherid.com/>; associated with Web of Knowledge) are the way to go. You can list all your previous names on your ORCID profile, as well as alternate spellings. Many publishers (including Nature, PLOS, etc) and funders (both in the US and elsewhere) are starting to use ORCID to help manage authors' identities. ORCID suggests placing your ID prominently on your website, CV, and anywhere else folks might encounter your professional identity, to help with name disambiguation.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: I am in this situation, too. I site my publications as they appear on PubMed, keeping the outdated last name where it is seen on the original aricles. I then underline my full name in each publication, whether it is the current or former last name, i.e. "<NAME>" and "<NAME>" would be underlined in the Publications section. I also have my full, current name at the top of my CV/Resume (i.e. <NAME>) so it is clear that the underlined person (whether Doe or Smith) is me. I have had job coaches indicate they like this strategy.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/03/30 | 375 | 1,605 | <issue_start>username_0: I am a master's student currently deciding between two different Ph. D. programs in mathematics. The two programs have very different teaching opportunities as a grad student. One of the two programs I'm applying to allows (and encourages) students to teach a first-year calculus course, and the other one does not. However, I would be able to teach a college algebra or precalculus course at the other school. Would it reflect badly on me as a job applicant if I have no experience teaching calculus?<issue_comment>username_1: Part of the answer depends on your prospective area of expertise. Usually math professors teach the undergraduate courses that are closer to their research area. So, if you work in analysis, you will likely be assigned a calculus course; if you study algebraic geometry, you will probably get an introductory abstract algebra course; if you do research in Riemannian geometry, linear algebra.
That said, I would not worry much about which course you teach at this point.
**This distinction should not be your primary concern** in deciding between two PhD programs. Any teaching experience will do for now, and you will have many opportunities to compensate in future. Moreover, most hiring committees will focus more on your research activity than on your teaching in any case.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I would be truly shocked if any hiring committee cared at all about whether you taught calculus versus pre-calculus. Doing well at either would show that you can adequately handle teaching service classes.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer] |
2013/03/31 | 5,367 | 21,336 | <issue_start>username_0: An annoying aspect of working with a "strict" grading system (e.g., 90%+ = A, 85% = A-, 80% = B+, etc.) is what I call the "grade grubbing" phenomenon: the people who feel compelled to raise complaints about the grading because they didn't get the final score they want—but have no real argument in support of a higher grade. This is not about legitimate requests to reconsider because of a mistake but instead students searching for any reason why they deserve the X points they need to get a better grade. It’s exemplified by the kind of argument that begins “I know it’s wrong but . . . .”
I do not have the power to change the grading structure—that is imposed from higher up.
Are there any satisfactory methods of discouraging such behavior? I don't want to stop people with legitimate issues from asking for regrades (mistakes happen!), but I would like to avoid having to deal with the student who tries every which way to get the few points they need to move up a level.<issue_comment>username_1: I have three primary methods for dealing with this behavior:
1. On the first day of class, I mention that I won't tolerate grade-grubbing. I say that I am firm and will treat everyone equally. What I don't say is that students are much more likely to see leniency if they showed a good effort in class, and are nice about asking me to review a grade.
2. I admit that I make grading mistakes (and so do the TAs), and we'll fix the problem if they occur.
3. I have a policy that if you ask for a re-grade, I'll look at the whole assignment and if the end grade is actually lower, that's what you'll get (I don't think I've ever lowered a grade this way).
>
> I would like to avoid having to deal with the student who tries every which way to get the few points they need to move up a level.
>
>
>
You'll always have to deal with a couple. If you set the ground rules on the first day, you'll see fewer on average.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: I consider all requests for re-marking. As said many times here, mistakes do happen and I'm only human. However, when I find a student who is being unreasonable, I tend to be even stricter in my interpretations than I was the first time around.
Of course, the difference between 85% and 86% is not normally significant (either in the quality of the work or the overall impact on a student's total grade for the module) but for those who think they can push for a 1% 'bump up' in grade may well find themselves with a 1%-2% 'bump down' (85% to 84%).
Teacher reputations spread quite quickly between students and I believe the students will act more appropriately once they realize they are not in a 'no lose' situation.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: If
1. you have a strict grading policy; and
2. 90%+ = A, 85% = A-, 80% = B+.
Then let epsilon be a margin of error such that you would be surprised if a regrade changed things by more than epsilon points. For this example, let epsilon be 1 point.
Now apply this algorithm
```
while (cutpoint-grade
```
Perhaps your initial grading will generate grades like
84.99
Then after applying the algorithm it might change to
85.01; or 83.99
From the grade grubbers point of view:
1. 84.99: asking for a regrade is a no-brainer. If the regrade results in just a slight improvement, the grubber moves from B+ to A-. Even if the regrade results in a lower grade, the grubber will still most likely receive a B+.
2. 85.01: not asking for a regrade is a no-brainer. It is unlikely the regrade will result in the 5 additional points necessary to move from A- to A, but there is a good chance the regrade will move the student to a B+.
3. 83.99: not a no-brainer, but hopefully inertia will lead the grubber to inaction. Regrading will change the grade to somewhere in 82.99 - 84.99, -- solid B+ territory.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I know a prof who solved the problem by giving a free point to all the people who are just one point below the next grade. That way there are no students whose grade is on the boundary (e.g. nobody has 89%), so it is more difficult to get sufficient additional points for the grade above via grubbing. In effect this means the grading criterion is lowered, but since this depends on other factors as well (say, how difficult the test is), it hasn't led to administrative problems. The students are also happy with this sort of arrangement.
It also depends on how you give points. If you stick to multiple choice questions on a test, it's much harder to bargain for points.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: I usually say that my rule for regrades is like the NFL's rule for replay challenges: there must be "indisputable visual evidence" that the original grade was incorrect. For instance, scores were added incorrectly, or a correct answer was marked wrong.
If the score was a "judgment call" (for example, I deducted two points for some error and the student thinks it only deserved one point deducted), I won't change the grade, unless I did something really egregious.
I've seen the policy "We regrade the entire assignment and your grade could go up or down" but it makes me a little uncomfortable. It suggests an element of randomness or caprice in the grading, which I don't want to promote, especially for younger or weaker students who may already feel like their grade is random. I don't think students should feel like they have to roll the dice to get a genuine error corrected.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_6: I think the best approach to these types of situations is honesty. I would never refuse a request to explain why how I arrived at a student's grade but if I feel that a student is going about the process in a non-constructive way then I tell them.
If the student's approach appears unprofessional to me then it likely does to others, so this is an opportunity for professional development. Focusing on the positive I would explain how education is about much more than grades and in addition to the other good reasons to strive to become an educated person, an over emphasis on grades damages their image to the faculty who will have to provide references etc...
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: I had a clever teacher in high school who responded to grade grubbing (with respect to a particular exam or assignment) in an effective way. He presented the student with a wager:
>
> "I will be glad to mark that exam over again. However, you may end up with a lower grade. I will mark the entire exam, very carefully and strictly. You do not get to cherry pick which answers are reconsidered. Therefore, you may lose marks in places where I had been generous which may more than offset any gains. It is like a bet! Do you want to take the bet and have me check the exam?"
>
>
>
I don't know whether the students always declined the wager, but they did in every instance that I witnessed. Those students were *not* in fact confident that they deserved more marks, only that they deserved more marks in some particular question or area. More importantly, they knew very well that, overall, the teacher marked fairly, with a slant toward generosity.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: I never had issues like that but I've heard the following solution by a colleague: The students inspect their works in the presence of the professor of TA. If they have any complaints they have to *write them down and hand them in*. There is never any discussion going on, but only written complaints are accepted. All written complaints are treated carefully and there may be a next date for inspection and even a next round but this can *only* consider things which have been addressed in the first round. I.e. you can't "grub for a point in exercise 1" in the first round and then try to "grub for another point in exercise 2" in the second round. All complaints have to be submitted in the first round.
What I've heard is, that this dramatically reduces grade grubbing and especially makes "grade grubbers" think hard about their mistakes (which can be considered as a good side effect). As a matter of fact, it's much harder to articulate why you think that you deserve another point for some exercise if there is no clear "misgrading" if you have to do this in written form.
**Edit some years later:** Now I have some personal experience with this system. I did this at least six times and it works awesome. Where I am we have an official "grade grubbing date" called "Klausureinsicht" i.e. there is one date at which all students can have a look at their exams. I usually have 10 students in one room who can have a look at their exams at the same time. I answer all questions related to the content of the exam, but as soon as the grading is in question I hand out a paper and a pen and ask the student to write down their complaint. I even encourage writing complaints down. It further helps to cut off the discussion if I add that "I can't answer questions on the grading as I would have to look up how our general grading for this kind of solution/error is" (I actually have one but do not bring it to the Klausureinsicht). I collect all replies, keep them with the exams, check them and reply to the students via email on the spot or the next day. Answering the complaints is usually pretty easy. Most of the time I just write "The grading/deduction of points corresponds to our grading system." or "What you have written down does not show what you are complaining about/what you may intended to write and we can only grade what you have written." Only one time (out of several dozens) I had a student trying to continue grubbing.
Also, the fact that you can not change the grading system at your place is *a big plus* in my eyes, at least when it comes to grade grubbing. (One the other hand, you have to be more careful and work harder when producing the exam so that you can be pretty sure that the difficulty of the exam is ok.)
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_9: There are some good answers here, especially Nate's, which most closely matches my own grading policies. One item that I want to highlight that hasn't been included in other answers is the *time factor.* You must put a strict time limit on regrade requests. My course policies are that I will accept regrade requests up to one week after the exam/homework/lab/etc was handed back to the students.
The main reason for the time limit is to keep a student from grubbing too much at the end of the semester. When someone discovers that they have a B in the class, they often try hard to find a few extra points in the hopes of getting over that cutoff into A-grade land. I want to put most of the graded events of the semester out of bounds for such searches. If those 2 points weren't important enough for a student to request the regrade back in September, then they aren't important enough in December, now that final grades are being calculated.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_10: Instead of discouraging grade grubbing the traditional way (by making it harder), you could also choose to discourage it by making it less necessary. Students are much less likely to fight you over a few points if one or both of the following are true.
1. Have so many course points available that it would take an an entire
assignment's worth of grade grubbing to move up a letter grade in
the course. For example, if there are 1,000 points, and each exam is
100 points, then it would take on average about 10 exam points to
increase your overall grade by 1%. To move up from a course grade of
87% to 90%, the student would need to find 30 points, equivalent to
increase from a 70% to a 100% on an exam. All but the most ardent
grade grubber will have trouble finding that many.
2. Drop the lowest assignment(s) in certain (or all) categories. If you drop one out of 5 exams, two out of 10 quizzes, 5 out of 25 homework assignments, and so on, grade grubbers are less likely to come and try to make a deal over one low grade. They will focus more on doing better on a later assignment so that they can drop the bad assignment.
Each of these options lowers the marginal benefit of each additional point on an exam or assignment. At a point where the effort outweighs the benefit, most students will stop grubbing and only come complain when it is serious.
>
> Alternatively, all of your assignments could be multiple choice with one correct answer and no partial credit.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_11: See these resources:
<https://brownmath.com/stfa/raise.htm>
<https://web.archive.org/web/20130705093554/http://www.rochester.edu/College/phl/gradechange.pdf>
I posted the latter form on my door, and referred students to it when they came grumbling. They were furious the first couple of times, but then learned that it was a moot point to argue with me. (Although there was a case when I screwed up the final grade computation, and had to submit a few dozen grade change slips).
On a more serious side, I stopped doing the 60-70-80-90-100 cutoffs in the latest courses at all. Think about this: you are spending 70% of the test material and volume to test for a C, and then another 10% for a B, and then another 10% for an A. A much better use of your test problems is to have 1/3 of the problems address the grade of C, then another 1/3 of more complex problems to address the grade of B, and finally the most difficult 1/3 of problems address the grade of A. So in my exams, I would state something like:
>
> There are 12 problems on this test marked at level C; you need to get 10 of them right to get the grade of C. There are 10 problems on this test marked at level B; you need to get at least 8 problems at level B or higher, and at least 15 problems total, to get the grade of B. There are 8 problems on this test marked at level A; you need to get at least 6 problems at level A, and at least 20 problems overall, to get a grade of A.
>
>
>
That is, out of 12+10+8 = 30 problems, you need to do two thirds, pick and choose, to get a full A, and only a third to get a C. You got 4 A problems, 4 B problems, and 8 C problems? That's a B+ in my books; you are a far shot for the required 20 problems for A, but you fulfilled the B requirements, and slightly exceeded them by having completed a bunch of A problems. The problems would be clustered, on most occasions: a given "big" problem would start with two-three C points, progress to one or two B points, and then culminate in an A point. Some A problems would be stand alone ones. So there would be 8 to 10 "big" problems and items within it. The smartest students would work on 6 problems, get everything right, and leave early. Not so bright students would attempt everything and fail at everything, and walk away with a C. I've seen all of the different ways that students approached it, which showed their learning styles and testing strategies -- pretty interesting per se.
While initially confusing (I train students to it by giving like three quizzes based on this system in the first three weeks), this system works very well in the end. Before each test, I also give students rubrics stating what they need to know at C/B/A level (C level: know the formula; B: determine which formula to use in a given simple context; A level: know where the formula breaks down, and how), so there was very little arguing about grades: either you've done the problem to my liking, or you haven't; and then you just count the completes up.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_12: When I was doing my bachelor degree, my department had a policy which made students more serious about asking for re-marking: when a student submit a formal request, he has to pay a small fee which will be refunded if his grade changes after being re-marked, otherwise the department will keep that money. Although I doubt that this solution can be applied everywhere, but it actually makes students to think carefully instead of blindly asking for re-mark all the time.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_13: I am now 38yrs old and came across this site doing research for a graduate program. During high school I was not a "good" student. My grades were as bad as you could imagine and I paid strict attention to the grading methods that each teacher used. I did as little home-work as I could. Often home-work counted heavily in grading so I would need to max tests and especially semester finals (finals were usually 20% weighted in final averages). My typical finals week would require me to achieve 6-7 high "A" grades to achieve a D and pass the courses. My GPA at graduation was 1.82, I loved to listen to lectures and to read texts but I never wanted to do the mundane work of reinforcement. When I went to college I found a grading style that I was very comfortable with namely tests, essays, exams I finished my B.S. with a 3.83 GPA and did it in five semesters. Very little about my approach changed from high school to college except that I more than doubled my course load.
I had one high-school teacher that gave us a choice about how we would be graded. He was a geometry teacher and he gave you the choice of Option A: 100% based on tests or Option B: 50% tests, 30% homework, 20% quizzes. You had to choose on the first day of class and sign a contract. I chose test option, and felt a vested interest making my choice the right one for me. He had one extra credit question on every test that was related to the topic but much more difficult I finished his class with 104% grade and likely the lone A of my high school career. I never did any home work but I hung on his every word in class and spent time while I was running working through geometric proofs in my head. I would have likely done that anyway but he is still an inspiration to me now and he is among the influences that have lead me to want to teach after I retire.
If a kid can present a compelling logical and supportable premise that supports regarding you should thank them for helping to improve your curriculum or your communication process; find a way to benefit from their observations. It may be an opportunity to apply some constructivist principles or you might have to expose them to a harsh truth that they are wrong.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: My experience is from a senior high school perspective. In the English department, it was usually essays or essay-format questions on tests that students wanted remarks because they thought they deserved a higher mark. If a student approached with this sort of request, and I as a teacher felt they were just fishing for extra marks, we would make a clean copy of the assignment, so that my comments/corrections/marks were not on the paper, and pass the paper over to the department head for re-marking, with the warning that his decision would be final and would replace the mark I had assigned--no matter if it was higher or lower. Of course our department head had the reputation of being the toughest marker in the department, and his re-marking often (but not inevitably) resulted in lower marks. Once the news got around that this was the way re-mark requests were being handled, the number of students who were just whining in case they could coax a few extra marks out of the teacher, dropped. They didn't want to take the chance that a re-mark would leave them worse off than before. The students who had a legitimate complaint still had a way to have it addressed, and of course addition errors were handled on the spot with no attempt made to discourage them.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_15: One class I took had a policy where if you submitted a regrade request, and it was denied, they took five points off your grade. They only did this for people who had already gotten at least one regrade request denied, so that students who had legitimate basis for regrades weren't discouraged.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_16: ### TL;DR: Don't assume they're "grade-grubbers"; treat them fairly and respectfully, and consider their appeals on the merits.
You're pre-judging them - assuming that their appeals are invalid because they "didn't get the final score they want". Maybe what they want is the grade they deserve, based on their answers? Or maybe even it's the grade they deserve based on their command of the subject material, which may be poorly reflected in the grades? You've dismissed this possibility from the get-go, and en masse.
You've even adopted a derogatory nickname for them. Ha ha, very droll... not. Don't use it.
Have an orderly procedure for submitting and handling appeals (perhaps insist on appeals in writing with a guideline document for writing appeals). Don't try to penalize people or threaten penalties or negative repercussions when submitting appeals. Consider the appeals on the merits when you get them - whether it's an appeal about 10% of the grade or 1% of the grade. You do not have to be lenient in grading - but you need to be fair, consistent, and willingly consider the appellants' arguments.
Finally, if you get a *lot* of appeals, that's usually a sign there's something wrong either with the grading in general, or with the teaching-staff-students interaction, or with the choice of grading scheme, or all of the above.
Upvotes: -1 |
2013/03/31 | 828 | 3,191 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm an Undergrad student from one of the Indian Institutes of Technology and I still have a year left to complete my Dual-degree course in Computer Science(offers me M.Tech & B.Tech by the end of June 2014). I've a not-so-proud-of gpa of 7.5/10 which is around 3.0/4.0 which I assume is pretty low when compared to my seniors' gpa who've taken up a PhD. But, what I've experienced from a last summer's industry internship and the previous summer working under a professor doing research is that I really can't work in the industry for a longer time writing Software as making money is the least of my concerns. The research work yielded in a rejected publication though I was way more satisfied than the internship
I worked under another professor the next winter, published an article in a highly reputed journal in the field of Complex networks and working on another publication this fall. I'll be working along with IBM in a research internship this summer and hoping to do well. A bit of a late realization haunts me day-to-day. Needless to say, my transcripts suck. So, to dodge all the obstacles that I created myself, I'm planning to do research work extensively for the rest of my Undergrad time. Also, I'm thinking of joining the industry after my graduation for about a year or two before PhD for two reasons. One being, my work experience can be of help and can make up for my poor transcript and second being that I can reinforce the industry-is-not-so-interesting belief. The second being not so important.
So, is pursuing PhD from a reputed university still in my scope? What suggestions can you offer for increasing my chances that I can do during my last year? Reading a lot of questions in this forum site, I believed this might be a good place to vent my rant. Thanks a lot in advance.<issue_comment>username_1: My cents:
1. Academia is broken ([1] and other articles).
2. However, you need to show your future employer that you are not just a Adderall user [2].
Thus, I would get a Master's degree in ECE. Now, why ECE and not CS. I consider CS (as well as physics, chemistry, etc) to be a fundamental science. Industry usually is looking for more applied field, which in the case of CS is ECE (IMHO).
Now, in US, is possible to get Master's degree in ECE for free. Apply for PhD school, then drop out with Master's, preferable with thesis option. This way you will show your future employer that you can do: independent research; describe and present your results.
[1] <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5429651>
[2] <http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/01/health/drugs-adderall-concentration>
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: A 3.5+ is generally preferred but a 3.0 and some solid test scores (GMAT/GRE) can really bump you up in the admissions line. Keep working on your publications and when it comes time to write your personal essay talk about how you have published already but really want to develop those skills so you can be a prolific researcher.
If you love research, and the creation of knowledge, then go for the PhD it will give you the best training and opportunity to advance your research.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer] |
2013/03/31 | 1,457 | 6,057 | <issue_start>username_0: Recently I created a project report for the project that me and my classmate are working on. The project report goes to the external examiner to whom later we have to give a demo on our project.
Me being inclined to designing (web designing, graphic design, etc) I decided to make the project report look really good. A nice clean report with good choice of paper. And care taken while choosing font etc.
It turned out to be much much better than anyone else's report. BUT! The first thing I heard from other classmates was. ***"Making project report look good is of NO USE. Your project (Application) should be good enough and it's all that matters"***
Is it true? from a general perspective of people. Does "making it look good" matter at all?
I couldn't find any other section more relevant enough to discuss this question. Please let me know if there is any.<issue_comment>username_1: If your content is as good as the cover you used, it is ok. But if you are trying to create a good looking report about a badly implemented project, it is just a waste of time and shows that you concentrate on the trivial things rather than on important ones.
Those who judge your work won't judge it by its cover, I hope. That said, if the report is about a project aptly implemented, it shows that you are a perfectionist and is a good thing.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: The answer by username_1 is spot on. I would just like to add the following: Good design will not kill anyone but bad design can. By design I am primarily thinking typography and illustrations. I am not so concerned about reports made during your studies but rather when you are in the work place. A report, no matter how well conceived can become overlooked if it is hard to read and if illustrations are not clear enough. There is of course a risk of over-doing the design and a somber tidy look is usually the best. So if your work is good and your design of the report also allows people to grasp the content with ease, you are doing very well!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: A good-looking report will put me in the mindset that you took the assignment seriously, and aimed to turn in quality work. I think that counts for something, not nothing.
That said, if a report is just that – good looking, with little substance behind it – I will see through the façade very quickly, and all those superficial niceties might even count against you.
Assuming that's not the case, though, if two people turn in equally good work, yet one is formatted much more professionally than the other, that *might* earn an extra point or two – assuming I'm grading with some level of subjectivity, and not merely following a strict rubric. Shame on me, though, if I let mere appearance carry much more weight than that.
That all said, your classmates seem to be very shortsighted. Okay, maybe your extra effort will get you a 94 instead of a 93. Or maybe you'll just get a 93, with nothing more than a mental note that I thought your report looked really good. However, what you do in my classroom might – and perhaps should – extend far beyond my class. Presumably, you're in my class for an education, not merely for 3 or 4 credits. Get in the habit of turning in good work, and that might turn into something that translates into a valuable life skill.
One more thought: what's going to happen after you graduate, when all those folks from human resources ask you to include the names of three professors on your job applications? One of them might well call me, and ask, “What do you remember about this guy?”
Perhaps I'll answer, “Oh, I remember him. He always turned in exceptional work.”
Those two sentences might prove to be worth far more than an extra point or two on an assignment.
Incidentally, I had one student bring her term project into a job interview. They hired her, largely based on what they saw in that class project. Just a couple weeks ago, another student asked if my name could be listed as a reference.
“I hope they call me,” I replied in my email. “I distinctly remember how your work always seemed to go above and beyond what everyone else was turning in.” Imagine how that will sound in the ear of a corporate recruiter who is sifting through a pile of job applications.
It's your call. It's also your future.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: In my honest opinion,it's impossible to separate content from presentation. They may be two separate aspects of one thing but they are not two separate things. Taking your classmates' view to extremes would have us turning in work without bothering to check for spelling or grammar.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: You heard *from your classmates* that the look of the report is of no use.
But your report was better. I.e. they turned in work inferior to yours.
In life, you can generally disregard the worthless advice and nay-saying of your inferiors, and just do it your way.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: There are two key elements in a report: content and structure. These can boost each other. A better content will make a judge (referee, reviewer, etc.) feel that the person has something to say, and thus the judge can overlook small mistakes in structure, and only ask for corrections. On the other hand, when a moderate content is prepared really good, the judge will give credit to the work and instead of rejecting it, (s)he would ask for betterment of the content. Usually those who prepare a very good-looking project, pay sufficient or professional attention to other aspects (the content) of the work too. At least they show they are fond of this work, no matter how their content is moderate or even not so good.
So I suggest you keep up the good work and always make your (important) reports super good-looking. That works most of the time. It has worked for me all the time.
Besides, it is normal for people to try to underestimate people who are very superior to them. :) So don't take them seriously.
Upvotes: 1 |
2013/03/31 | 490 | 1,916 | <issue_start>username_0: If you're citing a personal correspondence, e.g.:
"Cats are vicious" (<NAME>, personal correspondence, March 12, 2012)
and you continue to use this personal correspondence with a cat expert, do you refer to them simply as Bobson, or <NAME>?<issue_comment>username_1: Continuously referring to personal correspondence sounds like a bad idea… if many parts of the discussion come from unpublished comments from your correspondent, he should probably be a co-author rather than simply cited. Otherwise, you can quote the personal correspondence once and explain its context at first point of use. Something like:
>
> Many of ideas developed in this paragraph were inspired by a series of discussion with cat expert <NAME>, over the spring of 2002. In particular, he drew our attention to the viciousness of cats and their unwillingness to comply to their master's will.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In addition to @username_1' good points, depending on the nature of the communication, if it is "preservable" (an email, a PDF, or a conversation for which you have a transcript) it may merit a bibliographic entry [Bobson~2012] or Bobson (2012) depending on your style. Certainly do give a date or dates, and the disposition of the records, such as they may be. That is, as in other situations, being honest and helpful to the reader is a good guide.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I think every style is going to be different. [APA](http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/) doesn't add it to the references at the end. It also only uses initials and not the full name in text. Additional reference to the same communication would still include the initials.
The key thing to remember is to be consistent and let the copy editor enfore the style rule. Nobody is going to reject your work because of slight stylistic deviations,
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/04/01 | 988 | 4,081 | <issue_start>username_0: Though I did my bachelor's at a top-notch college, because of low GPA I had to settle down for PhD at a low ranked university. Now I see that there is lack of intellectual atmosphere and very few people to discuss academic stuff in and around my area of research. I discuss with faculty, but it would have been nice if there was a good graduate student atmosphere which is lacking. Now I get frustrated often with the fact that it was my low GPA which led to all this. Also in general the graduate student atmosphere is very discouraging.
What should I do to make my life better? Some people tell me to mind my own business and not worry about the environment. But to me no peer level discussion leads to feelings of loneliness.<issue_comment>username_1: If you are indeed substantially better than your cohort, prove it by far exceeding your professors' expectations, and then ask them to support transfer applications to more prestigious universities next year.
In the meantime, make the best of the situation you're in.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: **Stop whining and start kicking ass.**
Work hard with faculty (and undergrads!) that you respect, do some awesome research, and then (if you are very lucky) move to a better department, either as a PhD student, a postdoc, or even a faculty member.
Meanwhile, own your past mistakes, but forgive yourself for them. You put yourself in this situation, but holding onto your frustration and loneliness, instead of doing the best with what you have now, is only going to keep you frustrated and lonely.
(My undergrad GPA was 2.4/4.0.)
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_3: A PhD is often, a very lonely beast. I go to a "top" school but often, I feel that there is no one to discuss my work with at a high level other than my adviser. Often, I feel that everyone around me is much smarter than me and can contribute so much to my general academic knowledge just by having a high level discussion over coffee.
This has nothing to do with my school or my department but everything to do with me. If I cannot make other people, especially my peers understand what work I am doing and have a broad level discussion with them, my science communication skills need to be improved.
As others have already pointed out, if you are indeed better, prove it by being the very best at where you are and you will soon magically see that there are plenty of people to discuss your work with no matter where your university or department is ranked.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Ok 1st of all I think you're delusional about what you "think" you're missing out on.
Everywhere you go, academia is a very independent vocation. That is, even at a top notch school, *your peers probably wouldn't want to chit chat with you about physics much*. They'd want to go do their own research. Life at a top notch institution isn't some all-day sitcom with witty exchanges about subatomic particles.
Friendships and conversations can be had with people in other disciplines.
One thing I think you don't understand is
**nobody cares about your research problem**, not even your peers and equivalents **because they are too busy with their own problem**. The intellectual load of academia is such that if you don't narrow your focus, you'll never succeed. Simply because there is too much to know, and if you start exploring too many fields, all your time will be lost.
If they are researching the exact same thing as you, *then they are in competition with you*.
You may also have a superiority complex that you need to overcome. You very obviously think you're smarter than everyone around you, and you look down on your peers. You have to stop doing that, and instead work independently, chat with peers on break times on common grounds.
Use the Internet for peer discussion.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: nobody cares about your university, the only important thing at least in Europe is your CV. If you can publish paper in good journals then nobody will think about your university.
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/04/01 | 894 | 3,793 | <issue_start>username_0: I was recently doing some research on [PubMed](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) and I noticed that, in my field of research (plant science), some articles are referenced and others are not, even for two articles in the same journal...
Does everyone know what is (are) the condition(s) for a paper to be listed in PubMed?<issue_comment>username_1: from [here](http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/j_sel_faq.html)
The National Library of Medicine uses an NIH-chartered committee, the Literature Selection Technical Review Committee (LSTRC), to review all new biomedical and health journal titles and recommend those to be indexed for MEDLINE®. The NLM Fact Sheet titled "MEDLINE Journal Selection" provides information on the role of the LSTRC and critical factors considered in making the decision to recommend a journal title for indexing. It is intended only as a guide since there is no one set of characteristics that will guarantee selection. The LSTRC considers the quality of the scientific content, including originality, and the importance of the content for the MEDLINE audience throughout the world.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Because PubMed is about biomedical literature and life science journals. Things are blurry, however, because of two factors:
1. Obviously, there is no strict definition of what is (or is not) *biomedicine*.
2. PubMed does not select “article by article”, but has a list of indexed journals, from which all papers are indexed. Yet, a single journal's scope can be very varied.
Combine the two, and you get the idea that there is a lot of variability in whether an article on a given topic is published. For example, my own research field is materials chemistry, and about two-thirds of my papers appear to be indexed in PubMed: probably because those were published in generic chemistry journals, which also happen to publish some papers of relevant to life science.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Often there are journals that clearly have bio-medical content, and are not found in PubMed. That's because registering a journal in PubMed is a non-trivial task.
Even for big players like Cell Press it took almost a year to put "Cell Reports"
in there.
The publisher can apply to be included in PubMed, but that usually takes some time. The meeting where it is discussed if a journal is included is only held twice per year. One requirement is that the journal is also available in print. That's why many journals start with a print issue and then after inclusion in PubMed drop it again.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Let me start by saying that some of the other answers are misleading because Medline is not the same as Pubmed. You'll find Medline-indexed journals which are selected by LSTRC in Pubmed, but Pubmed also contains other articles from non-Medline indexed journals - hence the answer about LSTRC selecting Medline journals isn't wrong but does not answer the question at hand.
If a journal is in Pubmed (e.g. because the publisher submits to PubMed Central, or because it is selected for Medline) then usually ALL articles from that journal are in PubMed.
The answer to the mystery why some articles from a journal may be in Pubmed and others are not may have to do with the fact that authors can submit their accepted manuscript to PubMed Central (PMC, which hosts full-text articles) and then they also show up in PubMed. If authors are funded by NIH or other funding agencies they even have a mandate to make their manuscript openly accessible. If the journal is not open access they have to submit it to PMC using the author manuscript submission pathway. The paper will then show up in PubMed, even though the full journal is not Medline indexed.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/04/02 | 493 | 2,098 | <issue_start>username_0: I got an offer for a PhD position which, due to my financial status, I can only accept if I am awarded a scholarship, which is currently in consideration. Recently, I receive a job offer which have to be answered before the scholarship announcement date. I cannot delay on that because there are few other potential candidates for that position. Although I find it interesting but it's OK if I turn an offer down as I currently have one already. Moreover, the PhD is much more important to me. So my question is whether asking the university to speed up in their consideration affects the chance to get the scholarship. If it's possible, can someone let me know how university deals with this situation?
Update: I cannot quit a new job early as it has a fixed-term, more like minimum term, contract because I will receive 3 months oversea training at the beginning so they don't want me to leave too soon.<issue_comment>username_1: You could accept the job offer, and quit your job if the PhD position works out. Especially during your trial period at that company it is surely ethical to quit, this period is meant for you to see if you like the company and vice-versa. If you find something more to your liking, switching jobs is normal. After your trial period you probably have some kind of period you need to stay after resigning, say a month. The PhD will probably not require you to start the second you get the scholarship, so you have ample time to deal with the last bits at the company, and start at your PhD position a month later.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Asking to speed up the process will not hurt your chances. They may not be able to speed anything up, but if they do/don't, they will not hold it against you. Likely what they will do is take a look at where you stand and then be able to judge if they can definitely fund you. If so they will tell you. If not, they will tell you they don't know yet. They also might tell you it is unlikely. Something like you are currently ranked 25 and we have funding for 8.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/04/02 | 1,851 | 6,642 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm trying to figure out the equivalence between grade schemes in different countries.
According to some Google results:
1. If you are a U.S. citizen, you need a GPA of 3.2+ (it varies, some say 3.2 and some others say 3.6, etc) to apply for a position in the UK (job or university) where the prerequisite is to have a minimum grade of 2:1.
2. In UK 2:1 is earned if you have a 60-69% of the points. I've read that 2:1 is the same as 67%.
3. In Spain we use a grading scheme of 10 points. So according to (2), for have a UK 2:1 you need to have 6-6.9 points.
4. If you are Spanish and have 6.7, when converting it to GPA the result is 1.5.
However, if you take the above points and treat them as a math equation, the final result will be GPA 1.5 = GPA 3.2, which doesn't make any sense.
```
GPA 3.2 = UK 2:1
UK 2:1 = Spain 6.7
Spain 6.7 = GPA 1.5
```
Replacing now...
```
UK 2:1 = GPA 1.5
GPA 3.2 = GPA 1.5
```
My question is if someone has a better explanation on converting grades obtained in different countries.<issue_comment>username_1: There is no clear answer for conversion between grading schemes in different countries. Sure, you could numerically try to convert using ratios and proportions as you are currently tying to do but they don't really mean anything because of the following two salient reasons:
1. **Grade Inflation and Deflation:** Grades mean differently in different institutions across different disciplines and in different courses. For instance, certain highly ranked universities in the USA are very well known for grade inflation. A 3.5 overall GPA is what almost everyone gets. On the other hand, certain other highly ranked universities suffer from grade inflation where getting a 3.0 GPA in certain courses and in certain majors is very different. Hence, merely using some base metric to convert between grading schemes of different countries is not a very good idea.
2. **Differential grading within the same country:** Not every country has a standardized grading system. For instance, India has at least 5 different grading schemes that I am aware of including but not limited to absolute CGPA's on a 4.0 scale, a percentage system on 100 and a relative CGPA system on a 10.0 scale.
**tl;dr**
Don't convert between different grading schemes unless it is explicitly mentioned what minimum grades you need for your own country. Just apply and hope for the best.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I realize that you mainly mention translating grades between Spain-UK-USA but the final statement of your question is about converting grades in general, so that's what I will refer to.
Most countries have their own system which doesn't really make sense as you try to "translate" them to some other system.
For example in Sweden two grading systems exist at university level:
* U/G/VG which stands for fail/pass/pass with distinction
* U/3/4/5 which stands for fail/pass with grade 3/4/5 (5 being the best possible grade) used primarily in technical (such as engineering) universities/faculties
Our neighbouring Denmark however seems to have a 7-grade system with a scale from -3 to 12. In Germany, however, the best grade you can get is a 1, thus you would want a "GPA" as low as possible. So much so that if you apply to an institute with 4+ GPA from a Swedish engineering school, they don't even bother to reply (personal experience).
To add to this grading madness, consider the effect of the curve bell; in some countries university exams are graded based on a bell curve, so a certain percentage of students get the best grade no matter how many points they get. In other words if you are in a class of overambitious students, well, your 80% in the exam might be barely enough for a pass.
Note that a standardised grading system was attempted in the EU (with some extra countries) in connection with the Bologna Process, with the ultimate goal of facilitating internationalization amongst European countries. But it died out due to the resistance from many different institutes. When the standardised grading system introduced with the Bologna Process was trashed later on (at least in Sweden), the solution was to supply a diploma supplement, for instance upon enrolment in exchange program, where statistics (how many students were enrolled, how many passed with what grade etc) for each course the student has taken is denoted.
To sum it up, what the grades are supposed to reflect typically gets lost in translation. Trying to convert them back and forth does not make any sense, and even if it did, there is no guarantee that ***country A*** and ***country B*** will value a certain grade ***G*** from a ***country C*** the same way. In clearer terms your 6.7 Spanish GPA might not weigh equal when judged by the American and the British authorities/companies.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: In Spain, examinations are graded in 0-10 (with 0 being failing everything, and 10 a perfect score), but then the actual marks for each subject *at universities* is in a 4 degrees scale: 0-fail, 1-pass, 2-remarkable, 3-outstanding, 4-outstanding with honors. Marks are weighted by the number of credits (equivalent 10-hour blocks of study, including class attendance, labs, and estimated self-study) of each subject.
People with non-Spanish degrees have to convert their marks to this 4 point system, with the help of the following algorithm (in pseudo-code; you can find how to use it, for instance, [in this form from the Spanish Council of Scientific Research](https://sede.csic.gob.es/servicios/formacion-y-empleo/bolsa-de-trabajo/modelo-declaracion-notas-medias)):
```
Ti = 0;
Mi = 50+50*(SMi-Nmin)/(Nmax-Nmin)
if Mi >= 50 and Mi < 69.9 then Ti = 1
else if Mi >= 70 and Mi < 89.9 then Ti = 2
else if Mi >= 80 and Mi < 99.9 then Ti = 3
else if Mi > 99.9 then Ti = 4
```
and the final average is the total sum of the weighted average (Ci times Ti) divided by the total sum of credits (ΣCi), where:
* Nmax = maximum note in the source system
* Mmin = minimum note that gives a pass in the source system
* Ci = number of of credits for subject *i*
* SMi = source mark for subject *i*
* Mi = intermediate 0-100 mark (with 50 being the first note that gives a pass)
* Ti = final mark in the Spanish system
You can use that kind of intermediate step to go from any mark system to any other. The only thing you have to change is:
* Nmin and Nmax; it even works for system such as the German, where Nmax = 1,0 and Nmin = 4,0
* the brackets and marks for converting from the 100-point system to the target system.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/04/03 | 1,104 | 4,501 | <issue_start>username_0: I'd like to learn about the state of the art in [network science](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_science) and which problems researchers are actively working on. In particular, I'm interested in the applications, but the theory is also interesting.
I've found papers on scholar.google.com, and if I'm not mistaken most of the papers are published in application-specific conferences. For example, if network science is used to understand something related to cancer then the results are published in a medical journal. This is making it hard for me to get a consistent view and it's hard for me to get access to such a broad section of the literature (I'm not at a university so I keep hitting paywalls).
**tl;dr:** Where can I find conferences and journals that focus on network science?<issue_comment>username_1: I would say you are approaching it in the wrong way. Since network science (as Wikipedia defined it) is multidisciplinary concept, then I really doubt finding a consistent venue (conferences/ journals) for it. This is specially true if you are interested in the *application* side. If you are interested in the theory behind it, I see Graph Theory is the way to go.
I have worked in different applications of what so called *network science* including bioinformatics, social networks. I only knew graph theory (I had no clue what genes really are). **So this largely depends on the application domain.**
So simple steps to go:
1. Pick an area/interesting problem related to your expertise/background.
2. Read its literature.
If you saw a good paper related to your work, then keep an eye on the authors.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I agree with Seteropere completely, "Network Science" is a very broad subject. I work with the theory of "dynamic networks" which involves a lot of graph theory, complex networks, and time series analysis, but also in protocol design for Delay Tolerant Networks which is another application you might like.
Take a look at this website, <http://www.network-science.org/> it has plenty of links that I rate very highly. Including links to <NAME>'s work (check out <http://www.sociopatterns.org/> it has some wonderful illustrations of dynamic networks). There is also a conference devoted specifically to Temporal and Dynamic Networks <http://tdn2013.wix.com/tdn2013#!contributions/cmc>
Here are some of the tips I sent to a recent new student in our department, most are free in that there are no paywalls:
1. Look at the references on the most recent papers you are reading, and also look at the conferences and journals that the authors are involved in by visiting their personal websites. This will tell you where people are currently submitting to.
2. There are some websites devoted to finding conferences too, but don't rely on them. Some examples:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_science_conferences>
<http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/>
3. Find a conference you like the look of, look at their **calls for papers**, and **past proceedings** to see what they are asking for.
4. Mailing lists! Sign up to (but don't spam) well known mailing lists. Again this will be dependent on the area you are interested in. In computer networking the biggest mailing list for calls for papers is probably the IEEE TCCC mailing list, <http://committees.comsoc.org/tccc/mailing_list/>.
5. Social networks. Sign up to Twitter/Facebook/Linkedin/etc. A lot of Phd Students, PostDocs, lecturers, research groups, and conferences are on Twitter. When you find someone or something you like, look for it on social networking sites, look who is following, what they are talking about, and get involved.
Good luck.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: To echo both of the other answerers, "Network Science" is really, really broad as a field, which means that conferences, journal venues and the like can often be quite hard to find, as many people are interested in network science *as it applies to their field*.
One productive way forward is simply to *ask* people doing network science in your field where they present and publish, or do a bit of Google Scholar stalking.
For example, building off a colleague of mine's recent work:
* Both Netsci '18 and the SIAM Network Science conference are likely good general conferences
* But so is the Ecological Society of America for network science applications of biological systems, and Epidemics for...well...Epidemics.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/04/03 | 1,394 | 5,725 | <issue_start>username_0: The "research portion" of my paper is mostly done, but I'm having trouble putting together my research. (Keep in mind this is at the undergraduate level). It's not so much that I don't know how to organize my thoughts; in fact, I've written a very detailed outline. I seem to have a two questions I'm wrestling with (I apologize if this is a tad long-winded)
1. The monotonous proof-theorem-proof-theorem style that essentially consists of a list of facts with no exposition seems to be most accepted. But will this really make my paper stand out? When I think about texts with proof-theorem-proof-theorem, I think of the color gray. If I try to be clever and witty, it could certainly backfire on me, but such papers are the most memorable papers I've ever read!
>
> So what should the tone/style of my paper be?
>
>
>
2. I'm struggling *very much* with how detailed my paper should be. By no means am I writing a textbook, but I need to show the audience (namely admission committees) that I *know* what I'm talking about. On the other hand, I have a deadline! There's always this looming thought in the back of my head that says "But you can't leave that out!" when I debate if I should skip something just to speed up the process -- it's as if I have a hoarder living in my head. I have this same issue with considering how much background/prerequisite math I should include for the reader -- it is **confusing**, to say the least, writing to an audience that is more knowledgeable than the author. This is certainly very difficult for me to figure out.
>
> So how detailed should my paper be?
>
>
>
I'd really like to hear feedback from professors and/or admission committees members. But, of course, feedback from anyone with research experience is appreciated!<issue_comment>username_1: My current field is not mathematics, but I am certainly not a real stranger to the field as I did my diploma (undergrad + masters) education on applied mathematics. Anyways here's my two cents:
1. The regular structure and tone of research articles is pretty much the same; unless there is a good reason you stick to IMRaD (Intro, Mat&Met, Results and Discussion). Unless there is a good reason, you avoid passive tone, and changes in tense etc. This structure has the benefit of being familiar and intuitive to practically anyone out there. The "RaD" part is typically what's most important.
What's different in **your** case is due to the fact that research om mathematics is more *inductive* than *deductive*. What that means is that you have to make sure your introduction is watertight, all your assumptions are valid. Since the value of your results depend on what you have built them on, the introduction becomes much more important than a "normal" introduction.
Regarding the tone or style; the reason why some people can write witty is most likely because the same person has written many more articles, perhaps even book chapters. The experience really shines through in academic writing. Besides an established/respected professor isn't likely to be judged for humor in writing, the same way a junior scientist would be.
Alternatively the person in question might be "witty" in his/her personality, and that wittiness passes on to the writing. As a young, aspiring academic you should be more worried about getting it ***right*** than getting it pretty/witty.
2. It's usually hard to decide on that sort of stuff without having any more information. How much did you write? How much work are you presenting in that paper? It's usually a good idea to stick to the upper limit for the paper. Any journal (in my experience) will give you an upper limit on number of words/characters/pages for manuscript submission. I can only imagine admission committees would do the same. If there really isn't a defined limit, ask a more experienced colleague/friend perhaps, or a professor?
Hope it works out fine.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Apologies for stealing scaaahu's comment into this answer, but I wanted to stress that it is really the only possible answer to this question: ask your advisor!
Getting a hang for the appropriate level of detail is a very tricky thing, and only comes with experience. Also with being clever and witty; if you can pull it off, great, but if you can't, then it distracts from the content of your article. There are no general rules for this, you need advice from a more experienced mentor.
If I were you, I would write up a quick draft without stressing *too* much over these issues, and go over it carefully with your advisor; they would be able to tell you whether your humour is working, or where you need more or less detail.
That said, a few general tips:
1. Look at the papers you cite; if they all treat some theory as standard or well-known ("By class field theory....") then you probably can too. Same goes for tone.
2. Often you can save space and omit details by rephrasing your results in a way that suggests how the proof should go. For example, let's say I have a lemma about a linear operator that gets proven by choosing a basis and then something straightforward; I might then state the lemma in terms of the matrix, so it would be more obvious to the reader how to complete the proof.
3. (and the most important, imo) Engaging papers are not engaging because of witty one-liners, they are typically engaging because a great deal of effort went into organizing them well. The key is to ensure the reader always knows where they are, where they are going, and how they're getting there. This is not at all easy to do, but if you practice writing with this in mind early on, it will serve dividends later.
Upvotes: 4 |
2013/04/03 | 494 | 2,185 | <issue_start>username_0: What effect does a good research paper have on a university's worldwide rankings?<issue_comment>username_1: **None.** One good paper makes its author(s) look good, but does not make the university more or less remarkable (either in term of perception by the research community or rankings). It takes a lot of good output (papers, conferences, etc.) for people to start saying “hey, that university has great research done in so many research groups, it looks like a great place”, and for whatever rankings to be affected.
Unless by “good” you mean “outstanding”, not in the academic sense *“quite okay but I’m writing in hyperbolic style”* but in the meaning of *“exceptionally good; clearly noticeable”*. One groundbreaking (Nobel level, if you wish) discovery made at a single institution will help it.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: A single good research paper typically has a **very small impact** on the university's ranking and prestige. However, universities are very large organisations. Any one university may be producing thousands of publications each year. Thus, the presence or absence of one publication is unlikely to change the ranking of a university on some prestige or publication based league table.
That said, each publication (and especially the "good" ones) does play its role in the overall evaluation of prestige. Thus, if a single good publication contributed .01% or .1% of the total citations (or other prestige generating effects) that a university received in a given period, then that is still important. I remember hearing that a study that received a lot of publicity was supposed to have generated $200,000 in free advertising exposure for the university. Presumably similar quantifications could be applied to university prestige. While the contribution of one publication relative to the prestige of an entire university is small, the absolute value may still be substantial.
Furthermore the influence of one good publication on prestige naturally amplifies as you go to smaller groupings from nation to university to faculty to department to research group to individual researcher.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/04/03 | 378 | 1,494 | <issue_start>username_0: I gave an application for a funded project to a student as reference material for his Masters thesis. He wants to put a reference to this text into his bibliography. What is the necessary "bibliographic" information to include in this case, and what would be the recommended way to format such a reference?<issue_comment>username_1: The rule with citation of “unusual” references is always something like that:
1. Make sure you really want to cite it. *(In your case, it sounds okay, but most cases of students trying to cite “unusual” stuff end up with me telling them not to cite it)*
2. Include just enough information that the **cited item is uniquely identifiable**.
3. If the item is not publicly available, include additional information that hints at its content (such as the title).
For example:
>
> <NAME> (341 BC). *Exploring the impact of introducing a fifth element in Empedocles’s classification of principles* [Grant X1FH25 proposal to the Macedonian Science Fundation, Agency for Philosophical Research].
>
>
>
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: i know that we are not on the LaTeX / TeX site, but when thinking about BibTeX your headache will gone away and it should be rather clear.
@format: That will be made when choosing a bibliograhystyle within your tex file.
@required information: Various bibliography items are demanding different fields.
[BibTeX overview](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BibTeX)
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/04/03 | 694 | 2,906 | <issue_start>username_0: Are people doing research for Microsoft, Apple, Intel experienced researchers/scientists or just experienced programmers using other people's research? Do they hire full time researchers for their research or do they take experienced/skilled professionals who are familiar working with java, C++ and other commercial technologies?<issue_comment>username_1: Microsoft has a prominent research arm, [Microsoft Research](http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/). Intel has [Intel Labs](http://www.intel.com/intel-labs/.htm). Both organizations hire research-focused PhDs from both industry and academia, and both employ researchers that have joint appointments on research university faculty. Employees at both organizations also routinely publish fundamental research at peer-reviewed conferences and workshops, and in journals.
Apple is a tougher nut to crack -- they spend truckloads of money on R&D, but rarely publish in peer-reviewed venues. However, they do hire plenty of PhDs who do focused research on products that sometimes turn into the next iPhone.
All three companies file many patents, as well.
Many other big companies also have research labs, and openly hire researches specifically working on fundamental research. However, as with any company, research tends to be focused in the direction that could eventually produce profitable products -- if you are considering a research job at a company, you should take this into consideration. For what it's worth, Microsoft Research seems to be closer to the "research for the sake of science" than some other labs, although there are others (notably, labs such as (formerly) [Xerox PARC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PARC_%28company%29) and [Bell Labs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Labs) are famous for groundbreaking fundamental research).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This is a discipline-specific question. Computer science may have Google, Microsoft, Bell labs -- what do other disciplines have?
I work in survey statistics, and while there are about four or five Ph.D. programs in the world producing survey statisticians and methodologists (Univ of Maryland, Univ of Michigan and Univ of Nebraska, Lincoln in the US; Southampton in UK; Iowa State has a statistics program that is traditionally strong on the survey side; other Ph.Ds come from scattered academic survey statisticians, about another 10 or so people in North America), the papers published in academic journals in the discipline split about evenly between government, industry, and academia-proper. I've heard from friends in chemistry that *most* of good chemistry research is being done in industry these days, rather than in academia. Don't quote me on this though. National Institutes of Health (US) have a tenure-like system for their researchers, as they are expected to produce top-quality research.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/04/03 | 768 | 3,230 | <issue_start>username_0: In my CV, I include my dissertation topic within my education part like this:
```
From start-time to end-time
Master of something, University at somewhere
Dissertation title: something
```
However, I also see some people include their dissertation in publication part even though it's not published publicly. So, I wonder if doing that is acceptable and advisable.<issue_comment>username_1: Some people publish their theses as part of a monograph series. In that case, it could appear under "books," but should still be identified as the PhD thesis.
In other circumstances, I would not include it under "Publications," but instead list it more or less as you suggest. (Under "Dissertation Topic" as part of "Education.")
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I think it is best to put your dissertation under its own heading "Dissertation". Even though this wastes a little space it makes the thesis easily identifiable. The value of a dissertation will diminish with time after the PhD so you can change its location later you want to conserve space. But, particularly in your early career many want to be able to clearly see what you wrote up for your thesis work.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I think your method (thesis title in the education section) is the standard one. Though I notice your example doesn't have the advisor's name, which should be there too. If the thesis was published separately as a monograph, or several articles, I would still list the thesis title in the education section as well as the papers/monographs in the publication section.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: **I argue for including the dissertation explicitly as a publication item**, preferably in a separate section "Theses", or "Theses, technical reports and pre-prints" (including other theses, such as master thesis, if publicly available). Of course the solution also marginally depends on the habits and regulations of the country where you completed the thesis. In countries like Germany, a dissertation thesis is required to be submitted to the university library, subsequently it is catalogued by the [German National Library](http://www.dnb.de/) ([Dissonline section](http://www.dnb.de/DE/Wir/Kooperation/dissonline/dissonline_node.html)) and receives an ISBN, hence it can be treated as a proper publication. As far as I know, also in the Netherlands, dissertations are published as books with proper ISBN assigned, hence proper archival publications too. In the past (not sure about current situation) some other countries, such as Slovakia, even master theses were required to be archived and made publicly available on request by the university libraries.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: yes, you can include it & you should include it because many persons would be eager to see an information regarding your dissertation.
btw If you are using LaTeX to write your cv, BibTeX provides an entry regarding dissertations - phdthesis.
when having an ISBN, then you can use the (BibTeX) book entry and your publication part.
without an ISBN, use (BibTeX) phdthesis entry within the education area of your cv which was proposed in another prior answer.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/04/03 | 1,276 | 4,461 | <issue_start>username_0: After lecturing for 3-4 hours my throat is often quite sore. Some days, I must lecturer for 6 hours (in past semesters, I've had some days which require lecturing for 8 hours). The problem is that for my later classes I have difficulty speaking comfortably.
I drink a lot of water, don't smoke, and use lozenges from time to time (when I'm in pain).
Are there any other known (scientific or folklore) solutions to this problem of getting a sore throat after lecturing for 3-4 hours?<issue_comment>username_1: A very often overlooked piece of advice: maintain *correct posture* while you lecture.
If you are, for instance, looking down at your lecture notes while talking, this places additional pressure on your throat and vocal cords, making you more tired as you go through the day. It also helps in the sound production itself—the sound will carry better when it's being projected outward instead of downward, which means you don't have to speak nearly as loud to be heard. (This will again help you over the course of a long day of lecturing.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: First, it sounds terrible to do so many hours straight, it is not really a good situation. I otherwise think voice coaching could be part of a solution. Many professional singers (particularly classical ones) need to go through rigorous training to be able to cope with a concert day after day (my partner is a singer so I get good tips from her). But, no training can prepare you for sustaining so many hours in the long-term. I am in the fortunate position of setting my hours myself and I never do more than 2 hours straight and then max 2 before and 2 after lunch.
So advice: talk to a voice coach or singing coach to see what they suggest.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: 1. Make sure you can **lecture without having to raise your voice**, ever. When I did lecture a lot, I sometimes used a microphone even if the group was rather small, if only to be sure that I wouldn't raise my voice more than the minimal.
2. Drinking is good: I find that **hot beverages heavily loaded with sugar** are the best. I usually drink some light-flavoured tea (green tea, jasmine tea, …) with lots of sugar or honey. If the weather is hot, lemon-based drinks make you salivate more and help preventing dry sore throat.
3. Deal with your boss to avoid those horrible teaching conditions in the first place. He might not care that it's not in your best interest, but explain to him that **it's not in the students' best interest** either! (Sore throat aside, I don't know anyone who can teach with as much passion on the 8th hour as on the first.)
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: 1. Make sure you're **well hydrated** at all times just before, and during, the lecture. Lecturing while thirsty means bad lubrication for your vocal chords.
2. Make sure you're lecturing in not-too-much-louder-than a normal speaking voice. This means using a microphone if the room is large.
3. You also have to learn to *talk from the diaphragm*. It's the same thing good singers do. Google searches will help you with this concept.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: While other answers are largely prophylactic, here are some thoughts on the cure.
**Remedy**: For any throat infections, **gargling** is *the* way to go. There are many ingredients one could add to gargling water: common salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin, ginger, etc. **Cayenne pepper**, for example, supposedly contains [capsaicin](http://folkpotions.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/cayenne-pepper-for-sore-throats/) that could alleviate pain receptors and diminish the pain. [Ginger](http://www.livestrong.com/article/265676-ginger-honey-for-a-sore-throat/) is another antibacterial and antifungal analgesic that could work wonders on your throat. Given [here](http://jellybelly-shanavi.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/inji-kashayam-home-remedy-for-stubborn.html) and [here](http://worldofsujana.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/kashayam-herbal-remedy-for-cold-flu.html) are the recipes for a common Indian potion for sore throats made using ginger.
[This Wikihow](http://www.wikihow.com/Treat-a-Sore-Throat-or-Laryngitis) article has comprehensive list of treatments.
**Rest**: Nothing is more efficient than a few days of rest: if not physical absence from the school, you could at least [rest your vocal chords](http://www.wikihow.com/Remain-Silent-for-a-Whole-Day) - they deserve it!
Upvotes: 3 |
2013/04/03 | 1,046 | 4,361 | <issue_start>username_0: A researcher in my field has written to ask me high resolution files for 5 figures from 3 different papers of mine. He states:
>
> Currently I am revising one review article where I have used several figures from some of your excellent papers. Due to the editor and the reviewer ask me to provide them with high qualities.
>
>
>
I see no problem in sending him the figures in high resolution. One thing is worrying me slightly: if you write a review with 5 figures from someone else, it's either a very long review, or you may simply not be the right person to write it, it seems to me. Should I be worried about plagiarism?
So, when I write him back, and presumably send him the request files, what should I be mindful of? I see the following (nonexclusive) options:
* Ask to know a little more about this review.
* Give him links to my few very recent articles related to this topic, trying to make sure he's not forgetting anything relevant (some papers are only a few weeks old, so it is understandable that they may not have appeared on his radar yet).
* *insert here others options I haven't thought of*
What I will definitely do anyway:
* Ask him to send me the review once it's published.
* Remind him that he needs copyright permission from my papers' publishers, in addition to my files.<issue_comment>username_1: This sounds very fishy to me. If an editor has asked them to provide them with high quality figures then presumably there is a copy of this paper that you can read to make sure you're not being copied.
I'd ask whoever this is for a copy of the paper before sending them anything.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I agree that five figures sounds excessive (no offense!). In addition, I ask myself if you alone have the copyright or if the journal (or whatever publications) in which the figures are published holds a copyright (usually the publisher). It is of course possible that the author has asked about copyright directly with a publisher. It does, however, seem odd that the person has already used the figures for a reviewed version of the manuscript. I think it would be pertinent to ask where the paper is to be published and depending on the situation regarding the copyright, ask why you have not been approached before. I would also contact the editor of the journal where the paper is to be published if there are remaining uncertainties after contacting the author.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> if you write a review with 5 figures from someone else, it's either a very long review, or you may simply not be the right person to write it, it seems to me.
>
>
>
Or you just think that person has amazing figures. :-)
If the author's university and the journal publishing the review are both reputable, then I doubt you have much to worry about. If they aren't, then it is more worrisome. If the author hasn't already specified where the review article has been submitted, then that's strange in itself, although it could be awkwardness rather than dishonesty.
There seem to be two issues here:
1. Will it be a mediocre review article? There's not much you can do about this: you presumably can't stop the article from being published, so the only question is whether the world would be better off if it didn't include your figures. (That outcome would be worse for you, and I can't see why it would be better for the rest of the world, so I'd be inclined to give them the figures.)
2. Is there no actual review article, and this is just a setup to get copies of your files for use in plagiarism? It would seem crazy to draw your attention if there's plagiarism involved, but sometimes people are crazy (or it could be someone using a fake address or hacked account). I wouldn't worry about this too much: the chances of plagiarism are not so high, and the chances the plagiarizer will actually get away with it are even lower. Besides, you might end up with an amusing story about the time a plagiarizer asked you for copies of your figures.
>
> Remind him that he needs copyright permission from my papers' publishers, in addition to my files.
>
>
>
Definitely, and you could even cc the permissions e-mail addresses for your publishers, to help speed the process along and make sure the author doesn't forget or lie about it.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2013/04/03 | 1,182 | 4,823 | <issue_start>username_0: I see a [number of answers](https://academia.stackexchange.com/search?q=beer) in this site where building contacts over a glass of beer is encouraged. Moreover the cream of academia belongs to the Western world, where beer culture is common. Unfortunately though, I am a rigid teetotaler and I do not know about the ins-and-outs of the preferences of drinking friends of mine. I confess I'd make a terrible company at a public house. But I hasten to add that in general, I am amiable and move around quite well with people within my limitations.
Does my being a teetotaler put me at a grave disadvantage when it comes to establishing intelligent academic contacts?<issue_comment>username_1: No. What really helps in building academic contacts is not beer, wine or any other alcohol, but the ability to generate informal discussions in relaxed settings. Fortunately, there are many ways to achieve that goal that do not require the intake of alcohol!
Even without going very far from drinking, sharing a nice lunch or dinner in an appropriate setting is one good way to establish contacts.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I had suggested the beer night idea, and you're right that this would be uncomfortable for teetotallers. As it turns out, we do have people in our group who don't drink: they usually order juice or something else, and no one really notices.
I have heard of gatherings (typically in more business settings) where there's some posturing about the kinds of whisky/beer/wine one drinks: that's not at all what I had in mind.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Based on my experience, I will say that unfortunately the answer is yes. i.e. it puts you at a subtle disadvantage because you are different from the rest. Note I am saying 'subtle' because no one will readily admit treating you differently.
Alcohol serves a social purpose and is often used to create instant connection between two people. Its part of the cultural landscape. It is easy and acceptable.
Just let your ideas speak for themselves and then it will not matter if you drink or not drink alcohol for those who are serious about working with you.
In my case, I try to socialise in the morning because coffee is the only option then!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: The only academic teetotaller that I know of is [<NAME>](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raj_Koothrappali) (which probably tells something about my circles). Have you ever tried non-alcoholic beer? You can find quite good, actually (my wife is pregnant now, so we have the fridge stuffed with it), although an average bar may not carry it.
Generally, I believe you are way overthinking the drinking culture. Do your socialization in the morning over coffee, or around the lunch time; excuse yourself at night by saying that you are a strictly morning person.
Also, by being/converting to a morning person, you can hit a very good stratum of physically active academicians who jog in the morning. I generally hate running, but whenever I go to conferences, I know that I will generally be overeating throughout the day, oversitting the calories at the talks, so I just have to run. Find other people who do run, too, and socialize with them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I am not drinking alcohol and it does *not* prohibit social interactions in academia: just order an orange juice and nobody will think bad of you.
That said, socializing requires to find a common base for discussion. Being different in common aspects (e.g. drinking alcohol and commenting on how good or bad the beer is, speaking English with a strong accent, etc...) generally does not matter if you are prolific in other aspects shared with others (e.g. international politics, latest results in your field, latest gossip in the field, etc...). Once established a base of common interest, differences even make a good discussion topic, as researchers are generally open minded people interested in learning new topics.
At the last conference I attended, the social event was at a pub and the conference dinner at a restaurant with an open bar. I had orange juice and self-assigned the mission to take pictures of the event, which in itself helped to start various discussions.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: Perhaps. But only if you are uncomfortable about meeting in a bar/pub and ordering juice while others are ordering alcoholic drinks. Few people will notice (or care enough to ask why) you aren't drinking alcohol. A simple "No thanks, I prefer juice", or something similar, is usually well accepted.
Of course, if you were also uncomfortable with being in a bar, that might limit your net-working with academic contacts, if only slightly. It depends on the individuals and the culture in your situation.
Upvotes: 2 |
2013/04/04 | 476 | 1,894 | <issue_start>username_0: As I have heard it is not possible to get a second PhD in Europe if you have obtained first PhD in Europe. Is it true? My 1st PhD is in Theoretical Physics which I won't find a fair job related to that. so I am trying to apply for second PhD in Mechanical engineering or applied Physics.<issue_comment>username_1: I am most familiar with the situation in Germany. There it is in fact possible to get more than one PhD degree. Different departments award different types of PhD degrees, depending on the academic field. In physics, you will typically earn a "Dr. rer. nat." (PhD in science), while in engineering you will get a "Dr.-Ing." (PhD in engineering). While most dissertation regulations will explicitly exclude the possibility that the same degree can be awarded twice, it is of course possible to earn a "Dr.-Ing." degree even if you already have a "Dr. rer. nat." or vice versa. Then you would have two PhD degrees.
In addition, there are honorary PhDs, which are awarded independently of and in addition to real PhD degrees. But I assume that your question wasn't aimed at those.
However, that it is possible to get two PhD degrees does not mean that it is a wise thing to do. To others, it may just be a sign that you didn't take the next steps in an academic career after getting your PhD, but didn't leave academia either.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I encountered multiple people who refer to "Habilitation" as a "second PhD". It is very typical that you go for a "Habilitation" after your PhD in many countries in Europe and Central Asia. It is not a PhD though, earning a Habilitation degree will change your title to Dr. habil. XXXX YYYY
Unlike a PhD thesis, a Habilitation thesis covers a topic in breadth rather than in depth. Typically it is in the same field but covers a different topic than the one covered in your PhD.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/03/29 | 2,868 | 11,971 | <issue_start>username_0: My daughter has a strong interest in theoretical computer science, and she has just been admitted to several different universities as a freshman. She is just a bright student, not a genius, with a bit of research experience in cryptography and randomness stuff, and a semifinalist in a couple of national competitions. She intends to continue graduate study in theoretical CS, or a closely related subfield, after finishing her undergraduate degree.
Given her strong interest in eventual graduate study, what criteria should we take into account in choosing where to enroll as an undergraduate? How can we tell which undergrad programs best prepare their students for graduate school?<issue_comment>username_1: here are some standard rankings/surveys that might be helpful. for very elite schools, they are all highly rigorous, and maybe unique nonacademic features particularly appealing to your daughter (eg "culture/atmosphere", which is difficult to objectively characterize) might shift the balance.
the last 2 links are based on Shanghai Jiao Tong University's graduate school of education which recently ranked the world's best universities in computer science, based according to their academic or research performance in each subject field. it ranks 9 of the top 10 in the US. good luck!
* [Worlds best universities in computer science, USNews](http://www.usnews.com/education/worlds-best-universities-rankings/best-universities-computer-science)
* [best grad schools / computer science, USNews](http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings)
* [Computer Science Colleges' Best Programs, As Ranked By 'Academic Ranking Of World Universities](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/15/computer-science-colleges-2012_n_2694930.html)
* [The Best Universities: Computer Science](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/09/best-university-computer-science_n_2439697.html)
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Best researchers go to Universities where they get the best students to teach, and the best students go to Universities where they get good education and enough attention from the faculty. So, things balance out. Departmental reputation and standard University ranking tables are perfectly fine to use as a guide to decide where to go. Pretty much all the top departments will have good strength in Theoretical Computer Science. You will need to look closely only if you are looking at lower-ranking Universities, which might have strength in some areas but not others.
There is also no conflict between good undergraduate education and good grad school, because the grad students do contribute to teaching. They run tutorials/discussions and help students with questions and exercises. So, a department that is good at grad school is also likely to be good in undergraduate teaching.
There can be a bit of difference between private Universities and State Universities. Because private Universities are more dependent on the tuition fees and alumni donations, they are likely to spend more effort on undergraduate teaching. State Universities also tend to have larger class sizes, something to consider if you are looking for "personalized attention". You can't ask for too much personalized attention because, if that is what the faculty are engaged in, they are not going to have much time for research and, as a result, the quality of the department would go down in the long run.
If you are really after personalized attention, then you might consider Liberal Arts Colleges rather than Universities. Undergraduate teaching is their No. 1 focus. They don't normally have a grad school. While the faculty would engage in some research, research is not considered the top priority. Teaching is.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Selecting a school is a very challenging thing to do. Just because a school has top-quality research faculty doesn't necessarily mean they have top-quality teaching faculty (brilliant researchers are not always the best communicators, unfortunately). The best way to get one-on-one time with a professor is usually to corner them during their office hours and keep asking questions until they insist they need to leave.
Wherever your daughters ends up, encourage her to start making a connection with individual faculty members as early as possible. Faculty are almost always happy to bring new students into their labs, and there is funding available for undergraduates who are interested in research. Many universities offer REUs (research experience for undergraduates). The primary issue I've come across is that these programs have difficulty finding undergraduates to give money to.
As far as grad school goes: tell her to make good grades and get involved with a lab. Everything else will fall into place (and that's a long way off, anyways).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: It is commonly said that the only university that counts is the one you've graduated from last. If your daughter wants to eventually earn a PhD, the graduate school she attends will most likely figure more importantly to her future employability than her undergraduate school.
With that in mind, it is also true that many undergraduate schools with some of the top *graduate* schools in CS also produce excellent candidates for graduate school, primarily because the number of undergraduate research opportunities are greater, and also because it can be assumed that there is a good deal of correlation between the quality of the graduate program and the quality of the undergraduate program.
*However,* it would be wise to also consider the strength of the undergraduate program from the standpoint of all the normal factors that go into choosing an undergraduate school, e.g., (1) the kind of student your daughter is, and (2) whether the undergraduate program will give her what she needs as a student holistically. For example, some phenomenal CS programs are at schools where class sizes can be in the hundreds (e.g., UC Berkeley), but if your daughter thinks she would get swallowed up in a giant class, that probably isn't the place for her. A smaller school with smaller classes might be more appropriate, even if the CS program is weaker as a whole.
Finally, the top two (in my opinion) factors that will affect your daughter's success in getting into graduate school are:
1. Her grades ([despite what some prominent and highly successful members of this community have achieved](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9039/how-to-deal-with-the-frustration-of-doing-phd-at-a-low-ranked-university/9041#9041)). Getting a 4.0 from any decent school in a particular major is better than a 2.5 from the best school in the country.
2. Undergraduate research, with published results. Just doing research is important, but having published results will help her case significantly.
Bottom line: I suggest choosing a school where your daughter feels comfortable, and with enough of a research program that she could get involved with research as an undergraduate.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Although I'm sure you already realize this, you shouldn't let a laser focus on your daughter's professional development control her choice of which school to attend. (Influence, sure, but not control. And yes: **HER** choice.) Given your daughter's background and experience, she will likely be very successful no matter where she enrolls. I've seen *very* successful theoretical computer scientists come from a huge variety of undergraduate programs, not all of which were associated with strong graduate CS programs. It is at least as important for her to find a place where she feels (and not just *is*) supported and challenged, both by her faculty and her peers. Otherwise, no matter how strong the department is *on average*, it won't be a good fit for her personally.
There is absolutely no substitute for a personal visit to each campus, if you can manage it. Let her drop into the comptuer science department, get a feel for the community vibe, sit in on a class, talk to a professor or two if she can, hang out in the dorms. Meanwhile, you go somewhere else. Go'way. Shoo.
But if you really want hard data, I recommend that you—or better yet, **your daughter**—directly contact the computer science departments at the schools where she's been admitted, describe her experience and her goals (which should make them *very* eager to attract her), and then ask questions like the following:
* How many students graduated from your program in the last five years?
* How many / what fraction of those students are currently enrolled in strong computer science PhD programs?
* How many / what fraction of your current undergraduates are involved in research with your faculty?
* How many of your faculty do research in theoretical computer science?
* [The Hail Mary:] Would you mind asking one of them to contact me? I'd like to ask some more questions.
Beware the answer "I don't know", or qualitative waffle like like "quite a lot" that really mean "I don't know". Ask for numbers. Ask for examples. Channel your inner Cuba Gooding Jr: **Show me the data!**
Your first contact will almost certainly be answered by someone on the administrative staff, who may not have the data you want at hand. Be prepared make an appointment to speak over the phone (or Skype or whatever) with the director of undergraduate programs or another faculty member. If you do speak over the phone, try to keep your conversation short and to the point; these people are *very very* busy.
Don't bother asking admissions officers these questions; Chances are very high that they just don't know. You really need to contact the departments directly.
Another good place to look is the list of [current](http://cra.org/awards/undergrad-current/) and [past](http://cra.org/awards/undergrad-archive/) winners and runners-up for the [**Computing Research Association's Outstanding Undergraduate**](http://www.cra.org/awards/undergrad/) award, which specifically recognizes undergraduate research. A significant fraction of winners did their undergraduate research in theoretical computer science. Also, a significant fraction of winners were **not** enrolled in departments with a top-10 graduate program.
But as Anonymous Mathematician notes in a comment, you shouldn't take the CRA list *too* seriously; some departments are more interested in awards like this and push hard for their students to be selected. The fact that some prominent departments have few or no students on this list may reflect a disinterest in this particular *award*, not in undergraduate research in general.
[I'm a theoretical computer scientist at a top-10 CS department; I serve on my department's graduate admissions committee.]
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Have her go to the school where she would be least distracted. Princeton is better than NYU, as it is farther from Broadway (1 hr vs. half-hour). Yale is even better (3 hours). Urbana-Champaign is impossible to beat in that regard -- cornfields for hours to drive (and you can still deny her of a car), she would have nothing else to do but study.
I guess I would also want to make sure that the university's regular math program is good. If she can get a credit for non-math AP courses, that's great, as it will clear some time to do real work in college; math and CS will have to be retaken, or taken at a higher level of expectations, and/or in the honors college. Some good quantitative bridge courses like biology or psychology may be something else to pique her interest to do something CS-related that is funded by another substantive field (many of the great discoveries are being made at the disciplinary boundaries). Knowing what you are going to do for the rest of your life at 18 is **incredibly boring** -- sounds more like a lawyer than an academician!
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/04/04 | 922 | 4,106 | <issue_start>username_0: I have been working as a entry-level web developer for approximately a year now. I am looking to go back to school to get a Master's Degree in hopes that I will be able to teach programming/development at the community college level (which requires a Master's Degree). I'm not interested in a PhD because I have to work full-time to support my family and I'm not interested in doing research. I have narrowed down my options to 2 programs:
* Brandeis University has a Master's in Software Engineering, which teaches a lot of very specific, high-level courses (primarily Java programming and development).
* Boston University Master's in Computer Science - Web Development, teaches a more holistic approach that spans several domains, but doesn't go into as much detail.
Do you find that a particular academic background makes one more marketable for teaching at the community college level? I feel that having a deep mastery of a specific technology is great, but community college courses generally do not get that deep into the material. I'm also a little nervous that if I take a more general curriculum that introduces me to many topics, my transcripts may not show that I have a deep enough understanding of a specific subject to teach at the college level.
Does anyone have any recommendations/insights or experiences with this type of career transition?
Thank you and have a great day.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> ...in hopes that I will be able to teach programming/development at the community college level (which requires a Master's Degree)
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While this is technically true for many community colleges, it is also true that with a Master's degree vice a PhD, you will be less competitive for positions, as many PhDs also apply to community colleges. A friend of mine from graduate school worked successfully as a programmer at Microsoft for 20 years, and when he started looking for teaching positions (with his Master's already) at community colleges, he was told that he would not be competitive for available positions.
A further caveat: because community colleges generally do not have research requirements for instructors, they tend to rely on teaching experience as much as a particular degree when hiring instructors. I would suggest that you consider trying to get some computer science teaching experience as well (if you don't have any). You might want to see if either of the two schools you mentioned will allow you to TA classes -- you may not be able to get paid, but you could do it for free for the experience.
You might also want to consider approaching the graduate school of education at BU (if you attend there) to see about education courses -- they have a number of teaching classes, and taking one of those would also bolster your resume. You could also see about trying to get adjunct teaching positions at various community colleges -- teaching a one-off class may be possible, and you'd be able to leverage the experience.
Bottom line: unfortunately, there probably isn't a short path to being competitive for teaching positions at community colleges. If you are going to go down the MS route, your best bet is to do as well as you can in a program, and to try to get some teaching experience under your belt.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I would suggest that you go for a Masters degree,if you wish to teach in a community college. Where I live ,Industry experience is also a big plus for teaching.Lets say if two candidates applied for teaching a java course and one of them has industry experience as well as a Masters degree then he would be the preferred candidate for the job.
Ofcourse , phd candidates are still preferred over the Masters.But where I live ,phd candidates are considered more suitable for the theoretical courses like Automata,Operating Systems etc.Guys with industry experience are considered more suitable for teaching programming languages.
Again, a Masters degree is very important for teaching positions.So I suggest that if you wish to go for teaching then go for Masters.
Upvotes: 0 |
2013/04/04 | 1,329 | 5,566 | <issue_start>username_0: My university (in France) is having a debate about the relevance of taking rules for preventing too many of its PhDs to be recruited here, or asking them to have some postdoc outside the region before. The same rules are also debated about the promotion to full professor (from what is called maître de conférence and is a tenured associate professorship).
Many people have strong opinion on these issues (me included), and I would like to gather a comprehensive list of arguments (in both directions) on this matter, if only to clear my ideas.
Some arguments may apply only under particular circumstances or in specific fields, please say so when it applies.<issue_comment>username_1: In my mind:
Pros:
* A policy of hiring your own graduates is probably a good indication that you "take care of your own", making sure your graduates get jobs, etc.
* PhDs from a university likely already have mentorship and support networks set up, there will be less time adjusting to a new place, etc.
* Assuming they found an advisor to work with to get their PhD, their own research goals likely align with those of the institution - there are likely grants they could be made Co-PIs on, etc.
Cons:
* You lose the opportunity to hire outside talent.
* Hiring exclusively from your own PhD pool creates an echo chamber - it's hard to get novel, outside perspectives, or take things in interesting new directions if everyone does what's already there.
* It may lock junior faculty into something kind of like a "postdoc+" status - sure they're faculty, but there's no big transition to make them take the leap into doing their own research, establishing an independent lab, etc. Instead, they kind of soldier along as some status above student but decidedly below the other faculty in the department, at least for awhile.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I have not come far in my career but I have a family of academics, this question certainly came up a number of times over the years.
I guess the main point of having a formal requirement of foreign exchange/post-doc period is two-folds:
1. to avoid the drawbacks of *academic inbreeding*. Academia is partially built on a strong tutor-pupil, or rather mentor-protégé, relationship. While this is a great way to pass on the experience and good skills, it can also be the cause of conservatism in the form of sticking to what you know only. Likewise it's truly important for young academics to experience different cultures, and I don't mean it like a charter trip to a warm place, only to hang out with friends/family. To learn, adapt and eventually appreciate a foreign culture is beneficial for any person, let alone for those who are supposed to keep an open mind to the unknown.
2. going to a new lab somewhere else is also a fantastic way to improve on your professional skills. It's another reason why young academics are often expected to go somewhere else, learn something new and overall improve intellectually. In the corporate world this is encouraged in terms of changing jobs, those prodigies who are groomed for high level executive positions usually end up switching jobs every 3-5 years, often taking on a new but not completely unfamiliar role.
I should also note that our department has a similar issue, in the form of internal recruiting. A significant portion of the PhDs are recruited from those who have taken the course our department gives for undergrads in a particular program. What that leads to then is that the department becomes more or less an alumni hangout. While it may be nice for those new recruits to feel more "at home", for anyone else who does not have the same background it creates a BIG barrier to overcome in order to get familiar with the people in the department.
That was my two cents, I hope it helps.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: In addition to the other answers, there is a perverse effect to local hiring: a professor can promise to her PhD students/postdocs a permanent position later on, which in turn tends to "tie" the student/postdoc to her professor, perhaps preventing her to develop her own research agenda, and doing more administrative/teaching/supervision tasks than normally required (to basically look good in the eyes of the advisor). This then builds a stack of postdocs, waiting for the next permanent position, which would be awarded not to the best candidate, but to the one who has waited long enough.
Of course, I'm on purpose exaggerating the description, and this is no way can be generalised: many, if not most professors will actually recruit the best possible candidate, local or not. But I have observed this behaviour several times, in different countries, and although forbidding local recruitment wouldn't solve every problem, it would perhaps solve that one.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: One con that hasn't been mentioned yet is *confirmation bias*. Ideally, departments want to hire the best people and provide the best opportunities for their graduates. Hiring from within skews the calibration of both of these goals.
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> How do we know we're doing a good job hiring? Well, just look at all these great people we hired! How do we know they're good? They came from a great department! And if they weren't good, we wouldn't have given them PhDs. And how do we know our PhD standards are high? Just look at how many of our PhD students get jobs in good departments! Well, sure, none of them get jobs in *other* good departments, but so what?
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Upvotes: 4 |
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