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2014/09/12 | 588 | 2,403 | <issue_start>username_0: I am almost 30 years old. I got my bachelor's many years ago, and I've been enjoying myself while in the industry. I am a practical person.
However, for some reasons, I felt my technical skills were regressing, so I decided to go back to school, to enhance and update my skills.
I chose a topic that is quite abstract, which is stressful to me. Also, I feel threatened by grades and such ... which sometimes make me regret having put myself in such a "delicate" situation.
Should I be patient (there will be better days) ? Or should I go back to the industry and discover things myself?<issue_comment>username_1: I believe you should be patient because education is among the best investments you could ever make, in the sense that it is highly probable to pay off in the long run. Moreover, being (only!) 30 you are looking ahead at thirty years or so of a career, so some extra training will absolutely help in the long run; even though the picture may not be clear yet, education does open doors to new opportunities.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I believe there are some great answers at [I want to do research but I'm too old for a PHD](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24577/i-want-to-do-research-but-im-too-old-for-a-phd) as stated in the comments.
That said I have followed somewhat a similar path to you. I went to college at 17 to do accounting and still work in the area. I returned to college when 29 to complete a BA part-time. This course was over four years and I think no amount of experience can prepare you for returning to the rigour of study. Grades can be an issue, but I always found professors to be very open to discussing ways to improve, and in fact many stated that they preferred teaching the part-time course as the class where a bit more mature. Since then I have started a masters and although it can be stressful doing research I have found there are more good days than bad ones. Again having good communication with those that supervise you is essential.
While I think only yourself can answer your question, I believe if you have a passion for your subject and use the supports that may be available at your institution (such as study support groups in your topic) it will may your decision easier. They best advise I can give is to talk to those in your course that may be able to assist and guide you.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/12 | 811 | 3,296 | <issue_start>username_0: Having obtained by PhD in Computer Science five years ago, I have been working in R&D projects for the last years. I want to pursue an academic career and I am currently considering moving to UK. As far as it concerns my academic qualifications, very roughly, I have 8 journal publications, an h-index of 8 by google scholar, and a little teaching experience in university education.
The variety of titles in UK job openings is somewhat confusing: (Postdoctoral) Research Associate, (Senior) Lecturer, Research Fellow, etc. And then, there are open-ended and fixed-term contracts.
The question is: what kind of positions would it be best to aim for? In other words, what kind of position would correspond to my skill-set, given that I am interested in evolving academically (research and teaching)? And how could I improve my CV towards this?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think it is feasible to make a sure-fire estimation of what "level" you would be considered to be on without knowing many details (and then the question would likely become too localized for SE anyway).
Further, job titles and positions are not standardized between universities or, in some cases, even between different labs within the same university. What's called a Research Fellow in one place could be a Research Associate in another, and simply a Postdoc in the third. However, there are (typically) some "groups" of jobs:
* PhD students (which you clearly don't fall into, given that you already have a PhD)
* Non-professoral, non-student researchers (postdocs, various soft-money research positions)
* Junior Professors and Professors (I'll lump into this everything from lecturers, senior lecturers, and actual professors)
You will likely fall into the second group, *maybe* you could also hunt for a lecturer position (i.e., the entry-level position of the third group). If you want to stay in research, you should aim to sooner or later get into the third group. However, typically, these jobs are significantly more competitive to get than postdoc jobs.
>
> And how could I improve my CV towards this?
>
>
>
Papers, papers, papers. I think your background in an R&D lab can be sold as a boon ("I have industrial experience, while still not being out of touch with research!"), but at the end of the day, papers are what people *really* look at.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As far as I see you potentially fit the Lecturer (i.e., Assistant Professor in the US system) level.
This is because you have a PhD, and you are too long after your graduation to become a postdoc (i.e., research fellow/associate).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: The job you appear to be interested in is lecturer, open ended contract, probably at level 7 (I would guess from your description). You may want to consider the fixed-term contracts as well. Applying to anything above level 8 will be pointless. However, I'd advise applying to pretty much everything at the lower end of things, as the job market in most fields isn't great right now. A postdoc/research assistant position will probably be helpful if that's what you are offered. Hiring in the UK is cyclical, so what's on offer will vary greatly between years.
Source: personal experience
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/12 | 547 | 2,132 | <issue_start>username_0: My wife and I teach at different universities. This is the first year that we have run into a timetabling conflict that makes dropping our son off at school difficult. The conflict involves wife's 200+ person lecture that is centrally timetabled in a lecture hall that is in near constant use and my 30 person lab in a relatively unused computer lab. It is unlikely that any type of changes could be made to my wife's class that would help with the conflict. I teach one of 8 sections of the lab. While all the sections occur on the same day they happen in a number of computer labs which have some unused time on that day. I would like to see if I can reschedule, or adjust the schedule, of my teaching. The lab is scheduled to start at 9:00. My son's school starts at 9:00 and I could start teaching at 9:30. Who do I approach and what do I ask for?
I feel like I could try and swap sections with someone else (mine is the only section that starts at 9:00) or I could also ask the organizer for the lab if I can move my section. Is there another option? What is the best way to approach this?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think you can ask to move the start of your lab section. As in the [other related question about class times](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28320/is-it-reasonable-for-a-professor-to-ask-students-to-stay-30-45-minutes-past-sche), those times are fixed by the university and not really movable without lots of notice. Your best bet is to get together (physically or virtually) with the other section teachers and find someone willing to switch with you. Then you can propose it to the lab organizer.
Outside your university, you might see if there's a friend or neighbor you trust who can drop your kid at school or a way to arrange with the school to drop your child half an hour early. It can't hurt to ask them.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I assume getting a baby sitter or a before-school childcare is not an option? In our case, we have the children signed up in the before and after-school program on as needed basis.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/12 | 443 | 1,846 | <issue_start>username_0: I am a graduate student, 2nd year, in a STEM field at a US university. I have passed my quals.
Is it possible to ask from a Professor who is not at your university to be your advisor? Did anybody hear of a similar situation?
I am very interested in the research of a professor who is at a nearby university, I really want to work with him but I don't know if this is even possible. (Maybe I should also note that his university is not necessarily better than the one I am now.)
Any suggestions?<issue_comment>username_1: Extrapolating from the very few cases that I've seen, I think you'll need an official adviser at the school where you're actually enrolled. If it's OK with that adviser, then you could also have a "real" adviser elsewhere, on an unofficial basis. Your school may have some paperwork to be completed if your real adviser is to serve as a member of your official thesis committee.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I've never heard of that except in the case where a prof left one university to go to another. During the long transition, some of his students physically moved with him but continued their PhD at the old school. I believe the professor retained some sort of appointment at the old university in order to make it fit within the University's rules.
That being said, almost every PhD committee is required to have an external member. That's usually outside the department, but it is often outside the university. So, it might be possible to find an advisor at your current university to be the nominal head of your committee, but to include the other guy on the committee and have him be the de facto head. The biggest problem will probably come down to how your research is funded. If funding is not a problem, then you might be able to pull it off.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/12 | 796 | 3,234 | <issue_start>username_0: I just heard about "dissertation embargoes". My institution recommends that every graduating student place an embargo on their dissertation.
What is a dissertation embargo, and what is its purpose?<issue_comment>username_1: A "dissertation embargo" means that access to the dissertation is restricted for a limited period of time (typically one or two years, but possibly longer).
Possible reasons to embargo a dissertation include:
* You would like to patent some of the work described in the dissertation. The published dissertation would constitute prior art.
* The dissertation includes data covered by a nondisclosure agreement for a limited period of time.
* You intend to publish the dissertation as a book, with a publisher that restricts consideration of manuscripts based on publicly available dissertations.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: An embargo effectively withholds your dissertation from being placed on your institution's open-access dissertation archive (from which anyone can view/download your dissertation).
I have placed an embargo on my dissertation so that I may attempt to get a few more papers published without my dissertation being searchable on the web. It is a common practice in the department where I did my PhD (though, I wondered sometimes if it was *really* necessary).
For a more complete list of reasons why one would choose to place an embargo on their dissertation, I'm listing here an excerpt taken from a [University of New Mexico](http://grad.unm.edu/degree-completion/thesis-dissertations/thesisdissert-embargo.html) page:
>
> Embargos may be appropriate for authors
> 1) who are seeking patents,
> 2) who want to publish their work through a traditional press that considers open access publication to be equivalent to prior publication,
> 3) who have published material from their work with a publisher that does not allow open access release for a certain period of time, or
> 4) who need to protect sensitive data or information.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I know of one dissertation that has been on embargo. The person who wrote it has not said why, but I suspect it may be related to the content. It sets forth new and well-tested scientific methods to detect the secret burials of crime victims and mass graves associated with human genocide. A number of dictatorial regimes on this planet would love to get their hands on the contents of this dissertation because they could be used to make their mass burial dirty work less detectable and make it less likely that they would someday be put on trial at The Hague for crimes against humanity (see Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, etc.). Sometimes there are very good reasons to withhold a dissertation — even for many years.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: When I graduated, I chose the embargo period as 5 years, because I need this 5-year to have my publication published on peer-reviewed journals. For my dissertation, besides the first and the last chapters, my goal is to have all of them published.
But sometimes I wonder, when all the chapters of my dissertation are published, what is the point of releasing my dissertation???
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/12 | 571 | 2,423 | <issue_start>username_0: Is there any unified platform that would list the deadlines (especially the submission deadlines) for conferences/journals? Ideally I would like to select a few conferences/journals I am interested in publishing to, and the website would give me the list of upcoming deadlines.
Right now I have to check out each individual conference/journal website, which is pretty tedious and error-prone (all the more so as it is pretty common for deadline to be extended).
I am mostly interested in the field of computer science > machine learning, and English-speaking venues.<issue_comment>username_1: [WikiCFP](http://wikicfp.com/cfp/home) offers this. To use this feature, you are required to register and sign in to your account.
Once you are logged in, find the Calls for Papers (CFPs) you are interested in and choose "Add to my list". (You can add multiple CFPs at a time if they appear in the same search results or "recent CFPs" list).
Then, from the sidebar, choose "My list" or "Timeline" to see all the deadlines for the conferences you have selected in your preferred format. Timeline view is pretty nice; it shows you the registration, submission, notification, and camera-ready deadlines, as well as the dates of the actual conference. Here is a screenshot:
However, WifiCFP relies on user-submitted content (for both original CFP submissions, and updates e.g., for deadline extensions). So the usefulness of this for you will depend on how active people in your field are on WikiCFP.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: <http://allconferencecfpalerts.com/> is a unified platform that lists conference / journal deadlines.
It also provides Open Access Research Sharing System - Share URL
Share-url link in the allconferencecfpalerts.com site is mainly built for researchers to share their academic information category wise. It is an open access platform to help researchers get more visibility and citations. This page is user-friendly so that authors can share information easily.
Authors who wish to post their Research information should register by creating Login id password. Login or registration is not required to view, search and download articles from the portal. All Share URL posts are categorized based on research area. User can search by title of the paper or author's name.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/12 | 634 | 2,485 | <issue_start>username_0: Browsing the internet, I found many professors, researchers and scientists that, in addition to their main affiliation to their main department, have also a **second affiliation** to another department of their university (for example, [<NAME>](http://helix-web.stanford.edu/people/altman/) at Stanford).
**Why so many scientists decide to have a second department affiliation?**
**What are the main advantages and benefits?**<issue_comment>username_1: Sometimes, a second affiliation has real administrative meaning, for example if a professor's teaching duties are divided between two departments. In other cases, a professor's duties are in just one department, and the second affiliation is either just an honorary matter (saying that the second department regards him as respectable in their field also) or possibly (depending on university rules) enables the professor to officially supervise dissertations in the second department.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: There are joint appointments (split FTEs) and courtesy appointments (0 FTE lines).
* Joint appointments are when two departments equally (or not) contribute some of their dedicated faculty lines to a position. For example, Physics gives 0.5 FTE (half of a faculty slot) and Chemistry gives 0.5 FTE and they bring in a person who gains the title of "Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Physics." Normally this person would have duties in both departments.
* There are also courtesy appointments, also called 0 FTE appointments. If the above person was brought in 100% by Chemistry (1.0 FTE) but for various reasons wanted to occasionally teach a cross-listed course in physics, serve as a chair on a couple of doctoral committees, or other sundry reasons, the Physics department could decide to add this person to their affiliate faculty list. It would not cost them any lines (which is why it is 0 FTE) and would solve some administrative requirements.
Note that some university programs are entirely consisted of 0 FTE positions and have no faculty lines of their own. Women's Studies is a good example of a program that on many campuses is entirely 0 FTE driven.
---
In the case of the example given by the OP, the person is "Professor of Bioengineering, Genetics, and Medicine (and Computer Science, by courtesy)." This would seem to indicate that he has three 0.33 FTE lines (or 0.5 FTE, 0.25 FTE, 0.25 FTE; etc. etc.) and one 0 FTE courtesy appointment.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/13 | 1,302 | 5,211 | <issue_start>username_0: I sometimes read in papers that *the opinions, findings, and conclusion or recommendations expressed in the paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the [funding agency name]* in the acknowledgments section. E.g. in this [paper](http://cs.stanford.edu/~danqi/papers/emnlp2014.pdf):
>
> Stanford University gratefully acknowledges the support of the Defense
> Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Deep Exploration and
> Filtering of Text (DEFT) Program under Air Force Research Laboratory
> (AFRL) contract no. FA8750-13-2-0040 and the Defense Threat Reduction
> Agency (DTRA) under Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) contract no.
> FA8650- 10-C-7020. **Any opinions, findings, and conclusion or
> recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors
> and do not necessarily reflect the view of the DARPA, AFRL, or the US
> government**
>
>
>
Is it necessary to mention this? If the authors omit such statements, does this mean that the opinions, findings, and conclusion or recommendations expressed in the paper do reflect the view of the funding agency?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Is it necessary to mention this?
>
>
>
If research is funded by a "DoD component" (as in your example), then typically
any conference or journal publication stemming from the research
1. must be cleared for public release,
2. must carry an appropriate [distribution statement](http://dtic.mil/dtic/submit/guidance/distribstatement.html), and
3. must carry a disclaimer similar to the one in your example (e.g. "Any opinions, findings, and conclusion or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of ...").
In practice, it is sometimes sufficient to satisfy items 1 and 3 above.
>
> If the authors omit such statements, does this mean that the opinions, findings, and conclusion or recommendations expressed in the paper do reflect the view of the funding agency?
>
>
>
Again, in the case of articles stemming from DoD component research funds: **No**.
Manuscripts must first be submitted to the appropriate reviewing "center" for the particular DoD component funding body (such as the Public Release Center in the case of DARPA, etc.) to be reviewed for compliance.
If the article does not contain the appropriate distribution statement and/or the required disclaimer, the reviewing center rejects the manuscript (it is not cleared for submission to a journal or conference), and the author must include the appropriate distribution statement and/or disclaimer before then resubmitting for clearance.
The trivial contradiction to my answer includes those cases where authors are required to obtain clearance prior to publication, but don't do it for some reason (e.g. they forget to submit the paper for clearance). I'm not sure what happens to these authors, and I don't want to find out the hard way.
---
Edit: While my answer specifically addresses DoD funding per OP's example, as an author, it is important to follow the guidelines put forth by each particular funding body with respect to disclaimers, etc.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It depends on the grant that you receive to do your work. Most if not all grants require you to acknowledge the granting agency. Some grants give you very specific language that you must use in your acknowledgement (ranging from the request to include the grant number and use the full name of the agency to very pedantic requests for particular wording).
And some grants do require you to specifically disclaim the granting agency from your conclusions and opinions. For example, [NSF requires the following](http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2002/nsf022/nsf0202_6.html):
>
> An acknowledgment of NSF support and a disclaimer must appear in publications (including Web pages) of any material, whether copyrighted or not, based on or developed under NSF-supported projects:
>
>
>
> >
> > “This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (grantee must enter NSF grant number).”
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> NSF support also must be orally acknowledged during all news media interviews, including popular media such as radio, television and news magazines.
>
>
> Except for articles or papers published in scientific, technical or professional journals, the following disclaimer must be included:
>
>
>
> >
> > “Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.”
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
The NSF example is interesting because you don't need the disclaimer for academic journals -- presumably because the readers aren't presumed to be idiots.
In any case, this is all part of the grant letter that you receive when you get a grant -- and part of the contract you sign when you agree to receive their money. There may be other terms inside the grant contract that are not visible (rights of first refusal in licensing technology, etc.) but by their very nature, acknowledgements are the most visible.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/13 | 2,157 | 9,471 | <issue_start>username_0: In my experience, most instructors spend a large portion of the first period in a term talking about the syllabus. This seems to serve to pass responsibility onto students:
* Students see the deadlines. No student can claim to not know about an assignment or deadline.
* Students see the course rules. No student can claim they did not know they were breaking a rule.
In the past, some students have tried various methods, such as skipping lessons, then claiming to not know about requirements, in an attempt to get the support of the administrators to back their case of "I didn't know".
I have lots of material to cover within the term, so do not like to waste lots of time with talking about the course and would rather get started. Is "here is the syllabus, read it" sufficient for passing responsibilities onto students? If students do not read it (many won't) is the responsibility nevertheless still passed?<issue_comment>username_1: From the students' perspective, this is similar to giving them a textbook and asking them to show up for the final exam. There are three reasons I see the need to start with discussing the syllabus.
First, talking about the syllabus is an opportunity to introduce yourself and the course, learn more about the students you will be teaching, and set the stage for the semester. It is a beginning of your semester-long relationship with the class after all. Skipping the overview is like taking a road trip without looking at the map first.
Second, it takes more than one repetition of same material, and preferably in different forms, for the material to be absorbed and comprehended. Thus, when the responsibility is passed to the students, their understanding of the syllabus will not be as good, no matter how diligently they read it. How important is it to you that they understand the syllabus?
Lastly, the students are denied opportunity to ask questions and discuss the syllabus and the course progression, if that is not covered in the class. Sure, they can email you, or ask during the office hours, but the entire class will not be on the same page.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: It depends on what you mean by "sufficient".
Sufficient for passing the blame to students when they don't do what the syllabus says, and getting administrators to side with you in case of dispute? Yes.
Sufficient for actually getting the students to do what the syllabus says? No.
Sufficient for covering yourself? Yes.
Sufficient for a class that runs smoothly and that students find satisfactory? No.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: To add to <NAME>'s answer, in project management it is important that all concerned really know what is supposed to be done. If you write an instruction and have others read it, you will likely have as many misinterpretations as people in the group. To run a successful project it is therefore vital not only to share such information but actually to make sure everyone is on the same page. If you think about it, you may have an idea, you write it so that it is clear to you, someone else reads it and they say it is clear to them, but there are at least three transfers, your thought to writing, your writing to someone's reading and read text to forming an opinion about what is written, so plenty of opportunities to go wrong.
So to cover yourself, you can claim you have done what is necessary by providing a text, but in reality and to provide the best transfer of knowledge, a written paper is far from enough. So the answer depends on what is important, that students really understand or if one (just) wants to fulfill the rules.
I often think of courses as projects with myself as project leaders and students as project members. Despite much effort, it is of course still impossible to reach perfection.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Management roles are much more than just passing down responsibility.
Legally / ethically one way or another may be sufficient to pass down responsibility, but your goal is not that you can punish students who do not obey the rule, your concern should be that the students are following those rules.
In other words, you goal is to have them proceed according to your rules, because it produces better learning experience for them and easier workflow for you, less headache for everyone involved. Students who do not submit assignment by deadline, do not follow formats, they look for you beyond your hours or emailing you with unnecessary questions etc are generating you extra work, extra problem you don't need. It is primarily not a liability issue, it is "lets make things work!" issue.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Here's my take, since I my experience disagrees with username_1's and Nate's answers.
I stopped handing out paper syllabi some 10 years ago. I put all my course information in the web page and on the first day of classes I spend less than 5 minutes at the beginning saying so, and maybe going quickly over the grading scheme and the assignment regime.
Over the semester, the number of hits on the page is proportional to the number of students in the class, which shows me that most students look at the page a couple times a week.
The last time I had an "I didn't know" issue was 12 years ago, and that same day I got an email from another student in the class saying that the "misinformed" student was cheating about it.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: I agree with username_2's analysis. The question of whether responsibility has been successfully transferred seems to have "yes" for an answer. However, I still want to point out some tips for making sure students are aware of their responsibilities and the course structure, which is presumably a desired outcome.
Spending 10-20 minutes in the first lecture talking about the syllabus (which nowadays is normally distributed electronically) can be good to ease the students into the class, making the transition from the break a little smoother. I will often project the syllabus in front of the class so everyone can follow along. I also encourage online discussions (using Piazza) in my class, and many of these discussions turn out to be procedural. Very often a student will be confused about a policy and not know where to look for clarification, and another student will respond online with the correct information before I even know there was a question. You can also make announcements this way and remind students of exams and things. This will certainly "transfer responsibility," since students who miss class will still have access to online posted announcements. Finally, I devote a few minutes every once in a while while lecturing to reminding students of policies and upcoming events. The human brain has a physical limit on how much new information it can process at once, so breaking up lecture to give some procedural explanations can give a needed break from the material, and perhaps even increase retention. You mention not having enough time to cover all of the material you want to, but making the lectures too information-dense may end up having the opposite from the intended effect, and students may end up retaining less. For courses like this, with a lot of material, I think it's fine to keep the lecture pace moderate and assign the students to read some of the material on their own. I'm not suggesting a dramatic change of pace, just a moderate slowdown, but anyway that's not really on topic.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: I don't take up class meeting time with a discussion of the syllabus (though on day 1, I do highlight aspects of the course that might be different from what they expect). Instead, I give an online quiz about important policies from the syllabus. The quiz serves dual purposes:
* demonstrates that they can use the online quiz system (if not, it's
early enough for them to solve the tech problem or drop the class)
* demonstrates that they have understood key parts of the syllabus
My goal is not to transfer responsibility. As Nate said, I want them to follow the syllabus so that the class runs smoothly. Nothing a teacher does will ensure that every person always follows the directions, of course, but the more students understand what's expected of them, the easier it is to teach them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: While having a well-written syllabus is a very good idea, it does not absolve you from responsibility.
* Students may have missed the first few classes (many universities allow students to register for courses a few weeks after the first day of classes) and be unaware of the syllabus, or its importance.
* Students may forget that something was on the syllabus by the time it becomes relevant.
* The author of the syllabus cannot predict the future. There may be events which force a change of the rules (eg. you get sick and have to reschedule an exam, inclement weather causes school to be canceled) and compromise the status of the syllabus as "always correct".
* The syllabus may be unclear.
You should definitely have a syllabus, and tell students that reading it is mandatory and they risk failing if they don't. But it would illogical to assume that by doing so, your job is done. The syllabus is a set of guidelines, not a legally binding contract drafted with the assistance of a qualified attorney - the reason is precisely this difference in applicability and scope.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/13 | 1,020 | 3,982 | <issue_start>username_0: I was reading [this excellent paper by <NAME> and <NAME>](http://arxiv.org/pdf/1101.2951.pdf).
And at the very bottom of the very first page it says:
>
> The first author was supported in part by NSA grant H98230-09-1-0051.
>
>
>
(The NSA is the US National Security Agency.)
What does this mean? What does a security agency have to do with distributing funds?<issue_comment>username_1: As noted, the NSA is the US National Security Agency. This department [issues federal grants](http://www.federalgrantswire.com/national-security-agency-department-of-defense-federal-grants.html#.VBRB9PldVqU) in the areas of [information security](http://www.federalgrantswire.com/information-security-grant-program.html), foreign language training [for Americans](http://www.federalgrantswire.com/language-grant-program.html), and [mathematical sciences](http://www.federalgrantswire.com/mathematical-sciences-grants-program.html) (algebra, discrete mathematics, number theory, probability and statistics). These grants are [highly sought after](http://www.federalgrantswire.com/writing-a-federal-grant-proposal.html#.VBRDXfldVqU),and like all federal grants, require rigorous preparation. The authors of the paper which you read were successful applicants for a grant from the NSA.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Let me just add a bit more context as a pure mathematician previously funded by the NSA, and in particular, respond to the question "What does a security agency has to do with distributing funds?" The first point is, they actually farm out most of the decision making to the American Mathematical Society (as described [here](http://sam.msp.berkeley.edu/nsa-ams/about/program/guidelines.html)). That still raises the question of why policy makers think routing the money through the NSA makes sense in the first place. The cynic in me points out that though lots of this research could easily be funded through civilian agencies (for example, NSF), it's a lot easier to pass "defense spending" through congress, and you get fewer questions from ignorant congressmen who like to make fun of grants based on their titles.
On the other hand, that still requires somebody in the NSA thinking that requesting this funding is worthwhile. My reading (this is not based on any detailed knowledge of policy makers' thoughts, just general supposition) is this: the NSA is the largest employer of mathematicians in the world, much larger than any university or scholarly society. You would get an even more impressive number if you included other branches of the US Department of Defense, and contractors like [IDA](https://www.ida.org). They thus have a vested interest in making sure more Americans get advanced mathematical training (a lot of their jobs are in practice only open to US citizens, due to security clearances), and keep in mind the possibility of working for the NSA.
Giving grants to mathematicians is probably an inefficient method for this (some of the money goes to graduate students directly as salary or travel funding, some to universities as overhead, encouraging them to keep professors on their staff and run graduate programs), but it's also very cheap in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure they also do occasionally benefit from the mathematical results (while they have a reasonably broad program, they don't give grants in all areas of math).
There's also tons of other grants coming from the DOD: DARPA, the Army, Navy and Air Force all have their own research offices, and the DOD has its own [graduate fellowship program](https://ndseg.asee.org). In all cases, some of the research is directly connected to military needs, but quite a bit is just predicated on the idea that a strong a well-trained pool of scientists can be very important for national defense. I think ultimately, this grew out the experience of World War II (and the Cold War) where this was undisputedly the case.
Upvotes: 5 |
2014/09/13 | 1,145 | 4,709 | <issue_start>username_0: During writing my academic paper, I need to cite a definition in a scientific paper. The other part of the paper, is irrelevant to my work.
I have been advised that if you will cite a paper, you need to read that paper entirely. But in this case, it seems useless to do so.
It also happened a few times when I wanted to cite from some books.<issue_comment>username_1: **Yes. Always read the whole article before citing.** Don't be sloppy. Don't take lazy shortcuts. Write responsibly. This is academia, not second-rate journalism.
If you cite something you don't understand, or which is riddled with nonsense, or is later retracted, and you show no sign that you were aware of it in your citation, then it **will** reflect badly on you.
Obviously, in any paper you cite, there will be things that are relevant, and things that are not. But that doesn't mean you can avoid reading the paper, and only cherry-pick reading the one sentence in it that is convenient for you to build your argument. If you don't read it all, you won't know everything in it that's relevant.
Building comprehensively on predecessors' work is how scholarship progresses. Being lazy, omitting hte reading of your predecessors' work, and citing it blindly without reading it or understanding it, is how bad scholarship propagates.
If it's a large reference work such as a dictionary, then no, you aren't expected to read the whole thing: in such cases, you'll just have to get by with an appeal to authority, by using the most reputable dictionary you can.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: You need to read and understand enough of the material to feel comfortable relying on it to be authoritative for the material you are citing. If you are using a dictionary to provide a definition of a word, you don't need to read the *whole* dictionary. If you are citing a journal article to provide a definition of a scientific concept, it's probably in your interest to read the whole thing to be sure that those authors give and correctly apply that definition. Even if they define it correctly, if their use is misleading, wrong, or otherwise dubious, you don't want to send your readers there for authoritative information on the subject.
You've got to consider the source and the purpose of your citation, but most of the time, you should read the whole thing. It's your reputation that's on the line, so it's best to make sure you understand your sources before you cite them.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: I don't think it's important to read the whole paper before citing it, unless you are extending on that paper's work.
Side note: A [recent paper](http://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/0504094.pdf) said that most of the citations are copied ("when a scientist writes a manuscript, he picks up several random recent papers, cites them and also copies some of their references").
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: No, you don't have to read the whole paper.
If you think you do, ask yourself this:
>
> do you also have to read *all papers cited in* the paper?
>
>
>
For example, I recently needed to know a certain function of *n*. Some computer experimentation suggested that it might be 3\*2^n, let's say. Then I found a paper published in a reputable journal that claimed to prove exactly that. As the reasons why it was 3\*2^n were probably rather unrelated to what I was trying to do, I cited them but did not check their proof.
On balance, I think that making every author read every paper they ever cite would slow down the progress of science.
**Caveat**: this may be field-dependent. For instance, if the paper can be thought of as consisting of just one long definition, then yes, one should read the whole thing.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: You don't have to read the whole article if you're certain about the point it makes.
Ultimately it is up to you to defend your paper and if someone questions your findings you have to be able to give an appropriate answer. If they see that you misinterpreted something, because you didn't fully understand the article you cited they can call you out on that (regardless whether you skipped half of the article or just didn't understand it properly).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: To add to the Hansen answer
Maybe you don't need to read an article completely, but **abstract** and **conclusion** are there to ease your way to understand an article and you must read them.
It also depends on the subject and your purpose of citation. For example if you claim about something, you should have read and understand it but if you cite to provide a context you can be less sensitive.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/13 | 1,000 | 4,337 | <issue_start>username_0: I am a physics lab TA and I was recently informed that my engineering students will receive a lab final at the end of the semester worth 50 percent of their grade. The final exam is not personally created by me, but is decided amongst all of the lab TA's teaching the same course in the same semester. The meeting amongst the TA's will occur next week, however I am attempting to prepare for whatever will come, for better or worse for my students. I want my engineering students to succeed, and I want to give them all of my resources to give them the preparation to pass the final exam. I assume that I will not be allowed to tell my students what the lab final will be, or what types of questions will be asked. My students are required to complete 9 weekly lab worksheets corresponding to their specific lab of the week. All sum total of all lab worksheets are worth the other 50 percent of the lab grade.
One issue I am currently weighing in my head is how to grade the lab worksheets. Should I go easy on the grading to soften the blow of the final exam, or should I grade harshly to force them to correct every mistake they make in prepration for the final exam?<issue_comment>username_1: While I don't TA physics, but Geology, our labs tend to have the same structure. Luckily the labs are small enough that I can get to know the groups ect, So I can determine how hard they are working on the labs ect, so I generally grade 70% effort and 30% correctness. The difference is though, that you are teaching engineering majors, where I tend to teach non geology or STEM majors. Getting something in the lab 100% correct for my students isn't as important and following the scientific process, but, for a class of engineers, I would have higher expectations since the content they are learning is helpful for their careers later. IE, they should have a vested interest beyond the grade.
My experience with the Lab exams is that the students either do very well or very poorly. I would be somewhat lax on the labs, especially on first time mistakes. But there isn't much you can do if they aren't working hard and aren't completing the labs correctly and they will likely fail the test if thats the case anyway.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: People learn physics (and many other things) by making mistakes, and then trying to correct those mistakes. With that in mind, I would always grade activities in a way that was supposed to motivate my students to fix their mistakes. However, it's also useful not to penalize them too much for making mistakes when they are first learning the material. Usually what I wound up doing was grading in a way such that students had to basically know what they were doing to get a 90% or higher, and they would have to really get *everything* right to get a 100% on an activity, but even if they didn't understand some concepts they would still get around 80%.
Of course, this grading scheme was specified by the administrators I was working for, so I don't really have any data comparing this with alternate grading schemes. I can offer the anecdotal evidence that when I was taking physics classes as an undergraduate, it was understood among the physics students that the grading would be harsh and thus grades as low as 60% or so could still be taken as an indicator that you were basically getting it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: One of my lab instructors would force us to correct the mistakes until the report was of sufficient quality. Sometimes, the problem would be forgotten units on a table, or a numerical error in a formula (fixable in a few minutes); others would be conceptual mistakes (requiring more work).
On another similar lab, the instructor would clearly indicate any errors and discuss them with us to make sure we understood them. There was then no need to rewrite the report, and the grade was only affected mildly. But, on the following reports, you better not make the same mistake, because it will then be penalised.
With the first option you can give them an opportunity to correct the mistakes without harming their grades, albeit at the cost of more work for all parties. On the second, you can make sure they learn from their mistakes, while being nice when they do it for the first time.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/14 | 291 | 1,294 | <issue_start>username_0: If you are applying for a faculty job in computer science in a US university, should your research statement have references to research papers in it?<issue_comment>username_1: **Yes. Definitely.** This gives the reader an indication of how your work fits into the larger body of research in the field.
Without references, it may appear that you are working in an area that is so obscure that nobody cares about it.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: One very important function of a research statement is to demonstrate that you know what you want to do from day 1. No one wants to hire a new faculty who have only vague ideas about what to do, since everyone is supposed to be productive as soon as possible.
From that perspective, a research proposal without specifics can be a huge red flag, and evaluators may fear that you just made up something fast. On the other hand, you can give an impression that you already researched the literature, thought through details and specifics, i.e. have concrete details in your proposals with bibliography, people may have more confidence in you. Note, that majority of the people who filter and judge your CV have no clue about your field, so such superficial impressions can be important.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/14 | 704 | 2,983 | <issue_start>username_0: How are faculty job positions in a US university evaluated? Do the committee members get to view (and discuss) electronic copies of a candidate's application before the hiring meeting (and possibly filter out some applications before the formal meeting), or is everything done in the meeting? I am asking because I think one needs to prepare the application differently in the two circumstances. If electronic copy of the application is emailed to the faculty members, then one can insert hyperlinks in the research statement E.g.:
>
> "blah blah blah [1]"
>
>
>
where clicking on "[1]" would take you to a website.
But if a printout is given to the committee members, one needs to make sure all the info you want to convey is in the printout e.g. web addresses will need to be spelled out instead of being embedded.<issue_comment>username_1: We've had a variety of practices. Some of it depends on the computer literacy of the admin assistant doing the application file processing. We've had cases of electronic material (PDFs) being printed out and then rescanned back in as the staff person did not know how to collate multiple PDFs into a single document.
[HEAD PALM] Sigh...
To be entirely fair, some of our faculty are also very visual-tactile and will prefer print out the dossier and read it there, rather than online.
In other words, you can't assume anything about how the files will be handled. You should be explicit in the URLs. If you have media files on disk or thumb drive (photographs, video, source code, simulations, etc.), then you should also post a visible link to an archive location.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I was (twice) on a hiring committee for a tenure-track math professor. Applicants uploaded their applications via a central repository (MathJobs) and we evaluated them asynchronously. I read a lot of applications at 11:00 pm on my laptop; one of my colleagues printed everything out. We only met to discuss candidates we thought highly of.
You should write a self-contained research statement that does not require hyperlinks. It is probably harmless to include them; for example, your bibliography might be hyperlinked, or your research statement might say, e.g. "A visual demonstration of this phenomenon can be found on my web site at [URL]", where [URL] gives the full URL and is a hyperlink. This probably won't help you, but it might, and I can't imagine it hurting you.
One thing you should also do is to update your personal web page. Preprints of all of your publications, teaching materials (e.g. syllabi for past classes), slides for talks you've given, etc., etc. -- anything you hope a hiring committee might look at should be there. Ensure that googling your name, together with either the name of your university or of your subject area, will lead to the searcher finding these materials within three seconds.
Fields other than math might vary. Good luck!
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/14 | 2,766 | 11,740 | <issue_start>username_0: For my writing courses, about 5% of students will come to me prior to deadlines asking for help with their paper. I see no problem advising students, as I often similarly came for help when I was an undergraduate. Recently, though, I found an increase in students who apparently just want to abuse this:
* Students will bring me some plagiarized work, showing it to me early, as a sort of test if I will notice. It seems difficult to punish plagiarism when the paper is not yet submitted.
* Students will bring in papers again and again, with little changes put in at each stage, hoping their minimal effort each time will be sufficient to reach their goal of a "D".
I've tried stopping students, but then they are angry when they see the "F" that they hoped I would help them get away from. While most of these students are probably just incredibly lazy, there is a chance that some among them are genuinely trying to improve, but just struggling a great deal, and I can't see it.
How might I go about blocking such abuses?<issue_comment>username_1: Here is one strategy:
1. Specify the level of changes the student needs to make before they can come back again.
2. Request that the student shows you what changes have been made by comparing the old and new versions of the assignment.
3. If student has failed to reach the level suggested or fails to show you the differences, simply tell them to go away until they have made the requested changes. Simply state that your previous comments still apply.
Adding a time delay between when they ask and when you give feedback or when you give feedback and when they can come again might also help.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: If you see something definitely plagiarized, you could try to get them to claim it as theirs when they consult you and fail them on the spot for making the claim whether it's in class or not.
I do agree with [@DaveClarke](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/28510/15723) that on this *or* the other issue, announcing a policy at the start of the term (no more than N consults per assignment/per term, and plagiarism is an automatic F and will also be referred to the school's academic conduct team) would help set expectations, cut down on abuse, and give you grounds to say "No, it wouldn't be fair to others if I helped you again before you turn it in."
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: Having taught in similar situations, I have to agree with username_1 on requiring a demonstration of significant incremental improvement.
You can't let plagiarism on the first draft pass silently, either. If you see evidence of such on the first draft, you need to report it to the proper authority as evidence that the student body needs better training on what plagiarism is and how to properly use other works.
Hold firm to standards. You should have a rubric distributed stating the qualities of a paper at each grade level. If a paper is clearly an F paper, you should be able to point to your rubric and tell them that if no clear improvement is made, an F will be the grade they receive.
You must grade them, the non-recursive definition of which, [as Merriam Webster puts it](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grade):
>
> to separate (things) into groups or classes according to a particular quality
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: While there are some good answers here, I will just add a few thoughts from my own experiences.
I also have plenty of students who try for minimal work just to get a pass. I used to explain to them what their grade would be and why but in the end, all they heard was what their grade would be. If it was pass they stopped listening. Of course, this is quite unhealthy for their longer-term success.
I have since changed to not telling them what grade I would give them before they submit, partially because of JeffE's comment to [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/25853/2692). **Now, I focus ONLY on showing the students how to judge their own papers**. I explain that I will mark when they submit but if they want to understand how to mark their own papers, I will help them.
I do not check for plagiarism on drafts (though some students do ask me to). If I see something which looks like plagiarism, like the level of English goes from very poor to perfect, I do let the students know that this looks like plagiarism and, if it is, they should fix it with proper citation before submitting.
**In short, focus on teaching them how to grade their own papers.** This helps a lot if you provide a rubric. Do not tell them "I will give you a 'D' if you submit this." Instead, tell them "Tell me what you think this paper deserves and explain to me why you believe that." Then help them develop that skill.
They should become independent learners, even if they don't want to.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: From what I have read in your question, it appears that you are **enabling** the students. I have had the same issue and it happens not only in academia but in all professions.
Stick with the facts and the mechanics of writing, do not answer their questions directly, use an indirect method and point them to the source, allow the students to do the work. As an enabler you are in essence doing the work for your students(or so they hope).
When you are enabling "people" to take advantage of you, it is very difficult to see and hard to admit. Your students are adding monkeys on your back, they are smarter than you think.
* Stick to the facts
* Give direction of where to find answers
* Do not provide answers, provide guidance
It took a few semesters for students to push you along into this trap. It will take a few more for the message to circulate that you are no longer a mark.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: It looks like you have two different issues, it's easiest to discuss each of these separately.
* Students will bring me some plagiarized work, showing it to me early,
as a sort of test if I will notice. It seems difficult to punish
plagiarism when the paper is not yet submitted.
This one is rough. You can't punish someone due to plagiarism before they submit work. The best policy, in my opinion, is twofold.
First - if a student brings plagiarized work then you should simply say "I'm sorry, I cannot help you with work that is not your own." and point to you university's policy regarding academic dishonesty. Repeat offenders should be put on notice.
Second - If you grade the final assignments or are involved consider spending a bit more time plagiarize-checking these particular student's submissions. These students have shown that they were willing to claim other's work as their own, being a bit more stringent in checking their work for originality is, in my opinion, completely fair.
* Students will bring in papers again and again, with little changes
put in at each stage, hoping their minimal effort each time will be
sufficient to reach their goal of a "D".
This sounds like a communication problem. After meeting with a student there should be no confusion about what will improve the student's work. For something like a paper it should be *"In order to improve this paper you should: extend the intro, go into more detail here, etc"* Students returning for additional assistance should have some sort of checklist that they should complete prior to returning for more assistance. Make this clear and obvious and, if there are multiple tutors a student could work with, something that is kept in some sort of notes system.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: Another strategy is to provide more guidance about what sort of help you'll provide and how they should ask for it. Possibilities:
* The first time you bring your paper to my office [or during specific dates], we will focus only on whether you have answered the question.
* I will be happy to discuss aspects X and Y, but never Z.
* Bring the rubric with you. Be prepared to explain which part of the
rubric you most need to address in your draft, and why. We'll focus on that part of the rubric during our meeting.
* Before you bring your paper to me, prepare a list of specific questions you would like me to answer. Bring two copies of the list, one for each of us.
* Before you bring your paper to me, show it to someone at the writing center. Bring with you your notes from that visit and the draft you showed to them, along with the draft where you implemented those suggestions.
* Always bring two copies of your draft--one for each of us. Be prepared to write detailed notes on your copy. (Then you can keep your copy and you'll be able to bring it out the next time and say--ok, what did you change? Or you can compare it to the draft they turn in to see if they made significant changes. And if they plagiarised it, you'll have a record.)
* Each time you show me your paper, I will expect you to create a checklist of things you will address. The next visit, you need to demonstrate that you have completed those things by bringing a draft with changes marked and annotated.
Another thing you can do is assign "draft" deadlines as well as final deadlines for everyone, then give the feedback you think is important on the drafts (maybe using a rubric) and not meet incessantly with a few students.
Another thing you can do--particularly with very structured papers that you have assigned before--is provide to the class a list of the common problems students have. Then when a student shows you a draft, you can initiate a discussion about which common problem the student thinks it illustrates and what can the student do to address it?
Another thing you can do is limit the number of times you will look at a draft, or the period of time during which you will look at a draft.
I have had a similar problem with students wanting me to grade work before they turn it in for a grade--not just on writing, but with all kinds of assignments. Sometimes they are so lost they are completely stuck. Other times, they seem to be trying to minimize their workload by increasing mine. ("Just tell me in exacting detail what to do, I'll do that and no more, you'll give me an A.") But what I want is for them to learn how to assess their own writing!
Whatever strategy you use, when you meet with students, try to elicit their comments. If you give a suggestion, and they nod, then ask them how they expect to apply it. What changes will they make to a particular sentence or paragraph? Are there any other places in the text they should also make that change to--which ones, and why? If they are to provide more evidence, ask them where they intend to search and how. Then you can better assess whether they understand what you've told them and whether they can actually do it.
I often ask students about how they produced the draft. Which parts were the easiest and which parts were the hardest, and why? Which parts do they like best? Which parts do they think need the most revision? Sometimes I ask them to imagine a reader--if they were to show their paper to (mom, roommate, employer, etc.), which part would be the most controversial? What would need the most explanation? If their reader disagrees, what would that person likely argue back? The more they talk about their writing, the more opportunity you have to say, "Yes! What you just said--write that down. Now do that!"
Another benefit of getting students to talk about their draft is that it is tough to talk about something you didn't write. If they let you know they copied passages, you can remind them (or explain how) to cite them properly. If they pretend they wrote every word, you have a different problem to address.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/14 | 2,696 | 11,512 | <issue_start>username_0: I am using Mendeley to organize, highlight and to synchronize my references. I think a feature where you can see a list of annotations/highlight that you have made will be extremely useful during writing.
For example one day you just remember, "Oh I have seen this in some papers, I don't remember which one but I remember I highlighted it."
Right now I have to guess and open one by one the paper to look for the annotations that I meant and scrolling the screen to look for "it", or by performing a search, both are not efficient enough.
Kindle has this feature. Everytime you make some annotations (on different books) they aggregate and put it as a list for you. When you click on that, it will go to the page on the book.
Is there any reference manager that has this kind of functionality?<issue_comment>username_1: Here is one strategy:
1. Specify the level of changes the student needs to make before they can come back again.
2. Request that the student shows you what changes have been made by comparing the old and new versions of the assignment.
3. If student has failed to reach the level suggested or fails to show you the differences, simply tell them to go away until they have made the requested changes. Simply state that your previous comments still apply.
Adding a time delay between when they ask and when you give feedback or when you give feedback and when they can come again might also help.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: If you see something definitely plagiarized, you could try to get them to claim it as theirs when they consult you and fail them on the spot for making the claim whether it's in class or not.
I do agree with [@DaveClarke](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/28510/15723) that on this *or* the other issue, announcing a policy at the start of the term (no more than N consults per assignment/per term, and plagiarism is an automatic F and will also be referred to the school's academic conduct team) would help set expectations, cut down on abuse, and give you grounds to say "No, it wouldn't be fair to others if I helped you again before you turn it in."
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: Having taught in similar situations, I have to agree with username_1 on requiring a demonstration of significant incremental improvement.
You can't let plagiarism on the first draft pass silently, either. If you see evidence of such on the first draft, you need to report it to the proper authority as evidence that the student body needs better training on what plagiarism is and how to properly use other works.
Hold firm to standards. You should have a rubric distributed stating the qualities of a paper at each grade level. If a paper is clearly an F paper, you should be able to point to your rubric and tell them that if no clear improvement is made, an F will be the grade they receive.
You must grade them, the non-recursive definition of which, [as Merriam Webster puts it](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grade):
>
> to separate (things) into groups or classes according to a particular quality
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: While there are some good answers here, I will just add a few thoughts from my own experiences.
I also have plenty of students who try for minimal work just to get a pass. I used to explain to them what their grade would be and why but in the end, all they heard was what their grade would be. If it was pass they stopped listening. Of course, this is quite unhealthy for their longer-term success.
I have since changed to not telling them what grade I would give them before they submit, partially because of JeffE's comment to [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/25853/2692). **Now, I focus ONLY on showing the students how to judge their own papers**. I explain that I will mark when they submit but if they want to understand how to mark their own papers, I will help them.
I do not check for plagiarism on drafts (though some students do ask me to). If I see something which looks like plagiarism, like the level of English goes from very poor to perfect, I do let the students know that this looks like plagiarism and, if it is, they should fix it with proper citation before submitting.
**In short, focus on teaching them how to grade their own papers.** This helps a lot if you provide a rubric. Do not tell them "I will give you a 'D' if you submit this." Instead, tell them "Tell me what you think this paper deserves and explain to me why you believe that." Then help them develop that skill.
They should become independent learners, even if they don't want to.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: From what I have read in your question, it appears that you are **enabling** the students. I have had the same issue and it happens not only in academia but in all professions.
Stick with the facts and the mechanics of writing, do not answer their questions directly, use an indirect method and point them to the source, allow the students to do the work. As an enabler you are in essence doing the work for your students(or so they hope).
When you are enabling "people" to take advantage of you, it is very difficult to see and hard to admit. Your students are adding monkeys on your back, they are smarter than you think.
* Stick to the facts
* Give direction of where to find answers
* Do not provide answers, provide guidance
It took a few semesters for students to push you along into this trap. It will take a few more for the message to circulate that you are no longer a mark.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: It looks like you have two different issues, it's easiest to discuss each of these separately.
* Students will bring me some plagiarized work, showing it to me early,
as a sort of test if I will notice. It seems difficult to punish
plagiarism when the paper is not yet submitted.
This one is rough. You can't punish someone due to plagiarism before they submit work. The best policy, in my opinion, is twofold.
First - if a student brings plagiarized work then you should simply say "I'm sorry, I cannot help you with work that is not your own." and point to you university's policy regarding academic dishonesty. Repeat offenders should be put on notice.
Second - If you grade the final assignments or are involved consider spending a bit more time plagiarize-checking these particular student's submissions. These students have shown that they were willing to claim other's work as their own, being a bit more stringent in checking their work for originality is, in my opinion, completely fair.
* Students will bring in papers again and again, with little changes
put in at each stage, hoping their minimal effort each time will be
sufficient to reach their goal of a "D".
This sounds like a communication problem. After meeting with a student there should be no confusion about what will improve the student's work. For something like a paper it should be *"In order to improve this paper you should: extend the intro, go into more detail here, etc"* Students returning for additional assistance should have some sort of checklist that they should complete prior to returning for more assistance. Make this clear and obvious and, if there are multiple tutors a student could work with, something that is kept in some sort of notes system.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: Another strategy is to provide more guidance about what sort of help you'll provide and how they should ask for it. Possibilities:
* The first time you bring your paper to my office [or during specific dates], we will focus only on whether you have answered the question.
* I will be happy to discuss aspects X and Y, but never Z.
* Bring the rubric with you. Be prepared to explain which part of the
rubric you most need to address in your draft, and why. We'll focus on that part of the rubric during our meeting.
* Before you bring your paper to me, prepare a list of specific questions you would like me to answer. Bring two copies of the list, one for each of us.
* Before you bring your paper to me, show it to someone at the writing center. Bring with you your notes from that visit and the draft you showed to them, along with the draft where you implemented those suggestions.
* Always bring two copies of your draft--one for each of us. Be prepared to write detailed notes on your copy. (Then you can keep your copy and you'll be able to bring it out the next time and say--ok, what did you change? Or you can compare it to the draft they turn in to see if they made significant changes. And if they plagiarised it, you'll have a record.)
* Each time you show me your paper, I will expect you to create a checklist of things you will address. The next visit, you need to demonstrate that you have completed those things by bringing a draft with changes marked and annotated.
Another thing you can do is assign "draft" deadlines as well as final deadlines for everyone, then give the feedback you think is important on the drafts (maybe using a rubric) and not meet incessantly with a few students.
Another thing you can do--particularly with very structured papers that you have assigned before--is provide to the class a list of the common problems students have. Then when a student shows you a draft, you can initiate a discussion about which common problem the student thinks it illustrates and what can the student do to address it?
Another thing you can do is limit the number of times you will look at a draft, or the period of time during which you will look at a draft.
I have had a similar problem with students wanting me to grade work before they turn it in for a grade--not just on writing, but with all kinds of assignments. Sometimes they are so lost they are completely stuck. Other times, they seem to be trying to minimize their workload by increasing mine. ("Just tell me in exacting detail what to do, I'll do that and no more, you'll give me an A.") But what I want is for them to learn how to assess their own writing!
Whatever strategy you use, when you meet with students, try to elicit their comments. If you give a suggestion, and they nod, then ask them how they expect to apply it. What changes will they make to a particular sentence or paragraph? Are there any other places in the text they should also make that change to--which ones, and why? If they are to provide more evidence, ask them where they intend to search and how. Then you can better assess whether they understand what you've told them and whether they can actually do it.
I often ask students about how they produced the draft. Which parts were the easiest and which parts were the hardest, and why? Which parts do they like best? Which parts do they think need the most revision? Sometimes I ask them to imagine a reader--if they were to show their paper to (mom, roommate, employer, etc.), which part would be the most controversial? What would need the most explanation? If their reader disagrees, what would that person likely argue back? The more they talk about their writing, the more opportunity you have to say, "Yes! What you just said--write that down. Now do that!"
Another benefit of getting students to talk about their draft is that it is tough to talk about something you didn't write. If they let you know they copied passages, you can remind them (or explain how) to cite them properly. If they pretend they wrote every word, you have a different problem to address.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/14 | 1,611 | 6,537 | <issue_start>username_0: Several commercial database vendors include an end-user license agreement provision, known as the [DeWitt Clause](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_DeWitt), that [prohibits](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/27631/452) researchers and scientists from explicitly using the names of their systems in academic papers.
Has the DeWitt Clause ever been successfully defended in court?<issue_comment>username_1: The New York Attorney General [got a judge to ban](http://www.leagle.com/decision/2003579195Misc2d384_1519.xml/PEOPLE%20v.%20NETWORK%20ASSOC.,%20INC.) Network Associates' licensing terms that prevented customers from reviewing their software without permission from NA. I think this started as a consumer protection suit by the AG's office instead of a customer defending themselves after violating such a licensing term. This was in New York state court, so who knows what would happen if a database vendor tried to sue someone in a different state.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Several users have suggested *People of the State of New York vs. Network Associates* as an instance of a DeWitt Clause being challenged, and struck down, in court. However, this case is *hugely* misunderstood by the media, and so these answers have been very misleading.
This case *was* an instance of a DeWitt Clause being challenged in court. However, the court's ruling did *not* directly address the issue of whether such a clause is enforceable. The court ruled on the basis of the *specific wording* of the Network Associates clause, and so did not generally rule on the enforceability of all such clauses.
### Arguments of the Attorney General
Source: [Attorney General's Argument in People v. Network Associates](https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/press-releases/archived/memo_of_law.pdf)
<NAME>, Attorney General of the State of New York, mentions two claims in his preliminary statement for this case. The first relates to the general enforceability of a DeWitt Clause, and the second does not.
1. Violation of free speech and fair use:
>
> Under New York law, a restriction that broadly chills or restricts important rights -- here, of free speech and fair use -- without a legitimate purpose, will be struck down. This Censorship Clause restricts consumers and the media alike from reviewing the software or disclosing important design or product flaws. Yet it serves no legitimate purpose, such as protecting trade secrets or confidential material.
>
>
>
2. Deception:
>
> Specifically, it misinforms consumers that the company’s prohibition
> against publication of reviews or benchmark tests (itself an illegal restriction) reflects existing “rules and regulations.” Of course, no “rules and regulations” actually exist, under federal or state law -- a fact that most attorneys, including those who drafted the Censorship Clause, surely
> know.
>
>
> ...
>
>
> Finally, the Censorship Clause is also void and deceptive because it conflicts with the License Agreement contained with the company’s boxed software. The boxed License Agreement, which is by its own terms the “entire Agreement between the parties,” omits the Censorship Clause. Yet the company then places that very Clause on the face of the software diskette -- even though it is by the very terms of the License Agreement void and unenforceable.
>
>
>
I'll elaborate a little bit on the latter point, regarding deception. The specific text that is the subject of the lawsuit is:
>
> Installing this software constitutes acceptance of the terms and conditions of the license agreement in the box. Please read the license agreement before installation. Other rules and regulations of installing the software are:
>
>
> a. The product can not be rented, loaned, or leased—you are the sole owner of this product.
>
>
> b. The customer shall not disclose the result of any benchmark test to any third party without Network Associates' prior written approval.
>
>
> c. The customer will not publish reviews of this product without prior consent from Network Associates, Inc.
>
>
>
This text was *outside* of the license agreement. The license agreement itself did not contain clauses (b) and (c). Furthermore, the license agreement contained a clause specifying that it (the license) constitutes the entire agreement between the consumer and Network Associates, and supersedes any prior communications related to the software.
The major claim of the deception argument was as follows: Consumers - having read the license agreement, with its clause that the entire contract between parties is contained in that license agreement, and without the "gag" clauses - will then read this text. They may reasonably conclude that the restrictions on publishing reviews and benchmarks are *not* part of the contractual agreement between the consumer and Network Associates, and are instead made and enforced by some other entity.
That is, the text deceptively implies that the restrictions on reviews and benchmarking are imposed not by Network Associates, but by someone else - such as the state or federal government.
Furthermore, the clauses restricting publishing reviews and benchmarking are not enforceable at all in this case (regardless of the general enforceability or legality of such clauses), because they conflict with the actual license agreement. Thus, consumers are deceived into believing that they have no right to publish reviews and benchmarks, when in this case, because of the way it is written, these clauses are not a valid contractual agreement.
### Opinion of the Court
Source: [PEOPLE v. NETWORK ASSOC., INC](http://www.leagle.com/decision/2003579195Misc2d384_1519.xml/PEOPLE%20v.%20NETWORK%20ASSOC.,%20INC.)
The court rules against Network Associates. However, the ruling states that the Attorney General's claims of *deception* are valid. It does not directly address the first claim, of violation of free speech and fair use.
Furthermore, the ruling explicitly states that Network Associates is
>
> enjoined from including any language restricting the right to publish the results of testing and review without notifying the Attorney General at least 30 days prior to such inclusion
>
>
>
which suggests that language restricting publishing of benchmarks is not necessarily prohibited. That is, Network Associates is *not* generally forbidden from writing a license in the future that restricts consumers' rights to publish reviews and benchmarks.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/15 | 1,476 | 6,568 | <issue_start>username_0: **Background**: I remember when I was still in college here in the Philippines, one of the member of the school thesis committee tries to hack my system by injecting some kind of code (*I am not sure but I think this is SQL injection*). Now that I am working I realized that it is illegal to just hack and get inside of the system. This hacking includes breaking into the security of the system then extracting the datas (some are dummies only and some are original). He said that he do this to prove that our system has not enough security and therefore concluded that it is not safe to use, due to this my team has been subjected to re-defense. Also, there are no proper discussions whether he has the authority to get inside the system, I also don't know the privileges of the panelist.
Please take note that the computer we are using is ours (students) then the panelist are obliged to test the system for certain minutes only (maybe 5 minutes). Also, we didn't use any ISP because it is only a system together with it's database and therefore can be use offline.
During that time we've been subjected to re-defense simply because our system is not secured.
**Question**: Does hacking the system just to prove that it lacks security and therefore not safe to use, still ethical? Considering that we are on a thesis-defense and are still a learner. Our knowledge cannot be compared to a professional that is expert in system developing.<issue_comment>username_1: It sounds like as part of the defense, you gave the examiners access to the system for purposes of evaluating it.
If you gave consent for them to evaluate the system, and didn't place any restrictions on what they can do with it, I don't see any problem with what they did.
You are correct that is generally illegal to just "hack" into a system, but that refers to gaining *unauthorized* access to a system. That doesn't seem to be what happened here.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: It depends on whether it is a reasonable expectation that your evaluators would test your work in this way. You don't give the details of what you have created, so it is hard to assess whether the assessor's actions were reasonable.
If you had created a database with an interface that could be accessible publicly, and that the majority of your work was on the creation and/or operation of that interface, then I think that security issues are indeed important, and an acid test of your work would be to attempt to hack in.
However, if the majority of your work was on looking at the inter-relationships between elements of the database - i.e. you were looking for correlations between database parameters - and not on the interface, then I don't think that the security of your system warrants a hacking attempt to test its security. In this case, a lack of security is indeed a concern, and one which you might have to address in a defence, but not one which justifies an attack on the system to test it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Rather than discussing whether or not this is legal(which, as has been pointed out, is beyond the scope of the Academia board and would depend on your local laws) let's discuss whether it was right or expected or not.
As mentioned by username_2, this, to some extent, depends on what you actually *did*. And, as I see it, this can be broken down into two categories.
If your work involved a database that is not manipulated by outsiders at any point then attempting to 'hack' it would be inappropriate. By this I mean if the database was secondary to the research you were presenting. An example might be a database of Face images used to train or test facial recognition algorithms. In such a case the database iteself is not the product or research being presented. It should be stable and reasonably secure(depending on the data it contains of course) but should not be the focus of 'testing' or inquiry in a defense.
However if your work involved a database that is manipulated by the user or researcher, particularly as a primary focus of the research/work then yes, 'hacking' this database is a reasonable thing for someone to try to do. If the work presented is a complete project, a proposed solution to a real world problem or in another situation where, yes, you are proposing that the system you created could be placed in the real world then attempting to 'hack' the system is not only reasonable but expected.
Let's take a moment, though, to discuss what 'hack' might mean in this situation. You mentioned a SQL Injection. For some folks 'hacking' brings to mind serious people wearing sunglasses indoors yelling "Hack the MAINFRAME!" as they use telephones, bits of wire and evil to do nasty things to computers. But, especially in this particular case, this 'hacking' would have been something as innocent as entering something into a data field. In the early days of speed cameras some clever motorists found a way to do such an attack. The cameras 'read' the license plates and automatically submitted speeding tickets. Clever if unethical motorists could put a sql string on their bumper, the camera would 'read' the string and, since the string wasn't properly sanitized, it would cause nasty things like deleting the entire database. SQL Injections are something that you should *not* be confused about what there are at graduation, that you are both unsure if that's what the instructor did AND indignant that they would do so would be a signal to me that you did need to re-defend your thesis. SQL (or just plain code) injection attacks are almost laughably easy to minimize, someone being able to 'hack' your database in the few minutes you described is a serious quality concern for a graduate in computer science perhaps especially in graduate level work(you are unclear about your level at the time of this issue).
Finally allow me to point out that all respectable software companies hire people whose job it is to attempt to hack into their own servers, software and, yes, databases. Additionally white hat hackers often attempt to hack software and environments and report it to said companies(black hat hackers will skip the reporting and go straight to exploiting.) No one wants to hear that their baby is ugly or that their code has a problem. I'm hearing a lot of indignation in your question related to that and I understand it but I'm going to respectfully advise you to both get over it and welcome such things - that is how you will become better at development.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer] |
2014/09/15 | 533 | 2,287 | <issue_start>username_0: I've contacted a potential PhD supervisor last month and gave him my PhD proposal. about a week after that I've got a response from the professor, acknowledging the receipt of my proposal and saying that he will respond as quickly as possible. I haven't received any other response since last month and I'm getting kind of anxious.
1. Should I write him an email again or let him contact me first with a
reply?
2. How long does this process of proposal evaluation take?<issue_comment>username_1: Don't run, Walk!
----------------
May be your *as quick as possible* is one month and his *as quick as possible* is two months or more (who knows?).
Professors have their own personal/academic/career responsibilities and usually suffer from lack of time problem. Let him review your proposal and he will respond you when he is done.
In my opinion one month is not that much that you are becoming anxious, but it maybe a good idea if you don't receive any email from him in the following weeks, send him an email and remind your proposal politely. Also, if you are going very near to the university deadlines and it is affecting your application, it may worth it to include those deadlines in your reminder too.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Many academics are flooded with email from students (undergraduate and graduate), administrators, coworkers, colleagues, editors, etc. What you've asked him to do for you takes more than two minutes and he may not have available time to do it, or the energy to set aside the available time in the near future. There are enough small things to deal with that they can can easily bury the larger things.
If one method of communication is not effective you can, after a suitable delay, try another. A phone call or visit to office hours might bump your earlier email to the top of his mind. He may already have some preliminary feedback, or he may apologetically say that he still hasn't gotten to it, but he does plan to do it soon. Either way this can move the process towards resolution.
On the other hand, you're considering this person for one of the most important roles of your academic career. If he does not show username_1siasm about working with you, you may want to consider other options.
Upvotes: 4 |
2014/09/15 | 902 | 3,877 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm applying for a PhD in engineering and I was asked by the advisor I have chosen to write down a short program (~10 pages) about the "research" I will conduct if I get into the PhD program.
The advisor provided ten choices where the future PhD program will lay. The topics are very large and well studied in the literature. Our "task" is to choose one of them, find out something "new" inside of this big sea and write it down. I did a lot of research on Scholar and downloaded more or less 20 free papers I found interesting. I collected data and results, thought a bit about the problem and found a ( maybe ) new application that fits my interests and past studies and I think it could bring some novelty in the field I'm applying.
Now my question is, which is the best way to format the proposal?
1. Should I start with the context of the research, point where previous studies went and what kind of results yielded and now focus on my brand new idea?
2. Should I skip 1) and start *in medias res* with the heart of the matter?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Now my question is, which is the best way to format the proposal?
>
>
>
Different writers could balance these issues in different ways. The key is moderation: you have to give enough context to make your proposal understandable, but you also shouldn't go overboard (it's a terrible idea to start a research proposal by saying "Since the dawn of history, transportation has been one of humanity's greatest challenges. The wheel and axle were a great advance..."). If you never mention until page 5 that you even have new ideas, then readers may give up in disgust before reaching that point. On the other hand, too little context can be just as bad, since the proposal will do you no good if it's not understandable. Unfortunately, there's no universal rule to decide the right amount.
One strategy is to look at the introductions to the research papers you've found. If your introduction is briefer or more abrupt, then it's not reasonable to expect anyone to follow it. If anything, a research statement should generally be accessible to a broader audience, and that may mean somewhat more background and explanation.
It can also be useful to cycle between background and new material. For example: brief introduction, brief description of your new idea, longer account of context, more details on new idea.
Given that you are writing this for a specific professor, it's worth asking him/her for more guidance. If you phrase it too generally ("How do I do this?") it might give a poor impression, but I think it would be safe to ask a question that shows you are seriously working on it. For example, "I'm thinking of organizing my proposal like this: [Insert one or two paragraphs about your topic and how you plan to arrange the proposal.] Does that sound like what you had in mind? If not, I'd be happy to rethink the organization."
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Indeed, choosing the right balance of deep background, more-contemporary context, and promotion of tentative new ideas is part of the "test" involved in peoples' appraisals of your proposal... incidentally testing your judgement about other peoples' contexts and professional criteria.
That is, do not belabor anything which an experienced professional would take for granted... the problem is that you may not know, with certainty, what that would be... or you may not know the audience you're addressing.
Do *not*, in any case, imitate the pedantic and long-winded tone of a textbook, no matter how much context you may imagine is appropriate.
Absolutely *do* get endorsement from your sponsor-professor before "going public", both because you don't want to (in effect) embarrass them, and because they should have a very good idea of "the audience" you're addressing.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/15 | 850 | 3,732 | <issue_start>username_0: I am finishing a 3-year postdoc, and will be applying to many universities for positions, including teaching colleges and research universities. I have 4 good research letters, but none discuss my teaching. I had excellent teaching letters from my previous university where I received my PhD, but I am not as close to the professors in this university.
Would it be better to obtain a teaching letter of recommendation from my previous university that I know is very positive, or to obtain a potentially less positive letter from my current university?<issue_comment>username_1: I think it depends on what kind of job you are looking for. For research universities, I suspect you can get away with it; I actually used a teaching letter based on recitation teaching from graduate school when applying for TT positions 4 years after graduating, because for a variety of reasons, there wasn't anyone else I felt comfortable asking for one from. Honestly, I don't think job search committees put much stock in teaching letters just based on classroom observation. Any value they had has been inflated away by the fact that they are always positive, and to be honest, most mathematicians at research universities don't worry very much about teaching skill when looking at hiring, beyond not wanting to hire someone notably incompetent. If they do, they're much more likely to try to judge from your interview or from student evaluations rather than a teaching letter.
If you're looking into more teaching focused schools, it's harder for me to say. Maybe I'll just leave that hanging and let someone else answer.
**EDIT:** To address the question of getting two letters, I agree with Noah. I want to be clear that this advice only applies to research universities, but I think getting two teaching letters completely gets wrong the risk/reward calculus for teaching letters. They cannot get you a job, they can only lose one for you. Probably they won't even look at teaching letters until they get to the short list, but if they do, it will be to sort out bad teachers, not to separate competent and good. By far the most important thing about a teaching letter is that it doesn't say anything bad. By getting two, you are doubling this (small) probability for absolutely zero benefit.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't know whether it's better, but you may have more opportunities for a teaching letter from your current institution that you realize. Especially if your postdoc is in the US, there may be someone in the department (for instance, the deputy chair in charge of undergraduate teaching, whatever the position is called) who is supposed to help arrange the writing of such letters as part of their job. You could ask this person to sit in, or ask someone to sit in, on your class and write a letter based on that and department data about your teaching.
If you have excellent teaching letters from your PhD, you may even want to include that *as well as* a more cursory letter from your current school.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: In your situation (where you had serious teaching experience in grad school), I would probably get a letter from your old writer, but send that person and updated list of what you've taught and your student evaluations from your postdoc. That way their letter can make it clear that your teaching continues to be strong.
I agree with username_2's point that you're probably overestimating how hard it is to get a letter from someone at your new place. However, only consider two teaching letters *if and only if* you're applying to a job with a strong teaching focus. Don't send two teaching letters for a research-focused job.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/15 | 684 | 2,355 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm transferring between two PhD programs, same program two different schools. I have done 4 years of study in the first school but have not (and will not) receive any degrees and I need to complete 1-2 years of study in the new school to get my PhD. Assume that the new school is more prestigious. I wrote this piece in my CV.
>
> 2010-Expected 2016 **PhD in Compute Science** from New University
>
>
> * PhD Student at Old University (2010-2014)
>
>
> 2007-2010 **MS in Computer Engineering** from Another university
>
>
> ...
>
>
>
However, the second line is kind of small and doesn't catch eye but if someone wants to read my CV it's there. The problem is I have not been student at New University since 2010 and I don't want to say that I'm a first year student. Also since I didn't get any degree from Old University I cannot have a separate entry for it.<issue_comment>username_1: May this format help you:
If "university major" is the university which is going to give you your degree and "university minor" is the one in which you have studied about four years;
>
> 2010 - 2016 (expected) **PhD in Computer Science**; university major
>
>
> [some space here] 2014 - 2016 university major
>
>
> [some space here] 2010 - 2014 university minor
>
>
>
However, I think that as you are not receiving any degree from your minor university, *and* its name is not going to be mentioned anywhere in your certificates; there is no need to bring it's name in your CV too, because you don't have any proof that you have studied there.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> The problem is I have not been student at New University since 2010 and I don't want to say that I'm a first year student. Also since I didn't get any degree from Old University I cannot have a separate entry for it.
>
>
>
Why does it matter whether you got a degree from Old University? There's no rule that says the education section of your CV can only be organized by degree. You just need to be clear and honest.
What you propose doesn't seem inappropriate, but I think this might be slightly clearer:
2014-2016 (expected) **PhD in Computer Science** from New University
2010-2014 PhD student at Old University (transferred to New University)
2007-2010 **MS in Computer Engineering** from Another University
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/16 | 1,326 | 5,272 | <issue_start>username_0: What's the usual (North American) universities' practice on dealing with tenured professors who have been criminally charged? I've encountered two scenarios indirectly that could make some professors in some legal trouble.
Here the first scenario. When I was an undergraduate student, a colleague told me that his ex-girlfriend called because she discovered a stalker near her home. When he visited her to assess the situation, they bumped into the alleged stalker at the stairs of the apartment building. She asked him to call the police. He recognized that the alleged stalker was one of the professors in his department. He did not report the alleged stalker to the police because he's afraid of repercussion.
Fast forward a few years. Here the second scenario. One of my friends dated a tenured professor. The relation was abusive. He (the professor) hit her badly that she called the police. His mom begged my friend not to press charges because she's concerned about her son's future.
**TL;DR:** In theory or practice, would universities fire the professor who have been criminally charged? I've asked several tenured professors casually with at least one of the scenarios. They all agreed that nothing bad would happened to those professors even if their wrongdoings were reported to the police.<issue_comment>username_1: Criminal acts are certainly a reason to revoke tenure. In fact, this is probably one of the most common reasons. It is *possible* to terminate the employment of a tenured professor as soon as the university learns that they have been charged with or suspected of a criminal action. (This happened at my university: it was an [extreme case](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Zinkhan).) Terminating employment because of a criminal *charge* is obviously a quite precipitous act to take: I would be surprised if a university did this in any situation except one in which they are sure that the faculty member will/would be found guilty of the charge. A tenured employee who was fired because of suspicion of criminal acts and was later found innocent of these acts would have, in many cases, a heck of a lawsuit against the university. (Untenured employees might as well...)
The things that "you heard" sound a little dopey to me, honestly. Tenure offers some measure of job security. It does not confer any defense against or immunity from criminal acts. Getting convicted of domestic violence is "something bad happening to the professor", right? Not being able to carry out your duties because you are incarcerated is a sufficient reason to fire a tenured faculty member! In the scenario with the "stalker" it is so unclear what happened or what was reported to whom that I would not be comfortable commenting on it. Nevertheless, one can certainly imagine circumstances in which a tenured faculty member could be fired for stalking even without a criminal conviction.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Yes, there have been. The case of [Prof. Lasaga at Yale](http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/16/nyregion/former-yale-professor-gets-20-years-for-molesting-boy-he-mentored.html) is one of the more egregious examples of malfeasance on the part of a faculty member, but also a case where the person stepped down well before being convicted (more background info [here](http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxvi/11.13.98/front.html)). I am sure that even though the language was of voluntary termination ("stepping down") that there was little choice for Lasaga otherwise. In lesser cases outside of the public eye, I am sure there are many professors who have also been asked to step down or to take an early retirement instead of being publicly fired.
Tenure only means our contracts don't have end-dates or renewal dates. It doesn't mean we cannot be fired for crimes, for being indicted for a crime, for other cause, or in some cases just simply being restructured out of our jobs due to the economic needs of our university.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: <NAME> went to prison for some stuff he did with a federal grant, and U Wisc. didn't fire him; see <http://www.wpri.org/WIInterest/Lueders8.1.pdf>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I though it might be instructive, for insight into how we arrived at the present situation, to look back in history to the days when European universities tried criminal charges against both faculty members and students in their own internal courts (they'd negotiated settlements with their host states, whereby the ordinary criminal courts had no jurisdiction over university members). The sentencing options available to the university courts included both imprisonment and expulsion from the university. From the case studies described by Rait (1931, *Life in the Medieval University*, Library of Alexandria), it's pretty clear that the severity of offence needed for a sentence of expulsion from the university was greater than the severity of offence needed for a sentence of imprisonment; indeed, the sentence of expulsion from the university was used mostly in cases where a student or faculty member had escaped from prison while serving time for a previous offence, or had failed to appear in court to face the charges.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/16 | 1,438 | 6,143 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm curious to hear whether there is general guidance on when and whether to submit a pre-submission inquiry to a high impact journal (field: biology). Our goal is to identify a journal that will send our paper out for review. I understand pre-submissions are best when there really is a question of appropriateness, e.g., you are submitting a software-oriented manuscript to an experimental biology journal.
I am less clear on whether the current situation will benefit from a pre-submission inquiry. Consulting with my PI, and other faculty on the floor, there seems to be wide disagreements about the utility of pre-submission. Some argue these inquiries are more efficient than full submissions, since formatting a paper for each journal is usually time intensive. Others say they've had pre-submissions meet strong approval, then get editorially rejected. Any general thoughts on this?
Edit 6.27.15.
I'd like to specifically highlight bitwise' comment below as that has proven to be the most useful advice. In the last 9 months I've submitted multiple articles not fulfilling the exact formatting requirements, length limits, supplement guidelines, and even figure guidelines, and this has not seemed to affect whether we get reviewed. One paper is currently under review at *Molecular Cell* that is 4000 characters over limit and has a wildly incorrectly formatted supplement, and 1 figure over the limit.<issue_comment>username_1: I have never found a pre-submission inquiry to be useful, and was always advised against it. The main argument is that it does not increase your chances of acceptance and just adds another hurdle to pass. Additionally, assuming you use a reference manager the difference in formatting between journals is usually minimal (or you can ignore some of the rules on your first submission).
However, I always submitted to journals that I know and read before, so I knew that the topic is generally appropriate. I would only consider a pre-submission inquiry if I am not sure whether the general topic is appropriate for the journal.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I do not know about your field (I'm in Computer Science), but from my recent attempts in submitting, I have found one situation where pre-submission is *required* by some journals: **submission of a survey or overview article**.
Some examples:
>
> Authors interested in submitting overview articles are **required to consult first with the Editor-in-Chief (EiC)** of their Transactions of choice before **submitting a white paper proposal**. White papers are limited to 2-pages and should motivate the topic, justify the proposal, and include a list of relevant bibliography including any available tutorial or overview articles related to the subject matter. (...) White paper proposals should be submitted directly to the EiC.
>
>
> (taken from [IEEE Transactions on Image Processing](http://www.signalprocessingsociety.org/publications/overview-articles/))
>
>
>
Also:
>
> Individuals **interested in submitting a survey/tutorial** article (not part of a Special Issue) **should submit a white paper** outlining the content of the proposed article **to the Area Editor for Feature Articles** (refer to the Editorial page) via the Manuscript Central Web submission system. A white paper is usually no more than five (5) pages long
>
>
> (taken from [IEEE Signal Processing Magazine](http://www.signalprocessingsociety.org/publications/periodicals/spm/spm-author-info/))
>
>
>
---
Additionally, when we were considering where to submit (and, in which order, in case of rejection) (among 2-3 journals with the appropriate topic) , we *opted for the journal pre-submission first*, since, well, in a real review process, the paper can always get rejected. Pre-submission allows a chance of getting some kind of response sooner -- if it is a reject, we can re-submit sooner, and if it is an accept, it is a good sign even tho we know the reviewing is a standalone process.
One last point my supervisors pointed out: *even if it is a journal that you read, and you think your submission fits the topic -- the "journal" might not think so, so it is a good thing to check how the EiC and the Editorial Board "breathes"* (e.g. my subfield has a hard time getting rid of reputation as using very slow methods, because they were slow in the past but have gotten much more efficient lately, so there is sometimes difficulties publishing in main-stream, general, non-subfield-specific venues).
So, **bottom line**: while the first part of my answer is dealing with a specific case, I think the second part is applicable generally. Yes, it is possible to get rejected by the reviewers after the EiC accepts your pre-submission, but it is also possible to speed up the process in case of rejection. Ultimately, it is yours and your supervisors decision as which approach is best and most efficient for you.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: An interesting opinion [here](https://www.editage.com/insights/how-are-pre-submission-inquiries-handled-by-journals) by Dr. <NAME>, the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Practice.
**TLDR:** a pre-submission never hurts the author.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I've sent query letters almost every time I've submitted to a journal. Especially if you've never submitted to a journal, it is a good way to make sure that it's potentially a good fit. For example, one journal wrote me back to say they had no reviewers in my subject area and suggesting I find a different journal. So that probably saved several months of them trying to find a reviewer, and I was able to submit somewhere else instead. Another journal wrote back a snarky remark, I submitted anyway, and they wrote back a scathing review. So if the reply to the query isn't so positive, maybe better not to submit. A third wrote back really positively, and I submitted and that piece is now published. So in my experience it does not hurt, and sometimes it can prevent submitting something to some place that is clearly wrong for your piece.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/16 | 1,512 | 6,743 | <issue_start>username_0: By reviewing [syllabus of a MBA course](https://www.google.com/search?&q=mba%20syllabus), and its entry requirements such as some years of industry job experience; it comes to mind that these type of management courses are designed only for the people seeking jobs in industry and studying management sciences does not have any positive impact on a person's career aiming to do research.
In my opinion, having knowledge of management, will help researchers in many aspects; such as if they are managing a laboratory, by having management knowledge, they will better manage their labs and be more effective in their scientific contracts, managing human resources, etc. Also, having project management knowledge may help the students or people in academia better organize their projects, whether academic or industry projects.
1. How does studying management short-time courses or degrees help a researcher?
2. How does these type of courses help research students improve their effectiveness in academia?
Please focus your answers specifically on MBA, project-management courses and short time classes or workshops on management sciences.<issue_comment>username_1: Some of the management methodologies (e.g. PMP - Project Management Professional) have a strong process (think of it like an algorithm) for defining a vague task.
Most research problems are, by definition, vague. No one has ever done it before, and so no one knows exactly how to do it. This leads to common problems like poorly defined scope, shifting requirements, and poor time-management. Some of those things are actually desired; they are what give unexpectedly great research. It's just you don't know when you are doing great research or just screwing around. It's actually quite fast and easy to generate a basic list of requirements, scope, and timelines. That way you know when you are done and can publish. It doesn't mean that you can't go further, only that you now know that you did what you initially wanted to do.
In other words, business management techniques are not a perfect fit for academic work because they assume more clearly defined tasks and shorter time-frames. Nevertheless, you can steal those techniques to give you some imprecise measures of what you want. They are good, formalized ways of defining weird research tasks.
Compare and contrast software development methodologies like Rational-Unified-Process vs. Agile. The RUP is a very document-heavy, very formalized thing; meanwhile, Agile / SCRUM has virtually no documents. Also check out the Project-Management-Professional body of knowledge.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: It clearly depends on what kind of future research you want to do but a lot of MBA content will not be relevant to anyone who will manage a non-profit lab, although it might help with the business of running a lab (e.g., a for-profit lab).
Here are just some examples:
* business environment: Here you are going to learn about international trade, competition, etc. and how those impact competitiveness of a company. I don't see how this will help you run a lab unless your lab is operating in competition with other labs for customers (or other constrained resources).
* accounting: Here you will learn about *creative* ways to maximize your organization's profit leveraging tax law. I believe most labs are non-profit and, thus, I do not think creative accounting is an important skill (but I might be wrong here).
* business law: Here you will learn national and international laws which can impact trade. You would naturally learn about contracts, negligence, and other related topics. This might help you understand what makes a valid contract or what the impact is of leaking private data but I am not sure it will help you much other than avoiding being tricked when someone says 'I will fund you if you just sign here.'
* human resource management: Here you will learn about how human resources add to a company's profitability and how to plan for them. The focus will generally be more strategic in nature and could help you do some strategic planning. One such issue is 'employer branding' and clearly you do want people to *want* to come to work for you. This might help you but as you are smaller, the benefit will be smaller.
* finance: Like other modules, the focus here will be on strategy. How do different funding sources, and different balances between sources, impact profitability by minimizing your cost of capital. Non-profits have a much more limited choice in their sources of capital so this will be of very limited use for you.
Normally, MBA programs do include a thesis which includes research. This clearly can tell someone if they want to do more research and it will give them some research skills.
Now, there is (hopefully) going to be a change in the way the student thinks. That is, students should think more strategically. This skill (strategic thinking) should give you a benefit in most things you do in life by encouraging you to think more long-term.
All this said, if you want to start a for-profit venture which focuses on research (selling your output) then, yes, an MBA would be quite helpful. However, you should not think an MBA is about managing people better. It is about that but it is much more about how to maximize your profits through maximizing your revenue, minimizing your expenses.
If someone is going to run an academic lab, I would encourage them not to take an entire MBA (unless they really want to think like business people) but rather take a class on a subject where they want to be stronger (e.g., human resource management).
**EDIT:** I think Edward's answer is good but to go a bit further about project management courses, this might actually help a researcher, especially if that research is managing a team.
In project management courses, you would learn about different topics than an MBA. For example:
* Feasibility studies
* Planning, organizing, controlling (general management issues)
* Reporting progress on your project
* Risk management
* Change management
* Leadership, motivation, human resource management
* Several others
Because most research is a project (has a start date and an end date, has resources including people and money, etc.) this could be much more suitable (than an MBA) to someone leading a lab. I would recommend starting with a single project management class (which will generally give you an overview of each topic) then, if you want to really dig into more detail, consider getting a master in project management or perhaps an industry certification like [PMP](http://www.pmi.org/Certification/Project-Management-Professional-PMP.aspx).
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer] |
2014/09/16 | 1,429 | 6,412 | <issue_start>username_0: I have worked hard for my master thesis project to build a system that uses an already existing algorithm, just in a mobile setting, which hasn't been done before. Because the algorithm is complex, it required a client-server infrastructure. Now, as I said most, of my efforts until now went into building the system of already existing components rather than contributing to knowledge.
Now my question is, how can I use my system and efforts to go more in the direction of a scientific contribution? The problem is if I, for example, simulate data loss over the network, I could have done that without even building the system. So I somehow want to include my real system in the experiment rather than doing a simulation. What would be a good approach that justifies also the construction of my real system?<issue_comment>username_1: Some of the management methodologies (e.g. PMP - Project Management Professional) have a strong process (think of it like an algorithm) for defining a vague task.
Most research problems are, by definition, vague. No one has ever done it before, and so no one knows exactly how to do it. This leads to common problems like poorly defined scope, shifting requirements, and poor time-management. Some of those things are actually desired; they are what give unexpectedly great research. It's just you don't know when you are doing great research or just screwing around. It's actually quite fast and easy to generate a basic list of requirements, scope, and timelines. That way you know when you are done and can publish. It doesn't mean that you can't go further, only that you now know that you did what you initially wanted to do.
In other words, business management techniques are not a perfect fit for academic work because they assume more clearly defined tasks and shorter time-frames. Nevertheless, you can steal those techniques to give you some imprecise measures of what you want. They are good, formalized ways of defining weird research tasks.
Compare and contrast software development methodologies like Rational-Unified-Process vs. Agile. The RUP is a very document-heavy, very formalized thing; meanwhile, Agile / SCRUM has virtually no documents. Also check out the Project-Management-Professional body of knowledge.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: It clearly depends on what kind of future research you want to do but a lot of MBA content will not be relevant to anyone who will manage a non-profit lab, although it might help with the business of running a lab (e.g., a for-profit lab).
Here are just some examples:
* business environment: Here you are going to learn about international trade, competition, etc. and how those impact competitiveness of a company. I don't see how this will help you run a lab unless your lab is operating in competition with other labs for customers (or other constrained resources).
* accounting: Here you will learn about *creative* ways to maximize your organization's profit leveraging tax law. I believe most labs are non-profit and, thus, I do not think creative accounting is an important skill (but I might be wrong here).
* business law: Here you will learn national and international laws which can impact trade. You would naturally learn about contracts, negligence, and other related topics. This might help you understand what makes a valid contract or what the impact is of leaking private data but I am not sure it will help you much other than avoiding being tricked when someone says 'I will fund you if you just sign here.'
* human resource management: Here you will learn about how human resources add to a company's profitability and how to plan for them. The focus will generally be more strategic in nature and could help you do some strategic planning. One such issue is 'employer branding' and clearly you do want people to *want* to come to work for you. This might help you but as you are smaller, the benefit will be smaller.
* finance: Like other modules, the focus here will be on strategy. How do different funding sources, and different balances between sources, impact profitability by minimizing your cost of capital. Non-profits have a much more limited choice in their sources of capital so this will be of very limited use for you.
Normally, MBA programs do include a thesis which includes research. This clearly can tell someone if they want to do more research and it will give them some research skills.
Now, there is (hopefully) going to be a change in the way the student thinks. That is, students should think more strategically. This skill (strategic thinking) should give you a benefit in most things you do in life by encouraging you to think more long-term.
All this said, if you want to start a for-profit venture which focuses on research (selling your output) then, yes, an MBA would be quite helpful. However, you should not think an MBA is about managing people better. It is about that but it is much more about how to maximize your profits through maximizing your revenue, minimizing your expenses.
If someone is going to run an academic lab, I would encourage them not to take an entire MBA (unless they really want to think like business people) but rather take a class on a subject where they want to be stronger (e.g., human resource management).
**EDIT:** I think Edward's answer is good but to go a bit further about project management courses, this might actually help a researcher, especially if that research is managing a team.
In project management courses, you would learn about different topics than an MBA. For example:
* Feasibility studies
* Planning, organizing, controlling (general management issues)
* Reporting progress on your project
* Risk management
* Change management
* Leadership, motivation, human resource management
* Several others
Because most research is a project (has a start date and an end date, has resources including people and money, etc.) this could be much more suitable (than an MBA) to someone leading a lab. I would recommend starting with a single project management class (which will generally give you an overview of each topic) then, if you want to really dig into more detail, consider getting a master in project management or perhaps an industry certification like [PMP](http://www.pmi.org/Certification/Project-Management-Professional-PMP.aspx).
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer] |
2014/09/16 | 1,185 | 5,119 | <issue_start>username_0: I have a question about submission elsewhere and journal's "consent" of paper withdrawing.
Recently I have withdrawn a paper of mine from a journal, which I want to submit elsewhere. Since I knew that the journal had received my email (by read receipt device) on withdrawing the paper and since I am just in the stage of being notified that the paper has been accepted for publication, the problem is: In order to submit the paper elsewhere, do I have to wait for the journal to consent to the withdrawal?
I am looking for some ethical advice.<issue_comment>username_1: In general, yes, if by consent you mean you have written to say you wish to withdraw the paper for further review. Doing so, is in my mind and field, not something you should do light-heartedly. Waiting for a reply is also a good strategy, or etiquette, since you then know that the paper has been formally withdrawn (usually a click away in electronic submission systems). It is better to be 100% clear on what is going on. A return receipt in an E-mail is to me not sufficient and it can also be considered a bit arrogant.
In a request, you may want to add a few words to describe the reason why you wish to do so although it is your right. It all boils down to being courteous to the journal editors and reviewers, depending on how much work they have put into the journal paper.
Some authors seem to do this systematically just to get a sense of whether the manuscript will stand and to see if they can send it to a "better" journal. Such behaviour is of course not good etiquette and a slap in the face to those who do a fair amount of unpaid work on a manuscript.
requests for withdrawal should be easy and if you do not get a reply within, say, a couple of weeks, I think a reminder can be sent without hesitation. You may then also state that you will go along with the submission to another journal.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I'd recommend waiting a week or two to see whether you get a response to your withdrawal. At this stage it can't be urgent to resubmit immediately, and having their reply would guarantee that they are aware that you have withdrawn the paper. (By contrast, I don't think an e-mail read receipt means much. For all you know, an administrative assistant opened the e-mail and then mistakenly deleted it without realizing what it said.) I wouldn't go so far as to say you are required to wait for a response, but better safe than sorry.
I think you've got a much bigger issue to worry about, though, and that's why you withdrew the paper after acceptance. At least in mathematics, withdrawing an accepted paper is extremely unusual. To a first approximation, it typically means there's something seriously wrong with either the paper or the journal. You can certainly do it, but given the effort that has gone into handling and refereeing the paper, you will cause offense if you don't have a very good reason.
If you inadvertently submitted the paper to a junk or predatory journal, then you don't need to worry about causing offense. (Offending the editors of predatory journals is not a bad thing.) In that case, withdrawing the paper is certainly the right decision.
If you dreadfully screwed up in your choice of journal, for example by submitting a brilliant breakthrough to a respectable but not impressive journal without realizing how good the paper was, then you should apologize profusely for wasting everyone's time. Hopefully they'll understand that it was a genuine mistake on your part, and they'll sympathize with the awkward position you are in and give their blessing to resubmitting elsewhere.
If the paper is seriously flawed, then that's a respectable reason to withdraw it. You might look bad for having submitted it, but then again, the referee didn't find the mistake either. But this isn't a compelling reason to submit elsewhere soon: if you don't check whether the original journal is willing to publish the revised paper, then it looks like the changes were just an excuse to withdraw the paper.
Under normal circumstances, it will cause offense if people think you are withdrawing an accepted paper just to try your luck at a more prestigious journal. In particular, this is a dangerous impression to leave if you ever hope to submit to this journal again. As an editor, I would certainly not be happy to see a new submission from an author who had previously withdrawn an accepted paper without a compelling excuse.
All this gives you another reason to move slowly and wait for a reply. If you have a good reason for withdrawal, then it's worth making sure you have communicated it clearly. In any case, you are doing something rather unusual and serious, and it's best not to give the impression you are treating it lightly or casually.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Yes, one should wait to get the permission.
Edited:
Journal's editors may have spent significant time and energy to contact potential referees. The same for the referees. So it seems unfair to withdraw the paper without a permission.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/16 | 816 | 3,167 | <issue_start>username_0: A colleague and friend has been approached by another institution (a state university in the U.S.) seeking to fill a position. My friend, who is putting a package together, has asked me to review his teaching statement. Evidently, [this was a good idea](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8893/which-topics-should-be-covered-in-a-teaching-statement/9001#comment16033_9001).
I read the statement, and, quite frankly, I wasn't too impressed. He and I are quite candid with each other, so I'm not too worried about what might otherwise be a delicate issue: me telling him how much it needs to be polished.
That said, I'll admit: I have very little experience with teaching statements (either writing them, or reading them). I'm not usually on faculty hiring committees; I don't want to give him bad advice out of ignorance.
My questions are:
1) What is an ideal length? (So far, I've narrowed it down to [half a page is too little, and three pages is too much](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14180/will-anybody-actually-read-your-research-and-teaching-statements/14193#14193).) Would a single page be considered too thin?
2) How detailed should it be? My friend talked about different courses he has taught, even mentioning one course by its catalog number. I initially thought that generalities would be better. In other words, instead of saying something along the lines of:
>
> Teaching styles should be adaptable, based on the student demographics in the class. For example, in my Intro to Programming course at Urbandale College, I taught had mostly freshman, but the Programming Languages course I taught at Westerville University, CSCI 352, was a more advanced course with juniors and seniors...
>
>
>
my gut instinct tells me it would be better to say something more general, such as:
>
> Teaching styles should be adaptable, based on the student demographics in the class. For example, I've taught some courses with mostly freshman, and other more advanced courses with juniors and seniors...
>
>
>
but perhaps I'd be dishing out out some bad advice if I recommended a more general wording; maybe applicants are expected to weave such details into their teaching statements.<issue_comment>username_1: A teaching statement should go into your personal experiences and ideas about teaching. But the included details need to be relevant to someone who is interested in your teaching experience and teaching philosophy.
For instance, I would venture that:
1. Mentioning the course number is probably not interesting.
2. Mentioning that the freshman course was called "Intro to Programming" is interesting.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: My answer comes from Mathematics, but probably it's quite similar.
1) 1-2 pages is pretty typical.
2) My general advice is to include details and concrete examples where possible (though course numbers are not necessary). One problem with just being general is such statements feel very generic, and lack any real content in the sense that they don't distinguish you, in the same way many political speeches turn out.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2014/09/17 | 1,287 | 5,075 | <issue_start>username_0: Several professors, including my former advisor and a senior member of my research community, have been encouraging me to apply for a faculty job. I am torn about it mostly because I am 40 years old. Leaving a job in a research lab to start as an assistant professor would in a way seem like a starting all over again.
I believe that my pre-PhD experience leading projects would lessen the learning curve that new tenured track faculty goes through. On the other hand, I am not sure if there would a be a stigma associated with my age. I would have gone for an academic position ten years ago in a heartbeat, for the research, freedom, and teaching. But I had personal reasons for not being able to pursue PhD sooner.
Is it too late to do it now? Would the low academic rank to age ratio make my job harder, leading to possibly being prejudiced that I must not be successful to still be at the lowest branches?
There are several threads here asking about pursing PhD later in life, but I do not recall any of them addressing starting an academic carrier.<issue_comment>username_1: I would say it depends. In the following [question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23613/are-old-35-faculty-candidates-discriminated-against-all-over-the-world), JeffE resoundingly stated that age does not play into the decision whether to appoint somebody for an academic position. Yet, ETH Zurich (one of the world's premiere institutions in the technical sciences) even [publicly states that they will rather not hire an assistant professor older than 35](http://www.facultyaffairs.ethz.ch/facultypositions/index_EN) (see the information box on the right).
Pragmatically, you may be a bit out of the norm. This may give you a small edge in some cases, and may be a small disadvantage in others. For every academic that is concerned about your age, there will be another one that values your industrial experience. I would say, if age is the only thing holding you back, then go and apply for assistant professor positions.
>
> Leaving a job in a research lab to start as an associate professor would in a way seem like a starting all over again.
>
>
>
Assistant professor isn't the same as associate professor. Both are not the same as "starting all over". In practice, in most places I have seen, professors on all levels are able to work quite independently, so none should be seen as an entry-level job. Assistant professor may be entry-level in terms of professorships, but it is actually a quite senior position in the wider context of academia.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As an assistant professor, you would have four constituencies: undergrads, graduate students, your department's tenured and "sure thing" pre-tenured faculty, and the school's administration.
Undergrads want to know what's going to be on the test. If your age isn't going to be on the test, they won't notice it. To them, a professor is a professor is an old person. Just be prepared and predictable and they'll be happy. Being 40 might command more respect than being 30, and should mean fewer crushes to fend off. I consider it a plus for this group.
Grad students want you not to be insane. "Dear Lord, please allow that my advisor be not changeable like the wind, be not stubborn like the glaciers, and be not crazy, and be not on drugs. Also I would be grateful if you could manage that she not work me like an indentured servant, please, and thank you." They'll judge you by your recent publications, your connections and intelligence.
Some or all of the faculty will be writing reviews of you and your research program in three or four years. For that reason, you should talk to them about theirs. For real. They can judge your acuity better on home turf than when adrift in a sea of unfamiliar words and ideas, and they'll be flattered. If you came in as a 23-year-old wiz-kid, there might be some resentment or envy. If you are pleasant and dedicated to your career, irrelevant factors like your age will not undermine your prospects with your new colleagues.
Presidents and Deans want to hear only good things about you. The Dean will be told of any difficulties you experience, and could possibly alert the President, so don't have any. They might not even know your age, and I can't think of a reason they'd care about it. Help the department move up the prestige ladder and they wouldn't mind if you were 60.
Age could be an issue when you apply for jobs. They'll assume you were 18 when you started undergrad, regardless of when you graduated. If you graduated late, you could put the year you graduated instead of the years of attendance. Your age might be off-putting for the hiring committee before they meet you. If they get over it and invite you to interview with them, you'll have your CV, references, and many chances to make a good impression. You haven't been playing mahjong for the last few years. As long as you "read" like you're of the tribe, your age will not be a negative in academia.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/17 | 1,722 | 7,246 | <issue_start>username_0: I have written one paper on mathematics and submitted it to 5 journals concurrently. Four of them accepted the paper and one asked to send the paper in their required format.
The paper contains one theorem and two applications. There was two argument gaps in the proof of the theorem. Only one journal caught that.
I have communicated with that journal and updated the paper throughout as below:
1. Changed the proof of the theorem entirely ,i.e. an alternative proof is provided, there is no similarity between the two proofs of the theorem.
2. Remove one of the applications and add a new application of that theorem.
3. Changed the way of applying of the theorem for the other application i.e firstly there was case distinction for the application, but later I removed the case distinction.
this paper is published in that journal and I have transferred the copyright agreement form to them and withdrawn the paper from other journals stating personal reasons. I am an amateur mathematician and I'm not pursuing any Phd degree.
Now my question is that what are the impacts may fall on the published paper in that journal as I have withdrawn all other manuscripts and they don't have the copy right agreement also, so is there any chances to claim the published article by them or they can force the editor of the journal which published the paper to retract the paper ?<issue_comment>username_1: Whatever you do in the future: do not submit the same manuscript to multiple (not even two) journals.
If you have managed to get the manuscript accepted in one journal you need to immediately withdraw *all* others. You state you have given "personal reasons" whereas in reality you should have provided a serious excuse to the journals for wasting their time.
If you have withdrawn all other manuscripts there should not be any further impact on the one accepted for publication. You should learn from the experience and perhaps acquaint yourself better with the publication process so as to avoid mistakes such as these again. If repeated, it may affect you adversely by gaining a bad reputation or possibly being "banned" from certain journals by their editors. So most negative impacts, if any, will fall on you.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: First, a related question is [How is it in my best interest not to submit a paper to two journals simultaneously?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28086/how-is-it-in-my-best-interest-not-to-submit-a-paper-to-two-journals-simultaneous)
Second, if any **double publication** occurs, you are screwed. I would agree that since the other journals do not have a signed copyright agreement from you, they should not be allowed to publish the paper, even though they accepted it for publication. However, this *has* happened in the past, and it led to the duplicate submission being retracted:
>
> The two corresponding authors of the two published articles claimed that the problem arose from a mistake: the Scholarly Journal of Biological Science had asked for a publication fee that the authors could not pay. Believing that the journal would therefore return their manuscript, they submitted the manuscript to our journal. [...] We therefore decided to retract the article from our journal on the grounds of duplicate publication, informed the Editor of Scholarly Journal of Biological Science of the situation, told the authors about our decision to retract the article, and—considering their actions—reported the misconduct to their institutions.
>
>
>
(Journal runs retraction, editorial over duplicate submission of pathology paper, <https://retractionwatch.com/2015/02/17/journal-runs-retraction-editorial-duplicate-submission/>)
In some cases, both papers are retracted, which I feel should be the standard for double submissions.
<https://retractionwatch.com/2013/06/18/double-submission-leads-to-retraction-of-probability-paper-and-a-publishing-ban/>
So keep your fingers crossed that all the other journals honor your withdrawal "for personal reasons".
Third, assuming no double publication will ever take place, the issue of **double submission**: they still can take action against you, and maybe your paper. It certainly depends (well, not so much - see below) on what you the journals asked you during submission and what you told them.
Many journals nowadays expect an implicit or explicit confirmation by the author(s) that their work not been submitted (well, meaning it is not under consideration) elsewhere at the same time. Some expect you to include that confirmation in the cover letter and/or the manuscript, and if you did not add it there, you *may* be fine. But some may also have a mandatory checkbox in the submission system; some may have it in their author instructions or ethical guidelines, which you implicitly accept by submitting your manuscript. Either way, chances are very high that at least one of your five journals has such a requirement, which you failed to adhere to.
Thus, assuming you have made any such false statement, you may be in danger of being banned from these journals - this has happened in the past:
>
> One week after it was published, the editors of journal B contacted our journal stating that this work, with the exact same title, authors and content, had been submitted to journal B and, after receiving an acceptance letter, the author withdrew the paper, informing them that it had been accepted by a different journal.
>
>
> When the editor of journal B asked the author for an explanation, the author did not provide a satisfactory response. Journal B, in consultation with their editorial board, banned the author from submitting to the journal in the future.
>
>
>
(COPE case 17-20, ongoing; from <https://publicationethics.org/case/consequence-dual-submission>)
[While you see some going back and forth about submission dates in the above link: these are very often printed in the published paper, so any editor of your four other journals will be able to determine that you submitted concurrently.]
Also, an expression of concern might be published next to your published paper:
>
> The Forum agreed this is still a case of duplicate submission and that there has been possible misconduct on the part of the authors. Although there is only one copy of the paper in the literature, the Forum advised the editor to consider publishing an expression of concern to alert readers to this.
>
>
>
(COPE case 12-30, ongoing; from <https://publicationethics.org/case/retraction-first-article-case-duplicate-publication>)
(very similar: COPE case 15-40; <https://publicationethics.org/case/duplicate-publication-and-removal-article>)
I have yet to find a case of a singly-published paper being retracted for dual submission, although I would not be surprised if that happened, given that both papers of a dual publication can be retracted (see above). However, one of the links above (I would have to find that passage again) says that retractions should be made to correct the literature, not to punish" - and if there is no literature correction to be made on the grounds of double publications, my guess is that your paper is safe.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/17 | 1,061 | 4,597 | <issue_start>username_0: Recently I came across a job posting for a (mathematics) tenure-track position that asks for both graduate and undergraduate transcripts to be submitted. While this is the first time I've had anyone ask to see my undergraduate transcript for such a position, from a [previous question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11577/up-until-which-application-level-should-one-keep-supplying-a-bachelors-transcrip/11589#11589) here, it appears to not quite be unheard of.
What I haven't seen addressed is the question of why, generally, would a hiring committee ask for undergraduate transcripts? Are they really going to judge my application based on an errant C in a course unrelated to my field, or do they simply want proof that I have the degree from University X that I claim to have obtained?
The reason for my question is that I am hoping to gain insight into any issues that might appear in my own transcript in order to address them in the cover letter.<issue_comment>username_1: I had to submit undergraduate and graduate transcripts to several schools each time I applied for jobs in mathematics. I believe the main reason is simply to allow the school to verify that you really have the credentials you claim.
There have been examples where faculty and administrators were caught claiming credentials that they did not possess, so schools are more cautious about such things now. The same is true for background checks - many schools now run a background check before they make an official job offer.
At my institution, when we have a mathematics job search we don't really look at the grades on the transcripts. The cover letter, reference letters, teaching statement, and research statement are scrutinized, but the transcripts just get a cursory glance to make sure the person has the right coursework (e.g. if we want to hire someone in a specific subfield, we might check that they have coursework in that subfield).
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I think they ask for two main reasons:
1. Course requirements vary from university to university, and this will give them a good understanding of how well your formal education background aligns with what their own program offers. i.e. did your core requirements match their own? Will you have vastly different expectations of the students in their program from when you went to college?
It will also give them a good idea of what your GPA in your transcript really means. For example, if you took all advanced classes, and even dabbled in some upper-level courses in other subjects which were not required, your GPA may not be as high as someone who took all the easiest courses and very few advanced ones. Also, some people have GPA's which are deceiving, i.e. they took many 'easy' classes in yoga and theater to even out C's in their major. This makes their over-all GPA seem acceptable, but their GPA in their major is low. This could be a red flag, for the hiring team, (not only is the candidate ill suited in this field, they are cunning)! This leads to point #2:
2. You may be expected to teach some of those courses/subjects you took in undergrad/grad school. They need to know that you have taken similar courses before and that you received acceptable grades in them. Usually a department already has a general idea of what courses they want the person in this position to teach. They need to know if that will be a problem, i.e. if you got a C in every Calculus class you ever took, and they are specifically looking for someone to teach that, you may not fit the bill in that regards. But, if they really like your other skills, they might just end up having you teach a different subject, such as complex analysis, etc. I do not think it would immediately disqualify you as a candidate.
However, I would not be discouraged by a few low marks in your transcripts, if overall you have good ones that outweigh those. Everyone has been through a time in their studies when they had a professor who they just could not learn from, or get a handle on their testing style... or had a semester when something personal interfered with their studies. The most important point is to provide correct transcripts, and please know that the people reading them are human, are educators, and have seen it all already! Personally, I do not think a person's transcripts will be the main factor in the decision making process. But it is additional information that allows the job search committee to understand the candidate's educational background better.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/17 | 495 | 1,997 | <issue_start>username_0: Recently, I applied for an advertised post-doctoral position with a researcher in an well-known institution.
After two weeks of not getting a reply, I sent him a reminder, and he replied
"Oh, thanks for getting in touch again, I hadn't seen your previous email. Can we have a chat on Skype tomorrow at X?"
He never showed up for the chat, and has not contacted me since.
Would it be sensible to approach him again, or shall I write it off as a lost cause?
Perhaps it would it be a bad idea anyway to work with someone who lacks the professional skills to keep up with email contact, and stick to commitments?<issue_comment>username_1: I suggest you to give **a phone call**.
International phone calls have become very cheap nowadays, you could use for example Skype, MegaVoip or Google Voice.
Obviously you have to be very polite, don't become angry or upset.
Explain clearly the situation and ask about news.
G-Luck!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If this is a high-profile researcher, they are likely quite overcommitted and may have indeed legitimately accidentally missed connections. When dealing with somebody like this, you also need assume that you need to be the one taking the initiative in contact until you've have an established working relationship.
But it also might be that they are uninterested, and either too polite, conflict averse, or culturally trained such that they are unwilling to express their lack of interest directly.
How to tell the difference? I personally tend to follow the maxim: ["Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action."](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ian_Fleming#Goldfinger_.281959.29) After the third failure to connect (or whatever number you set as your threshold), then it doesn't really matter whether they're flaky or evasive: it's not productive to pursue the connection any further without some sort of positive encouragement from the other side.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2014/09/17 | 1,505 | 6,102 | <issue_start>username_0: While writing my thesis (computer science), I was wondering how detailed citations have to be.
Let's assume I want to cite an article of a conference and have full information on author, editor, title, year, booktitle, subtitle, eventtitle, volume, location, DOI, ISBN, arXiv ID, ... you get the point.
**Do I actually provide every piece of information in the citation or are some left out? Does any style guide (like IEEE, APA, MLA) address this topic?**
Similar questions [1] cover only URLs, but my question is more general.
[1] [Should I include a DOI/website URL for a publication in dissertation bibliography?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26132/include-url-for-journal-and-conference-articles-in-dissertation-bibliography-d)<issue_comment>username_1: The goal of the citation text (as opposed to citing in general) is to make it as easy as possible for your readers to find the works you cite. It cannot hurt to include as much information as you have. You are using a bibliography/citation management system like [Zotero](https://www.zotero.org/) or [BibTeX](http://www.bibtex.org/), right? So, once you've put this into your database, the formatting and typing out of all the relevant information should be automated. If there are constraints or unwanted information, the formatting package should eliminate them from the text it produces making your document compliant with the standards of your publishing venue.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There are style guides for [IEEE](http://www.ieee.org/documents/ieeecitationref.pdf), [APA](http://www.apastyle.org/), and [MLS (also known as MLA)](http://www.mla.org/style_faq1), although IEEE style is slightly different from the others in that it is based on the [Chicago](http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html) style guide. Many publishers provide information in their online citation downloads that are not required for the citation. In these cases you do not include the extra information. This seems a bit strange given that this extra information could be helpful, put most journals stick rigidly to their style guidelines and do not want extra information.
I think the most obvious example of excluding useful information is related to issue numbers and [APA sytle](http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2011/10/how-to-determine-whether-a-periodical-is-paginated-by-issue.html):
>
> Per APA Style, when formatting periodical references (which include journals, magazines, and newsletters), include the issue number (immediately following the volume number in parentheses) when the periodical is paginated by issue (i.e., begins each issue with page 1). Otherwise, include only the volume number
>
>
>
It is often easier to find an article on a publisher's website if you have the issue number, even if the journal is paginated continuously. That said, journals that stick to APA style will remove issue numbers if you include them.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Generally the citation styles for your field, and thus for your thesis, will dictate this. The [Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)](https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/) website is a nice and popular resource to refer to what the most possible information would be desired for APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian - but you ultimately should refer to the exact, up-to-date published version of the style guide itself.
As an example, for APA when citing a Journal or Conference paper/article, you would at most provide (formatting stripped):
>
> Author, A. A., Author, <NAME>., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of
> article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages.
> <http://dx.doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy>
>
>
>
If something doesn't have a DOI, the style guides say how to cite each type of resource. A book might be cited by ISBN, and if there is no DOI you might cite the arXiv in place of the DOI website - but you are never citing all of these things!
*Cite only that which the style guide says you should*, in keeping with the common tradition of papers in your field - no more, and no less.
When using reference management tools they often help do this for you, but they do not absolve the author of responsibility for ensuring that the citation matches the appropriate style of their field and that the data and style is followed accurately.
When You Don't Know Your Style
------------------------------
If you are unsure of what style applies to your field, a search for "{field name} style" can be helpful, but the Purdue OWL site linked above also provides further guidance on their [Complete Discipline Listing](https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/585/2/). If you are unsure an adviser or your department office can provide further verification, and checking in with the department (whether that be the department office, chair, or secretary) is often a helpful technique.
Special Case: IEEE
------------------
I would note that the IEEE is somewhat of a special case (and is very common in computer, engineering, and various technology fields) in that there is a [IEEE Citation Reference](http://www.ieee.org/documents/ieeecitationref.pdf) and [IEEE Editorial Style Manual](http://www.ieee.org/documents/style_manual.pdf). However, they both specify that when the guides don't provide a specific answer to your question that you should consult the Chicago style guides. Thus the IEEE style may be considered a specialized version of Chicago style.
So in the case of this style you should first consult the IEEE guides, and if and only if they do not provide sufficient guidance you can consult the far more comprehensive Chicago guides.
Summation
---------
So in conclusion: if you have 100 fields of information available, you don't include them all in the citation - just the ones that your field's style says you should. Any good style guide (all the ones I've had to read) gives rules of precedence and fall-back plans when certain information is unobtainable, with the information requested varying by the source being cited itself.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2014/09/17 | 11,349 | 47,455 | <issue_start>username_0: I work as an assistant at a university in Australia. I joined the team consisting of my current advisor and his two PhD students. The other group members are men and they have a co-worker-like relationship with him. At first it was good, my advisor was very helpful (I have worked there about ten months and I published two papers with him, both in journals with a high impact factor). But when we started to get to know each other better, it unfortunately changed. I am a young woman and am afraid that he wants me to become romantically involved with him.
I try to keep this relationship work-only, as it’s the most healthy way, in my opinion, but sometimes my advisor seems to think differently. Here are some of the things that have made me think my advisor wants a romantic relationship with me:
* He comes to my room very often with no research-related reason and wants to talk, talk, talk about everything but work.
* Once, when I was busy working, he came to my room and asked if he could take a photo of me. I felt ashamed and did know what to say and then finally, he took the photo.
* Sometimes I think he is mad at me that I want to keep this relationship work-only, and then does not answer my emails about our research.
* He is very careful with all this, says those things only when we're together. A while ago I heard that his PhD student suggested to him that he spends too much time with me. He laughed and said it's not his business, and that we are working hard on some novel research method.
My advisor has powerful connections here at the university and I'm afraid no one is able to do anything about it. I’m only interested in having a professional relationship with him. However, I’m afraid that if I don’t agree to be his “very close friend,” he will try to kick me out of the university.
I can not move to a different city because of some family issues and can not change my advisor since he is the only person at the university who works on the research I’m interested in. What can I do?<issue_comment>username_1: **Preliminaries**:
You are in a tough spot and I don't think that any course of action is ideal or without risk. If you can accept this "messiness" and commit to a reasonable course of action, you'll probably come out OK. It's also important to understand that you can't control or determine his reactions, and you can't be responsible for his feelings, as long as you act responsibly and ethically.
**Call a meeting, set the agenda**
First, I suggest that you schedule a meeting with him to discuss your working relationship. If it were me, I'd speak plainly and directly, without any tone or implication of blame or distress. I suggest that you make these two points:
1. "I just want to confirm that our relationship is about work only. I am completely focused on my research career, and that is the basis for our relationship. I'm not here for friendship or anything else."
2. "I'd like to make changes in specific behavior patterns. In these requests, I may be different than other PhD students, but I'm clear about what I need and what I'm comfortable with." Then list the behaviors you'd like to see changed (e.g. no "pop-in" meetings with non-work discussions).
**Having a successful meeting**
Schedule this meeting. Don't improvise. Don't combine it with any other meeting or topic. Allow for enough time (an hour is sufficient, though you may only need 5 minutes. By scheduling an hour, you are avoiding time pressure for everyone involved) without pressure to complete sooner or worries about starting on time. Plan what you are going to say ahead of time, and even rehearse it, by yourself or with a friend. If you think it's necessary, have an ally with you at the meeting -- a woman friend, anyone you respect in any role in the University, or even someone from the outside. Just say, "This may be a difficult conversation, and having X here to support us gives me more confidence."
Also, if you can imagine that you are asking for something innocuous -- e.g. changing the seating arrangement at a seminar, adding vegetarian options at a department meeting, etc. -- it will help you and it will help him immensely.
You *don't* need to ask him how he feels about you, to discuss the past or what he was or was not thinking or intending at the past, or any of that. You also don't need to explain how you feel (even though it would be justified). Talking about your feelings in this setting is almost never effective to change behavior.
You don't need to ask him if he's "OK" with your requests, or what he might want as an alternative. There are no alternatives. What he wants beyond your requests is irrelevant.
Also, if he brings up ***any*** other subject, no matter how related or how reasonable, you say: "I'm not here to discuss that."
If you haven't picked up on this already: *you need to be the dominant person in this interaction*. Not flamboyantly or even demonstrably. Just set the agenda, run the conversation, and lead to the conclusion.
Yes, you will be nervous. Yes, you might feel uncomfortable. Yes, you might be seeking his approval and affirmation during this meeting. Let go of all of that. All that matters is that you have this conversation -- short, to-the-point, and direct -- and get to the conclusion you are aiming for.
Finally, if he wants to talk about ***his*** needs or experience in the relationship, do that in a separate meeting. Be firm.
**Be prepared to set boundaries**
Regardless how the meeting goes, it's likely that he'll continue some or all of the behaviors, if only out of habit or faint hope. For each setting and behavior, be prepared to set a boundary -- saying 'no', disengaging, leaving the room, reminding him that you are not 'OK' with this, or what ever you believe will be effective. Not to put him down, but imagine that you are training a dog to not bark or to not jump on visitors. It's just behavioral conditioning.
---
If you do all this in a way that doesn't publicly embarrass him or privately make him "the Bad Guy", it's unlikely that he will kick you out of the department or university. There's a chance that he might do something bad toward you (many women have experienced negative consequences in similar circumstances), but the odds are lower by taking this path.
---
Many of the other answers and comments have expressed the view that this direct approach is "incredibly risky" or "likely to backfire" and have suggested more subtle or indirect approaches, including being as "nice" as possible during the process to avoid negative reactions.
My answer reflects my personal and professional values and also my work history (many decades in high tech industry). I'm not naive about power or politics in university departments or research labs.
I believe that it's very valuable and proper for less powerful people to stand up to people in power on issues such as morality, ethics, and even suggestions on fixing problems in the organization (e.g. workload imbalance). 'Standing up" helps the organization as a whole and can be part of a culture change in the organization.
Any professional relationship like this merits a one hour face-to-face meeting if the meeting is about improving the working relationship. Just because the topic might be uncomfortable to one or both doesn't change that. (Such a meeting need not be a "trial" or "attack" as some people have described it.)
One problem I have with indirect/subtle approaches in this setting is that they do not adequately empower OP, implying that she needs to be deferential to her adviser in this matter. I believe that, in the matter of relationship integrity, no one has to be deferential to anyone else. We all have the right (and duty) to stand up for ourselves.
Last, *I don't assume that the adviser is a harasser or that he is doing anything that he considers inappropriate*. It all may be very innocent and even well-intentioned on his part. If he is well-intentioned, then he'll probably receive these direct communications positively, shift his behavior, and all will be well.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: On top of @username_1's answer and its comments, I suggest you to draft a plan B just in case nothing gets better after the meeting. Since he's powerful connections, a formal complaint will just land you in a more difficult spot. Such a complaint may not make him to feel sorry about what he's done. Instead, he may desert you afterwards and leave you with no academic career and with no job.
Plan B: Get Out of the lab
--------------------------
If you choose to work at the same university, you may consider switching fields *and* advisor altogether. (I know it's almost impossible, but it's worth considering.)
If your field of study can lead you to a non-academic career in the same city, make some meaningful connections. The people you know may be happy to help you to land a job in the industry. The jobs in the industry may not be related directly to your academic studies or research work, but some transferable skills may not highly desirable in the industry.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: All the answers are fine. However all of them are related to the answerer’s personality and I assume the questioner can't replicate that exact personalities or some answers suggest to do something that the questioner doesn't want to perform like, skipping, changing field or research.
From my point of view, this question is a common among most employed women. However as per my experience, if you take any step to get confront the advisor by discussing about this problem directory would make him mad. Also even if you follow the professional protocol to follow this issue, the situation would cost even your career as you said. However the end result is based on person to person.
There could be lot of ways to solve this.
However in here I'm suggesting an one method to **neutrally stabilize** the situation. however this method is framed with some criteria.
Tips to neutrally stabilize the situation:
* What if an annoying car seller tries to sell a car and calls you all the day? Without complain to any law authorities or whatever, the easiest thing that you could do is to show him what you currently own and you don't prefer a new one.
* If you got a partner or just a boy friend, this can be solved very easily. Or if you are currently not up to any relationship just ask some help from a close male friend. (For now lets call this guy as your partner)
* Safest play would be to show up some basic personal stuff over your social media, FB, instagram in very neutral manner. Like the dinner's you both gone out, etc.
* Or ask your partner to take a visit at university, or you could introduce him to the advisor.
* When the advisor is around, Ask your partner to pick-up you after work.
* Also if you could show up a photo of your partner's or of your both on your working desk, noticeable wallet or on pendant would be another good idea.
* When the advisor is talking about non-work related personal stuff, you could respond to those topics like , "as my boy friend says like this, like that"
He will indirectly know that you value your personal stuff.
* Let him know that you are not your own and there are people around you to support, protect.
My suggestion is to continue work with him as usual and eventually you could indirectly let him know that if he's up to a such a relationship, that you are not available and you are occupied.
Also he will eventually know that he doesn't have any chance and retreat without any hate. However this depends on the person's personality.
Expect the good side.
Good Luck!
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: I don't know if a meeting at which you "set the agenda" would be particularly helpful at this stage. It might make him feel "attacked", put him on the defensive, and he may retaliate against you in response. (I'm not suggesting that he would try to get you kicked out of the university or the department; there are many, many other small and large ways an advisor can make things difficult for a student. You already suggested that when he's mad at you, he deliberately ignores you emails, for example.)
I strongly disagree with the advice to flaunt a (real or fake) relationship, to let your advisor know you're unavailable. I've seen people try this, and in my experience, when applied to someone who does not respect boundaries, the outcome is often that then he starts asking you a whole lot of very uncomfortable questions about your boyfriend and the relationship.
Also, he's probably doing this because he enjoys it (flirting, the chase, whatever), not because he wants an actual committed relationship. So I'm not convinced that he would be dissuaded by your unavailability.
Instead, I suggest you start using a variation on the following phrase to respond when he does something that makes you uncomfortable:
>
> I don't want this. This makes me really uncomfortable.
>
>
>
As in,
>
> I don't want you to take my photo. Please don't ask again, it makes me really uncomfortable.
>
>
>
or
>
> I don't want to talk about my personal life with you. It makes me really uncomfortable.
>
>
>
etc.
And, if he persists in whatever is making you uncomfortable,
>
> I need to go (get a cup of coffee/make a phone call/talk to another student before he leaves for the day/make some photocopies/etc.)
>
>
>
then remove yourself from the situation.
I recommend practicing saying these words on your own, until they feel natural. This will help you feel less flustered when a situation comes up.
I also concur with username_10's suggestion:
>
> I would suggest the OP writes down every time she tells the advisor he made her feel uncomfortable. She should also keep track of times he makes her feel uncomfortable in which she was uncomfortable telling him he made her feel uncomfortable.
>
>
>
and I would add, also make a note of who else (if anyone) was there at the time.
This will help in two ways:
* You'll be able to tell if the situation is getting better or worse with time.
* If you do need to escalate at some point, you'll have some documentation.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_5: Whatever you do, please ignore the advice given by some people here to demonstrate your 'unavailability' to your advisor by talking about having a boyfriend, or having your boyfriend or some male friend come and pick you up from work.
You don't need any 'excuse' to be uninterested in having anything more than a professional relationship with your advisor, and to imply that the main reason you are uninterested is because you have a boyfriend might suggest that you would be open to the idea of a romantic relationship with him if you were 'available'.
On the whole, I agree with most of username_4's answer, although I personally would be very uncomfortable with telling someone that they were making me feel uncomfortable, so I would be unlikely to use the suggested phrase. What I would do is simply say 'No' to requests such as taking a photo of you. You don't need to give any justification for denying an odd request.
You may need to address the issue directly with your advisor, just because it's going to keep making you feel uncomfortable, and most likely have a negative effect on your working relationship. I don't know the best way to go about this, but your university probably has some kind of counselling service that could help.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: I'd like to add a few varied points, and I assume that although not explicitly stated in the answer, the OP gave the usual more-and-less subtle hints but they did not work.
The basic idea is to first arrive at a point that allows a calm decision how to go on, and that also allows you to get in the emotional/mental state of freedom that allows you to tackle the problem e.g. by the meeting @username_1 suggests.
* One very practical step that may help to avoid/reduce the stressful situations: Can you move into another office where more people work (or have some fellow student move into your office) and thus basically limit the possibilities for him to catch you alone?
On the one hand, others already suggested that this would mean witnesses. On the other hand, it may make him behave.
* I fully agree with the say lots of plain "no"s advise by @ff24. I'd go for the shortest and plainest "No" And guess follow up questions ("Why?") would best be answered by "That's none of your business." - possibly re-enforcing "The answer is no, and that has to be enough".
I think super-clear boundaries are required here.
* Maybe you can excercise/train these situations with some friends?
* Somehow I think it likely that the problem cannot be solved with less drastic measures than the meeting (+ paper/electronic trail) username_1 suggests. I guess it would be good to prepare yourseld emotionally for that.
* You state that for personal reasons you cannot move away. However, there may be other points where you can gain independence in the sense that you are less vulnerable to the attacks you fear, and more on equal terms for the totally sensible demand you have.
+ E.g., if you are financially dependent on a work contract in his lab, it may be good to put together some savings that will make you independent (in that they'd allow you to bridge the time till you find something else to earn your living) either have a second job, or speak with your family about support in case of need, or do some superhard saving, or have someone trustworthy who'd give you a job immediately in case of need.
+ Get yourself connected with colleagues (from your as well as from other groups).
- Is the PhD student who spoke about him spending too much time with you trustworthy so you can talk to him about the problems? - this may be a valuable ally.
- Colleagues who *know* you (e.g. know that you are not starting rumours to discredit the supervisor without any base for that but that instead you are harrassed) are most valuable: in the example, they are your best insurance against him starting rumours about you.
- Also they can help you with the emotional stress you're subject to.
- Knowing the local conditions, they may come up with solutions/help we cannot think of.
- And last but not least, being connected with other groups may also open other plan Bs, i.e. changing your research area in case you arrive at the conclusion that the situation is emotionally/personally unbearable and changing to another topic is the lesser evil (I'd actually suggest that there may be other interesting research topics).
+ Get emotionally as independent as possible. Maybe family/friends can help you to get there. If you are religiously affiliated, such help may also be available as pastoral/spiritual care (obviously depending on denomination and personal relationship), or you can look for a professional coach.
This is not a nice-to-have, but a basic requirement for the actions suggested: you'll need it to say NO, for the meeting, it is what allows your self-esteem to survive in the future if you decide to leave the lab, but also if you decide to stay.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: I am not convinced that he wants a romantic relationship with you. Rather he is boosting his ego by flirting with you and actually enjoys flirting with you.
**Your response need to be adequate to the situation. You should respond to amateurism by professionalism**
I think calling a general meeting of an hour to set things straight can backfire, because it will sound like a trial to almost anybody. And in a trial, the defendant defends itself.
Rather, you need to cool him down over an extended period of time. Try not to over-think.
>
> He comes to my room very often with no research-related reason and
> wants to talk, talk, talk about everything but work.
>
>
>
1. **Delay.** You are in the middle of something important, and he needs to know that. Just tell him that you need to round up with what you are currently doing and that you are willing to go full gossip at the coffee break.
2. **Set boundaries.** You haven't said what he is talking about. It is mostly about you? Then when it cross boundary you just say it is personal. Don't break under any "Oh come on" pressure tactic.
3. **Be a good listener.** It may surprise you, but you also have the power to direct the **conversation** to a subject of your liking. By listening well to what he said you can go deeper in a harmless topic, one which doesn't make you feel uncomfortable.
4. **Stop the break when your mug is empty, excuse yourself and go back to work**. It is important that all this chitchat happens far from your desk. Desk = work, coffee machine = small talk of at most x minutes.
5. **Invite other staff to the break talk**. Don't do it systematically, but sometimes drop by someone's else desk and invite him\her too. It will obviously annoy the shit out of your advisor. Note: At least this works for me. That's where he will show his true color. Either he will invite you offsite, an invite that you can decline, or tell you not to invite other people. That's all you need to hit the ethic institution at your university.
>
> Once, when I was busy working, he came to my room and asked if he
> could take a photo of me. I felt ashamed and did know that to say and
> finally, he took the photo.
>
>
>
I am sure the first thing which came to your mind was "Why?". You should probably tell what's in your mind.
`Why do you need a photo? It is for the lab website, or a publication? Can we do that at the break or later? Thanks`
>
> Sometimes I think he is mad at me that I want to keep this
> relationship work-only, and then does not answer my emails about our
> research.
>
>
>
Again we don't have much information about the context. But I will advise you to read [How To Win Friends And Influence People](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0671027034). Don't get turned off by the title. It is not a guide to become a manipulative asshole.
**Remember that there is politics at the lab and the office. The other lab members are gradually building resentment towards you for your "preferential treatment". You need to take this in account as well**.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_8: Asking to take your photo is truly creepy. I would consider talking to the person or office at your university responsible for sexual harassment charges. Typically universities have a very clear process for dealing with such situations, and it may be that he has done this before. You can discuss with their office how to proceed. They might have some good ideas, and they typically won't act in a way that you are uncomfortable with, if you are worried about repercussions.
Also, I wanted to echo other people's discomfort with the "call a meeting" proposal. This strikes me as incredibly risky. I think it's better to get the appropriate office on your side.
*Edit:* A couple more ideas:
1) invite someone from HR to give a presentation on workplace ethics (including sexual harassment) to the lab. [Somewhat risky as it might embarrass him in front of the rest of the lab. Perhaps it can be arranged for it to seem like coincidence, not having been arranged by you.]
2) if there a campus pamphlet about this issue, you could leave it in his mailbox, perhaps with appropriate passages highlighted.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: First, if this advisor has any stalker-like tendencies (insufficient information here to determine that conclusively, but my hackles have been raised by several things in the original question), bringing up another romantic relationship, real or ruse, will NOT make this person leave you alone and resume a more professional relationship. I know this goes against all the tropes of feminist empowerment, but you need to be prepared to lose this job and your "career" in order to protect your personal safety. No career is worth sacrificing that. Only the young and foolish live with such absolutes in their mind that their career will be permanently destroyed by one individual within an academic ivory tower or cloistered business community. Those who are hardworking and talented can generally find a new path to success. I know this from personal experience.
With that said, I agree that you need to clear the air in a manner like username_1 and username_5 have suggested: openly discuss the matter in a non-threatening but direct manner, and meet any further incursions beyond the boundaries of your comfort zone with firm, unambiguous answers of "No". I also believe ANY discussion of this matter with the advisor needs to be documented, and not just via written memos. If this person is merely socially inept or a garden-variety amateur stalker, a paper trail may be enough to damn him if he should mount a personal attack, as such people aren't often very good liars. If he is vindictive/manipulative in his daily dealings with people, you may be dealing with a person with sociopathic tendencies, and they are usually VERY convincing liars. I recommend the use of recording media, audio and/or video. People can play off the written word as being exaggerated, misinterpreted, or lacking context, but recordings which include inflection and tone (audio) and/or body language (video) are much harder to shrug off. I know that some may raise concerns about privacy and wiretapping laws, but unless you need to escalate and share such recordings with the appropriate authority, such concerns are trivial, in my opinion.
As I have gathered from the question, the advisor only engages in this behavior when he is alone with you, so no witnesses and we are left with a he said/she said situation. In such situations, a recording device becomes as close to an objective witness as you can get. If you take the route of recording the uncomfortable encounters or meetings to discuss this issue, make sure to get as clean a recording as possible, never share with this person that you have made or are making such recordings (though please keep a close friend or family member in the loop about this situation), and ONLY use such recordings with the AUTHORITIES (Academic, Civil, Criminal) as a last resort, to ensure your personal safety and to protect yourself from liability should he try to retaliate.
Finally, I cannot overemphasize enough: if any tactic you take does not work after a few weeks/months, you need to reexamine the importance of this particular career path versus your personal emotional well-being and safety and determine which is more important. That may not be what you want to hear, and I hope I am over-reacting to the situation, but what you are describing has a fifty-fifty chance of being more than a harmless flirtation by a socially-inept academic. The only way to figure that one out is to take the bull by the horns and politely confront the advisor and his behavior, as has been suggested by others.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_10: I think there are five possible ways of dealing with this situation. I think each has been addressed in separate answers, but no answer contrasts between the different approaches. It seems you could (1) contact the person or department responsible for dealing with claims of sexual harassment, (2) have a conversation with the supervisor about his past behaviour, (3) mention to the supervisor whenever he makes you feel uncomfortable in the future, (4) change your behaviour in a way that makes him harass you less, (5) ignore it.
*1. Contact the person or department responsible for dealing with claims of sexual harassment*
While I think this is the best way to deal with sexual harassment, it puts considerable burden on the victim and puts the victim at further risk of harassment and retribution. The reason I think this is the best way to deal with harassment, is that if the university does not know about the harassment, they cannot change anything. The more harassment cases the university has to deal with, the more likely they will require supervisors to behave properly and provide support mechanisms to victims. The problem with this approach is universities tend to try and protect themselves and not their employees and students. If you do not have any documentation or evidence of the harassment it becomes a case of he-said/she-said and the university may initially ignore your claims and force you to sue the university.
*2. Have a conversation with the supervisor about his past behaviour*
I see no advantage of this course of action, despite the answer being highly voted. It is in essence alerting the supervisor to his behaviour and drawing a "line in the sand". If he doesn't change his behaviour, then you have to escalate to reporting him to his superiors. If he cross the line and you do not report him, and as I mentioned reporting him puts you at risk, he will have effectively called your bluff and may feel even more empowered to harass you. The best case scenario for this approach is that he didn't realize you felt harassed and the conversation makes him change his behaviour. I think this, however, can be achieved with approach 3.
*3. Mention to the supervisor whenever he makes you feel uncomfortable in the future*
By telling the supervisor whenever he makes you feel harassed/uncomfortable that his behaviour is inappropriate, this alerts him to change his behaviour. I would suggest to also email him afterwards to make it clear that you are documenting his behaviour. If he is unaware that his behaviour is unacceptable, then you will have accomplished the same thing as approach 2. If he continues to misbehave, you will be collecting evidence for if/when you decide to take approach 1. Most importantly, by not drawing the line in the sand, it will never appear that you are backing down.
*4. Change your behaviour in a way that makes him harass you less*
I don't particularly like this approach as it puts all the burden on the victim. If he is harassing you because of the clothes you wear, the company you keep, or your beliefs, changing them may make him stop harassing you. While this is the most non-confrontational approach, and puts you at the least risk of retaliation, it requires the an unreasonable sacrifice by the victim. If you are willing to make that sacrifice, the approach can work.
*5. Ignore it*
This again is a solution, but requires the victim to make an unreasonable sacrifice.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: I think a lot of advice that people are giving is unwise. While I am sure they wish to be helpful, I am not sure they are qualified. I have been active in the women in technology community for 25 years, which does not give me all of the answers but does make me more aware of what can go wrong than some of the other respondents may be.
1. You need a support group of women in your field. In computer
science, there is a great email list, Systers, whose members
frequently solicit and give advice *based on experience, not just
theories*. Find something like this in your field. Ask someone to
post anonymously for you, since it would be unwise to let your
identity be known.
2. Second, as others have said, document everything.
3. Find out if your school has an ombudsperson, graduate women advisor, equal opportunity officer, or the Australian equivalent. (I'm American.) Such people can often give useful advice.
4. Try to build ties with other graduate students and faculty in your department. You may need allies. The other faculty will know your advisor's history and how best to deal with him. Tenured faculty will be more able to help than untenured or adjunct faculty. While female faculty are your natural allies, don't overlook male faculty, especially ones with large numbers of female students who have not had problems with him.
5. I do not recommend confrontation. Backing someone into a corner is dangerous; allowing someone to save face is safer. I think it's fine to ask why if he asks to take your photograph, but I wouldn't sit him down and demand that he stop treating you inappropriately. Prepare remarks that you can say if needed, such as:
* "I'd prefer that the office door be open." (If asked why, say because you'd feel more comfortable.)
* "The women's center advises female students not to socialize with their advisor without other students present, since someone might get the wrong idea."
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_12: I really think @espertus 's answer should be the top voted. In addition to what she says, I would say this:
Consult with a lawyer (at least an initial consultation). I'm not sure I would trust whatever your institution provides to you as a student (free onsite legal counsel or whatever), because they might be under pressure to encourage people to not make waves (although that question might be worth researching in parallel).
Research law firms in your area. See if there are any that have particular expertise or experience in academia. Don't think about the price--you're just going to ask them if they will give you a free consultation to find out whether you need representation and what you should be doing in case you do.
Find out:
1. What specific behavior crosses a legal line
2. What kind of
documentation constitutes legal proof of those lines having been
crossed.
Perhaps you could find out similar things about the university's ethics code without making a formal complaint. Just ask what behavior, exactly, crosses the line, and what documentation is required to prove that this behavior has taken place. You can say you "know someone" who is in a difficult situation and scared of retaliation (you don't have to tell them that you are the person).
You do not have to initiate legal proceedings or lodge a formal complaint or anything--I just think you need to, as soon as possible, start collecting the kind of documentation that a lawyer has told you will carry weight in court, **just in case it ever comes to that**.
I am guessing from this discussion that you are an attractive, intelligent woman in a technical field. That is going to generate (sometimes intense) interest in you from many men in your field. I'm not saying this as anything other than an observed fact--a reality that you need to be aware of. These men are going to be all over the spectrum--really a two dimensional "spectrum", where you have an axis of social awkwardness where people sincerely don't know that what they are doing constitutes an inappropriate advance (yes, some of us really are that clueless), and an axis of just plain evil where there are some people that deliberately use their positions of power to take advantage of people.
In addition to the fact that people will be attracted to you, some will be threatened by you because you're a woman with rival superpowers that they associate with their manhood (pathetically sad, I know, but true). Some will be neither attracted nor threatened themselves, but jealous of the attention paid to you by those who are attracted.
Subject to consulting with a network of women (I'm referring again to espertus ' [advice](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28631/how-to-deal-with-an-advisor-who-wants-a-friendlier-relationship-with-me-than-i/28815#28815)) to see if anything I suggest below makes sense or matches their experience, it seems to me that you need to make sure that you recognize a few facts:
1. Your working relationship has already been damaged. It's not that you're worried you might damage the relationship. Your advisor's actions have damaged it. You are looking to mitigate that damage. It is not possible to avoid it. The reason I'm saying this is that you might be afraid to take any action lest you "break something". I don't think you will make good decisions if you have "fear of messing up the relationship" topmost in your mind. You *have* a messed up relationship now, you are trying to salvage what you can of it without making it worse.
2. You need to be your own best defender and advocate. You are in school to learn. It is unfortunate that you are also having to learn this. But you are likely to need it in situations after school (again, check with knowledgeable tech women before believing me, but I believe women in tech widely experience this). Right now, start learning how you intelligently defend yourself in apparently impossible situations where someone else has all the power. Note how espertus balances the fact that you have an absolute right not to be victimized with the fact that anything you do that looks like an attack to your advisor could be dangerous to you. That does highlight how difficult your situation is, but if this were an easy situation, you'd already have figured it out.
3. Because of point 1 and some of point 2, you need to manage your own expectations. You are probably not going to find a magical solution that simply lets you get everything you should be able to (professionally given academic guidance) from your advisor and nothing you shouldn't (unwanted advances). Quit even thinking about there being a perfect way out and figure out what makes the most sense for you in your situation.
4. Even though it is not your fault, and you should not be the one that has to change your behavior to accommodate his bad behavior, I think you have to look at ways to manipulate space and time in such a way that your advisor simply has fewer opportunities to do the bad things he is doing. Change either the hours that you are there or the place where you work. This is not optimal, but the combination of his position of power and bad actions have created a sub optimal situation that you need some kind of practical response to. Consider whether there might be a way to arrange your schedule or workspace to make it really hard for him to "casually drop by".
5. Lastly, I'm really, really hesitant to suggest this, but it seems possible to me that your co-advisees, *if you know they can be trusted*, could be natural allies.
>
> A while ago I heard that his PhD student suggested to him that he
> spends too much time with me. He laughed and said it's not his
> business, and that we are working hard on some novel research method.
>
>
>
Do you know this student? Were they possibly trying to helpfully intervene on your behalf or were they jealous of the time?
Although you are natural competitors for your advisor's time, you are also natural allies in that it's best for all of you if the advisor is as professional as possible.
Are you working on similar enough things that it would make sense for you to have a study group of some sort with the other advisees? I'm guessing that it's an every-man-for-himself-trying-to-outshine-the-others kind of environment, but if it's not, developing a closer working relationship with them might give you allies in this other battle. And, unlike the "get a fake boyfriend" suggestion, having a good relationship with these people actually makes real sense since they are in your field and people you could gain advantage from being able to network with later.
I wish I had better suggestions. Possibly if you look for solutions that emphasize only the things you both agree on. You both want your academic work to be successful. So, if you need to make excuses not to spend time in pointless (to you) chit-chat, make every excuse be about your work. "I don't want to be rude [note: this is true! It would be so much easier if he wasn't making you do this], but I need to get back to working on the miniaturized earthworm defibrillator test results [also true! You do need to get to work on those! And, theoretically, something he agrees you should be doing.]."
Another strategy in the same vein--if he is forcing you to have conversations, you work to force the conversation back to work. He has decided he is going to be in your space. You decide that you are going to use that to your advantage by picking his brains about your project. Have a list of questions ready at all times, on your phone or in your desk or on a whiteboard. "That reminds me, I wanted to ask you about X."
Maybe time tracking software could be of use. There is stuff out there that lets you click something saying you're working on task 1, then if you switch to task 2, you select that task and it starts tracking your time as applying to that (people like lawyers or freelancers will use these to know who to bill for what amount of time when they have multiple projects going). Have actual tasks that apply to your project, and an array of non-project stuff: "at gym", "eating", "water cooler talk". Don't even mention it, just start tracking all your time like that and looking at the results. Once you have a good body of data from a couple of weeks, you can set goals of reducing your "water cooler talk" time--strictly because you want to increase your productivity--and then use that as a way to say you need to get back to work or you will miss your target [again--a real target, that is really about your project. No pretense to maintain, simply an effort to get more work done].
Let me re-emphasize the fact that you should not have to do this. I am not suggesting that bad things are happening because you aren't being assertive enough. It is not your fault that he is making you come up with these strategies. But I think it will be best for you, in both the short term as as a precedent that you set for yourself for the future, that you always assert whatever control you can, even when the power structure in a relationship is highly asymmetrical.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_13: It is a terrible situation.
My first suggestion is change your supervisor. You don't need to explain why. Find someone in the department whose research is interesting to you (yes, it might not be as interesting as what you work in right now but I am sure there is something that is interesting). Start attending their group meetings. I don't think it worths the mental energy to sustain a long term professional relationship with your current advisor.
My second suggestion would be to find a senior female faculty member in your department that you can trust and discuss the problem with her.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_14: Firstly, I want to say how sorry I am that you're dealing with this. This behavior is absolutely inappropriate, and it's hard for me to believe that your adviser doesn't already know that he's crossing the lines.
There's plenty of advice here about whether you should take a formal or informal approach, and I'm not really going to weigh in on that. Instead, before you do anything, what I *would* do is check to see whether your university has an official Ombudsman's Office. This should be an office whose sole purpose is to advocate for the rights of students and workers and to investigate complaints.
I think it's worth discussing, confidentially, with someone in that office before you make any attempts to discuss this with the professor. Tell them your situation, and ask for their advice. That way, you've got a clear record of engagement with the school if things really do hit the fan.
Good luck :)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_15: My condolences for a very unpleasant and difficult situation. A few extra hints that may add to what has been already said and they are comparatively low risk.
1. body language, attitude and physical interactions matter. Their effect may even be more powerful than any words that would be exchanged. So, for instance, if someone gets too friendly, position chairs and tables in a way that makes it difficult for him to come too close. Sometimes, if people are (perhaps culturally, but also for other reasons) coming too close for comfort, there is a way of jutting out the leg in an oblique fashion to generate some distance (you have to practice that so it doesn't look like an invitation). There are implied rules of entering someone else's space, and if we create an additional cost (in terms of cognitive steps) to invade this space, it creates a subliminal discouragement to do so.
2. Interact blandly and boringly. Some women may have an extraordinarily radiating aura that many men cannot withstand - I have known women like that, and they kept complaining about inappropriate advances by men which I am fully convinced were not invited by them (i.e. were not frivolously provoked); in one of the cases, I also happened to know one of the guys who complained about her and how she would toy with men (which was patently untrue - it was a fundamental misunderstanding on the side of the guy). If you would work in show business, you would, of course, capitalise on such a charisma. But, alas, you are a scientist, so it doesn't do you any good. But since that means that it is not your capital, either, you can play yourself down, be boring, wear boring clothes, forgo any adornment. Keep these for your free time. Note that I am not implying at all that you are inappropriately dressed or behave inappropriately, but by being deliberately uninteresting and bland you may counteract your over-effective charisma (if that is behind it).
3. In company with your supervisor, discuss and talk without enthusiasm, just blandly and neutrally, but competently (after all, you want to keep your scientific reputation).
4. When you are asked to be photographed, you can request that you do not wish your photo to be taken, because in today's time there is no way to control where the photo circulates. You may make the point that you do not furthermore wish to add another datapoint to existing face recognition algorithms (assuming you do not have a spate of photos on Facebook or elsewhere already). Or else, you say that you do not like yourself on photographs and do not like photos to be taken from you except for special family functions (or whatever plausible exception holds for you).
5. Note that in the supervisor, there are many aspects that may play a role in parallel - the feeling of superiority, but also the belief that he may ultimately win you over against your resistance; unfortunately, it is not infrequent that man-women interactions operate exactly like that and for many men genuine disinterest/reluctance is not easily discernible from a purely tactical hold-off. Since any open declaration of disinterest from your side in the present case will force his hand and may put him into the corner (which is the reason that you should also follow the earlier advice on building alliances), turning yourself from a desirable to a bland personality with an unattractive appearance (only outwardly and temporarily, until you are through) may make him lose interest which is more effective and less damaging than trying to actively hold him off. I know cases where this has worked. If he should remark why you do not wear nice clothes anymore etc. you just say that in your current phase you have far too much to do to care about them.
6. Will adapting your personality ruin your quality of life? Yes, it will, but only temporarily and, given the constraints you have, it might give you a reasonable chance of getting through it with limited damage without compromising too much on the other constraints of yours. You need, for this, to be prepared for a long-haul, as this routine will take time to establish.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/17 | 602 | 2,712 | <issue_start>username_0: My English is not perfect, moreover I am not familiar with the exact phrases for a topic of research or a technical term in the literature
I have some ideas or projects done, if I knew the exact word for the topic to which my idea belongs I could search better and find more appropriate resources and write better papers
For example suppose I have done an image processing projects which detects damages of an equipment in a manufacture, I thought its belong to the fault detection area but then I found the **fault detection** could be something more general or a different area ..... and **defect detection** is more close to the topic
As you see I need a website where I can mention what I have done or what is my idea and get the research area where I can find the proper resources<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think you can find a place where someone will tell you what you need to search for, i.e. you have to know what you want to find in order to find it. If you are not familiar with the terminology of your field, I suggest reading a couple of standard textbooks; while reading them, you will encounter most of the terms that are relevant to the field.
You should also keep in mind that many fields (fault detection being one of them) are quite broad, so you usually have to spend some time refining your search keywords in order to find what you are looking for.
Anyway, the bottom line is that you have to master the terminology before reading and writing papers.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As Aleksandar says, you do need to learn the terminology in order to search effectively for articles. And in fact, you'll need to know the terminology in order to *understand* those articles. When I'm exploring a new subject area, I don't start with the journal articles; I start with books, web tutorials, etc., to get the basics.
For learning the terminology, I also suggest reading the relevant articles in Wikipedia or Scholarpedia. They will also have links to journal articles; get hold of *those* articles and see what keywords they use. Anytime you find a useful article, note the keywords, and what journal it's in. This will help you find other useful articles, and places where you might submit your own articles in future.
Also, your college librarian may be able to help you figure out some of the keywords to use. They usually know a little about a wide variety of topics, at least enough to have some ideas of what search terms might be useful. If you set up an appointment, they may be able to spend some time with you, helping you find some sample articles and working with you to figure out a good search strategy.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer] |
2014/09/17 | 1,069 | 4,769 | <issue_start>username_0: I recently reviewed a manuscript for a journal I didn't know very well, but which was indexed on Pubmed and Scopus and seemed to be legitimate. In my review, I recommended rejection based on what I considered to be substantial flaws in methodology, data analysis, and interpretation. In addition, I had ethical concerns about the manuscript, including suspicions of self-plagiarism and possible copyright infringement. It seemed that the authors had inappropriately reused text, data, and figures from an article that they had previously published in another journal. I detailed all of these concerns in my report to the editor.
After an automated response from the editor acknowledging receipt of my review, I heard nothing from the journal for 3-4 months. Out of curiosity, I looked online and was surprised to find that the manuscript was already in print! In fact, it had been published less than 2 months after I submitted my review, and the published version is essentially identical to the draft version I reviewed.
I have since made multiple attempts to contact the editor, but have received no response. To be clear, I certainly understand that the editorial team may not agree with my review, but I have been quite disappointed to have received no response to address the scientific and ethical issues I raised. If nothing else, in my experience (and I realize this may be a niche-specific expectation) an editor for any reputable journal will keep reviewers apprised of the editorial progress of manuscripts they have reviewed.
Some readers have asked whether this is an online open-access journal with article processing charges, but instead it is a subscription-based journal. Thus, the journal and publisher are not eligible for inclusion on Beall's List (scholarlyoa.com).
Are there any other steps I can or should take? Anyhow, if I continue to be ignored by the editor, I am considering sharing this information with the editorial board of the journal that published the original paper (the one that I think may have been self-plagiarized).<issue_comment>username_1: There may not be much you can do about the scientific issues. A profoundly wrong paper should be retracted, and a correction should be issued for anything serious that's objectively wrong and correctable. However, the problems you've identified (poor methodology and interpretation) may not definitively fall into these categories, depending on what exactly you mean. There's no ethical reason why a journal can't have low standards or publish controversial papers. The primary risk is that their reputation will suffer if they publish foolish papers.
It would indeed by unethical if they claim to be a peer-reviewed journal but aren't taking the review process seriously at all, and that sounds like what's going on here. However, it would be difficult to prove based on an outsider's view of one case. I imagine that if pressed, the editor would claim he/she evaluated the paper and your review and decided the paper was more credible. It would be hard to prove that there was an ethical problem, rather than just poor scientific judgment on the part of the editor.
On the other hand, the allegations of copyright infringement and self-plagiarism are ethical issues that transcend journal standards or policies. That might be a good place to begin, and perhaps more will come out during the investigation.
Here are some thoughts:
1. Your proposal to share this information with the editorial board of the previous journal sounds like a good idea. I'd contact the publisher directly as well as the editorial board.
2. There may be an ethics committee in a relevant professional or learned society. They could conduct an impartial investigation, which might lead to public censure or a retraction.
3. You could report these papers to the authors' funding agency, if any.
4. You could report these papers to the authors' employers.
5. You could publicize your experience on the web.
Among these possibilities, #1 and #2 seem most likely to make a difference regarding the journal, #3 and #4 might lead somewhere with the authors but wouldn't address the problematic nature of the journal, and #5 could be a valuable public service but is unlikely to change much by itself.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: This happens. A lot. You can continue to try to do the right thing, but it may end up earning you a reputation as a trouble maker which may come back to bite you in the back side.
I have said this before, and despite downvotes I will say it again: if an influential author gets rubbish published despite clear reviews pointing out the problems, you will often find that author and editor are beer buddies at "the conferences".
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/18 | 520 | 2,484 | <issue_start>username_0: I have written a review article with a target journal in mind. The content focuses on a particular technique in biology, and in the paper I propose a data analysis approach to be used for future studies. To help explain the intuition behind the technique, I have produced some straight-forward simulated data, organized into a a handful of figures. The experimental results are not particularly novel, but they are most valuable to illustrate a point -- how different quantitative methods compare to each other.
How would you suggest I write a review that includes primary (but not novel) results, in the framework of a review? My current organization is an extended introduction > short methods > results > discussion and future perspectives. A trivial matter could be to move the methods to the end, but I wonder if having discrete results and discussion sections is appropriate.<issue_comment>username_1: Does the journal dictate a specific format? Usually this is not the case for review papers, but sometime bio journals are very particular.
If not, you could organize the paper along the natural lines of the flow of ideas, rather than trying to fit it onto a Procrustian bed of methods/results
Introduction --> Review of Technique ---> Explanation of Need for Analysis Problem --> Proposal of New Analysis Method --> Verification on Simulated Data --> Discussions and Future
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I have seen examples of the type of paper you're writing, but it's not a very common format. Most likely, the journal is going to dictate what you need to do. That said, my decision in this situation would depend on how much your simulated data contribute to the overall manuscript.
For instance, if your example is included solely as a sort of cartoon illustration, then very little or no explanation of how it was generated would be necessary. This does not seem to be the case with your example though.
An alternative approach would be to give a bare minimum description of how the data were generated in the same paragraph where you describe or expound on the theoretical point you're illustrating. Whether or not this makes for a clunky paragraph depends mostly on how much information you think you need to convey.
One final thought: if the simulated data are enough to develop into a separate methods manuscript, you might want to go that route, and leave your review article a standard synthesis of previous work.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/18 | 3,404 | 14,441 | <issue_start>username_0: As a graduate student, I am relatively new to my community. From my point of view, the best approach to get to know new people is randomly walking around and start conversations (with anyone, no matter what age or known/unknown). But is that appropriate at academic conferences? How do established researchers think about that?
I am asking because in my previous conference visits, I often felt that people are annoyed or not interested when I just walked up and started a conversation. What would be better approaches for getting to know the community?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, it is appropriate to walk to random people at a conference.
(At least I do it often; all in all, conferences are to learn new people / network in the same field.)
Of course, you cannot expect everyone wanting to talk with you: there are personal preferences, some people are waiting to discuss with someone else (or just want to rest from talking :)), some want to "climb" and are more interested in talking with superiors, sometimes the conversations do not "clicks" for them.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: In general, this is perfectly appropriate behavior at a conference.
However, people differ. Not everybody wants to small-talk with people they do not know. Some people see no "value" in talking to younger students (clearly, this is a short-sighted view). As such, you should not take it personally if somebody does not want to talk to you. Maybe it is in fact them, and not you.
That being said, it also depends a bit on (a) what the person you are chatting up is currently doing, and (b) what you actually say after starting to talk. Most people will be annoyed when you interrupt them while doing something else. Also, clearly, most people will have little interest in talking to you when what you say isn't very interesting.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: If the conference is quite small, then accosting random strangers is probably appropriate. For larger conferences, I'd recommend a more targeted approach: have a specific question or reason why you're interested in talking with this person.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Absolutely. It helps, though, to be a little context sensitive.
If you've just come from an amazing presentation and want to talk about it to someone else, then "did you just hear that great talk by/about X?" is a good way to start the conversation, better than just "Hello" or "Great conference, eh?"
If you know who the person is (they're speaking, you recognize them, etc), then greeting them ("Hi Kate," or "good morning, Dr. Gregory," according to your industry norms) and introducing yourself with context ("I'm Susan, I really enjoyed your book") is a fine first sentence but please, *have a second sentence ready.* After the person says "thankyou, that's very kind," what will happen next? A question is good here - perhaps there's something you've always wanted to ask - or you could go back to your opener for a complete stranger, "did you just hear that great talk by/about X?"
Never open with something negative - "were you in that stinker of a session? Wasn't it the most boring thing ever?" - is right up there with the friend of mine who asked someone at a wedding "who is that obnoxious fat woman in the flowered dress and why is she even here?" only to be told "that's my mother."
My biggest problem with conference conversations is when someone wants to have a conversation with me but doesn't actually have anything to say. That puts all the conversational effort on me and it's hard work. Should you find yourself in this situation, have a selection of questions you can ask:
* is this your first time at [this conference]? (don't ask an industry luminary, or a speaker, this question)
* are you enjoying the conference so far?
* what is your favourite talk so far? (not good the morning of Day 1)
* is there a particular session you're really looking forward to?
It's a little trickier to ask questions outside the scope of the conference, like "where are you from" or "where do you work?" because they often contain assumptions - you might assume someone is a student who has graduated, or is a prof when they aren't yet, or is in a lab when they are not, and it's possible to offend someone. So don't lead off with these. Often, stating your own circumstances is a way to prompt the other person to respond in kind: "I flew here from just outside Toronto. You?" or "I'm doing/finishing a Ph.D/postdoc/intership at ABC. You?" though again be careful if the person thinks you should know this thing about them, or if it's on their badge. You usually want to get a paragraph or two into conversation before discussing "real life" rather than the conference.
Well chosen questions not only move the conversation along, they can meet your other goals. Maybe you'll decide to attend a session you hadn't planned to. Maybe you'll learn about a great book or other resource related to something you enjoyed. Maybe you'll be invited to something, or exchange business cards, or al those other benefits of networking at conferences. None of those things can happen if you just say "hi" and leave it at that, the other person says "hi" and then the two of you stand there awkwardly, wondering why you're not having a conversation.
I read and enjoyed a book called [How to Work a Room](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0062295349) that emphasizes knowing what you want from encounters like this. Are you trying to find a job? Hire someone? Learn more about something? Tell people what you've discovered? For every want you bring to that conference, someone else brings the matching one and if you two find each other you will both be happy - but only if you tell them what you're looking for and what you have to offer. This is a skill you can learn, and marching up to strangers and saying "hi" is only the first step.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: If anyone you know is also attending the conference, and has been there or otherwise interacted with the community before, ask them to introduce you to some other attendees. My advisor makes a point of doing this for new students at one of our biggest annual conferences, so that we recognize the big names of the field in person, and so that they have some idea who we are if we interact with them later on.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The prior answers are fine as far as they go, but maybe address substance as well as form? You are putting yourself out there for a reason and it is not for the small talk or facial recognition. You are there to network and protect your future or you would just soak up the academic content of the presentations and go back to planning your first IPO. This is a total package we are discussing.
Before approaching anyone, know what are you asking for and what you have to offer in return? When starting a career you are beginning a long-haul cold-calling sales job and the product is you. Times are tough and new grad working cash register to make ends meet (or even abandoning a career) has become a sick cliche now that technical jobs can be instantly exported to the lowest bidder overseas regardless of which continent you happen to be standing on.
Your opening salvo is a crowbar to get your foot in the door. Your crowbar will be seen as such so keep it friendly and subtle. Be prepared with a business card and a thirty-second speech, or a C.V. (and maybe a thesis) on a USB stick for a good prospect, or a short discussion of your interests and the potential business venture you are considering, or the current football score if all else fails. You want them to have a good impression of your professionalism and you want them to relate their own experiences to yours.
Professional conferences can be fun but not like the more casual atmosphere college students experience on campus, not even at an academic conference on campus. Professional decorum is mandatory (even in Silicon Valley).
As you work the room, track your performance mentally in real time, or better yet, also in a notebook offline, and hone your networking tactics and strategy based on your results. If you are not paying attention you could repeat the same mistakes forever. For best results you want people to like, respect, and maybe fear you as a potential competitor a little in order to capture their attention, and what you want them to remember about you is how they can benefit from knowing you.
In this modern era of the revolving door through government and rampant legal corruption of politics with corporate money, the 'little guy' is a splat waiting to happen (even in academia). Be aware that powerful hidden forces are moving through the room. The higher up the ladder those you reach out to, the more powerful those forces, and they might not have your welfare at heart. Think Hollywood drama on steroids without the fiction.
The way people respond is highly dependent upon your personal appearance. This affects everyone regardless of sex or attractiveness. If your appearance has built-in clash due to poor sense of image, you will not be taken seriously no matter how good your pitch is or how much your clothes cost. Think frumpy little old lady in bright red lipstick and flowered hat with a bow versus sleek professional model. Tart yourself up appropriately and people will respond better to you. Your investment will pay off as you avoid wasting money on apparel that hang in your closet forever unused.
You can buy your way into a professional look with an image consultant, but you can also learn it for free from books. In this discipline people are classified by 'season' (spring, summer, fall, winter) according to bone structure, geometry, coloring, and personality etc. It is purely an abstract concept that has nothing to do with the weather but rather how people as products of nature tend to reflect the traits found in nature. Everyone has a unique set of colors, textures, shapes, patterns, and style that 'harmonize' with their body and personality. For example, a 'spring' has small symmetrical geometrical patters such as circles squares and triangles with small bone structure versus a 'fall' that has large irregular shapes and a strong bone structure and both tend toward greens and yellows as opposed to reds and blues. Image consultants are trained to recognize such characteristics and advise you on how to take advantage of your personal attributes.
If you develop a personal interest in someone, well, be careful. It could be the best time of your life or it could ruin you. Be sure you know the risks you are taking, and why, before committing yourself. Times change. Tomorrow your suspended sentence for drunk driving her home might force you out of your profession and your nude pictures on the Internet could ruin your life forever.
I know of no one who got anywhere without some rough patches. Dare to be bold and maybe it will pay off. Happy hunting.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: It's appropriate, although you have to be a bit careful about how you go about it.
If you're junior, one way is to walk up to more senior people and let *them* start talking to you (instead of you to them).
Another point is "not to change the subject." So if everyone is talking about the subject matter, you might not want to talk about the conference, and vice-versa.
Basically, you want to be a good "audience" until you are accepted into the group. Then you can start worrying about being a good "talker," or about what to say.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: If you're trying to meet people, one good approach is to go to the poster session and talk to poster authors. Assuming it's a good conference for your specialization, you will likely find some posters that are interesting: then you can strike up a conversation with the poster author. You can also talk to other people looking at the same poster, if they look interested in one you're also interested in.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: As most of the others have said, talking to new faces is not only appropriate, it should even be encouraged. After all, that's one of the main reasons for holding and attending conferences: to network, mingle, and meet new people.
However, you said that people you've talked to seem "annoyed," which made me wonder if something else is at work here. I've never been to a conference that discouraged people from meeting new acquaintances or exchanging business cards, so why would you be having trouble?
Remember, there's a right way and a wrong way to do just about anything. Timing is key. I don't start conversations with "random" people, but I do initiate plenty of conversations with people I haven't met before. The difference is subtle; I left out the word "random," because "random" could mean I'm not being receptive to when it's a good time or place to start a conversation, and when it might not be.
For example, one good place to start a cold turkey conversation with a stranger is at a conference lunch. I often start conversations when I'm sitting at one of those round tables that seat about 10. Look for a table that doesn't have people who seem to be from the same university already engaged in a lively conversation. Instead, find a quieter table where people are just staring silently at the centerpiece.
Another thing that should be said – this may not apply to you, but it may apply to someone in your same situation – is to practice good hygiene. Even the most amiable social butterflies at the conference may give you the cold shoulder if you have bad breath or body odor. (Take advantage of the vendors in the exhibit hall who are passing out mints for conference swag.)
Practice good manners as well. Make a good first impression. Be positive, curious, polite, and friendly; don't come across as someone lonely in the field seeking a mentor. I'm not sure why you put this quote in your question:
>
> *I am not famous so there is no value for others in getting to know me*
>
>
>
but it's not a very positive attitude for starting a conversation. (It also devalues the work of anyone at the conference who isn't famous – which is probably about 90% of the conferencegoers).
Lastly, manage your expectations. Don't expect every conversation to go into a lot of depth. Some people may have other things on their mind.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/18 | 837 | 3,563 | <issue_start>username_0: I am teaching a new class next term and I need to choose a text book (or create a reading list) for it. The class is a hands on introduction to programming with [MATLAB](http://www.mathworks.com). A quick search of my library's catalogue returns nearly 300 titles, 100 of which are on-line books. When you are creating a new class from scratch how do you go about choose the text book?<issue_comment>username_1: These are some criteria I usually use:
1. Published within last 5-10 years, preferably in 2nd edition or beyond: This ensures the materials are reasonably up-to-date and major errors had been cleaned up.
2. Have physical and e-book versions: To tailor different types of readers.
3. The e-book version should be freely available through the institute's subscription: This is to lower the barrier for acquiring the book.
4. The titles have been commonly adopted by other syllabi: Perform a search using your course title or subject plus "syllabus" and "filetype:pdf" or "filetype:doc" will get some nice results. Sift through them and get some ideas.
5. For software book, I would also check if the publishers provide all codes and data sets online. In additions, I'd make sure the book's examples use the software with the same version that my institute has or the students have.
---
Some other thoughts:
From my experience in teaching statistical software, I found that books are really not that popular. Online workshops and support websites seem to be a lot more welcomed by the students. If you can identify any of online resources, I'd at least suggest that as a secondary option.
I elaborate to students in the first class on why I chose this particular title. When I teach a class with very diverse backgrounds I also suggest some secondary books that are more specific to their interests. For instance, if I have medical and veterinarian students in my class, I may pick one software book on medical data analysis and another one on analyzing zoological/ecological data, etc.
Another thing I do to show that I am serious about the text: I often put footnotes on my notes or slides pointing students to the relevant section if they'd like to learn more and try that particular analysis/function.
Once you have found a few candidates, read the forewords. All else equal, I often prefer books that were written with a syllabus in mind. The authors usually explain that in the forewords.
Isolate the "must learn" techniques in your syllabus and make sure they are all included in the chosen text. That would make sure the texts and your teaching are coherent, and lower the chance of getting evaluation comments like "the text has nothing related to what was covered in the class."
One format that always thrills me is inclusion of self-assessments and case studies. Even I don't end up using those titles, I often borrow the case studies to make all the codes that I teach relevant to the contents.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Start with the learning outcomes, which should have been defined when the course was approved. Write a rough time line of how you would approach those learning outcomes, *i.e.* in what order would you teach things. Then begin checking the tables of contents of books that look most promising.
See Penguin\_Knight's criteria, request evaluation copies of the three that look most promising, and pick one.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Listed textbooks from other syllabus may be useful... Always check what other Prof.s have been using...
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/18 | 714 | 3,172 | <issue_start>username_0: Many universities have adopted open access policies, giving their employees an incentive to make their scholarly articles freely available online.
To enforce this policy, universities should ideally keep track of the research output of their employees, and remind them to upload their papers if they are not freely available yet.
This is a rather time-consuming task: I wonder whether there are tools to facilitate or automate this process.
Such tools could perform some of the following tasks:
* Track the published papers and match their authors with the employees list (probably using some bibliometric platform like [crossref.org](http://www.crossref.org))
* Locate freely available versions of these papers
* Run a repository where the papers can be uploaded (there are plenty of tools available for this task)
* Manage waiver requests from researchers who want to opt out of the policy
* Provide statistics about the publication practices within the institution<issue_comment>username_1: I hope you checked with the library of your institution, since these are the people who are typically involved in that sort of things.
There are softwares to create institution repository of articles (often pre-prints) to allow free access and comply with most government funding regulation. There are probably many options, but one of these softwares is called [infoscience](http://help-infoscience.epfl.ch/about) and is used by institutions like the CERN in Geneva.
This system allows researchers to have an up-to-date, automatically populated publication list with links to the downloadable documents, enables keyword search, run stats, etc. It is useful as well if you are writing an annual report of your group/department, etc.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I'd go for a simpler approach. Just ask the researchers to fill in a simple online form whenever they publish an article. Make it extremely simple: just the DOI (or alternative citation if not available) and a checkbox if it is open access with a link to it. Don't make it take more than a minute to submit.
As a compensation, you can, for example, provide Natbib files free to download and a nice list of OA articles, so other researchers can find easy to cite and find your articles.
It is not much work if everybody does their part, and you just need to make it easy enough and worth to do it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Building on username_1 answer, what you seek for is an *institutional repository*. There are many, but it depends by the single institution. You should ask yours.
Software used are often [DSpace](http://www.dspace.org/) and [Eprints](http://www.eprints.org/) (but there are others): these systems let users upload pre-prints and other documents; release them with Creative Commons licenses, use DOIs (sometime provided by the very same institutional repository); provide digital preservation, provide statistics, etc.
The *open access* movement has a strong component in librarians, who in the last decades built protocols and best practices.
Every institution is different and offers different services.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/18 | 3,856 | 16,238 | <issue_start>username_0: Background: I am a junior university staff member, and I will teach an introductory course in linear algebra for the first time in a few months.
I see that many teachers devote time to writing lecture notes. To me, this looks odd. Whatever I can write will not be half as good as a well-written textbook. so my first choice would be looking for a good book, recommend it to the students, and stick with it as much as possible for my lectures. "Everyone writes their own notes" looks like a model in which there is a lot of needless duplication of work.
**Why do people write detailed lecture notes for basic courses? What is the advantage with respect to following closely a textbook?**
Are the two approaches really alternative, or am I misunderstanding the role of lecture notes? Should I do both?<issue_comment>username_1: As someone who's tried to do both, there are some very valid reasons to prepare "formal" lecture notes.
The primary reason why you'd want to create your own notes is that for many courses, a single good text is not available, and as a result, the instructor has to cobble together material from a number of different sources to produce a coherent set of lecture notes—or recommend that students work with multiple source texts. (Given the out-of-control nature of textbook prices, the latter alternative is unlikely to work out well.)
If you have a single-text class, it may not be necessary to provide students an additional set of notes, provided your lectures stick to the main text material. However, if you bring in alternative or additional topics into your lectures, you may want to include notes for those topics, and refer students to the textbook for places where you follow the "standard" outline.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As you are teaching linear algebra, I will use it as an example. <NAME> teaches/taught linear algebra at MIT. He also wrote the textbook *Introduction to Linear Algebra*. You might expect the course to follow along perfectly with the textbook. If you look at the syllabus from [when Strang was teaching the course](http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-06-linear-algebra-spring-2010/readings/) or [now](http://web.mit.edu/18.06/www/Fall14/course_info_syll_F14.pdf) what you will see is there are significant deviations. It goes section: 3.6, 8.2, 4.1-4.4, 8.5, 5.2-5.3, 6.1-6.2, 6.6, 8.3, 6.3.
If the author of the textbook cannot even happily follow his own ordering of the topic, it is not surprising that many teachers feel the need to create their own notes that go in the order and cover the material in the depth that they want.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I have no experience with preparing a whole course, so I will leave this aspect to others.
The vast majority, if not all, textbooks originated from lecture notes, usually from professors who held that course repeatedly and refined their notes over the years (often this is stated in the introduction of the textbook). Now, you might argue that these textbooks already exist¹ and there is no point in repeating this process as somebody already has done the work.
However, if everybody acted this way, there would not be any didactical improvement or adaption to current needs – which is very important for the future of science, as otherwise each new generation of scientists would take longer to reach the ever progressing forefront of knowledge. Just take a look at very old linear-algebra books: They are much more focussed on calculating stuff (which has become less important nowadays), have a more clumsy notation and leave out certain concepts that are considered relevant today. If some people in the past had not chosen to create their own lecture notes, which eventually turned into textbooks, you would probably have been learning linear algebra as taught in these books.
On the other hand, if everybody wrote textbooks, we would drown in them.
So, going only from this point of view: If you have a textbook you are perfectly happy with, stick to it. If, however, you have a didactical style and approach different from all existing textbooks, you might as well try it – and perhaps write a new textbook one day and advance the didactics of linear algebra.
---
¹ and in the case of linear algebra: tons of them
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Students often prefer lecture notes, for several reasons. They don't have to pay the cost of a textbook, and they don't have to worry about keeping a textbook in good condition for resale. This means that they are much more likely to be willing to make notes, highlights, underlinings etc on the notes themselves during the lectures. Providing printed lecture notes and letting them make notes on them creates a good balance: students are not frantically copying down everything without having time to think; nor are they likely to slip into a passive listening mode.
Furthermore, having a PDF of the notes available for download is useful for those students (and lecturers) who prefer notes in electronic format for searching etc.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I have written lecture notes for a couple of courses, and in one of those cases I assigned a textbook as well. Here are some of my reasons.
* For a course in which I have some flexibility as to the content, I may find that no single textbook includes all the material I want to teach. Asking students to buy three or four books is rather obnoxious, especially if for some of them I will only be referring to a few pages. When I write lecture notes, I can include exactly the material that I want to include in the course.
* Even when I am generally following a textbook, I often find places where I want to go off on a tangent, or discuss additional related material, or maybe just cover the same material with a different treatment. I feel like me teaching a class should add value beyond the student reading the textbook, and one way to do that is to tell students how I personally think about and understand the material in question. It can be helpful for the student to have that in writing. In part this is probably arrogance, but I really do feel I have insights to offer that are not contained, or not as well expressed, in even the most "well-written" textbook.
* If I am going to need fairly detailed and precise notes to lecture, I might as well type them - they'll be neater, easier to read, and I can refer to them next time I teach the course. If I'm going to that trouble, I might as well make them available to the students.
* I find that writing lecture notes for an audience other than myself is a really effective way to teach myself material, and understand it at a deeper level. It very often leads me to new insights on something that I thought I understood.
* Written lecture notes that are posted on a website can be helpful to anyone in the world, not just the students in my course. I've been able to answer questions on MathOverflow and Math.SE by pointing people at my lecture notes.
* For high-level courses (especially graduate topics courses), there may not be *any* textbook on the relevant material - I am assembling it from the research literature. But in order to use material from a research paper in a course, I usually have to rewrite a lot of it - filling in background and omitted details, and so on. So it becomes lecture notes.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_6: I've taught many segments of the basic business curriculum. I did not write up lectures in advance. I used the textbook as an outline, and I delivered an extemporaneous interactive discussion of the entire material in the text. This involved lots of definitions, examples, and diagrams of relationships (all of which I would require the students to recall and/or recreate on exams). I merely kept track of each section's progress, and informed them that they were responsible for everything in the book (as much as I tried to ensure I would cover all exam material, I didn't want to guarantee it, and I did want them to read the books they had paid so much for.)
This style worked well for me, but it seems not to be the tack most professors take.
There would have been benefits to writing up notes for lectures. It would
* force me to review all of the material more carefully prior to the lecture
* provide an outline for material I knew would be justifiably testable
The downsides were that it would :
* increase time required for preparation of materials
* likely reduce the material covered, because it was my goal to cover the entire text (which we did successfully)
I actually even did find time to cover extra material outside the text. For example, we covered <NAME>'s Five Forces in the Marketing course (which I expected them to recreate for the final, having reviewed it nearly half a dozen times in class).
Perhaps you could do the same. It may depend on the materials you have to teach with (especially the textbook.) But you need to review your expectations with your department chair. It may be that they require a textbook that is impossible to follow as the order for your class, for whatever reason. It may be that you'll need to take notes to ensure that you cover any prerequisite materials, and in the correct order, because you'll be teaching linear algebra.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Here are some other advantages from my point of view:
* Writing lecture notes enables you to communicate to the students exactly what is examinable. Most textbooks are bloated with irrelevant material. See any first year textbook in economics or statistics, for example. That thing doesn't *need* to have 500 pages and colour pictures and a $150 price tag.
* Writing lecture notes gives you valuable practice at academic writing and presenting your thoughts in a coherent manner. When you first try to write papers, it is tempting to try to intimidate the reader. Writing lecture notes helps to break this habit.
* Good lecture notes might be used or cited by others if you put them on your website. This can be a good way of advertising yourself.
* If you happen to teach the course again, going through the pain of writing lecture notes the first time you teach it will make it much easier to teach it in subsequent years, because you will be teaching from your own notes and you know exactly what you are doing.
* Students will be very happy if they find a mistake in your notes! So you get an army of free proofreaders.
* In an ideal world, your notes might be so good that you can one day publish them in book form. This has never happened to me.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_8: I want to address just one point from the question. You write
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> Whatever I can write will not be half as good as a well-written textbook.
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and I have to say that while I can't write a better presentation than the text on everything or even many thing, its a rare semester course where there isn't *some* sections of the course for which I can prepare a better presentation for the students in front of me than the writer has.
If I use Halliday and Resnick, I can present a terser and more insightful version of one section here and another one there. If instead I use Feynman, I may have to address some sections in more detail for the students at my small state school than the great man used for his at CalTech.
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And as the other have said the exercise of preparing notes refreshes and clarifies the material.
I'm a lazy man, and whenever the presentation in the book seems to be appropriate to my students (or nearly so), I simple re-express the books methods with only minor changes in emphasis, and adjustment to agree with the demos that I am actually going to do rather than the ones that I would want if I had the prep-room of my dreams.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: This answer only involves the field of Computer Science, so other fields may not have the same benefits.
I wrote my own beginning C.S. course (programming) lecture notes ([link](https://www.dropbox.com/s/yc2tshnap8j8xec/lecturenotes.pdf)). The benefits that I found are:
* Not requiring a textbook. The textbooks in C.S. are very large and there are quite a few of them, so students/readers may not know which one to pick.
* Not requiring a computer. Students/readers may not have current access to a computer (or any access), so they need to be viable for them too.
* Plenty of examples. Success in programming is possible only through many examples, and not much of the theoretical aspects of programming. Therefore, my notes have many examples to get the concept across.
* Learning the material from a different perspective than the one you originally had.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_10: When I was a student, I hated professors not choosing a textbook and only giving (very often badly written) lecture notes. I think following a single textbook, suggesting optionally one or two more, plus some extra material here and there, is very convenient for the students since a good book is coherent, tested, well written and edited, with useful pictures, and often evolved through several years of lectures. You might lose some diversity, but you gain simplicity and coherence (and a more pleasant formatting). The best students will anyway look for additional texts on their own, either during the course or afterwards. Of course additional or very specific or innovative material can require lecture notes.
In my experience, lecture notes are often good for the teacher; not always for the student.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: I think many people write their own lecture notes because they want to present the subject as it is living in their own mind, not as someone else presents it. You can really only ever try to convey your own perspective, and even in mathematics, this can be significantly different from anyone else's.
As a very small example, if you look at most linear algebra texts at how the formula for multiplying matrices is presented, you will find one of two tactics:
1. It is just a definition, and you had better get used to it
2. Matrix multiplication is defined the way it is so it corresponds to composition of linear functions. The proof of this is a computation which may involve a few too many summation signs for beginning students to follow fully.
My own perspective on the issue is the following:
a. I introduce matrices as record keeping devices for linear maps: the columns tell you where the basis vectors go
b. I spend time thinking about covectors, (i.e. a matrix which is just a row), and how applying a row vector to a vector is the same as taking a dot product with the transpose of the covector.
c. Realize that for a matrix M, M\_{ij} = e\_j^\top M e\_i, since by definition Me\_i is the i^{th} row, and e\_j^\top of a vector just selects the j^{th} column.
d. So to find the (AB)\_{ij} we just need to compute e\_j^\top AB e\_i = (e\_j^\top A)(B e\_i), which is the j^{th} row of A dotted with the i^{th} column of B. This is the standard formula, but it has been "chunked" in such a way that it makes it understandable (at least to me!).
This sequence a - d really represents thinking about a matrix as representing a bilinear form, and it is through this lens that the formula for matrix multiplication makes the most sense to me. You do not have to mention this to the students at this stage to make the sequence a-d understandable and memorable.
I find that this kind of thing occurs constantly. When I read a textbook, I usually find that I have no idea what is going on, and I have to develop some sort of narrative structure which makes sense of it. This becomes my understanding of the material. If I am teaching something, I must teach my perspective. So I often end up writing lecture notes.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_12: As a student I loved lecturers who made formal notes.
* It contained everything we needed to know
* No buying expensive books or waiting for the library
* No flipping chapters between multiple text books
And it was easier to understand, since it matched his teaching style and you could ask him to explain (since he wrote it).
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/18 | 3,759 | 15,558 | <issue_start>username_0: I was rather surprised that in this [answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/28648/929) which suggests that a supervisor giving a [side-hug](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side_hug) to a research assistant is acceptable behaviour. I try and limit the physical contact with my students/postdocs/assistants to hand shakes and high fives, however if they initiate a hug I tend not to block it. What physical contact, if any, is acceptable between a supervisor and a student? I guess a follow up question would be do the genders of the supervisor or student matter?<issue_comment>username_1: In general, I refrain from *initiating* any physical contact other than handshakes or "congratulatory" gestures such as high-fives or fist bumps. This allows the student to control the level of interaction if they so choose.
My suspicion about what would be considered "acceptable" is that it varies widely from country to country, depending on what is considered an "acceptable" level of contact between strangers or professional colleagues. For instance, in Muslim-dominated countries, the "side-hug" mentioned in the answer—or even *shaking of hands*—between a male boss and a female subordinate, or vice versa, would likely be frowned upon! Similarly, in other countries, I could see how a "side-hug" could be within the realm of acceptable contacts (although still on the somewhat "iffy" side).
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Some of this may depend on the age of the students, the relevant law of the country, and policies of the institution. I'm replying from a USA-centric, adult, and parent viewpoint.
I am a USA Swimming certified official. Part of the required training is on their 'Athlete Protection Policy', dealing with allowable interactions between adults (coaches, officials, team representatives) and swimmers (age group or over 18). Shaking hands and fist bumps like @asismail list are acceptable. Hugs initiated by the adults are not. Hugs initiated by the swimmer are also not really OK - they might happen once in the heat of the moment (winning Olympic gold), but should not be repeated. This ensures there are clear boundaries between the adults and the swimmers (any age). There should be no doubt to a neutral observer that there is nothing going on. If this sounds too 'politically correct' to you, tough. Sexual harassment and sexual abuse happen, and USA Swimming wants nothing to do with it. Likely your institution has no desire for it to occur either, and has policies in place about it. If the student feels uncomfortable, don't do it. If somebody watching you is uncomfortable, don't do it.
As a manager of a research group, I have positional authority over my adult staff, and all the same issues apply. You don't want anyone thinking that anything untoward is going on. I would never hug a subordinate, male or female, and would not let them hug me under any normal work situations (I'll omit extreme cases such as us all getting out of a burning exploding building). It opens up too many questions. Even a side hug seems unusual. Lightly and briefly touching a shoulder is OK, unless they seem uneasy. I don't do it often. Perhaps that seems cold, but my observation is that even 'touchy-feely' folks don't really do much touching in a professional workplace environment. In an environment with students I'd stick to no actions that could be interpreted as remotely sexual by a third party observer.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: The things I want to say on this topic should possibly be comments really, since I think the only 'answer' is that it varies hugely between different cultures (as username_1 already said).
Personally, like username_1, I would not initiate physical contact with students, or indeed with colleagues (I'm still a postdoc myself). This is probably a good policy to follow, especially with something like hugging, unless hugs are not only generally acceptable but even *expected* in the local culture. The exception might be if a student has finished their studies and is leaving the university. I think I may have given my final-year project student a goodbye hug.
This extends, in a sense, to students who I happen to be friends with outside work (there are a few of these, since I belong to a student dance society). Even if I might hug someone frequently in a non-work context, I wouldn't hug them when we are in a teacher/student context. On the other hand, if it would be normal to hug someone in the friendship context, I wouldn't refrain from doing so just because they are also my student.
EDIT:
As for the question about whether gender makes a difference: again this may be culturally dependant, but in the countries I have studied or worked in (the UK, Germany, New Zealand), any supervisor-student physical contact would be much more likely where at least one of the people involved is female, due to similar cultural expectations about physical contact between males to those mentioned by <NAME> in his answer (though my impression is that this may be more extreme in (certain parts of?) the US than in the UK). And high levels of discomfort are probably unlikely where both of the people involved are female, while more caution would be expected with opposite genders. (This of course arises partly from these cultures being highly hetero-normative.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I'm glad you asked the question, since I was very struck by the answer as well: as I indicated in a comment, I am rather confident that the sentiment expressed there that hugs are always okay is against the policy of my university. As username_3 mentioned, *any* physical contact between coworkers that is not explicitly part of the work done needs to be clearly acceptable to both parties. There is no doubt that sometimes a hug is more contact than one wants. When I first arrived at my current job a certain SO of a colleague reacted to meeting me for the first time by giving me an aggressive hug while I was seated, so I could not easily regulate or terminate it. While certainly not "traumatic", in the long years since then, whenever I see this person I instinctively track them closely enough so as not to "get caught" as I did that one time. If it had been my colleague rather than my colleague's SO, it would have been worse.
As other people have said, what is an acceptable level of physical contact must vary culturally to a large degree. Here's what I've come up with in my years at an American university:
1) When in doubt, err on the side of restraining yourself from what you think will most likely be okay. Academics (okay, especially mathematicians) are not known for being the most touchy-feely people, and academic culture is more highly respective of personal boundaries than most other aspects of American culture, with the *possible* exception of certain religious groups. As an academic "lifer", I sometimes have to remind myself that people I meet in "real life" sometimes react negatively to a total lack of physical contact: in many situations it signals a lack of interest (and not only of romantic interest) and closeness. In academia it is really always *acceptable* to keep your hands to yourself. Always.
2) The academic hierarchy does have a role to play. I can't think of a situation in which I would ever initiate contact with an undergraduate student. If they offer to shake my hand, I do so. [For those outside American culture: not to shake someone's hand when they offer it is, from a core cultural perspective, amazingly rude. In recent years the mysophobe fist-pounding movement has gained some momentum, but I'll bet that it still very often happens that [<NAME>](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howie_Mandel) offends someone by refusing to shake their hand. Actually the linked to article has interesting information about this: the things that Mandell does *instead* of shaking hands would be viewed by many academics as more intimate. Also, I can't resist mentioning that I just learned that Mandell is not actually bald but shaves his head for mysophobic reasons. Wow.] I would accept a hug from an undergraduate as a parting gesture: that's about it.
Graduate students are a little older, and I also have more prolonged contact with them (both in the sense of multiple hours at a time and multiple years in succession). This builds a little more intimacy. Like @StrongBad I regard certain climactic moments of academic accomplishment -- e.g. solving your thesis problem -- as worthy of a high-five. My thesis advisor patted me on the back as he told me that I passed my thesis defense.
The "don't touch" rule is still generally in force, but I can think of some exceptions. Once I had an emotionally intense conversation with a graduate student -- a conversation entirely about her performance in the program! During the course of this conversation the student showed me more of her own thoughts and feelings (about being a graduate student...) in that one sitting than in all the time I had known her. It is not so easy to open up to an authority figure about these things, and I felt that as a human being I needed to let her know that she had gotten through to me, so I asked her if I could give her a hug, and I did.
[In fact I got the idea from an emergency room physician who had given me a hug about six months before. She acknowledged that the hug was unusual but thought that I really needed it (she was right) and asked for permission to give it.]
I still feel that 99% of the time "no touching" is the right way to go, and if you think you might be in the 1%, take a step outside yourself and make sure that someone else would see it that way. For instance it is unfortunately not unheard of that a student breaks into tears in my office [it happens every year or two; come to think of it, I am more than due for such an incident]. My standard reaction to this is to dash out to get some paper towels / tissues [and give themselves a chance to get recomposed] and come back and helpfully offer them. Hugging them because calculus is hard seems like participating in a weird power dynamic. If a student got a text that their mother died, I might offer a hug.
Postdoctoral "students" feel a little different: I am still young enough (and young enough at heart) to identify more with the postdocs than the 20-year veteran faculty members. I certainly don't hesitate to socialize with postdocs: they have been some of my closest friends in the department. But for postdocs who are *working under me* I want to set clear boundaries: if I've been working with someone closely for hours a day, then an occasional arm or shoulder touch to emphasize a point feels natural enough...but I would still think about it, watch the reaction, and not automatically assume it's okay. Hugging it out is still not the order of the day.
3) You ask whether genders matter. I think the answer is that of course they do, in complicated ways. I am conscious of the fact that while writing this answer I spent a while thinking over all the physical contact, however mild, I've had in a professional capacity...and almost every instance I could think of was with someone of the opposite gender. Hmm! In general I have an open-door policy in my office hours: literally. Even when talking to a single student about their own coursework I would like the door to be open, even at the cost of passersby hearing some moderately confidential academic information. If there is noise coming from the hall I might close the door....but I will absolutely never close the door *fully* (which makes it lock) when I am accompanied by exactly one female student. (With a male student I would still prefer not to, but I might say "It's very noisy outside. Would it be okay if I closed the door because of that?" With a female student: **it is not okay**.)
In American culture physical contact between men is countenanced in certain very specific situations [I'm think of certain locker room antics] and is quite taboo in many others. I do hug male friends but less often: it is usually a profound gesture of intimacy. [Many years ago as a graduate student, I was at a conference and shared a room with another student. At the end of a couple of weeks he gave me a hug as we parted. Well, he was Japanese, I was American and we were in Spain: my cultural rulebook does not cover that situation, so I went with it.] Also, once I had a male student start crying in my office (about his performance in a calculus course). This was a profoundly distressing event for both of us, beyond my ability to understand or explain, and the point is that I felt utterly unequipped to do anything about it, least of all by physically comforting him: it seems very likely that would have made things worse.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: If both parties are adults, what is acceptable is whatever the two parties feel is acceptable in a workplace. There are laws that tell you exactly what is not acceptable. I fail to see how a side hug would be harmful, unless it was forced (directly or indirectly). I don't think it's anyone's business to decide what is acceptable or not between two intelligent adults, within the confines of the law and general etiquette of course.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: If you are a man, I would avoid all unnecessary physical contact, any unnecessary 1-on-1 meetings behind closed doors, and all unnecessary socializing. Does this sound absurd? Maybe. I recently read a good article on a similar issue focused on the workplace, but the idea applies in academia as well:
<https://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/unfiltered-opinion/resetting-for-below-zero-tolerance-on-sexual-harassment.html>
You can't know what will offend your students, and they could make an allegation ten years down the road that might cost you your job, even if the allegation is 100% fictional. Leave no room for doubt! Assuming you are male, I would avoid taking on female students entirely when possible. This is unfortunate, but is it worth risking your career?
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: If it is a climax moment (when the research question is clearly answered, earning a scholarship, graduation, etc.), it is absolutely normal to have an additional physical contact beyond a handshake. We are humans and when emotions accelerate, the need of communication goes beyond verbal. The first time I saw my supervisor after we both read some good news about my thesis, we both held each others' arms at the same time,it was such a synchronized moment which mirrored our intellectual harmony.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: In an ideal world any amount that would be permissable between friends would be fine.
Of course, I dont work in academia, but IMHO, since everyone is adults, I think you could intiate a hug.
From a risk minimizing perspective, it would be unwise, but if you live your life based on those kinds of risks, life gets boring.
I also think the current moral panaick is showing signs of subsiding, I think people are slowly swingingback to a presumption of innocence and considering evidence of every case, not looking thourgh a macronarraitve that presumes either the accuser is right (now) or the accusser is always wrong (ten years ago).
Its tricky though, I dont think the problem of true and false accusations will ever stop until people are allowed to precommit themselves to a neutral third party arbiter that can investiagate claims credibly.
Upvotes: -1 |
2014/09/18 | 936 | 4,260 | <issue_start>username_0: After submitting a paper, receiving comments back from reviewers and revising, the paper manuscript may be longer than the given word limit due to the additional content added (even if it was at or below the word limit in the original submission). For the sake of argument, say the revised paper is 10% or 20% longer than the word limit.
Shortening the paper without loosing any information may be difficult. Moving some paragraphs into the Supplements may be possible, but may make it more difficult to find relevant information or be aesthetically displeasing, such as writing "Additional discussions can be found in the Supplements." in the middle of the text.
Are there any guidelines on how willing journals might be to accept papers above the word limit after revisions? Is word length still strictly enforced or is this mainly checked upon initial submission? Would simply submitting and hoping for a quick response from the editor (in case this is unacceptable) be a good strategy? Or is this a bad idea since either it highly unlikely to be acceptable or has a risk of annoying the editor? Do you have any experience with this issue either from an author's or an editor's point of view?<issue_comment>username_1: *Note — my answer is from an author's point of view with experience publishing in IEEE Transactions-type journals. Your mileage may vary.*
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> Are there any guidelines on how willing journals might be to accept papers above the word limit after revisions?
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The guidelines for revisions are the same as those for the initial submission; that is, there are no separate guidelines for revisions.
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> Is word length still strictly enforced or is this mainly checked upon initial submission?
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The guidelines I've encountered on manuscript length have dealt with page count specifically, not "word length." So, yes, the page count is strictly enforced on the initial submission and any subsequent revisions. In your case, there is probably a hard limit on word count for the journal you are submitting to regardless if it is a revision or not.
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> Would simply submitting and hoping for a quick response from the editor (in case this is unacceptable) be a good strategy? Or is this a bad idea since either it highly unlikely to be acceptable or has a risk of annoying the editor?
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You can submit your over-length paper if it makes you feel better; however, the opportunity to annoy is always present when someone doesn't follow the rules. Having said that, the editors I've worked with in the past have been fairly quick to send back to me submissions that did not follow the guidelines.
For example, one journal I submitted to had just changed it's maximum page count while a paper of mine was undergoing the last stages of an internal review. I had not checked the page limit prior to submitting as I was already familiar with what the guidelines said regarding this matter (after all, I structured my paper to be compliant with the guidelines). Sure enough, the editor sent it back within a couple of hours.
In conclusion, there is a balancing act of sorts that goes in to revising papers such that they address referee comments sufficiently while maintaining compliance with the journal's guidelines on manuscript length, etc.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I can now provide an answer to my own question (I hope this is alright): I recently submitted a revised article that was about 15% longer than the word limit to a small biomedical journal. The original version of the article kept to the word limit. In the rebuttal letter, I explained that the article had become longer due to the reviewers' question. This article was accepted without further comment from the editor.
So it seems that at least some editors do not see a problems with longer articles, as long as the original submission keeps to the limit. I suspect that the rules may vary greatly between disciplines and journals and that no journal will ever explicitly state "we do not care about length for revised submissions". My PI was very confident that the article would be accepted, so it may be advisable to ask an experienced colleague in the field for their opinion.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer] |
2014/09/18 | 4,010 | 16,564 | <issue_start>username_0: I am a graduate student in a small department and have become the go-to person for statistics advice among the other students. I enjoy this but am wondering at what point I should expect, or request, becoming a collaborator on the project. Pointing someone towards a method, a paper or a book is definitely not worthy of any recognition, neither would a short one-off 15 minute conversation in the hallway. But what if I help them understand a difficult statistical method or fix some computer code that otherwise might have taken them days or even weeks to achieve on their own? What if our conversations helps clarify the questions they are asking either statistically and scientifically.
I assume that if I became a co-author, I'd continue to contribute to the project, help write the statistical methods, comment on the full paper, etc.
I'm wondering if I should set up ground rules that I tell people, like, "the 1st 20 minutes are free, but after that, we'll have to talk about long-term collaboration." Or I could come up with a list of services I can provide and what the expectations are.
This [blog post](http://kbroman.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/thoughts-on-statistical-consulting/) comments on these issues from the perspective of a full-time statistician. This [StackExchange](http://kbroman.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/thoughts-on-statistical-consulting/) question addresses more general issues about co-authorship.<issue_comment>username_1: This is not an easy question, as are many other questions about coauthorship. To an extent, all answers will be opinion-based.
I am in a similar position. I work in industry but advise many of my wife's clinical & biological psychology students on statistical matters.
My personal cutoff point is somewhat later than yours seems to be. I'll happily invest three or four hours to help students clean up and understand their data, do some exploratory data analysis and plots and some simple models and release them into the wild with an initial R script. If that is the full extent of my engagement, I would be uncomfortable with coauthorship (but an acknowledgement would be appropriate).
Often, things go further than this. After this initial session, I'll code up more complex analyses, more sophisticated graphics, maybe research special models or approaches and/or read up on stuff. This usually involves some work on my own, multiple email exchanges and more personal meetings. At this point, we usually agree that I get coauthorship, and as you write, this means that I'll be a lot more involved in the rest of the manuscript's lifecycle.
I'll usually not write up the statistical methods section as you appear to do. My take is that the first author should have full ownership of the manuscript and should essentially understand everything in sufficient depth to describe even the statistics himself. After all, he will be the one to present it at conferences and/or thesis defenses. (It helps that psychologists get a lot of statistical training.) Of course, I'll go over and correct the methods sections, and I happily rarely find that the student fundamentally misunderstood the statistics.
If things have progressed far enough for me to be a coauthor, I'll usually be quite involved with the rest of the manuscript, too. I am rather anal-retentive and will happily nitpick the entire structure of the paper, the internal logic, grammer and punctuation. I don't know whether nitpickery is more generally a specific skill of statisticians, though... Of course, in maybe half of all submissions, reviewers ask about the statistics, and I often have to revisit the statistical analysis and/or at least its description.
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Coauthorships arrived at in this way are actually pretty low-effort for me. Other people on the author list have spent weeks interviewing people in African refugee camps, juggling noxious chemicals in a lab and/or digging through prior publications. I, on the other hand, spend maybe one full work week altogether (sometimes more), sitting in a comfortable chair at my computer with a cup of coffee within reach. It's comparisons like these, and I'd guess that most statistical engagements are similar, that make me uncomfortable starting to discuss coauthorship after only one hour.
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Laying down ground rules early on, as you suggest, is an excellent idea. Part of these should be how much time you can afford before thinking about coauthorship, whether this is 20 minutes or four hours.
One other thing, which the blog post you link to discusses, is that you as the statistician will need to understand the scientific context, so the researcher will have to spend some time explaining the situation to you. This time will need to come out of the initial "budget", since time does not grow on trees. Your client will usually try to handwave this away and insist that he only has "a little statistical question". This will usually not make much sense. If a client *insists*, you can always point him to [CrossValidated](https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions) for his "little question". If he gets a good answer there, great.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I've recently dealt with this, and agree that this is largely subjective. Your proposal, to implement clear rules at the start, is highly recommended. I tend to do an "initial consultation" for free: an hour where we just sit and have coffee. If I'm interested, and have time, I'll suggest that I'd love to participate, but have to make sure that participation is respectful to myself and my other responsibilities. For example (as a professor), I'll fall back on something like "I'd love to contribute, but I need to justify the time expenditure to my department chair/dean/tenure committee/spouse/dog. Would you be comfortable treating my help as a collaboration that leads to authorship?" I tend to expound on a "minimum" contribution needed for that, write an e-mail summing up our conversation, and go from there.
One other thing to consider in these conversations are standards of ethics put forth by different professional organizations. I often work with psychologists, so I tend to lean on [the APA standards](http://www.apa.org/research/responsible/publication/) (which I'll base the rest of my response on). A quote from the main page:
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> Authorship credit should reflect the individual's contribution to the study. An author is considered anyone involved with initial research design, data collection and analysis, manuscript drafting, and final approval.
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On the website, this is directly contrasted with: funding, mentorship, and not participating in the actual publication. The last one is tricky, and how I interpret it is: if you aren't using analysis that I ran/interpreted, my statistical tables, any graphics I made, or any of my writing (obviously), then I'm not contributing. From my perspective, though, if you use even one of those things in the manuscript/presentation, I have contributed to the manuscript in a tangible way, and should be included. I feel obligated to mention (as this has happened) that, from my perspective, if you take my code and change the color of the plot and include it, you're still presenting a product of someone else (and need to provide credit for that).
I believe the need to provide credit is the primary consideration. If you have a published software, you shouldn't be given authorship as credit for its use (as a citation to the software is sufficient). If you have a paper on a unique method, you shouldn't be given authorship as credit for its use. Now, if you *designed* a program or statistic, you probably should be given authorship, as there isn't another appropriate way to provide credit (an acknowledgement doesn't count for that, in my opinion).
Speaking of that, I believe acknowledgements should come in for a small contribution that doesn't result in authorship (maybe data cleaning, data collection, etc). Notice that these have no writing and no tangibles of this will be used directly in the manuscript. If someone does something "monotonous" and writes, though (say, a lit review), they should *absolutely* be included as an author.
All said and done, having the conversation up front should indicate the type of compensation you get (and if you don't feel comfortable building a custom database from scratch for an acknowledgement, it is better to know that up front). Establishing a minimum, tangible contribution for that compensation establishes clarity for all researchers.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_1: I went and asked this question on the American Statistical Association's mailing list. If you have a login to the ASA's website, [you can view the thread here](https://tinyurl.com/yayw5s43). I'll paste the answers in here without names (and cleaning up a bit):
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> Unless the consulting was very minor (in 10 minutes), the statistical consultant should in my opinion be one of the coauthors. It is a matter of ethics and not a issue of being paid as a consultant. When I do the modeling and the analysis and the interpretation, I expect to be co-author. Sometimes I am the lead author. It seems to be a fight with the claim that "it is your job to do the consulting". I simply refuse such attitudes from faculty or clients. The way I see it is that without our services, there would not exist a paper anyways. Therefore, we must be co-authors.
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> I usually leave that decision up to the research leader and have fared well over the years. But then again, I consult in the area of agriculture, food, and natural resources, where the competition for attention is not quite as cut throat.
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> Personally, my benchmark is based on the answer to the question ' would this publication have seen the light of day without my involvement'? If the answer is no, then I should be a coauthor. If the answer is maybe or yes, then co-authorship is not really warranted.
>
>
> An example, recently I spent quite a bit of time helping an author revise a manuscript that had been rejected, only to have the 'statistical expert' of the journal assume the 'my way or the highway' attitude. I suggested that the author not fight the 'expert' and get the manuscript published. The author had included me as a coauthor but I asked that my name be removed because of my personal criterion.
>
>
>
---
>
> I generally agree with everyone so far but would like to add two little bits, that are apropos of co-authoring in general.
>
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> The initial question is very easy to answer — if you made a contribution you should be included as a co-author.
>
>
> The next question is where on the author list should your name appear.
> When I was young I thought it should be based on the size of the contribution — I once argued with a colleague about who should be first.
> He felt that he should be since he provided the data.
> I claimed that the artistry was mine, and had he ever seen a painting signed <NAME> & <NAME>?
> He prevailed.
>
>
> As I got older I used a more Marxian approach - from each according to their ability, to each according to their need.
> What this meant was that I tended to put student or more junior authors first and put myself at the end.
> I have never regretted this choice.
>
>
>
---
>
> There is, I think, no algorithmic answer to this question. The general principle is clear enough, anyone who has made an important intellectual contribution to the work should be listed as co-author. Ghost authorship is, in principle, as problematic as honorary authorship. The listed authors get artificially high credit if there are ghost authors. But then, one also has a duty to take part in the whole process with the manuscript. What constitutes an important intellectual contribution depends on context, the same contribution may be sufficient in a short article and too small in a larger and more complex work, usually the first author and/or the project supervisor should make that judgement.
>
>
> There are also cases where an author has made an important contribution, but cannot agree with the conclusion and/or important methodological decisions. Then one cannot be listed as author. For instance, I have on some occasions made it clear that I could not be listed as author if the article included procedures such as stepwise regression, last observation carried forward or repeated measures anova.
>
>
>
---
>
> Very interesting thread! I proposed a roundtable lunch on this topic for JSM Vancouver but it didn't enroll enough to take place. I'm glad to know that I was not wrong that there was some interest!
>
>
> My own idea, which I got from several sources is:
>
>
> * I'm happy to meet for an hour with any colleague who has a stat question, just to be a good colleague and as a community service.
> * If we meet a second time, I would like some acknowledgment ... a mention in a footnote, or a note to the Dean, or some other professional marker.
> * Before we meet a third time, I ask that to continue I would like to be a co-author because it's rarely exactly three times ... the count seems to go once, twice, many times. I am also then willing to work on the project in ways other than just meetings with the primary authors.
>
>
>
---
>
> If I barely know the client and have to assume that his understanding of the non-statistical subject matter is correct, I often prefer an acknowledgement to co-authorship. The same applies if I am presented with an experiment that was already run and don't want people to blame the design of the experiment on me.
>
>
>
---
There was also a recommendation of [Parker & Berman, "Criteria for authorship for statisticians in medical papers", *Statistics in Medicine*, 1998, 17, 2289-2299](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/%28SICI%291097-0258%2819981030%2917%3A20%3C2289%3A%3AAID-SIM931%3E3.0.CO%3B2-L), which I don't have access to at the moment.
In addition, many societies and professional bodies have general guidelines or criteria for authorship, although these may not discuss the role of statisticians explicitly. For instance, [those of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors](http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html) were recommended twice (and do not discuss statisticians).
---
EDIT 2018-08-08: there were no more new replies to that ASA mailing list thread.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I'm struggling with this dilemma now. The thing is, yes, we do need a stats person to properly analyze our data. But we are paying a fee for the service and drawing our own conclusions and discussion from the crunched numbers. I understand the position that their service is required for analysis, but at the same time I am paying them for a service, the same as I pay for a core facility to run an ELISPOT plate through a machine that spits out numbers. No one would list the ELISPOT machine as an author even though the publication wouldn't be possible without it spitting out its numbers. In the end neither the stats person nor the machine contributed to the design of the experiment or the conclusions drawn from the numbers that they gave us AND they were paid for their number crunching time. On the other hand, had the stats person agreed to a collaboration where they were participating in the discussions of the meaning of the data and not charging me a timed fee for running our data through their software, then that is an easier definite "yes" they should be an author.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: It seems that the financial aspect changes the dynamic from one of collaborating peers who would both be receiving authorship credit as the primary reward for investments in the work. Justice is the equitable distribution of benefits and burdens. It would not be an equitable distribution of benefits and burdens for a PI, who has invested years in a project and then pays someone to run an analysis that can be done in a day or two, to also share equitably in authorship credit. That seems to be an inequitable distribution of benefits and burdens to me. An acknowledgement is appropriate, and any significant unpaid contributors should certainly be included as authors; however, paid, short-term consultants should be mentioned in the acknowledgement as authorship would effectively be double-dipping on the benefits side of the equation.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/18 | 949 | 3,991 | <issue_start>username_0: What are the possible benefits or consequences of submitting my dissertation to ProQuest?
My university recommends submitting dissertations to [ProQuest](http://www.proquest.com/). I am wondering about the practices and academic reputation of this company, and whether or not it is in my best interests to follow the recommendation of my institution.
Does ProQuest support academic work? Do they charge exorbitant fees to access their content?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think Proquest is really a publisher so much as just a repository. They don't make any editorial choices about the material they host.
I don't have any information about their financials, but accessing dissertations through them is moderately difficult and expensive. (I think getting a copy of a thesis from them is on the order of US$50.) I think of them as the dissertation archive of last resort - I would only order from them after exhausting all other options (author's website, university's library, etc).
My feeling is that you might as well submit your thesis to them, since it is good to know that future researchers looking for your thesis would always have Proquest as a fallback option. However, you should make an effort to make your thesis available through more convenient (and free) means as well. Post it on your professional web page. If your field uses arXiv or a similar open access repository, upload it there as well. (Since you will presumably be publishing papers and/or books based on your thesis, check first that the relevant publishers are okay with having your thesis available for free online. Probably the major journals/publishers in your field will have similar policies.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Proquest is not a traditional publisher. I would compare them more to a vanity press than a predatory journal, but since they do not do any binding or even ISBN registering, it is not even fair to call them a vanity press.
While it is likely they make large profits, although I don't know, I would say they are fully reputable. Their [copyright transfer](http://www.proquest.com/products-services/dissertations/submitting-dissertation-proquest.html) is very permissive
>
> Authors enter into a non-exclusive publishing agreement with ProQuest, where the author keeps the copyright in their graduate work. Authors are paid a 10% royalty for sales in all formats.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: The role of ProQuest for dissertations is not a "publisher". Even if you "publish" your dissertation with them, it is still considered "unpublished" work in many fields. And you can go on to publish exactly the same content in other forms, e.g. as a book or divided into papers. In this sense, they are like a preprint server.
For dissertations, ProQuest is a *repository*. The main service they provide is giving access to dissertations that would otherwise be very difficult to locate. Traditionally, they did this by keeping huge archives of microfilm; now I suspect it is more digital.
In my experience, there are only two long-term archive systems commonly used for unpublished theses in the U.S.:
1) The institution itself usually keeps a copy in the library, perhaps on microfilm. More recently, institutions have begun moving to an electronic model, often called "ETD".
2) ProQuest, which has gone through many name changes but was founded in 1938.
Personal webpages are great, but they are not really a long-term solution: who can guarantee an academic's work will be available on a personal web page after they retire? A few fields have sites such as arxiv.org which have a potential to be long-term repositories. But otherwise the options above are about it.
So, why send your thesis to ProQuest? It's a personal choice. But doing so does help ensure that the thesis will be available if someone wants to read it in 50 years' time, when you plan to be retired on a tropical island without email.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/18 | 756 | 3,383 | <issue_start>username_0: If a company was building a product that uses methods designed and outlined in a published research paper, should credit be given? If crediting them would be a bad business decision, is it OK not to?
I am building a product that builds on research published by a university research group. The research outlines a quicker, cheaper and more efficient method of doing something that usually can cost much more. So it is basically just a small part of my overall project, although it allows me to cut costs drastically. The method is not patented, and the group most likely does not plan on getting a patent as they make it clear that their research is in no way related to any company or products.
I do believe in giving credit where due, but publicly disclosing the research method that is allowing me to cut costs and release an existing product a lot cheaper than competitors would be shooting myself in the foot.
My original idea was to make the hardware opensource, and then just sell prebuilt versions for a good price, although after seeing what is going on in the 3D printing industry - like MakerBot filing patents on their 3D printer and scanning - I am not sure if it is a good idea.
So without opensourcing the hardware, it puts me in a difficult situation. I would like to credit the researchers, but doing so would be a bad business decision. Would it be considered acceptable practice to use their method without crediting them?<issue_comment>username_1: absolutely:
so your coworkers can recreate your work...
more importantly: because its the right thing to do...
proprietary typically never opens the hood, so don't let "bad for business" ward you off...
on that note: if you are worried about shooting yourself in the foot, etc., how do you think the authors of the work that you built yours on feel?
there are trade secrets, and there's being honest and open: make a judgement call where to stop revealing facts, but don't withhold information because of the unwarranted fear that it'll be bad for business......openness is good for business. and the betterment of all
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Since business is on your mind, before ethics, you should first check whether there are any legal restrictions on the use of the published research, or obligations arising from such use, issues that may depend on the applicable laws of some specific country. For example, it may be the case that you may not need consent to use the research results, since they have been openly published, but you may have some financial obligations if you are to use it for profit (and not necessarily towards only the research team), patent or no patent. So make certain where you stand.
As for ethics: it is rare for businesses to credit researchers. Instead they usually contract them either for royalties or to secure further development, if there is such potential, and not leave it to fall into the hands of competitors. "Credit due" may be one of the currencies in academia, but "money" is the currency that businesses understand.
By contacting and maybe contracting the research team (*after* doing your legal due diligence first), you may even be able to secure such exclusive use of their results, or some even more efficient version of them. Again, this will depend on the legal framework applicable.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/18 | 564 | 2,307 | <issue_start>username_0: I graduated in 2007 with a mathematics degree and have since had multiple postdocs at R1 universities. While I have definitely enjoyed my experiences as a researcher, I am very interested in pursuing a career teaching at a small liberal arts institution.
So, my question is how to present my research-heavy resume in a way that is palatable to a college which may be wary of my credentials? Is it advisable to drop "invited talks/conferences" from my CV? Do I select only my favorite publications to include?
Also, I understand that it is inappropriate to give an overly detailed research statement. However, as a representation theorist, I think it is to my advantage that my research draws on a lot of different fields. Is it better to explain the broader relevance of my research, or do I ignore that in favor of what I can teach undergraduates to program on a computer? Does it make sense to write separate statements?<issue_comment>username_1: I wouldn't advocate so much for the inclusion of your "favourite" articles -- but those that are most relevant to the position to which you are applying. Same for invited talks -- it'd be crazy to delete all of them. Suggestion: "Publications (selected)" (perhaps indicate h-index here, too); "Invited conferences (selected)".
If the reviewer is interested in your academic output, s/he can just check google scholar for the more detailed overview anyway.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I wouldn't drop anything from your CV. I might shift things around so that the "List of Courses Taught" (or that you could teach) is on page 1 or 2. Teachings awards and anything similar also up front.
The cover letter is key. Your research accomplishments should be one paragraph while discussion of your love of math, the fantastic students you interacted with at one of your postdocs, the courses you would like to teach at X, and your teaching style should be at least 2-3 paragraphs. One thing that I did when I was applying to SLACs was to have a list of my courses in my cover letter followed by a very small print (all course syllabi listed here are available on my website: www.example.com).
And of course you should also include a separate teaching statement if they require one -- or even hint of wanting one.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/18 | 1,174 | 4,893 | <issue_start>username_0: Universities normally (as far as I know) do not limit the number of PhD students a research-active professor can have as long as he secure the funding for his PhD students. For example, if a professor have enough research fund can get 10 PhD students (instead of research associates) and pay them directly. Then, they pay their tution fees, and university/department can increase its capacty for PhD enrolment.
In fact, the university/department can increase its capacity as long as they are paying students, but I don't understand how this scheme works when PhD study is free (in some European countries).
In the latter case, the professor provide research funding for the PhD projects and their wages, but the university should invest for courseworks (pay more teachers for these unexpected students).
*What limits the number of PhD students in universities without PhD tution fee?*
*And when there is normal tution fee, isn't there any limitation for the number of PhD students as long as there are good candidates?*
**EXAMPLE:** A department arranges the admission of 10 PhD students (assigned appropriate professor for the courses). Now, a professor fund 10 more PhD students for himself. *Now, the department head should plan new classes/courses (this needs budget). He may need more resources, which is normally approved by the Dean.*
I understand that more PhD students fuels the engines of an academic unit, but the department head is not bothered with overload of PhD coursework. In other words, *does the department head encourage professor to get more funded PhD students, and saying "don't worry, I will take care of coursework"?*<issue_comment>username_1: >
> What limits the number of PhD students in universities without PhD tution fee?
>
>
>
I'm not sure countries exist without a PhD tuition fee. Rather there is a scholarship system in place to cover the cost of tuition. The limiting factor here is the number of scholarships allocated by the government. So the answer is the government.
>
> And when there is normal tution fee, isn't there any limitation for the number of PhD students as long as there are good candidates?
>
>
>
This would be dependant upon the institution. There may be a hard limit imposed by the faculty. Otherwise there is a soft limit in the number of students one professor can reasonably manage.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There is no hard limit. The soft limits are what you would expect: availability of funding, availability of excellent students who are interested in doing a PhD with you, how much time it takes to supervise a PhD student, etc.
---
The question seems to be based on the premise that more PhD students is somehow "bad" for the university in a system without tuition fees. However, this is not the case. (In this answer I will try to explain the system that we have here in Finland, but I do not think the situation is that different e.g. in other Scandinavian countries.)
Let us compare two cases:
1. A professor gets a small research grant and hires 1 PhD student.
2. A professor gets a large research grant and hires 10 PhD students.
Let us assume that all else is equal, these are excellent students, all of them finish their PhDs on time, each of them produces the same amount of high-quality research, and in both cases the professors still have enough time for their other duties (teaching, administration, etc.).
Now case 2 is actually fairly attractive for the university and for the department. There are two main reasons:
* The basic funding of the university depends on how well the university does. This is measured with numerous indicators, but producing lots of PhD, producing lots of excellent research, and attracting large research grants are among the important indicators. Hence in the long run, the university will get more funding, and the university will also reward the department.
* Research grants do not cover just the salary of the PhD student. All the money goes through the university budget, and the university always takes part of it for all kinds of "overheads", which cover in part the costs of running the university (facilities, administration, IT, libraries, etc.).
Furthermore, PhD students will also serve as teaching assistants (e.g., 5–10 % of their time is allocated for teaching activities), so a fraction of the grant also goes to support the teaching activities of the university.
(That said, there are some corner cases that may be a bit more difficult. If the students are not hired by the professor but they fund their own studies with e.g. personal research grants, then it is not as clear that having lots of such PhD students is a win-win for everyone. The universities do not get their "overhead" share from the grants, yet the students would expect the universities to provide office space for them.)
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/18 | 1,156 | 5,153 | <issue_start>username_0: When a department enrolls x number of students based on the capacity of the department and its professors, the ideal desire is fair distribution of PhD students among faculty members. However, students are attracted to attractive professors (by different factors such as fame, personality, etc), and there should be less or no request for some faculty members.
Assuming a student and advisor mutually agree that they would like to work together, but the department would rather have the student work with another faculty member who is short on PhD students. Can the department limit the number of students that may work with each faculty member, so that new PhD students will be distributed among faculty?
In a hypothetical situation, there are 10 PhD students, and 10 faculty members. Can the department set the limit of one PhD student per faculty to ideally distribute the students among faculty members?
*Note:* This question is not about the cases in which a candidate specifically apply for working under supervision of a specific professor (due to the admission system or funding source).<issue_comment>username_1: Questions like this show the importance of understanding the perspective of faculty members.
**Can** a department tell a student and advisor not to work together? Who knows. It will come down to the department.
But it is much more likely the other faculty would try (in private) to convince a "greedy" faculty member not to accept so many students. Faculty have a longer perspective than students - students graduate in a few years, but tenured faculty usually stay at their institution far longer, with the same colleagues. So there is usually more risk for a faculty member who harms their relationship with their colleagues, compared to just turning down possible students. There will always be new PhD students next year... At the same time, if a faculty member *really* wants to work with a particular student, no other faculty member is likely to want to "steal" the student.
What about the hypothetical situation from the question?
* It would be extremely unusual for a department with 10 PhD students and 10 faculty to tell the 10 faculty that they each have to find one student, and none of them can take 2 students.
* It would also be unusual for one faculty member of the 10 to work with all 10 students.
What happens in most cases is that the students naturally gravitate towards faculty they like, and faculty who don't feel they have enough students will make more effort to be friendly and reach out to possible students. If a faculty member doesn't want to work with a student, or a student doesn't want to work with a faculty member, they don't work together. In the end, the students all find mentors, although it may take some students more than one attempt.
The situation is different, of course, when students are required to select an advisor while applying to the university, because then there is no doubt who each student will work with.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: This unfortunately happens in many institutions, and not just to distribute students evenly among faculty (sometimes it may be to distribute students evenly among areas covered by the department, or to get enough students to run research projects/labs that are cash cows for the department). I have known numerous cases of students leaving without a PhD because they could not work with the advisors they were assigned.
One issue is funding: a professor with funding will automatically get a student if that funding is the (only) source of support for that student. However, office politics and biases/preconceptions on the part of grad program administrators, department heads, or deans does play a part. Another issue is that students' interests do evolve over time, but not every department/institution respects this. Sometimes the policy is that a student is paired with an advisor early on (before the student is mature enough), with no scope for change later.
In general, it is good to ask of an institution or department if it has a formal and well-defined procedure for a change of advisor. If not, the chances are that students are locked-in, probably from the beginning, possibly without their own wishes being considered.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: My graduate department had exactly such a policy. In part, this was because they had a few "really big names" who would be able to grab a number of students each year. The basic rule was that no advisor could take more than two sole-advised students in a given year.
There were some exceptions made to this rule. First, new faculty advisors could get three students, and co-advised students were exempted. From the students' perspective, faculty members could not formally commit to specific students. Instead, students submitted ranked lists of projects and advisors submitted ranked preferences of students. The department then tried to match people and projects within the above constraints.
This seemed to work well enough, as I never heard of anyone who got less than their second-ranked project.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/19 | 1,606 | 6,464 | <issue_start>username_0: Can one call oneself a PhD ABD (All But Dissertation) after completing all of the course work and working on the dissertation?<issue_comment>username_1: At many schools there's an official step of "advancing to candidacy" or something similar which is the last official hurdle before the dissertation. Although ABD is an informal term, I would expect somone who described themself as ABD to have passed that step.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Some people think it's ok to call yourself PhD ABD when in the Canadian or US system, you pass the qualifying exams and coursework, but haven't yet, or fail to ever, deliver the thesis.
**But simply do not call yourself PhD ABD.**
It's not attractive to advertise failure.
You're either a PhD candidate, or you're a PhD, or there's nothing to say on the subject (bar a line on the CV filling in the black hole on your timeline with discreet mention of an aborted doctorate). PhD ABD is a ludicrous pseudo-title.
A PhD that's All But Dissertation is like an espresso that is All But Coffee. It's hot water with a bit of sugar, thus defeating the entire purpose of the exercise.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_3: If I saw this, I would read it as someone that had passed a PhD in a subject of ABD then after I found out; discount them for any jobs for misleading me.
“PhD candidate with publications” or “Withdraw from PhD but published” would be more meaningful.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: ABD is not an actual title but rather just a little construction people use to describe a state that many graduate students find themselves in. I think that you can honestly call yourself ABD if you have completed *all* of the requirements of your PhD with the exception of an approved dissertation and/or dissertation defense.
Here is a very incomplete lists requirements that PhD programs might include and which an ABD candidate would be assumed to have finished:
* Successfully completing required course work and/or resident semesters/quarters
* Passing general examinations and/or qualifying examinations
* Fulfilling language and/or fieldwork requirements
* Having written and/or defended a dissertation prospectus or proposal
* Maintained a grade point average over some threshold.
Of course, there are many other requirements like this that programs require and that an ABD student would have to have fulfilled. If you have done all of them, except the dissertation, you can call yourself ABD. If you failed to complete any of the non-dissertation requirements, you are not yet ABD.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: For academic jobs it's important on your application to indicate that you are post-comps or "ABD". Many institutions will not consider your application without the accompanying ABD if you are still working towards completing the PhD (usually in the Spring following your Fall applications).
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: In Germany and Belgium they use the (informal) title Doctorandus (abbreviated Drs.) which means something like "He who will become Doctor". In Belgium it means PhD candidate and in Germany it means the dissertation has been approved but the candidate needs to defend it in public (generally a formality).
In the Netherlands they used to give the official title Drs. as an equivalent to a Master degree.
In Italy, anyone with a university degree is Dottore (which means "Doctor" according to the dictionary but is not at all that level).
There are large differences in what a school diploma means. I have read (American but also some Southern European) PhD dissertations that would not be good enough for a Master. An acceptable dissertation is either a book that is published by a respectable publisher or a collection of 4-6 articles accepted by peer reviewed journals (at least one article in a journal with a high impact factor). ABD is ridiculous, to me it means that you did not finish it and you are not about to.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: I have struggled tremendously over the use of the term ABD. Unfortunately, due to illness and institutional failure to process IRB application appropriately, I aged out of the program. However, course works and comps were completed on first round and when I look at the money I spent I feel that I am entitled to something. Therefore, I use the term ABD with pride instead of shame and have continued my PHD studies at another institution. So, if you have eaten up your student loans pursuing a PHD that you aged out of and passed your comps regardless of what others say it is time that we stand with our PHD ABD with pride because we have paid for it.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_8: In the USA, PhD ABD is ludicrous only to the arrogant academic. PhD ABD gives very important information to non-academic employers. Namely, it signals rigorous training in the production of knowledge process, as attested by passing qualifying exams necessary for Candidacy. By definition Candidacy attests one has the tools to endeavor in that process; i.e., dissertation project.
A Master's degrees' objective is different: it is training in specialized analysis. A distinction in title to reflect the distinction in training *is* therefore appropriate.
PhD ABD also signals that one has chosen to work in the productive sector v. in Academia. *Plenty* of reasons to make that choice!
Whether someone left the PhD program due to their inability to complete the dissertation/coursework successfully or their free choice is very easy to tease out (e.g., in an interview process, via transcripts showing performance, etc.).
So to the orthodox I say: be more open-minded. Show nuanced discernment. Note that your fundamentalism is against Academia's core mission!
In the end, a PhD ABD who knew he/she was in the wrong place and cut their losses is much better off (economically, and arguably socially and psychologically) than a 7-year frustrated post-doc that can sign PhD after their name! Due to structural problems in higher-ed that is where most PhDs land. The people vilifying the PhD ABD in pejorative terms here and elsewhere sound like the latter trying to prove that although they are unhappy, at least "they did not fail" like the PhD ABD.
As a PhD ABD I can attest that could not be further than the truth! I am much happier with my lot! One, by the way, which most people call remarkably successful!
Yours truly,
M.M., PhD ABD
Upvotes: -1 |
2014/09/19 | 1,017 | 4,492 | <issue_start>username_0: The success of a research-active professor is related to his successful proposals for securing research funds. For this purpose, he should spend something like half of his time for writing proposals, but still he misses several possible calls for proposals due to the lack of time while the current proposals are not idea.
To resolve this problem, many people have this idea to hire a grant writer to perfectly and quickly write/re-write proposals. I personally heard this from many junior and senior professors, but in practice I have not seen any example.
*This plan seems reasonable (the salary of a grant writer should be less than a postdoc), **but why it is not common?***
Researchers pay much more money to patent attorneys to have legally ideal text, then, why not investing on the text of proposals, which can directly enhance the chance of winning?<issue_comment>username_1: Most research staff and many students are paid by grants, but most grant terms do not allow for you to pay for administrative staff or proposal writing time. So the funding has to come from the universities or departments. Most of them don't have the funds to hire a grant writer, though some do. I think most departments would rather have half the funding for another professor than a grant writer. I also think your estimate of the salary of a good grant writer in the sciences is off by large margin. The good ones, employed by institutes with large enough institutional budgets make as much as full-time researchers or professors.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: To expand a bit on my comment:
* In central europe, proposal writing is one of the core jobs of **postdocs**. In that sense, we do have "professional grant writers". Postdocs write proposals sometimes in their own name, but more often they actually do it in the name of their professor, so they actually come pretty close to what you envision above.
That being said, I have never heard somebody talk in honesty about hiring an actual, dedicated full-time non-scientific employee for writing down grant proposals in the name of the professor. I would see the following problems with this model:
* **Funding.** How do you pay for this guy? The university will likely not be overly happy if you hire somebody from their budget to basically do your job, and funding agencies certainly don't cover these posts.
* **Qualifications.** Writing grant proposals is *damn hard*. Even assuming that all the ideas come from the professor, you still need to be an experienced writer. You need to know the content field to write down things technically correctly. You need to stay up to date with funding agency policies and politics. You need to have connections in the field. And asking for all of that for, as you say, a salary less than a postdoc seems very ambitious, especially if combined with the next point.
* **Perspectives.** What is the career outlook of a professional grant writer? What can you offer her/him in compensation for a relatively meager salary? This is a general problem with these kinds of "non-academic" positions at universities - there is usually no career track at all for such people.
* **Incentives.** Junior professors or postdocs are *very* motivated to write successful grant proposals, as quite literally their own professional well-being depends on them. This would be much less, or at least much less directly, the case for a professional grant writer. If you disconnect the process of writing the proposal from actually benefitting from an accepted proposal, I would assume the quality of the proposals to drop significantly.
That being said, none of these problems are unsolvable. Indeed, the big industrial players in the european funding circuit (FP7, now H2020) actually employ staff that are basically full-time proposal writers, similar to patent lawyers. However, those people are certainly not cheap clerks.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I know of a few instances of people who have been hired to handle and facilitate the grant writing process but they are hired with the title and salary of postdocs. Despite their postdoctural role, they have very few laboratory roles but serve as super lab managers who handle the finances and long-term strategy of the lab. As mentioned, the sources of funding to pay for these non-laboratory staff are limited but for larger and wealthy labs, they can typically siphon enough funds to pay for these positions.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/19 | 1,194 | 4,905 | <issue_start>username_0: I recently submitted an abstract to a talk as a contributed paper. I was informed, through email, that the paper was scheduled to be presented *in person* on XXX date. The email also said that I could look for my name on a link mentioned in the email; going to the link, I found that my name was not on the list at all. I checked it multiple times, but my name was simply not there.
I found that the time at which I was assigned to give my presentation was on the list, but with someone else's name and paper title. I assumed that this was a timing and/or update problem, and left it at that for some time. However, this was not resolved even after two days. Thus I sent an email regarding this situation to the email address that was in the email, saying that if I had any questions I could email that address. I still have not received any email, and the conference/talk is coming up in about a month. This is the very first presentation that I will be giving, and I am not sure what to do in this situation. My questions are as follows:
>
> * Did I deal with this situation correctly, sending an email to the "query'' email address?
> * What must I do if I do not receive an email in a few days?
>
>
>
---
**P.S.** As it was inquired in the question, the conference that I submitted this to is the [AMS Fall Sectional Meeting in San Francisco](http://www.ams.org/meetings/sectional/2214_program.html).
---
**Edit:** It looks like the situation has been fixed and my name is now on the list. Thank you to all who offered me advice!<issue_comment>username_1: I do not think this usual. How big is the conference? If it is small, it is possible that the organizers made a mistake without realizing it. Inquiring over the email was absolutely the right thing to do. I would follow up a week from your original inquiry if you don't hear back from them sooner.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You should definitely call the Conference organizing committee three days after sending an e-mail. They have to clarify this situation.
Be sure to have the e-mail in front of you when calling.
Your message could be lost in tons of those other complain emails from other members.
I have organized a few congresses myself and this is definitely a technical problem that the organizer has to address.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Don't run! Walk!
----------------
Keep in mind that organizing conferences usually involves a huge amount of work including organizing the received abstracts and papers, managing their reviewers, managing the conference place and preparing packages, etc. They have to solve your problem but don't expect them to answer you instantly, they may have other emails to answer. Be patient for another two or three days (if this does not disturb your deadlines and schedules).
>
> Did I deal with this situation correctly, sending an email to the
> "query'' email address?
>
>
>
Yes, sending the email was your only way to contact the conference. Could you travel to the city of the conference sooner to ask your question? No!
>
> What must I do if I do not receive an email in a few days?
>
>
>
I suggest you to do these things;
* Send them another email and ask your questions again;
* Search the website of the conference to see if there is another email address provided in the webpages and forward your email to them too;
* If they have any fax number, send them a fax and ask your problem;
* If there is a phone number provided, call that number too.
However, I usually do not trust a conference which does not answers it's emails and do not care about their participant's problems. At least, it's your right to contact them and consult them such problems.
Once it happened to me that I had some questions about the conference deadlines and schedule and I sent an email to the conference's contact person's email address; but they did not answer my email. They did not even answered my phone calls or another emails too (even after one or two months).
I did not send them my full paper and did not continue my application process for that conference. I simply brought out my paper from that conference. After that, I learn a very good lesson from this: I never send my papers to the conferences which are not well-known in my field.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Now that you've identified the conference as the AMS Western Section meeting in San Francisco, I looked at [the conference's program web site](http://www.ams.org/meetings/sectional/2214_progfull.html) and your talk is definitely listed. It's in the Session for Contributed Papers I, Saturday October 25 at 10:30 AM in Thorton Hall room 325. (If you don't see it, try searching the web page for your name.)
Perhaps you overlooked it the first time? Or else they originally omitted it, and it has since been fixed.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2014/09/19 | 679 | 3,020 | <issue_start>username_0: I want to study Bachelor of Mathematics at university in Australia. While I was surfing the various courses, I came across something interesting. It was Bachelor of Mathematics and Bachelor of Computer Science at University pf Wollongong (which takes 4.5 years to complete). I was like wow how does this work, Same qualification, and two degrees for 4.5 years. A single degree alone takes 4 years. But then I started to think, wait a minute this seems too good to be true.
(Note that my intention is to study Mathematics and do a PhD in Mathematics, I don't want to get some limited mathematics knowledge if double degree has half of both. At the same time I would love if this is full of both, so in that case I will apply to this.
Please help me on how this works , what are the limitations, will I get the same recognition and knowledge as students studying Math alone?<issue_comment>username_1: I took a double degree in Electronic Engineering and IT (Computer Science) from QUT. It required more time than either of the single degrees, and the course load was considerably higher per semester. At graduation, I received two separate degree certificates from QUT — I have two Bachelor degrees. There were some restrictions in the number of elective subjects we could take, since the core course load was higher.
Of course you need to check the course content and course load (and duration — a Bachelors degree without honours in Australia is usually three years, not four), to be certain it's right for you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The best way to understand how this can work is to look at a degree plan. Most schools publish plans outlining approximately which courses you will need to take each year.
Many degrees are not simply comprised of just the departmental courses within your major. I cannot answer for Australian schools, but in the US at least, many students require students generally take approximately 40 courses to graduate, but quite a number of those courses might fall outside of the students' majors:
* A significant fraction of courses a student takes might be general education requirements, such as world history and English. Some schools require students to choose electrics that expose them to a wide range of topics outside of their major and help them to develop skills that the planners hope all college educated students can learn.
* Additionally, within the university, specific schools will require students to take courses that may not fall within a students major.
For some majors, this structure might mean that a student will take ~15 courses in their major, and another 25 courses outside of their major. So, it should not be difficult to see how one might be able to fit in an extra major, as one would have no need to repeat all of these electives.
Some schools permit students with a bachelors to transfer in, waiving a significant portion of the degree requirements, to quickly earn a second degree.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer] |
2014/09/19 | 451 | 1,914 | <issue_start>username_0: In most universities, PhD students are literally students similar to master students. Fellowships and scholarships only support them financially, but officially they are students.
Some European university advertise PhD open positions like a contract job (similar to research associates or postdoc). It is understandable that these funded PhD students provide some services for the university, but in the first case too, PhD students regularly provide TA and RA services, but they are still students.
Are these two schemes different in action, or difference is only in words on paper?
Do European PhD students (mentioned in the second case) have more rights or flexibility?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, the schemes are different in action. All law related to employment (e.g. taxes, eligibility for retirement and unemployment benefits) do depend on the actual status of a PhD student. It depends as well on a country, obviously.
Source: in my program (Spain) first two years are being a student and the second two - an employed researcher. Set of duties do not change (or the effective salary), but the official status (with respect to employment laws) - does.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: At least in Germany, doctoral candidates are either employed as *Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter* (research assistants) or given stipends as "doctoral fellows."
However, regardless of how they are paid for their efforts, they must "enroll" as doctoral candidates with one of the faculties if they are to receive a degree. So, to a certain extent, they are treated like students as well, and have many of the same privileges (for instance, they are entitled to the same student benefits when they register).
So, to a certain extent, they are both; however, their employment contract, rather than student regulations, tends to be the "controlling factor" in their treatment.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/19 | 957 | 4,391 | <issue_start>username_0: In experimental fields, such as physics, chemistry, and engineering, every professor has their own lab/workshop, normally with several externally funded projects. A PhD student may work on currently funded projects.
However, *it is the responsibility of the university or department to provide the cost of this PhD project*. **How and by whom is the budget of a PhD project set?**
I mentioned experimental fields, because the costs of these PhD projects are normally much higher than tuition fees (consider that the student has no research fellowship).<issue_comment>username_1: Typically, a PhD is not a job and thus a candidate does not have to have wage. Thus, it is not anyone's responsibility to provide any costs.
Professors, in different grades (but capable to be supervisors to PhDs), accept PhD candidates and conduct with them (as supervisors) novel research in various scientific disciplines. From this research, the candidate proves that he/she is able to hold the title of PhD and this whole process leads to the PhD tite (if the candidate succeeds).
Funding is side effect/project/what\_ever. There are various opportunities for the state, country, companies to actually buy/fund novel research results and by this process there is a useful feedback from the scientific domain to the professional one which, in many cases, drives the production of new products and services.
So, **if** a Professor has a vacant position for a candidate and **if** the field of the research is close related or exactly at the field of a fund opportunity and **if** the Professor cares to apply for funding and **if** the application is approved then money can come for this research.
**If** the money finally come, then there is a usual division of labor with an appropriate "wage". These may (and is most likely that they do) vary between countries, universities, continents.
Thus, if someone needs to conduct experiments which need some money to spent then either the institution provide them, or he/she provide them, or the Professor has already a funding going on and cares to actually "hire" a PhD candidate to conduct the novel research based on the experiments.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: In the US and UK, at least, PhD students in he sciences and engineering generally receive funding that covers both tuition and a modest stipend to for living expenses. The exact details of the funding (e.g., taxable or non-taxable, benefits, and whether funding is given for tuition or tuition is waived) vary widely. The funding can come from a number of sources.
The easiest to understand are external grants directly to a student. The grant has a budget and the student is expected to keep the research costs within the budget. Additional costs, potentially including space charges and other overhead type fees, need to either be covered by the student or negotiated directly with the supervisor/department/university.
Grants (both internal and external, and start up funds) to the advisor generally cover a project bigger than a single student. It is the advisor's responsibility to make sure each sub project is appropriately budgeted for and negotiate with the department/university for additional money. While some students will be given an "official" budget by the supervisor, most are required to have the supervisor sign off on all expenses. Budget issues often come up during the design stages of a project.
Departments and universities also fund PhD students. This type of funding is sometimes in the form of Research Assistantships, but more often is for Teaching Assistantships where the student needs to teach in order to get the funding. Research costs can be, but are not always, covered by this type of internal funding. It is left to the student to either cover the research costs themselves or negotiate with supervisor/department/university to make sure the costs are covered.
My experimental research is relatively cheap, but I think in the vast majority of fields, the big cost is staff. Apart from possibly the most expensive types of experimental research, a supervisor with reasonable funding, will likely be able to find the money to cover experimental costs for a PhD student. It might require some limits to be placed on the project (e.g., including some modeling or theoretical work to reduce the costs).
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/19 | 1,207 | 4,974 | <issue_start>username_0: Some publishers have a clause like the following in their author instructions:
>
> Submission of a manuscript implies... that if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to automatic transfer of the copyright to the publisher.
>
>
>
I found [many](http://www.ijnngt.org/sub.php) [instances](http://www.ijrit.com/authors) [of this](http://advancedscienceresearchjournals.org/privacy-policy) among disreputable publishers. But I was surprised to also see this policy at more than one [Springer journal](http://www.springer.com/authors/manuscript+guidelines?SGWID=0-40162-6-795324-0) and a handful of other, reasonably reputable, venues.
I was also surprised, because we occasionally get questions here about withdrawing a paper after acceptance. The [first thing we ask them](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28583/do-i-need-to-wait-for-a-journal-to-consent-to-paper-withdrawal-before-submitti#comment61565_28583) is generally, "Have you signed a copyright transfer yet?" with the implication that before signing anything, you still hold the copyright to the submitted work.
So, what exactly *is* the automatic transfer of copyright referred to above?
Has this been enforced, traditionally? Is it even enforceable, generally speaking?
Or is it just a clause that some sketchy publishers put in there to deceive authors into believing that they don't have the right to withdraw their paper from the journal after acceptance?<issue_comment>username_1: My personal opinion only here. It is a problem that has arisen in the last few years as publishers have started to realize that nobody reads printed journals. They want to be able to charge for access to the online versions, and seem to think the only way to do this is by taking copyright from the authors. This is an issue at, e.g., US National Labs, where the US government owns the copyright and has no intention of signing it over to a publisher (US or not).
I view it as a particularly irritating, but ultimately temporary, problem. The moment any publisher goes after an author for hosting a copy of their own publication it will be widely known and the publisher will suffer. But until the lawyers figure it all out we will have to fight back.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: A lawyer would be best suited to answer this, but as I have had several business law classes as part of my business education, I'll hold forth based on my understanding of intellectual property and contract law in an educational context.
The answer would be yes, that it should be generally enforceable.
Laws vary by state even in the United States, but in general, qualities that can make a contract unenforceable are:
* Lack of capacity of the parties (legal age, sound minds, etc.)
* Fraud or misrepresentation
* Violation of public policy
None of the above apply to our situation (unless, for example, we have a precocious or senile scholar).
Enforceable contracts also require:
* Consideration (exchange of something of value)
* Meeting of the Minds (mutual agreement of terms)
* Offer and Acceptance
Now let's analyze these requirements. Is there mutual exchange of value? The journal appears to offer that in exchange for copyright, the author gets to be published in a prestigious journal. Does the author agree at the time of offer and acceptance? Then we have an enforceable contract.
So this brings to light a strategy for attempting to retain copyrights of your work. Insist by striking through such language in a contract and make a statement that you, the author, retain copyright, and put your initials by the alteration. If the contract is in electronic form, communicate this through email just prior to and just after submitting your request electronically.
If they do not object, and rather, accept your submission, I would assert that you have established that any possible claim by them to your work is either completely unenforceable (certainly, in the case of a written contract) or (in either case) liable to cost them a great deal in legal fees to pursue.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: To my knowledge, in the US, copyright transfers must be specific to the work in question and in writing in order to be [legitimate](http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap2.html#204). The hard part is whether the language covers your submission and is included in some terms of service to which you agreed. I have my doubts that a general statement saying that anything you submit automatically implies transfer would hold up in court. Such a statement doesn't properly identify the work being transferred, and "I agree" in this case probably doesn't count as a signature. I'm not saying that electronic signatures can't be done, but go look at the [IEEE Copyright Form (PDF)](http://www.ieee.org/documents/ieeecopyrightform.pdf) for an example of one that's been created in good faith by a professional society.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/20 | 798 | 3,346 | <issue_start>username_0: A Professor normally send his TA to conduct some sessions of his course (e.g., for problem solving).
It is also possible to ask the TA to attend all sessions to keep the track of the course. This is helpful if the TA is responsible for reading the essays of students, as he can be aware of discussions in the class.
*How much the second scheme is popular?*
Is it right to force a TA to stay and listen to the basic topics? When someone provide TA service for a course, he knows that topic well, and it is boring to sit and listen it again.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, attending lectures or other class sessions is a reasonable duty for a TA. Of course, if your contract specifies a maximum number of weekly hours to work, time spent attending the lectures would count toward those hours.
Keep in mind that even though you may be familiar with the basic material, the professor may feel it would be helpful for you to see the same presentation that the students are getting, so that your teaching will be consistent with his.
If you don't agree that this is the best use of your time, and there are more productive ways you could spend that time, then you could certainly suggest to the professor that you try something else. (Be polite about it - I would avoid using the word "force".) But ultimately it is his decision - he is the boss and you are being paid to work under his direction.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I see the TAing as a time of apprenticeship and learning how to be a professional scholar. I require my TAs to attend all of my lectures -- and I also require them to visibly take notes.
The undergraduates often want to address issues raised in lecture. I do not go strictly by the book and on occasion deviate considerably into a tangential area. Without knowing what is going on, how will the TAs handle the students' questions in section?
And the reason I require the TAs to take notes and not to noodle around on their computer is that they are setting an example of professional behavior in the classroom. If the undergrads see the TA wasting time on StackExchange the entire class period, the students will also feel free to go to FaceBook, etc.
If a TA has an issue with this, I would suggest that they talk with the department registrar and find another TA assignment more to their liking.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I think it's best to leave this to the TA's discretion in many cases. Professors ought to respect the fact that TAs may be deeply immersed in their thesis research, and really need to have enough time for that.
This may depend a lot on the academic field, though.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: This is institution-dependent, at least in the US.
When I was a grad TA, it was written into our union contract that we would attend the lecture. Some people didn't, but it was generally expected that the TA's would go, and I went.
My first occasion supervising TA's, at a different university, I asked them "You'll be attending my lectures, right?" I may as well have asked them to bring me coffee every morning and shine my shoes.
I'd recommend finding out what the norm is at your institution, and following it. In particular, don't try to require lecture attendance of your TA's if the graduate director won't back you up.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/20 | 747 | 3,190 | <issue_start>username_0: I applied a new method to a data set, which had already been analyzed in a research paper. My method is generally considered better, but it only slightly modifies the results and does not affect the conclusion of the paper aside from improving the accuracy of results by a small amount. The paper is about a classification problem.
Is it possible to write a research paper about this?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, attending lectures or other class sessions is a reasonable duty for a TA. Of course, if your contract specifies a maximum number of weekly hours to work, time spent attending the lectures would count toward those hours.
Keep in mind that even though you may be familiar with the basic material, the professor may feel it would be helpful for you to see the same presentation that the students are getting, so that your teaching will be consistent with his.
If you don't agree that this is the best use of your time, and there are more productive ways you could spend that time, then you could certainly suggest to the professor that you try something else. (Be polite about it - I would avoid using the word "force".) But ultimately it is his decision - he is the boss and you are being paid to work under his direction.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I see the TAing as a time of apprenticeship and learning how to be a professional scholar. I require my TAs to attend all of my lectures -- and I also require them to visibly take notes.
The undergraduates often want to address issues raised in lecture. I do not go strictly by the book and on occasion deviate considerably into a tangential area. Without knowing what is going on, how will the TAs handle the students' questions in section?
And the reason I require the TAs to take notes and not to noodle around on their computer is that they are setting an example of professional behavior in the classroom. If the undergrads see the TA wasting time on StackExchange the entire class period, the students will also feel free to go to FaceBook, etc.
If a TA has an issue with this, I would suggest that they talk with the department registrar and find another TA assignment more to their liking.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I think it's best to leave this to the TA's discretion in many cases. Professors ought to respect the fact that TAs may be deeply immersed in their thesis research, and really need to have enough time for that.
This may depend a lot on the academic field, though.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: This is institution-dependent, at least in the US.
When I was a grad TA, it was written into our union contract that we would attend the lecture. Some people didn't, but it was generally expected that the TA's would go, and I went.
My first occasion supervising TA's, at a different university, I asked them "You'll be attending my lectures, right?" I may as well have asked them to bring me coffee every morning and shine my shoes.
I'd recommend finding out what the norm is at your institution, and following it. In particular, don't try to require lecture attendance of your TA's if the graduate director won't back you up.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/20 | 1,568 | 6,903 | <issue_start>username_0: In nearly any field there is a number of important results which look obvious to experts *post factum* but somehow are not that easy to come by in the first place (e.g. in mathematics some important definitions look exactly like this). Unfortunately, this apparent *post factum* simplicity makes conveying the importance of the idea to expert audience (and in particular to the journals' editors and referees) very difficult. To make things worse, sometimes the author is unable to illustrate the application of the idea by sufficiently striking examples.
>
> The question is whether it is possible (and if yes, how) to mitigate this **apparent post factum simplicity** in the talks and research articles, i.e., what can be done to *adequately* convey the significance of "post-factum-obvious" results to the audience and, in particular, to get these results to the journals they truly deserve?
>
>
>
I am particularly interested in the advice applicable to mathematics/mathematical physics but the suggestions suitable for other fields are very welcome too, as the situation in question does not seem to be all that field-specific.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> To make things worse, sometimes the author is unable to illustrate the application of the idea by sufficiently striking examples.
>
>
>
I think this goes hand in hand with the problem you describe. You cannot expect an audience to evaluate the difficulty of the problem you have solved in a short time and often the same goes for reviewers and editors (unless of course, they are familiar with the problem). But you can show that you are addressing an important problem, which does not yet have a (satisfying) solution.
Now, if the latter is true, others should have thought about it before you. But as they have not come up with a solution, the problem could not actually have been that obvious. (Of course, it could have just been that nobody spotted the problem or the general approach you have taken – but then you can take credit for that.)
I have attended some interdisciplinary conferences and observed a general tendency that participants from more theoretical fields failed at motivating what they are doing – which was one of the key issues that made their talks very difficult to sit through or their posters not interesting.
---
If there are standard approaches to your general type of problem, you could also shortly explain why these do not work. This way you can demonstrate that the problem required some thingking out of the box.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The OP writes that "experts", "journals' editors" and "referees" will *fail* to realize the "importance" of a result, if it looks "obvious" after statement.
I note that "importance" should have been somehow defined in the question, or at least be endowed with some operational meaning. But let's pretend we understand roughly the same things by reading the word, and let's assume that, indeed, all these people don't get this "importance". Then *who* understands it? The author? Namely, the one who "is unable to illustrate the application of the idea by sufficiently striking examples"? In other words, the person who has labored deeply into the case, he, on the one hand cannot come up with "striking examples", but at the same time "knows" that his result is "important"?
*How* does he know, if he does not know *why* the result is important? And if he knows *why* it is important, how can it be that he cannot communicate, however imperfectly, these reasons why? He may be lousy regarding presentation skills, he may be a bad writer. But still, how come *nobody* of those in the scientific community that know the field and the subject, realizes the importance of the result, in any form of communication, except the author?
Important results are sometimes initially overlooked because they are stated in a very *specialized framework* and their generality and wider applicability are not immediately, or even easily, evident. But "obvious" results, are, exactly, evident, and so their importance should either be evident, at least to *some* individuals that are part of the populations of "experts", "journals' editors", and "referees", or chances are, it does not exist. Difficulty of derivation or conceptualization are neither necessary nor sufficient for "importance".
But of course, I may be wrong -so I would really, honestly, appreciate it if someone could provide an actual example of such a situation.
I note that the impression I got from the question is that the OP does *not* refer to "paradigm shifts" and "revolutionary ideas" that may "fall on deaf ears" for sociological reasons. For such situations, it is a whole different, and largely theoretical, discussion.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: In talks, you can use some didactic means. For example: start by presenting the problem. Then, ask the audience to think about it for a minute and suggest some directions for a solution. If somebody suggests a direction which doesn't work, show why it doesn't work. If nobody answers, prepare in advance some apparently useful directions that turn out to be unfruitful.
The disadvantage is that it requires you to spend about half the presentation time on discussion with the audience. The advantage is that, maybe, after the talk, your audience will better appreciate the difficulty of the problem.
I am not sure how to adapt this didactic technique to a paper, though.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: The best approach may be to address the issue head-on: include a paragraph in the cover letter, in the introduction or discussion sections of a manuscript, and explicitly in the conclusions section of a talk, that sets up a "straw man" critique. Something like: this result may seem obvious because of (expectations in the field; the beguiling simplicity of the final proof; the incorrect assumption that the problem was already solved; etc). But actually that assumption is flawed (and say or show why). Our result is not obvious because (state reasons).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I have first hand experience with this and can say that it depends on how you present and apply the findings. I recently published a paper where I derived from first principles a relation showing how a property of some natural systems varies in some conditions. The corollary of the mathematical relation where just the well known facts from Nature, except one, which was surprising. The relationship itself looks obvious when one sees it written, and this was noted by the reviewers, but they appreciated how it was presented and the fact that it provided some sort of consistency and logical framework for the observed facts.
So, in my opinion, go ahead, make a nice case on why your findings are worth publishing: examples, relations and some sort of harmony.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/21 | 2,083 | 8,928 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm teaching an Introduction to Computer Science Course, where we mainly do C programming. I've been assigned a lab for teaching the course, but there are more students than available computers. Also, I have no control over those PCs there, and almost every student has admin rights to them. It is also common that students bring their laptop to the classroom and connect to campus Wi-Fi, which I don't have control at all.
Exams are small algorithms to solve, and initially I was planning - as do other teachers in the course - to allow using a computer (from the lab or their own) for the students to verify the correctness of their algorithms. However, in the current state of things I think is pretty easy for students to cheat: They could use Facebook, e-mail, or any Internet tool to exchange source code or information.
Are there software tools that can help to allow use of a computer but still prevent unauthorized collaboration?<issue_comment>username_1: Consider two things that are (almost) unique to computer science:
* researching programming methods on the internet is standard practice, with stackexchange.com being the #1 hit for many searches. Requiring someone to memorize the details is not industry practice. I would not consider accepting a programming job anywhere that said "no internet access". And I hit the function references 10 times a day to verify things like function\_name vs. functionName or replace(needle, haystack) / replace(haystack, needle) headaches.
* It is quite likely that 10 students will return nearly-identical results for simple algorithms. There just aren't too many ways to answer "write a function to average the values in an array". Lets see: loop, sum, count. vars i, s, c. If you taught standard code formatting it's quite possible you might get 8/10 absolutely identical responses yet zero cheating. This is a common problem for cheat/plagiarism processors that are not tweaked for CS.
Good luck, and do come back with whatever solution worked out for you.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Are there Software Tools that can help to use a Computer and avoid plagiarism?
>
>
>
I can't answer the above question and I'd be surprised by the effectiveness of such a tool. So, I suggest another solution: do the exams on paper, scan the papers at the end of the exams, send the copies back to the students and give them a couple of days to debug their programs. The differences between the paper version and the working one can thus be taken into account to decide the final mark.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: In one of my programming subjects, we were allowed the class notes, our own solved exercises, and internet; but no communication with other students (email, facebook...). There was nothing really blocking them, just the lecturer wandering around.
Really, it is not that difficult to check: a student should be most of the time working on the IDE, and only sporadically browsing. If anyone seems to browse too much, you can do a closer inspection. GMail or Facebook will blatantly shine on the screen.
You can of course be more sneaky, like using Lynx to enter your mail. But really, if you can do that, you can probably write a simple algorithm without cheating.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: At my university in the UK we have two kinds of assessment for programming courses. Pass/fail 'practicals' where students are given programming tasks, and are explicitly allowed to discuss them with each other and search online. When the student is ready to submit their solution a demonstrator will look it over and ask questions etc to make sure the student understands why they wrote the code they wrote. Students don't get a grade for this that counts towards their overall mark for the year, but they are required to 'pass' the practicals in order to pass the year.
Then there are written exams with no computer access. There are questions along the lines of 'write some code that will solve this problem', and also more conceptual 'why is this the case? When would you use that?' questions. For the 'write code' bits, the markers will deduct very few points for simple syntax errors and things like that. The question is not so much 'can the student write a program that will compile on the first try?' as 'can the student come up with a good algorithm which solves the problem and give a reasonable expression of it in code?'. Note that these courses (at my uni) are never for specific languages; they are courses like 'functional programming' or 'object oriented programming' or 'machine learning', which will each use a particular language, but we care more that the student understands the concepts than learns the intricacies of the course's language.
This also encourages students to learn ways of designing and writing provably correct programs: if they can reason about programs on a deeper level than intuition, then writing programs on paper is a better test of this than allowing them to experiment and test until the output 'looks right' for the inputs they've given it.
This seems like a good way to avoid cheating on grades that matter and encourage solid understanding of the important course material. That said, many students hate having to write code on paper without access to S.O. or a compiler!
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: Law schools have been solving this problem for many years by making students buy software for exams that locks their systems down and only allows them to use the exam-taking software during the examination time. However, [there have been problems](http://www.101sports.com/2014/08/12/barmageddon-law-students-sue-when-software-fails/). Also, law school exams are generally essays or other non-functional questions, whereas a programming exam could also require a compiler. I'm not aware of a version of this that exists to allow a text-editor, terminal, and compiler.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The solution employed by my professor is to allow the textbook in the classroom (or any other sheet of paper), but no internet access; not even computer access. The whole exam was on paper.
The exam itself was to develop some algorithms, or maybe creating some classes; stuff for which the textbook is useless , but it still gives you the opportunity to look up names and basic concepts.
As a student, I think there is nothing wrong with this method. Of course others may disagree.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: Well, I haven't checked whether there are actual software tools for that, but I'll tell you what I used to do. The number of approaches to a correct solution are quite limited; if it's an exam-type problem, you should expect to receive many almost-identical, or even actually-identical, replies - as @Peter [points out](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/28826/7319). But
**the ingenuity of error is infinite, and the creativity of the misguided is boundless...**
So mistakes + copying = easy to catch. If you want to mechanize, check for the same or similar parsing/compilation errors, or identical choices of identifiers of programs which fail to compile or run as expected.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Though you may not count this as a *software tool:* A custom Linux live distribution, which is directly booted from a removable medium, and contains just the necessary development tools (no browser, maybe even remove the ethernet/wifi drivers) would do it; just make them boot that for the exam.
(If anyone is able – within the time limit and with the tools provided – to write the drivers and a browser he not only gets a passing grade but a job offer.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: Two such programs are MOSS and JPlag:
<http://theory.stanford.edu/~aiken/moss/>
>
> Moss (for a Measure Of Software Similarity) is an automatic system for determining the similarity of programs. To date, the main application of Moss has been in detecting plagiarism in programming classes. Since its development in 1994, Moss has been very effective in this role. The algorithm behind moss is a significant improvement over other cheating detection algorithms (at least, over those known to us).
>
>
>
<http://jplag.ipd.kit.edu/>
>
> JPlag is a system that finds similarities among multiple sets of source code files. This way it can detect software plagiarism. JPlag does not merely compare bytes of text, but is aware of programming language syntax and program structure and hence is robust against many kinds of attempts to disguise similarities between plagiarized files. JPlag currently supports Java, C#, C, C++, Scheme and natural language text.
>
>
>
Tools similar to these (not sure exactly which) were used at both the schools I've been to. Students were caught and penalized even after they had renamed variables and changed order of functions in the file.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/21 | 1,343 | 5,802 | <issue_start>username_0: I am an undergraduate mathematics student who is looking to apply to a Statistics PhD program. I asked a few professors how much letter of recommendation help a student get in to a PhD program and I was told the following.
>
> Not much. Often professors don't want to insult a student, so they write good letters. Lots of people get good letter, yours won't make a difference.
>
>
>
and
>
> Letters of recommendation are everything. They practically **are** your application.
>
>
>
and
>
> They help some, but it depends on who it is from. If it is from a stat professor that is good. A math professor is OK too, but stat would be preferred. If they are not stat or math, they won't care at all.
>
>
>
As you can imagine, I am now even less clear of how much a good letter helps.
**Is it true letters of practically make or break your application? Or are they simply a formality?**<issue_comment>username_1: Others may have different views but for me, if you are about to admit someone you know nothing about for a long term commitment, you can only rely on some objective and subjective sources:
* Academic record.
* Recommendation letters.
* Interview.
All are important. Letters tend to be *standard* in the sense that everyone writes about how good the candidate is (even some supervisors make the future candidate write their own letters and then they will just sign it!). However, letters give you the opportunity to directly *contact* the person recommending the candidate, and ask them about specific aspects you may be worried about. For example any character flaws that can be hidden in the interview and do not show in the academic record (and most likely where not included in the recommendation letter). Or some remarkable skill that was not highlighted enough in the recommendation letter but you consider very important. In summary, it is important to have the opinion of a third person that knows the candidate. Recommendation letters may be an important source of information when accepting a Ph.D. candidate in particular and when hiring someone in general.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I have no direct experience with statistics programs, but I know of no reason to think they differ from math programs in this respect. Assuming that's the case, letters of recommendation are absolutely critical, at least in U.S. universities. I agree with the person who told you they practically **are** your application, and I'm mystified by how someone could tell you they make no difference. (I wonder whether it's someone who has never served on an admissions committee or was educated in a very different system.)
It's true that just about everyone gets what might appear to be good letters. The issue isn't whether they say bad things about you, but rather how strong they are and how compelling a case they make. I've certainly seen many cases of letters written by the same person that differ enormously in their effect, even though they are all nominally positive.
The third piece of advice you received in no way contradicts the second. It's not enough for a letter just to include flattering comments about you. It needs to make a compelling case for why you will be successful in statistics, written by someone who knows exactly what it takes to succeed in this field, has seen other strong students to whom you can be compared, and has a reputation to protect that will keep them from exaggerating or trying to manipulate the admissions committee. A senior statistician is the best case, but a junior statistician or a mathematician may also be able to do a fine job. A letter from a chemist will not be helpful, and a letter from a professor of literature, no matter how enthusiastic it is, will hurt your case (by demonstrating that you have no idea how the application process works or that you couldn't find anyone more relevant who thinks highly of you).
Exactly what is required depends on where you are applying. At the top departments, you need letters that make a very strong case indeed. Even outstanding students will be rejected, and you need letters that set you apart from the others. At much lower ranked departments, it might be possible to make a favorable impression based largely on grades and test scores, but even then you'll still need good enough letters. (The bar will just be lower.)
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: This is a piece of my personal experience: when I was admitted to a top 15-ish department of statistics in the U.S., I was told (a bit later, when I came and chatted with the graduate studies director) that a valuable weight in support of my application came from (1) a professor in Econ department who was not related to stat department but who knew (2) the author of the reference letter, another econometrician from Europe, (3) whose book I was then translating into Russian (so I kept bugging person 2 with typo clarifications, suggested examples, etc.). Person (1) was a better statistician than many, with several cool computational methods under his belt, a couple of very rigorous books, and known for teaching measure-theory-based probability to his econ students (if my memory serves me right, *undergraduate* students).
So I would say that Opinion 3 is probably misplaced. A quantitative biologist may be able to say more about you as a statistician (i.e., a person who has to combine data, a bit of substantive expertise, computing, and statistical methods) than your abstract algebra teacher.
Generally, as others suggested, this depends on the culture of a particular institution. Some do look at the letters, some don't. Since you don't know which side a particular school falls into, treat them as if **they are your application**.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/21 | 850 | 3,569 | <issue_start>username_0: I am planning my PhD and am applying to various labs and professors.
I am getting positive responses, but I am having trouble making a decision as to which lab to go for. How can I judge the quality of research of a group? What parameters shall be kept in mind while making a decision? I usually look for relevant research interests.<issue_comment>username_1: A couple of major factors to consider would be to research and read the research papers produced from each of the research groups, paying particular attention to:
* How many articles are published, particularly in high quality journals relevant to the field of interest
* Is there a consistent strong track record of publishing new results?
* Their history of representation and contributions to conferences, workshops and the like
Also consider the availability of resources (physical and intellectual)
Perhaps arrange some visits to the labs, so that you can gauge how well the members work together.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: The *H index* truly is the measure you're asking for. Other considerations I'd throw in before you make such a key decision:
* professor's background/age/culture
* is the prof a hypomanic, and to what extreme
* how well you identify with the other students
* how expediently are they finishing PhDs compared to your plans for life
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> How can I judge the quality of research of a group?
>
>
>
**This is the wrong question.**
What you should be asking is "**How can I judge which research group will best support my educational and career goals?**" And yes, this is a *very* different question. And while lab productivity may be correlated with the future career prospects of its members, the two are *not* identical. Some great researchers are terrible advisors.
* Are the lab's **students** happy?
* Do the lab's **students** have a consistent strong track record of publishing new results?
* Are the lab's **students** strongly represented at conferences, workshops, and the like? In particular: Are the lab's **students** given ample opportunity to present their research outside their home department?
* Are the lab's **students** given ample mentoring and support, both in developing their own research agendas and in applying for external fellowships, lab exchanges, internships, postdoctoral positions, faculty positions, and so on?
* Are the lab's **students** given ample opportunity for *substantial* intellectual contributions to the lab's published research, or are they just lab/code monkeys?
* Does the lab's research agenda closely match your own research interests and abilities?
* Most importantly: **Where do the lab's former students work now?** (The worst possible answer is "We don't know.")
Almost none of these questions can be answered accurately without physically visiting the lab and talking directly to the students *without* the PI present. If travel is impractical, use Skype / Google hangout / Facetime / whatever. Or telephone. Or, if all else fails, email.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: username_3 lists many proper good factors. Few extra to add to the list:
General:
* Is the group in a good department, university? These also influence your experience and your resume. It's also nice to have fallback options if the fellow leaves/dies/loses funding, or you have a conflict.
* Is it in a town you like and can have fun in? For most people major urban centers are a draw.
Group specific:
* How fast do his students get their Ph.D.?
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/21 | 539 | 2,348 | <issue_start>username_0: I am a second year part-time masters degree student at NYU, with a full time job. My life is pretty simple and boring in NY. I was looking for opportunities, and yesterday it happened. I was accepted as an "intern" for one of Hillary Clinton's organizations in some other state. And there is this other organization that will be financially supporting me for 6 month. Later, I am expected to get a part/full time job there. This is life time opportunity, big adventure, lots of sacrifice and commitment..
My question is: Can I take a year off during grad school in order to be able to work full time in some other state?<issue_comment>username_1: As <NAME> suggests, you really need to check with your department and institutional policies. Every school, and often departments in the same school, can have very different policies.
The fact that you're a master's student, and therefore presumably enrolled in classes rather than actively conducting research, probably will make things easier, as leaves of absence are less disruptive during coursework than in research (for instance, it's harder to "postpone" a grant for a project to enable a student to take a semester or year off).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Ask, then trust but verify. There are schools, including mine, that assume you've "dropped out" if you fail to register for a relatively small number of consecutive terms.
So, there are two considerations. The program has to be willing to let you take the time off *and also* you have to fulfill the policies of the institution with regard to consecutive terms in residence.
Get it all in writing. (For the latter consideration, it's probably in the catalog.)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Regarding the *should you* that Moriarty stated, what is the likelihood that you'll return should you take the year off? If this great opportunity that you are talking extends into the next school year, your chances of returning to school diminish greatly. It is likely that more, and perhaps better opportunities will await you once you complete your degree.
Another question to ask is does this experience with this opportunity outweigh the benefits of your master's degree?
It might seem like an inviting opportunity now, but ask yourself if it is risking your education over.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/21 | 612 | 2,730 | <issue_start>username_0: I will graduate in 6-8 months with a PhD in physics and am looking to contact potential postdoc advisers. I will be applying to positions without an advertisement or prior contact with the potential advisers. I have been told by my current PhD adviser that if I wait until I just a few months before graduation, he will make the initial contact for me. I am conflicted because I understand many postdoc positions are planned and filled up to a year in advance.
I don't want to lose out on these positions, so I first want to make informal contact on my own. However, I don't want to jeopardize my chances of getting a position by sending out a poorly received informal email. I'm wondering specifically how informal emails are typically perceived in these situations. Are they liable to be perceived negatively by those professors expecting a more formal process?<issue_comment>username_1: **Informal inquiries are not liable to be perceived negatively:** An informal inquiry is a very good way to make first contact before sending over more formal items such as a CV, letters of recommendation and proposed research ideas. A thoughtful email with some very brief and basic information about yourself and your interest in the potential lab is more likely to be read and replied to (no information overload). After initial contact is made, the more formal process will then be more directed as information about timing and funding may be provided.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_1: **Informal inquiries are liable to be perceived negatively** The process should be formal from first contact, and initial inquiries should include proposed research, letters of recommendation and a CV. Sending a hard copy of these items can create a strong impression that is essential to getting hired. Formality is especially important for countries like Germany where it is expected at each step, and also for big-time researchers who receive a flood of inquiries each day.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If you were contacting me, the degree of formality wouldn't matter (so long as the salutation isn't "wassup, dude!") Two things would matter:
1. Does your email demonstrate clearly that you have put some thought into working in my group, and you're not just mass-mailing a form letter? If you fail this test, I may not open the attachments.
2. Do you have strong qualifications for the job?
As long as you're reasonably polite and your writing is not atrocious, everything else is relatively unimportant at this stage.
If your advisor has a good relationship with the person in question, his/her involvement can help considerably. But you making contact first generally won't do any harm.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/22 | 646 | 2,869 | <issue_start>username_0: [See title.] It seems ok, but one might consider it unfair in some sense? I just wanted to make sure this is acceptable. (I am specifically talking about graduate school applications.)
---
Edit: I apologize for previously withholding some information. Here are some more details.
* I am majoring in math and will have two letters from math professors at my undergrad institution.
* I also have a letter from a professor in a different department ("probability/statistics") in the same institution and am applying to this department's graduate program.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, this is fine. On the whole, a letter from someone in the department is better than a random one, in that the writer is well-known to the people on the committee. So, certainly this isn't something you should go to trouble to avoid.
**EDIT**: It seems from comments that the OP is applying to their own undergraduate institution. That's it's own can of worms (many schools heavily discourage this, for good reasons, I think), but I think there's no question that you must get at least one letter from the institution you attended as an undergraduate. It would look really problematic if you didn't (committees would assume no one there would write you a good recommendation, and thus wonder what you did to ruin your reputation).
**EDIT 2:** Just to comment further, given that the OP *also* left out that they are changing to a different department from their undergraduate degree. In that case, having a letter from someone in the department is a big help. I don't think the jump from math to statistics is so big, but generally it's very good to have letters from someone who knows the program and what it takes to succeed in it well, which is always tricky when shifting between fields.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Yes, although there are some caveats.
The best letters come from people who know you for an extended period of time under a variety of circumstances that would reflect the entirety of the qualifications you'd need in graduate school.
Presuming that you weren't an undergraduate at that university, then how well would the letter writer know you? One scenario would be that the letter writer had been a faculty member at your previous college and who had transferred to the new one. In this case, they could make a strong argument for why you would be a good candidate.
But if the letter writer simply knew you from a summer program or other short relationship, then their letter would not be as strong as someone who knew you for four years.
**Addendum**: The OP clarified that he is applying to the same institution that he graduated from as an undergraduate. In this instance, I agree with username_1 that it is critical that at least one of his letters should be from a faculty member at that institution.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/22 | 1,738 | 7,360 | <issue_start>username_0: I did my master thesis last year and recently I found out that a group of four faculty members in my department, including my thesis advisor, have published an ACM paper based on that. (A publish subscribe system based on SDN)
I will be honest. The problem statement was put forward by the faculty. The implementation (design of algorithms and coding) was completely done by me in my thesis. Then they further extended it to a distributed SDN controller environment.
In the paper, an entire section is devoted to the algorithms and implementation. Where they have almost ripped off from my thesis. The sentence structures have been changed and some beautification done to the algorithms to make it look concise.
However, I have not been given any acknowledgement or citation. Anyone who'll read that paper will have an impression that the authors were the only brains behind the project.
The university holds the copyright of my thesis. So I am not sure if this qualifies for plagiarism. But certainly, I feel it is not fair to brush someone's contribution under the carpet.
What can I do about it ? Or am I mistaken and they have every right to do how they feel as I am no longer a student there and the copyright is with them ?<issue_comment>username_1: Whether or not the department holds the copyright to your thesis is irrelevant. Using someone else's ideas without appropriate attribution is plagiarism, period.
So, if your advisor used *your* original, non-trivial scientific ideas (or your non-trivial description of those ideas) in his paper without attributing them to you, then he has committed misconduct.
The only thing that *may* be questionable is whether or not your original intellectual ideas were actually used in the paper. **What you describe definitely sounds pretty damning**, and the more information you add, the worse it sounds; but as strangers on the Internet, we don't have the whole story.
For example: Given that the idea for the thesis was the advisor's, and the paper describes a non-trivial extension, it's possible (though perhaps not likely, depending on the scope of the work) that your advisor was working on the extended version himself independently of your thesis.
It's also possible that he considers your work to be a straightforward implementation of his idea, and not an intellectual contribution - that is, he believes you were doing the work of a staff programmer, not a scientist or engineer. In which case, an acknowledgement would probably have been appropriate, but it's not necessarily plagiarism to omit it.
The degree to which your work constitutes an intellectual contribution to your advisor's paper is impossible for strangers on the Internet to judge.
I suggest you email your former thesis advisor, tell him you've seen the paper, and ask (in a non-confrontational way) how it relates to your thesis work. Then decide how to proceed from there.
Note that pursuing the matter beyond that (i.e. formally accusing him of plagiarism) may involve some serious negative consequences for you, so consider this carefully before proceeding. The morally just course of action may or may not actually be in your best interests.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There are many possible explanations. It might be that they considered the algorithm to be easy to find and that they just didn't think of citing you. On the other hand, if they were quite surprised by your algorithm, it's surprising that they would neglect to mention your contribution.
Either way, I would try asking them, in a friendly way.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: The plagiarism in any type would be discouraged and you can claim that plagiarism. The journal will investigate it and will find if it is plagiarism or not.
The theses is not the property of your supervisor as it's your effort and you may publish with or without your supervisor.
>
> IEEE Introduction to the Guidelines for Handling Plagiarism
> Complaints. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2014, from
> <http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/plagiarism.html>
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Without knowing the whole story in detail, I would just say that if you contributed *significantly* to the work that has been published then you should be a co-author. If you are not, this may count as plagiarism (look at misleading attribution at [iThenticate](http://www.ithenticate.com/resources/reports/decoding-plagiarism-and-attribution)).
It would be wise, however, to contact them to subtly enquire about the issue before throwing any accusations. Throwing false accusations can be more harmful to your future career than losing credit for some work you did.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: What college did you go to? Your thesis was done at a University/College under the instruction of your School. They have a clause in all Universities in England which states that any ideas you come up with/Develop at University belongs to the university itself. This is how the vast majority of Uni's make money by selling patents.
Usually the University will publish ideas/sell patents with the student in partnership. However if its for a small publication (Which no money is received its for the good of the general public) then there is no need to notify the student.
Look up the clauses of your university faculty before making wild allegations of Plagiarism. Having done a Masters you should know to carry out research before coming to a conclusion
Kind Regards
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: You need to check your university's policies on the faculty/student authorship question: your professor/s may have every right to use your work in this way, which used to be standard academic practice. Standard copyright/intellectual property rules may be waived or not applicable to your situation.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: Please correct me if I'm wrong, but one thing I haven't heard mentioned in this discussion is the fact that, in many universities, accepted theses and dissertations are at least self-published by the university, and are made available in some form to the public. This would make it citable even if it wasn't actually published in a journal. This, I should think, would add weight to the claim of plagiarism.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_8: First off, your understanding of copyright is flawed. The original author retains original copyright, and in your case, your university has, by virtue of being your university, been granted by you (look it up...it's in there) an unlimited LICENSE to use your copyright, and possibly/probably some first publication rights.
They do not own the copyright.
This is the same with patents. You discover something? You have the patent, which is assigned to the University. Your name is still on it, even though they own the rights to it.
Now, on to attribution: An unpublished work is generally not "citeable." It adds no credence or credibility. The appropriate structure here (assuming all the writeup at face value) is that you should receive an attribution as a contributor. i.e. "implementation and algorithm concepts are based on the thesis work of gaganbm." If your work was actually published in a journal or such, a citation would be very appropriate.
Upvotes: -1 |
2014/09/22 | 822 | 3,365 | <issue_start>username_0: In majority of universities around the world, the PhD examining committee should meet and allow PhD student to defend his/her thesis. Based on the thesis content and student performance in the viva, the committee decides whether to grant PhD to the candidate or not.
In most of the cases that I have seen, there are 4 types of decisions
1. Accept as it is (Distinction in some universities)
2. Accept with Minor Revisions (without re-examination of thesis)
3. Accept with Major Revisions (without re-examination of thesis)
4. Major Revisions with re-examination
5. Reject (No PhD; some universities grant MSc instead of PhD if the work is fine but its contribution is small).
**Now my questions are:**
1. How often do employers ask for PhD examination Committee decision report at the time of application/interview?
2. Considering the PhD requirement by almost all universities for the professorship positions, how the decision by the committee members impacts employment. My main concern is about the first three decisions of "accept." Can a PhD graduate who has "accept with major revision" never gets job in good places"?<issue_comment>username_1: I've never seen the decision asked for in job applications. I don't know whether it is something that could reasonably be asked for (that might depend on what country you are in, or what subject).
Personally, I suspect there might be more of an indirect effect. Minor revisions I would expect to be pretty much the same as no revisions, but a request of major revisions might indicate that the thesis isn't so good, which could correlate with chances in job applications. On the other hand, it may well be that the meaning of 'major revisions' varies considerably by university, so no meaningful comparison could be made.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Most faculty know that dissertation defenses can be capricious. A single holdout can ask for unreasonable changes.
If there's any doubt in my mind (as a member of a search committee) as to the quality of the dissertation, I'll read the dissertation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: At least in the US context, I've never heard of such a report being asked for.
In fact, in the case of my own PhD (at [MIT](http://web.mit.edu)) no report ever existed. In the major US research universities I've been at, PhDs are ungraded. You either get one or you don't.
For sure, the outcomes on your list are all possible. Where I've been though, there is a sheet of paper that has to be signed by the faculty committee members saying that the thesis was successfully defended and accepted. The details of what needed to happen to convince the faculty that the thesis or its defense was good enough were the criteria that the committee used to decided when to sign the sheet (your cases #1-4) or when to tell a student that they never would (your case #5) but they were never part of a formal report.
Perhaps in countries where the specifics of the examination process are more clear, this might be asked for? It's still hard for me to imagine.
If you're going into academic jobs, the letters from the committee members, and the dissertation itself, will tell folks much more than any formal report on the first draft of a dissertation will. If you're heading into academia, you *will* be asked for those things.
Upvotes: 4 |
2014/09/22 | 2,395 | 9,589 | <issue_start>username_0: I have a graph of points from a set of experiments,
that I want to present on a slide.
The important information in the graph is both the values of the points,
and more significantly, that the green points are above the blue points.
It is quick and easy to get my plotting framework (matplotlib)
to connect each point to the next:
It should be fairly clear to anyone that the relationship between points is not expected to be linear.
I thought I could want to put the line in to make it clear that one is below the other. It can be hard to see the point markers on the projector screen.
**Is this a good idea?
Does showing plots this way enhance the visibility of the them for presenting, or does the fact the that lines themselves are fairly meaningless distract too much?**
### Audience concerns:
The whole presentation is for graduating engineering students and must be simple. While they would normally have the capacity to deal with complicated plots, the content of the presentation is complicated enough that I don’t want to distract them with anything that might waste thought time. I have already rejected the box-and-whiskers plot as too complicated; this is a plot of the mean values of that data.<issue_comment>username_1: Drawing the lines implies a continuous relationship between the parameters. So if you can expect continuity, then connecting the points is fine. A second point to make is to avoid colours that are as similar as the green and blue you have chosen. One reason the difference is hard to see in the first scatter plot is due to colour. Try to experiment with colours that contrast better and your problem may be solved by just altering colours for one or both of the data sets.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: You say you want to compare your data sets *qualitatively*, that is make clear which is "better". Since they seem to follow similar functions and are close together, *normalisation* can be a good tool.
Consider, for instance, this plot:
Note how the defaults of Mathematica 10 end up creating a far clearer plot.
Knowing both functions are basically 1/√n you can multiply the value by, say, n:
Now the "winner" is more clear.
Similar effects can be achieved by (other) axis transformations, cut-offs, zooms, etc. You have to be transparent about what transformations you apply, though, because you can easily end up with a plot that says "A is thrice as good as B!" even though the real difference was miniscule.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: ### Concerning the general question
Yes, it is acceptable to connect points, even if only discrete data points exist in theory and there is no continuum. If there is reason to expect that somebody misinterpretes your visualisation due to this or if you can expect the audience to be picky about this, add the sentence (on the slide or spoken):
>
> Lines are for eye guidance only.
>
>
>
### Concerning your special diagram
* As already remarked, the colours are not well chosen (and will probably look even worse when projected). I recommend to use colours with a strong contrast, for example a white or almost white background and for the data 1) black or almost black, 2) pure red. (Be careful about pure green though, since most projectors will screw it up – dark green is better.)
* Depending on how important you consider certain things:
+ Use a logarithmic scale (or similar) for the abscissa (*x*-axis). This way points do not cluster that much for small *x* and will be easier to read.
+ Use a logarithmic scale for the ordinate (*y*-axis). This way, the exponential relationship you mentioned becomes apparent immediately. However, the points for small *x* will get even closer to each other.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Grids are an obsolete fossil that should no longer be used. Back in the days, they helped to make the plots, and also made easier to manually retrieve the data from the graph. Nowadays, it is no longer necessary, as tables with the data are available elsewhere.
And if and when they are necessary, they should be as little intrusive as possible. Your grey-blue background is just too heavy.
Once that is out of the way, you can try a log scale for the x axis, as many points are accumulated near 0:
I think here is pretty clear that blue is always greater than green. Whether adding a line or not is good, is a matter of taste:
In my opinion, and as a general rule, I would say that the lines are acceptable as long as the "wiggling" is due to the actual shape of the function, and not due to noise. That is, when adding more points (taking more measurements) will not change significantly the shape of said curve (or we don't expect it to).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: For display purposes, a smooth curve is the most logical thing to use. There are some nice spline fitting routines that allow you to create a fit that can be constrained to minimize curvature (in the process missing points that don't quite lie on the smooth curve), or you can simply eyeball the data and come up with a reasonable fit (for display - not for analysis).
I spent just a couple of minutes on this, but came up with the following:
This is basically an overlay of an Excel plot that I created (making the axes invisible) - using a simple 4 parameter model:
For the blue and green curves, I found parameters
```
blue green
A 0.8 0.8
B 1.0 1.0
C 1.0 0.5
D .05 .03
```
Obviously since you have the raw data and matplotlib, you must know how to do a better fit, but this works well.
In general, I like to show only as much information as is needed on a plot. If the point is "this is a rapidly decaying curve and green is above blue", then I would definitely leave off the grid, and maybe even most of the numbers (run the X axis from 0 to 100, with just two labels, and the Y axis from 0 to 1).
I think that your data probably doesn't go negative - so I would definitely want to fix that X axis.
If you want to further make the point "we measured this data", then leaving the points on the graph as well as the smooth fit is an OK thing to do. I would consider adding error bars to show that the fit is good - and that the points are bad.
Again - you want to make it so that the information is "only what you need". My personal preference would be like this:
So fewer ticks on the axes, but do add a legend (I call them "blue" and "green", but you should use a more meaningful name) and do label the axes - numbers alone are not enough.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I'm going to bring particle physics practice to the table and say ***never*** connect-the-dots. Nor should you run splines through data. Run *meaningful* fits through the data or nothing.
These rules reflect the understanding in that discipline that individual points can have significant error or uncertainty associated with them, and the reader needs to see the data *in toto* without focusing on individual anomalies. If you know the data can't have these issues then relaxing these rules probably doesn't cause a lot of harm.
So what can you do.
1. Use more visually distinguished markers. A combination of shape, fill and color (with as color-blind friendly a palette as you can of course) gives the reader several ways to hook into the difference.
2. Use a different plotting (normalized, anomaly from theory, linearization of power-laws, etc). This is what [username_2 suggested](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/28879/440). Finding these can be a bit of an art.
3. If you have a well justified theory (or even a good seat of the pants model), draw fit lines: those automatically reflect the whole data set (good!).
---
Some points on the basic drawing of your figure.
1. Ditch the gray background. It only makes the data harder to read *and* makes Tufte cry.
2. Using filled circles for both series is a way to cause maximum visual confusion.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: An alternate approach to connecting the dots: insert a line between the datasets to illustrate that one set of points is above the line and the other below. If it is not inappropriate to the data, use a log scale for X to gain some space between the packed points at the left to improve visibility. Use of higher contrast colors and marker shapes was previously suggested.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Normally it is better to use some kind of curve fitting (splines, etc), as we are not assuming that the measurements are absolutely accurate and the connecting lines should go from point to point.
However measurement points must also be present and very clearly visible, as they are our results and the line is our hypothesis, interpretation. Ideally showing error bars (confidence intervals) would be a good idea.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/22 | 1,309 | 6,013 | <issue_start>username_0: This question is about inquiring regarding paper status.
I had submitted a paper, and recently I just discovered that the manuscript tracking system shows that the editorial committee has received the referee's report. But, this status has remained for over a week and I still have not heard from the editor handling my paper.
Should I then email the editor as a reminder? Would this act instead be taken as urging?<issue_comment>username_1: No, there is absolutely no need to send a reminder after one week. The editor might be busy or on vacation or whatever or, maybe, he is deciding that he needs further reviews to decide.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: A week is not a long time for an editor to take a decision. He might need to go through the paper in more detail than previously, in order to check on the reviewers' criticism. It might even be that the reviewers have diverging opinions or brought up some points that need further clarification, so that the editor needs to seek further advice.
If the overall time since the paper has been submitted is still reasonable, I wouldn't inquire at all for the moment. If the paper has also been under review for a long time already, it may be reasonable to wait for another week or two and then inquire about the status of the submission.
An inquiry might be perceived as urging by the editor if he has the feeling that everything is in time with the paper. If the paper has been in review relatively long and you make a general inquiry, it shouldn't leave any bad feelings.
In professionally managed journals, the professional editorial staff would take care of such inquiries without involving the scientific editor at all, so you don't need to really worry in these cases. Just make sure to address the contact point where you got the submission receipt from, and not the editor from the general journal information page.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: When thinking about contacting an editor you need to consider the costs and benefits. In all but the most extreme circumstances (where the editor has completely lost track of your submission), the the editor is not going to be happy about a request for a status update. Responding to status update requests are in general not a huge deal, but they essentially are saying "you are behind and my time is more important than yours". In terms of the benefit, a few more days delay until publication usually has little cost (accept the anxiety knowing a decision is coming). In rare circumstances, a few days can matter a lot. For example, a resubmission where there is a high likelihood that it will be accepted and therefore "in press" and you have a grant deadline (or job application) in the next few days, would have a potentially large payoff. Similarly, a submission that has been stuck in the same state for too long (whatever that means), and there is real worry that the manuscript has gotten lost. It is not unheard of for electronic systems to have bugs or editors to leave or get sick. I would say a week in the final decision stage does not qualify as anywhere near "too long".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Once reviewers reports have been returned, the editor has to assess the reviews in light of the paper and provide the author with indications on how to proceed. Exactly how this come through will differ between fields and editors. The main point, however, is that a certain amount of work is usually needed to process the reviews before passing the manuscript with comments back to the author. Since editors also handle, sometimes, quite large volumes of papers in parallel, your manuscript will be placed in a queue and the editor will likely take each manuscript in order. In addition, many, if not most, editors do their editing in parallel to ordinary faculty jobs which may at times further limit their available time. It is thus reasonable that this process may take several weeks. In "my" journal we as editors have three weeks for this process before being reminded by the electronic submission system that the manuscript is "due". We often make this deadline, but not always depending n workload.
So, one week is definitely too short a time to expect a response. Three weeks seems to be reasonable in my field but I would maybe allow even additional time to pass. It is probably good to talk to your peers who may have experience with the particular journal and also your field to get feedback on what is considered reasonable.
Added to clarify a comment: it is never "bad" to contact anyone, but it is only fair to allow a a "reasonable" (in the sense of the field and specific journal) amount of time to pass since the early contact will not likely yield anything productive. What, on the other hand, is bad is rather the attitude with which some contacts are made. Insights into appropriate time frames will help to keep communications as fruitful as possible.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: The editor has to decipher what the reviewers mean. Few publications use a check-list system, which the most comprehensive and clearest way to handle reviews, so the editor has to figure out whether the reviewers are saying "publish", "modify and resubmit" or "reject completely - unsalavageable".
If you don't hear anything in another week then email the editor saying that you apologise for the intrusion but you've been having problems with your email system and were wondering if an email to you has gone missing.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: Echoing other responses, one week is really not all that much time for a paper to be sitting on an editor's desk, and it's not worth sending a query.
The only exception to this is if the paper is expressly on a fast-track publication schedule or some sort of deadline that might matter to the journal is rapidly approaching (for example, the publication of an article on the same day the results are presented at a major conference).
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/22 | 275 | 1,177 | <issue_start>username_0: I would like to know is there any format or things have to be aware when writing a support letter?
The letter is to support the application of a student to an award.<issue_comment>username_1: If you work with them, write about how good they were in the office, how they did work and how it helped the company.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: A great letter of support for a student will include the standard elements of a recommendation.
* Your relation to the student (lecturer, lab supervisor, academic mentor, etc.)
* The student's significant contributions to the school, the community, and the specific program.
* The student's academic excellence
* Other important factors. (Why are you being asked for this letter of support? What do you know about this student that supports their suitability for this award?)
In all of these, be specific. Don't just say "X is an excellent student". Say "X is an excellent student, as evidenced by their insightful participation in class, their strong paper (won an award at [student conference in field]), and their continued dedication to learning. I was impressed most by x, y and z."
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/22 | 534 | 2,284 | <issue_start>username_0: I saw a question asking how to write recommendation letters and I wonder why this is so important? Why are recommendation letters crucial for scholarship applications for studying in Masters or research ? They should be more interested in the student willing to work hard and be loyal to the studies, not cheat, or plagarise or use unfair means to win. What will a recommendation do instead?<issue_comment>username_1: Your question seems to present the use of letters of recommendation as being orthogonal to the goals of selecting hard-working and dedicated students. **This is simply a false assumption.**
The purpose of letters of recommendation is to ensure the person making the selections that they are choosing qualified candidates who will satisfy the needs of the program. Anybody can claim to be hard-working, but how do you know this is *actually* the case? If you have several people, well-versed in the needs of research or advanced study in a given topic, telling you that candidate X has all the prerequisites and character traits needed to ensure success, you're a lot more likely to believe it than just to take someone's word about himself or herself.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> "They should be [more] interested in the student willing to work hard
> and be loyal to the studies, not cheat, or plagiarize or use unfair
> means to win."
>
>
>
True enough. But letters of recommendation are the best way to "find out."
Grades and test scores certainly count, but they do not "testify" to a student's ethics or his/her ability to "game" the system. Only human beings know what was really behind someone's record. The way to get that kind of information is to have students submit letters of recommendation.
What people **don't** say is often has important as what people say. In a litigious American society, not everyone will point out someone's negatives. But a letter to the effect of "s/he did okay in my class as far as I remember" is not exactly a ringing endorsement but rather a red flag, especially if that person has a high grade.
The classic example of "damning with faint praise" was cited by my father, a retired professor. "If you knew him as well as we do, you would appreciate him as much."
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/22 | 3,401 | 14,835 | <issue_start>username_0: I am nearly finished with my master's degree. Recently, I enrolled in a required course that is a terrible mess. I'd like to wait another year, and take it again with an instructor who has their stuff together and will actually answer student questions and prepare lessons that match the exams. Delaying graduation seems preferable to wasting more time on this course.
* Some classmates gave the teacher what I believe are reasonable suggestions, but the instructor just gave excuses.
* I looked all through the course catalog, but only see policies that assume students are the problem-makers. For instance, after one week into the term, students get no tuition refunds and a "W".
* I'd rather not create problems for the instructor, who is new to this job.
Are there any steps I can take to clear myself of this mess?<issue_comment>username_1: I have seen cases where the instructor is given a module just two weeks before it starts, has no time to prepare, and might not have the proper background to teach it.
You might consider that the instructor is doing his/her best with what they have to work with. You might consider talking with the instructor to see what they believe you should be doing in order to succeed in the course. If they say "read the book" then you should read the book and study with little support.
Not all instructor are good and some are good but in a bad situation (that is, a situation not of their own making but rather one forced upon them). Either way, talk with them and find out what you can do to succeed.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: *Warning:* my answer might be out of focus for you because it takes into account only the information on your question, while some of your comments complement that information.
Unfortunately, some instructor do waste students' time by doing a very poor job; I'll assume this is the case here (but note that sometimes students feel that a course is done very badly but realize later that they learned more than they expected: student need not know better than instructors what they really need).
Here is basically what I told to students complaining that their instructor made the course impossible to follow when I was responsible for a 500 students, 20 instructors course (they were not the first to complain about these instructors, and I had other evidence preventing me to blame them for the problem): I know your teacher is not the teacher you would have wanted, but I cannot do anything beside reporting the issue to him, which will certainly not solve the problem instantly. We have the same issue as teachers, having some students that often do not know the prerequisites for the course, are not willing to learn them as we tell, and/or do not believe us when we say that the course needs a fair amount of personal work. *Both teachers and students should do their best in the situation they are given,* which means that you can and should try to talk with your teacher to mitigate the issues you have, but at the same time be prepared for the issue not to be solved before the end of term, and find a way to learn what you have to learn. There are books, there are other students with whom to work, etc. If you think it is best, don't waste time with the instructor's course and learn by yourself while keeping in touch with the important information (homework, exam dates, etc.)
So to state this again in fewer words, it seems much more efficient for you to make your best to master the course content, judging this content from the syllabus and what related books discuss, rather than expecting next year's instructor to be better.
I would say that the expected outcomes of such an attitude should be:
* you learn valuable things and pass the exam, because ultimately it tested what you learned,
* you learn valuable things and pass the exam, because your institution realizes that there is an issue and makes it right somehow,
* you learn valuable things and fail the exam, which turns out to be indeed impossible.
Even in the last case, you get more from this attitude than dropping the course altogether.
**Edit:** this answer was written under the assumption that the class is mandatory, as I (mis-?)understood the question. Of course, for a class that is not needed or that can be switched with another, then these would be options to consider seriously. If the course can be delayed without losing the benefit of the other courses, this would also be an option to consider. So my answer is really about what to do if dropping or failing the course implies one has to take the whole year again.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: My thoughts:
First, you need to make sure that the problem is the instructor and not you. Are a large number of other students having the same problems? In my experience, it is also often the case that a class appears badly taught to a student who is missing something key about the material. For example, when I was a grad student TAing for an artificial intelligence class, we often had people complain that we tested them on different material than we had taught them. In fact, however, they were missing the point: the real material was the methodologies for decomposing problems, not the particular examples of problem decomposition that had been used to teach this methodology. Their classmates who had grasped the key idea of the class, however, had no problems.
If, however, the problems are really a matter of the instructor giving a terribly badly organized course, then I think that your third premise (don't want to cause trouble because they are new) is fundamentally flawed.
If this instructor is expecting to have a career involving teaching, it's much better to have serious problems brought up early, where they can become part of a "plan for improvement" rather than several years down the line, where they are part of a pattern that will get them fired. Most departments really do care about teaching (among other things, because it affects the number of students they get and thus their resources within the institution), but often don't have a lot of resources available to devote to *managing* teaching.
You have an academic advisor in the department, yes? Go to that person with a report of the widespread problems, and ask their help. It's unlikely that anything will actually be able to change this semester (schedules are set too far in advance), but:
1. It will help establish a record that can cause things to change in the future.
2. Your academic advisor will be able to help figure out how to deal with the matter of credits in your program, and whether it's better to drop or to grind through or to attempt some sort of petition (in many departments, you can do anything if the right three people are willing to sign the right piece of paper)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> *some have suggested complaining or going to some authority, but offer no specific suggestions about how to do this*
>
>
>
First, you need to understand how the authority chain is structured in academia. Your first course of action is to confront the instructor, which you've already done. The next step up would be the department head, and after that, the dean of the school – but I wouldn't recommend going past the department head with your complaints.
You need to do this very carefully. You need to be level-headed, respectful, factual, and specific. Be sure your case is compelling. In the event of a "he-said/she-said" debate, assume the department head will probably lean toward having the faculty member's back, rather than believing an offended student. Many students are too quick to complain when things don't go their way, making it easy for complaints to fall on deaf and jaded ears.
For example, in the scant details you've provided here:
* *Assignments are graded without rubric*.
I won't dispute the value of rubrics, but this is hardly a grievous offense. Many instructors don't opt to use rubrics.
* *Homework is graded inconsistently with instructions*.
This will be very hard to prove. A lot of assignments are by nature subjective, and it's hard to pinpoint why grades are given the way they are. Students often turn in work that is inconsistent. For example, say I assign some problem to be answered with an essay question. One student gets right to the heart of the matter, but the overall work is sloppy, and it reads like a draft that was hastily written 10 minutes before class. Another misses the point a little bit, but the essay is carefully crafted and has a lot of supporting detail. A third addresses the matter from an angle I hadn't considered before. How are my instructions supposed to cover all those cases, and more? (Moreover, assignment instructions are often very hard to get right the first time around, because you don't yet know how students might misinterpret stated requirements.)
* *Tests are very hard, but contain no relationship to the course assignments and lessons*.
The first part of that is **not** a problem, although the second part is. If you start out by complaining about difficult tests, you may come across as a whiner and get very little sympathy or support. Be very careful about even mentioning that "tests are very hard."
You'll also have to figure out what you want the end goal of your complaints to be. Do you want action taken before the semester is over? Or are you only looking to give feedback so that next year's students don't find themselves in the same unfortunate circumstances? If you're hoping for intervention this term, probably the best you could hope for is for the department head to counsel the instructor, urging him to get his act together before the end of the term. But there are two sides to every story, and, unless your complaints are true on a large level, you're unlikely to get much sympathy. In other words, a bad question here and there on an exam is part of getting a new course underway, as are confusing assignments. If these are just normal "growing pains," you'll come off as a malcontent. On the other hand, if these are verifiable, wholesale shortcomings in the ability to conduct a course fairly and effectively, you might get a department head to step in, and urge the professor to get his act together. Even then, though, you'll probably have to make it to the end of the course, and you might see very little improvement. It's unlikely that the instructor will be reassigned midstream.
In short, you'll have to convince the department head that this faculty member is bordering on incompetence, and that it's not merely a case of an unpopular professor. This might be a tough sell.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: I haven't seen this suggested...
How connected are you to the other students in the course?
Is it possible for you to meet as a group with the department chair?
You've got little power in the situation, but one thing you do have in your favor is that a new instructor is unlikely to fail a huge proportion of the class, particularly if those students have politely met with the department chair to express their concerns and provide samples of the lectures, homework and exams.
You can't get out of the class, but you can make it advantageous for the instructor to give everyone a good grade.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: If you are about to finishing your master degree I strongly suggest not to postpone this course another year. Study for it with the material the professor gave you and if you find that something is missing or not clear speak with the professors.
Doing a master degree is not only about having good professors and learning from them. You are also supposed to learn (a little) by yourself. Not like a PhD student, of course.
If you want to help your professor in getting the course better talk to him. Going through his superiors is not helping.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: I would not recommend going over your professor's head at this point. At least, it is not clear that you have done everything possible to turn the situation around. I'm hoping that your goal is to understand the content of the class so that you are not wasting the term.
I think that, instead of asking the professor to change, you should approach him under the premise that you want to adapt to do better in the course. To do this, I would propose the following strategy:
---
1) You want to understand the grading of the homework. So go to your professors office each week with your graded homework and tell him/her you want to find strategies for doing better on future assignments. Ask to go over the assignment to learn how/why you lost points.
DO NOT ASK FOR POINTS BACK. If the grading is fair, you will get a better sense for what is expected. If it is not fair, s/he will likely recognize this as you go through the assignment, and might offer to regrade it without prompting. Be polite and engaged with the material. You want your professor to take an active interest in your success in the class.
2) The midterm may or may not have anything to do with the content of the course. At the master's level you should be expected to go beyond regurgitation and apply your knowledge. Take your graded exam to your professor and tell him/her you want to learn the material better. If you do not understand how a particular problem is connected to the course, it is okay to say so. But, don't make it seem like it is the professor's problem. Remember, you are trying to learn. You might say something like "could you explain how you think about this problem? I didn't see how to solve it using the techniques from class."
Again, DO NOT ASK FOR POINTS BACK. Give your professor the opportunity to help you understand the test. If some aspect of the test is unfair, allow your professor to realize this on his/her own. As before, be positive and engaged. You do not want your professor to feel threatened.
---
In summary, I'd like to remind you that professors are people too. If you only give negative feedback, you are unlikely to get the outcome you want. If you are not receiving the support in class to succeed, it is okay to get more help outside of class. However, this is going to also require more work on your part.
It is going to create more work for your professor as well. If other students struggling in the class do the same thing, this will amount to a lot more work, and may be enough incentive for the professor to make the changes you are looking for. Just make sure you keep your interactions polite and respectful.
If, in the end, this strategy doesn't work, you will have taken concrete steps to improve the situation. This will be important if you ultimately feel you need to take the issue to the department chair.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/22 | 400 | 1,823 | <issue_start>username_0: A TA normally has a hourly contract for working with a professor. Who pays for this contract? The professor's external funding is for research, not education.
If the department pays for that, how the budget is distributed among professors, as every professor (almost any) would appreciate having TA.<issue_comment>username_1: In the schools with which I am familiar,the *department* pays for all teaching activities, including Teaching Assistants.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Your question makes assumptions that are not necessarily valid.
For instance, in the US (where I studied), the contracts for TA's are normally paid for at the departmental level. The department gets a budget from the university to cover a certain amount of TA's, which it allocates to the different courses taught in the department, usually based on the expected enrollment. Courses that have traditionally enrolled more students (usually intro classes) as well as lab courses tend to have more TA's than smaller, more specialized courses.
By contrast, in Germany, the expectation is that the individual professors' research groups are responsible for providing the funding for teaching assistants. In part, this is done through the contribution of faculty-wide teaching resources, as well as having permanent positions called *Planstelle* which have teaching duties associated with them. So the money in large part still comes from the faculty, but the organization process is at the scale of an individual group.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: In Sweden, PhD students and Post docs are paid with the PI research money for doing research. Teaching is optional (but in some departments it is expected or strongly encouraged), in which case it is paid from the department's teaching budget.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/22 | 1,045 | 4,315 | <issue_start>username_0: I have a bachelors degree in Computer Science & Engineering and have specific experience in geographic information systems (GIS). I am planning to enroll in a GIS PhD program and have searched for [United States universities with GIS PhD programs](http://www.gradschools.com/search-programs/geographic-information-systems/doctorate). However, none of these PhD programs are offered from a Computer Science department: all programs are in either a Geography department or Civil Engineering department or Earth Science department. Should I apply to these other departments even though I come from a Computer Science background?
*Can a student complete his PhD program in a university department other then the department of his undergraduate work?*<issue_comment>username_1: >
> "Should I apply to these other departments even though I come from a Computer Science background?"
>
>
>
Absolutely! Degree programs vary per institution in scope and means, but the ends are often the same, after completing the program you will have a PhD in GIS. You can use this to your advantage to tailor a degree to your strengths, providing its offered at the institution(s) of your choice.
>
> "Can a student complete his PhD program in a university department
> other then the department of his undergraduate work?"
>
>
>
Yes, a student accepted to a GIS PhD program could complete it in a department other than Computer Science, provided the institution attending offered such a degree program.
I'm sure some schools want certain backgrounds, similar to how most seek out a certain GPA. This will vary for each university you are interested in as each university is unique and offers unique programs and opportunities.
Open data driven via GIS maps is going to rise in demand astronomically. As well as the rest of the tenets of openness shall; but in your case, I think you are tailored for a gig in open journalism, and you should focus on web development while not pursuing your PhD.
Learn web development with your GIS PhD. Your Computer Science background should make learning web development relatively effortless.
This is not a great answer in terms of a definitive answer, but your possibilities are endless:
**Further resources:**
* [GIS PHD Dilemma podcast](http://www.directionsmag.com/podcasts/the-gis-phd-dilemma/125077)
* [list of gis programs and certifications](http://www.gisdoctor.com/site/gis-graduate-programs-ph-d-programs-and-certificate-programs/)
* [Yahoo! Answers](https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080911115640AAfdJlR)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: When you go to a mainly geographic department, you will have to study courses for projections, spatial databases, geo-servers and mapping frameworks, which you already probably know through your job. Geographic departments have people without a programming background and therefore these people have to be trained almost from scratch, so they can do this type of research. On the other hand, many of these departments have some relatively young professors with a CS background who are really looking forward to work with CS people like you (instead of geographers) to mainly progress their research. In that sense, I am sure you can be accepted at such a program but prepare to have to take courses on things you are already familiar with.
On the other hand there are many "pure" CS professors, working on "pure" CS departments, who also do GIS related research. If you look at more CS focused GIS conferences, like ACM SIGSPATIAL GIS you will find many papers by mainly CS people on GIS related subjects. So, you can search for possible advisors there, by looking at the papers that get published in such venues in the last 2-3 years. If you find some papers that deal with subjects that you are interested in, you can find out in what universities the authors work, perhaps contact them (advice on how to approach potential advisors is scattered everywhere on this site) and take it from there. It does not always matter the "title" of the PHD (if it says GIS or not) but IHMO it is more important to work with people that do interesting things, close to your interests. So, do not exclude the possibility to do GIS research on a pure CS department.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer] |
2014/09/23 | 257 | 1,177 | <issue_start>username_0: I wonder can I ask a lecturer who I took his course and I did amazing in his class for a letter of recommendation?
The reason why I am asking is because lecturers are not usually doing research and might be permanent faculty member.<issue_comment>username_1: If you're applying for a research-based position, it is almost always better to have letters of recommendation from people who know you and can comment on your research skills.
However, if you do not have enough letters of recommendation that can come from such people, then a letter of recommendation from someone who knows your work well and can comment on your strengths and weaknesses is also acceptable—even if it is not a "permanent faculty member."
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If a lecturer can comment your relevant skills, then there is nothing wrong with asking a reference letter. As your instructor, they may know that you are highly motivated, hard working, easily grasping the hard theoretical concepts... all very relevant for e.g. grad school.
In my experience the problem is more often that the instructor does not really know you.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/23 | 425 | 1,630 | <issue_start>username_0: I am filling out a **"Consent to Publish"** form and I need to fill out the **Volume Editor(s) field**. I tried to find out who these editors are, but all I found was the **series editors** and the **main editor**.
For example for the [Lecture Notes In Computer Science](http://www.springer.com/series/558) there are 12 series editors. I doubt that I should list all 12 of them. Are the volume editors a subset of series editors, or are these two concepts unrelated?<issue_comment>username_1: I guess this is a paper in conference proceedings that are published in the LNCS series?
Usually volume editors = programme committee chairs (or at least the PC chairs are a subset of volume editors).
Just put the names of the PC chairs; it is close enough. The series editors are something completely different (related to the entire LNCS series, not this particular volume).
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You should ask the person who sent you this form (PC chair?) what to write there. Springer does advise them to send the form pre-filled. Volume editors are people preparing proceedings for the publications - but essentially, it is up to the conference organizers who will be listed there (e.g., whether to include BIG-SHOT-WHO-IS-EMERITUS-PCCHAIR and/or POOR-PHD-STUDENT-WHO-PROOFREAD-EVERY-PAPER). Thus, it is not easy for you as an author to guess...
P.S. Or may be you googled for LncS copyright form?;)
P.P.S. Series editors supervise the series - i.e., they approve the proposals for publication in the series. They should not be listed in the copyright form
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/23 | 1,744 | 7,750 | <issue_start>username_0: The question of whether writing/editing *alone* merits authorship is already addressed [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21251/is-it-common-to-claim-co-authorship-by-helping-writing-a-paper-without-doing-any). This question is about writing and editing *with the possibility of minor scientific contributions.*
I have been asked to review a draft paper written by a colleague (a more senior PhD student in the same research group), whose native language is not English. The main purpose is to improve the style and grammar of the paper, rather than make substantial comments to the scientific content.
It is possible that I will be able to contribute some science to the paper, however not likely of the "pedagogical oversight" variety that is normally the domain of the last several authors on a ten-author paper.
**Should I approach my colleague with the request that I be placed on the author list, *only if* I can make a reasonable contribution to the science (by way of some substantial comments or extra data analysis)?**<issue_comment>username_1: I have the feeling this may be field dependent. In my field/experience (biological science/bioinformatics) people that are asked to help with English do not get co-authorship. Indeed, in many journals where the contribution to the manuscript has to be stated, editing of manuscripts is not considered as enough contribution to warrant co-authorship. Most of the time the person that edited the manuscript ends up in the acknowledgements. That being said, I know also of cases in this field where the person editing the English would get systematically a place in the list of authors.
Personally, if I ask someone to check the English, I would not feel comfortable if the changes are substantial. The manuscript writing is critical for the work to stand a chance of being published and in such case I would most likely offer co-authorship. If the changes are minor then I will just include him/her in the acknowledgements section. At any rate, it is an important thing to discuss with your colleague before accepting the task of editing the manuscript.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The short answer is: it should not. But the reality is some think it should. Since there is no law that dictates authorship the closest to an answer is to look at the Vancouver Protocol and derivatives here exemplified by the [ICMJE (Internationa l Committee of Medical Journal Editors)](http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html) which defines an *author* as follows:
* Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
* Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
* Final approval of the version to be published; AND
* Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
With these guidelines in mind many co-authorships would disappear but it becomes quite clear that help with language simply is not enough for co-authorship.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: You don't say (here) what field you're in. I suppose that by doing this you intend to invite answers from different fields.
In my own field of mathematics, it would be quite strange for someone to be added as a coauthor primarily for their editing work.
Nevertheless I had a situation recently where I did substantially edit and rewrite a paper in which I was not an author. (I think this is already a bit unusual, but it's hard to know for sure.) In addition to the writing I included a small amount of content: "minor scientific contributions" covers it rather well, actually. Towards the end of the process I was offered coauthorship on the paper. I appreciated the offer but turned it down immediately: though I had contributed to the writing of the paper and contributed *some* mathematical content, the amount of mathematical content I had contributed was much less than that of the named authors. My perspective was, honestly, that they had already done the work but were having trouble writing it up in a way that would make it publishable in a good journal in a reasonable amount of time. To me, a good rule of thumb is that if subtracting your contribution would result in a paper which (i) still exists and (ii) could -- with additional routine work -- be submitted to the same journal, then your contribution was not sufficiently substantial to warrant coauthorship. In the case at hand, a description my contributions to the paper appears in the acknowledgments...written by me!
There is another way to look at it that in my case made me even more convinced that I did the right thing. When contemplating adding an author, ask yourself what that person would gain by being added versus what the other authors would lose. In my case I would gain at most one more publication -- in fact, the third of a series in which I was a coauthor (the most senior one) on the first two. The two student coauthors would lose the prestige of having written a nice paper which does not have a faculty coauthor....as they deserve, because they did more than 95% of the mathematics of the paper on their own, without any guidance or direction from me. Adding myself as a coauthor would be undermining my own future plans, as I have and will again in the future talk about this work when recommending these students. But even if I was just a postdoc or a more senior grad student, fundamentally speaking how much credit can I get by being an author of a paper when as soon as anyone asks me about it I will feel honorbound to describe the minimal nature of my contributions?
I hope that by the end I have waded back into a point which is relevant to your question. Academics should not be in the business of maximizing the number of papers which appear with our name on them. I don't know of any academic field where this is really the route to substantial academic success: you get hired for the actual strength of your work, not the number of your papers. Adding yourself as an author to a paper that you mostly just copyedited and then made some minor comments from a position of lesser insight/expertise than some of the named authors: in so doing you're not **actually** adding strength to you research program, are you? Anyone who might have been impressed with the paper is going to be distinctly disappointed when they learn what you actually did, right? I know that in some fields (much more than mine...) the quantitative standards for publication are very high: in some branches of engineering and the sciences you most certainly want to ensure that you are writing a lot of papers rapidly. But then you want to *really* be involved in the work of those papers, right? We've seen on this site how easy it is to publish papers in the absence of actual academic content. It's **too easy** to be a plausible route to legitimate academic success in most parts of the world.
As I mentioned in a comment, you said that the one coauthor who is a native English speaker is the most junior author on the paper (a master's student). Well, that confluence of *lightness* of intellectual contribution and superior skill in this other domain makes that student the perfect person to do the copyediting, it seems to me. If their understanding is so limited that they can't even be trusted to edit the paper for non-content related issues, then I am worried about their being listed as an author at all: what could they have done?
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/24 | 605 | 2,617 | <issue_start>username_0: I have a PhD in Business with an emphasis in Political Marketing and a Masters in Linguistics.
Now due to some personal and life circumstances, I would like to start collaborating in research about Linguistics and second language acquisition.
My question is, can I initiate or collaborate on research and publish my work in a completely different field than my PhD?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no reason why not. Consider this - you have already qualified in the field of linguistics to a Masters level, and presumably passed final examination/defense, therefore have already shown that you have knowledge and experience in that particular field - this can potentially help in generating research projects and collaborations
I am in a very similar situation, my PhD is in Physics, my Masters is in Digital Education - I have been able to contribute published research to both - the published research in both has been the most assistance in my case.
The main thing is to contribute robust and new research to the field, this is the main way that research collaborations can be initiated and generated.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If you can perform some research and write it up with the result that a journal wants to publish it, then it doesn't matter what qualifications you have, if any at all! Many journals do blind reviews which means their reviewers don't know the qualifications of *any* of the papers they review.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Why not?
Unless you are an already recognized person in a given field (to which you write this paper), reviewers don't care what is your main field. (Of course, you need to meet the same standards to the quality of research and writing.)
You affiliation *may* bias reviewers (but I would guess that people would be more biased by prestige of the univ./institute/department than other factors). Moreover, it is not uncommon to:
* have people working in more than one field,
* official names of affiliation being not directly related to their actual specialization,
so I don't think it is a big factor.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: You certainly can. Just consider the example of Professor <NAME> (University of Michigan) who has published in the following fields:
* Economics
* Political science
* Psychology
* Physics
* Management
* Public health
* Computer science
He has an MA in Math, MS in Business, and a PhD Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences.
So you can not only publish in the area of your masters but even in areas unrelated to either your masters or PhD.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/24 | 775 | 3,384 | <issue_start>username_0: I live in US and I am applying to graduate school.I wonder if it is a good idea to send an email to graduate school professors and mention that you like their research and would like to join their research labs?<issue_comment>username_1: While you *live* in the US, you didn't specify whether you are applying to schools only in the US. And the answer depends.
**Outside the US, especially Europe**, quite frequently PhD positions are funded by individual professors. In these cases the hiring/admission decisions are made almost entirely by the professor in charge of the "group", and so the answer to your question is an "Of course!" There simply is no way to get your foot in the door otherwise.
**In the US, or in countries where a US-style system is the norm**, the admission of graduate students are made in committee, and it is *not* necessary to contact specific professors in the application process. This, however, is not to say that establishing a faculty contact won't help: sometimes it will at least earn your application a more detailed look, and sometimes you will find a person willing to advocate on your behalf during the committee meeting.
In either case, **be thoughtful when you craft your e-mail**. In the US and elsewhere alike, professors often get e-mails exploring the possibility of doing a PhD. So make sure to do your homework! If you write a letter to Professor X asking about studying Subject A with him, and he has in fact left Subject A and had been working on Project B for the past 5 years, at best he would politely decline and at worst you may have created a bad first impression. Same thing goes for a bland letter stating "I like your research". By default academics are suspicious of empty platitudes: make sure to discuss your background (to show that you are making a somewhat informed judgment) and state what it is particularly that you like about her research.
Furthermore, note that in some/many US schools, incoming graduate students for PhD programs do not formally choose an advisor until one or two years into the program. This has to do in part with the belief that the students should be allowed to see all the opportunities available to them, and the professors have some time to assess the students, to mutually make educated decisions about their partnerships. So you should also **weigh your own feelings**: are they strong enough that you absolutely must work with this one professor? Or do you have broad enough interests that you may want to hold off deciding until you learn more about the subjects?
Lastly, if geography is not a barrier, instead of just an e-mail expressing interest, you can also consider writing and asking to schedule a face-to-face appointment. Even if you end up not working with the professors, more often than not you will learn something and get some very good advice from the discussion.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Its a very good idea to write to the professor you are interested in working with. However, its very important to do your research and find out everything about them. Do use formal language. And show some insight into their work... "I read your research paper on..., I think it has many applications, and we can expand the research to include.... and my background in... will be helpful". But don't be critical of the work.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/24 | 575 | 2,295 | <issue_start>username_0: I am doing research in text mining. For that I need a dataset which contain full text PDFs of research paper articles, and all articles should be related with each other in terms of citing. There are citation network datasets available which contain only metadata of papers, but with this I also want those full text articles in PDF format.
What should I do to get such dataset?<issue_comment>username_1: My first thought would be [arXiv](http://arXiv.org), where you can find 973,256 full-text papers.
You [may not bulk-download them directly](http://arxiv.org/help/robots) from arXiv.org, but [other methods](http://arxiv.org/help/bulk_data) are available. In particular, you can download every PDF hosted by arXiv via Amazon S3, by paying a bandwidth charge of USD 0.12 per gigabyte. See [these instructions](http://arxiv.org/help/bulk_data_s3). Metadata in various formats is also available.
Contrary to DTCLib's assertion that "nobody could provide you with such a data set without violating copyright laws", it is perfectly legal for arXiv to do this, since each author submitting a paper to the repository gives arXiv the right to redistribute the paper to anyone. Note, however, that does not in general give *you* the right to redistribute them further. (Some papers on arXiv are released under Creative Commons licenses, or even are in the public domain, but most are not.)
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: An alternative to arXiv mentioned in another response could be [PubMed Central](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/), specially if you are interested on text mining of papers in biomedical and life sciences research.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: ACL Anthology Network is a dataset, that contains about 22,000 articles related to conferences under the umbrella of ACL. they deal with papers in coputational lingusitics. The dataset contains text files for all the papers from 1960s to 2014. Some network information is also provided in the dataset.
<http://clair.eecs.umich.edu/aan/index.php>
If you want more structured XML files, the same can be obtained, but needs to be downloaded with a mass downlaoder, and is available for only about 9500 of papers. Also individual PDFs also need to be obtained separately, if required
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/24 | 1,422 | 6,177 | <issue_start>username_0: My teacher's teaching style isn't working for me, and he asked for feedback about the class and how he could teach it better. He teaches with powerpoint and gives quizzes that are all about rote memorization of the slides. Most of the class finds these quizzes to be of little help in understanding the information, but nobody knows what to say to the teacher about it.<issue_comment>username_1: If the quizzes are of little help to everyone, and the teacher is asking for feedback on his teaching style, and nobody says anything, then the blame is on the students. If the teacher is sincerely asking for feedback he will not be offended by your comments (given you express them in a polite way). Tell him politely (and directly) what the problem is. He will surely appreciate the feedback.
As an example, I am teaching programming to some students with little programming experience. They are struggling and I know some of the concepts are difficult to understand. At the end of every two classes I ask if the explanations and exercises are being helpful, if they are helping them to understand the topic. I always get positive feedback. That makes me a little nervous- if they are failing to communicate their difficulties I will fail to make them understand the topic. I would prefer constructive criticism than misunderstood politeness.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Basically, I agree that what xLeitix said is the gist of if: **as long as you are respectful, you should be fine**.
To elaborate a little, my only experience with giving feedback back to the professor is a bit specific: a fairly young professor, that just got the course for the first time and was trying to improve it. Like in your case, he also said that he would appreciate feedback.
I'll try to give some specific advice, with a specific example of my situation:
* again, **be very respectful**
(In my situation, this meant that I didn't start loudly complaining in class as the reading material quality (made by the prof) steadily degraded during the year. Rather, when I found enough time, I passed by the professors office during the office hours and asked him if he would be interested in my feedback on his reading materials.)
* **be as informed as you can about the coursework** for which you disagree with the teaching approach
(Basically, why would I take your advice on how to teach X if you don't even have a rudimentary understanding of X?)
* be **specific**, and **give argumented reasons**
(For me, this meant, when he agreed to listen to my feedback -- he actually scheduled a meeting outside of his office hours for that class suspecting it will take some time -- I didn't just come and said the materials were getting worse. I had specific examples of pages and exercises that I had trouble solving, marked in the script. I also offered information like "it took me X hours to finish and understand the first script (good quality), while it took me 4\*X hours to finish the second one (worse quality), and they are supposed to cover approximately the same amount of coursework". For you, it might mean explaining how and why you don't think the feedback you're getting from quizzes is not helpful.)
* **make specific recommendations or suggestion** (but don't demand anything)
(Again, in my case, alongside some of the things I marked, like exercises and definitions I had trouble with, sometimes I had my own versions of definitions, or I would re-phrase the examples in a way that made it easier for me to understand. It also help pointing out the ambiguities in the original and saying why you think your formulation resolves it.)
* be **committed**. The bigger the change you want to make, the more committed your will need to be.
(As you can see form the above, making a *substantial* change, at least according to me, will probably require you do to a substantial amount of work on your own -- without the professor's help -- to be able to give suggestions well supported by arguments. Of course, you don't have to take all the points super-seriously if you just opt for a short 5-minute chat giving some suggestions and examples.
On the other hand, in my case, where I *loved* the course, I thought it was important, I thought the prof was great and trying really hard, and I had a (young and naive) wish to make a change for future generations, I took a few days to prepare my notes, I came to Uni a few days after the summer break has started in order to have time to give all my comments in as much detail as the professor wanted, and it did help that the prof actually knew and remembered me from the courses and valued my opinion at least a little.)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: If it were me, I would leave an anonymous typed note that cannot trace back to me. No one responds to emotional feedback (that only makes a person defensive and even more resistant to improvement), but make sure the feedback is highly constructive, and entirely unemotional and not accusatory in any fashion.
When I was in school, I did confront bad teachers. I can confirm that direct, accusatory methods do not work. Now that I am older, I can say with certainty that the most unemotional and constructive methods will work best.
If you have to, first write the note when you are emotional, and then come back some time later when you are no longer emotional and rewrite the note, and then, only then, give it to the teacher. Try to give it to them anonymously, because if it's really a bad teacher, they might single you out, and that's the last thing you want.
Alternatively, if you have built a strong relationship with the teacher, then you can use your relationship to try to help them and give them valuable feedback, as a friend. People usually listen to their friends who speak out of a kind heart.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: Send him a respectful email that you are having trouble understanding the concept and if he could please change the style a bit to what you want. That way, it "feels" like you are the one doing something wrong and are asking him of a favor, and you are less likely to offend him.
Upvotes: -1 |
2014/09/24 | 1,310 | 4,635 | <issue_start>username_0: I recently had a university student (my ex) expelled from my undergrad university when he was found responsible for physical abuse and sexual misconduct. How would this expulsion affect his future educational career?
How would the expulsion affect him if he tried to apply to law school?<issue_comment>username_1: Extremely, overwhelmingly negatively if it is found out. Nobody wants such a person as part of their program and rightfully so. Most universities do not do background checks or anything, but it is going to be difficult for the person to get letters of recommendation from professors who know why he was expelled.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This answer assumes the person in question has been *convicted* of those crimes. If he has not, things will be easier (but not a cakewalk).
The conviction and expulsion will affect him quite significantly, given that some universities require applicants to declare both certain criminal convictions (usually sex, violence, or drug convictions) and any previous expulsions. Trying to hide convictions is a *very* bad idea.
Sure, you can find a university who does not require a declaration (or will admit the applicant anyway, if the university is sufficiently satisfied that the student has reformed) - the likelihood of such probably varies by country. I suspect life as a graduate student would be very difficult (getting teaching positions may be hard).
This question reminds me of [an article](http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11191628) I read a while ago. This man was a convicted murderer, and has turned his life around and obtained a PhD in psychology.
Any specific advice would be subject to the laws of his country, the policies of the universities, and more specific details of the conviction (read: off-topic for StackExchange).
There will *always* be roadblocks, especially with sex and abuse convictions. Repentance and perseverance may clear enough to find a path through, but it wouldn't be easy.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: If convicted of these crimes, the student's entire career will be in jeopardy. Additionally, it will be next to impossible to achieve any sort of security clearance (especially in the US), and many jobs will not hire them due to their criminal past that comes up in a background check. It may also exclude the student from being accepted into many other undergraduate and graduate schools.
According to [this source](http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2014/02/12/news/20local_02-12-14.txt#.VCMxPdy-2G4),
>
> At LCCC, the school also looks into incidents that involve students,
> vice president of student services <NAME> said.
>
>
> “If the incident would affect the college environment, like a sex
> offense, we would absolutely look into that,” she said. “If it’s an
> alcohol offense and they’re underage, we’d look at that as well.”
>
>
> The dean of students generally decides if an incident needs to be
> evaluated, she said. But the college looks for violations of student
> policy or code of conduct, not at the crime.
>
> ...
>
> Penalties students could face can range from making an apology to being expelled [again], Hay said.
>
>
>
<NAME>. 'Students Facing Legal Trouble May See Penalties From College | Wyomingnews.Com'. Wyomingnews.Com. Last modified 2014. Accessed September 24, 2014. <http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2014/02/12/news/20local_02-12-14.txt#.VCNFKxLTQl9>.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: A criminal conviction could affect eligibility for financial aid. For example, [in the US](https://studentaid.ed.gov/eligibility/criminal-convictions#other-convictions),
>
> ### What other convictions might affect my aid?
>
>
> If you have been convicted of a forcible or nonforcible sexual offense, and you are subject to an involuntary civil commitment upon completion of a period of incarceration for that offense, you cannot receive a Federal Pell Grant.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> How would the expulsion affect him if he tried to apply to law school?
>
>
>
1. You are thinking about the wrong thing. Think about: How would his non-expulsion have affected your grades and ability to continue your career and life as a free and happy person when one of the times which really decide who you will be would have been deeply spoiled by somebody abusing you?
2. The academic programs which i know would not consider something like this if he was not convicted of a crime, so if he learned his lessen and behaves well, it should not be terrible for him.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/25 | 1,662 | 5,430 | <issue_start>username_0: What databases allow free, programmatic access to cited-by counts for papers?
* Google Scholar doesn't have an API, and they block crawling attempts.
* SCOPUS only seems to allows you to retrieve a branded, watermarked image of the number.<issue_comment>username_1: If you are an [R](http://www.r-project.org) user, you can use the [scholar](http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/scholar/) package. This package allows you to analyze data from Google Scholar and obtain citations, publication list and even perform predictions of the h-index. An example R code:
```
library(scholar)
id = "xJaxiEEAAAAJ" # <NAME>'s id
cit=get_citation_history(id)
barplot(cit[,2],names.arg = cit[,1])
```
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I was hunting around for something like this recently to create citation count "badges" for papers. I came across [scholar.py](https://github.com/ckreibich/scholar.py.git) by <NAME>. It uses BeautifulSoup to parse Google Scholar HTML output.
>
> * Extracts publication title, most relevant web link, PDF link, number of citations, number of online versions, link to Google Scholar's article cluster for the work, Google Scholar's cluster of all works referencing the publication, and excerpt of content.
> * Python module
> * Command-line tool prints entries in CSV format, simple plain text, or in the citation export format.
>
>
>
For example:
`./scholar.py -c 1 --author "Hutchison" -t -A "Avogadro"`
```
Title Avogadro: An advanced semantic chemical editor, visualization, and analysis platform.
URL http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1758-2946-4-17.pdf
Year 2012
Citations 743
```
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Wikidata has some incomplete citation information and you can access it programmatically via XML dumps, RDF dumps, web API and the SPARQL endpoint called Wikidata Query Service.
In Scholia at <https://tools.wmflabs.org/scholia/>, we use Wikidata Query Service to generate citation counts and citation list, see an example for "The Alzheimer's disease-associated amyloid beta-protein is an antimicrobial peptide" here: <https://tools.wmflabs.org/scholia/work/Q21090025>
If you follow the link on the page you can get to the SPARQL queries. For the SPARQL query that generate the "Citations to the work" table with citation count, the SPARQL query currently reads:
```
#defaultView:Table
# List of works that is cited by the specified work
SELECT ?citations ?publication_date ?citing_work ?citing_workLabel
WITH {
SELECT (MIN(?date) AS ?publication_date) (COUNT(?citing_citing_work) AS ?citations) ?citing_work
WHERE {
?citing_work wdt:P2860 wd:Q21090025 .
OPTIONAL {
?citing_work wdt:P577 ?datetime .
BIND(xsd:date(?datetime) AS ?date)
}
OPTIONAL { ?citing_citing_work wdt:P2860 ?citing_work }
}
GROUP BY ?citing_work
} AS %result
WHERE {
INCLUDE %result
SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en,da,de,es,fr,it,jp,nl,no,ru,sv,zh" . }
}
ORDER BY DESC(?citations) DESC(?date)
```
You can obtain the information programmatically, e.g., in Python
```
import requests
query = """
#defaultView:Table
# List of works that is cited by the specified work
SELECT ?citations ?publication_date ?citing_work ?citing_workLabel
WITH {
SELECT (MIN(?date) AS ?publication_date) (COUNT(?citing_citing_work) AS ?citations) ?citing_work
WHERE {
?citing_work wdt:P2860 wd:Q21090025 .
OPTIONAL {
?citing_work wdt:P577 ?datetime .
BIND(xsd:date(?datetime) AS ?date)
}
OPTIONAL { ?citing_citing_work wdt:P2860 ?citing_work }
}
GROUP BY ?citing_work
} AS %result
WHERE {
INCLUDE %result
SERVICE wikibase:label { bd:serviceParam wikibase:language "en,da,de,es,fr,it,jp,nl,no,ru,sv,zh" . }
}
ORDER BY DESC(?citations) DESC(?date)
"""
response = requests.get('https://query.wikidata.org/sparql',
params={'query': query, 'format': 'json'})
data = response.json()['results']['bindings']
format = lambda paper: paper['citations']['value'] + ' ' + paper['citing_workLabel']['value']
>>> print("\n".join([format(paper) for paper in data[:5]]))
75 The genetics of Alzheimer disease
25 Alzheimer's disease - a neurospirochetosis. Analysis of the evidence following Koch's and Hill's criteria
23 Mild cognitive impairment: pathology and mechanisms.
22 Immunotherapeutic approaches for Alzheimer's disease
18 Amyloid-β peptide: Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?
```
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Microsoft Academic Search provides an API as a part of the [Cognitive Services Lab](https://labs.cognitive.microsoft.com/en-us/sign-up). Unfortunately, you cannot look up papers by DOI; you will need to manually retrieve the Microsoft Academic paper ID or use title search for lookup. But it gives you citation count as well as an estimated count for widely-cited papers. I am successfully using it to include citation counts in my CV.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Let me add [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/) to the list.
There's both an official [REST API](https://api.semanticscholar.org/) for Paper/Author lookup and a [Python package](https://github.com/danielnsilva/semanticscholar).
Metrics include 'citations', 'influentialCitationCount', 'citationVelocity'
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/25 | 700 | 2,831 | <issue_start>username_0: I have spent most of my professional life writing proposals for improving the living and studying conditions of the constituents I served (community members, students, curricula and higher education institutions). Well, after 25 years serving as a teacher, professor, dean, and chancellor I find myself looking for a job in academia as an education professor and my publication count is extremely low compared to the number of successful grant proposals that I have in my credentials.
**Can I count successful grant proposals, which actually changed the lives of thousands of people, as part of my publication or research record?**<issue_comment>username_1: No. Count them as part of your funding record.
Based on what you have said of your record, people will expect you to look for a job in research administration. E.G. Vice President of Research, or Director of Research Facilities.
If you want to go back to teaching, the usual strategy I hear about in the news is to get an admin/leadership job and then demote yourself after a few years.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: To add to @guest's answer: employers will generally not count them as publications, but that does not mean you cannot publish them. There is a growing trend of "publishing" grant proposals, usually by non-traditional means. For instance, I have put some of mine on [Figshare](http://figshare.com/):
* [Wave Propagation for Next-Generation Supercomputers](http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.639182)
* [Positive Numerical Solution of Differential Equations](http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.639184)
* [High Performance Computing and High-Level Programming Concepts for Hyperbolic PDE Codes](http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.639183)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Well, it is kind of reviewed and you definitely can mention successful grant applications on your CV. However they are normally not counted as publications. Usually it is possible to have publications describing scientific results obtained using the grant.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: Successful grant proposals should certainly be part of your CV as you search for a teaching job. **However, grants are NOT considered publications in academia.** For example, see [this CV](http://racc.edu/Faculty/lawlor/pdf/vita.pdf), where a friend of mine details his publications, and follows that with a section of successful grant proposals. This is the correct way to present them on your CV.
You may want to put the grants front and center on your CV, to highlight your expertise at bringing in funding, which few institutions will count as a negative! You may also want to follow @guest's advice and look for a job in research/leadership/administration, and then demote yourself to a teaching position after a few years.
Upvotes: 4 |
2014/09/25 | 613 | 2,592 | <issue_start>username_0: I am based at a southern European university where little local research funding is available. Other than Horizon 2020, how can I find out about programs designed to sponsor research in any country?<issue_comment>username_1: One possible resource is [EURAXESS](http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/). I know this agency because they run the EURAXESS-japan network to promote exchange between European countries and Japan. In their bulletins there is always plenty of information on grant opportunities.
In the "Services" section there is various information, including a section for funding. In this section there are links to several funding agencies. Well, there is a lot of information in this portal but this may be a good starting point.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Here are several options:
* [Research Raven](http://www.researchraven.com/). This site focuses on calls for papers and conferences, some of which include funding. Most of the listings relate to medical and healthcare related opportunities.
* [ScanGrants](http://www.scangrants.com/About.aspx). This is a sister site to Research Raven, and is "designed to facilitate the search for funding sources to enhance individual and community health....
Funding sources most frequently listed here include those of private foundations, corporations, businesses, and not-for profit organizations. Finding and listing less traditional funding opportunities is also a priority. Federal and state funding sources are typically not included on ScanGrants™ because they are readily available on other sites." Their listing are somewhat US-centric, though.
* [European Research Council](http://erc.europa.eu/apply-funding). I am not very familiar with ERC. The website states "ERC grants are open to researchers of any nationality in the world, any scientific field, any age. ". It seems well worth checking out.
* The [Wenner-Gran Foundation](http://www.wennergren.org/programs/international-collaborative-research-grants) suppports collaborative research with a focus on anthropology. You have not specified your field, but depending on your circumstance this may be worth looking at.
* [Conference Alerts](http://www.conferencealerts.com/) will provide you with a free alert system for conferences in your field, for any or all countries. Although this is not a grant-finding/listing service, the individual conferences may have funding available to you.
* Finally, [this Google search](http://www.google.com/search?q=international+grant+funding) may bring some useful results.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer] |
2014/09/25 | 759 | 3,150 | <issue_start>username_0: I would love to pursue Maths teaching but I am unsure whether I would be accepted onto the programmes and whether I should complete an A Level in Maths with a view to apply for PGCE or Schools Direct Route in 2015.
Will getting my A Levels in Maths help to get admitted to a PGCE program?
As background: I'm 26 and hold a 2.2 degree in Biomedical Science from a British university. I took my A Levels in Biology and Chemistry but only got an AS Level in Maths and Art. My work background is that I have been a carer for family members for many years.<issue_comment>username_1: It depends, where. If you just want to teach very young children, that much of Maths probably everybody knows. However you may need to complete the minimum required pedagogical education. How much is required, is largely country and often school dependent. Normally it may be additional courses during studies, or independent studies lasting for a few years.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: In the UK it should definitely be possible for you to become a maths teacher with your background, but I'm not completely sure whether you would need to do A-level maths first. I would expect that most maths teachers would actually have a degree in maths or a very closely related subject, but I don't know this for sure.
You might find helpful information on the [UCAS website](http://www.ucas.com/how-it-all-works/teacher-training/entry-requirements) (the link is to the page about entry requirements for teaching).
From that page:
>
> Obviously, you'll also need a strong understanding of the subject you
> want to teach before you start training. If your degree subject
> doesn't link closely to your chosen teaching subject, we'd advise you
> to take a subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) course before starting
> teacher training. You can only do these in England and in certain
> subjects.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I do not believe taking A level maths will help you gain admittance to a PGCE program. The entry requirements for Goldsmiths PGCE program in Mathematics are:
>
> The extent of mathematical understanding you bring to the programme is important. You should have a degree in Mathematics or a related subject. Engineers can generally offer enough Mathematics, as can actuaries and physicists. Those with qualifications in Business, Accounting or Computing need to be able to show a substantial amount of Mathematics in their degree. It is also important that you have some knowledge and experience of UK secondary schools. Some applicants may be referred to a TDA subject enhancement course.
>
>
>
The amount of mathematics in a Biomedical Science degree can vary substantially, however, even the most mathematically rigours biomedical science course, probably is not enough. Further, many PGCE programs also require you to have obtained a 2.1 or higher. I think the combination of those two factors will put you at a substantial disadvantage. I think a Mathematics Enhancement Course would serve you much better, in terms of gaining admissions to a PGCE program, than A level maths.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/25 | 420 | 1,819 | <issue_start>username_0: some years ago (2007) I have published a paper in a conference as a poster paper. Now I want to send it to a journal and change the affiliation, or maybe some minor changes. I didn't see any policy about a previous published paper in a conference, however there is a policy as the following:
>
> The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before
> another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided
> in Comments to the Editor).
>
>
>
Could I send my paper to this journal?
Is it a normal thing to first publish a paper in a conference and then trying to send it to a journal?<issue_comment>username_1: In my field this would be not only acceptable, but expected, as the review process for conferences is less stringent and the submitted abstracts are substantially less detailed than a full manuscript. A conference presentation is viewed almost as a necessary step to publication: present the first interpretation of the results, get feedback from colleagues, and incorporate changes into the full-length manuscript.
My only concern would be if the conference paper was closer to a full manuscript, both in length and in the rigorousness of the review process.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: A conference poster is a publication. At the very least, it is most likely in the Conference programme. It is unethical to publish the same material twice - and if the editor of the journal finds out, it is likely you'll be blacklisted. However, if you make changes to the poster - improvements, generalisations, etc. - then it *might* count as a new publication. Of course, you'll have referenced the poster in the new publication so the referees (and editor) will be able to tell if it's new material and suitable for publication.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/25 | 1,478 | 5,916 | <issue_start>username_0: I have been [stuck](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/28981/stuck-on-proving-the-optimality-of-a-greedy-algorithm) on the proof of a major theorem in my forthcoming paper for about two weeks. Since offline help is limited, I'm trying to see if there is more help online. But I have two concerns.
1. I am the author of the paper and am supposed to work out the heavy-lift proof. I want to see if someone has worked on similar proofs who may point me in the right direction. What if someone comes up with the complete proof, rather than just suggestions/comments? Should I [offer co-authorship](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/26934/what-are-the-ethics-of-getting-help-from-online-forums) or just appreciate their help in the acknowledgement?
2. For others to offer concrete help, I may have to disclose the proposed algorithm as they [suggested](https://cs.stackexchange.com/questions/30284/stuck-on-proving-the-optimality-of-a-greedy-algorithm#comment61918_30284). So there is the risk, even remote, that someone just uses it for their publication purpose before my paper is submitted.
How should I proceed, keep grinding hard on the proof offline, or solicit help online with the still-to-be-published algorithm, or something in between?<issue_comment>username_1: This answer is meant to apply to graduate students (like the OP).
**Talk to your advisor.** She is the designated person to help you with your research. You should do so because:
>
> 1) Your advisor will probably have some help to offer. Give them more than one chance to do so, and be clear in communicating how much help you want/need at any given time.
>
>
>
In your case I believe you said earlier that you talked to your advisor and got some but not enough help, because she only thought about your problem when you were there. To me that is the opposite of strange: being a thesis advisor myself, I recognize it as the classic tension inherent in the job. How much help do you give the student? How much time you do spend thinking about the student's problem so as to be able to give help? *There are usually no easy answers to these questions.* Even in dealing with the same student, over time I often find myself: giving too much help; giving too little help; being put in a situation where the question they ask is too hard for me to give an answer on the spot and then having to try to find time for outside thoughts about their question.
When you talk to your advisor, make sure she understands that you feel **so** stuck in your research that you are considering seeking outside help.
>
> 2) If you get outside help without telling your advisor about it, it could be embarrassing to her.
>
>
>
It can be tough to ask the same person for help on the same thing more than once. But it is part of the advisor/advisee relationship. If my students showed up on SE sites asking questions that I feel that I could have answered, I would not feel great about it. (Most of my negative feelings would be directed to myself rather than at them, but still: not great.)
>
> 3) If you are truly stuck, your advisor needs to know. It very often happens that the best thing to do is to switch to working on a different aspect of the problem, or perhaps a different problem entirely. Your advisor is the one to help you with that.
>
>
>
Let me also say that in the realm of mathematically-related research, two weeks is a fairly short amount of time to be working on something. If after two weeks you are completely out of ideas and don't even know what else to try, then you should address that. If you simply haven't proved the "major theorem" yet: join the club. To prove a major theorem usually takes me **at least** two months; two years is not at all unheard of, and is not a maximum. As long as you're making some progress thinking about the problem, I don't necessarily see anything wrong here.
**Added**: The lack of directness of my answer was intentional, but let me add one comment. In my opinion the greatest risk in asking in the internet community for help in solving your mathematical research problem is....that someone will solve your mathematical research problem. As mentioned above, your advisor is optimally briefed in the matter of how much help to give you / how any one question fits into the larger scheme of your research program, and *still* advising a student is a matter of successive errors and corrections (i.e., helping too much and too little). Being a PhD student has a highly egoistic aspect to it: you are *not* just trying to find solutions to problems; you are trying to find them **yourself**. There is a real risk that the right expert will simply leave you without a problem to be working on. This is why talking your advisor is so critical: she may in fact decide at some point that asking for help is best, but in that case she will know exactly what and whom to ask in such a way that the rug is least likely to get pulled out from under you. This is very important!
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I think the answer depends on this:
>
> Do you hope to become an expert at mastering the kind of difficulty you're facing with the proof?
>
>
>
If your answer is:
* **Yes**: Then go ahead and work it out on your own. *(In particular if you're a grad student and this is your thesis problem... and in this case also consult your adviser as @PeteL.Clark advised.)*
* **No, I usually focus on a different subarea, and I realistically expect to keep it that way**: Then it may be a good idea to ask online:
+ Use a "[minimal working example](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimal_Working_Example)". That is, don't describe your entire project but reduce your difficulty to a simple to state problem that you feel is far away from your own specialty.
+ Offer co-authorship to whomever helps you out.
Upvotes: 4 |
2014/09/25 | 676 | 2,779 | <issue_start>username_0: At my school for a PhD I am required to complete a minimum of 72 credit hours of study(around 4 years of study). Of this ~42 are to be course work and ~30 is to be dissertation.
So I know what a dissertation is but not in the context of "30 dissertation hours." For students and professors what has been your experience and what is actually done each semester while you are taking the dissertation hours. Do you go to class or is it a one on one basis with a selected professor or maybe just your adviser. Is there no class/group time, and I just do research into the area I have proposed for my dissertation?
Will be asking my adviser and graduate school dean about this but was also interested in the dynamic that other schools have in this area.<issue_comment>username_1: In my PhD program, I was required to register for various research and dissertation related courses to fill the required 9 credit hours to be a full-time student. Those course ranged from 3 to 5 credit hours depending on what I needed. Those courses never met, and I did not receive a letter grade for them. They seemed to have two purposes: 1. existing to fill my schedule after my actual coursework was done (so that I was listed as being enrolled as a full-time student and so that they had something to charge me for), and 2. giving my advisor credit with the department for supervising a research or dissertation student. The mostly seem to be a bureaucratic slight of hand.
Edited to add: I was also paid 20 hours per week to work as a Graduate Research Assistant, but I basically worked about 40-50 hours per week on going to class (until I was done with my required hours) and working on my research. Towards the end, when I was writing my dissertation, it was more. The hours I was officially paid and the credit hours I took, never really aligned with much, except that a 3-credit hour actual course (like "Functional Analysis") met for 3 hours every week.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If you take 9 credit hours of course work per semester, then you will need 5 semesters for the course work only.
But from the first semester, try to choose a topic for you dissertation and then find the professor (doing research on that topic) and ask him to be your advisor. Then along with the course work, spend some time to get literature and requirements about your topic. But you **must** keep in touch with the topic and the advisor.
By the time you finish your course work, you may have enough data and know how to carry on full time research. 30 is just a number which has nothing to do with how many hours you really work. What you really need to do is to have results acceptable by your advisor, one or two publications and a good presentation.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/25 | 1,095 | 4,617 | <issue_start>username_0: The research group that I am associated with organizes a conference that will take place next month.
One of the students asked if there is something that he can volunteer and help in the organization of the conference. He has not any scientific work to present, but rather offers some logistic and technical help.
Can you think of any "volunteering position" and tasks that can be given to a young student? Is this of any benefit to him, or is that just a timeloss?<issue_comment>username_1: Lifted shamelessly from [this answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/21691/11365), here are volunteer tasks that the student can do during the conference:
* Check attendees in at the registration desk
* Take minutes in meetings (if there are any)
* Mic shuttler (the person that carries the mic around to people who have questions during the Q&A after each talk)
These offer the following benefit to the student: exposure and opportunities to network with attendees at the conference in a normal way.
Here are some additional tasks that weren't in that other answer because they're often done by students at the host institution. They also may or may not be necessary, depending on available facilities and services at your conference location.
I've done these tasks for conferences hosted by my own group:
* Design and proofread conference program (before conference, obviously)
* Set up poster boards, hand out thumbtacks, and show presenters which board to go to for poster/demo session
* Print, hang up, and rotate signs showing people where to go/which session is going on in a room at any given time
* Give VIPs a VIP tour around the lab, if conference is held *at* your institution :)
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: **The aftermath:**
I just add here some notes about my feelings once the conference took place.
It is a great opportunity to even be remotely associated to such an environment. In such an environment exists the chance to meet people from the academy and the industry. If you have the rights networking skills you (as a student) can score some internship a possible future employment positions both in academia and industry. So in no way this opportunity is not considered a waste of time.
If you are a student volunteer these are some useful stuff one may need:
**Typical Conference Questions and other stuff to consider:**
* Where is the toilet?
* What is the WiFi pass?
* Have different adapters and converters in hand
+ port – to- port video adapters
+ country – to – country power supply adapters
* Extra batteries for the presenter
* Arrange poster guys based on their order of presentation, put all the posters in a pdf file, on the same laptop (yours or someone else)
* Ask demo presenters if they need monitor for their demos
* Before the beginnings of the session, strongly recommend speakers to try if their laptop fit with the cables used for connection to the projector
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Depending on how competent the student is and how much you trust them, you can also task them with managing the abstract review process (i.e., if you are using something like EasyChair, you can make them a Session Chair, or even the SuperChair, if you think they can manage it). It's the kind of job that postdocs and faculty are reluctant to do, because it distracts from more urgent obligations and it has next to zero professional rewards at that level.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: I've been to meetings where they had a student volunteer positioned in each room:
* they swapped out the name cards where the speakers will sit
* they replaced the water bottles at the speaker table with ones stashed behind the podium
* they helped out with AV issues, or called for expert help.
* they kept a count of how many people were attending each talk in the session.
This gave them a chance to attend talks, albiet with some minor distractions as they did so.
They were wearing brightly colored shirts labeling them as volunteers, so people also knew who could either answer their questions or point them in the right direction of someone who could.
At other conferences (eg, AGU with thousands of posters displayed per day), we'll often assign students as the session chair for posters:
* Grab a supply of pins from the main desk, and the signs for when you'll be at your poster
* Help people find their poster location (look it up online or from the printed program)
* Help people hang their posters (or at least get the top two corners pinned)
* Record any posters that were no-shows.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/25 | 1,469 | 6,094 | <issue_start>username_0: I was traumatized by an abusive relationship. While in the relationship, my grades were affected. Out of the relationship, I chose to stay in school and struggle with my studies instead of medically withdrawing. I attended therapy and completed psychiatric care.
I'm back to being a straight A student, but what will graduate school say in reference to those 2 years on my transcript? Should I explain it to them? Will I be granted an interview even? My GRE scores are great, but my major is competitive. What can I do? Should I include a letter that certifies what occurred in those two years from a professional?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm going to make this an answer rather than a comment; I hope others will react to it, especially if I'm wrong. (I'm a teacher, not an admissions officer.)
From what I understand, you had good grades at the start of your college career. Your grades declined for external reasons. Your life is back under control and your grades are back up. You have a little more than a year to gather good grades on your transcript.
Go for it. Apply to the schools you'd like to attend, but apply to a couple of Plan B schools as well.
Here's the part that may be controversial: You might want to include in your cover letter something like "You may notice that there was a slump in my grades during my time as an undergraduate. That was due to a difficult personal situation, now resolved." (Thanks, <NAME>, for the fine phrase.)
The other choice would be to mention the grade slump not at all. In any case, don't make a big deal of it.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Your problem appears to be one of grade "blemish(es)," rather than a "pattern" of bad grades. It's a bit troubling that they are in your core courses.
You appear to be "admittable," to many programs, although there is also a chance that the bad grades will keep you out of some programs.
In this situation, your personal essay (and corroborating letters of recommendation from professors), take on heightened importance. Basically, you'll have to "explain away" your worst grades due to "extenuating circumstances," how you've risen above those circumstances, and why those bad grades aren't likely to be repeated. It would also help if there were sympathetic people, particularly women, on the admissions committees of the schools of your choice.
It's a long shot, but if you can get a letter of explanation/recommendation from the professor(s) that gave you the worst grade(s), it might help clear up matters. As an undergraduate, I once had a professor tell me, "If I had know what you were going through during that semester, I might have given you a better grade in my course."
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: If you have the opportunity, use the diversity statement to briefly allude to the medical / personal issue in your life at the time that is now resolved and that you don't think will reoccur.
I wouldn't not mention it. The admin committee will see a slump in your grades. But we're also interested in your overall trajectory. So as long as it doesn't represent something that will reoccur in grad school, we can be convinced to take a risk.
One other option if your discipline allows it is to do a Master's degree in the same field. That way we can see that you're capable of doing graduate work in the field.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I will say this from my personal experience, so don't take it as a definitive answer and be discouraged.
Graduate school admission is a competition. A fierce competition, especially if you're applying for a good program. So if there's someone with higher GPA than yours, he/she will be admitted. Graduate schools care about one thing only - how well will you perform in their program.
While you may want to tell it in your cover letter that you had relationship issues, the admission may or may not consider it. In my case none of the good programs I applied to cared about things I had to go through. One program did respond me telling that they discarded my application cause of my GPA.
Don't be discouraged however. I have noticed that sometimes they may prefer things like working experience, volunteering, etc. So while you cannot change your past, you can affect your present and future. Work hard, and show it to them.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: This is from my own personal experience, so there's obviously no guarantee you will have the same experience, but I thought I would share...
I also had some difficulties with abuse during my undergraduate years, my grades suffered and I ended up withdrawing completely from the course, eventually completing my BA 7 years later from a different university. I'm now completing my PhD at one of the top universities in the US, and before this I did a masters at one of the top universities in the UK. So it certainly doesn't have to hold you back.
In my case, I chose to do a few things to try and maximize my chances of getting into the school and program I wanted:
1) I chose to do an masters before applying for the PhD - to show that I could do graduate level work, and, perhaps more importantly, that my grades really were back on track (that is, that the bad grades were the exception, not the good grades).
2) I referred explicitly to the problem years in my personal statement.I briefly explained why the drop in grades and eventual withdrawal occurred, but really focused on the fact that it was now resolved, and highlighted the consistently positive grades etc since.
3) I asked one of my referees (who knew what had happened), to directly address it in her letter of recommendation, again focusing primarily on the positive steps/grades etc since.
For me this worked really well. I was offered a place at each of the graduate schools I applied to, and although it may have taken me a little longer to get here than friends who didn't have similar problems during undergrad, I'm now exactly where I want to be, and couldn't be happier.
I hope this helps in some way, and good luck!
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/25 | 523 | 2,148 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm writing a teaching statement and want to include quotes from student evaluations. How much can/should I edit these (for grammar)?<issue_comment>username_1: In general, quotes should always be edited **as little as possible.**
The only changes you should make are:
* *Truncations* to remove sections of quotes that aren't relevant for your purposes.
* Edits to *fit the grammatical structure* of the existing sentence.
* Correcting small errors in the original text.
However, any changes to the quotation **must** be clearly indicated. Truncations should be marked with an ellipsis (" . . . "), while all other changes should be indicated using square brackets.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: A quotation is, by definition, explicitly *what someone else said or wrote*. If you modify a quotation so that it's no longer what someone else said or wrote then you are deceiving your audience. On this basis you should edit as little as possible and if you do need to edit you should make it clear to your audience.
It is reasonable to truncate if it does not change the sense of the quote. If you omit parts in the middle of a quote you should indicate this with ellipses '**...**'.
It's okay to correct minor spelling errors *if* they're not relevant to the quote.
You can add in a missing word, but it's usually best to indicate where you've done so, if the student said "the lecturer overpaid fool" you could quote as "the lecturer is an overpaid fool" but it would be preferable to quote as "the lecturer [is an] overpaid fool" so it is clear you have edited the quote.
You can add context but should indicate where you've done so, for example if asked the question "Did you like the lecturer?" the answer you're quoting is "He is an overpaid fool" you could quote it as "He [the lecturer] is an overpaid fool" or "[The lecturer] is an overpaid fool".
You can also add emphasis but you should indicate where you've done so. For example: "I'm writing a teaching statement and want to include quotes from student evaluations. How much can/should I edit these (**for grammar**)?" (emphasis mine).
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/25 | 415 | 1,903 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm writing a postrgraduate project report on a system I've built. It is not designed with the user in mind, it is a backend system to a simple web application.
I'm struggling to separate the Design chapter from the Implementation chapter in my report, as I didn't so much design the system as build it as I went, changing how it was built depending on issues I encountered during implementation.
Is it possible to add all design and implementation information under one chapter, as they are fairly intertwined, or is it necessary to separate them?
---
Edit
----
I have solved my problem; the Design chapter is the idea and outline you had in the beginning of what you would like to create, with the various components you think you'll use, and the Implementation chapter includes all the issues that cropped up along the way, creating the need to change the original design.
Thanks for all your input!<issue_comment>username_1: It seems you were given an assignment to **design and build a system** and then write a report to document your work. However, you decided not to do that assignment and instead you decided to **build a system skipping the design step**.
I would expect the person marking your report would see it as you did not complete the task as assigned. As JeffE's comment implies, there is a reason why you were given a task that included designing first then building.
I think you should ask your lecturer if what you have done is acceptable or if you must restart your assignment.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The answer is:
The Design chapter is the idea and outline you had in the beginning of what you would like to create, with the various components you think you'll use, and the Implementation chapter includes all the issues that cropped up along the way, creating the need to change the original design.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer] |
2014/09/26 | 1,928 | 8,688 | <issue_start>username_0: I overheard some professors discussing the next round of hiring at my university and several were concerned about gender bias possibly playing an issue in the hiring process. An initial thought is to just go through CV's and black out an applicant's name. However, an academic job search makes it much more difficult to do this. Not only do applicants have CV's, but there are also typically 3 letters of recommendations as well as publication lists (which might reveal the identity of an individual if the paper is known by some of the hiring panel).
Some suggestions that were thrown out involve trying to find a way to scan through 2-300 applicant materials and black out/replace gender pronouns and names. From browsing StackOverflow, there is apparently quite a bit of difficulty with this from a programming perspective. Still, it seems the most efficient way to remove as much gender bias as possible in the process but doesn't seem to be widely used.
>
> What are some of the best ways a hiring panel can remove gender bias from the application process?
>
>
>
This question could also potentially extend to ways to generally remove other forms of bias, such as ethnic bias.<issue_comment>username_1: I think there are two approaches. The approach your question focuses on is blinding of the panel to the gender of the applicant. Doing this, may actually increase gender bias. By blinding the search panel to the gender of the applicant, it becomes very difficult for things like maternity leave to be taken into consideration. The better way to remove, or limit gender bias, is to provide training to the search panel about gender bias in academia and help them become aware of any biases they might have.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Bias exists at many points of the hiring process. You suggested blinding the search committee to applicant gender but, as you point out, this is extremely difficult to do perfectly and completely broken by even small failures. For obvious reasons, blinding will also not be particularly relevant after you start interviewing candidates. I like the other suggestions to provide training to sensitize the committee to issues of gender bias.
Beyond that — and if your university policies allow it — you might also decide now (i.e., before the search) to interview at least one male and at least one female candidate. This way, you will give the best male and female candidates a full chance to convince you that they are right for your department. This ensures that at the top person of each gender makes it through the earlier stages of the process where gender bias may very well play its biggest role. At the interview stage, blinding would not have worked anyway.
This kind of policy is unusual but not unheard of. The most famous example I know if is the [Rooney Rule](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooney_Rule) in the US National Football League which requires that all teams interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs. Although this is sometimes cited as an example of affirmative action, it does not mandate any preference or quota to candidates within the pool of those being interviewed. If you're doing it right, it does mean that the very best candidates from under-represented groups will always have an opportunity to show their stuff at the final round.
If you found out that best person from the under-represented groups is really not as good as the best person from the over-represented group, at least you'll know that you gave the best member from each group a full hearing.
**Update:** I will point out that this answer basically assumes that all of your candidates will present as either male or female. As a result, is it very limited in the case of non-gender conforming candidates. These candidates may also be subject to even greater discrimination and this approach will not solve (and could even aggravate) those problems.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: As a former programmer, I can confirm that it would be quite difficult to do this purely in a programmatic way. Take my name, for example. From my name, you can probably guess that I am male. If you had a computer program looking at my resume, how would you remove the word "Evan"? Keep in mind that it's easy for a human to know that that's my name, but difficult for a computer to know. Computers are very fast, but also dumb - they'll do exactly what you tell them to do, no more, and no less. Sometimes this is problematical with programming when whet you're telling them isn't what you think you're telling them, but that's another discussion entirely.
If you want a truly blind resume / cover letter / letter of recommendation review, you'd need either a manual approach needing humans who aren't involved with the hiring committee and won't report what they saw to black out the names and the pronouns used in all of these documents. Ideally, they'd be retyped with gender neutral terms such as "that person" instead of "he / she", so you won't have someone trying to squint under a blacked out ink trying to read it. People are curious - it'll happen if you let them.
There's also a hybrid approach: use computers do to the easy part, and people do the hard part. The easy part would be getting rid of all the he / she / him / her words in documents and replacing them with a gender neutral word / phrase of your choosing. The hard part would be doing the same thing with names.
The reason this is hard for computer is simple: how does the computer program doing the parsing know that what it's seeing is a name? It doesn't, unless you have some way of telling it. In an ideal world, word documents or PDFs would have metadata with a field clearly identifying that this is a name, but I doubt such a feature exists - at least in Word. PDFs probably do support this, but again, whether or not Adobe Acrobat supports this isn't the issue, but rather the issue is whether or not the appropriate metadata is embedded in the document.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: A way to implement gender neutral CVs for the first round of selection would be to ask applicants to give a preliminary gender neutral file along their full application. This short CV would be asked to contain only information that does not permit to guess the gender of the applicants, at least not easily (e.g. publication lists with names replaced by the number of author and the position of the applications, etc.)
This can only be used to a very first round of selection, and letters of recommandation would have to be only used in the subsequent round, or the recommandants should be asked to make them gender neutral and without the name of the applicant.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: One simple and extremely effective step is to start tracking metrics on the candidate pool at every stage of the process.
Let's say you're looking at how your department hires assistant professors. Then you might track:
1. What percentage of Ph.D. holders in the field are women?
2. What percentage of the applications you receive are from women?
3. What percentage of the short-listed candidates are women?
4. What percentage of the interviewed candidates are women?
5. What percentage of the offers made are to women?
6. What percentage of the accepted offers are taken by women?
7. What percentage of the professors who advance toward tenure are women?
Now you've got actual data on what your pipeline looks like and can look for where the leaks are. If the fraction of females in the pool changes significantly at any particular stage, then that's where to focus your energy. Likewise, if the base fraction in the field is lower than you want in your institution, you can use your metrics to decide where to try to enrich the pool with good candidates. Obviously, the same approach can be applied for other disadvantaged groups as well.
I personally think this type of approach is a critical addition to the toolbox of addressing bias, because it lets you scientifically study your institution's process. You may discover things that surprise you. For example, the colleagues who I learned about this from discovered that the later stages of the hiring pipeline they were dealing with were actually OK, but that the percentage of women applying in the first place was much lower than the percentage of women in the field. That meant (to everybody's surprise) that the problem was primarily in the way that positions were being advertised and recruited for, rather than in the interviews themselves, and so
that was the process that fixes were targeted at.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/09/26 | 1,071 | 4,607 | <issue_start>username_0: Also, is a grad student who is being funded by an NSF grant considered to be "employed by the U.S. government"?
I ask because I'm submitting a paper, and I have to state whether or not all authors are "employed by the U.S. government".<issue_comment>username_1: No, grad students and faculty with NSF funding are not employed by the U.S. government. NSF funding is sent directly to the school. The school then employs the researchers itself and pays them using those funds.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: The question is really asking about employees of the *federal* government. At least, whenever I've seen a question like this, that is what they wanted to know; and this is the usual meaning of the words "U.S. government" in the American context.
As a rule, if you don't know whether you're a U.S. government employee - then you're probably not. An easy way to find out if your coauthors are government employees is to ask them.
The federal government does operate a handful of academic institutions (e.g., the Naval Postgraduate School) and there are other federal employees who publish regularly (e.g., scientists at NASA). There are lots of U.S. institutions which are run or chartered by *state* governments, and this category represents the majority of "public universities" in the country. Whether or not professors there are considered employees of the *state* - in most cases they probably are - they are still not *federal* employees. (Well, unless they happen to be on temporary assignment to NSF as a program director, or something.)
As stated in the sibling answer by username_1, receiving money through a federal grant does not make you a federal employee.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: The reason this question is asked by journals is that [except in some limited cases](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_the_U.S._government), the US government may not, by law, hold the US copyright in a work created by its employees, and, therefore, cannot transfer it to the publisher of the journal as is traditionally done in most academic publishing agreements. As such, the journal can't ask those authors who are US government employees to sign the copyright transfer and must use a different agreement. If one or more of the authors is not a US government employee, then those authors will still need to make the transfer.
Employees of US state governments, which includes most public university employees in the US, do not have this limitation, and can make the copyright transfer or other licensing arrangement that the publisher requires.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: It is not clear that public university/college employees are officially considered state employees by the respective states. In Minnesota, for example, the University of Minnesota faculty are, apparently, *not* considered to be state employees.
Among other aspects that make this seem reasonable, the fact that the state supplies only a small fraction of the funding contributes.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: In almost all cases, no, they are not. The vast majority of public universities in the U.S. are owned and operated by the individual state governments, not the U.S. federal government. Within the U.S., the state governments are considered to be entirely separate legal entities. In most (but apparently not all) cases, employees of state-owned universities are considered employees of that particular state. The exceptions where a public university professor actually would be a U.S. federal government employee are professors at the handful of universities actually owned by the federal government, such as the various military academies, as well as dual-employees of both a university and some part of the federal government, such as a federal government research institution. One of my advisors, for instance, is an employee both of my university and of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, so he's an employee both of the State of Tennessee as well as of the U.S. federal government.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: The department secretary or perhaps a grants officer at your university should be able to give you guidance on these sorts of things. Aside from the particular problem of federal employment, you might have to credit grants and authors in a way that the journal doesn't require or track.
As a graduate student, the department secretary should be your best friend. They know how everything works where the academic staff might not (because they rely on the administrative staff).
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/26 | 3,437 | 14,374 | <issue_start>username_0: Several years ago, my colleagues and I attempted to get a small paper published, it was rejected and we ran out of time - and as it was a 'side-project' type of paper, we left it at that. We thought that was the end of it - this was not the case.
One of the reviewers who made themselves known to us wrote some pretty terse messages to us about his disagreement with what was a relatively minor point. We graciously took his feedback as he is an established (published) researcher in that field. We moved on to different fields - which this reviewer has no published work in.
What has been happening since is that he will write an email questioning every single paper that I get published, not deliberately being insulting - but not offering anything constructive nor asking for clarification of the content etc. He has admitted that what I research is beyond his area of expertise - examples of his questions are (*remember, these papers are collaborative and peer reviewed*):
"Are you sure you know how to use (equipment)?" - when the paper stated a previously published (by a separate author) protocol has been followed.
"Are you sure you did enough trials?" - this would be fine as criticism, except the next email stated "That many trials seems like overkill" referring to the same paper.
One particularly unhelpful comment from him was "Did you actually pass high school English?"
Criticism is fine, and is sought for any and all work that we do, but when the statements do not offer anything substantial, are contradictory or just rude - this is not criticism, it is unhelpful noise -especially when it is posted publicly where we display links to the work (he deletes his comments soon after most of the time)
How do I deal with this persistent 'academic stalking' while at the same time, not make a 'fuss'?<issue_comment>username_1: A general strategy you can try here is "respond to amateurism with professionalism". Even if it looks like he's being unreasonable (as it currently seems to you that he is), just suspend disbelief, and, in a completely non-confrontational manner, engage his questions as if they were serious:
>
> I always appreciate constructive criticism [*true statement! you don't
> have to say that his was constructive, let him think what he
> wants...maybe he actually did think it was*]. I didn't quite
> understand what led you to wonder whether I did enough testing of X.
> Did you see something in the results that made you suspect this
> specifically? Just want to make sure I'm not missing anything.
>
>
> Thanks for your input!
>
>
>
Treat it exactly as if it were a sincere attempt to help, that you had a question about. It's possible (though I'm thinking you think it unlikely) that he really is sincere and has something to offer you. If so, wonderful! You get useful feedback from someone smart!
If he doesn't actually have a real question, this technique may make that obvious in a relatively non-confrontational way. Part of the value of it is that you are not simply being the victim of stalker-y behavior, but professionally and politely holding your ground. It is to be hoped that this will lessen the feeling of exasperation that would otherwise normally accompany this kind of childish bullying, if that is indeed what it turns out to be.
There are very intelligent and successful people in academia who are nevertheless woefully underdeveloped emotionally; one way this will be manifest is in the need to tear down other people who seem to be having success, or demonstrating skill, or garnering attention comparable to their own. This can catch one off guard when it's coming from a successful and respected person, because you would think that their success would be all they need to feel good about themselves. That, alas, does not turn out to be true. If it's a chronic emotional problem, you are unlikely to get him to change his behavior; hence the advice to concentrate specifically on blunting his ability to make his problem your problem.
If the cerebral approach doesn't work or becomes too time consuming, you can always set up a filter to send email from that address straight to trash....
**Escalation** (adding this section after your clarified and expanded examples indicate that mere polite discussion may not work here)
1. [Fuss level: zero] Gather evidence. You don't have to do anything with it yet. Later steps I will describe will talk about possible uses. It's just good to have in case you ever get into a he said/she said situation and need to be able to back yourself up.
2. Note that there is already a "fuss", to some extent. Not your doing. You can't choose to have this situation be "fussless", because the behavior is happening in public. The question is to what extent you wish to participate in the fuss.
3. [Fuss level: low] A body of evidence might be useful for you to have handy if you wanted to petition a site administrator to block him from contributing comments. The sites hosting your research results and facilitating discussion don't want their work compromised by trolls.
4. [Fuss level: medium] Does he work at an institution with a published policy regarding academic ethics? Spuriously calling into question the validity of your results seems like it would violate ethical standards. It might be enough for you to obtain a copy of the institution's standards, highlight the part that you consider him to be violating, and send that information to him, asking for him to comment on whether he agrees his behavior violates those standards.
5. [Fuss level: high] Same as 4, but with more fuss. Contact the institution. Ask to speak to someone about the fact that you feel that one of their employees is violating academic ethics. Do they have a published policy? Can they send you a copy? Can you send them some redacted examples and have them confirm that they would consider that in violation? You would like to resolve the matter with the individual privately if possible, but you want to be sure that you are interpreting their standards correctly. Then, email the stalker and tell them that you've been in contact with the ethics office, not having mentioned any names of course, we can resolve this between ourselves, can we not?, and they agreed that the behavior is in violation of standards. Would he be willing to simply stop commenting on your work altogether in the future? It seems it would be better for both of you if he did. You don't have to threaten exposure--you should be careful *not* to threaten, actually (to avoid any possibility that you could be charged with blackmail or whatever)--just state facts.
6. [Fuss level: nuclear] Put all the evidence on the web, unredacted, and send a copy to his boss, his wife, and his students. Let them know you really hate to bother them, but you need to ask them if they can contact his psychiatrist because he apparently needs his meds adjusted. (<-- not a serious suggestion, but it was cathartic to type!)
**Serenity**
Reflecting on others' answers and comments, I feel that one more section should be added here, because there *are* practical things you can do to help the situation, from your side only, with zero direct interaction. Although I would still gather evidence in any case (since it might be of value later should a dispute come to the surface), it is possible for you to improve your experience here by improving yourself. It's easy and natural to focus on the fact that he is the aggressor and by rights he should be changing his behavior, and to forget that, *completely independent of whether he stops or not* you can choose to become better at not being affected by baseless criticism.
Give yourself a mental picture of a small child attempting to attack an adult who calmly holds himself out of harm's way by virtue of having arms twice as long as his attacker. Your stalker has mastered the art of playing the flailing child--you can grow long arms.
Mentally rearranging your perspective on the whole situation can help. You can say "I am going to end up better for this by learning the valuable skill of ignoring trolls. Think what I would have had to pay a trainer for this, and he's providing me all this learning experience for free." It is, after all, entirely possible that you are going to run into other situations in life where the ability to be calm in the face of baseless or childish criticism helps you out immensely, and this is an opportunity to learn that skill in a relatively risk-free environment (as the stalker really has no actual power over you in this situation).
In short, you have, effectively, been focusing on the question "How can I get him to stop this behavior, without making a fuss?" But you can get an excellent result by instead asking the question "How can I get this behavior to stop bothering me?". The second question can be pretty much entirely in your own hands, and the things you do to work on it will help you in other aspects of your life, even enabling you to help others deal with similar issues, etc.
It's more than just ignoring (which, I think it should be said, is fantastic advice if you can do it--I haven't gotten to that point yet personally)--it's a conscious decision to rise above the behavior of the other party. Rather than "he's attacking me and I feel powerless to stop it without escalations that I am not comfortable getting into" it can be "he's attacking me, but I am using this as an opportunity to practice, and therefore develop the power, to not be affected by this behavior". From the outside it may look the same, but mentally, this kind of approach can make all the difference.
I think this is both the best option and the hardest to execute on. In the times when I have implemented such measures myself, I've found it to be incredibly empowering, and even in some cases ended up with unexpectedly good relationships with people that at one point had occasion (they felt, at the time, at least) to attack me, simply because I consciously decided that I didn't need to fight back. I don't think I've faced exactly the same situation as you are here, but I believe this might help you and sincerely hope it does--best of luck.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Ignore the emails.
The common justification for these kind of situations is a need for attention from that person. By answering his calls you are only reinforcing this need.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: You provide your best answer in your final question:
"How do I deal with this persistent 'academic stalking' while at the same time, not make a 'fuss'?" Don't deal with him and don't make a fuss. You might be interested in the following 2 links:
Troll (Internet). (2014, September 25). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07:37, September 28, 2014, from <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Troll_(Internet)&oldid=627020408>
<NAME>. (2014). slash7 with Amy Hoy » Blog Archive » Help Vampires: A Spotter’s Guide. Slash7.com. Retrieved 28 September 2014, from <http://slash7.com/2006/12/22/vampires/>
Don't waste your time with him.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: First off, if its only been going on for a while and nobody takes it seriously, then ignore him and he'll eventually find someone else to antagonize.
Otherwise...
Academic bullying is (sadly) somewhat common in certain fields with considerable popular political influence such as geopolitics, international security, international relations, race relations, climatology, certain forms of economics, etc. Much academic ink is spilt over the color of the bike shed as opposed to the location of it or whether it should even house bikes instead of boats, much less whether or not it should exist. Question anything but the (meaningless) paintjob and risk reputation assassination.
In the case where it is really just a single person who is negatively obsessed with your work you can ignore the person. Invalidating their negative responses is as easy as attacking their credibility in your current area, which appears simple in your case.
In the case where it is not just a single person, or that the detractor is a single person but their attacks resonate with a part of the society aggregated around your field... you have a different problem. In this case you can choose to stand your ground or you can work to mend the situation by changing your stance.
Changing your stance is, of course, totally dishonest, so don't do this unless you are actually playing the "get tenure" game and not the "increase human knowledge" game -- in which case its par for the course in many fields.
If you sincerely feel you have a well supported stance in the field that gained you the ire of this detractor who is negatively influencing the perceptions of those in your current field of study (and if you didn't you wouldn't have gone to the trouble of publishing in the first place, I assume), the only decent defense is a solid offense. This is a bit like a thesis defense, but with a large delay in ping-pong times. If your career is threatened by the problem it is worth it to decompose the argument that got you in trouble, and write an exposition on each point. Use those as point references for those in your current field who are not as well informed about the subject that originally got you into hot water. If you build a solid base of argument you can influence the naysayer, but understand this requires a disproportionate amount of work: calling something into question (especially by a subtle ad hominem attack) is much easier than defending a work that has been "cast into doubt" in the minds of those who haven't taken the time or interest to read it.
Ultimately, my point is that this is a political problem, and sadly this sort of problem has overridden what *should* be the fundamentals of genuine academics since the beginning of time. If you will win it by argument it will have to be an overwhelming one which consumes you in its defense, at least for a time. The alternatives are to either sacrifice your intellectual integrity or play dirty -- both of which are not helpful to humankind, which sort of goes against the whole point of being a true academic (as opposed to the tenure-chasing variety).
[I now wait for the avalanche of angry comments...]
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/09/26 | 2,778 | 12,127 | <issue_start>username_0: What (if any) is the general consensus out there regarding publishing in one of these journals vs the other?
I am a mechanical engineer, specialising in fluid flow and heat transfer, so would it be better to publish my findings in a relevant Elsevier journal or equivalent Springer journal?
Is one or the other viewed by the academic community as more prestigious, or does one offer greater exposure for my work?<issue_comment>username_1: You need to understand that the quality of journals is not bijectively related to the company that publishes it. Elsevier and Springer are *publishers*, they have a portfolio of journals and are sometimes hired by professional or academic societies to provide publishing services.
The quality of the journal depends on other factors, mostly the editorial strategy which is the job of the editorial board, who are independent from the publisher. As a result, even though both the company that you listed are reputable publishers, there are large variations of quality within their respective portfolios.
The best way to know which are the good journals in your field is to **ask your colleagues** in particular your adviser. You can also **ask the scientific librarian(s)** of your institution. This is a typical task that they do. Another clue is which journals publish **the good papers you read and intend to cite**. If you are in the biomedical sciences, the **impact factor** is a useful metric, although like everything, it's not perfect.
There are also limiting factors to consider, it might be that your institution or your funding agency have requirements regarding the public archival of preprints. One example is the [NIH Public Access Policy](http://publicaccess.nih.gov), which requires that:
"all investigators funded by NIH submit an electronic copy of their final peer-reviewed manuscripts of articles that have been accepted for publication. Submission is to take place “upon acceptance,” and the article must be made available in the PubMed Central database within one year of publication."
(All the medicine-related Elsevier journals I know about comply with this requirements, but it's best to check).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: The prestige of a journal and the exposure it will offer your ideas are not determined by the publisher. Sure, some publishers are better than others on average, but differences between individual journals are overwhelmingly larger than systematic differences between publishers, so there's no way to give a remotely useful answer based solely on the publisher. It's like asking "Would I be happier living in France or Germany?" Someone must have gathered statistics on average national levels of happiness, but individual circumstances and the particular opportunities available in each country are vastly more important for answering this question. (And the issues and opportunities vary so much between people that there's no hope of compiling a comprehensive answer.)
To start on finding your own answer, you can look at the journals that publish papers you care about or consider related or comparable with yours. If more come from one publisher than the other, then that may give you an answer for your particular research topic, but again you should pay far more attention to the journal than the publisher. And why restrict your attention to Elsevier and Springer? It doesn't make sense to cut down your options dramatically until you have a pretty detailed idea of what's out there.
If you don't know what sort of papers a journal publishes (not just topic, but also importance, prestige, etc.) and can't even form an opinion by browsing, then it's probably not a sensible place for you to submit your paper. If you are just starting to publish, then you may not have a lot of opinions already, but now is a good time to start forming them. You could also ask your advisor or another mentor for advice on this topic, to get insights aimed at you specifically.
Of course there may be other considerations besides prestige and exposure. For example, some people [<NAME>](http://thecostofknowledge.com/). On the other hand, Springer is also a big commercial publisher that could be considered problematic for similar reasons.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: When you say that the journals are "equivalent" I'm assuming that they have similar impact factor/eigenscore/snip/sjr and any other metric of journal "quality" or "influence" or "popularity".
So it comes down to Elsevier versus Springer versus any other publisher. Regarding your questions:
>
> Which would be viewed by the academic community as more "prestigious"
>
>
>
I don't think it matters. Prestige is usually per journal, not per publisher.
>
> which would offer greater exposure for my work?
>
>
>
This also doesn't depend much on the publisher. However, I will give you some points that you might want to consider.
1. The ability to publish in open access. Most publishers offer this option. This will allow people who do not have a personal or institutional subscription to the journal to view the final version of your article. This usually requires a fee.
2. Time from submission to acceptance. This usually varies by journal and does not depend on publisher. Some journals take even a year while other boast on their web pages that it takes several dozens of days. If the journal does not disclose this information, you can take a look at some of the recent published articles in that journal. They usually mention the submitted and accepted date. Note that this varies a lot between papers, so take a look at more than one or two to get a feeling.
3. The time it takes for the journal to publish the article after it was accepted. This usually has two phases. The first is when the article appears in an online only form. The article is not assigned to a volume yet, but it is fully accessible and citable. This is the "in press" stage. The next phase is when the article appears "in print". This is when the journal assigns the article to a physical volume, and the final citation is available. In most of the cases, you wouldn't care because the article is already available in the "in press" phase. However, not all journals offer their articles in this phase so this is something you want to look out for. Also, when articles are still "in press", some databases do not index it fully (Scopus is one that comes into mind) and your article is less "discoverable" than it can be. So you might want to check that articles in that journal do not hang out in the "in press limbo" for too long.
That said, I personally think it doesn't matter too much. The main thing that affects how well received is your paper, is the paper. If it's a good one, all the nit-picking is not that important.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I want to expand upon something that username_2 wrote: Elsevier is the subject of an ongoing [boycott](http://thecostofknowledge.com/). As of now, 14,784 researchers have pledged to not submit, referee, and/or perform editorial work for Elsevier journals.
In my opinion the boycott is completely justified: not only are they selling our own golden eggs back to us at exorbitant prices, but they engage in shady practices such as "bundling".
Many people disagree with and don't support the boycott. But whether you agree with it or not, the fact that 14,000 researchers are refusing to deal with Elsevier bodes ill in the long term for the quality of their publications.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Ask people you work with. See where they're publishing and ask around. What holds for one field may not hold for others. Prestige of journals is subjective and based on the opinions of a relatively small group of researchers. Asking here will get you many useless opinions, because the only opinions that matter are those of your potential readers in you field.
Also look at each journal's practices and policies to see you feel personally comfortable supporting them. It's 2014 and many people do not even look at the "journal," they simply search google for your paper. Your aim should be to increase visibility to your work and not hide it behind, e.g. needless paywalls. Choose a journal that will allow you to do this in a reasonable manner. Consider journals that let you additionally post preprints on your personal website or arxiv.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: As said before, when it comes to prestige the publisher does not have much weight, the journal does.
But I have to disagree slightly with other answers when it comes to exposure: some publishers have their journals available by many more universities in the world than others, thus bringing some more exposure to the work they publish (exposure is not only availability, but availability is the first logical component of exposure). Now that large commercial publishers bundle a lot, sometimes selling all their journals to a whole country, all their journals (however obscure they sometimes are) are widely accessible. However, this does not make a big difference between Springer and Elsevier, who are both big commercial publisher with mostly convergent commercial strategies. Note that open-access journals are of course even better for availability; but the fact that SpringerLink and ScienceDirect (the platforms used to access Springer and Elsevier journals) gather so many titles under one roof makes it more likely that someone will easily find a given article (an open-access buried into the depth of the internet might be available but difficult to find).
Another difference between publishers you didn't asked for but that matters is the quality of publishing work (copy-editing, assistance to editorial boards, etc.) For an author, the work done on the articles themselves is important. If you think it doesn't matter much, then think about the difference between
A. a publisher that sends you galley proofs to be checked in one week, without any indication of what has been changed from your own manuscript (but many tiny and not-so-tiny changes having been made), and
B. a publisher that sends you an annotated version of your manuscript, showing all modifications made to it, together with the galley proof that resulted from this process, so that you can check each modification easily.
The difference is in hours of work, unless you blindly trust copy-editors. And this would **not** be wise. Unfortunately for you, from my experience and all the testimony I gathered about various publishers, Elsevier and Springer are pretty similar when it comes to service to the authors: they do a pretty bad job.
So in conclusion, I would say that publishers do matter to authors even when they do not want to take any political stance like the Cost of knowledge pledge. But it is hard to find a strong difference between Springer and Elsevier (if you want names of publishers that do a great job, I know a few but for mathematics).
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: From my recent experience and from my recent question asked [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/86790/when-picking-a-journal-for-my-research-should-i-value-the-publishers-reputation). I would say the publisher reputation matters but it also varies country to country. People from various internet communities urged me to publish in a low IF journal published by highly reputed publisher (IEEE) instead of publishing high IF journal published by less reputed publisher (MDPI). The MDPI journal is not only has higher IF but also has 4.3 Normalized EigenFactor and has citation relationship with journals like Nano Letters, Science and Nature. Upon discussing same issue with my supervisor and people from Asian communities they said go for MDPI.
I will suggest check the various indicators of journal from [JCR](https://jcr.incites.thomsonreuters.com/JCRMasterSearchAction.action?pg=SEARCH&searchString=Sensors#) and [Scopus](https://journalmetrics.scopus.com/) reports and select the journal based on its current and previous 5-10 years indicators.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/26 | 2,772 | 12,077 | <issue_start>username_0: This question is, honestly speaking, probably somewhat opinion-based, but I still want to give a shot.
A professor acceded to my invitation of writing a reference letter for me. Nevertheless, unlike the other professors who also acceded to write a reference letter for me, he asked me to draft it on my own. Originally I did not feel anything "wrong", and I just felt embarrassed to recommend myself. But yesterday a friend told me that a professor would ask you to write her reference letter for you when she does not actually think that you are "worthy" enough for her to write you one on her own.
What is the probability that such viewpoint is true? Any opinion is greatly appreciated!<issue_comment>username_1: One reason that often occurs, is that the person is not familiar with your accomplishments and would need a quick refresher by having you draft the letter, since they are usually supposed to illustrate with examples as they list your qualities. Another reason is that certain scholarship and university applications want these letters to have a specific format and include specific details about your potential as a researcher. Your reference may just be too busy to study up on the requirements.
If they didn't think you were worthy of admission for a PhD program they could just write a letter themselves saying "don't accept this guy, he is a terrible incompetent jerk", without you ever finding out about it, rather than ask you to draft it first.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: For me, it means two things:
* I am really busy
* I don't know anything about the job you're applying to and what you want to emphasize about yourself
If the first draft you write is something I can't sign, I'll edit it or I won't sign it. If it's not braggy enough, I might add some emphasis. But metaphorically handing me a piece of blank paper and asking me to recommend you is actually asking me to put in quite a lot of work. Do these people you're applying to value initiative? Creativity? Willingness to work long hard hours? Cheerfullness? A driven nature? A gentle spirit? Is the fact you write great software relevant to them? How about your careful bench work? For all I know you want to do less of one thing and more of another. So now I need to ask you a zillion questions about what you want to emphasize, and maybe go research the job too, and then ask you if what I've written is ok - frankly, it's **way easier** to ask you to write the first draft. And some days, I take the easy route.
It does **not** mean:
* I intend to sign words I didn't write. I will write the final draft
* It's ok for you to make up strengths you don't have
* You'll know what I send in the end
* I can't write a simple letter without help from a student.
Your first draft doesn't even have to be a letter, it can be point form. But tell me you're choosing me as a reference so I can confirm your amazing Xness, Yabilty and Zation. If I can, I will.
By the way, I wish I could find the idiot who started the theory that it means I don't think well of you and want you to retract your request. Several students have retracted their requests after I asked for a first draft, and that's a shame, because I would have cheerfully signed a glowing recommendation for them. I just didn't have time to write it all from scratch myself.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: At this point I feel I should leave an answer which records a differing opinion.
First, let me provide context. My advice is for students applying the STEM PhD programs in the United States (like the OP). I was admitted to the top three math PhD programs in the United States and graduated from one of them in 2003. Since 2006 I have been tenured-track at UGA; I am now a tenured associate professor. I spent four years on the Graduate Committee reading applications, and though I am now on a different committee, because I am co-PI on a large NSF grant I read a stack of applications last year and will probably continue to do so for several years to come. I have also read thousands of academic recommendation letters for faculty positions. (This is, unfortunately for me, not an exaggeration.)
The accepted answer gives what I think is not good advice for the OP's situation. I think it might be good advice for non-academic recommendation letters, and I suspect that it was in fact not written to be targeted at PhD applications. Going over the entire answer point-by-point feels unnecessarily confrontational, but let me differ in some key points, all of which I think could lead a student astray.
* Most of the best recommendation letters for STEM PhD programs in the US are written by those who have substantial experience in this area. In my field of mathematics, a letter written by someone who does not have a PhD in mathematics or a closely related field is likely to be simply skipped over. (I have learned on this site that in some other STEM fields, good letters can be written by those who have substantial industrial experience. But such people still have to have a lot of experience with PhDs in the relevant fields.) The best letters are written by those who have faculty experience as well, have seen many academic recommendation letters, and who are known by the faculty doing admissions, at least by reputation.
Is this description somewhat elitist and exclusionary of younger, non-tenure track and liberal arts faculty? Yes, it is. But it is also honest. If we get a letter from a small liberal arts college that says "Ms. X is the best student I have ever seen" and then doesn't display a familiarity with the type of students that succeed in programs like ours, it's hard to know what to make of it. If the recommender is not an active researcher: well, that's just not as good as someone whose name we all know and trust. How could it be?
In a comment it was suggested that the above situation is impossible because everyone starts out with less experience than the above. Most letters we get are not written by people who are just starting out. If you spend a few years in a faculty position you'll see a deluge of academic recommendation letters and absorb the format. If you are a *very* junior person who is nevertheless a good choice to write a letter (which certainly does happen), you should get help and advice from someone more experienced. You should not rely on someone who is much less experienced, and still less on an undergraduate, and yet less on that undergraduate for whom you are writing.
* Any reasonably good letter contains components that almost no student could write. For instance such letters should **include information about the credentials and experience of the writer**, enough to explain why their endorsement of the student is to be relied upon. Such letters should **compare the student generally to other students in the recommender's program, to the generic student in the target PhD program, and ideally to past specific students that the writer and the reader will both know**. Even the one in a million student who has preternatural access to this information cannot give it: it has to come from writer, in the writer's voice.
There is plenty of room in such an application for a student to provide information about her strengths, goals and interests. A good faculty letter makes contact with that student information and reinforces it, but such information does not form nearly enough of a letter for it to make sense for a student to write it up as though it could be the basis of the faculty letter: at best, doing this would waste everyone's time, not save it.
* Writing academic letters is not a "favor": it is part of what faculty are paid to do. More precisely, it is part of what permanent, full-time faculty are paid to do. I've spent about eight hours over the last few days writing letters for current and former UGA math department personnel, and I will spend at least that much time on the task in the next few weeks. I spend so much time on these tasks because (i) it's important -- the difference between an effective letter and ineffective one may play out as a difference in some young person's life; and (ii) I have a stake in it as well: when one of our undergraduates goes to a top ten PhD program or one of our PhD students gets an NSF postdoc, my entire department benefits and in so doing **I benefit**. If I were a temporary, adjunct or part-time faculty member, I strongly suspect that I would not feel the same way, and I certainly would not expect such a faculty member to devote such time and effort. Someone who thinks of recommendation letters as a favor is someone you don't want to write for you and, I feel, someone who shouldn't have to. Also, **no one** is required to write a letter for any given student: if you feel like you can't write an effective letter, say so and don't do it.
* A letter which is written first by a student and then touched up by the faculty signee is a potentially serious academic honesty situation. I have spoken about this at length elsewhere on this site. I respect that some others do not feel this way and that in many situations there is nothing immoral or suboptimal going on here. However you need to know that many -- I suspect most -- American academics share my qualms. Even the fact that the student must not see the letter is regarded as sacrosanct by many. I am very dismayed when people try to say that they are not *really* just signing their students' letters -- or only if they "actually endorse everything that is written"!! -- but are just getting this writing sample as step one of a final product that is not in any way problematic. To that I say: if you know how to write a reasonable specimen of an academic letter you will know that a "student draft" is at best helpful only as a source of information about the student, so what is being gained by not just asking for the information outside of a letter format? By soliciting a student draft **you are inviting the student to be complicit in a possible academic dishonesty whose final outcome is unknown to them**. If later in their graduate career it comes up that they *think* they wrote their own letter it could still go or at least look very badly for them, even if it turns out that nothing so terrible actually transpired. Then there are the deceptive habits you are implicitly conveying to the student as being part of normal academic business. If you don't think you are teaching the student to be deceptive, ask yourself this: would you be willing to submit a letter that was signed jointly by you and the student, or even in which it is explicitly mentioned that it was written based on an early draft of the student? If you are not willing to put that in the letter, then yes, you are being unethically deceptive and encouraging the student to do the same. If on the other hand you are willing to put that in the letter: **please try it**, and see what happens. I think you'll get some interesting feedback.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: Could it be the professor wants the student to confirm what they already know about them. It could be the professor is attempting to help the student grow by having them recognize their own achievements. Perhaps the student is not one to assert themselves and this is an attempt to bring out this trait.
In an academic environment learning includes learning about yourself as well as content.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: It is very common for an advisor to ask his student to write the letter. I have seen that several times. The reasons are that the advisor is generally very busy and that you are generally the person that knows best what should be written for the job that you are applying. Moreover, if you ask several recommendation letters (let say from 3 persons), you can decide what each of them will say and avoid redundancy between the letters if you write them. Of course, the advisor will then read what you wrote and if he don't agree he will modify it.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/09/26 | 447 | 1,911 | <issue_start>username_0: How might a professor approach a student who comes to class and/or office hours wearing perfume or cologne that is distractingly or overwhelmingly powerful?
Certainly, different people have different thresholds for this sort of thing. Lets say that in this case it is unclear the extent to which this is distracting other students in class but it is clear to the teacher that it is strong enough to distract the teacher. Of course, it might be affecting other students as well.<issue_comment>username_1: I might ask quietly and privately to speak to the student immediately after class. At that point, when no one else is present, I would politely say, "I am sensitive to the strength of your perfume". After that, I would let the conversation unfold. When the student would be defensive, I would just politely repeat the one statement "I am sensitive to the strength of your perfume". I might add "This is a health-related issue for me, as much as an allergy might be. It could eventually affect how I could continue to teach in the class". I would NOT ask or even suggest the student should NOT wear the perfume or take any action. I would hope the student would volunteer that step.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I feel that this could be treated differently depending on if the student is spending a lot of time at the department during business hours, or if the student is only going to a class. If you are only seeing the student in one class you may want to endure? I could easily see a student complaining about a teacher that is having opinions about his/hers perfume. If you are to complain I would open the conversation with *"I am terribly sorry to bring this up but I have an allergy and.."*. It doesn't matter if it is true or not but it is a smooth way of handling it, which would save the student any embarrassment, and settle the issue effectively.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/09/27 | 461 | 1,911 | <issue_start>username_0: I have found a [Wikipedia page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_research_and_development_spending) ranking countries based on amount of funding and GDP. Is there a list that breaks this down further by funding agencies?
For example, the wiki list says US funding, but I imagine it's not so simple or clear where it comes from. For example, it's not clear how much comes from NSF, NIH, and DARPA.
How can I find out the largest funding agnecies in the world?<issue_comment>username_1: I might ask quietly and privately to speak to the student immediately after class. At that point, when no one else is present, I would politely say, "I am sensitive to the strength of your perfume". After that, I would let the conversation unfold. When the student would be defensive, I would just politely repeat the one statement "I am sensitive to the strength of your perfume". I might add "This is a health-related issue for me, as much as an allergy might be. It could eventually affect how I could continue to teach in the class". I would NOT ask or even suggest the student should NOT wear the perfume or take any action. I would hope the student would volunteer that step.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I feel that this could be treated differently depending on if the student is spending a lot of time at the department during business hours, or if the student is only going to a class. If you are only seeing the student in one class you may want to endure? I could easily see a student complaining about a teacher that is having opinions about his/hers perfume. If you are to complain I would open the conversation with *"I am terribly sorry to bring this up but I have an allergy and.."*. It doesn't matter if it is true or not but it is a smooth way of handling it, which would save the student any embarrassment, and settle the issue effectively.
Upvotes: 2 |
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