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2014/05/13 | 539 | 2,236 | <issue_start>username_0: I am finishing writing a manuscript in collaboration with a dozen of colleagues. The paper is mainly theoretical, does not involved experimentation of any kind and is born from numerous discussions between all the collaborators (it is actually hard to tell when the project started). No one really took the lead in the project, at least not during the whole time (for meeting setup and so someone had to take the lead, but only temporary). In addition, the ten collaborators are coming from 6-7 different research groups and universities.
In such case, when everyone as more or less the exact same contribution, what is the best way to determine the author order on the paper, without making any diplomacy misstep?
PS: in my field , alphabetical order is really not common.
PS2: we do not have time for a [25 games croquet tournament](http://scieastereggs.tumblr.com/post/59024356366/croquet-yeah-thats-the-way-we-all-do-it)...<issue_comment>username_1: Since your field does not normally do standard alphabetical ordering, then its use here might signify that something unusual is going on. So you could in principle list everybody in alphabetical order, identify the corresponding author, and then insert a note in the acknowledgments that everyone contributed more or less equally to the paper.
Alternatively, in some fields, papers can be authored by "teams" instead of individuals—although all the individuals participating in the team are cited somewhere. This is more typical when the collaborations run to the hundreds of authors rather than a few to a dozen. If the journal you submit to allows this, it would probably be the fairest option of all.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Recently I have seen a paper draft that had a footnote at the author list (which contained more than the two persons named below) stating that
>
> <NAME> and <NAME> contributed to the present work in equal parts and share first authorship.
>
>
>
Maybe this would be an option in your case as well? By this you have made clear which persons did the main part of the work and give the first position in the name list to the one who managed all the submission process.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/13 | 1,472 | 6,283 | <issue_start>username_0: *I previously asked this question in the physics forum (tag soft-question), but was convinced that it better suits in the academia forum. So I deleted it and posted it here.*
I was recently asked to review a paper for a well-established physical journal, but as I have a lot to do in the moment, I'm tempted to refuse it. This is even more the case since I quit my scientific carreer roughly a year ago.
Thus my question: **particularly outside physics, what are the benefits of being a referee?** [beside the idealistic attitude of "bringing on physics" -- this is a valuable point in principle, but in reality, I've been long enough in the business to know that this is hardly the case for most papers. In contrast, most papers originate due to the need to continuously publish, a thing which I consider to be wrong].
For people in science, I see a clear opportunity in being a referee.
* First, it gives you a connection to the journal editors and contributes to your authority.
* Second, by concentrating on the paper, you are forced to learn something on your topic which might help you later. Further, you might be able to add citations to your own work and thus increase your influence.
* Third, from a global point of view, you have to do it since you also expect your own papers to be reviewed (although this point is somewhat of a social dilemma, since [neglecting the previous points] it would be better to review as few as possible and concentrate on your own research).
However, do you see any personal advantages once you have quit physics? Are there maybe some if one plans to return some day?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't know how universal is this but in my country there is a proverbial saying "learn a craft and leave it, and when you're hungry squeeze it". Since here the "craft" is personal networks, and personal networks do not let you "squeeze" them easily once you have "left" them, then reviewing papers every now and then should not be too heavy an investment in an *uncertain* prospect -which could be returning back in science, but also it could be something else you cannot imagine right now. Ask any freelancer.
Do the editors *know* that you have left your scientific career? If yes, their invitation may say something about their opinion of you. But if they don't know it, I would suggest to make it clear right now: if they are happy to keep their invitation standing, then everybody knows you are doing them a favor. If they want to recall their invitation in light of this information, you will avoid possible later embarrassments.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> However, do you see any personal advantages once you have quit physics? Are there maybe some if one plans to return some day?
>
>
>
If you have quit the scientific community altogether and are working as say, a fisherman, then there will obviously be no professional gain from continuing to review papers.
If you plan to (maybe) return to the scientific community at some stage, having reviewed some papers might help you make the case in an interview that you've been keeping up to date with the literature, but it's still not a strong advantage.
So there's not much to be had in terms of professional benefit in this scenario. The question then is whether or not you feel there's a personal benefit for you: maybe you find the paper(s) interesting to read and learn about, maybe the editor is a friend of yours and you'd like to keep their favour, maybe you like that warm feeling you get when you help progress science a little ... answering these questions are entirely up to you.
(All I know is that if I wasn't in an academic career, there's not a snowball's chance in hell I would be reviewing the papers in my area for the "fun of it".)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: To me, refereeing papers in subject X is a non-negligible part of being a professional academic in subject X. So the premise that you want to referee a physics paper having "quit science" seems moderately self-contradictory: using your expert level qualifications to evaluate a scientific work is being a scientist, isn't it? I'm almost sure it is. :)
So I guess you haven't "quit science" completely, or -- and this may come to the same thing -- the physics community is not fully aware of this fact. One thing I might do if I were you is to make sure that the editor who asked you to review the paper knows that you are no longer employed as a physicist. If I were an editor, that would be useful information, and unless I knew you rather well and knew that you retained a special expertise in this particular area, I would probably select someone else.
I think it's clear that you no longer have any kind of ethical obligation or professional expectation of reviewing papers. I also suspect that once the community understands that you really are doing something else now your referee requests will come rarely or cease altogether. So this is probably a decision that you need to make more for any particular paper than as a general life decision. I would say: if you feel just as qualified to referee the paper as before and if you want to referee the paper, then do it. For instance, if you see something valuable in the paper that you think that some other qualified person might miss, then it might be a nice parting gift "to science" to speak out for the worth of this research. On the other hand, if it's just business as usual (or worse, motivated by "the need to continuously publish"): well, you don't have to clean the bathrooms in the apartment that you're not renting anymore, do you?
If you have thoughts of breaking back into science later on, then I think you need to think seriously about how to keep your connections and your intellectual life, um, alive. There are many aspects to this, and making sure that you continue to referee papers is not, so far as I can see, especially close to the top of the list. If I'm looking at the CV of someone who left academia for a while and is trying to come back (and it does happen), I will look to the work they have done recently and their plans for work in the near future. I don't really care whether they've refereed some papers in the meantime.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2014/05/13 | 1,494 | 6,684 | <issue_start>username_0: If I were a PhD student, should I be concerned if my supervisor always requires their permission before I can publish a paper?
Under what conditions should I find it acceptable or unacceptable?<issue_comment>username_1: The basic freedom of speech would dictate that anyone can publish whatever they want. So as a base line, I would go with that. The question then becomes what could be argued against that? Well, if the advisor has funding for a project and the information the student wants to publish draws on that funding it would be appropriate to discuss the publication before sending it off. The publication might damage the project and hurt everyone involved in the long run. This is not realy an infringement on the basic freedom but limitations under which we live and should abide. Hence, conflicts about publications are often originating in poor or absent communication or total lack of openness or trust or all the above and more.
It is important in any collaboration (which how I see a PhD project) to be clear of expectations in both directions. Under most circumstances problems can be sorted out quite easily but as with anything human, odd personality treats will throw spanners in the works. This is why it is usually difficult to resolve issues that lead to conflicts and the "Run don't walk" away can be suggested. More sensibly, anyone in a conflict should try to understand where the problems lie and act to resolve the problem but typically one party is usually oblivious to personal shortcomings in which case there is usually not much that can be done.
I do not see a simple answer to this but having an understanding of conflicts and conflict solutions or perhaps seeking such advice is necessary if the reasons for supervisory control is not based on reasonable scientific or administrative grounds.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If you are including your supervisors name, or anyone else's name, you should notify them first and allow them to review the paper before sending it to the publisher because the PI and CO-PIs are generally considered to have ownership and responsibility for the data and any resulting publications.
If you are just wanting to publish under your name alone, it depends. Are you publishing findings from data that belongs to your advisor (or anyone else's data)? Typically any data collected by you that was paid for by your funding agency belongs to the principal investigator, which is usually your advisor. You should ask for their permission before you publish findings from his or her data.
This applies to abstract submissions as well.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Of course it's unethical to submit a jointly authored paper without the consent of every coauthor, or to use unpublished data or ideas without permission from their source. However, these principles apply equally to everyone, regardless of rank or status, and they have nothing to do with the student/advisor relationship.
To avoid these issues, let's posit a paper that's entirely the student's work, with no ideas or data generated or owned by anyone else, and let's assume that no funding is required for conference travel or publication fees. Then could the advisor forbid the student to publish? I would consider this unethical: if the student is determined to submit this paper for publication, then it would be wrong for the advisor to try to block the submission or to threaten or impose punishment.
This doesn't mean the advisor can't put some pressure on the student. It's reasonable to try to slow down an inexperienced, headstrong student for their own good. For example, to discuss ethics (avoiding plagiarism, making sure all contributors are credited appropriately, etc.) or to check for major mistakes. I think it would be reasonable for an advisor to have a policy that students should discuss all submissions in advance. (This policy might well be waived for senior students.)
However, if a student refuses to discuss a submission or disagrees with the advisor's recommendation regarding publication, then I see no ethical grounds for intervening.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: The current answers are good, but for my field they seem to miss the single most important factor that makes prior permission *de facto* necessary before submitting a paper: **funding for conference trips or page charges**.
Basically, most papers in my field are conference papers. Conferences require physical presence of the student, and are *expensive*. A single conference trip (to the US or Asia for us europeans) can cost 2000 EUR, in rare cases even more. Often, these costs can be covered from the project a PhD student is also paid from, but some funding agencies do not pay for travel. In such cases, the professor needs to find other funds to finance the trip.
**It is obvious and in no way unethical that one needs to consult the manager of these funds before deciding whether to spend the money.**
So, essentially, an advisor may not be ethically allowed to forbid a student to submit a paper, but he sure can reject paying for it from his funds (which ends up as the same thing for practical purposes).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Just to summarise some of the points (and add some more) as to why a supervisor might make it a requirement for students to seek permission before publishing:
* Check assignment of funds for travel (e.g., for conferences) or for publishing (per username_4's answer)
* Check use of data or resources belonging to the project (per SoilSciGuy's answer)
* Check proper attribution of people involved in the work
* Check that the proper affiliation and funding acknowledgements are in place
* Check that there are no IP issues (particularly in the context of industry collaborations or industry-funded projects, but also with respect to university IP guidelines)
* Check that the venue is not of low quality or, e.g., a predatory journal ... check that the results are not undersold
* Check that the paper is not of low quality, besmirching the good name of the affiliation
These are the reasons I can see why a supervisor may require permission before publishing. Once you understand some of these motives, I guess it's up to you to decide if that's a problem or not.
---
Of course, in some fields, supervisors (almost) [require *co-authorship* by default of anything you publish](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/644/when-should-a-supervisor-be-an-author); in this case, requiring their permission is a corollary. Likewise, relative to that, requiring only permission (maybe) doesn't seem all so bad.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/13 | 1,932 | 7,714 | <issue_start>username_0: One of the hot-button issues on this site is standards for coauthorship, especially variants of the question "Must I *automatically* include my thesis advisor as a coauthor on all my papers?"
Since these questions (sensibly) come up again and again, I thought it would be useful to have a collection of links to various ethical standards for coauthorship. To the best of my knowledge, these standards will apply only to one particular academic field and/or to one geographic region. For instance, most of my colleagues would point to [this statement by the American Mathematical Society](http://www.ams.org/about-us/governance/policy-statements/sec-ethics). It applies (explicitly) to mathematics and (implicitly, I think) to mathematics done in the US and by Americans.
I was thinking of a community-wiki question where each answer posts a link to ethical standards in some academic field(s) and geographic region(s). To make the answers better, I would ask that respondents:
* Quote in their answer the passages most relevant to coauthorship.
* Please avoid "alphabet soup". Above I wrote "American Mathematical Society" rather than "AMS": mathematicians will know what AMS means, but most other academics presumably won't. Some other answers here refer to things like "BMJ": I certainly didn't know what that was.
* (Ideally) Give commentary as to whether/how the standards in their answer differ from those posted in other answers.
The more comprehensive the list we can compile, the more authoritatively we can point future questioners to this list and tell them what is or is not an ethical practice.<issue_comment>username_1: This is excerpted from the [Ethical Guidelines of the American Mathematical Society](http://www.ams.org/about-us/governance/policy-statements/sec-ethics):
>
> I. MATHEMATICAL RESEARCH AND ITS PRESENTATION
>
>
> The public reputation for honesty and integrity of the mathematical
> community and of the Society is its collective treasure and its
> publication record is its legacy.
>
>
> The knowing presentation of another person's mathematical discovery as
> one's own constitutes plagiarism and is a serious violation of
> professional ethics. Plagiarism may occur for any type of work,
> whether written or oral and whether published or not.
>
>
> The correct attribution of mathematical results is essential, both
> because it encourages creativity, by benefiting the creator whose
> career may depend on the recognition of the work and because it
> informs the community of when, where, and sometimes how original ideas
> entered into the chain of mathematical thought. To that end,
> mathematicians have certain responsibilities, which include the
> following:
>
>
> To endeavor to be knowledgeable in their field, especially about work
> related to their research;
>
>
> To give appropriate credit, even to unpublished materials and
> announced results (because the knowledge that something is true or
> false is valuable, however it is obtained);
> To publish full details of results that are announced without unreasonable delay, because claiming a result in advance of its having
> been achieved with reasonable certainty injures the community by
> restraining those working toward the same goal;
>
>
> To use no language that suppresses or improperly detracts from the
> work of others;
>
>
> To correct in a timely way or to withdraw work that is erroneous.
>
>
> A claim of independence may not be based on ignorance of widely
> disseminated results. On appropriate occasions, it may be desirable to
> offer or accept joint authorship when independent researchers find
> that they have produced identical results. **All the authors listed
> for a paper, however, must have made a significant contribution to its
> content, and all who have made such a contribution must be offered the
> opportunity to be listed as an author.** Because the free exchange of
> ideas necessary to promote research is possible only when every
> individual's contribution is properly recognized, the Society will not
> knowingly publish anything that violates this principle, and it will
> seek to expose egregious violations anywhere in the mathematical
> community.
>
>
>
[Emphasis added.]
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Excerpt from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, which governs most medical journal submissions, as well as those in most allied health fields, like public health. The full text is here: <http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html>
>
> The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4
> criteria:
>
>
> * 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.
>
>
> In addition to being
> accountable for the parts of the work he or she has done, an author
> should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for
> specific other parts of the work. In addition, authors should have
> confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors.
>
>
> All those designated as authors should meet all four criteria for
> authorship, and all who meet the four criteria should be identified as
> authors. Those who do not meet all four criteria should be
> acknowledged—see Section II.A.3 below. These authorship criteria are
> intended to reserve the status of authorship for those who deserve
> credit and can take responsibility for the work. The criteria are not
> intended for use as a means to disqualify colleagues from authorship
> who otherwise meet authorship criteria by denying them the opportunity
> to meet criterion #s 2 or 3. Therefore, all individuals who meet the
> first criterion should have the opportunity to participate in the
> review, drafting, and final approval of the manuscript.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: A big publisher has a brief (and somewhat vague) rule for all its journals, although to the best of my knowledge it doesn't do anything to enforce it. Note the 'or' as opposed to the 'and' given in [another answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/20906/10643).
>
> Authorship of the paper
>
>
> Authorship should be limited to those who have made **a significant
> contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation
> of the reported study**. All those who have made significant
> contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others
> who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research
> project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.
>
>
>
Source [here](http://www.elsevier.com/journal-authors/ethics#authorship).
which is very similar to the guidelines of the American Physical Society:
>
> Authorship should be limited to those who have made **a significant
> contribution to the concept, design, execution or interpretation of
> the research study**. All those who have made significant contributions
> should be offered the opportunity to be listed as authors. Other
> individuals who have contributed to the study should be acknowledged,
> but not identified as authors.
>
>
>
Source [here](http://www.aps.org/policy/statements/02_2.cfm)
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/13 | 328 | 1,341 | <issue_start>username_0: Sometimes there are cases in a e-mail correspondence with academia staff (professors and bureaucrats) in which I don't know which is the best practice. I wonder if there is any best practice for the following cases:
**Reply to a reply:** when I ask for information via e-mail, and the reply gives me all the information I want, should I send an email just to thank them, or is this considered a bad, time-consuming practice?
How does a professor react to this kind of reply? And what about a bureaucrat (who maybe receives more e-mail)?
If I asked for an internship and he gave me a negative response, is not replying to him considered rude or normal?<issue_comment>username_1: To send a short mail saying thanks for a service provided is never wrong; in fact, it is good etiquette. Sending such a mail also serves as a receipt acknowledging you received the information. I recommend a very short mail; do not overdo it, the show of gratitude is enough.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I always write a short thank email as an act of acknowledgement. If I spend my time answering someone's questions and don't get any response I would be very unhappy (luckily, it never happened). Don't worry about spamming the professors. They all know how to deal with mass amount of emails.
Upvotes: 5 |
2014/05/13 | 407 | 1,695 | <issue_start>username_0: I am thinking about starting a research to publish in a peer reviewed journal. However, I wonder if a literature review is a research paper. For instance, if I wrote a paper about EU-Russia affairs in a form of literature review, would it have a chance to be published?<issue_comment>username_1: Literature reviews, often referred to by journals as just "Reviews" can and are their own form of research paper. My very first publication was a review like this, so it's clearly possible.
How viable a paper like that is will probably depend on the conventions of your field. For example, mine generally requires that these "expert reviews" (in contrast to a meta-analysis or systematic review) be solicited by the editor, not cold submitted. That involves shopping your manuscript around a little to see if anyone is willing to "invite" it, having a senior person backing you who can prompt a colleague to invite it, or finding a journal who accepts cold submitted reviews.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It definitely can. I also think it's a good first move in a PhD, although I had a hard time mapping out a field that I was new to (compared to a person working in the area for years).
I summarized some of the insights I gained from that process in a blog article: <http://carl-witt.de/writing-a-literature-review/>
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: **Yes.** However, make sure that your area is *both* interesting and manageable within the time you planned for publishing on it. Some interesting areas in my field need a year simply for reading.
(Sorry, folks, that's all I have to say, since your URL is dead as of now...)
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/05/14 | 780 | 3,495 | <issue_start>username_0: I know in most of the cases, PhD seekers do not have many options and we must stick to what is offered. However, it happened that I initiated connection with two advisors from different institutes which almost have the same reputation. However, one of them is a lecturer (equivalent to assistant professor in north America) and the other is full professor. Nothing is guaranteed yet, so I won't give up on any of them. Yet, before I delve deeper, I would like to know is it better to work with advisor who is still at the beginning of his academic career but with less experience and maybe more demanding. Or it is better to work with full professor who has long experience but might be too busy for you or not really pushing you to work.
The answer that I am looking for is from two parts, during PhD study and the future career:
**PhD period:** I know PhD student is independent researcher and should not rely much on his advisor in many aspects. However, I have this fear due to what I faced during my Master, whereby my supervisor was just looking for the quantity of papers not the quality. I assumed from my conversations with him that the number of publications was main criterion to become full professor in that institute. One the other hand, other colleagues complained about their advisors (full professors) that they really do not allocate enough time for them and even do not encourage them to publish saying that you are master student and this number of publications is enough.
**Future career:** I assume recommendation letter from full professor outweigh the one from assistant professor. Do you agree? why?<issue_comment>username_1: I think you stated it pretty well, the young one having less influence, but more eager to collaborate vs. the more experienced one, with more influence, but who doesn't really need to prove himself any longer and probably regards you as just another daily task.
I would consider how cooperative and ambitious the younger one is. If you can see that you can benefit from (i.e. be interested in that particular area of research) and collaborate on something that would further both your careers, in my opinion, you should opt for him. In addition, you could gain a long-term collaborator, even after your PhD, being one of his first PhD students. Also, more demanding + relatively common goals, would drill you to become a better scientist, than you would become if you were in a more "lecture-like" and comfortable environment.
In fact, I would choose the more experienced professor only if is influence and respect in the academic community is extremely high or in the case I would want to "just get over" my PhD.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: It is sometimes assumed that less experienced / competent supervisor will try harder instead, spending more working time and will be somewhat a friend to you, not just a teacher. However this depends. A younger supervisor may also choose to give you only the minimum required amount of time.
For a good PhD student, it may be most important to get a good project and ideas that, as a rule, work. This does not require lots of time but does require a lot of competence. I would normally select the more experienced supervisor even if one may have less time for me. Only if the studies require some complex, difficult to learn methods, a younger supervisor who still uses these methods directly and personally at work may teach them more efficiently.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/14 | 1,565 | 6,686 | <issue_start>username_0: I m in the fourth year of my PhD in veterinary sciences in North America. My Research project involves a lot of farm/team work. I have to work with technicians, farm staff, research associates and other students in the team as well as my advisory committee. I attended in many leadership workshops but still find it hard to deal with negativity, anger and control issues from one of my superiors. She in managing students as a research associate and has quite an influence on my advisor. She told me herself that she has chosen to be mean to people and has been humiliating others and me in various occasions. What should I do? How can I keep myself safe from anger, control issues and related stress?<issue_comment>username_1: You seem to be close to completing your PhD so the usual answer here of "Run don't walk" don't seem to be the way out. Instead you need to find a way to go through the final time. I would strongly suggest seeking professional help. Hopefully your school has access to psychologists or the equivalent who can not only help out with personal problems but in your case, more importantly, how to manage difficult personalities. I have no doubts that it is and will be a burden at times but for you the question is finishing or not, what the effects on yourself will be and in the short of it, is it worth it if you add all factors together. Only you can answer that question. It does not seem as if you have come far down that path so trying to find the support and guidance from professionals on how to deal with difficult personalities is the best way forward. You will bump into these later in life as well so gaining understanding and acquiring strategies is never a waste of time.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Being mean and humiliating anyone, let alone subordinates, in the workplace (academia or otherwise) is inappropriate and should not be tolerated. I would suggest you informally talk to whomever is in charge of harassment claims at your university to let them know what is up. Depending on how bad the situation is, you could either file a formal complaint or go talk to the person directly. By having the informal talk with HR you will be protected if your one-on-one discussion blows up.
>
> She told me herself that she has chosen to be mean to people and has been humiliating others and me in various occasions.
>
>
>
It seems you have talked to her, but did you tell her that her attitude and behavior is making it difficult to do your job? Maybe you can work something out where she is less abusive to you or that your work environment is more structured to prevent the harassment. Hopefully that will resolve the issues, if not, file the complaint.
University's do not kid around with complaints about harassment. These types of formal complaints make promotion much more difficult and will often be reported in any reference written by the department head. They often will require the individual to receive training and monitoring. Once the possibility of a formal complain is on the table it is in the best interested for the colleague to do everything possible to prevent the complaint. Once a formal complaint is raised any escalation by the colleague will likely be dealt with swiftly and harshly by the University.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I’m sorry to hear this; such situations can be unbelievably stressful and upsetting. As you’re in your fourth year, you’re nearly there and have your own network, which are very helpful.
Such situations are tricky because they can degenerate suddenly and unexpectedly. The ideal (not always possible) is to avoid conflict at almost all costs. Conflictual people tend to be better at managing disputes that break out...they often have had a lot of experience of this and you might discover that they are uncomfortably well acquainted with university harassment procedures etc.
I would hesitate to make a formal complaint unless if the situation becomes unbearable, as things may escalate and affect your relationships with others in your department, which might cause delays to your PhD. Hopefully, you are known in your department and group as a positive team member who isn’t associated with conflict. Maintain that reputation as long as you can.
I would also hesitate about approaching this supervisor one-on-one in order to directly address the behaviour. Any such discussion would need to be handled with *extreme* care so that your supervisor doesn't feel threatened. I would venture to suggest that avoiding any suggestion of threat could easily be impossible to achieve during such a discussion. It may be better to remain in the background as much as possible and minimize unnecessary interaction with your supervisor instead. Try to keep things very cool and professional.
Have you somebody more senior in the department you can confide in? A mentor would be perfect for this role, as long as they are discreet. Now would be a good time to request a mentor if you don’t have one.
Although it’s not nice to do, keep a diary of every incident, even if reasonably minor. Any unpleasant emails etc, keep them safe. This is because if things become more difficult, you might need every scrap of evidence.
I’d recommend pre-emptively reading the book by <NAME> “[It’s all your fault: 12 tips for managing people who blame others for everything](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0981509037)” as he gives a lot of good advice for avoiding being dragged into disputes and minimizing their fallout when they do occur.
If things become absolutely impossible (hopefully not), it may be possible to remove this supervisor from your committee. This is where having an impeccable interpersonal record, the diary and an established relationship with a senior member of your department comes in.
To end on a positive note, I think a lot of academics at all levels have had experience of these sorts of situations and we’ve all survived! But I wish you and others who come to this page good luck.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: topic is never outdated. I was dealing with bullying supervisor as well. fortunately I have managed to change my supervisor in the middle of second year. As 'my therapy' I wrote couple of blog posts about 'dealing with difficult supervisor'. Part one is about 'easy cases', part two is about more difficult and part 3 is about bullying monsters!!
[enter link description here](https://aroundacademia.wordpress.com/2015/12/01/dealing-with-a-difficult-supervisor/)
Hope everyone who is dealing with a supervisor like mine is able to get out of this situation ASAP!
Thanks,
Monika
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/05/14 | 1,076 | 4,150 | <issue_start>username_0: Being a young researcher myself I received a comment from my colleague that some of the journals are paying reviewers for the reviewing process.
When I gave it a thought, it started to make more sense.
In case of high quality, respected journal, an institution may consider itself privileged to have a reviewer of such journal and allow the reviewer to dedicate small proportion of his/her daily activities just on the reviewing process.
The reviewer being paid, has more obligations to provide thorough in depth review.
Does that hold true for some journals or is it just a myth?<issue_comment>username_1: It's not a myth. There are/have been some journals that pay peer reviewers. For example:
* The [New England Journal of Medicine](http://a-c-elitzur.co.il/uploads/articlesdocs/PeerReview1.pdf) used to pay $5 per review, until some reviewers complained that "if that was the price that this eminent journal placed on their opinion, the New England Journal of Medicine should seek referees elsewhere"
* The [Lancet](http://journalology.blogspot.com/2007/01/why-reviewers-decline-and-paying-for.html) reportedly pays for peer review "sometimes"
* Reviewers for journals published by the [American Economic Association](http://www.aeaweb.org/aea_journals.php) earn [$100](http://www.aeaweb.org/aer/reviewers.php) for each "timely" review.
* [Zentralblatt MATH](http://zbmath.org/reviewer-service/en/benefits/) (zbMATH) pays 2.56 EUR per review, although this is for post-publication reviews that are then published.
* The [Journal of Medical Internet Research](http://www.jmir.org/cms/view/Instructions_for_Authors%3aInstructions_for_Authors_of_JMIR#Fast-track) offers "a review model in which selected peer reviewers may be paid to deliver high-quality and speedy peer-review reports" (if authors pay an extra fee for the fast-track option)
* The [Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering](http://web.firat.edu.tr/dhanbay/h3.htm) has offered an honorarium of $100 for each "timely" review
* [Drugs in Context](http://drugsincontext.com/authors) pays its peer reviewers an honorarium of unspecified amount, supposedly "to motivate rigorous peer review"
* The [International Institute for Science, Technology and Education](http://www.iiste.org/career.html) (which is on [Beall's list](http://scholarlyoa.com/2012/12/06/bealls-list-of-predatory-publishers-2013/) of allegedly predatory open-access journals and publishers) pays reviewers for its journals $60-$100 per review
Whether *the reviewer being paid, has more obligations to provide thorough in depth review* is true or not is entirely uncertain, though.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: This is not quite what you asked, but book publishers often pay reviewers to evaluate a manuscript and give their opinion on whether to publish it. I recently received $125 US for just such a review. It was less work than reviewing a typical journal article (since I wasn't asked to check technical details) but had a short deadline of just a couple of weeks.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: With the advent of a huge number of online journals, requests for reviewing papers is increasing. Most eminent scientists are too busy with other more important things than reviewing someone else's papers. The end result of all this is that journals seek opinions of people who may not be really competent to provide a fair and accurate review. The other problem is that reviewing manuscripts is not considered an added merit/honor/qualification. Thus reviewing a paper for a journal has absolutely no advantage for the reviewer. The simplest solution would be that journals start paying at least a 100 dollars and up to a reviewer. I am declining to review several papers every month but if I would get extra 500 dollars for reviewing 5 papers a month, it will be an added incentive to review a MS. In other words, journals should really consider the option of paying the reviewers. They are already being paid a hefty some as publication charges and open access publishing. They can share a small part of that profit with the reviewers.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/14 | 1,131 | 4,963 | <issue_start>username_0: It is well known that in mathematics the process of reviewing submitted papers is quite long. There are good reasons for that; intrinsically, reviewing a math paper involves checking and understanding thouroughly the proposed proof, which typically requires a significant time investment. Also, a lot of academics are always very busy and reviewing may not be the most urgent thing they have to do, so it tends to be pushed back.
But it seems that there are other, maybe not so commendable reasons. Apparently, the common wisdom around me is that you should be careful not to turn in your reviews too soon, or you will be flooded with requests by editors (who are all too happy to find someone gullible enough to hurry doing their reviews) and reviews will take up all your time. This is an advice I've often heard given to young researchers, including by people who can honestly not be accused of neglecting the community service aspects of their work. A lot of people I have talked to have a policy of *never* doing the review before the deadline or the k-th reminder from the editor. I even heard of a person who would do the review almost immediately after accepting it (when time allowed), but only send it after the deadline or later.
In an imperfect world where doing your task sooner than anyone else will mark you as candidate for exploitation, I understand the need for such strategies. But I wanted to check:
* Is the risk so big?
* Is this practice really generalized (also in other fields than mathematics)?
* Do you have alternative strategies to avoid having too many review *requests* (of course, one can always refuse reviews, but since it can be delicate to do so too often, one may try and avoid requests themselves)?<issue_comment>username_1: I can imagine someone purposefully delaying reviews, but in my experience it's not a widespread or standard part of mathematical practice, and I haven't heard it offered as common advice. I don't think referees have an obligation to inconvenience themselves to finish a review as quickly as they can, but it seems bizarre to deliberately delay when it would have been convenient to complete the review earlier (or, worse yet, when it was already done but not yet sent).
I don't see a real risk here, or a need to avoid review requests. There's nothing wrong with turning them down, and you can use a vague excuse like that you are already busy with other refereeing and don't want to cause unnecessary delays for this submission. In fact, a prompt reply will be appreciated; it already puts you ahead of the people who require reminders to reply to referee requests. (When a referee declines quickly, there's almost no cost, while it's annoying if I send several e-mails over a period of weeks but never hear back.) From my perspective as an editor, I'm not looking for people who will complete a review as quickly as possible. Instead, my ideal referee is someone who is responsive and reliable, who promptly lets me know what they can reasonably do and then does it within the timeframe they estimated. If they do that, they can turn down as many requests as they like.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm honestly puzzled by this tactics. No one will make you write more reviews than you want to. I write my reviews very promptly (at least the editors of the journals I have reviewed for tend to point that out to me when I submit my reviews), but I have a self-imposed threshold for how many reviews I will do within a given amount of time. If I get requests that exceed that threshold, I politely decline and explain why. I don't understand what's so "delicate" about that. It's surely better to be a diligent reviewer who occasionally declines invitations than to be a notoriously late reviewer (on purpose!).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: This is a response to the answer by username_1 and the comment to that answer by <NAME>. I just want to point out that there are ways in which the community benefits from there being some lag built into the refereeing process. If there were no such lag then an author would have every incentive to submit every paper to the very best journal in the field, expecting a quick rejection, after which the author can submit to the second-best journal, and so on. In this way, an author could expect his/her papers to wind up in better journals than they otherwise would, since once there are enough low-probability events then there's a good chance that one of them will occur. So it is to the author's benefit to do this, but on the flip side this would cause lots of extra work by the editors and referees of various journals. The main thing I see which discourages authors from doing this is that they don't expect an immediate response from the referees. So that is one reason why it isn't necessarily a bad thing for a reviewer to wait a couple months (say) before sending in his/her review.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/14 | 280 | 937 | <issue_start>username_0: I have been building a search tool for colleges and universities in US. I could find most of the data from the IPEDS database. Now I am trying to relate the colleges with US News ranking. I'm trying to find any source of data which could give me ranking of colleges with their UNITID/college name .
Any clues on how to get the rankings data along with UNITID ?<issue_comment>username_1: I uploaded a file to wikisend (free and no sign-up file hosting service) with the correlation.
[US News and IPEDS ID](http://wikisend.com/download/470842/usnwr_unitid.txt)
Actually pastebin never expires so here's a link to it on pastebin:
<http://pastebin.com/FNEaJ1vC>
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The above source appears to be limited in years.
I've found this current source:
<https://andyreiter.com/datasets/>
Contains IPEDS ids and USNews & Report rankings up through 2022.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/14 | 471 | 2,084 | <issue_start>username_0: I submitted a paper and it is currently under review (submitted on 10th March and conference is on 15th October, I'll be notified on 15th July). However, now, in May, I see a paper has just published dealing with the same problem as mine. They indicate that their solution is better than mine. If my paper is accepted, do I have to withdraw it, as it seems to be out of date?<issue_comment>username_1: It's a slightly grey area but assuming the journal paper in question was not publicly available before the submission date of your conference, I think you are fully entitled to publish the paper if accepted. It's a parallel result, which means there was (verifiably) no wrong-doing on your part. If accepted, in the "camera-ready" submission, you can add reference to the journal paper with a note that their results were developed in parallel (with mentions of the dates involved in a footnote, for example). You get your publication, the authors of the work get their citation, and the conference themselves know that there was no wrong-doing involved.
So again, you don't *have to* withdraw, but you can if you want (e.g., if you don't want to be associated with a weaker form of the result, or if you are a really nice person and feel that the slot at the conference might be better used elsewhere).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: If you did not know about the other paper and it was not available at the time you were doing the research for your paper, your paper is considered as an independent research. Moreover, if your approach to the problem is different, it will partially justify the importance of your work.
However, it is important to send an email to the editor and explain the situation to him/her. It may cause the rejection of your paper, but it is your obligation to let the editor and the referee of the paper know about the parallel recent works.
A similar situation has happened for one of my papers recently. After explaining the situation to the editor, he considered the paper to be an original research work.
Upvotes: 4 |
2014/05/14 | 1,204 | 5,250 | <issue_start>username_0: I am a junior member on a research project. We have written a paper. I feel the work is not ready for publication and have issues. We have discussed the issues, and other members of the group including the lead author agree with me that there are issues. But the lead author who is more senior is too eager to get the results published to the extent that he is ready to mislead the reviewers/readers by exaggerating and misrepresenting the partial inconclusive results to get the paper accepted. I don't think I can convince him to allow more time for the project to reach a more satisfactory stage before publication. I am rather junior and have limited say on the project. I am new to the field of the project, and the senior author is established in the field and publishes several papers in top venues each year. Other members of the project are his students.
We don't have conclusive evidence for one of the central claims in the paper. It might turn out to be false under more experiments. The lead author, however, believes it is correct even though he agrees the evidence we have is not sufficient. He wants to publish the results and the idea as soon as possible, but accurately stating what we have and what we don't have will make the acceptance unlikely at this point. He is fine with getting the flawed results published and then continuing to work to fix the issues for the later publications.
I am not comfortable with my name appearing on the paper.
One option is to ask for the removal of my name as an author and to be mentioned in the acknowledgments. However, I have worked on the project for a considerable time and would like to get credit for my contributions, and I don't feel just being mentioned in the acknowledgments is good enough.
What would you do if you were in this situation?
How do you deal with major disagreements in writing a joint paper?
Would it be helpful if I post a different edited draft copy of the paper online where the claims are more accurate in my view?<issue_comment>username_1: I see a few possible options for this.
1. You are talking with other co-authors of the paper then you all together talk to this lead author that what he does is going to affect not only his, but also your future in a very bad way.
2. You are making a rough estimation how quick you (and other authors) can fill all those gaps in this project. If it is let's say 15 days, you meet and make your exact suggestion. This concreteness will make the main author think twice.
3. Although you have done a lot of research, you should remove your name from this suspicious study (if you strongly believe that this study has serious drawbacks), because sooner or later it will become worthless.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I wanted to add a fourth possibility to @artalexan's nice answer that might be more diplomatic:
* Make the paper technically correct with the results you have (even if preliminary) and submit to the current venue.
*The major problem with submitting the paper is that it is dishonest, not that it is preliminary.*
If the paper can be made technically correct and honest -- even if the results are preliminary -- it would be fine to at least submit it and let the reviewers judge if it is mature enough.
If you are a co-author, you should have the power to edit the misleading text. If the main author is stopping your efforts to do that, then ask to be removed from the paper.
Of course if the results themselves are incorrect (rather than preliminary) there may be no saving the paper.
---
On a side note, the attitude of the senior researcher in question towards publishing may be productive in the short term (getting some initial papers published quickly by misleading reviewers), but it is **utterly counter-productive** in the long run. Having a reputation for sloppy results/writing will seriously harm the trust that reviews/readers have in your paper ... and reputation is *so* important in research! I don't know your situation, but if the researcher shows no inclination to change their attitude, try to put distance between yourself and them.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: I've seen some misleading papers written by popular names during my MSc studies. Yet, their popularity did not vanish in an observable amount of time. In research, we have many issues like this; and I believe it is not necessarily a bad thing. Sound articles would be cited by many, and they would definitely be helpful for new researchers and young students alike.
However, I have the following questions for you. Please consider them objectively.
1. Did you witness cherry-picking? Or any alteration/manipulation to the research results?
2. How inconclusive do you find the results? Please forget
about the lead author, and give a number from 1 to 10 on your best
knowledge.
3. Can you convince the lead to add a future studies section or
a paragraph/sentence to your paper, to mention the issues you come up with
about the experiment?
4. Can't you ask the leads approval to do more experiment? So that you
will have a fighting chance to make things right. If you are proven right, you may give the accurate results in the earliest revision.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/14 | 484 | 1,985 | <issue_start>username_0: I recently completed my MBA and have worked in the IT field for the last 7 years. I have an undergraduate degree in mathematics, and have completed 3 physics graduate courses (mechanics, E&M, QM) as an open university student. Is it realistic for me to self study for the physics GRE, get a great score, and then have a chance to be admitted to a physics PhD program?
The physics graduate courses I took were from a master’s school, but I had to pay for these out of my pocket. I though about continuing in that masters program but it is just too expensive given my situation (I have a family and a mortgage).
I want to know if I have a shot at a PhD program without going for the masters and only with a great physics GRE score and a mathematics undergraduate degree.<issue_comment>username_1: Typically the only reason that PhD granting institutions in the US give out a master's degree en route to the doctorate is the existence of capitation money in some states that reward them for each advanced degree they grant. You don't need a master's degree. I never got one, and I could have for $50 and two weeks spent converting a couple of journal articles to thesis format. Nobody worth talking to expects you to have an MS when you apply.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: To get admitted into a PhD program directly without MS, requires some research experience in the field(if you want admission to a good, competitive program). A really good GRE score might help substitute this factor but not always.
An alternative to that may be, take admission in the MS program and then switch it to PhD after a semester or two. But you should join some research lab right in the beginning of your MS, in order to be successful in changing the program.
Hope this helps.
Courtesy:
--MS candidate planning to switch to PhD
--Even after a good GRE profile and 3.96 gpa in pharmacy school, got rejected for PhD at UCSD(not enough research experience)
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/14 | 687 | 2,781 | <issue_start>username_0: As the second author of a paper published by IEEE am I allowed to provide a download link to a copy of that paper on my own website? The *official* paper can only be found at the IEEE CS Digital Library behind a paywall. I'd like to provide free access to it.
Does it make a difference if free download links of the paper can already be found with Google Scholar? Should I prefer to link to the download on the university's publication directory instead of providing my own?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, you can.
From <https://www.ieee.org/documents/top10faq.pdf>:
>
> **Can an author post his IEEE copyrighted paper on his personal or
> institutions’ servers?** Yes. An author is permitted to post his IEEE
> copyrighted paper on his personal site and his institution’s server,
> but only the accepted version of his paper, not the published version
> as might be downloaded from IEEE Xplore.
>
>
>
Directly from their more recently updated paper policy (<http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/paperversionpolicy.html>):
>
> The policy reaffirms the principle that authors are free to post the
> accepted version of their article on their personal Web sites or those
> of their employers. Posting of the final, published PDF continues to
> be prohibited, except for open access articles, whose authors may
> freely post the final version.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Additionally to username_1’s answer, you might want to check the copyright notices you signed for your papers. All the IEEE Copyright forms I’ve had so far (latest July 2020) are identical, and say the following (emphases mine):
>
> AUTHOR ONLINE USE
>
>
> * Personal Servers. Authors and/or their employers shall **have the right to post the *accepted* version** of IEEE-copyrighted
> articles on their own personal servers or the servers of their institutions or employers without permission from IEEE, **provided
> that the posted version includes a prominently displayed IEEE copyright notice and, when published, a full citation to the
> original IEEE publication, including a link to the article abstract in IEEE Xplore.** Authors shall not post the final, published
> versions of their papers.
> * Classroom or Internal Training Use. […]
> * Electronic Preprints. […]
>
>
>
It’s probably a good idea to point to the publication you want people to cite anyways.
And this could help distinguish what the IEEE means by « accepted version of his paper » as opposed to « final published PDF ».
While this difference is rather evident for a journal, where editors typeset the document, the distinction is less easy for conferences where you directly submit a PDF that is then published.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/05/14 | 2,766 | 11,434 | <issue_start>username_0: I was suspended for 1 year from my university for copying an assignment from an online source. There were several extenuating circumstances but I won't go into them as they are irrelevant, I did cheat and I do deserve the punishment I was given - that is not the question.
After I found out my sentence, I found it very hard to attend classes relating to that department, or to look professors or my deans and advisors in the face and carry out conversations with them. The professor who's class I cheated in is one I was hoping to talk to as she is in the same area that I hope to go into one day and I really enjoyed her class, teaching methods, and enthusiasm for the subject. I also am extremely saddened by the fact that since I'm a fourth year, this means all my peers will be graduating and will have left by the time I come back and I'm finding it hard to cope with the thought of being without them for the rest of my undergraduate career.
My question is how do I cope with the stress and shame I am feeling and how do I get over that so that I can return to the academic environment in 1 year? Can I ever approach that professor again, or should I avoid her? I'm asking this here because I'd like the opinions of those who are on the other side of this.<issue_comment>username_1: Unless the professor is aware of and condones whatever extenuating circumstances led you to cheat in her course, I think that your misconduct has "cut off" that bridge for you. Someone whose class you've cheated in is likely not going to be willing to help you out in any meaningful way—at least not without a sincere attempt at contrition. (Even then, it may be a case of "forgive, but never forget.")
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: To err is human. There is no need to condemn yourself. I am glad you understood your mistake and I am sure that you learnt the lesson.
I think that you can just directly talk to the professor(and the advisor) explaining that you regret and you understood your mistake (of course this method strongly depends on your professor's personality). Just make the situation clear and leave it behind because what hapened, happened. Act. Concentrate on the future and direct all your energy to prove that you are strong and wise. I am sure the professor will understand and encourage you (they are all wise and mature people and they understand that bad things happen and people might need another chance).
Concerning the peers, if you have some friends in your class, this is a good test for them because friends should support you in hardships. If they are just classmates, then don't warry, you will have good classmates again.
p.s. Just look at this as a life test you have to overcome. Don't cheat, deal with it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: The university *suspended* you, which is a signal that it is still willing to have you as a student after serving your suspension. (If it wasn't, you'd have been expelled.) Therefore, upon your return, this professor (and every other professor) has the same professional obligations towards you that she would to any other student: to accept you in her classes, to treat you with courtesy and respect, to help you learn the material, to grade you fairly based on your work and the standards of the course. It is possible that your assignments may face extra scrutiny for plagiarism, but hopefully that is irrelevant as you're not going to do it again.
It's possible that relations may be strained between you, but I think this may be more on your side than hers. Speaking for myself, I certainly find it disappointing when a student cheats, but it's not as if I'm going to declare a personal vendetta against them and seethe with fury every time I pass them in the hall. That would be unprofessional, and not worth the emotional energy anyway. We go through the disciplinary process, I hope that they learn their lesson, and it's back to business as usual. If they are able to turn things around and show genuine interest in and dedication to their studies, for me that's ultimately uplifting.
So if you want to take her class at a later date, by all means do so. You might find it helpful to talk with her first: express your regret over the incident, as well as your continued interest in your subject and in completing your degree. I think it's very likely this will help clear the air for both of you. It would be wise for you to be extra diligent about quotations, citing sources, etc, and to consult your professor if you have the slightest question about any such issues.
Maybe she won't invite you to dinner, and she probably won't be the best person to write you a letter of recommendation. (Even if you get to be on better terms, which I hope you will, she might still feel it's her duty to mention the cheating incident in any letter she writes, which is probably not good for you.) But I don't see any reason you can't have the same basic educational experience as any other student.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: I am assuming that you've been sent down this year.
To expand a bit on <NAME>'s comment to username_1's answer, you should write a letter to the professor. This letter should be contrite, apologetic, and demonstrate that you've learned your lesson. You might discuss how you plan to remedy what caused the problem and how you would handle it differently during your year off.
This contradicts the previous sentence but: Do NOT even refer to the 'extenuating' circumstances. Whatever it was, you should have raised that with the professor or the department before the cheating took place. But you've learned that now, right?
You should write similar letters to the chairman/head of the department (don't send the same letter) and your advisor with the same information. Discuss how you want to start fresh next year and have a stellar year.
Think about how they've been affected as well. They had to deal with a distasteful situation, punish a (hopefully!) promising student, and so on.
For a non-Academia example that might be enlightening, if you read science fiction at all, check out <NAME>'s apology (via a letter) in Lois Mc<NAME>old's *A Civil Campaign*.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Years ago I took a final exam for a student who I was tutoring (we became friends during our tutoring sessions.). I hid in the bathroom; he snuck the exam out to me; I completed it and he turned it in. It was a Calculus test.
He was caught and suspended for a semester. I personally went in to the university to explain our actions, explain why I did it and to lend my support for him and to ask them for lenient punishment on him. The school administrators were appreciative of this and I think it was reflected.
In any case, he was out for the semester. Then, he went back again, finished school, and went on to grad school and his career. All said and done, very little if any harm done.
Life goes on. Sometimes people cheat, sometimes they plagiarize, we all do it to some extent in our lives, not a huge deal as far as I'm concerned if you don't do it often and you learn something about yourself in the process.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: I apologize for sounding a bit non-academic.
You need to forgive yourself, and realize you have become a different person because of this incident. Until you do this for yourself, you cannot expect anyone else to do it for you. People make mistakes. Learn, and move on. You can still make a difference tomorrow - unless you dwell on yesterday.
The Catholic church recognizes that people can turn away from past mistakes and start afresh in what they call "the sacrament of reconciliation". This requires that you a) be sorry (contrition), b) say you are sorry (confession), and c) make up for it (satisfaction). There is simplicity and wisdom in that. Even if you are not religious, it's worth contemplating.
Make peace with yourself. Until you do, you cannot return, even if the University lets you.
As an aside - a year away from your friends is a really big punishment; it can also provide an opportunity. Do make the most of it. If you can't find a job, do some volunteering; maybe join an international aid organization, and go abroad to help people less fortunate than you. Turn this episode into something constructive - so that when you look back on the year, you realize you turned something bad into something good. That will help with the healing.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: It would probably help to reduce your shame if you made a simple apology to those who you feel you owe one. Just say that you are sorry for what happened that year and that you are eager to continue your studies and finish for real this time.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_8: Adjunct faculty/instructor point of view here. My recommendation to you: **replace your "shame" with work and achievement you can be proud of!**
Put that time you aren't spending with your already-graduated friends to academic use. Attend all your classes (unless you're contagious). Be on time with your attendance and assignments. Pay attention and ask questions. Go to your professors'/instructors' office hours even if you are sure you know what's going on in class -- especially those professors aware of the suspension. Maybe bring along an assignment you're working on to confirm you're on the right track -- and conveniently prove that it's really you who is doing it.
As you're a fourth-year student, you should occasionally (or often) be able to exceed the requirements for an assignment. Just don't make it harder to grade your work... an extra citation or three (that you actually understand and use) in a research paper; really good comments in your computer code should be fine. Even just emailed questions can go a long way to demonstrate your engagement and effort. (There are bad questions: "What is the answer to #7" is probably an example of a bad question.)
I agree with other posters (especially Nate) who say that the professors/instructors will mostly forgive your mistake. Expect that your work will be looked at more carefully, at least for a while.
There are few things I find more annoying than students "sharing" work. I can't let it slide morally and it wastes a lot of my time making sure my suspicion is correct before I more forward with it. So, I don't want to read your letter about the past; that's just more wasted time. Until I see different behavior, it's just more B.S. (*not* meaning Bachelor's of Science) that was quite possibly written by a helicopter parent and shows more effort that was put into the assignment that caused the problem anyway. Actions speak louder than words.
In the end, I don't remember who cheated; I do remember students who excelled in their work. (Edit: Or at least, I try to; I'm actually pretty bad with names and faces :-( )
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: Show genuine remorse over your mistake, sure, but rather than feeling ashamed of being suspended for a year, be *proud of yourself* for going back after said year and not giving up. A lot of people would use this situation as an excuse (not a reason, it's an excuse) to not return. The fact that you're asking how to deal with the future shame means that you're not even considering the alternative; you're going back. That takes strength, and you should be proud.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/15 | 836 | 3,822 | <issue_start>username_0: Unfortunately I do not have any prior research experience, therefore I had a few questions while I was studying papers on cluster analysis.
Can a researcher legally and with permission use the benchmark values of the pre-existing algorithm to compare with theirs? This question came to me after I noticed identical results reported in multiple papers for some population based cluster analysis algorithms. The different papers propose a new algorithm and then compare the performance of it with some other algorithms over some common dataset. I have noticed that, for some algorithms the values reported are an exact match. The nature of these algorithm is stochastic, and also the different authors claim to have run the algorithms different number of iterations and then use the mean. Therefore no two sets of run will result with the same mean, min, max and standard deviation.
My suspicion is either it is permissible to reuse the benchmark results with permission. Or a common benchmarking framework exists (still, how can two papers reporting using different number of iterations land into the same identical result?)
I have reproduced the work of the papers using Octave and benchmark is similar to what is reported in the papers, but is definitely not identical.
Also, how generally these are done? If a researcher has to implement 5 algorithms to compare, then do they implement their own and then verify and compare or request the version the author has used and then benchmark with respect to that specific piece of code to maintain unbiased experimentation?
[EDIT]
Quoting the results from another paper (with citation) is all right, but using it in the benchmark comparison table is something which is practiced in research?<issue_comment>username_1: You are definitely allowed to quote the results from another paper, with citation. You can also email the author and ask for the code (or grab it from their webpage). In this case, citation is also the right thing.
Depending on the benchmarks in question, the results may yield the same results to the accuracy presented on the paper (if I get a value of 0.98547856842, I will probably round it to 0.985). If you repeat the same benchmark on the same dataset enough times, you can converge to the same numbers to the accuracy printed. It is even easier if the dataset is small.
Another way to enforce replicability is to use the same random seed.
This said, I would be suspicious if they both report the exact same results. If you have the mean, standard deviation, and population size, you can do a statistical test to check the probability of them being reported equal.
If they just copied the results from the other paper without citing it, it would be a bad practice, but it does not invalidate the research.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Quoting the results from another paper (with citation) is all right, but using it in the benchmark comparison table is something which is practiced in research?
>
>
>
I would wager it is *not done enough*. It is certainly ok, even required, to compare your results to earlier work, and the more fair and unbiased you can do this, the better. It is perfectly acceptable to say "on the right-hand side of Table XY, we report the results for this problem previously achieved in [1]" (and then list them exactly as reported).
The one thing to make sure, though, is that when you want to say that you are better than a previous work, the comparison is actually fair. For instance, one sometimes sees papers where the authors use a long-running deterministic algorithm (which you need a map/reduce cluster to execute on) and claim that their work is better than an earlier heuristic approach, which was built for speed and on-line execution. Don't do that.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/05/15 | 383 | 1,706 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm pondering on how much time I should plan to finalize a paper that has received a 'revise and resubmit' letter from the journal editor.
I know that I should return it as soon as possible. However, given that I have other work to do I would like to know if there's an unwritten rule on how long should I take to resubmit.<issue_comment>username_1: Many editors report the deadline in their decision letter. However, I have seen some decision letters without a deadline.
Please note that most submission systems provide a Due On date. See this screenshot from Manuscript Central:
If there is no indication regarding a deadline either in the letter, or in the submission system (or the journal website), the best for you would be to *contact the handling editor*.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Times vary. In my field three weeks for minor and six weeks for major revisions seems common. If the journal does not provide any general guidelines on this one would hope that the editor would do so. From your question, I take it neither has occurred. You can then approach the problem by trying to assess how much time you need (given other chores etc.) and then contact the editor asking if your estimated time plus a week or some smaller buffer would be acceptable. That way you gain a deadline against which to work and remove possibly annoying reminders.
So I will not attempt to provide a fixed time for your specific case since what is customary varies both between disciplines and between journals but trying to get a reasonable time frame to which you can commit should be a good step to take.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/05/15 | 520 | 2,142 | <issue_start>username_0: Today there has been significant news coverage (at least in the UK) that the [BMJ](http://www.bmj.com/) are withdrawing statements from two papers on the possible harmful side effects of statins. Here are the [Guardian](http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/may/15/statins-bmj-statement-professor-collins-side-effects) and [BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27420100) articles on it.
This led me to wonder how common such issues are in academia in general. In this case it appears the authors made an incorrect conclusion from a study which was not picked up in peer review. I can think of lots of similar possible situations where proofs may turn out to be incorrect or other data may be wrong/not properly dealt with.
In particular I'm thinking about less popular/controversial subjects where such things are unlikely to make the general news. Is it standard practice to issue a retraction if things are incorrect? If anyone has any numerical data on this that would be ideal.<issue_comment>username_1: [COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics)](http://publicationethics.org/) have recommendations for what circumstances should lead to retraction of papers. Retraction is considered a very severe action and is not generally done lightly. In a document from COPE on [retraction guidelines](http://publicationethics.org/files/retraction%20guidelines.pdf) you can see what they recommend.
Clearly that does not answer your question but the problem about being general in academia is that the effects of problems in written articles differ between fields. What is wrong is obviously wrong, but if the effects are risking lives or is harmful in some other direct way will be more likely in some fields than in others. Hence retraction is probably far more likely in life sciences than in, say history or philosophy (feel free to disagree or add other better examples).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Not numerical data, but the [Retraction Watch blog](http://retractionwatch.com/) reports on retracted papers in the academic literature, including many papers retracted because they are wrong.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/15 | 1,139 | 4,696 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm an industrial PhD student (Europe) and recently I'm finding myself reflecting over some events.
As industrial student I'm working for a Company. It is important to note that the Company (superiors/supervisors) have decided what subject (and its scope) I'll be working on. Basically, it was their idea for a new product.
It is worth noting that my boss is also my main supervisor (she is doing 20% at university and 80% at the Company).
Having this in mind, I'm finding some things odd:
1. I had to write PhD project description (milestones, etc. ) on my own.
2. A year after PhD commenced, my supervisor commented that "she still does not have vision about the project".
I just want to make sanity check and establish how often this happens and is it normal thing or not.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> I had to write PhD project description (milestones, etc. ) on my own.
>
>
>
This doesn't sound unusual to me. Writing project plans and drafting milestones is a part of graduate studies, but your supervisor should definitely be involved.
>
> A year after PhD commenced, my supervisor commented that "she still
> does not have vision about the project".
>
>
>
This is clearly unsettling for you, but sadly not that uncommon\*. The unusual part is the supervisor actually saying it. Nevertheless, I think it's a serious issue and your supervisor is apparently not taking his/her responsibilities seriously.
**Having a too loose mentoring/supervision during a PhD is a very good way of finding oneself in hell after 3-4 years of wandering.** Your concerns are by all means valid and you shouldn't let this slip. I would suggest to politely tell your advisor that you need a more precise direction to follow, otherwise you risk loosing precious time (and money) for you, him/her and, off course, the company.
I've heard frequent bad reports of peoples pursuing a PhD with a commercial company. But as stated by @username_2 in the comments, people in industry tend not to have much experience supervising students. Try to be proactive: if you feel you need more support say so, very clearly.
\*I'm assuming that, being in Europe, you have a Master's degree and the PhD project is intended to last 3-4 years.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Having thought about this a bit more I feel I should probably expand my comments on Jigg's answer into a full answer.
On point 1. I agree with Jigg that this is fairly normal. In fact these requirements normally come from the university. My university requires me to write a project description and plan of work to be updated each year. You should definitely discuss what goes in this with your supervisor.
My personal opinion is that these documents tend to be bureaucratic pieces of rubbish that no one reads and only vaguely stick to. However, I suspect that is beside the point. The process of thinking about it is what is important as this should help you get an idea of 'the vision of the project' as you put it.
On 2. while the statement itself is obviously concerning I would be slightly reassured that your supervisor has told you this. I suspect there are some supervisors who wouldn't.
How you respond partly depends on whether you agree with the statement or not. If you agree that you don't have vision that should be your priority, it is hard to do research if you don't know what you're doing. Discuss with your supervisor what your plans for the project are and how you should go forward.
If you disagree with your supervisor there are several possible explanations. They may not know what you are thinking, especially if you do not talk to them that frequently. They may have a different idea of where the project should go than you. They may think your plan for the project is insufficient either to achieve what they want from the project or to get you a PhD. In any case you should meet your supervisor and discuss what your vision is for the project and what issues they have with it.
As a good starting point to understand the vision of your project I would look to answer these questions:
What is your project going to do/show/make?
How are you going to do/show/make it?
Why is it important to do/show/make it? (Why does anyone give a f\*\*\*?)
A final point is to not get too downhearted. One of the biggest drawbacks of doing a PhD in industry is that you have much less contact with other students. I think many PhD students go through a stage where they have serious issues with their research or supervisors or things. But as you probably don't deal with many other students on a daily basis you end up feeling that it is just you that has problems.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/15 | 1,038 | 4,443 | <issue_start>username_0: I have been co-supervised by my primary supervisor's wife. Suffice to say that this has been problematic where both have different research interests. Each asks me to do different jobs and they often bring their home fights to work. My primary supervisor is always submissive to her will whenever she is around. Though he supports me in every decision I do and my research behind her back. It is been a nightmare and was wondering if there are some written rules that such scenario is a conflict of interest.<issue_comment>username_1: I am not aware of any written rules regarding this situation.
In our department (and other affiliated departments), there are quite a few professors who are married to each other. In most cases, I have seen that such situations tend to turn out exceedingly well. However, there are, as your situation goes, many times when this can go wrong.
The best advice under these circumstances is to treat their home fights as none of your business. Stay out of it, develop your own research agenda and pursue it independent of such pettiness.
If all else fails, **Don't walk ! Run !**
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Your supervisors are problematic in several ways, from what you describe:
* Pushing their own research interests over what's most beneficial to you
* Exposing you to unpleasant interpersonal issues between themselves that affect your working environment
* Not coordinating and communicating effectively with each other to co-supervise you
However, none of these things are necessarily the result of them being married. The same issues can arise (and I have seen them) with unrelated co-supervisors who do not get along.
In general, co-supervision by a married couple is not universally disallowed. (In my university it is allowed, and there is a husband-wife pair in my department that successfully co-supervises PhD students on occasion.)
*Some* universities do recognize this as a conflict of interest. This from the [University of Western Australia](http://www.postgraduate.uwa.edu.au/supervisors/policies/supervisor-appointment) (emphasis mine):
>
> Supervision must be free of actual or perceived conflicts of interest. Supervision by, or **co-supervision with, close relatives or those in close personal relationships** is generally not appropriate. All such cases must be declared at the time that supervisors are nominated. In cases where approval is given on academic grounds for supervision by, or co-supervision with, close relatives or those in close personal relationships, additional supervisors who are free of an actual or perceived conflict of interest must be appointed.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Your situation is certainly very bad, but a *conflict of interest* in the context of academic research is when personal interests are at stake when reporting research results (e.g. wife owns the company that manufactures the products that husband's paper say are superior to the competition).
I found this definition of a CoI on various universities websites:
>
> A conflict of interest is a situation in which financial or other
> personal considerations have the potential to compromise or bias
> professional judgment and objectivity
>
>
>
The situation you describe is better described as lousy management, little respect from both supervisors towards you, and a blatant lack of professionalism from their part. However, it affects you, it certainly affects their productivity, but it's not *per se* a CoI. It's not like if one was reviewing the papers of the other, or was in the board that attributes funding to the wife/husband's project, etc.
My advice would be, whatever action you intend to take to get yourself out of this nightmare, **not** to refer to the problem as a conflict of interest. CoIs are a lot more serious than poor management and you will risk triggering the wrong type of investigation, ultimately deserving your cause.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: If any conflict between a student and one of the supervisors comes up, married supervisors have a strong incentive to support each other, rather than looking out for the best interests of the students. For example, they may pressure the student to include both supervisors as authors on all publications. It's even tougher for a student to stand up to two people in positions of authority than one.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/15 | 1,050 | 4,462 | <issue_start>username_0: I have been shortlisted for a lectureship position. The committee has asked me to present a 10 minutes (!) lecture on teaching game development topics to undergrads. My teaching experience amounts to TA roles during my post-doc and PhD. I am familiar with the topic however at this career stage I have not yet had the opportunity to manage a university course on my onw.
Given the time constraints, what would you (search committee) want to see in one such presentation? The overall course structure? Assessment/project ideas?<issue_comment>username_1: I am not aware of any written rules regarding this situation.
In our department (and other affiliated departments), there are quite a few professors who are married to each other. In most cases, I have seen that such situations tend to turn out exceedingly well. However, there are, as your situation goes, many times when this can go wrong.
The best advice under these circumstances is to treat their home fights as none of your business. Stay out of it, develop your own research agenda and pursue it independent of such pettiness.
If all else fails, **Don't walk ! Run !**
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Your supervisors are problematic in several ways, from what you describe:
* Pushing their own research interests over what's most beneficial to you
* Exposing you to unpleasant interpersonal issues between themselves that affect your working environment
* Not coordinating and communicating effectively with each other to co-supervise you
However, none of these things are necessarily the result of them being married. The same issues can arise (and I have seen them) with unrelated co-supervisors who do not get along.
In general, co-supervision by a married couple is not universally disallowed. (In my university it is allowed, and there is a husband-wife pair in my department that successfully co-supervises PhD students on occasion.)
*Some* universities do recognize this as a conflict of interest. This from the [University of Western Australia](http://www.postgraduate.uwa.edu.au/supervisors/policies/supervisor-appointment) (emphasis mine):
>
> Supervision must be free of actual or perceived conflicts of interest. Supervision by, or **co-supervision with, close relatives or those in close personal relationships** is generally not appropriate. All such cases must be declared at the time that supervisors are nominated. In cases where approval is given on academic grounds for supervision by, or co-supervision with, close relatives or those in close personal relationships, additional supervisors who are free of an actual or perceived conflict of interest must be appointed.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Your situation is certainly very bad, but a *conflict of interest* in the context of academic research is when personal interests are at stake when reporting research results (e.g. wife owns the company that manufactures the products that husband's paper say are superior to the competition).
I found this definition of a CoI on various universities websites:
>
> A conflict of interest is a situation in which financial or other
> personal considerations have the potential to compromise or bias
> professional judgment and objectivity
>
>
>
The situation you describe is better described as lousy management, little respect from both supervisors towards you, and a blatant lack of professionalism from their part. However, it affects you, it certainly affects their productivity, but it's not *per se* a CoI. It's not like if one was reviewing the papers of the other, or was in the board that attributes funding to the wife/husband's project, etc.
My advice would be, whatever action you intend to take to get yourself out of this nightmare, **not** to refer to the problem as a conflict of interest. CoIs are a lot more serious than poor management and you will risk triggering the wrong type of investigation, ultimately deserving your cause.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: If any conflict between a student and one of the supervisors comes up, married supervisors have a strong incentive to support each other, rather than looking out for the best interests of the students. For example, they may pressure the student to include both supervisors as authors on all publications. It's even tougher for a student to stand up to two people in positions of authority than one.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/16 | 1,255 | 5,384 | <issue_start>username_0: Currently, my fiancee are both currently pursuing our PhD's in bioengineering and materials science and engineering, respectively, at the same university. She wants to eventually have an industrial research position and I want to do a post-doc with the intention becoming a professor. We are ~3 years away from needing to have the serious version of this conversation, but which route of the two would be the bottleneck in our eventual decision? Are there more industrial jobs available than post-doc positions? Are there any other dual-academic-career couples out there with advice for us? I hope the content of this question is appropriate for this stackexchange. Thanks so much.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't know much about bioengineering and materials sciences. In my area (CS) there are many more industrial positions available than academic positions.
However, industrial positions often tend be clustered in regions, and there might not be too many academic jobs in those regions (or they might be very highly competitive).
Sadly though, I suspect that basing your decisions on where you might do a postdoc is a problem, because a postdoc itself is a temporary position, and so you're really only deferring the real problem. One argument would be that if postdocs in your area take a while (say 3-4 years vs 1-2), then you might as well operate as if that were the permanent job, and then reevaluate after your time is done and you're on the academic job market.
Good luck: two-body problems are tricky, and when one partner is on the academic track it gets even trickier.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The main advice that I have on this topic is that it can be difficult to return to academia after a stint in commercial enterprise (i.e. "industry"). There are exceptions -- some people do publish from commercial positions, or otherwise develop some exceptional expertise that gives them opportunities as academic researchers. My impression is that returning to academia is easier for engineers than for basic science researchers (such as biologists, like myself).
The flip side is that if you want to go into industry, you might as well get started ASAP, unless you think your post-doc project will make you an attractive candidate for companies.
So at least for biology, my understanding is that if you shouldn't leave academia until you are sure that you want to. This is especially important for biologists, since there aren't very many "biology" jobs outside of academia, so leaving academia often means leaving biology.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: First of all I would like to mention that I am a PhD student in a Bio-Engineering department and this answer contains information about the issue from that perspective.
When I have started to my PhD I was thinking of pursuing an academic career in my field and would like to conduct research on tissue engineering. Then I saw that there is no straight way to this career. The first thing that disappointed me was that the field that I would like to improve myself was a the field of expertise of anyone in my institution. Due to lack of experts on that field in the institution I couldn't study on that field. If you ask why I didn't try to find an another institution, I can only tell that there are not many institutions in the country that have that sub-field of Bio-Engineering. I then choose to studied a very different field than my original intent and now I am close to the graduation.
I am looking to industrial jobs and also to the post-doc positions and I can tell that there are more post-doc positions for our field than industrial jobs. The problem is that those post-doc positions almost always require publications in Nature, Science etc. so it is very competitive. I wish you and your fiancee could find the place that you can fit. Me and my fiancee are not successful at finding it yet, but I have not lost hope.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: I am in a similar situation @tquarton. I'm a BME phd and my fiancee is a medical student. 2 comments that i don't think have been made about the academic route.
1. I've been told, and seen a few times already, that post-docs in our field are actually less likely to make the jump to assistant professor at their current school. The reasoning I've heard is that your colleagues making the decisions are often unconvinced of how important your research is to the field since they cannot possibly stay up to date on your niche, so they expect that you should be able to find jobs at other universities to "prove it"... If you do get external position offers, I think you are more likely to bargain for a 'raise' at your current location. I say this because I am in a similar situation and I tell my fiancee that I expect my post-doc will not be my final landing spot, which is important for our future planning.
2. also, it is common, if one of you is especially talented or lucky for that matter, that universities will accept you as a couple. This is a nice situation when it happens, and I've seen it once at both locations i've been so far in my career.
I'm very interested in this question, and this is my perception so far (4th year phd). If one or both of you are willing to take an industrial job, this will certainly increase your chances. Good luck! :)
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/16 | 1,143 | 5,074 | <issue_start>username_0: I do research in an engineering subject and my journal reviewer has asked me to push every mathematical proof to the appendix to improve the readability. While I feel this is true, I also think that some of the proofs can be retained, as they are short and not so much mathematical. What is your opinion regarding this?
Right now, I have written this
>
> We thank you for your helpful comment. We have moved all the proofs
> and the lemmas, which even if removed do not directly affect the
> continuity of reading and is long, to the appendices. Proofs which
> are not much mathematical in nature and are short are still kept.
>
>
>
Somehow I feel my language is a bit rude. Do you have a better way of putting it? Or should I just move every proof to the appendix? (The journal is almost accepted with only few minor revisions like this)<issue_comment>username_1: My take on this is this: The content should be organized in a way to make it most accessible for the readers. While readers are all different, you have chosen an engineering journal and I would presume that the "journal style" of having proofs in the appendix is a good choice for this audience. So my general answer is: Just follow the suggestion in this case.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In all cases I have been involved, together with the revised manuscript a response letter to the editor is submitted, re-iterating the specific comments/issues of the reviewers and explaining the changes made in the manuscript to address these issues.
What you are describing is typically one of those things that can be explained in the response letter. You can formulate a nice response where you can explain to the editor (who essentially has the last word on whether or not the manuscript will be accepted) that ...
*"while we believe that moving some of the mathematical formulas and derivations to the supplementary will improve the readability and flow article, some are indeed essential in order to give the reader a fair chance to understand the assumptions/model/results/..."*
There are two major benefits of addressing the situation in this way:
1. You show that you **do not disagree with the reviewer(s)**. People tend not to complain much when you agree with them.
2. You show the editor that you **take the matter seriously**, have put effort into amending the manuscript in order to **improve the situation** and also put thought into making the paper easier for the reader, while not losing the important bits.
I would **discourage** you to use formulations where *you* decide what does and does not count as long, or what does and does not impair readability. I say this mainly because you are not in an *objective position* to judge these things. You have written the manuscript and to you, at the time of submission, the manuscript (hopefully) is informative and has a good flow. You have been working on the project for months, maybe even years. At the time you pick it up, you have all the necessary background to understand the paper. The reader is **far away** from that position.
Instead consider picking out things that you feel are absolutely critical, in order to understand the essential bits of the work; that is the motivation, the goals, and the conclusions. Everything else could go into the supplementary...
---
Lastly, does the journal not have any information on how to handle mathematical calculations/proofs etc, on their guidelines for authors?
Likewise, if you have co-authors what do they think? Your supervisor has some opinions on the matter surely?
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Would it not suffice to have just the statements of the results in the paper? The question is whether the audience will be interested in the proofs of the results. For a less mathematical audience, I think moving proofs and calculations into an appendix is Ok, because most of the time they are not so interested in the details. That is what I generally try to do.
If one is not so mathematically inclined, then it can be intimidating to be confronted with lots of mathematical details, and they can interrupt the flow. I suppose that if the proofs are short they don't matter so much, but even then, the question you should ask yourself is how interested your audience would be in reading them.
For a mathematics and statistics paper, I think retaining important calculations and proofs in the body of the paper is standard practice, but even there there is room for moving less important stuff into an appendix.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Following the reviewer's suggestions, unless it's caused by his/her misunderstanding, is the way I would go. The reviewer would most probably know better than you regarding to the culture (style) of that particular journal. But if you are definitely certain about things you can not push; then explain kindly as a response. I would write, "we definitely agree with the reviewer, and per the reviewer comments, we have moved most of the proofs to the appendices."
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/16 | 1,135 | 4,639 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm writing up my 3rd year engineering project (The equivalent of a dissertation in other subjects), and I'm struggling to write the chapter in which my method failed I couldn't get any results.
My project is on Neural Networks, and when I started my project I tried to program my own Neural Network from scratch, however this did not work properly (The feed forward part worked, but because of the convoluted way I had programmed it I couldn't implement the back propagation part). After I realized this I used an off-the-shelf program to create my neural network, which worked much better.
The problem is that I must have spent about a quarter of the year programming my own Neural Network from scratch, so I want to include it as a chapter in my report to show the marker that I have put over the recommended 300 hours work into my project, and that I understand the inner working of Neural Networks.
How should I write this chapter? So far I have started the chapter as if it is going to work, then I wrote about exactly what I have done and how it works, and then at the end where the results should be I want to explain that the custom implementation of the neural network meant that I couldn't implement back propagation, and therefore couldn't get results. But I can't do this without it looking like I have lazily given up on that chapter, and abruptly given an excuse to move on to the next chapter (The working version of the neural network).<issue_comment>username_1: You wrote:
>
> I want to include it as a chapter in my report to show the marker that I have put over the recommended 300 hours work into my project
>
>
>
Nooooooooo.
Don't do that. This is a postgraduate degree, and you're expected to take the research seriously. It's not a 9-5 grunt job or prison sentence where you turn up, serve your time, and get the reward at the end of your allotted time.
Show what you've learnt. That's what the markers are interested in. You say that you've learnt the inner workings of neural networks. That's great. So demonstrate and document what you've learnt.
And don't document the tortuous process you used. Don't describe how you went from A to B via C,D,E,...X,Y.
Just report that you started at A, ended at B, you've found that the shortest route between those points is {whatever it is}, and briefly document the dead ends and traps that future researchers should avoid.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> to show the marker that I have put over the recommended 300 hours work into my project
>
>
>
So what? It's a thesis, not prison time. Your task in your thesis (or project) is to solve a given problem, not serve a given amount of time. To be brutally honest, the time that you spent on what was presumably a rather bad idea in the first place (re-implementing something for which apparently suitable standard software exists) does not make your thesis better in any way. Detailing your failed labouring will not make your project seem better. Rather the contrary.
To answer your title question:
>
> How do I talk about methodology mistakes In a scientific project report?
>
>
>
You don't, unless:
* The methodology mistakes are somehow common in your field, i.e., you would assume if another researcher would start the same project, he would likely make the same mistake (in that case there is a lesson learned to take away from the failed attempt, i.e., that the standard approach does not work in this case).
* The methodology mistakes have, inadvertently, led to a different interesting result / observation that you did not expect.
Arguably, both is not true in your case. As such, I would consider this quarter of a year as sunk costs in terms of thesis time.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I'm afraid I disagree with the comments above.
The purpose of a 3rd-year project is not simply to solve a problem - it is to train the student. Learning from doing and learning from making mistakes is an integral element of this. For exactly this reason, the report is not just a scientific report of results, but also a report on the process, and I would say that there is no problem in reflecting some of the 'tortuous path' in the report.
Of course, it would be wise not to dwell *too* long on the mistakes. I would briefly describe how the 'wrong' path started, how you found out that it was wrong, and - especially - describe how you now understand *why* it is wrong, and why the later method is better. If this is done briefly and honestly, I would very much appreciate reading it, and it would score points with me as a reviewer.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/05/16 | 565 | 2,442 | <issue_start>username_0: I am a graduate student and as the title says, I have an autism spectrum disorder. My advisor is a very nice person, at least, that is the impression I have gotten. The last few months however, I worry that I have made myself misunderstood many times because of my failure of communicating or not following certain social codes. I have not done anything that is inappropriate at all, I just might have come off at times a tiny, tiny bit rude, which I did not mean to be! In social situations I often get nervous and I think it might have shown in some situations. I am considering whether I should tell him about my autism spectrum disorder or not - I don't want to have it as an excuse for any behaviour, just more of an explanation and maybe better understanding in the future.
Are there any general guidelines on what to do in cases like these?<issue_comment>username_1: I see no reason not to tell him, or anyone else you work closely with. telling your co-workers about this condition will eliminate these concerns about coming off as rude.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: As you propose, this has an obvious helpful component.
What's a possible down-side? Well, medical/personal issues are protected information (thinking about the U.S., at least), and in most situations anyone else in whom you've confided is not allowed to disclose anything about it to anyone else. We can see the sense in this. However, it does sometimes create a burden and/or awkwardness, insofar as the people in whom you've confided are prohibited from using what they know to explain any questionable actions on your part to anyone *else*...
The operational point, then, is to pay attention to any close interactions with people outside your immediate group, in whom you've confided, that might generate a need for explanation.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: A disability is something you can take pride in overcoming. The Deaf people in my office certainly do. Others, such as amputees and the learning disabled, can choose to conceal their disability or they can freely admit to it. You get different benefits either way.
I've chosen to trust that people will regard my dyslexia and ADD the way I do: as just two of thousands of challenges I deal with every day. You should watch me try to finger spell. It's pathetic. :) Still I try. If you worked with me I'd rather know what your deal is then wonder.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/16 | 736 | 3,119 | <issue_start>username_0: I am an Accountancy senior level student. My issue is due to lots of information in the books I tend to forget about every specific topic and heading even if I compile notes and memory aids. Reason being that in these professional studies anything can be asked in exams from anywhere. So how do I remember small details at this stage?<issue_comment>username_1: Your question reminds me of the old joke "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" To which the response is the same, "Practice, man, practice."
You will be expected to know this stuff when you graduate. When studying any subject, there will be a wide variety of rules and formulae you must learn. Normally, when a teacher is trying to get the students to learn them, the students are given exercises to practice them, or scenarios to apply them.
Learning best works in groups, so if you can find someone with whom to study that should help. You can practice with each other reading your answers to see if you understood correctly.
If you do not have an exercises or scenarios to use, ask your teacher. But in the end, **it is all about practice**.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Read and take notes -- but don't overdo this.
You must solve many problems that force you to apply the theorems and principles of Accountancy that you have read. Also, solving many problems quickly exposes you to what you weren't actually able to commit to memory, so this is a very efficient way of building good memory -- considerably better than reading "lots of information in the books" over and over again.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Best advice I have ever gotten from my adviser: don't consider reading as work. You can convince yourself that you've learned a lot from reading. However, if you can't close the book and re-write what you just read from memory, you didn't learn it. So only count what you do, not what you read.
So go do it. I don't know how you'd just go practice accounting, maybe get an internship? Yes, it will be hard at first, but after banging your head against a wall and re-reading your books, you'll find out how to do it. And once you do it for real, you'll never forget how to do it.
A really similar case is learning to program. People ask me which books I read to learn all the programming languages I use and all sorts of questions like that, then they "study up" on the language to remember all of its features, and months later are trying to tackle the problem. I did this at first, but I never really learned how to code until I started freelance web development. When I had a markup due the next day, I was like "how do I do \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ in Javascript?". Google and Stack Exchange helped a lot. I found ways to do things. Now my own code is my source of knowledge on how to do things. All (okay, most) of the time I sat there reading the Javascript book was a waste of time.
In total, I think the biggest thing to get over is the anxiety that you don't know how to do it. You learned enough of it to figure it out / remember it as you need it. That's all you need. Start doing it.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/17 | 354 | 1,519 | <issue_start>username_0: Do math journals consider a paper in which most of the content referred to another accepted but not yet published paper? In a case in which this is allowed, do one need to give a copy of the accepted paper to the editor of the target journal?<issue_comment>username_1: You can cite anything you want, regardless of whether it has been accepted for publication or even submitted. Of course citing preprints can make life more difficult for the referee, but there's no issue with accepted papers. They are considered just as reliable as published papers, since they've already gone through the refereeing process.
If you rely on a paper that is not yet publicly available, then you should provide a copy for the referee. However, if it's your own paper, then it's much better to post it online, for example through the arXiv. (If you supply a copy for the referee without posting it online, then it gives the impression that you are deliberately restricting access to the paper.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: This is definitely allowed in Computer Science. One way to cite the soon-to-be-published paper is, "To appear in ".
Here is an [example](http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~amenta/pubs/crust.pdf). The authors develop a technique, write two papers, one on its theory and the other on the application, and submit the papers to suitable venues. The linked paper is the application paper. It often cites the theory paper which is the first entry in the bibliography at the end.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/17 | 2,713 | 11,414 | <issue_start>username_0: My advisor suggested that I should sign up for a conference, which I did - I now have to give a 15 minute talk.
However, the conference is taking place very far from me (+20 hour flight), and I am having second thoughts on whether I should go or not. Here are my thoughts:
**Pro**
* Meet new people/socialize
* Present my work at a talk, instead of merely a poster session
**Con**
* Conference is only 4 days, two ~20 hours flights are **very exhausting**
* The audience are not completely aligned with my field, so I have to make my presentation simpler than what the work actually is
* Will not learn things that I directly need for my research because of the audience (they are in geology and engineering, I'm in math)
Honestly, I don't feel like going because of the above list. But I am worried that
* My advisor will think I'm being annoying by "backing" out
* I can't say no now, since I have been given a talk
I would be very happy to hear your opinions on this matter. Maybe I am putting too much thought into this.<issue_comment>username_1: I'd like to add several items to your list of pros:
* **Dissemination.** You will make your work known to a whole new field of possibly interested people. If you're going there, I presume there is an interesting application in sight. Possible follow-ups. Lots of opportunities. Interdisciplinary collaboration. To be avid and down-to-earth, lots of *citations* might await. :)
* **Presenting experience.** The best way to improve your presentation skills is giving talks. This is a good opportunity.
* **Connections** It's always good to get to know people in academia. You might need to send them a quick e-mail with a question on their area of expertise. You might one day be looking for a post-doc job and they might be offering one (even if it's a position for an applied mathematician in a geology department). You might find a good idea for an interdisciplinary research project and apply for a grant.
* **Learning new things** Yes, you will learn new things listening to the other talks, even if it's a different field. You might find a new related problem that you can solve. You might learn more about the applicative background of the problem that you are studying. You might find an example that looks great in the introduction of your next paper.
* **Tourism.** When will you be able to visit again that far-away country? True, you won't see much if you are stuck in a university or a conference center, but that's still a great life experience in my view. One of the parts I enjoy the most of the academic career is being able to travel and see the world.
* **Money availability**. Your advisor says that there is money for the trip, this time. My advice is **go for it**. More troubled times might come in future.
* **Trust your advisor**. (S)he suggested you to sign up, so he thinks it's a good idea for you to go. You should trust him, it's the person who best knows the conference, your work and your situation.
I've been doing some interdisciplinary research lately. It's hard at first, but fascinating and productive once you enter it. There is a big entry barrier in getting to know each other's field and learning to use the same language, but there are lots of interesting results to gather just by putting together the ideas and methods of two different fields.
EDIT: added "trust your advisor"
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> * My advisor will think I'm being annoying by "backing" out
> * I can't say no now, since I have been given a talk
>
>
>
This. You should have stated your objections before. Now, it is probably too late. Perhaps your airline tickets, conference registration, hotel reservation are already paid and usually these costs are not refundable. It is not right for your institution to lose money, because you simply changed your mind. If you back out now, it will be very hard for your advisor to provide money for another trip later, when you will WANT or need to go. It also makes you look bad if you back out from a conference and (possibly) your supervisor as well.
On the other hand, look at the bright side. Although I understand your thoughts about the 20-hour flights and possibly jet-lag, understand that similar trips are some times necessary for conferences. Minimize the ugly effects by taking yourself with you (on the trip) your favourite headache medication (Tylenol, paracetamol), some pillow for the shoulder during flight etc.. Also, keep in mind that AFTER the trip you will not have to go your work directly (this is normal after such long trips), so the effects of the flight back home will be easier to handle.
Also, think that it is hard to pay those airline tickets yourself. So, you will get to see a new place (you would not see otherwise) for only 15 minutes of work (and 40 hours of flight). It is a wonderful experience and you should probably not miss it. For additional benefits see Federico's answer
Bottom Line: You should probably do the trip now. You might actually enjoy it. And next time, be extra careful on what you sign up for.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Two things haven't been addressed in your question, and I think both of them would influence how I might advise you to proceed.
1) **Why this conference?** Surely there are other venues closer to home. If your advisor selected this conference because it is a prestigious international conference well-attended by the top names in your field, then I would urge you to go. However, if it's a relatively unrecognized conference that your advisor selected mostly because of its exotic location, then you might want to listen to your second thoughts, and pick somewhere more practical to share your research.
2) **How far along into this are you?** If the conference is next month, and the conference organizers are already under the impression that you are attending and presenting, then you should probably bite the bullet and go. It's not fair to them if you drop out simply because of a last-minute change of heart, and you won't come out of it looking good. 11th-hour cancellations should be reserved for true emergencies, not cold feet.
In short, if it's not a prestigious conference, and you just got an acceptance notification, then I'd recommend a heart-to-heart with your advisor, asking if there isn't a conference in your hemisphere that might accomplish the same research objectives. If either of those conditions aren't the case, though, then remember to pack a good book for the long flight.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I speak at conferences a lot and sometimes, after I say yes, I have a little "buyers remorse" and I feel nervous about it and I just want to back out of the whole thing. I never have backed out though, and I have rarely regretted going.
In addition to the pros listed in other answers, being able to list a conference where you gave a talk has value on your CV even if you gained nothing from the conference itself. And your con (my supervisor will be upset if I cancel) is also a pro: I will please my supervisor by going. That said, you can and will get a LOT from a conference, any conference, if you decide to.
Grasp firmly onto a positive attitude. You have three weeks. In that time, don't just prepare your 15 minute talk, prepare your plan for the conference. This includes your plan for the travel and minimizing your jetlag. (You might be interested in [a sister site](https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/jetlag) for tips on sleeping on the plane and avoiding jetlag.) This also includes a list of goals. Say I was going to a conference of geologists in Paris and speaking on how the name of your cat affects your income. I might make a list like:
* go up the Eiffel Tower
* meet a geologist who lives and works near me
* visit the Louvre
* find 3 other cat-related or income-related sessions at the conference, attend them, and introduce myself to the speaker
* achieve an attendance of at least 50 people at my session
* record my "speaker rating" and ranking and report it back to my sponsors
* buy two bottles of wine to bring home
* discover at least one aspect of geology that is relevant to my cat-naming research and learn enough about it to summarize it to my colleagues when I return
* eat warm croissants in a park
* write up a one page summary of who I met, what I learned, who now knows about us and our research, and some opportunities I will pursue when I get back, and give this summary to my sponsors within a week of my return
Then I would keep this list of goals handy and push myself to make the necessary plans in advance and take the necessary actions during the week to meet the goals. This includes looking over the session lists as soon as they're available, planning what talks to attend (and when you are likely to have a free morning or afternoon for sightseeing and croissant eating), emailing other people who are attending to arrange to meet them there, and so on.
Making the best of a conference trip is a lot of work, but the rewards can be substantial. So many people have to beg and plead to even attend, and here you're being flown 20 hours away in exchange for only 15 minutes of talking! You must be doing something darn interesting.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: I tend to agree with your concerns. Conferences take time. Not only the journey, as you have noted, but also the preparation for the talk itself. It is nice to visit new places, but this should only be a bonus. If you intend to pursue an academic career, there will surely be plenty of opportunities to visit these places in the future. Visiting new places should not be the primary motivation to attend conferences.
So the question is whether the conference suits you. From my personal experience, conferences that benefit me most are those that are within my subject area and are small in scope and attendance, especially those attended by well-known experts in the field. Then the chances are higher that the audience is interested in what you present, as they are familiar with it. They also tend to ask relevant and useful questions, whereas in the bigger conferences or those that are not closely related to your subject area, people tend to ask questions which are not helpful to your study because they are not familiar with what you are presenting.
Unless the tickets have been booked, the conference registration fee has been paid, and the conference program has been finalized, it should be safe to withdraw. In speaking to your adviser, you could suggest alternative venues to present your research, or you could instead publish your work in a journal.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: To weary researcher/student,
I think you have to look at the plus side and try to calm your fear of a 20 hour trip. The up side is that you don't have to feel intimidated by the audience because, after all, they probably have no prior knowledge of what you are talking about. Anything you say will be interesting to them. Once your 15 minute presentation is over you will be grateful that you chose to go. Even if your presentation isn't great you will probably never see these people in your life again. Everyone has butterflies before a presentation. Just be well prepared and try to tie your specialty in with the current events of the day. Good Luck.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/17 | 493 | 2,121 | <issue_start>username_0: The Main problem is university registration as the process is vital to enroll as a PhD student, so that I can submit my thesis and defend it. Administrative issues here in Germany have prevented me from completing the registration process because I am an overseas student and some issues to do with deadlines.
Some good news are have published three papers as first author in leading journals and written the thesis work as well.
Is it a good idea to dump this registration process and take another PhD or should I apply for industry jobs? Note that I am not committed to staying in academia.<issue_comment>username_1: If possible try to stick with finishing the PhD. You are almost there.
Try to find some legal advisor to help you with the issues. Some universities may even offer free legal help and have persons acting as ombudsman.
Finding good job opportunities will not be an issue in any case.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: For the benefit of the wider audience, a little background into the German PhD system is in order.
* Researchers after the master's level are hired as *Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter* (researchers, literally "academic personnel"), and work for the individual research groups as half- or full-time employees, with the commensurate salary and benefits.
* In parallel, students are expected to register as doctoral students (*Zulassung*). Such a process will typically involve some classwork for international students, particularly those studying in engineering fields (and those with degrees other than the area they're now studying). One of the forms to be filled out in this process is the *Betreuungsbestätigung*, which is a commitment by the signer to be the candidate's advisor.
Normally, deadlines are deadlines; however, if there are mitigating circumstances, many departments will allow the advisor to petition for exceptions to be made. Given that you've made good research progress, it would seem reasonable that your advisor would want to ensure that you get your PhD. So, before doing anything else, **talk to your advisor.**
Upvotes: 4 |
2014/05/18 | 1,518 | 6,281 | <issue_start>username_0: My AP Computer Science teacher has somewhat of a creative way to deal with students submitting apparently identical code. Instead of handing out lots of zeros, he divides the points by the number of cheaters, phrasing his system as "if you have the same answer, you deserve to split the credit." For example, a 5-person cheating ring on a 10-point project would yield 2 points per person (it rounds down to the best precision on odd splits).
Do you think this is ethical? Is this a wise way to deal with cheating?
On one hand, it is a lot softer than most policies. On the other, it is somewhat logical, and seems maybe fairer than the standard penalty system.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think it is fair. Say you work very hard on your program, to get a 9. While you go to the toilet, I steal your code and submit it. I get a 4 for doing nothing, you get a 4 after a lot of successful work. If this happens the day before the deadline and I had nothing, I would have handed in nothing, and thus get a 0. So there is a clear benefit in cheating: I get more marks than even if I pull an all nighter and put together a crappy code that barely holds together.
I guess the reason to punish everybody equally is multiple:
* Discourage from people lending code to classmates.
* It is much easier than to try to figure out what happened and who is the original author.
But, the way I see it, there are a few objections
* There are still situations where a cheater may benefit from this scheme (half good is better than nothing); a cheater is being awarded points for doing exactly nothing.
* The original author may be innocent. The code could have been stolen. It is unfair to blindly punish without, at least, inquiring in the matter.
* Serial cheaters may get away with it and still get enough points to pass.
**Edit:**
What if the homework is given voluntarely? Consider the case where there are weekly assignments, with a high work load. Part of the point is for students to work and get efficient in problem solving. But, if instead of solving all of them, we share the work, change it here and there, perhaps they will not notice, I still work half of it, and maybe I get full recognition; maybe only half.
Now, say a given week you only had time to do half of them. Gambling is beneficial: if you go the ethical way, you get half the marks. If you cheat, you can either get half the marks, or get away with it if you are skilled or the grader is low on coffee.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I'll only give a legal point of view on this issue for French higher education.
In French universities, even if the kind of rule you describe is enforced by some teachers, it is in theory forbidden to alter notation for cheating: one should only grade according to content, without any penalty. If cheating is suspected by the teacher, she should fill a [*procès-verbal*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proc%C3%A8s-verbal) form describing what she suspects happened, and giving all relevant info. This is then passed to a commission that will interview her and the suspected students, and will decide what happens next. This commission has a scale of possible action, going from nothing to five years' suspension from **all** French higher education institutions.
This process is seldom used for projects and evaluations among small groups (*contrôle continu*). However it should be strictly enforced for terminal exams, as otherwise student can easily go to court.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: To add to the existing arguments:
The punishment for cheating should always be higher than the direct advantage gained from it. For example, if somebody cheats at one task in an exam, the penalty should not only be failing that task but at least the whole exam, if not much higher. The reason for this is simply that you cannot possibly detect all attempts at cheating and thus the punishment should aim at being sufficciently high to make the average outcome of cheating negative if the detection rate is taken into account.
Of course, it is quite difficult to even estimate the detection rates for cheating and thus to adjust the punishment accordingly, but the punishment you are describing is certainly too low.
This aspect is not only important for discouraging cheating, but also from an ethical point of view, as cheating should not yield an advantage over the honest student.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: This seems like a bad policy. With this type of policy it leaves the teacher having to figure out who copied from whom and how many people were in each "group". Usually if Alice's work is copied by Bob, and Bob's "work" is copied by Carol, then Bob and Carol are penalised the same. In your policy, you would have to figure out how much to penalise Bob and Carol. It seems like it would be better to allow group work with the stipulation that the points get divided in a manner either specified by the students or the teacher.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: The goal of a policy on cheating isn't being "fair", it's to discourage cheating.
In academia we don't want to have academic papers who bend the truth a little bit, but we want to have academics who tell the whole truth and for whom cheating is not an option. As a result you don't want to do anything that encourages cheating.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: It's actually a fairly nice solution to a more relevant problem: the right pedagogy for different kinds of students.
The formula is a good, but should be stated thusly: "Students are allowed to collaborate on homework, but your scores will be divided by the number of collaborators, so pick your team well." This is in tune with the environment that students will likely encounter after their degree, but neither enforces any policy nor penalizes any others.
Then the teacher should grade on the bell curve. This gives a passing score to those who worked together, and a great score for those who were truly above average. In some way this is superior to students who try to get an A by a hyper-competitive attitude towards the rest of the class.
During the test, they will still have to show that their personal level of mastery, without the help of their peers.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/18 | 853 | 3,594 | <issue_start>username_0: When skimming through a long mathematical paper (in pdf format), I often find a mathematical symbol (often in greek and with subscripts/superscripts) that was defined previously somewhere else within the paper. Of course, it's not always easy to find where the parameter was defined, so I resort to using the FIND tool. However, simply copy and pasting the symbol to the FIND tool doesn't seem to work well, since the symbol cannot be copied exactly.
Is there a better way to perform an automated search a PDF document for a particular mathematical symbol if I don't have the original latex file? Especially ones with subscripts and superscripts?<issue_comment>username_1: This can be a tricky one, and you can sometimes have similar issues with accented and greek letters. If you cannot find words that have been hyphenated to break a line, in my experience this is reader-dependent and Adobe Reader has never given me problems.
Some PDFs just were not generated with the proper character mappings, so they will never be searchable with the affected characters. With regards to the format of superscripts and subscripts, the PDF will be searchable with them in the same format that they appear when you copy-paste out of the document. With other special characters, if you cannot copy-paste them, you cannot search for them.
If you urge everyone using LaTeX to do `\usepackage{cmap}\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}`, those packages should solve most problems. Notably, `cmap` makes math characters (such as the integral sign) searchable.
Unfortunately, as far as I know there is no way to "repair" a PDF that is not properly searchable, unless you re-create a fixed version from the source.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: If your paper has been posted to the [arXiv](http://arXiv.org), go to the paper's page (here's [one of mine](http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.5409)), click on "Other formats" and "download source". Assuming the authors submitted the LaTeX Source to the arXiv, you'll get a tarball with the LaTeX source, which should be a lot more searchable. (Yes, I do this for large enough papers where I expect to do a lot of searching.)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I found a trick tonight trying to search for all instances of L\_ij^\* in a PDF. The regular search function didn't recognize the superscript asterisk, only regular asterisks. I am using Acrobat Reader DC version 2015.20.20042...hopefully it works for other versions. Here are the instructions:
Choose a string of words immediately next to an instance of the sought-after symbol in your PDF document. Do ctrl-F. In the Find window that opens, click the arrow next to the text box and select the *full reader search* from the list. Enter the string of words in the search window of the full reader search. The character you will need to use for a search shows up in the results window. You can click on the bolded/underlined instance in the results and your curser will be placed on the symbol in your PDF document.
In my case, it was the Å character that represented the superscript asterisk (\*). Next, I opened a blank Word document and then chose Insert – Symbol - Advanced Symbol …. I then looked for Å (regular shortcuts, keyboard strokes, etc. for this symbol didn't work for me), inserted it into my Word document then copy and pasted the Å from the Word document into the Acrobat advanced search window and hit Search.
It found all instances of superscript \*! Again, you can click on the result and your curser will be taken to that symbol in your PDF document.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/18 | 405 | 1,765 | <issue_start>username_0: I have about 400 ~ 500 lines of what I would call average open source code contribution. Does open source code contribution matter for graduate admissions? I am interested in applying to a MS in computer science and am interested in machine learning. I have a great plan for an awesome feature for [Libsvm](http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~cjlin/libsvm/) (and open-source implementation of the popular support vector machine technique for machine learning). Will implementing it help my application ?<issue_comment>username_1: There are a bunch of questions in one here. I'll answer the one that seems central:
>
> I have a great plan for an awesome feature for Libsvm, will implementing it help my application ?
>
>
>
Yes, I would consider that contributing to a well-known machine learning (ML) toolkit will significantly strengthen your case for an application in ML. It shows that you know the fundamentals of support vector machines already, and that you are genuinely interested in the field. Plus, it is presumably something that distinguishes you from all other candidates.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Does open source code contribution matter for graduate admissions?
>
>
>
Yes.
----
Admission to graduate school is based primarily on your potential for research. Independent, creative, intellectual work of any kind strongly correlates with potential for research, *especially* if that work is directly related to the interests described in your research statement. Contributing to open-source software projects is independent, creative, intellectual work.
Of course, your contribution would matter more if it were merged into the main branch of the project, but something is better than nothing.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/05/18 | 752 | 2,989 | <issue_start>username_0: This question is perhaps a particular case of [this one](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9924/is-it-ethical-for-an-author-to-cite-their-own-work-with-themselves-as-first-auth). I still feel it deserves to live standalone.
I am sure that a published paper with 4 authors--A, B, C, and X--was almost entirely produced by X. X designed the study, gathered the data, analyzed the data, and wrote the paper. A helped X a little bit (sort of supervised X). B and C are listed there because of typical dishonest authorship mafia. At that time, X was a student. X could do very little to oppose adding those authors in her/his very first paper.
Now, I am writing a paper that references this one. While A et al. paper is correctly displayed in the References, I was thinking to purposely cite the paper as *X et al. (year)* in the text.
That would be a subtle way to entail that I know what was going on there. I would cite the paper in the way that was supposed to be. Maybe B and C will also get it. That's a sort of nerdish academic subversive behavior, I guess.
Would that be meaningless? In particular, would that damage X citation counts? I do not think so, because the paper is correctly listed in the References. However, [I am not sure because of this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1459/what-to-do-if-my-paper-is-incorrectly-cited-in-a-journal).<issue_comment>username_1: References have one major purpose: to be able to trace the information provided in that source. This is why the first (named) author is always given in "et al." references. The problem you encounter is that references are also used to cast merit in the academic system but that is actually a secondary task. So if you decide to use another authors name, you make it more difficult for others to locate the paper in question. So I would strongly advise against the action you propose since it violates the purpose of the referencing system. So even though one can trace papers with for example doi-numbers, breaking the systematic representation of cited sources is not good.
There are other ways to state the source of the work in the text by stating that "the work by X (A et al. yyyy)..." or something similar. But, I would not recommend doing this for reasons that are beyond anyone's means to control because the risk is that you will not be perceived positively or at least a bit odd. I am sure that the circumstances, if based on unethical behaviour or the like, will become common knowledge in the field.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Yes, people will have difficulty locating the source when you cite the source as X et al. with X not actually being the first author.
If the X you wish to name is the most prominent or senior in the field, then you can say X c.s. (which means *cum suis*.)
Obviously folks these days hardly know their Latin anymore, so the c.s. will probably not be understood either.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/18 | 1,674 | 6,392 | <issue_start>username_0: My institute is creating an annual list of invited speakers and solicited suggestions from staff. It was at pains to point out that although only "n" 18% of suggestions received were female, they made up "n+1" 31% of the speakers selected to talk. As a female student, this makes me feel uncomfortable that women seem to be getting preferential treatment - is this normal practice in academia, in the UK or elsewhere?
Edit: I didn't mean my question to sound insulting, I'm sorry if it sounded that way. Everyone invited is perfectly qualified and I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. It just seemed a little strange all the women on the shortlist made it through whilst quite a few men didn't. And that the email took on an apologetic tone and emphasized this so heavily. I was just interested in whether this is common as it makes me feel a little uneasy that gender plays such a prominent role in the organizers' thinking. Thanks.<issue_comment>username_1: Even though suggestions were solicited, that by no means binds the department to selecting only women who were suggested—the organizers who choose the speakers are free to augment that list however they choose, or completely ignore it, if they feel the choices are inappropriate or inadequate.
The real question to ask is:
>
> **Are the speakers who were chosen qualified?**
>
>
>
So long as the speakers merit inclusion in the seminar series, it shouldn't really matter what the gender balance is (particularly in the small sample size of a single year!).
The *only* way you could argue that women were getting a "free pass" to speak is if *unqualified* women were being given an opportunity to speak.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: First of all: if the women who were invited to speak are in fact highly qualified for this invitation, they are not getting a "free pass". A "free pass" implies that they are invited only because they are women, and are not otherwise qualified. Qualified women are at best getting a "priority pass" to make up for [being often overlooked](http://scientopia.org/blogs/proflikesubstance/2013/06/28/research-blogging-fewer-invited-talks-by-women-in-evolutionary-biology-symposia/) (especially [when the organizing committee is all male](http://mbio.asm.org/content/5/1/e00846-13.full)), and possibly not getting any kind of special pass.
It is [a bit insulting](http://femalecomputerscientist.blogspot.com/2010/12/you-only-got-in-because-you-are-woman.html) (although I am sure this is not your intent) to suggest that these women were invited to speak because they are women, and not because they are doing quality, competitive work. I can see why you were uneasy when the organizers sent an email emphasizing the gender of the speakers, instead of their contributions to research; I would also be.
Second: depending on the sample size, it may not be entirely significant that 31% of invited speakers were women when they made up 18% of the list of suggestions.
In answer to
>
> Is this normal practice in academia:
>
>
>
Yes, sometimes a conference or workshop organizer will look at the list of invited speakers, see that women are heavily underrepresented, and think carefully about whether there is a qualified female researcher doing excellent work who could be added to the roster.
This is done as a deliberate response to counter a known bias. We know that we (as humans) [are very bad at evaluating people based on merit alone](http://ilaba.wordpress.com/2013/08/28/gender-bias-102-for-mathematicians-merit/); we tend to let our cognitive biases get in the way. (See, for example: [Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students](http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/09/14/1211286109).) Deliberate attempts to increase the representation of women in underrepresented fields exist to counter this known bias.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: This sort of positive discrimination is fairly common, in a number of areas, not just academia. For example [All-women shortlists](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-women_shortlists) and for a less severe but more academic example [women only scholarships](http://www.scholarshipsforwomen.net/science/).
The ethics of positive discrimination is a [complex issue](http://riaus.org.au/articles/positive-discrimination-is-it-an-oxymoron/). Personally I agree with you that I find it a bit distasteful, mainly as it encourages the incorrect stereotype of women being less valuable researchers. Although, in this particular case I suspect if it hadn't been explicitly pointed out no one would have noticed or cared.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: The only thing that matters is qualification based off of merit. Unfortunately, in school and infesting its way into corporate culture, it's more about filling quotas than worrying about who is most qualified or who deserves it the most.
"Free pass" may not be the correct term for all 31% of those women, but it's more than likely the case for at least some of them. The organizer is sexist, plain and simple. People can bat words around and pretend that any particular group of people "have it harder," but in the end, it's just sexism and discrimination. Who's to say whose upbringing was worse and why that entire group of people should have more rights than another group? You don't see any of those same groups of people complaining about the lack of males in nursing or the lack of females in hard manual labor jobs.
If you feel uneasy about it, that's good. It means you have a fair mind and don't like one group having preferential treatment over another.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: About 10 years ago, I was on the organizing committee of a fairly large conference in the US. At one point, a society that was providing us with some funding told us that we didn't have enough women among the keynote speakers, and that we ought to go get some more. The society is a well-known one with a good reputation -- it's not ACM or IEEE, but some group like that. We told them to go pound sand. Several prominent members said they would resign from the organising committee if we had to follow this decree. The society eventually backed down, but not without a bit of a fight.
So, in this case we did not give preferential treatment to women, but we were certainly encouraged to do so.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/18 | 3,054 | 12,323 | <issue_start>username_0: I have never seen a thing, until recently, like someone not marking a cross on a multiple choice test just because he didn't know the answer.
I wonder whether this is a East Asian right-thing-to-do mentality, or just a quirk of some student.
Should maybe we ask all students to do this? Indeed, on a multiple choice with 5 choices per question, the expectancy of a student employing pure guessing would be a 20% score. But is it cheating to mark something when you don't know the answer? At least, you are getting sometimes some point for nothing.<issue_comment>username_1: In the university I've studied, the expected value of choosing randomly is almost ever 0, by decreasing your result if you make a wrong choice. If for some reason there's no penalty for missing, I'd assume it is intended to give you value for "guesses" or the test itself is not that important. I don't know what should be the emotional approach, but I'm pretty sure the logical approach is that you should mark every question if the expected value is above 0, unless you know you already have enough points and don't want to risk overall failure.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Should maybe we ask all students to do this [*refrain from guessing on multiple choice exams*]?
>
>
>
Some multiple-choice exams use negative scoring, where points are deducted for wrong answers. This discourages guessing, but introduces other problems.
One problem is that students who know the material [vary a great deal](http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/159581.article) in their *confidence* in that knowledge. If students are actively discouraged from answering questions unless they are sure they know the answer, students who lack confidence in their knowledge will be at a disadvantage. (I'm assuming you want the exam to measure student's knowledge, and not their confidence in that knowledge.)
>
> But is it cheating to mark something when you don't know the answer?
>
>
>
Not unless you're told "Don't mark something if you don't know the answer." Cheating implies deceit - there is nothing dishonest about guessing, unless it's forbidden and you do it anyways.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: In some sense, I do not understand the context. Many kids, myself included, have the dubious capacity to infer from the wording of the question and the answers what a reasonable answer would be, thus quite successfully gaming the system.
Indeed, a rational person would exclude implausible answers, and look at the plausible, and if those can easily be distinguished, we're done.
That is, a multiple-choice test cannot possibly compel the examinees to really "work the problems out".
(I've done some experiments in which by-me-designed multiple-choice quizzes on sophisticated material were better done by smart English major friends of the (smart-enough, for sure) math grad students, due to reading nuances of questions and answers.
That convinced me ... not so much to not do multiple-choice, but that the constraints of the multiple-choice "pipe" are too narrow, and do not address what we want. The same is surely true at more elementary levels.
(The pseudo-economy of machine-grading and so on is somewhat of a false economy if one wants to avoid rewarding clever-gaming-of-system... duh.)
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: My (european) students would probably be either very perplexed or laughing at me when I told them that they are not allowed to "guess" if they do not know the answer. This is not only impossible to enforce, but also much less well-defined than you seem to think (as username_2 already indicates). If I have a good idea what the answer is but I am not sure, am I *allowed* to answer? If I have in principle no clue, but from the way the question is phrased I can guess that the answer will be (c), am I *allowed* to answer?
More importantly, if there is such an obvious flaw in your testing system (guessing being generally +EV, positive expected value, in multiple choice tests with no point subtractions for wrong answers), it seems lazy to shift the burden of not exploiting this hole to the student versus designing your test in a smarter way (or living with the fact that even a random selector will get X% of all points on your test, which may be ok for you).
>
> But is it cheating to mark something when you don't know the answer? At least, you are getting sometimes some point for nothing.
>
>
>
In any exam a student can get points for getting lucky. Assume a student has learned only 30% of a given chapter, and the question deals with the part that he learned. Is it cheating to answer in this case?
Moreover, and maybe more controversially, I think you'll need a rather wide definition of cheating so that guessing a random answer falls into it, *even if you told them before not to do it*. Sure, if the rules are that you cannot do it, and you do it anyway, you are breaking the rules. However, if you know there is a pretty big hole in your system and you do not take even easy steps to fix it, I feel you can hardly fault a student for exploiting the hole.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_5: >
> Is it dishonest to guess on multiple choice exams?
>
>
>
**No.** The next step of logic might be to not write an answer to *anything* unless it is not falsifiable, for fear of being proven wrong. Which defeats the purpose of science. In most every multiple choice question, there are some answers that are clearly more probable than others - most guesses will still be educated.
It's not dishonest to be wrong. It's only dishonest to *know* you're wrong but tell people that you're right.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: >
> Indeed, on a multiple choice with 5 choices per question, it is a
> given that any student, no matter whether he is as thick as brick,
> would at least get a 20% grade
>
>
>
Not, he will get not, except when very lucky.
You can get 20% points on 5-choices per question test by guessing (on average) on **single-choice test** (one answer correct).
Assuming the correct answer on multiple choice is only then, when you have selected **all** and **only** correct answers, guessing is an extremally ineffective strategy on such tests. Multiple choice tests **are already designed** to prevent guessing!
And even 20% is **much below** typical exam passing range. In my country it's typical to set the threshold to 50%. Everything below that means a failed exam.
If your exam criteria allow passing on 20% of correct answers, you have a problem in completely other place.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: On my university on some exams it is solved by giving negative points for the wrong answer, but only after giving some number of wrong answers.
For example, every wrong answer is -0.5 points, but you won't get negative points before you give 3 wrong answers, after third wrong answer, you will get -1.5 points, and for every next wrong answer additional -0.5.
This way, students are discouraged from total random answers, but also students who aren't too confident in their knowledge have some "space" for wrong answers, so they don't have to fear negative points so much.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: I suppose on some level if you were purely guessing at an answer, then it would be a form of cheating in that you would get credit for something you did not legitimately know. However, if you are able to work out an educated guess, then you certainly deserve credit because it demonstrates an ability to deduce an answer that you did not know upon reading the question. That demonstrates critical thinking and logic skills above simply knowing the right formula off hand.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: I had a bit of a different situation during my Uni education than any mentioned here... I'm not sure if it is the best solution to evaluating the students, but it is definitely *implemented* and has been used for several generations (in Croatia, Computer Science).
The utterly strange this is, we had multiple choice exams for *mathematical* problems and in general, other types of subjects that require you to solve *exercises*, *tasks* or *problems* and get a *number* as an answer.
The main points of how it worked:
* for each question, you had N different answers (where N would be the same for the whole exam). (N ~ 4 or 5, typically)
* the answers offered were usually:
+ 1 correct answer
+ 1 correct answer \* 10^x (e.g. if the right answer was 23.5 you might have 2.35 offered)
+ 2 answers you could get by making a low-level calculus mistake in the typical solution-process (1 direct and 1 with a \*10^x shift, as with the correct answer)
(e.g. if there's a standardized procedure for solving the problem, it is the answer you would get if you flip a sign somewhere by accident)
+ 1 completely wrong answer
* the marks were distributed as:
+ +1 for the correct answer
+ 0 for unanswered
+ a bit more than -1/N for wrong answer (e.g. if N = 5, then the wrong answer might be -0.25 instead of -0.20)
* additionally, for the **correct answer to be accepted**, you had to enclose a paper with your full solution to that question (where you did your calculations).
They weren't checking this very diligently for every answer, but you were always aware that they *could*.
---
This tried to encourage the *educated* guesses (as you have your calculations, and maybe you're unsure between two answers because you're unsure if you used the right procedure). On the other hand, the penalty also discouraged complete guesses, as the potential negative marks were higher than the potential gain.
Of course, such a system still has plenty shortcomings. A typical problem situation was the student would having the right solution in his calculation, but *transferred the wrong answer* to the multiple choice answer sheet. The policies varied with different courses, although commonly, such an answer was not accepted, to prevent students for *purposefully* offering two answers and having a better chance of scoring.
---
I just realized I haven't actually offered my direct answer to the question. Here it goes:
In the system I describe, I would say **it is unethical to try and guess** in multiple choice exams. But, unlike all the other multiple choice setups, the one described here has a **way to verify weather you guessed or not** (if you have not submitted the full procedure for your answer, you must have guessed) and because of that, it stops depending solely on the students "honor"
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_10: Here's a tough one: German driving license theory test <http://fahrschule.freenet.de>
The rules: It's multiple choice. You are not given the number of correct answers (there can be multiple correct ones, or no correct ones, or one correct answer). You get points for each incorrect choice. Checking one wrong answer instead of the correct one is two incorrect answers. Checking only one of two correct answers is one incorrect choice. So there is no guessing "what's the best answer". And you are allowed two or three incorrect answers out of forty questions. They don't bother counting correct answers because you must have almost all correct.
Basically, if you haven't learned your questions and know at least 95% of the answers, there's no chance. On the positive side, you can *officially* buy all the possible questions and answers and practice as much as you like.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: My innovative solution: allow students to "bet" on their answers.
1. Add two options to each question. "I am very sure this is the right answer." and "I am very unsure this is the right answer."
2. Students can mark either value or none at all for any question.
3. Double the value of all questions marked extremely sure.
4. Halve the value of all questions marked unsure.
And then curve accordingly.
**Pros**
* Provides a lot of great feedback about what your students are learning and not learning.
* Allows students to self-assess for follow up work.
* Reduces the value of guessing.
Since the ultimate goal of all this testing is to see what your students are learning, and guessing muddies the water, so to speak, you might as well let the students tell you when they're guessing.
Upvotes: 4 |
2014/05/19 | 2,464 | 9,652 | <issue_start>username_0: In my research, my adviser only gives minimal advice that is limited to the direction of the research and defining the problems.
I can say I do most of the thinking, the actual solutions of the problems.
Even at one time I needed to explain to my adviser how my algorithms work.
The only "effort" my adviser does is writing the actual paper, since I'm still a master's student and lack experience of writing. Moreover, I'm not a native speaker so I'm still trying to improve my English writing.
Well, that's the intro of my background. FYI, I'm a CS student and I'm aiming to publish a paper in a conference in ACM.
**The actual problem is my adviser demands to be joint first author.**
I asked the reason and the reply was it was needed to progress to associate professor, with my help, and eventually gain tenure.
I suspect that the supervisor feels under risk to be kicked from the university. With 3-4 years as an Assistant Professor but doesn't really have good research output (only 1-2 small papers every year).
I reluctantly agreed to assist under these considerations:
**1. We can be joint first author but my name should be written first.** Initially wanted their name to be written first because alphabetically the last name comes first compared to my last name.
Then I did a "bargaining" by saying that I want to be researcher in the future and I need my name to be put first.
The discussion ended and I was allowed my name to be written first.
**2. I need to graduate**
In my university, advisers have total control to let students graduate.
With this post I want to ask you for more suggestions.
**Edit 1:**
Right now I want to play "safely" rather than being kicked out, but I feel I'm being treated a bit toady. Usually the adviser likes to scold other students.
**Edit 2:**
The advisor does indeed write the most part of the paper, but it doesn't mean that I didn't take any part in the writing. I tried to write an initial paper, from the introduction to technical part, writing equations, making figures, producing results, etc.
The advisor helped me to polish the grammar and made the sentences neater.
I forget to say one thing, I have another adviser. Let's say A2. The one I'm having dispute with is A1. A1's most significant contribution is writing the paper. A2 helps me with the "big picture". Because A2 is more junior than A1, A2 only becomes co-author.
Also thanks for everyone who wrote answers and comments. All of you gave me a lot of new perspectives.<issue_comment>username_1: Remote doctoring issues between students and advisors is always difficult, but I'll have a stab at it anyway.
>
> In my research, My adviser only gives minimal advice that limited to the direction of the research and defining the problems. I can say I do most of the thinking, the actual solutions of the problems. Even at one time I needed to explain to my adviser how my algorithms work. The only "effort" my adviser does is writing the actual paper, since I'm still a master student with lack experience of writing. Moreover, I'm not a native speaker so I'm still trying to improve my English writing.
>
>
>
While your advisor may not be the most contributing person to this research, calling this "no significant contribution" may be too much. It sounds like he is doing standard advising plus helping you write the paper, which is certainly in line with what you expect from an *advisor*.
>
> The actual problem is my adviser demands him as joint first author.
>
>
>
Yes, that is a problem. It's good that you push back here.
>
> He told me that He wants tenure position and He needs my help so he can be an associate professor.
>
>
>
I don't quite understand that. For all universities I know, advising students is what is expected from assistant professors. So from a tenure point of view, advising a student to write an excellent paper is not much different than writing one yourself. Maybe he is overestimating the additional value he would get from being first author.
>
> (Oh man, did he beg to me or what?)
>
>
>
Try to stay focused on the facts, and don't let it get personal. Nothing to gain from this.
>
> He can be the joint first author but my name should be written first.
>
>
>
I am still confused about the notion of joint first authors (I always assumed there can really be only one, but apparently [I was wrong)](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17239/should-co-first-authors-be-listed-in-alphabetical-order/17356#17356). Anyway, I would say it sounds like an ok compromise.
>
> I need to graduate In my uni, professors have total control to let students graduate.
>
>
>
That is indeed a practical problem in many universities.
A few concluding statements:
* Authorship really isn't something that should be *negotiated* after the project is almost done. As many members here never get tired of saying, details of authorship are best discussed at the beginning of the project, so that everybody knows where everybody else stands.
* From your short description, it seems to me like you are somewhat underselling the contributions of your advisor, even delivering some underhand blows in a few places. You are likely a rational individual - try to not be emotional about it, and then re-check what your advisor actually does for your project. Further, keep in mind that students tend to over-value the technical "doing" of the project and undervalue the "big picture" (deciding on a research project, defining research issues so that the outcome is both achievable and novel, etc.).
* Somewhat related: your advisor is not supposed to be an all-knowning, all-understanding supreme being. It is completely ok that you occasionally need to explain the details of an algorithm to him. That does not make him incompetent. You will for sure have to do the same thing with your new advisor.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: You write:
>
> The only "effort" my adviser does is writing the actual paper
>
>
>
Well, in many fields, that would make them sole author. It certainly gives them a very strong claim to be first author, in fields where authorship is determined by contribution to the paper.
If you want to be first author, then write the paper yourself.
And if you can't, then don't expect first authorship, and be grateful for co-authorship (rather than an acknowledgement).
You've now added that you have done a bit of the writing, but your adviser has done most of it. So yes, they would, in many fields, still get first authorship, and you would get a co-authorship on that basis, assuming what you've written is a non-trivial proportion of the whole.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Emotions aside, I believe that the intent of a paper is to present **results**. There are people who are better than others in English but a technical writer is not the one who does the research. Should he/she be the first author because he did the logistics work (writing the paper)? I do not think so.
The CEO of a company will not have drawn her/himself the fantastic ad you see on the street. But (s)he is still the one who is the face of the company. Not the graphics professional who did the work.
So writing the paper, even if this requires experience, is logistics. Which grants you, at best, co-authoring.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Azer89,
Sorry this is stressful for you, most of us have had some sort of grad drama. I suggest you relax a bit about it. If your adviser demands "co-first authorship" I'd let him have it, for a number of reasons:
1) He is your primary job reference and entree into the academic world, keeping him happy is important. Your career will be better served with a good reference than any one paper.
2) It sounds like he has in fact met the standard for co-authorship, I wish my MS adviser would have anything to do with the manuscript!
3) Finally, and most important, is what kind of collaborator you want to be. Academia (and industry) is full of territorial, jealous types who are concerned only with their own academic "reputation". Don't be one of them. In the long run nobody cares if you are sole or joint first author on some paper. They care if you are a good collaborator they can work with. Take the moral high ground and get the paper out. If he's a real jerk you'll never work with him again, but you'll be the guy people can get along with.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Azer89, I don't know what advice to give you in this situation. But I'm very surprised by the number of people thinking your adviser can be the first author or even the sole author.
Check this site <http://www.stanford.edu/~engler/>
>
> According to ACM this is their most downloaded paper ever. I wrote it, but everyone else did all (I mean: ALL) of the technical
> work.
>
>
>
He wrote the paper alone, and he put himself as the last author since other people did all the technical work. This is what great professors do.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: No, sounds like you've been stiffed. It is not unusual for an academic to write-up the results of research for a masters or UG student, but they should be using the opportunity as a chance for you to develop your writing skills (to complement your research skills) not hog the credit (as in this case). What you supervisor is doing verges on academic misconduct in Computer Science. Ignore the many ill-informed comments on this site, your supervisor has failed in his duty to help you develop as a researcher and is exploiting you for his own selfish ends.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/19 | 1,543 | 6,506 | <issue_start>username_0: In the United States, it is typical for each state to have one or more flagship state universities. All of them are reasonably good institutions, but some are absolutely top-notch, such as in Michigan, California, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Typically, tuition at these universities is extremely expensive for out-of-state students and much cheaper for in-state students. So, at least in principle, these universities principally serve the best students from their respective states who choose to study at public schools.
How is it then that some schools became absolutely top-notch and others less so? To my mind there is no obvious factor explaining which of the state schools became top-notch; for example, Wisconsin is not, and never has been, an unusually populous or wealthy state.<issue_comment>username_1: Different states have very different political attitudes towards their flagship schools as well. This makes a difference with funding levels of course. It also makes a difference in terms of how money is to be used. A governor/executive, combined with a university president, that wants to grow a flagship institution can help earmark funds to attract top-notch researchers, link business activity and academic areas to grow in, and so on. It takes planning and vision as well as money, and that varies a lot from state to state.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: The one thing that has to be remembered is that classes at Universities are run by humans... and they aren't all of the same caliber.
If a University has decided to focus on a particular school, Civil Engineering for example, then they will expend the funds necessary to attract highly competent and well known professors *in that area*. This might mean that funds aren't available to attract similar talent in another college at that University, such as English Literature. However it also means that the university will get a reputation for turning out better candidates in those areas.
Next, Universities are funded through a variety of ways. Only one is the actual cost of tuition. Private funding, such as provided by various businesses or alumni, is a big part of this. If a particular college within the University graduates a large number of high dollar workers then those private donations are likely to be largely earmarked for that same college.
Point is: Quality is determined by your professors and tools available and these are generally determined by the Money a University has or is willing to spend.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: State population, and proximity to a large city likely also plays a role. Its not a perfect correlation, but UCB, UCLA, Georgia Tech, UT-Austin, and several other "big name" state schools are either in or near major citys in high population states.
I'm guessing states like the [Dakotas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Dakota#Population) don't have enough students to build larger campuses, and hire as many profs. Looks like neither Dakota has even 1 million people. I'm guessing there just isn't very much real demand for education in these states, since fewer students are getting degrees the universities have less money for big ticket items like stadiums, rec facilities and "star" faculty.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: There are a variety of factors, and the sample is too diverse to come up with a simple answer. For starters, here's a list of all the [State-run universities in the USA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_universities_in_the_United_States). This answer is basically an outline, based on my impressions, and I invite others to elaborate on these points with historical documents (this answer is a wiki) or maybe even a statistical analysis if we're lucky.
1) The need for a state school. Some regions already had several private universities that could serve their population. Others (California?) did not, so the state set one up.
2) The political commitment to the University system. Some state schools (CA) are written into the state's constitution. Other's are not (PA). Some were established with [land-grants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_land-grant_universities).
3) In a less formal sense, some states have a strong public commitment to public education, while others value it less. The [rankings of high schools](http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/articles/2014/04/21/how-states-compare-in-the-2014-best-high-schools-rankings) has some correlation to my perception of flagship university quality.
4) As implied in the question, the total resources available to the state is an issue, though not the only one. Still, overall, larger and wealthier (and more urban) states tend to have more prestigious flagship universities.
5) And then there's randomness (as described by <NAME>) -- all the stuff that is not a characteristic of the state per se. AKA, historical contingencies, personnel decisions, strategic decisions, and the general legacy of the University's infrastructure..
It would be interesting to see how all these factors contribute to predicting the prestige of the flagship university (a PCA or logistic regression, perhaps)-- but that analysis is outside of my expertise.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: The other answers have pointed out a number of important factors, but an additional one is lack of competition. Most of the best state universities are in states and even regions with few large private universities of similar caliber (and especially, where there weren't many when the universities developed). It's notable that the northeast, which is wealthy, populous, and tends to have politics that support higher education still doesn't have any public schools in that caliber---in large part because it has the highest concentration of private schools which fill that niche.
There's a belief that having research institutions brings benefits to a state by creating jobs indirectly. That benefit is a lot of the reason a state would want to put the extra resources into a school to make it a top tier research institution rather that a good school primarily for educating its own students. Private institutions can provide the same benefit, and so reduce the motivation.
(Compare Texas, which has openly discussed that it has too few top research universities relative to its population and wealth and is running a competition among its lower tier research universities to become the states third public R1.)
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/19 | 400 | 1,679 | <issue_start>username_0: I have some papers from google which I don't know to what type they belong: a working paper or a discussion paper or something else? I need this for my bibliography
Below are some examples of such cases.
The first one has an abbreviation JEL Classifications, but is this enough to refer this to Journal of Economic Literature?
The second one has nothing at all.
Can someone give me a hint? Any help would be appreciated!
<issue_comment>username_1: JEL classifications are just that: classifications. Anyone can put such a classification on his paper, and it doesn't have anything to do with publishing in the JEL - it's more like a keyword.
To your question: I don't think there really is such a big difference between a working paper (which is work in progress, typically distributed to be discussed) and a discussion paper (which is work in progress, typically distributed to be discussed). All of these are essentially manuscripts under preparation for submission to a refereed journal (in CS, a conference). So I would file all of these under "non-reviewed papers".
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Very rarely you will find the full reference in the paper. To retrieve complete references use google scholar (which provides even different versions of the same paper) and double check in doubt. You can also try indexer services provided by your university such as worldcat or summon.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/05/19 | 2,052 | 8,477 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm a 2nd year PhD student in a computational field. I'm about to submit my first paper on a new optimization algorithm. I've been working intensively on the problem for the last 2 years and finally managed to get the result. Besides the professor, I'm supervised by another postdoc whom I respect a lot. Although the two didn't contribute to the ideas I present in the paper, they helped me understand the field and prepare the paper. So, they deserve to be coauthors.
However, there is one man in my lab who is really ruining my mood. He is a postdoc, 15 years my senior, and has been with the lab for ages (he has a permanent position). Just for the record, he hasn't published any first or last author paper since 7 years. We are assigned by the professor to the same subgroup meeting. We use the subgroup meeting to report our individual scientific progress.
About a year ago, he came to my desk and said that I should include his name in the work I was working on because the professor said so. I was quite surprised to hear that because he had nothing to do with my project besides sitting in the same meeting. Nevertheless, I agreed because I just simply didn't care about who was on the coauthor list.
Since then, the postdoc constantly asked me to do many things for the project, which I thought didn't make any sense. I told him that he should bring up his request during the meeting when the professor is there. And every single time the response of my professor was something like "Why would you want to do that?" and his answer was "because I'm interested in it." I wish my professor would have said "then do it yourself."
About 6 months ago I came up with an idea which I thought very promising and I presented it in the subgroup meeting. The professor was away on travel, which was not unusual. The postdoc basically told me that I need to stop wasting time on my ideas and listen to his suggestions instead if I want to finish my PhD. I felt very offended and spent days and nights coding my idea. 2 months later, I got the best results that I could ever ask for. I presented the results in front of my professor and others. Everyone was happy except one man.
Today, I was trying to finish the paper and he came in. He asked me to do yet another ridiculous analysis. I told him that I cannot see why this analysis could make the paper better. Besides, this is already the final stage and everything has been discussed thoroughly with the "real" coauthors. He answered me "This might not go into the paper but I'm interested in knowing it. I'm the author and I'm allowed to make requests". My reaction was something like a silent WTF and he immediately corrected the word "author" to coauthor. I tried my best to not ask him the question "What did you contribute to the paper?"
I want to submit the paper as soon as possible but this man made me crazy. He would talk to me all day long until I do want he wants. I don't want to write to my professor (who is again traveling) to complain about him. But I'm afraid that he will use his co-authorship to keep bothering me.
What should I do?
**Update:** Thank you for the comments and answers. Today this man came to me again! I told him that the professor had read my draft paper, made comments, and did not tell me to do any of the work the postdoc was suggesting. I also told him that his experiments were unnecessary, since the algorithm's motivation and performance against benchmarks are already well established, and we are up against the page limit as-is. He agreed with all this, but said he still wants to do the experiments he suggested. He agreed to do it himself so as "not to bother me," but I had to spend the entire day explaining how to do it, so it actually took longer this way. I think he was just desperate to make a contribution. Lesson learned for the next project!
**Update (22.August 2022):** 8 years have passed since I posted the question, and it seems to still draw some attention. Thus, I want to post some updates. Good news first, the paper has been cited more than 11K times as of now. We showed that our new method performed best for the problem. We basically took the crown from the reigning champion of 10 years. For that reason, people started using our software a lot. That explains the high number of citations. Shortly after the publication, a known group in the field published a paper to independently compare our method with the former champion using their data. Their first revision was too biased towards the other method (they ran our method once and the other multiple times, taking the best result). Luckily, this did not pass the review, and they were forced to do a fair comparison. We were not the reviewers, but they sent us a draft. To our surprise, our method now looked even better in their comparison. All doubts were silenced.
Not so good news, I left science shortly after my PhD. I finished my "mission" and never planned to stay longer. Although the road was bumpy, and I had to experience to some extent the dark side of academia, I have never regretted doing the PhD. To this day, I still don't think that I would have been able to "get rid of" the unwanted coauthor because he was "assigned" to it at the very beginning. It is just how the system works. The method that finally appeared in the paper was against the will of the remaining coauthors, including my supervisor. They only accepted it when the data were presented. My task was to extend the old method by my supervisor and not inventing a new one. Nevertheless, he was fair and supportive.<issue_comment>username_1: If he has not contributed to the paper or the ideas, I would tell him very bluntly that you have decided not to include him as a co-author and explain your reasoning. You don't need to yell or be rude, just deliberate. As far as him constantly bothering you, just tell him he is interfering with your work and you can make time for him during your "office hours".
It's common for postdocs to abuse their "power". You don't owe him anything just because he is a postdoc in your lab. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself, it's very unlikely your advisor will. He is, after-all, both of your bosses, and you are both adults.
Edit:
I was under the impression the advisor was indifferent. It would be best to sit down with your advisor first and explain your case. Be adamant. [Co-author inflation](http://www.r-bloggers.com/author-inflation-in-academic-literature/) is real. Your advisor is likely trying to look out for the interest of everyone, but if the postdoc has not made any contribution, it would be "unethical" for him to be listed as a co-author. I wonder if the postdoc helped write the grant that you are funded by?
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> How to get rid of unwanted and annoying co-author?
>
>
>
Talking to your advisor about your problem will probably help.
Depending on how that goes, you may still feel like you need to keep this "annoying" postdoc on as a co-author. Even so, you don't need to do any more grunt work for this person. Just finish up your paper. If this postdoc keeps bothering you and impeding your progress, you may need to go into stealth mode for a week or so (work from home while your advisor is out of town, etc.). Finishing your paper quickly (but correctly) will at least (hopefully!) prevent this annoying person from delaying your progress further.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Another way to handle the situation is to brief your advisor, and then, whenever you get such a request, parry with something like, "I'm really trying to prioritize getting the paper ready for submission. Since this won't go into the paper, maybe you can start working on it, and we can see what kind of results you come up with".
If he still tries to push back, then (and only if you've already briefed your advisor) tell him "Our advisor has asked me to prioritize certain tasks: if you want me to change the priority you'll have to talk to him".
I think it's definitely the advisor's job to play umpire/referee in these situations.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Ask for a co-author declaration from all co-authors, in which they detail their input. You can find standard formats for this (many journals demand it). You can tell that it is important to substantiate your CV. If a co-author has nil to show, s/he will obviously have to leave the party.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/05/20 | 4,030 | 16,932 | <issue_start>username_0: One of the major differences between Europe (here I am mainly referring to Scandinavia) and Northern America, from an academic viewpoint, is the perspective towards higher education. In Scandinavia there it is generally accepted that anyone despite their financial status should be able to pursue higher education. Elsewhere in Europe I know of systems were the state subsidises a majority of the cost and only a minor portion of education costs are reflected on to the students.
The quality of education and research, and all the top *X* ratings aside, I personally never really understood the "American" way of looking at education, namely that it is a practically a business. I have noticed this other question on [reasons for increasing tuition fees](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1329/factors-leading-to-rising-tuition-costs) but little to no information behind why they exist.
I came across [this comic](http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img849/8858/slihouettemanwonderswtf.jpg) recently, which seems to be gaining some popularity on the web, where the artist takes up some of the aspects and consequences of the north american perspective towards higher education; subjects that are mentioned are student loan debt, tuition fees and federal spending on education vs military or prisons.
Please note that I the language s/he chooses might be offensive to some and it is **not at all** my intention to insult anyone or incite a subjective discussion. Based on the culture and traditions in Scandinavia, many find it really hard to understand *why* it would be useful to have tuition fees, and thus put practically everyone who studies in serious debt by the time they are done with education. Thus, I would like to know:
**Is there any reasonable ground (thorough studies on cost to society, overall well-being of people etc) or any indisputable historical origins behind why tuition fees were introduced for higher education?**
---
PS: I realise that the question is on the gray zone on being on-topic or not here on Ac.SE but given good, constructive and factual answers, it would be a good resource to people outside North American system.<issue_comment>username_1: One aspect that is not touched upon in the comic you link to is that the student is the one who captures most of the benefit of higher education, starting at better job prospects and a higher expected salary, but also covering exposure to new ideas, the possibility of a better life in the ancient philosophical sense, and four years of partying for the less philosophically inclined.
People who, for lack of interest, lack of ability or anything else, do not partake of higher education will only profit from higher ed by having better-educated neighbors (and the rather nebulous promise of "a strong, stable state, ready for the future"), which seems like a lot less than what those neighbors themselves get.
That said, it seems like the burden of proof for why the community at large should pay for the benefit of those that actually do go to college through higher taxes should be on those that argue for a socialization of these costs.
Frankly, this seems like a rather obvious point, whether you agree with it or not. That the comic you link to does not even make a token effort to address it is... disappointing.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: What do you mean, "introduced"?
-------------------------------
Someone has to pay for the teaching in any case. Students paying for their education has been the default option since at least Bologna in 1088, when the studies happened because enough people wanted to pay for such an education. It has continued to be the case throughout history, except for some prestigious universities that got sponsored by wealthy rulers or religious studies that got sponsored by the church estates. It must be noted that this sponsorship shouldn't be considered "public education" but is rather analogous to various current stipends/grants/etc, since these were meant for a very small number of individuals, not as education for masses.
It's not that USA has "introduced tuition fees" - instead, some countries, like the Scandinavian countries mentioned, have comparably recently (historically speaking) introduced free higher education for everyone, but USA hasn't (yet?) introduced that.
Who are the actors here?
------------------------
As for most questions about society, you can't really talk about "*THE* motivation for X" without being explicit about *WHO* has that motivation.
The core actor here is the people who actually decide on exact amounts of tuition, i.e., the people who **manage** the (often private) universities, not their students, faculty, parents or politicians. **For them,** there are at least four valid reasons for having tuition fees:
1. That's income that they can use for whatever needs, so tuition is better than no tuition in that sense; even if they have other funding as well, most education institutions would prefer a larger budget;
2. It filters out people based on their motivation - in any university setting, you don't want students who are "just visiting", as they disrupt the motivation and learning of others. Recent data from MOOCs with no barriers of entry show that this creates a large class of people who join just to try it out, since no real commitment of resources is required; that's okay for a MOOC, but disruptive in the 'classic' university environment, where you need to limit the number of students to whatever number you can afford do service properly.
3. It filters out people based on their ability to pay - that's generally considered an inappropriate/illegal/evil goal nowadays, but back when the system was implemented, maintaining the separation of classes was an intentional goal (e.g. [Numerus Clausus policies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerus_clausus#Numerus_clausus_in_the_United_States) even in 20th century), not just a random byproduct of policies; your school and degree would have a better reputation if low-class "undesirables" would be kept out of the classrooms. A currently relevant argument is that diplomas are in some sense a [Veblen good](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good), where being affordable means less demand as you're believed to be cheap, thus automagically worse.
4. They can't handle any sudden drops in income. Much of university expenses are fixed - building maintenance and tenured faculty won't become cheaper if you suddenly lose 20% of your income; so any cost reductions must be accompanied by a large influx of money (from whom?) or be a slow process of reducing volume - either teaching much less students, or doing much less to teach them.
[edit]
There's no market pressure to reduce tuition
--------------------------------------------
In a reasonable market there are downward pressures on price and demand - customer ability to pay and customer price sensitivity.
Recent changes in USA and some other education markets have greatly reduced those pressures.
The wide availability of student loans has resulted in a situation where people are buying education that they can't really afford - paying large amount of money (that they're borrowing) for even those education programs that won't actually have a "return on investment", while not having the spare resources to pay for it as a "hobby expense" for improving themselves. The impact of this is yet into the future, as student loans are maturing and the related bankruptcy cases are (and will be) rising.
And, more relevant to this question, student loans remove the visible difference between cheap and expensive university programs. **Universities don't compete on price, since people don't choose them based on price.** Some people do, but the majority of students don't think in a manner "oh, I can't afford a $40k tuition in a better university, so I'll apply only to $20k ones" in the same way as they would when purchasing, say, cars for the same amount; since the loans mask the direct impact on their daily budget. This means that universities have little motivation to lower their prices, as being cheaper won't gain them much, and being expensive doesn't restrict them from getting the good students they want, since the good students will get loans/stipends anyway.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: It should be noted that in the US, universities evolved in a very different manner than in Europe. The first universities were not sponsored by the state—inasmuch as there was no formal government (Harvard was established in 1636. well before much of the formal mechanisms of government were imported from Great Britain). As a result of this, most of the early colleges in the US were **private** schools, which needed to support themselves based primarily on external financing, as no government funding was readily available (or, in some cases, even possible).
Of course, given that private schools were charging tuition fees, it was of course reasonable for public schools to also charge some sort of tuition fee when *they* opened.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: The history of tuition fees in the UK is well documented. Up until 1998 there were no tuition fees. The Teaching and Higher Education Act in 1998 instituted a £1000 tuition fee based on the [Dearing Report](http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/ncihe/). The Higher Education Act in 2004 introduced a variable tuition fees up to £3000. This was largely panned as politically motivated and I don't know if the decision was based on any type of formal review. In 2010, in response to the [Browne REport](http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/corporate/docs/s/10-1208-securing-sustainable-higher-education-browne-report.pdf) the government allowed universities to increased tuition fees up to a maximum of £9000 in exceptional circumstances. Most universities chose to set their tuition fees at £9000. In all cases there has been both substantial criticism and support for the changes to the tuition fees.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: Hopefully we can all agree that higher education must be funded somehow. There are two main ways of doing this. Government spending (taxes) or tuition fees (students pay). There are many possible reasons to prefer one system over the other and I suspect the decision is largely political/ideological.
I think the main reason the US system has high tuition fees is a social/political one. The US is generally more politically conservative than Europe and favours small government and low taxes. If you accept this approach it necessarily prevents spending large amounts on higher education. In this respect you could equally ask why the US does not have free healthcare and lower levels of social security than many places in Europe.
The main criticism of tuition fees is that they are unfair as they disadvantage poorer students and place people under a heavy burden of debt. However systems can be setup where this is not necessary the case, at least to a significant extent. For example in the UK student loans are only repaid after earning £XXXX (~£20,000) per year and are written off if not paid after 30 years. In this case the debt could be view more like a tax. This system is not perfect as it puts lots of the burden (for written off debt) back onto government and the current UK system is possibly unsustainable.
The argument for tuition fees is that the state paying is not really fair either. Many people do not go to higher education, either due to academic grades or more vocational interests. Is it really fair that their taxes pay for higher education they will never use. I realise this is the case for many things taxes pay for but in most other cases such as healthcare or unemployment benefits the main beneficiaries are the less well off. For higher education the beneficiaries are likely to have higher than average earnings over their lifetime and so should pay for that out of their pockets.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I agree with some of the other people answering this question that there isn't a single, definitive reason for this approach, but here are some factors that play a role. Note that I'm not defending or endorsing these factors, just describing them.
1. People in the U.S. are very attached to private universities, in a way that is not true in many countries, and these universities differ from each other dramatically. For example, you can attend universities with all sorts of non-mainstream religious affiliations, as well other philosophical or practical approaches. (You can decide you'd like to study alongside hippies, or that you'd like to attend a 24-student college in which all-male students run a farm in addition to studying.) There's a widespread belief in the U.S. that this diversity provides benefits that would be difficult to achieve through public universities. If you want lots of universities not run by the government or even primarily dependent on government funding, then that biases things towards a tuition-based model.
2. It's sometimes felt that heavily subsidized higher education is not in fact egalitarian, since the students being subsidized are already relatively well off on average. Instead, the model used by some wealthy universities like Harvard is to charge the rich a fortune, charge the middle class a moderate amount, and let the poor attend for free. That model has some serious drawbacks (for example, there's a lot of haggling over personal circumstances and what people can really be expected to pay), but it's not crazy. Of course public universities can follow a similar policy, or the government could handle it more abstractly via progressive taxes. However, this often doesn't fly in a U.S. context, since there's widespread opposition to taxes or redistribution, while private institutions are allowed to do whatever they like (nobody is required to attend Harvard).
3. Public universities in the U.S. are organized at the state level, rather than by the federal government (with just a handful of exceptions, such as the military academies). This works pretty well in terms of local control over educational policy and spending: if Michigan wants an amazing public university and New Hampshire is only willing to pay for an average one, then New Hampshire can't vote against the University of Michigan's budget. However, there's a major problem, namely that it is very easy to move between U.S. states (since there are no language barriers and few cultural barriers). This leads to two fears: that people will live in low-tax states but move to states with cheap but excellent universities for college, and that students will move to other states after college (taking the economic benefits of their subsidized education with them). These fears can be addressed in various ways, such as residency requirements, but there's no absolute solution that's not draconian. The fear of being taken advantage of plays a depressingly large role in some discussions of funding public education.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: European and American university fee structures arose out of two different sets of historical circumstances.
In [medieval Europe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_university), university graduates generally went into the service of either the "State," (government) or Church, both of which were major sponsors of universities. In essence, the State and Church subsidized the education of people who would end up working for one or the other (plus a few that wouldn't). Because of this "tradition," university education in Europe is largely state-subsidized even though people often don't go to work for the state nowadays.
In America, university education was more of a private transaction, and people would either put themselves, or more likely, their children through college, without obligations to potential employers such as the state of church mentioned above. In time, the Federal government saw the value of an educated populace and made available loan programs for students. A few branches of the government (e.g. the armed forces) will pay for the education of students who would serve several years with them.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: One aspect that is not covered in the responses here is that there's a considerable difference between the "sticker price" of private universities and what actual students pay. For example, at Harvard, families making less than $60,000 will actually pay *no* tuition. Yale and Stanford offer similar programs.
Most private colleges offer some form of tuition reduction based on financial need so it ends up that only a select few (international students and the very rich, mostly) pay full price.
Much of this is possible by the tremendous growth in private college endowments. At last reckoning, Harvard's endowment was $32 billion dollars.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/20 | 571 | 2,359 | <issue_start>username_0: If one obtains results in one area of a field (say during an MSc thesis) before deciding that one is not interested in making a career in that area, should one take the time (as a PhD student) to get make those results publishable, or is it better to focus on the new area?<issue_comment>username_1: **It depends**.
Some questions might help guide you to an answer:
* how important is the work you've done ? If it's not yet publishable does this mean it's not complete yet ?
* Since you're not in the area, do you even know if the topic/solutions are still relevant ?
* Are you proud of this work, to the point where you'd be annoyed if someone else came up with the same ideas and published them ?
* How much effort will it take to make the work publishable, and how does this interfere with current work that you're doing ? I.e are you in the initial stages of a Ph.D and can spend time on this, or are you deep into your own research where the context switching might prove distracting ?
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In my opinion, during a PhD it is equally important to stay focused on the main track as it is to prove, you as a student can be multidisciplinary.
Being multidisciplinary will make you sometimes more attractive on job markets.
That is not always true, though, as some employers will look for more goal oriented individuals.
If however you your major is biology and your interesting findings are in physics, maybe you should let it go.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: It's all about marginal utility, in other words cost/utility ratio. How much time/money/effort/coffee/.. will it take to get the stuff published vs how much you think it will benefit you? It's generally hard to estimate how much different investments will pay off in the future, but it can't really hurt you to have published articles in multiple fields. On the contrary it's generally good to show diversity in intellectual capacity and output.
Now that said, you should also consider whether or not you *can* work on something else during your phD. I mean maybe your supervisor is not OK with you "wasting time" on something that will not be a part of your thesis. It is actually very likely that s/he will not be very positive towards the idea. After all you are burning his/her grant money ;)
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/20 | 1,141 | 5,011 | <issue_start>username_0: My institution ranks scientific achievement according to some criteria when evaluating promotions, positions, etc. for its subjects (students, grad students, personnel, etc.) This is done by a rule book that is specified in the form of a bylaw and is administered by the ministry of science, therefore it is not local to my institution, but applied nationwide.
The passage about SCI journal publications states that journals are divided into three groups:
1. eminent international journals - a journal that in its subject ranks in the top 30% journals in ISI list publications
2. outstanding international journals - the same but for <30% and >50%
3. international journals - the same for <50%
The difference in "points" awarded for publications in each of the categories is rather large. I was wondering how I could determine which journals fall into a criterium from above?
I talked to the administrative service, but got no satisfying answer, i.e. there is no list of journals (which is understandable, as there are far too many subjects). They told me something along the lines: "These things will be evaluated when the time comes", which is, of course, not at least satisfactory to me.
I talked also briefly with the head of the department and he told me that he never really gave it much thought, I should publish in journals that suit me, the higher the impact factor and prestige the better of course, but in the end it isn't that much of an imperative, and that I should let the "politicians" and administrators worry about those tiny matters. I would, however, still like to know which journals I should favorite.
PS: the rule book naturally specifies similar criteria for various scientific publications (conferences, patents, books, etc.), but since I'm working on my first article to be submitted to a journal and I still haven't decided which journal, I would like to take things like this into account<issue_comment>username_1: Likely this is not the answer you want to hear, but I assume the administrative service you talked to is correct. If nobody really knows which journals fall under which of these (rather subjective) categories, it will not be feasible to in advance establish for sure way how much any paper you write will *count* in the end, when you are evaluated.
This is not nearly as strange as it sounds. Formal rules for promotion and the evaluation of research tend to live in the ugly grey area between bureaucrats who like things orderly, well-defined and, most importantly, *written down*, and the reality of science, where basically no two scientists will ever be able to agree on an absolutely consistent quality ranking of publication outlets. What usually happens is that some sort of nebulous rankings are defined *without specifically ranking concrete venues*,and then leave it to a commission of academics to decide ad hoc which publications fall into which category.
At my current university, we have similar nebulous requirements for PhD graduation. Essentially, it is required that students need at least one *A-ranked* publication. However, what is considered A-ranked varies considerably between different faculty, and is basically negotiated when graduation time is near. I assume requirements for tenure etc. are handled similarly.
Note that there *are* some initiatives that are trying to rank publication venues more formally, for instance [CORE](http://core.edu.au) for computer science. However, these rankings are also far from perfect (or, for some fields, they are apparently downright terrible).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As you mentioned the first factor is the impact factor, so, it would be better to be published in high impact factor peer reviewed journals.
As I am into optics, I may say that, for physics, Science, all Nature journals (Nature Photonics, Nature Communication, etc), Physics Review Letters, Advanced Materials, etc. may be included in the first category. The second category may include Applied Physics Letters, Optics Express, Optics Letters. etc. The third category are probably not well known international journals with low impact factors and maybe conference proceedings. If you are really into your field, I guess you know all important journals there. If you don't just do a simple search of the list of impact factors.
The second factor(which is more important for me) is the quality and novelty of the research, i.e. number of citations. Sometimes it is really hard for grad students, post docs or researchers to be published in the articles of the first category, because it is complicated and sometimes 'politicized'. So, don't think much about that but rather put an emphasize on the quality of the research without forgetting to try to publish in a journal with an impact factor as high as possible. If your publication has a lot of citations it means that it is a state-of-the-art research and you really have something to say in that area.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/20 | 342 | 1,509 | <issue_start>username_0: I am about to graduate in Electrical Engineering and I wanted to pursue graduate studies in a field such as coding theory or software defined and cognitive radio.
But I'm not sure where to find the information needed to decide which school to choose. University rankings won't be specific enough to point out the quality of the research groups of my interest. I was looking for something that would point out volume and relevance of papers and articles published by the Universities' research groups.
I don't need answers on which school is best, but tools to figure this out by myself.<issue_comment>username_1: Research groups that are active in a particular field will publish often in those fields.
So, identify conferences\* in your field of interest. Look at the technical programs for the last couple of years, and check out the groups that seem to be contributing a lot.
Also, ask professors at your undergrad university who work in related fields.
\* Also workshops, large conferences with a few on-topic sessions, journals, etc.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: This is not a direct answer to your question.
But if you are targeting a specific field of research, it might be better if you go with a well-known supervisor than a high-ranked school. I know that the name of the school and hence its ranking is important when you graduate from there, but the importance of the supervisor is something you should not overlook at all.
Just my two cents.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/20 | 2,307 | 9,778 | <issue_start>username_0: I have developed a method to process images I use for my research. It's nothing revolutionary but I think it might be useful to others than me, and why not, be worthy of being published somewhere (at least for me to cite when I use it).
As it is outside my primary field of research, nobody in my direct lab vicinity can help evaluating its scientific value or novelty (I did a bit of literature research and didn't find any obvious precedent). Normally I would just put it as an appendix in the first article where I use it, but this one is quite long to describe and completely out of my field. It would thus be off-topic in the journals in which I usually publish.
I though of seeking collaboration from someone in my university who works in signal/image processing, I don't know anyone personally and I foresee possible political issues, authorship quarrels, etc. I would nonetheless like to get some sort of evaluation before submitting to a journal. As an outsider, I wouldn't like to waste an editor's time and make a fool of myself.
I have zero experience submitting to the arXiv, by looking at the website it's not clear how/if there is an active system of feedback, even informal.
**Is it advisable to submit my methods paper there and expect a feedback?**<issue_comment>username_1: There is not much of a "formal feedback" system associated with the arxiv. I say "not much" instead of "none" because the arxiv apparently does do some degree of automatic tracking of citations to its papers. For instance [this arxiv submission](http://arxiv.org/abs/1208.0977) contains a link to a MO post in which my paper is (briefly) mentioned. I had not seen that post before, so that was somewhat interesting. However, I don't know how this system works and it seems to be much less systematic than, say, what google scholar does. In particular, I have 25 arxiv preprints and the arxiv itself lists this kind of citation for very few of them, whereas google scholar lists much more.
In terms of an informal feedback system: yes, the arxiv works very well for that, in the following organic way: for many academic fields and subfields it is by far the one place to put your preprint in order to get the most (and the most interested) people to read it. This includes publication in most journals and the implications this has had on some academic fields are immense. E.g. I hear that in theoretical physics -- a fast-moving field in which it is apparently rare to look up a paper written much more than ten years ago -- pretty much everyone who is anyone uploads their preprints to the arxiv, and as a result theoretical physicists almost never go to the library anymore or look through actual journal papers: they don't need to. My field -- mathematics -- seems to be converging to this kind of phenomenon rather more slowly.
On the other hand, to **expect feedback** may be putting it a bit strongly. The volume of papers uploaded to the arxiv is fast and rapidly increasing. I just looked at the math.NT arxiv submissions, and last night 15 papers were uploaded. I am a number theorist with broad interests, and if these papers came at a rate of one a day or less, I would probably peruse about half of them. But the current volume forces me to be much more selective. The arxiv is great advertising, but all the advertising in the world doesn't guarantee that people will engage with your product rather than the sea of competing products (competing *for their attention*, anyway; they need not be competing with you in the academic sense).
In my experience, I most definitely get enough feedback from my arxiv submissions in order to justify uploading them (although there are arguments to be made for doing so even if you never hear directly from anyone about them). It happens that in the last three weeks or so I have uploaded four arxiv submissions. (Since I have 25 altogether, this is obviously a spike in the upload rate. Some other people do this too. Now that I think about it, from an advertising perspective it would probably be better *not* to do this.) Since then I have received comments on two of the four papers. The two papers that I haven't heard from yet are I think perfectly solid and interesting -- in fact, one of the two concerns the Combinatorial Nullstellensatz so probably has broader appeal than most papers I have written, and the other is a really substantial project that I did jointly with my PhD student -- so the fact that I've gotten no feedback about them seems to be mostly random.
In summary: yes, posting your papers on the arxiv is a great way to get feedback. Will it *guarantee* feedback? No, guaranteed feedback is exactly what you're buying (so to speak) when you submit to a journal. Other than that it seems impossible to guarantee. I would definitely submit to the arxiv and see what happens. If you hear nothing, then you might try sending a few emails to suspected experts which just point to your arxiv preprint. Having an arxiv preprint versus just enclosing a file adds a certain veneer of legitimacy.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You need to find a way to advertise your work so that people find it on arXiv, use it, then eventually cite it and criticize it.
The main advantages of arXiv are:
* the publication timing. When you submit to some closed review journal or conference, you are months before an official decision. During this time (that can get long), you need a way to disclose properly your work;
* getting a larger audience. Everybody is not on her university's network, or some universities won't have access to all the journals. If your work is on the editor's site only, then more people than you might think will be blocked by the paywall. Furthermore, some people (I know some in Image Processing) will make monthly explorations of arXiv and publish some reading lists on-line, tghus giving you a larger audience.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The arXiv is a tool for establishing a presence, but it does not market or disseminate your results. It merely places them in a certain category and presents title, author, and sometimes abstract in a summary fashion, depending on how one uses it. Some researchers get RSS and email updates in their favorite areas about new arXiv submissions, but that should be considered small in number, and not likely to generate interest in your paper.
If you want feedback, you need to advertise your own work, on your webpage, at conferences, at society meetings, and other appropriate venues. You can prepare a short version (abstract or highlight only) and include the URL of the arXiv abstract. Use of arXiv does not indicate peer review, but as there is some endorsement system involved in arXiv submissions, there is also some cachet associated with having the URL.
When you have gotten some people interested in your work, they too can refer to the URL, and this can lead to more publicizing and hopefully direct feedback on your work. It can also lead to others posting their opinions on their blogs or elsewhere, which can be harder to track.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Other questions are more on topic, but let me add that social media and open access, used wisely, are good tools for increase your audience and get more downloads, and (hopefully) more feedback.
Think about:
* creating a blog, maybe dedicated to your research
* upload your papers in arxiv: this will give us a timestamp, a permalink, and will preserve your paper digitally
* use social media to spread the links
* Use the blog (or the arXiv itself) as a place to discuss your research (maybe, in more laymen terms), receive comments and discuss with interested people.
Social media (used wisely) [do have an impact](http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2012/04/19/blog-tweeting-papers-worth-it/), and also [Altmetrics](http://altmetrics.org/manifesto/) are developing. Also, please read [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32367/why-doesnt-arxiv-have-a-comment-section) and related answers.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: There are some more direct ways that are more effective than waiting for a passenger feedback and they help you gain more confidence in general in the outside field.
1. find the journals in the field of this paper, contact one of their editors
in chief with the same question and disclaimer you have here to seek their
opinion about submitting or otherwise. You get the best feedback from the journal reviewers. They know most people, they are quick in reading and they love reviewing a wide range of work rather than a single topic. generally more open-minded than an average researcher.
2. Look at review board members of those journals who are in
your university and contact them, you can pick up the phone and ask them for this quick favor to direct you to the right direction(area of literature) to look for precedence of the work. Talking over the phone brings them less liability and they can be more frank, open and less political about the work. It also takes less time than drafting a careful email to a stranger.
3. Look up the name of professors who teach this topic in your school or any school nearby and send them the paper for opinion, you can even use their office hours to sit and discuss the relevancy of this "outside" work. Office hours are boring and wasted anyway, it will be a refreshing task if it is not close to exam time(busy time).
4. You can also ask it as a favor (or even paid consulting) from a PhD students of these journal editors/reviewers. PhD students in their later years can be of huge help as they know a lot and they are less committed to non-scientific duties than their professors.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/05/20 | 847 | 4,056 | <issue_start>username_0: I am a statistician working as an applied analyst on a paper. As I went through a set of analyses, I decided upon a detailed and thorough data analysis method using a regression model. Traditionally, that regression model is presented alongside a set of assumptions that one should check in the model approach. I had a gut feeling those assumptions didn't matter in a broad sense. I performed some simulation studies to show that that was the case. The results are interesting and we will attempt to publish a paper about those as well.
However, turning to the present analysis, should I present without proof the results of the "robust" interpretation where assumption checking is eschewed. Does it make sense to await a reviewer to raise a flag about this issue? There is a lot of pressure to publish this quickly... which is not unusual or surprising. Would it make more sense to include a sentence saying, "The authors will show in later work that the assumptions of the modeling approach can be relaxed when (blah blah blah)"?<issue_comment>username_1: I wouldn't claim that you're going to do anything. If you think the assumptions are really problematic for the result and want to indicate that they can be relaxed, you could say something like "preliminary investigations of alternate models which do not assume such-and-so are consistent with these results (data not shown)".
If the reviewers insist, you can then decide whether it's worth it to put a minimal amount of that analysis in the paper.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: (I have turned my comments into an answer).
Whether or not to discuss statistical assumptions depends largely on the nature of your work. Many authors of statistical textbooks and manuals discuss assumptions in great depth. They also highlight the importance of reporting the results of assumptions testing in your manuscripts. In my experience, this is very rarely done for several reasons. For example, results are often the same regardless of assumptions (this is not always the case), if you are reporting statistically significant results and effect sizes then perhaps the need to discuss assumptions is less important, word limits often restrict the ability to discussion assumptions, and it is often very rare these days to find discussion of statistical assumptions. Note that these points relate to applied journals and papers. If the paper is statistical in nature, or you have non-significant results and need to highlight that your statistics were appropriate, then perhaps discussion of assumptions is warranted. I very rarely run across discussion of assumptions for statistics ranging from t-tests to survival analyses and latent growth modelling etc. In statistics papers though its often important to highlight what assumptions are needed and such.
I have published in the pre-eminent journals on pain and you certainly do not need to discuss assumptions in them most of the time. If you review recent papers you will see that these assumptions are very rarely discussed. A simple "we did regression" and "here are results of regression" will suffice (with more elaboration, of course!).
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: There is one issue with publishing the proof in a subsequent: if the proof is too simple, you will probably have difficulties to publish it. In addition, if experts of your field find the proof is obvious (without reading your "later work"), your current paper may lose some credibility.
I would wait a bit (say 2 weeks) before publishing in order to have time to work seriously on the proof and check it is really an interesting work. Alternatively, I would send the paper to the journal after organizing it in such a way that I can add the proof without changing the structure (adding the proof in the appendix plus a quick comment in the main body - it is suitable for a non-math paper). Reorganizing the paper after submission is inappropriate since it does not respect the work the referee already did.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/05/20 | 796 | 3,523 | <issue_start>username_0: There is an upcoming conference in Germany, all the talks will be in English, however all the listed participants are also German. Only speaking English I'm wondering if it would be inadvisable to go, as everyone will speak German during non-talk times?
Is this true or am I being too paranoid?<issue_comment>username_1: Here are some claims that I think you will agree are true:
* Anyone who attends a conference where all the talks are in English can understand spoken English reasonably well
* You don't live in Germany and are considering attending. You are probably not the only person considering it
* Anyone willing to give a technical presentation in English can probably both understand and produce spoken English reasonably well
I believe these add up to you being able to find people for "hallway conversations" in English pretty easily. You might have some lonely lunches if you find yourself at a table with people who all speak German and exclude you. I have this problem with people who all discuss (in English) something I don't understand at all and don't want to learn (eg how to install Exchange on a server.) I generally try to prevent this by striking up a conversation with a fellow attendee at the end of the session that is right before lunch, and suggesting we go to the lunch line together.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Don't worry, Germans are usually polite. Being polite is to include all people in a conversation. So if the common language of a group is English, they'll switch to English to accommodate you. Furthermore, Germans attending the conference will expect to have attendants not speaking German and that conversations in the hallways will be in English too.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I assume that the conference attendees will be at a higher educational level,
which probably means they can not only listen to talks in English, but probably are also able to communicate in English.
So yes, I thank it's safe to go to the conference and you will be able to talk to people in English with no big problem.
I guess from your reservations that you are aware that it is not always easy to get along with English in Germany. Don't expect sales agents or bus/taxi drivers to talk English. And even if people speak English, they might not be very fluent.
And I must admit that all other participants being German is strange - whatever reason there is that talks are in English, it is surprising that participants do not come from outside Germany. I'd propose to call the organizers just to make sure that talks are in English.
I don't think you're paranoid here. E.g. Universities will have lectures announced in English, but hold them in German (as long as nobody objects).
And if there are so many German speaking people, groups often will talk in German. Then you shouldn't be shy - just throw in a remark and make clear you only speak English. I'm pretty sure they will switch language then.
Note: I'm saying this as a German living in Germany, with some experience with conferences at different national levels, sometimes visiting conferences where most participants are locals not speaking German. In the last case, it's really important to not be too shy - when you try to join a discussion, make clear you do not understand what they say as soon as you get the chance - maybe a simple "hello, how are you" is already enough to achieve awareness.
I guess you will get to know some nice colleagues.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/05/20 | 1,112 | 4,490 | <issue_start>username_0: Recently I have been asked to share some source code I have written
with another PhD student. I have developed and used the methods in
that source code for the purposes of my own research. The code will
save her approximately 2 months of development/testing. I'm prepared
also to offer additional help with data pre/post-processing & writing.
Given the above, am I entitled to ask for co-authorship?<issue_comment>username_1: You can *discuss* with her and her advisor whether your help warrants authorship, but it would be rather unhelpful to refuse her even if she or her advisor declines. I would say, if this is true, (1) Sure! I'd love for more good research to come from my work! and (2) Since my project isn't published yet, we'll need to include a good description in the methods and it probably makes sense for me to be a coauthor.
If the target journal particularly advocates open-data and open-access, you might have to release your work in order for them to get it published. It's important to talk through first to make sure everyone's okay with that. In general it's a fantastic idea since it means that work is not so difficult to replicate, and if you have a valuable tool maybe others will benefit from it. But when you're laboring to finish your own work in time and worried about its perceived novelty, it can seem a little less appealing.
Just have the discussion (in a friendly manner) now so there aren't any unpleasant surprises later.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: So, you are giving your colleague some of your research code to use on her own problem. If she ends up using, or trying to use it, then I predict two things.
(a) You will end up having to help her understand the code well enough to use it. This is very likely, amounting to practically a certainty.
(b) You will have to adapt the code to work on her problem. This is still very likely, but not quite as certain.
I'd say (b) definitely entitles you to co-authorship. (a) is not quite so clear. If you just give her the code and don't do anything else (in which case she is unlikely to be able to use the code) then you definitely aren't entitled to co-authorship.
Whatever you do, you could still be denied co-authorship. However, bear in mind that you cannot (in my opinion) reasonably withhold the code (that seems to me contrary to what research is about) but you are not *required* to work with your colleague on her problem for nothing. Therefore, if you *do* end up spending significant amounts of time working with your colleague on her problem, then bring up the issue of co-authorship early. If your colleague or her mentors don't want to give you co-authorship, then ask yourself why you would spend time working on this project.
You also say:
>
> I'm prepared also to offer additional help with data pre/post-processing & writing.
>
>
>
This is a separate issue which I'm not addressing here. I have just focused on the involvement which will naturally stem from you providing your source code. If I understand your quote above correctly, this refers to optional assistance you are prepared to provide.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Code is (hopefully) now considered as part of the regular research work. Thus, it can:
* be requested by reviewers,
* providing it will raise the chances of the paper to get accepted.
But more important, it can be **cited**, especially when the authors of a paper relied on someone else's code.
**What does it mean for you?**
In your case, you have several options:
* you should make your code publicly available. This way, it can be cited (at least under the form of an URL in the paper). If you make it available through Github, it can even by [cited](https://guides.github.com/activities/citable-code/) like any research work;
* a nice complement to the first item would be to have a publication, even a short one, that presents the results of your code, or the way it was designed if it is very specific and worth sharing. That way, you can ask the users of your code to cite this paper when they use your code;
* eventually, your co-authorship status will depend on your contribution to your paper.
I put a friend of mine (whose code saved me a few days, I would say around 1 week) in the acknowledgements section of a paper of mine. He told me it was already too much, but I didn't want him to go unnoticed/uncited. It was just a matter of being *polite* and *thankful* for me...
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/05/20 | 852 | 3,758 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm a CS master student. Now I'm doing my masters thesis and the contribution of my thesis is to compare different approaches/methods of one topic (e.g. clustering of text documents). What I have done so far is look at the state of the art on the topic and read the papers. However, now I need to think of what to compare. Of course there is the obvious comparison question: which method gives the best results? But that is so obvious. My supervisor once suggested to see how those methods compare their results and see if maybe there is a better way to compare the results of the methods. It was helpful to me to think about questions like this. But still I'm so stuck and I can only think of obvious stuff. This is the first time I am doing something like that.
I'm sure some of you went through something like this, so I was wondering if you can even tell me some /basic/ stuff and questions that people address when they compare methods in computer science. My main questions to you are:
1- When I read the papers of the methods to compare, in which way I should read it? Critically? Questionable? What exactly to look for in them?
2- Is there a general scheme for comparing methods in academia?
3- As for a masters thesis, what stuff is a must-do for comparisons?
4- Any great references/papers related to comparisons that could help me?<issue_comment>username_1: Not knowing the details of your project, I'll offer some general suggestions.
In a sense, it seems to me you're asking two problems:one question is how to read papers, the other question is how to compare methodologies.
As far as comparing methodologies, the key concept in my mind is that of a "metric" or some means of judging/ranking methods. In CS, for example there are many such metrics: computational complexity, run time, stability, theoretical results regarding convergence, etc. Metrics often are often context dependent, meaning that different classes of users may have different ways to rate/rank a method. An algorithm may give an exact answer, which to a theoretician may be great, but if the algorithm can't function in real-time, another use may prefer another method that gives an approximate answer but quickly. So know who is going to use the methodology often helps you understand what metrics are really significant. So two thoughts to keep in mind are the methods you learned in class for judging how good an algorithm was and also who is going to use the algorithm (what are their concerns/needs and which methods best addresses
them).
**A suggestion in this regard that will also help you with your paper reading is to look at what the authors of each paper say are the advantages of their method. In the introduction every author will give a reason why their method is "better" than the other (existing) methods.**
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: One way to approach the problem is to ask: what can method A do better than method B? What can B do better than A? Can we devise a test to measure it quantitatively?
Then you may find that A beats B at everything all the time, or that A only beats B in cases that seem relatively unimportant. In any case, you'll then have something interesting to say regarding A vs. B.
Now consider C. Does it do anything better than A and B? Maybe you can use an existing test, or maybe you need a new one. And so on for C and D.
Now, that said, very often you have standard metrics that you should use instead (e.g. look at a ROC curve or % errors or execution time or whatever). But when you're unsure how to form a comparison, inventing one that demonstrates a difference in some aspect of behavior (correctness, speed, memory usage, etc.) is often a good place to start.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/21 | 923 | 3,853 | <issue_start>username_0: I am about to embark on the publication of pre-prints or post-prints of about a dozen papers that have already been published in peer-reviewed journals. I plan to use the [SHERPA/RoMEO](http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/) database to decide whether to publish a pre-print or post-print, and when it is appropriate. I have backed up the published papers at both the pre-peer review and post-peer review stages.
These documents will be lodged primarily with my institutions repository, but also on a personal website and perhaps academia.edu. Due to my field of research, arvix is not appropriate.
I am aware that I may need to make some modifications to the manuscripts before lodging them as a pre-post print. For example, it seems appropriate to link to the canonical, published version of the paper on the cover sheet. But I am unaware of what other changes I may need to make to the manuscript. A checklist of modifications to make would ease this process and help me to avoid missing things.
**What steps should I go through to prepare a manuscript for publication as a pre-print or post-print?**
**UPDATE**: I've made an example post-print [here](http://criticalgamblingresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2014-Post-print-Markham-Doran-and-Young-Estimating-gambling-venue-catchments-for-impact-assessment-using-a-calibrated-gravity-model.pdf). Are there any concrete improvements I could make on this, or important things I'm missing?<issue_comment>username_1: Not knowing the details of your project, I'll offer some general suggestions.
In a sense, it seems to me you're asking two problems:one question is how to read papers, the other question is how to compare methodologies.
As far as comparing methodologies, the key concept in my mind is that of a "metric" or some means of judging/ranking methods. In CS, for example there are many such metrics: computational complexity, run time, stability, theoretical results regarding convergence, etc. Metrics often are often context dependent, meaning that different classes of users may have different ways to rate/rank a method. An algorithm may give an exact answer, which to a theoretician may be great, but if the algorithm can't function in real-time, another use may prefer another method that gives an approximate answer but quickly. So know who is going to use the methodology often helps you understand what metrics are really significant. So two thoughts to keep in mind are the methods you learned in class for judging how good an algorithm was and also who is going to use the algorithm (what are their concerns/needs and which methods best addresses
them).
**A suggestion in this regard that will also help you with your paper reading is to look at what the authors of each paper say are the advantages of their method. In the introduction every author will give a reason why their method is "better" than the other (existing) methods.**
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: One way to approach the problem is to ask: what can method A do better than method B? What can B do better than A? Can we devise a test to measure it quantitatively?
Then you may find that A beats B at everything all the time, or that A only beats B in cases that seem relatively unimportant. In any case, you'll then have something interesting to say regarding A vs. B.
Now consider C. Does it do anything better than A and B? Maybe you can use an existing test, or maybe you need a new one. And so on for C and D.
Now, that said, very often you have standard metrics that you should use instead (e.g. look at a ROC curve or % errors or execution time or whatever). But when you're unsure how to form a comparison, inventing one that demonstrates a difference in some aspect of behavior (correctness, speed, memory usage, etc.) is often a good place to start.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/21 | 1,587 | 6,990 | <issue_start>username_0: I asked one of my professors whom I've known for 2 years to write a recommendation for me now that I'm planning for graduate school— about 3 years later after he left to another university. He asked for my full name, and just copied a letter from the web and sent it to me via email. I expected to get an accurate letter that highlights my strong points and improve my chances of getting to a good school; instead, I got a banal letter that doesn't set me apart from your average student, and which its copy can easily be found online.
I'm reluctant to add his name on the list of Referees in my application now, but I can't find a third professor other than him who is willing to write a letter for me.
* **Would his letter hurt my chances of getting accepted to a good school? Even if one of the other 2 letters was relatively stronger(slightly better) compared to this one?**
* **Can I get a letter from a professor who didn't teach me? Or a professor from another university(a family friend)?**<issue_comment>username_1: Look at it from his point of view: He most likely gets dozens of requests for recommendation letters.
I would suggest making his life easier for him by saving him writing time. If he's the kind of guy that would copy & paste a letter from the internet, he's the kind of guy that would let you write your own recommendation and sign it for you. You don't have to write the entire letter for him (although this is possible). It's not immoral or "wrong" as the professor has to sign off on it and if the letter contains something he doesn't agree with he can just refuse.
The tactful way to approach this would be to reply to him and say that you appreciate his letter but wanted to make a strong case for your strengths in *XYZ*, and therefore would it be possible to add these paragraphs to the letter.
Also, yes, you can get recommendations from family/friends but I would suggest that you disclose your relationship. I know someone that got into grad school with a recommendation written by a former classmate.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: A professor whose idea of a good or even appropriate letter of recommendation is to copy a letter off of the internet and send it to you is a knucklehead. (That is a technical term: I am after all an academic professional. I could have used stronger language...) At least, he is in this respect: in the comments the OP mentions that he got a job at Waterloo, which is a university with a high international reputation. So he must have some other good things going for him. In the fullness of time, I have to believe that he will learn how to write a reasonable recommendation letter.
But that's not your problem. I would advise you to look at the fact that the professor gave the letter directly to you -- which is itself irregular and, in certain circles, inappropriate -- as a real blessing. He could have just sent this miserable excuse for a letter quietly to all the places you're applying to, and you would be the one (in the short term, at least) to suffer the consequences. I strongly disagree that you should work further with this guy to write a better letter. (In particular, I vehemently disagree that you should write the letter yourself. As I have said before on this site, I find that "immoral and wrong" -- a recommendation letter is a commissioned expert opinion. Looking over the opinion desired by the person you have been commissioned to evaluate and deciding whether or not it requires any modification is not how expert opinions work. But I've made my feelings on this moral issue clear enough already. Here let me push the practical side of this: as a student, you cannot write for yourself a good recommendation letter. There are components of such a letter that require expertise and personal experience that you necessarily lack.) It is time to start fresh and get a letter from a new person.
The part of your response that jumps out at me is "I can't find a third professor other than him who is willing to write a letter for me." That's the real issue here, and I hope it will serve as a warning to other students in your position. All undergraduates should be thinking -- from their first year -- about building good relationships with their instructors that will lead to multiple people being able to write them strong recommendation letters. It is all too easy to go through an undergraduate program -- even, perhaps especially, to excel at it -- while having very little contact with the faculty outside of the classroom and regular coursework. That is certainly a mistake.
Okay, though: what do *you* do? You ask whether someone who has not taught you in a course can write you a letter. The answer is certainly **yes**. You want the letter writer to (i) have stature in the academic community and in the particular area you're applying to, and (ii) have something meaningful to say about your academic background, skills, work ethic, and prospects for success in graduate school. Someone that you have done research with can speak to aspects of that as well or better as people who have taught you in a course in which you quietly got an A. In a pinch -- as you seem to be -- I would advise you to try to make contacts with people who satisfy condition (i) and try to rapidly achieve (ii) with them. Thus for instance if you've done any research at all in the field you're intending to study, you could send a paper (or code, or interesting data, or whatever) to an expert in that field and mention that you'd like a recommendation letter. This is a bit irregular, but if your work is solid, why not? I would do it.
I strongly recommend that you work harder to find the right person to write you a strong letter than to have further dealings with someone who has already proven to be hopelessly inept at the job.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Your resume, statement of purpose, and any work you submit in your application package are your part. Writing your own LoR would be redundant.
Letters of recommendation are other's contribution in support of your bid. They should be written by those who have confidence in your work. If you can't come up with another professor to support you, I recommend taking post-bacc classes, doing research, and doing your best work in the coming year. In your applications next year, hopefully you will have three professors to support you.
Incidentally, when submitting your application, you should elect not to review your letters of recommendation. This shows that you have confidence in your abilities, work, and reputation among your professors.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: While it probably won't hurt your application, it doesn't really add much to it. If it's just one letter and the others are decent, then think of it as just filling the one requirement missing. Statement of purpose, CV, GRE and other components of your application are also important.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/21 | 508 | 2,135 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm currently a chemistry major. However, I am more interested in the life science and want to be a molecular biologist in the future. However it is too late to change my degree to biology so I am wondering how to cross over into biology with my chemistry degree and whether is it possible for me to be a molecular biologist in the future? Will my chemistry degree be useful in helping me to become a biologist? Is there any relations between chemistry and biology?<issue_comment>username_1: I am a theoretical physicist reconverted to biology (bioinformatics) in his masters. I am sitting next to computer scientists, mathematicians, chemists... all working on life sciences.
Biology is a very complex subject. Most of the concepts are *easy*, but there are many devils in the details. Ergo, it is very suitable for multidisciplinary work, where people from different branches can contribute with solutions from their own field.
Focusing on your question, depending on your set of skills, you have several options: biochemistry, wet lab, computational chemistry oriented to biomolecules... You can probably swing by the molecular biology department and ask what kind of problems they would need a chemist for; and perhaps ask if they are willing to take you on board for an undergaduate project.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: It's not too late. It's never too late. My undergraduate degree was in chemistry. From there, I did a Masters degree in nanoscience between the physics department and chemistry department. My research project found me in a microbiology lab using wet chemical techniques and biological methods to build a working cancer sensor, that we then tested to see if it worked using solid physics. It did work, by the way. As a result of my masters, I got my PhD project where I am doing the biophysics of phytoplankton physiology.
The point is do what interests you. Find people in your department or at other institutions where the kind of thing you like is being done. If you're passionate about learning then there will always be an abundance of people to teach you.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/21 | 1,210 | 3,913 | <issue_start>username_0: Recently, a (Springer) journal invited me to extend a (Springer) conference paper. The conference paper was published in April. After the extensions, I can submit the journal article as [post-conference publication](http://www.ic.kmitl.ac.th/aciids2014/PostConferencePub.html).
Regarding my question, should / must I keep the name of the conference article (when writing the journal article)? Or should I modify the name of the journal article?<issue_comment>username_1: According to [the conference website](http://www.ic.kmitl.ac.th/aciids2014/CallForPapers.html):
>
> The conference proceedings are to be published in the Springer's LNAI (indexed by DBLP, EI, Scopus, and Thomson ISI).
>
>
>
In other words, your conference paper is already published. The journal paper will therefore be a new publication, and as such, you could use a different title, to avoid any confusion (and it will be a different paper, since you have to expand it).
**EDIT**
However, there are precedents, for at least one previous edition of the conference you're mentioning, of authors having the same title in the conference and in a journal edition (taken from DBLP):
* <NAME>, <NAME>, Th<NAME>: Extracting Chemical Reactions from Thai Text for Semantics-Based Information Retrieval. IEICE Transactions 94-D(3): 479-486 (2011)
* <NAME>aiboon, <NAME>, <NAME>: Extracting Chemical Reactions from Thai Text for Semantics-Based Information Retrieval. ACIIDS (1) 2010: 271-281
* <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>: Power load forecasting using data mining and knowledge discovery technology. IJIIDS 5(5): 452-467 (2011)
* <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>: Power Load Forecasting Using Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery Technology. ACIIDS (1) 2010: 319-328
* <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>: A Collaborative Framework for Multiagent Systems. IJATS 3(4): 1-18 (2011)
* <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>: A Collaborative Framework for Multiagent Systems. ACIIDS (1) 2010: 329-338
Looking at random references from the journals in question, it seems quite frequent to have the same name for a journal paper and a conference publication the previous year. In other words, I stand corrected, and **you might want to keep the same name for the journal version**.
As pointed out by DavidRicherby and username_2, it's likely to be field dependent. Hence, the best approach is probably to **look at previous editions of the journals in question, and check if there are matching conference papers.**
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If the content of the paper is not drastically different from the conference version (same main results, but more details / data), it is perfectly acceptable to use the same title. This is the usual approach in theoretical computer science. Of course, you are free to change the title if you want to.
Examples:
<NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, and <NAME>, “**Covering Folded Shapes**”, in *Proceedings of the 25th Canadian Conference on Computational Geometry (CCCG 2013)*, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, August 8–10, 2013.
<NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, and <NAME>, “**Covering Folded Shapes**”, *Journal of Computational Geometry*, volume 5, number 1, 2014.
<NAME>, and <NAME>. "**Tracing compressed curves in triangulated surfaces**." *Proceedings of the 2012 Symposium on Computational Geometry*. ACM, 2012.
<NAME>, and <NAME>. "**Tracing compressed curves in triangulated surfaces**." *Discrete & Computational Geometry* 49.4 (2013): 823-863.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/05/21 | 1,561 | 6,520 | <issue_start>username_0: In my research group, there is a researcher who usually approaches other PhD students who are about to write papers in order to offer his help. Normally, he does not actually do any research related to the paper. Instead, he reads our papers, makes comments about the writing style and sometime re-writes some sections in order to make them more readable. At the end, he will claim the co-authorship of the paper. I can see it is very helpful for new PhD students who don't have much experience in writing papers or articles. However, it is sometime uncomfortable for me to see someone who doesn't do actual research but still manages to get an authorship.
So, I want to ask if it is a common practice for someone to help writing a paper without doing any actual research relating to it, and claim the co-authorship. If it is not, how should I react if someone wants to do the same to me?<issue_comment>username_1: This happens quite often in industrial PhDs, at least based on my experience. Every paper I've written so far had around 5 authors, although myself and a research fellow were the only ones doing the work. I completely understand your frustration because there are two guys who have technical backgrounds but doing management work (thus no technical input to my papers whatsoever) who have their names on my papers (that applies to other PhD Students here too). I am not sure about pure academic research (i.e. funding from university) tough, things are likely to be different in that case.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> *people who help write papers may help fulfill one of the pillars of scientific discovery... communication of the science.*
>
>
>
There is an appropriate place to credit people who read your paper and offer useful comments on it: the **acknowledgement section**. It is very common to see acknowledgements "for providing valuable feedback", "for suggesting a cleaner presentation", "for pointing out important related work" and so on. Even "for providing a simpler proof of Lemma X.y".
None of this rises to the level of co-authorship.
What's worse in this case is that
>
> At the end, he will claim the co-authorship of the paper.
>
>
>
While I'd find the idea of co-authorship for such contributions odd, I would not think too much about it if it were negotiated in advance (as is the theme of many of the answers on this site). But to offer what appears to be unconditional help first and then (when the student really has no choice in the matter) to demand co-authorship is plain wrong.
To answer your last question on what to do, the answer, as is always the answer, is to negotiate things up front. It's a little awkward, but a little pre-collaboration awkwardness is MUCH better than a lot of post-collaboration recrimination and hostility.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The so called *Vancouver protocol* (developed by [ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors)](http://www.icmje.org/) and its definition of authorship has been mentioned in many questions of this kind here on Academia but I think they deserve being repeated. The protocol describes authorship through three components which every author must fulfil:
>
> 1. Conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data
>
>
> AND
> 2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content
>
>
> AND
> 3. Final approval of the version to be published.
>
>
>
A key point here is the "AND". To read and comment on the text is clearly not enough for authorship by these standards. In fact a reviewer of the manuscript would at least fulfil point 2 whereas a person helping out as you describe would not.
It is difficult to fend off this behaviour from more senior colleagues as a PhD student. It may, however, be good to bring up an open discussion about authorship standards in the group without necessarily directly connecting it to the draft of a paper. In some research groups systems for determining both order and authorship as such have been developed by splitting the paper up into tasks. See for example, [AuthorOrder.com](http://www.authorder.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18&Itemid=45) for an example. Looking at the [authorship](/questions/tagged/authorship "show questions tagged 'authorship'") tag here on Ac.sx and a search on Google will provide much background. But, I particularly recommend the recommendations report from [ICMJE](http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/); ICMJE developed the protocol and their recommendations constitutes their continually updated version of the protocol.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Obviously his service and helps do not count as co-authorship. I have seen various versions of this tactic before, for example in the form of showing interest, or giving some general and mostly useless advices, comments and discussions. None of these are co-authorship either.
But to answer you question on **"how should I react if someone wants to do the same to me?"**, I recommend you restrict your research communications to a small list of people who have the following qualities:
1. they are experts in the subject your are working on,
2. you have some kind of agreement about how to perform the research and who should do what,
3. they have scientific integrity and are not looking to get credit for something they have not done!
Finally, it is not recommended that you show or discuss your work to someone who is not a trusted expert before submission.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: It doesn't matter whether it is common or not: it is inappropriate.
He is "editing" and not "authoring".
Don't let it get to you. Even if you were to stop this guy, there has been, are, and will be many others doing the same thing. Just hope that karma will take care of it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: An author should be involved in the research, otherwise it is only a clerical role. However, it is not unusual for a collaborator whose contribution to the research is below the average to compensate by doing more work on the writing.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: I once was asked by a prof to provide comments on a draft paper given to him by a colleague. I added a third section to the paper, and re-ordered and re-worded the arguments that were in the draft. The paper was then published with no further changes. There was no recognition of my contribution by the author.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/21 | 1,971 | 8,135 | <issue_start>username_0: I submitted my thesis in 2013 but passed my viva (the oral defense/examination) in 2014. Should the date (month+year) which I put in, on and around my thesis be,
* When I submitted my soft-bound copy to the examiners.
* When I passed my viva (the oral defense/examination).
* When I submitted my hard-bound copy to the university.
A fourth option is,
* It depends on your university.
(Note that I am at a British Uni, so I presume that this is governed by something the British Library said...but what they said, I cannot find...)
This seems to be ridiculously hard to search for, but I apologise if it has been asked before.<issue_comment>username_1: My intuition would be that it would depend on the university’s regulations, but I’d guess 2014, since your examiners could have asked you to make changes, which would mean that the version you submit wouldn’t be the same as what you submitted to them. I assume you’re actually being admitted to the degree this year, too.
The quickest authoritative answer would presumably be obtained by emailing the relevant library (note that only some universities’ theses go to the British Library).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I agree with username_1 that your university's regulations are definitive. If they do not give any guidance - and if you have nothing helpful from your supervisor, department, etc. - then I would suggest the following: *The date on the thesis should be the date when the text was most recently submitted for examination.*
Typically, a thesis undergoes minor or major corrections before being accepted. However, the approval of corrections is done without repeating the full examination process. More significant changes require "revise and resubmit" and in my mind this justifies bumping the date. But for small changes, the text is essentially the same version. That said, I don't think it's at all wrong to use the final hardbound submission date. I wouldn't pick the viva date, even if you had no corrections: the text was produced *for* the viva, not *at* the viva.
In my case, I had to include the text "Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy" on the title page of the hardbound version, and I had to include a statement affirming that the text was the same as the original submitted thesis, aside from changes required by the examiners. This made me think that the accompanying date ought to be the date of the submission, not the date of the approval. (In fact, there were many different possible approval dates - examiners, the department, the central university authorities, the actual graduation ceremony. None of these seemed like the obvious correct choice.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It's the date that will be on your diploma, most presumably your viva.
Why should your viva be the correct date? Because PhD thesis are supposed to be contributions to a field acknowledged by your peers. Thus, a PhD thesis *must* be publicly disclosed (i.e., published or presented at an oral exam) so that you can be questioned about your work.
The oral exam rules will vary depending on the country. For example, in France only PhD degree holders (but any PhD degree owner, not just the jury) are allowed to ask questions at the oral exam. Some Swiss institutions (at least EPFL) keep the oral exam with the jury private, but the PhD degree gets awarded only after a public presentation, and the public presentation date will be the date on the diploma.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: There's yet another option you don't mention (and the one I chose for my dissertation): The date you submitted your manuscript to the press. This date signifies when it left your hand for good - you could not make any changes after this date whatsoever.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: While I agree that you should check your institution's regulations, I will give some pointers based on experience at UK institutions. Everything I write should have the proviso "This may vary between institutions" attached.
The thesis you submit will have the date of submission on the title page. After the viva, the examiners at a UK institution can make one of several decisions. The following is a rough guide:
* Accept the thesis without requiring corrections. In this case, the hardbound thesis will be the same as the submitted version except possibly for fixing typos etc. In this case, the date on the hardbound version should be the same as the date on the submitted version.
* Accept the thesis subject to minor corrections. In this case, you will have a certain period (often three months) to make the corrections, which the internal examiner will check before formally accepting the thesis. (There is usually no second viva on the corrected thesis.) In this case, the date on the hardbound thesis should be the date that the corrected version is completed and given to the internal examiner to check.
* Reject the thesis but offer the candidate the option of making major corrections and re-submitting within a certain period (often a year). In this case, the submission process starts over and the dates will all reflect the new submission process.
* Reject the thesis for a Ph.D. but accept it for an M.Phil. In this case, there are no changes (except possibly for changing "Ph.D." to "M.Phil." on the title page) and so the initial submission date remains on the hardbound thesis.
* Reject the thesis entirely. In this case, the question is moot.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: This is the kind of question which is best answered with actual evidence. Many American universities have their thesis formatting rules online, and you can find them with relatively little effort. British Universities (Oxford and Cambridge, in particular) often seem not to give as detailed rules. From these examples, it is clear that the rules for which date is used *depends on the university*.
* **Harvard University**: "[Month and year of the submission of the completed dissertation to the department, division, or committee and Dissertation Acceptance Certificate was signed]",
* **MIT**: "the date the degree(s) will be conferred (June, September, or February only)",
* **Stanford University**: "(Date should reflect month and year of submission to the Office of the University Registrar.)"
* **University of Michigan**: "year of degree conferral not year that dissertation was finished" (they don't want a month).
* **University College London**: no date seems to be required on the thesis (none is mentioned in the guidelines, and there are theses without dates in their archive).
* **University of Edinburgh**: "Year of presentation.
In the case of a thesis which is resubmitted, the year in which the
thesis is resubmitted should be shown as the year of presentation." What do they mean by "year of presentation"? From their website: "At some point between submission of your thesis and the viva, you are encouraged to give a final presentation of your work to the School, often via a research group seminar series."
* **University of Leeds**: "the year of submission
for examination (Or resubmission where the thesis is submitted following re-examination after referral)."
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_7: I got my PhD from Aston University. There, its the date it was first submitted to the examiners. If you then have to resubmit after corrections (which most people have to do) this doesn't change the date, since its the original date that is used.
I had to pay for labels to be printed to cover up the incorrect date on the spine of my thesis, as I used the resubmitted date by mistake!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: I took my PHD at manchester in the UK and ran into this issue.
When I queried it I was told that "minor corrections" (the result most people get from a phd viva) did not count as a resubmission. Therefore the original submission date stood for the final thesis.
I would reccomend querying this with your supervisor rather than risking paying a bunch of cash to print/bind your thesis only to find out you have the wrong date on it.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/21 | 6,360 | 27,001 | <issue_start>username_0: I have been a professional software developer for a number of years, I'm also an academic researcher - and my research has involved lots of software development.
I sometimes feel as though my industrial experience has been a hindrance in my research, as the goals of writing software in a research context feel contradictory to the goals in industry.
In industry, code needs to be (ideally): maintainable, bug-free, refactored, well-documented, rigorously tested - good quality - best practice says that these things are worth the time (I agree).
In academia, the goal is to write as many quality research papers in the shortest possible time. In this context, code is written to run the experiment, and might never be looked at again (we are judged on our papers - not our code). There seems to be no motivation to write tested, maintainable, documented code - I just need to run it and get the result in my paper or whatever ASAP. Consequently, the "academic" code I've written is poor quality - from a software engineering perspective.
The problem is that I either spend too long making (unnecessarily) getting my "research" code to industry-quality, or I publish work based on "bad quality" code, and I feel like a fraud.
My career progression is dependent on me writing "bad" code!?
The "craft" of software development is a huge subject - but where is the best practice for academic research? Nobody writes unit tests for conference paper code!
Does anyone find them in a similar situation?
Does anyone know of formal methodologies for "research" code?<issue_comment>username_1: The main characteristic of research code (more so than typical programs) is that it is harder to plan. Research by definition reaches into the unknown, and this also translates in program structures. As a researcher you often don't have the time to refactor when your research slithers into a different direction that should translate into a different software structure.
In typical software engineering you (should) have a fairly good idea of the final functionality before writing a single line of code. In research, this is often not the case. Programming for research purposes is mainly about rapid prototyping, which is typically done differently than programming for long term use (e.g. little to no unit tests, use of different languages, ...). The main mantra is to get results fast, not optimal from a software engineering perspective.
Finally, proper software engineering is a fine art that is very hard to master. Even in industry settings, ugly software is abundant (when written by professionals!). The average researcher has no formal training in software writing.
>
> My career progression is dependent on me writing "bad" code!?
>
>
>
As a researcher, you are not paid to develop software (unfortunately). As an idealist I like to believe that this will change over time, but for now funding sources only care about papers.
>
> The "craft" of software development is a huge subject - but where is the best practice for academic research? Nobody writes unit tests for conference paper code!
>
>
>
Unit tests serve two main purposes: (i) assert that code is working correctly and (ii) find and debug problems fast, particularly after structural changes and refactoring (long term benefit for large infrastructures). As research software is typically fairly small, the first advantage is the only one that is really relevant. It seems that this advantage is either too small or is being underestimated (again, recall that most researchers are *not* software engineers).
>
> Does anyone find them in a similar situation? Does anyone know of formal methodologies for "research" code?
>
>
>
If you want to change the world, start with yourself. I personally make a point of providing software along with a manuscript whenever it is reasonable. I also consistently ask for code as a reviewer, though this seems uncommon.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I either spend too long making (unnecessarily) getting my "research"
> code to industry-quality
>
>
>
Don't. Make it as good as possible within the suggested timeframe. Aiming for 100% perfection that will require double the time is not worth it. In this sense, research is exactly like industry.
>
> Consequently, the "academic" code I've written is poor quality
>
>
>
That does not mean all academic code is of low quality. If you check papers on algorithms conferences or parallel processing systems, you will see that the developers have thought even excruciating details, like reordering of data for fewer cache misses, SIMD, GPU programming, SSD storage etc. Usually advanced CS algorithms research is some years ahead in adopting new methods, hardware techniques before any of those techniques actually hit the industry. On the other hand, in more theoretical CS conferences code is mainly a tool and as such, it does not have to be cutting edge. So, the quality is related to the audience of your product code (exactly like industry).
>
> Does anyone know of formal methodologies for "research" code?
>
>
>
I have never heard on any methods especially tailored for research code. Still, you can use the practices from your industry background (when they actually accelerate your process of writing the software). For example a versioning system accelerates development and minimizes errors / losses of data. On the other hand UNIT tests take a lot of time, which you might not have. A informal wiki for bugs, documentation, features might worth the extra time, since it also accelerates writing the actual research paper. Contrarily, a full blown bug database (bugzilla) might not worth the extra time and effort.
So, stick to those industry methods, techniques you know will save you time on the long run and will improve your software but without taking all of your time. Finding a middle ground is always the best solution.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: **tl;dr** Some parts of industry "best practices" fit in well, and other parts are inefficient in a research environment. Keep what works well in *this* environment.
---
I'm a experimental particle physicist and we write a lot of code and much of it is big projects written by many, dispersed programmers.
### Some part of the usual industry tool kit we use enthusiastically
* Version control
* Bug tracking
* Automated build and test systems
### Other part are either slower to catch on or not as highly prized, including
* A formal Process (with a capital 'P') with regular planning meetings and release checklist and so on. These appear as projects get bigger (usually in response to a total break-down in quality control or long release lags). That is, we use them when we *need* them.
* Documentation generation systems are pretty common but only lightly used until the project gets big when people who are forced to decode some bits often contribute a little more documentation.
* Unit testing is sparse and usually concentrated on the lower layers of the systems, but regression testing is more common.
* Most projects have coding standards, but they are generally loosely specified and weakly enforced.
### Other things simple don't show up much.
* Feature planning is pretty hard when you don't know what clever ideas a grad student will have *next week* to solve a problem that you haven't even noticed yet.
* It used to be true that strict check-in control got in the way of spreading experimental code segments around, and we'd simply freeze new development check-ins occasionally to get out a blessed release (a situation that rendered HEAD/trunk/whatever a "use at your own risk" proposition). With the rise of *distributed* version control there is starting to be a stronger commitment to check-in controls for the official trunk.
* Refactoring usually only happens when both a new person starts working with some old code and they feel they need changes or extensions. That which is not broken is left well enough alone.
---
From your question I suspect that you are doing your coding either single-handed or in a small group. In that setting the details change, but the tone remains the same. Simply keep the parts of your industry practice that work, and dispense with or delay the parts that have the worst cost/benefit ratio in terms of time/results.
Leave off the heavy refactoring until you *know* from evidence that a particular part of your code will be reused. Similarly, be content with rough documentation unless and until the code is shown to have a on-going life. And so on.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I think the key to understanding research code for industrial software engineers is to accept that **you are typically not building a product**. You do not have customers as such. You are building software to prove a point.
As such, the majority of code that you write as a researcher is more akin to the throw-away prototypes and mockups that you (in industry) often write in the early phases of a project. As you are certainly aware, even in industry these mockups have quite different properties than the final software. They primarily need to:
* Have exactly the features that you want to show to the customer. Not more, not less. Typically, all the boring standard features for the domain are omitted.
* Need to get done *quickly*. Both you and the customer know that the prototype will be thrown away anyway, so it does not matter whether the code is maintainable.
* Need to be easy to extend and adapt, optimally live during the demo.
Essentially the same properties are also useful for most throwaway research code. You *do not* want to build features that you do not need. You *do not* want to waste time writing e.g., maintainable code if you know that it will not be maintained. You *want* to use an environment that reduces the amount of boilerplate code and setup, and which maybe auto-generates a lot of code for you that is "good enough" for your demonstrator (Ruby on Rails and its scaffolding features come to mind).
>
> My career progression is dependent on me writing "bad" code!?
>
>
>
No, it depends on you writing code fit for purpose. Just like in industry. In industry and academia nobody applauds you for software qualities that are not needed. Try to reconsider what the **point** of the code is that you are writing. If you plan to release your code as open source software and you expect it to be picked up by other people across the world, then go nuts - use all the engineering techniques you have also used in industry to build the best product you can. If your goal is to evaluate this one algorithm or principle for your conference, and then throw away the code, then you can also live happily without writing a single unit test without feeling like a fraud at all.
**EDIT:** of course this does not mean that it is acceptable to write code where you are unsure whether you have *implemented said algorithm correctly*. Ensuring that what you have indeed shown what you claim to have shown is **mandatory**, especially in research code.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_5: I am a researcher and self-taught developer. I have done substantial projects which were primarily software based. Although my work is far from the most "hardcore" stuff that's out there in terms of complexity and scale, the projects were big enough that naive mistakes (eg. not using version control or poorly documenting code) were very painful. I ended up learning quite a few "best practices" through trial and error.
I have also been on the receiving end of "unmaintanable code passed down to fellow researcher":
>
> my industrial experience has been a hindrance in my research
>
>
>
No, you have basically come from a civilized environment that solved these problems decades ago into one that is stuck in the stone age in terms of software development hygiene. Scientists still code like it's the 60s. Of course you feel a conflict, but the fault is not with you.
>
> In industry, code needs to be (ideally): maintainable, bug-free, refactored, well-documented, rigorously tested
>
>
>
Let's say the speaker at a scientific conference, while describing the computational part of his research, said one of the following:
"*The code I wrote for this research is, admittedly...*"
* ...unmaintainable (and good luck building on my research!)
* ...full of bugs (and I have no idea if the output is even correct!)
* ...unreadable spagetti (and I don't even know how it works, let alone if it does so correctly!)
* ...undocumented (and all the mistakes are obfuscated from reviewers!)
* ...not tested (so god knows if it does what I say/think it does!)
Do you expect the audience to react with anything but scorn and outrage? If I heard such a thing, I would not believe anything this person published ever again.
>
> In academia, the goal is (...) in the shortest possible time.
>
>
>
Yes, but "*no shorter*". You don't skip vital control experiments because "controls take time". You can't skimp on code quality for very similar reasons.
>
> There seems to be no motivation to write [good code]
>
>
>
Because this is an endemic problem of academia. Although computers have been used in science for decades, it seems that algorithms have only become an important part of research in the last decade or so (perhaps because of "big data"). When you base your research on code, that code must be good quality. It is not enough to simply crank out some buggy write-only script and call it a day. The software development community has figured all of this out long ago, but academia has not yet caught on - I think the reason is that most scientists do not have a formal background in software development, and there have not been enough huge scandals in research caused by bad programming practice (eg. key results of a high-profile paper turn out to be artifacts caused by bugs).
Consider how, in many disciplines, reviewers will not even ask about the source code of your computation-heavy paper. How can they evaluate, then, the validity of your results? They cannot, and this is a failure of the peer review model as it currently exists.
Sorry to go on a rant, but basically, it's like this: As you know, there are very good reasons for writing quality code, even if no one is watching over your shoulder. In science, currently it so happens that nobody cares if your code is good or not. But this should not be a reason for you to not write good code anyway - the reasons for writing good code in the industry still largely apply to science.
Unfortunately, you may not be rewarded for your extra work. You may even be punished, because as you say, good code takes longer, and others may not see beyond that. Your PI or colleagues may not understand why you are so much slower. The best you can do is explain to them the need for good practices.
Obviously, there are exceptions. For instance, you may not need to worry about portability or backwards compatibility with old versions of the OS for code that is meant to run on a dedicated lab computer (although it is undesirable to write your code such that it only runs in a very exotic environment that other scientists will not be able to easily reconstruct). But by and large, I find that industry practices still apply, and the exceptions can be easily detected by applying a modicum of critical thought. That said, there is also a helpful publication called "*[Best Practices for Scientific Computing](http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001745)*" which examines this matter in detail.
Ultimately, it is an ethical decision you must make. Do you care about doing good science above all else? Follow best practices. Do you want to cut corners that you shouldn't (in an ethical sense), to save time or avoid friction with co-workers? I couldn't recommend you to do this, on principle. But obviously many people do, and perhaps in practice, some scientists are forced to do it - although then again, does being unable to do good science by circumstance excuse bad science?
Also, like I said, I think part of the problem is that there haven't been any big scandals. If you do skimp on code quality, there's a chance it will catch up with you. You might even end up being one those big scandals. Admittedly, the risk is probably small... But, I think you can see my point.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_6: I think your problem is in seeing ***quality*** as binary.
Whether in industry or academia we need to make choices as to particular quality goals. An ‘industrial’ piece of software might be safety critical and demand the highest achievable level of quality, or it might be an internally used development tool.
Quality goals might be:
* Uptime
+ Probably not a concern for you
* Robustness
+ Will you need to run with a lot of different data sets, or is it a one off?
* Re-usability
+ Will the processing be incorporated into the next problem you work on?
* Ability to verify
+ Does it work the way is it is supposed to? What would it mean if you published and this was not true?
* Ability to validate
+ Does it produce the right answer? [ Hopefully, this does matter. ]
+ Another way of checking the correctness of the answer might mean it does not matter if the logic getting there is wrong.
* Needs to be maintainable by
+ Self
+ Other expert
+ Some random undergraduate
+ Or definitely is throw away.
* Suitable to be made public for use by others to check or re-use your work
* Etc.
Having articulated your quality goals, your development and build system should be sufficient to meet those goals and no more. Note that this might vary from project to project.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Rather than talking about differences with industry software development (which I have no experience with), I'd like to talk about things you *should* do in academia. I will be assuming that your code is not there for its own sake but attaches to some scientific statement such as "E. coli shares the foo-genome with humans" or "Algorithm A outperforms algorithm B in scenario Z".
* **Best Effort**
While your goal is not productive use with revenue attached to it, you should have a reasonable amount of certainty that your code does what you claim and can be understood (peer reviewed!) by interested parties. That is, write clear code, comment and document. And (unit-)test.
If nothing else, remember that *you* may have to revisit your own code some time later. You build a protoype but your next one may reuse parts of it. Or you want students to extend upon it.
* **Accessibility**
In order to support scientific evalutation of your work (falsifiability, reproducability) other researchers *have* to have to be able to compile and execute your programs.
Therefore, you should provide sources, build files/instructions and whatever input data you used in your work. Keep in mind that someone may want to build your program years after initial publishing, so make sure that the sources are still around then and the build process/instructions are reasonably robust against time (mention library versions). UI is not *too* important but "best effort" applies here, too.
Consider putting your code on Github or a similar platform (e.g. [your own](https://www.gitlab.com/)). That way, you can publish updates and collect bugs easily. See also [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19348/when-should-you-publish-code-on-github-work-in-progress-or-after-publication) and [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16785/how-to-share-computer-code).
* **Licensing**
You should say *something* about what others (in particular fellow researchers) may or may not do with your code. You can use any license (I'd argue it should allow at least the liberties of GPL). The [CRAPL](http://matt.might.net/articles/crapl/) might be worth a look.
* **Fair Evaluation**
If your algorithm/code is the artifact you propose (as superior) you have to compare it to existing solutions. Make sure to use comparable input, rerun the experiment for the alternatives and follow basic experimental best practice (check out McGeoch's work, for instance). Make sure your comparison includes the accepted standard(s) of your field if there are any; if your approach yields different results, you have to explain why (that's okay/correct/better).
Accessibility is probably the most crucial item. Research code needs to be shared. I think this can't be stressed enough, and it's one of the major problems in all of computational science. Other than, say, physics, we have to opportunity to easily share and reproduce (most) experimental setup -- we have to make use of that.
Personally, I don't see why any article that founds its claims on computations that reviewers (and other parties) can not reproduce has any right to be published.
---
One reminder for all theory types:
>
> Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it.
>
> <NAME>
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: I was directed to this question by a chap in answer to my request for clarification "Why they were using a float type as a key to hash". Now to me this did not seem like a good idea. After a bit of back and forth, the questioner directed me here as their reason for doing it.
That was interesting as is the question itself.
Are you persuaded to write bad code in order to fulfill certain academic goals? Yes, even in CS courses I might add. At least bad in terms of comprehensibility. However as we are all too horribly aware, we have been 'persuaded' to write equally bad code in the commercial environment, or our lords and masters have been persuaded to have poor code written for them....
Leaving aside trivial implementations of algorithms. For instance should you use i and j as loop variables in a bubble sort algorithm, or indeed should you use a bubble sort at all. My response to your question, would be another one. How do do good software engineering principles help you achieve your goals?
Could, say good naming, SOLID principles, coherence and coupling et al get you to your goal more efficiently? My answer would be almost certainly. They are designed to do that in any non-trivial piece of software. It's what they are for, they were created in order to achieve software that could be changed at less cost. It doesn't matter that you aren't (or at least cannot foresee) a version two, the implementation isn't springing full blown from your mind, so it will be changing.
If you aren't sure what code you need to write, then something like TDD would also help given you have a ready made unit testing environment. Even without that "luxury" writing testable code is going to.
You have a huge advantage over your fellows who don't have a software engineering background, you should be able to get that irritating binary bit of the exercise out of the way quicker, get to the meat of your goal with less effort and then be able to expend more effort on the real goal.
I once had a discussion with an academically qualified type who told me re-factoring was just software aesthetes messing about and that I should have written the software correctly in the first place. Needless to say my respect for this individual dropped a notch or two, which was unfortunate for him as he hadn't earned that much in the first place.
So in summation I would say the sensible option would be to use good software engineering practices in all your efforts.
Just to be clear though it is not good software engineering practice to write good code that you do not need...
To paraphrase Gandalf, "Keep it simple, keep it safe"
As for should you use a float as a key to hash to save time. If you know without any doubt as you choose that design compromise that the problems with doing so will not cause you an issue, then perhaps. But the amount of effort required to evade that compromise is fairly trivial and you just spent time asking how to get round an issue with using a float as a key. I rest my case
In any environment commercial or academic, choosing to lower quality, is both a benefit and a cost, examine both....
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: I have a problem with the premise of the question:
>
> In academia, the goal is to write as many quality research papers in the shortest possible time.
>
>
> There seems to be no motivation to write tested, maintainable, documented code - I just need to run it and get the result in my paper or whatever ASAP
>
>
>
I'm currently dealing with a large codebase written by people who apparently thought so, too. Before that I got used to a different standard of academic coding - one where code is simple, elegant, modern, well-tested and well-maintained over many years.
And I believe the people that will have an impact in this information age are not necessarily the ones with the most scientific credit, but the ones who can actually make something from their nice scientific ideas.
If however in your domain the cool things you can make don't depend at all on the code you write (e.g. just some boring data filtering), then you really don't need to bother with its quality.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_10: If I could add a short version of the more accurate answers above, I would say:
* Academia -> prototypes.
* Industry -> products.
Products and prototypes must not be considered with the same standards.
Prototypes can have shorter documentation and may require some effort to be deployed. They can also be usable on a single operative system with very specific requirements, such as the ones where the code was initially developed.
Nonetheless, good quality prototypes should be tested, version-controlled, have a stable branch, and must have no out of date documentation. Otherwise they are just bad quality prototypes.
---- Edit
>
> My career progression is dependent on me writing "bad" code!?
>
>
>
Leaving academia reminded me that exists something else than the paper-oriented working method, to which PhD students are trained (and whose outcomes have often a number of readers smaller than the number of co-authors).
It may not be the case in every academic environment, although in my experience research with scientific criteria is made in the private sector.
Also, this is not only a problem related to coding!
Some researchers working in wet labs have told me they have the exact same issue. Performing wet lab experiments documenting the full procedure, calibrating the tools to the highest standard, assessing the chemical composition of the material bought by third parties is consistent over time, making every step completely reproducible by another researcher... these basic practices resulted in a too slow academic paper production.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/21 | 3,070 | 13,412 | <issue_start>username_0: Years ago, a professor agreed to write me a recommendation letter. So I applied to many grad schools indicating him as one of my referees. However, I didn't find out until later that he didn't write the letter. Thus, none of my applications were completed, and there were also substantial financial losses due to application fees. I was poor, so it was a big loss for me.
What can I do in this case? Could I find any justice anywhere? I just felt hopeless when a tenured professor does something unethical (not criminal conduct); there is nothing a student can do.
*[added the following on June 24, 2014]*
He recently became a faculty at the university where I am a student (He was at a different university before). I want to forget about what happened, but the damage was too much for me to ignore. And I feel anger whenever I think about what happened.
One remedy would be he takes me on as a PhD student, or provides funding so another professor can supervise me. However, my application was rejected.
I raised my concerns with the dean of faculty of graduate studies, and will meet one of the assistant deans soon. How should I approach this with him/her?<issue_comment>username_1: That sounds like a frustrating and discouraging situation. Whether you have any recourse may depend on the system. For U.S. universities, there's not much you can do, since applicants are generally considered responsible for monitoring whether their applications are complete and reminding letter writers. However, these cultural issues might vary internationally.
One puzzling aspect of your question is that you describe the professor as deceiving you and acting unethically. Without some specific evidence, I'd assume it was forgetfulness rather than deliberate sabotage. Forgetting to submit letters is still irresponsible, but not as bad as intentionally not submitting them.
If you have compelling evidence of sabotage, it would be worth bringing to the attention of the university administration. However, it's not clear to me what sort of evidence you might plausibly have.
If it's a matter of forgetfulness, things are murkier. If there's a pattern of irresponsibility, then the department head might want to know. On the other hand, a single incident would probably be ignored.
What makes this tricky is that professors get asked for recommendations in all sorts of suboptimal ways, such as a brief hallway conversation while both people are rushing to get to class. It's easy to forget under these circumstances. That doesn't make it right, and responsible letter writers will try hard not to overlook requests. However, some circumstances make it more understandable than others. If you do file a complaint with the administration, you should make the circumstances clear. (But without evidence of dramatic or recurring irresponsibility, I'm not sure it would be worth the effort.)
Have you tried asking the professor about it? It's too late to fix your applications, but you deserve an apology. Furthermore, he may have forgotten about it so completely that he doesn't even realize this happened, in which case you'd be giving him a valuable warning that he needs to be more careful (and you might save future students from this problem).
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: I'd like to pick up something that eykanal has mentioned in a comment, because I think it's crucial.
Brace yourself, you're not going to like this. But it's better you know the truth.
When you ask someone for a letter of reference, and they agree, it's **up to you to do what you can to ensure that they write it and submit it**.
Sorry, that's not what you wanted to hear, is it? But it's what you needed to hear.
So, what can you do if you didn't succeed in ensuring it got written and submitted?
There's exactly one thing you can do: learn from the experience. Now you know, that if you don't put the effort in to ensuring the recommendation letter gets written and sent, that may not happen.
If you want to take it further, here's what you need to do.
You need to broaden the lesson to be taken from this unhappy experience. The broader lessons are (and these apply both within and beyond academia): you often need to manage your manager; and if you need something doing, and you delegate it, you're still responsible for ensuring it gets done.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Professors are busy people. This person's failure to make good on the promise of a letter could be due to a variety of reasons, being a "jerk" being only one of several possibilities. It could be just forgetfulness, or perhaps they wrote the letters but didn't include the correct postage, or the mail got stolen from the mailbox where they dropped off the letters. Things happen, and sometimes we are too quick to find fault. Being absent-minded is not an excuse, but lack of malicious intent definitely impacts the validity of accusations.
Therefore, I would tread lightly and first ascertain the reason. If you really need closure on this, the best way is to NOT talk to the associate dean, but to discuss this with the professor privately, and very VERY politely. Do your absolute best NOT to come across as being accusatory, pursue not the person but the objective facts -- as a student in this department, *you* are in a much more vulnerable position than tenured faculty, and should account for this in your decisions and actions.
Drop by during this professor's office hours, sit down calmly, and in a polite, humble tone simply explain what has happened years ago.
Do not say "but you never mailed those letters". This immediately puts the person on the defensive and the conversation will quickly devolve from constructive feedback to denial and conflict. This will have zero benefit for you, but can have negative consequences down the road in ways that are difficult to anticipate right now.
Instead, one approach is to say: "It appears that the letters from one of my references were not received by the institutions to which I applied, and I am trying to figure out if this was through a fault of mine, perhaps lack of clear communication on my part about what I was requesting. I feel uncomfortable talking about this, but I just wanted to see if you had any recollection of that situation and whether you recall any challenges with providing those letters. This will be very helpful to me in understanding how to improve the way I solicit recommendation letters for future fellowship or employment applications."
This interaction presents a great opportunity to learn whether you did, in fact, do something that may have contributed to the unfortunate outcome of receiving no letters from this person. Was it a miscommunication about the application timeline, addresses where to mail the letter, or something else? Chances are you will have to solicit letters again in the future, and knowing what caused the malfunction in the process back then can help you prevent the same issue from happening in the future. What a great opportunity to learn from the past and improve future results.
As @EnergyNumbers noted, "When you ask someone for a letter of reference, and they agree, it's up to you to do what you can to ensure that they write it and submit it." I absolutely agree. You needed those letters, not the professors. Therefore, it was your responsibility to follow up and confirm whether they had mailed the letters you requested. That's just how this stuff works. For this reason, if anyone should be blamed for what happened, it's not the professor. For this reason, I would disagree with @username_1's position that "It's too late to fix your applications, but you deserve an apology." I would agree that you might deserve (I would say, not deserve, but "benefit from") a brief explanation of what happened. But whether to apologize for this or not remains to be seen, and should be up to this professor to decide. It's their conscience, let them find the course of action that they find acceptable. If this is at odds with your notion of fairness and justice, well, the world does not have to operate in accordance with your notions. Everyone has different ideas of what they deserve, and sometimes letting go and adjusting one's expectations is a much wiser strategy than pushing to get what one believes is their fair share, or fishing for apologies. Letting go is not easy, and absolutely should not be the rule for all situations in life. But the ability to discern what situations warrant letting go are a sign of good discretion and wisdom.
One alternative: As @RoboKaren noted in a comment to OP, it is unclear that "One remedy would be he takes me on as a PhD student, or provides funding so another professor can supervise me" actually represents a remedy. For what? Financial compensation? If this incident occurred years ago, I would consider this, as economists might call it, "sunk cost." If the expense was not recouped in time, or arrangements made for future reimbursement, for all intents and purposes it is water under the bridge. I highly recommend to let the financial aspect go, especially since the amount is probably not nearly enough to justify all the problems such accusations could cause for you while you are trying to remain on good terms with the department's faculty, who hold the keys to your degree.
On the other hand, if the remedy is meant for your ego rather than wallet, then it seems counter-intuitive that much good would come from trying to renew a relationship characterized by financial dependence on someone who has already let you down once before. It is like stepping on a rake, then years later trying to step on the same rake on the off chance it would somehow make the old bruise hurt less. History tends to repeat itself, and you just might end up with another bruise. Why take a chance when you don't have to? I would suggest the exact opposite, i.e. to put a good amount of distance between you and this professors, so as to minimize the chances of making the same mistake (of relying on them and being burned) twice. Good luck!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Not writing a letter of recommendation when you've agreed to write one and you understand the impact it could potentially have on somebody's career is clearly not a great thing to have done - indeed, if you talk to the professor about it in a non-accusatory way (i.e. one that doesn't put him on the defensive), he'll probably feel bad about it.
However, as others have pointed out, the reality of the situation is that you asked somebody potentially busy and perhaps forgetful for a favour that was crucial to you, but probably not that crucial to him. Human nature being what it is, he probably meant to do it, but procrastinated and then forgot about it. It's much easier to forget about things that aren't crucial to you personally, and there's very rarely any malice in it.
What you ought to have done was ask him again politely before each application, making what he needed to do and the deadline extremely clear in each case, and then followed up with him at intervals before the deadline to make sure that he followed through on it. I've always used this method - it works.
Should he automatically have sent in the references without you having to chase him? Sure, maybe, but people are imperfect, and this was something that really mattered to you. Making a huge issue of it years after the fact rather than making sure it didn't happen in the first place is neither sensible nor a useful use of your time. You're much better off chalking it up to experience and doing things differently next time.
See also:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Hanlon%27s_razor>
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: If I am not mistaken it is part of a professors job to write letters such as the one you requested. It reflects poorly on the reputation of the school if the professors show little concern for their students future beyond the classroom. I can not imagine many High School students would choose a particular collage if they had information this college would fail them when it came time to securing a future. If someone feels they do not have time, or would write an unfovorable recommendation, professional ethics would dictate declining. It is reasonable to suggest you make the request in the Professors office as stated by others, providing them with all the information needed, including a date letters must be complete.
It is reasonable to say that it is your responsibility to follow up and make sure the letter was written and submitted. If the letter is not done in a timely manner, you should have a back up plan. Remember, this is your future and you must be proactive securing what you need to succeed.
Thirty-two years after graduating, I receive letters annually requesting donations to my alma-mater. Upon completion of your degree, you might consider declining donations citing this professors lack of concern for your future. No professor would accept excuses for failing to complete an assignment. No employer would accept excuses for failing to do part of their job. Yes, you should show gratitude for letters of recommendation, but letters from Professors are not mearly favors. Suggesting a letter may have been stolen from a mail box is not an excuse a professor would accept, neither should you.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/22 | 961 | 3,807 | <issue_start>username_0: Is it common in academia to include the number of results a Google search on a keyword yields as an evidence for the prevalence of something online?
I'm not intending to base my research paper on this evidence; it is just a supporting point in a paragraph.
For example, I'm writing a research paper on Stack Exchange; one of the paragraphs is about how popular Stack Exchange is in the internet.
In one of the paragraph, I would mention that a Google search on the keyword 'Stack Exchange' yielded about 49,600,000 results, which shows how popular it is among netizens.<issue_comment>username_1: I honestly haven't seen something like this in any publication. But I guess you could use it as some by-point, I would in that case provide the number of result of other popular search engines, something like: "xyz is highly sought after in the world wide webs, a simple key search 'xyz' using the most popular search engines yields impressive number of results (google: 49,600,000, bing: ..., yahoo: ..., etc.)"
Consider, however, that the search results also include ambiguous results for the provided key word(s). In your example, it is likely that that result of about 49,600,000 will include hits that contain "Stack" and "Overflow", but not the semantics that bind them into your intention. Please bear in mind that I'm aware that you are able to narrow your search down to a particular key word by using google tools, tweaks and skill, I'm merely providing an example, as depending on the "commonness" of the key word(s), the explicit narrowing down can be complex.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Do *not* do this. The "approximate" number of hits Google reports is *completely* worthless. To see why, look at this number on both the first and the tenth page of Google hits:
[First results page](https://www.google.com/#q=%22Stack+Exchange%22)
[Tenth results page](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Stack+Exchange%22&start=90)
When I just did this, I got "approximately 9,010,000 hits" reported on the first results page... but only "approximately 48 hits" on the tenth page.
Your results will probably vary, depending on your [search engine bubble](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=search%20engine%20bubble) (another reason why this number is useless).
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I don't think such numbers would be accurate at all, altough they could probably be used as a rough, theoretical estimate.
2 reasons I can think of for why this would not be accurate at all:
* Typos. Have you ever tried googling for 2 different spellings in order to figure out which is most likely the correct spelling? Unfortunately, the most used(popular) spelling is not always the correct one.
What this means is that the number of google hits is not a picture of reality, but a picture of what is in people's thoughts.
* A phenomenon\activity\product being written about on the web is not equivalent to actually being used alot. What's being written on the web is primarily a picture of what's going on in people's heads, rather than what's actually around them. A new invention could be ground-breaking and get mentioned alot, even though only scientists would use it.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: The popularity of a web site is only very loosely related to the number of search engine results. A better approach is to use traffic statistics, such as the web site's Alexa ranking:
<http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/stackoverflow.com>
This places StackOverflow at rank 53, which means that only 52 sites are visited more frequently.
Either way, StackOverflow is so ubiquitous within the programming community that you probably don't need to qualify your claims of its popularity unless your paper is intended for non-programmers.
Upvotes: -1 |
2014/05/22 | 1,689 | 7,257 | <issue_start>username_0: Six years ago while I was working in a company outside academia, I had been involved in improving a process which was hot in academia. I have developed a new method which, among other notable advantages, improved all previous methods by deriving better results. Although some time passed, today it can still be considered as state of the art.
Despite I was not in academia, because of the quality of the results, I have managed to publish a paper about it in a top journal in that field. I hoped that the paper would get popular, and it would get cited many times, but today, after 4-5 years of being available, to my surprise, the work is still not cited. I see that new papers that come out and that are related, still refer to (lesser) methods, as though mine doesn't exist at all. As I am following the papers in that field, and despite a large number of related papers, I still don't see much improvement over my work, so it's pretty much current.
The paper uses proper keywords and wording (so it's easy to find), the journal is a good one (so people must have seen it), and it cites all other related papers (so I guess that relevant people in the field who have Google Scholar would be aware of it existence if they get notified of new citations). And still the paper didn't take off. The only reason I could think of is networking. Since at that time I was not in academia, I did not go to conferences to get the work (and my name) "advertised". But I refuse to believe that this was the critical factor.
The questions are: How to get cited and how to boost the impact of one's work? And did I do anything wrong?
I am now in my PhD, and I would like to learn how to boost the popularity of my upcoming papers.<issue_comment>username_1: I can see a few reasons why your paper was not cited as much as you hoped it to be:
* Networking indeed *does* go a long way towards being cited. In my experience this is especially true for areas where many competing approaches are being published (which, by the sound of it, is true in your case). Even if your paper is published in a good venue, this alone does not guarantee that you will find a critical mass of readers to kickstart the process. Citations are in my experience somewhat viral. Google Scholar, which for better or for worse, is used by *many* researchers for searching for literature, returns results ordered more or less by citation count. Hence, papers with a few citations on them are **much** easier to find on Google Scholar than those with 0 citations. Hence, you need to "bootstrap" a bit before citations start coming in more or less by themselves. The best (ethical) way to do this is to network - tell other researchers that might be interested in your paper about it
* You should not per se exclude the possibility that you overestimate the value of your contribution. Maybe the things your approach was good at are not valued as highly by the other researchers. Maybe you underestimate the qualities of some papers that are cited over yours.
* Even if your paper *was* really good, maybe this was to hard to see at first glance. In an ideal world, every researcher would strive to fully grok each related paper. However, in the real world (especially in busy fields), you have to assume that a reader will at first only casually browse over your paper (and only really read it if it seems very strong to him at first glance). If your paper does not seem strong at first glance, people will not cite it.
* Maybe you are overestimating the value of the venue you published in. In many busy fields, papers published in a "good" venue (as opposed to "the best there is") already have a hard time getting cited. Further, check whether your paper is available with the standard subscriptions that most universities have (e.g., for CS that would be IEEE, Springer, ACM, ... depending on your field of course). There are some non-predatory publishers out there that are simply not available in the subscriptions of many libraries.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In many fields, the literature moves faster than most people can follow. A journal article can easily be missed. The chance of it being seen now that 5 years have passed is virtually none.
The best way to get your work known in many fields is to get out there and personally evangelize it. Give talks at conferences, talk it up to colleagues, etc. Getting someone else to start using your method is key.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: The first person who should cite your work is actually YOU. If you simply abandoned your work and you expected others to pick up on it, it mostly does not work this way, unless your work is really ground-breaking. When I search for something on a area I am interested in, it is easy to pick up papers with more citations (which you do not yet have) or authors who are more prolific in this area (which you are now not, since you only published this one paper). Also, people tend to be suspicious when they see "amazing" results, when they are not followed by further work on this area, since that might be some indication that those results were a bit "fishy" to begin with. In this sense, you are the one (at least initially) who should pick up your previous work, improve on it, compare with the newest methods and promote it.
If you asked some years ago, I would not believe in networking either. But the fact is that it works. If you go to some conferences and talk to some of your 'favorite' authors (who are also your main competitors) ask about their published work, talk about your published work (but DO NOT reveal unpublished work), perhaps ask to share methods, do a polite follow-up email soon, you will see that most people respond positively, not because you are sucking up to them but because they see that their work has actual impact. In most of the cases, they also want to improve their methods and see "the polite competition of today as the possible cooperator of tomorrow". So, understand that networking is not just PR but as appreciation to what others and you can offer to the scientific community.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: I'd just like to add, even if your methods and results were real game-changers, you don't necessarily have a *good* paper. Writing skills are critical for increasing your citation count. You might consider looking closely at highly cited papers, and see what the authors did differently. As others have noted, networking has a big role too..
*Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded* is a good resource.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: If it is software related and there are no available source codes (or even executables at times!), or the code is very poor in ease of use, I will usually not cite it given an alternative.
Another way to put this in more general terms: to what extent have you made it easy to reproduce your research?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: Go to conferences, give talks on your work, highlight unexplored questions, extensions and applications. Work gets cited when you convince other people there's something interesting to do, and they then write follow up papers.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/22 | 495 | 2,215 | <issue_start>username_0: I am an undergraduate student wanting to transfer to another institution for undergraduate studies. I am a research assistant for a professor at an institution that I do not attend.
Would the university which I which to transfer to, accept the recommendation letter from this professor? Again, I have not taken any courses with this professor, nor go to the institution where he teaches.
Related (except for Graduate Admissions): [Copied Letter of Recommendation?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21243/copied-letter-of-recommendation)<issue_comment>username_1: The general answer is: "It depends on their rules regarding the admission process".
If they accept (or require) letters of recommendation, and they don't explicitely relate it to teaching relationships, they will take such recommendation letters into acount (and I personally would rate them even higher than a standard "this guy has great grades"-letter).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In general. the criterion for a letter of recommendation is **not** "someone whose course you've taken.\_\_ In general, the letter of recommendation is supposed to be written by someone who knows you well, and can testify to your strengths and weaknesses.
Unless there's a specific demand for a letter from someone who has taught you, you should not worry about the fact that your research advisor hasn't taught you. In principle, because a research advisor has worked more closely with you than a typical instructor would, your should expect to get a more useful letter from the research advisor, as username_1 indicates.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The point of a letter of recommendation is for the receiving party to obtain third-party verification that you are, indeed, awesome. Generally speaking, people like to receive letters from individuals who know you well professionally. In most cases, teachers cannot write good letters, as they only know you as a face in the class, and never really got to know your work ethic, personality, and capabilities. A research advisor would be able to comment on all those things, and would be able to write a much stronger letter.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer] |
2014/05/22 | 858 | 3,417 | <issue_start>username_0: I am planning to attend a college that requires students to live on campus, in a coed setting. As an observant Muslim, I cannot do that.
The college asked me to write a letter explaining why I cannot live on campus. I also have to explain why I can't eat the cafeteria food.
I'm asking how I should start the letter, and what I should say in the letter.<issue_comment>username_1: This kind of letter should typically be brief and straightforward. Unless they have told you specifically what should be in the letter, you can write:
>
> To whom it may concern:
>
>
> Please be advised that, as a Muslim, my religious observance precludes me from living on a coeducational campus. As per the advice of [*person or office who told you to write the letter*], I am writing this letter to request an exemption from the on-campus living policy.
>
>
> Thanks for your consideration,
>
>
> Nimbra
>
>
>
If you want, you can also include contact information for a member of the clergy (i.e., a religious leader) who knows you and can vouch that you do, in fact, have such a requirement. (Sometimes this is required as a matter of policy; for example, those who cannot take the SAT on Saturday due to religious observance must provide a letter from clergy attesting to this.)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: Because it is implied that the college you plan to attend doesn't have an existing form or requirements for exemptions, I suggest that you include more information rather than less.
For an exemption from the on-campus housing requirement:
* Briefly discuss the religious observations that are in conflict with living in a co-educational dormitory.
* Detail where you are going to live (parents, other family member), give the name, address, and contact information. If living by yourself, a letter from your parents or legal guardian about the situation. Do you have the money to do this? How do you plan to travel to the college?
For the exemption from a meal plan:
* Again, briefly discuss the religious requirements that preclude
eating in the cafeteria. (The food service may be able to provide halal meals. If that's so, are there other reasons to ask for an exemption?)
* Detail what you will do instead (relative will provide food, cook for
self, bring lunch, etc.).
The residential and meal plan requirements are to foster relationships in the incoming class. Having the majority of incoming (at least) students on-campus also helps to ensure that they have safe places to live and food to eat. Give them reasons why they won't need to worry.
I would also either offer to get a letter from a religious leader or just provide it outright.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Start with explaining why its so important that you attend that college and not one that would be better suited for your beliefs (I'm assuming you desperately want to go to this college rather than going simply because its close to home.) Briefly and politely express what the issues are and why they are issues. Quote from the Quran if you need to. I would also ask a local Amam if they would write a letter explanation to further support your claims. As far as the cafeteria food, that is on you. An institution can not be expected to fulfill every dietary guideline of its students. Halal and kosher aside, dealing with allergies alone would limit the cuisine to gruel.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/05/22 | 2,924 | 12,088 | <issue_start>username_0: After reading [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19362/is-it-ethical-for-advisors-to-automatically-coauthor-papers?rq=1) question and [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15005/publishing-paper-as-a-phd-student-without-advisors-name) I haven't find my answer.
My advisor hasn't contributed to my work and I know that my work isn't significant and it won't publish in top journals. But I want to publish it without my advisor's name in a conference.
So my question is not about *automatically coauthor my advisor* or *having high hopes on my individual work*.
The Problem arise from here. We have to enroll in some seminar classes before starting to work on our thesis.
In one of those classes our teacher said:
1. "*No matter what you do, you have to enlist your advisor's name in your papers because unless it would considered as a work with no supervisor and it can not be trusted.*"
2. "*In interview we have for PhD students, if the person who is applying hasn't written the name of his suprevisor we doubt him. Either he is a genius or he is hiding something or he is **too** active in his field.*"
3. "*In some companies and research labs everyone add the name of their fundraiser to show him their gratitude, so should we.*".
So based on what I heard I'm going to face serious problems if I publish my work individually as a student. The question is:
1. Apart from being unethical including a name of person who didn't contribute to work as a coauthor, does it have any academic weight? I mean, does it **value** my work if I say I did it alone or it does not have any different until coauthor isn't a student.
2. Is it true that I am going to be accused as a not genuine person if I don't add my advisor's name? Because our teacher told us that he and his colleagues don't consider these kind of submitted papers trustworthy and genuine, so don't look at them carefully and mostly reject them on sight.
**Edit:**
**Conclusion**: Thank you all. I think my vision is more clear now. The right way is not the opposite of the wrong way. It means despite "spoon-fed" "a very distorted view", the right thing to do is not doing the opposite.
I decided to do my best to play as a team, because of its mentioned benefits, especially for my first paper. But if working as a team doesn't go well, there is no harm in solo publishing or getting some new advisers.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think your problem is with your advisor. Your real problem is with teachers in classes who say things like:
>
> * No matter what you do, you have to enlist your advisor's name in your
> papers because unless it would considered as a work with no supervisor
> and it can not be trusted."
> * "In interview we have for PhD students, if the person who is applying
> hasn't written the name of his suprevisor we doubt him. Either he is a
> genius or he is hiding something or he is too active in his field."
> * "In some companies and research labs everyone add the name of their
> fundraiser to show him their gratitude, so should we.".
>
>
>
In light of all the recent debate about whether we are too idealized and rosy in our views of academia, let me at least say this:
Whether or not this is common practice in the areas you work in, the problem here is the rationale being used to justify author inclusion. In no way is the decision being made based on some notion of contribution by the advisor (either financial or moral, or in any form). It's being based purely on a notion of patronage or bias.
The person making these claims has either a very distorted view of how authorship works, or is misleading new students in a terrible way.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> Apart from being unethical including a name of person who didn't
> contribute to work as a coauthor, does it have any academic weight?
>
>
>
You use very strong words, but things are not black and white. You are a student and most likely you do not know how to write a good paper. Why not involve your supervisor in the writing process? You can write the original manuscript and he will make the final version, since he is more experienced than you. In that setting you are still first author, he does contribute and he is co-author, your paper has more chances to be published and everyone is happy.
>
> Is it true that I am going to be accused as a not genuine person if I
> don't add my advisor's name?
>
>
>
You are exaggerating again. If your paper will be rejected it will most likely be because it is not good enough and not because of your name. There is always the possibility that someone with no previous experience is easier to get his paper rejected (I believe many reviewers do a Google search on the person they are reviewing) but that mostly applies to big conferences. For smaller conferences or workshops criteria are not that strict.
But you have not thought the most critical factor. What if your paper gets accepted? Who will then pay for your conference registration and trip? Usually it is the advisor that provides such funding. If you submit it solo, you must do the entire process with the university bureaucracy alone and without support from some faculty member it will be much harder for the university to actually cover your expenses.
So, although I disagree with some of the comments your seminar tried to spoon-feed you, in the long run it will be better to play as a team member. So, involve your supervisor, make him actually contribute on the notion that you will still be first author. This cooperation might even vastly improve your paper and then it might get accepted even in a top conference or journal. In this setting, you will have more to win than to lose.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: In scientific publications, at least, "author contribution" statements are becoming more and more common. These statements list the exact contributions that each author on the paper made. A number of excellent examples are provided on this Nature blog post: <http://blogs.nature.com/nautilus/2007/11/post_12.html>
If you included your supervisor as an author on the paper, providing such a statement would allow you to clarify the nature of your roles.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: First of all, pretty much all the justifications your teacher gave to you are lies. This person is trying to encourage you to put your supervisors' names on your papers, but avoiding telling you that you have to do so because it is the rule.
Secondly, there are roughly three ways a paper can be written as a grad student.
* The student does some work and publishes it, but the supervisor is responsible for lots of guidance, planning, editing, making sure the work gets done, suggesting the original question, helping to place the paper, etc. This is how almost everyone's first paper gets written. The supervisor will almost always be an author, and everyone accepts that this is fair. (However, I have known some generous supervisors who decline an author credit in such cases, since they regard what they did as part of supervising, and not a specific contribution to authoring the paper).
* The student and supervisor collaborate, similarly to how to colleagues would collaborate (but perhaps with the student doing more of the 'grunt work' and the supervisor making more of the decisions). Both are authors.
* The student does work independently, perhaps asking for some limited advice or proofreading. The supervisor should not be an author, but often is in practice.
Most people except the very gifted start off with the first type, and everyone except those who don't progress very far should have some of the latter two types by the end of a PhD.
So if someone has only publications with their supervisor, it could be taken as meaning that they didn't do much independent work, but it could also be that they had to 'give credit' to their supervisor, or that they work in an area where most papers are collaborative.
If someone has only publications without their supervisor, it might be seen as positive, but it could also be assumed that their supervisor was generous in not taking credit, therefore neutral. If you are known to be a genius, the fact that your early publications were on your own will be mentioned, but it won't prove that you are a genius if this isn't already accepted.
The implied lack of credibility 'that your supervisor didn't approve of your work' would be a very strange reaction. It's only something you should worry about if there's some other reason you might come across as a maverick - for example all your papers are serious work about some topic beloved of conspiracy theorists, or you went straight into grad school from high school, etc. In these cases, you might want to make sure that some form of reflected legitimacy is evident.
If some has a combination of supervisor-included and -not-included work, it would be seem as normal.
In other words, no case is really a strong indicator of your strength.
Your last problem is what you should do. Your teachers are behaving unethically, but your best option is probably to go along with it. Just make sure that you can justify your authorship of the papers you consider yours, if asked in an interview. If so, anyone who takes the time to do so will probably figure out what your supervisor's contribution was, and won't assume that you were playing the same game.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: It might be worth pointing out the existence of the [Vancouver Protocol](http://www.research.mq.edu.au/about/research_@_macquarie/policies,_procedures_and_conduct/documents/Vancouver.pdf) (first described by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, this is becoming more widely accepted). This protocol states
>
> Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to
>
> 1) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data; and
> to
> 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important
> intellectual content; and on
> 3) final approval of the version to be
> published.
> Conditions 1, 2, and 3 must all be met. Participation
> solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does
> not justify authorship. **General supervision of the research group is
> not sufficient for authorship.** Any part of an article critical to its
> main conclusions must be the responsibility of at least one author.
>
>
>
This is quite restrictive, and clearly discourages some of the attributions that your teachers appear to encourage.
That said, it is important for a scientist at the start of his/her career to be very aware of the value of collaboration - working closely with your advisor (to the point where their contribution warrants co-authorship) is *quite likely* to improve the quality of your paper. If you believe it would not, then maybe you need to question your choice of advisor.
It is no doubt true that a person with a good publications record carries more weight in their chosen field, and that their papers will be read more carefully and cited more frequently. Because of this it is often considered a good idea to start out in this mode.
Personal note: in the 80s when I did my PhD, email wasn't yet a thing. My advisor was abroad for almost an entire year, and I did in fact independently write and publish a paper. The work in this paper was very good (I can say so in retrospect after more than 20 years), but I was a complete unknown - and it had incredibly narrow applicability. To this date, it has received just one citation. I still believe I was correct (given the circumstance) not to include my advisor's name on the paper, but it did nothing for my career (or the field). It would have been better if I had waited until he returned, discussed and improved the paper, and published jointly.
There is a lot that an experienced person can do merit co-authorship - but you have to create the opportunity for them to do so.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/05/22 | 411 | 1,895 | <issue_start>username_0: I am a B.Tech student in my final year, and am interested in publishing a paper. I have read a few articles in IEEE transactions and ACM transactions on my topic of interest, Software Engineering, and thought I can also produce such an idea. This semester I worked on a project under a professor in my institute, and I have written a paper based on my findings. My question is how can I judge the quality of the paper I have written? I want to find the perfect place to publish it, but don't want get demoralized by sending it to a top publisher and getting rejected. I should add that I don't think that my professor will be much help in determining the quality of the paper because I fear the professor knowledge is very old and outdated and doesn't have any idea of current research.<issue_comment>username_1: If your adviser is a coauthor, he has to agree with whether the paper is suitable for submission to a particular journal.
Otherwise, you could judge the quality of your paper by comparing it with published papers in the journal you intend to submit your paper to. However, I recommend asking for other people's opinion about the paper; this would be people you know, who have had some publication experience.
Is there an upcoming conference which you can submit your paper to? It is a good idea to submit the paper to a conference first.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Another idea would be to submit your manuscript to a pre-print repository and see if you get some comments on it. Of course, you should take into account the fact that not all journals publish works that have already been posted in a repository. Additionally, you could also send a pre-submission inquiry to some journal editors with a brief summary of your research. If an editor shows interest in your paper, you can then submit it to the journal.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/05/22 | 1,742 | 7,358 | <issue_start>username_0: As pointed out by [altmetrics](http://altmetrics.org/manifesto/), “Peer-review has served scholarship well, but is beginning to show its age. It is slow, encourages conventionality, and fails to hold reviewers accountable.”
Not all publications are created equal. Neither are the statuses of their authors. However, senior authors in life sciences rarely publish in isolation, so some junior researcher’s neck is always on the line (one of the many catch 22’s in academic publishing, and one I hadn’t really thought about much before).
I realize this makes the question somewhat subjective, and I hope that a variety of answers can be supplied - but if your answer is similar to an existing one, perhaps a comment will serve - thank you!
Here is some more background on my question:
An [excellent article](http://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273%2814%2900288-8?utm_content=buffer40653&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer) by <NAME>, which doesn’t mention [F1000Research](http://f1000research.com/) but does mention [Proceedings of Peerage of Science](http://www.peerageofscience.org/proceedings/#banner) , suggests that the post-publication peer-review is unstandardized. It seems that F1000Research is trying to standardize the process within their journal, rather than relying on altmetrics. I think this is a reasonable approach: as a scientist whose job is partly to network with others, you can very likely get interested parties to review your paper (if not, then try one of the many journals supporting the traditional review method). Additionally, this publisher-centric peer review will probably attract more serious reviews; who wants to post a review on some random social networking site that few people will likely read?
If someone has strong negative feelings about your paper, then they can say so. Of course, there is a lack of anonymity on F1000Research. Oh dear, now we need to be polite (Faulkes also discusses this). I know it is a very difficult thing to be polite sometimes after multiple grants or papers have been rejected, but perhaps this is a step in the right direction.
Perhaps more importantly, the reviewers may have to defend their assertions without the editor making a summary decision about whether or not the authors can reasonably address the reviewers concerns. I think this form of review removes much more bias than it introduces by keeping the conversation open. And I don’t think this means the review process will go on indefinitely; the authors no longer need satisfy every whim of the reviewers, but only those they deem important enough so that their colleagues will respect the merit and credibility of the study.
Turning to other forms of review: I also think it is unlikely that any single review model with always be best for all people and all publications.
For instance, one type of review process that would necessarily need to be pre-publication peer review is the double blind scheme, where neither reviewers nor authors are given any direct evidence of the other party’s identity. It seems that this would not only make things more fair, but also open up the reviewer pool to highly cited authors whose input is no doubt frequently valued but difficult to obtain in the traditional peer review process. Unfortunately [it does not seem to be at all prevalent in the sciences](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_review#Different_styles_of_review), and I know of no journals supporting it.<issue_comment>username_1: How would I decide?
Funding, Readership and Tenure.
* Does the journal cost money to submit to, and if so, do I have any funding for said submission? Is there a means of waiving that fee if I don't have funding?
* Is the journal read by the people I want to read my paper? This I'd gauge by talking to my colleagues - for example, if no one in (hypothetically) infection control reads F1000Research, then I'm not publishing there, because the point of my paper is to be read and advance the field, and it can't do that if it isn't where relevant eyes will see it, whether or not the journal gets an ideological checkmark.
* Similar to readership, when this journal is looked at by a promotion committee etc., will it matter?
The latter two are, in my mind, not yet settled, and that makes me a little hesitant - bold ideological stands are for people who aren't on the job market. Beyond that, I think the primary problem with post-pub peer review is that I'm not convinced it will be at all uniformly distributed. My suspicion is that a few prominent papers will be heavily reviewed, and then the rest will have either middling, or no reviews beyond what is mandated by the journal. I'm also not convinced it's a terribly fair system - it's relatively easy to attack a post-doc or doctoral student's work, while you might hesitate to do so for Important Person In Your Field, and similarly, said Important Person may be able to be fairly rude with impunity, especially if the journals aren't terribly well known.
For what it's worth, several major journals in my field are double-blinded. I have no idea who the authors are, there are actually instructions to remove clearly identifiable information (change "Brigham-Women's Hospital" to "A major regional hospital in the Northeast United States", etc.) in the manuscript, and the reviews are anonymous unless signed.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Subjectively, I'd say that there are two main criteria on deciding where (and if) to publish some piece of research.
**1. Does that publication "count"?**
There tend to be specific criteria set by funding agencies, promotion committees or other organizations that separate 'proper' publications from worthless ones. Clearly, there must be some criteria, as the world is full of places that would publish anything, and counting everything equally is a worse option than most completely arbitrary criteria. For some areas the split might be journals vs conferences/etc; for some places the criteria might be [lack of] peer review; for my purposes the criteria is indexing in Web of science or SCOPUS.
**2. Would that publication be read by the people I want?**
When academic goals involve 'advertising' a particular approach and influencing the subfield, it doesn't matter how if it's reviewed (if at all), but it matters on how well it reaches the target audience. For that purposes the best option might be, say, a short talk at some seminar which is well attended by the relevant group; which could have more impact than an article at a prestigious journal, and has the benefit of being quicker than the traditional review process.
Depending on ones particular goals, either of those goals may strongly dominate the other; however, if none of them are well met, it makes no sense to publish (at that venue) at all.
For me, it seems that any new or alternative approach is very unlikely to be useful for publishing. Alternative approaches by definition don't match the classic, estabilished ways of publishing (goal #1); and any new publication, unless estabilished by scientists in my particular narrow research area for their own needs, is unlikely to reach them (goal #2) better as any other venue , even the trivial option on simply putting it up on your own or organization webpage.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/23 | 1,788 | 7,051 | <issue_start>username_0: The statements of
>
> "Applicants who are invited to campus for interviews must be able to show proof that they will be eligible and qualified to work in the United States by the time of hire."
>
>
>
is almost associated with every open academic positions in US and I am wondering what does this statement clearly mean?
As far as I know, academic positions in US are opened to the scientifically eligible candidates worldwide, but receiving US work permit requires a sponsor (employer) inside US who should initiate visa application.
**My 1st question:** Does this sentence show unwillingness of the employer (university in this case) to support applicants' visa application? Does this position only open to those residing in US? or work permit holders?
From the immigration website, I learnt that there are some costs for the employer who is offering job to an outsider. But, universities are exempted from paying the biggest chunk ($1500).
**My 2nd question:** Considering low visa petition cost, what else is the problem that US-based universities are hesitant to hire such candidates.
**My 3rd question:** Is faculty selection in US-based universities based on candidate's merit or there are other parameters when selecting them.
**Edit:** I think the email received from UW can be of help to get better idea of the situation.
>
> Dear XYZ,
>
>
> When completing your application for employment at the University of Washington you were asked to complete the US Work Authorization Assessment. The second question asked was:
>
>
> To legally work in the United States, will you require University of Washington sponsorship for an H1-B, other UW sponsored visa, or UW sponsored green card now or in the future?
>
>
> You responded yes, that you would need sponsorship, either now or in the future. **As a result you are not eligible for employment in staff positions at the University**.
>
>
>
I emailed to HR of UW for clarification with this note:
>
> Does UW consider only those foreigners for staff position who are currently having work permit in US? Those who are willing to obtain work permit based on the UW job offer are ineligible to work in UW?
>
>
>
**UW Reply** (Though I think the reply is by a robot):
>
> Unfortunately, the UW does not provide sponsorship for Green Cards( or HB-1 visas, or any other type of work authorization requiring sponsorship.) for staff positions.
>
>
>
---
**EDIT 2:** Though my question is about academic staff position, about university of washington, I applied for research scientist. Here is the [link](http://escience.washington.edu/what-we-do/data-science-research-positions-university-washington) to the job opening.<issue_comment>username_1: My suspicion is that this phrase is primarily to cover the university legally in case the person hired in fact does **not** have the eligibility to work in the US. In such a case, without this clause, the person could make the argument that the university is in breach of contract for not hiring them and doing whatever is necessary in order to make them eligible. **But IANAL** !
In general I'd imagine only very small universities or places with limited resources would have trouble sponsoring a candidate for an H1-B. Certainly not a university like UW. Most universities are quite willing and able to sponsor new applicants for H1Bs and green cards.
The correct interpretation here is I think as is mentioned in the comments: the candidate should be **eligible** to work in that they **can** get an H1B visa.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Preamble: What they are trying to do here is protect themselves from a lawsuit later on. In the application for an H1B, the employer must prove that there was no American citizen who was qualified for the position that is being sponsored (c.f. <http://www.immihelp.com/gc/employment/labor/>).
1. Perhaps. Most employers will sponsor the H1B at the very least -- and the larger universities and colleges will even pay for the legal and application fees if they want you. But they have to advertise the positions for Americans (and legal residents first) and if the search results in only one person (YOU!) who is able to fill the position, then (gee shucks) they will sponsor you for the H1B.
2. The law. See preamble. The cost including the lawyer can go up to around $10,000. If it's just a short-term position why spend the money and do the paperwork (an H1B filing can easily be hundreds of pages of filings)? Also H1Bs are tricky. If you apply late when the pool runs out, you may not get one regardless of how qualified the candidate is. H1B applications have been known to get held up for all sorts of reasons by the State Department or the DoL. So it's often safer to go with a legal candidate.
3. Depends on the location. While it would be nice to think that merit is the only factor, we all know (or at least suspect) that there are other factors including the all amorphous "collegiality". If there are two candidates of equal worth but one candidate will require literally 3 inches of paperwork filed to the Department of Labor and there's uncertainty as to whether he/she can start work in August if the process gets delayed, then what would be the rational choice?
*Edit: H1Bs are not subject to caps (<http://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/h-1b_faqs#10>). I'm not sure if this is a new thing as I can vaguely remember caps in the distant past... but at least there aren't any now.*
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Based on what you've written so far, here is my interpretation of the situation:
* at some point, the university sets a blanket ban on sponsoring visas for "staff positions" (this is standard terminology for "not faculty positions"). This is not so unreasonable; you can understand why it would seem like a waste of money to sponsor a secretary or a janitor for a visa.
* at some later point, the position you're applying for is created. There are a lot of complicated negotiations that go into creating such a position. This particular one involves 3 universities and 2 private foundations, so I'm sure it was very tricky to set them up. For some reason, the position is classified as "staff." The line between "staff" and "faculty" is not 100% clean-cut (for example, librarians can be on one side or another, depending on the institution). I can only guess at what advantage this had (it seems likely there was one, though you should never completely count out the possibility of a straight-up mistake).
And, voilà! I would bet a reasonable sum of money that the people "on the ground" running this program are unhappy with the situation, and would like nothing more than to make decisions without considering immigration status, but these things can be pretty complicated. Universities are big institutions, and it can often be very hard to change these sorts of things. The money they would spend on lawyers for visas has to come from somewhere, and it's possible it's just not there.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/23 | 1,289 | 5,651 | <issue_start>username_0: At the end of a recent lengthy meeting with my supervisor, in preparation for my end of year GRC (Graduate Research Committee) meeting, I asked about if I would be able to contact them during the summer holiday period in relation to my research.
Background is that I am a History Masters research student and as I'm completing it part-time I'll be doing as much work during the summer months (maybe even more as one of my major visits to archives is during this period) as during the academic year.
My supervisor was open to me emailing him during the summer and submitting any written work I may have completed. As it was we were finishing the meeting we did not elaborate on exact details. In my own case this will suffice as I am working on my project on my own with my supervisor.
While I just asked if I could keep in contact with my supervisor and that's probably the best thing to do in most cases, I am interested is it reasonable to request that you can have access to an advisor/supervisor during summer time (either by email or face to face)?<issue_comment>username_1: Supervisors are employees just like everyone else. They have duties (to supervise you), and they have vacations and business trips. Both vacations and business trips (conferences, field trips, probably archive work in your line) will be more common during summer. Specifically for academia, many people will use summer to spend more time working from home while they don't have to give lectures, but they may designate certain days when they are in the office, specifically to meet with everyone on a single day.
That said, I see no reason whatsoever why email contact should decrease during summer, of course except for known vacation or trip periods, where everyone can agree that emails may take a little longer to be answered.
Face-to-face contact is also important, but given that many people will spend more time at home, there is a case to be made that you may not meet *quite* as frequently with your advisor during summer, even after accounting for vacations/trips.
Nevertheless, I see no reason why a request for email contact and (possibly somewhat less frequent) face-to-face meetings should be unreasonable. It would of course be optimal to work out a schedule before summer, taking vacations etc. into account. "I'll check in every day with a short email, and I understand if you reply later to email questions. Could we set up at least some face-to-face meetings, perhaps not every week as during the semester, but every other week, except for the week you are at a conference?"
After all, your supervisor will be just as interested in hearing from you and knowing that you don't spend all of summer at the beach...
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The question is perhaps not whether to contact or not. You can send mails as much as you want and you may expect variations in the timing of a response. What, IS important is to communicate and organize work so that you optimize the time. There is no point in arranging your own work so that you definitely would need help when you simply cannot get it.
As for what you can expect, some of the answer lies in the employment conditions which will vary between universities and certainly between countries. In some cases university employees are not salaried during summer. In cases they cover this by applying for research money. It is clear that the focus will then be on other things. In other cases payment also cover summer and instead vacation is planned for some of that time. So, you need to know what the system is like in your part of Academia and expectations made up based on that.
In the end, I see it mostly as a communication issue. To just expect without actually finding out is not a good strategy.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It is our job to be available to our students!
I'll be gone for half the summer, and the half I'm in town I will be working from home. My students shouldn't expect to just look for me in my office and find me, but I will be very receptive to coming in and meeting as long as I am in town, and corresponding by e-mail otherwise. I suspect this scenario is reasonably typical.
"Expect" is a little bit of a dangerous word; I advise you to replace it with "ask for". Take the initiative in requesting meetings, asking questions, and the like. Don't overdo it --- but other people aren't shy about asking for your advisor's attention, I urge you not to be either :) Good luck!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: It's reasonable to email him and stay in contact that way. You're still working/researching and you need support from him.
What would not be reasonable is to expect immediate (ie, within 24 hours) replies.
If throughout the summer, he responds fairly quickly, and you feel that meeting in person would be beneficial to you, then ask.
However, keep in mind that he is probably planning on doing his own research during the summer as well and also is likely not getting paid to advise you during the summer. That doesn't mean you can't send him questions. It just means that the frequency of your emails should probably decrease during the summer.
I would also suggest that at some point during the summer (maybe after your trip to the archives) that you rest and relax. If you keep up a continual level of work and stress, sometimes one can't see a perspective on the work or the work becomes less interesting. I'm not recommending not studying, just make sure that you take care of yourself. Limiting how much you email your supervisor will likely also help with this.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/23 | 2,497 | 10,303 | <issue_start>username_0: I need some advice. After several months of interviews and work, I secured a faculty position at a good business school, which was a relief since jobs are so hard to get around here. Everyone tells me I'm lucky to get such a good job since I'm coming right out of grad school.
It's been about two months since I took the job, and I've started to receive teaching allocations etc for the coming semester. I should be really excited and happy about all of this, but instead, every time I think about starting this new job, instead of excitement I just feel awful: afraid, nervous, like I'm making a huge mistake and I want to cry. I can't figure out why. I feel like I'm supposed to want this and I just don't feel positive about it. I worked so so hard to earn it but now it doesn't feel like a prize. I just have this overwhelming sense that I'm going to be absolutely miserable. I don't know if it's just about the B-school thing, or academia in general, or just because I'm nervous about being a real adult for the first time, or because I know people who have had a hard time with teaching etc, but I'm confused that I can't tell these apart.
Am I naive for thinking that I should be excited and overjoyed about this job? Does it mean I'm a normal academic that I feel dread, or a terrible academic that I don't see it as an opportunity (besides the great salary)? Does it just make me a privileged a-hole that I'm expecting to feel joy but I don't? I would appreciate any words of advice, your experience with before job jitters/dread and whether it gets better or whether I may be making a huge mistake? So confused!<issue_comment>username_1: It's perfectly normal to feel the way you do. Part of it is likely fear of the unknown; part is fear of a new job with "adult" responsibilities; part of it might even be fear about whether you can do the job (the infamous Imposter Syndrome). Transitions are always a stressful time, and I don't think we give ourselves enough time to adjust.
This also reminds me of a survey that discovered that people who just got tenure are the unhappiest of all faculty. The similarity is in the striving for a prize that's difficult to get, and then getting it ! In both cases, there's an element of letdown, and "I did all this work for THIS ?"
One technique that I've found useful when dealing with these kinds of feelings is to try and focus on the concrete rather than the bigger picture: in your case, maybe focusing on logistics issues related to the transition rather than the bigger picture.
I've also found as a rule of thumb (both personally and with others) that it can take upto 6 months to feel some level of comfort in a new position. That's a long time.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: When I was in grad school, I worked as a resident advisor in the grad student dorms, and a big chunk of my job was to be there for other graduate students when they needed help or someone to talk to. My supervisor taught me to ask "What are your concerns?" when people came to me to express that they were afraid or nervous about something. I was quite amazed to see how often that calmed them down, because it turned out that they rarely actually had any specific concerns. It's not that they actually believed that certain specific bad things would happen to them, they were just nervous about being in situations they were not familiar or comfortable with.
I'm saying this because I note that you don't mention any specific concern in your post. Instead I read the familiar vague feeling of being "afraid, nervous, like I'm making a huge mistake and I want to cry". So I want you to think about this question: "What are your concerns?"
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Ok...
It may help you to know that
1. Women are much more prone to this sort of feeling than men *for no competence related reason at all.* It's just that society had conditioned you more to doubt yourself, to try to be perfect, and generally to introvert more - which is often a good thing, but not in this particular case.
2. Competent people are much more likely to worry about their competence than incompetent ones: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect>
Both these things are irrational! Accept that you feel this way and then say: *"So what? Frak it, I'm going to get up there and teach. I may not be perfect, but I'm going to make a solid plan and follow it, so rationally, nothing can go too far wrong. The students aren't idiots: if I miss something important, one of them will ask, and that will cue me to tell the others. This isn't landing a 747 or performing neurosurgery - there are plenty of opportunities to recover from my mistakes. Voices in my head, shut up already!"*
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Is this step on the critical path towards your long-term goals? It's good to think 20 years ahead. If you stay on this track, in 20 years' time you will be senior faculty, have N students, M publications, P dollars, H ideas for publications, non-quantifiable collaborations and disagreements with most international colleagues working in your sub-sub-field. Is this enough? Imagine this is now. Is this the best possible outcome for you? Most likely yes, because it is so for the majority. Then focus on the fact that you are on the right track.
If your dream is different or more specific, but it's necessary to have a faculty position for it, then keep working hard! Working hard is the only way to enjoy living to 100%!
Otherwise, revise your plan. Do you want two incompatible things? Then one has to give way. Don't let the path of least resistance dictate where you go. You are in control of your life, and this aspect was hard-earned by many generations of people who weren't, so don't throw it away too easily. Also, nobody really deeply cares about what steps you take to reach your goals, except you, so don't let the perceived 'opinion of others' dictate what path you take. However, the bigger the decision, the longer the cooling-off period before committing to it!
My best guess is that it is the reluctance people get when they are just about to spend a lot of energy on something. That should wear off over a few weeks after you dive in.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Skunkness, I hope you found the other answers helpful.
Do be honest, I do not find it normal that you feel like this at this point of time. And I think that one reason that you ask the question here is that you do not find it normal yourself.
In change management theory, I have learned that the first phase of a new challenge is normally excitement, even euphoria. The down phase comes some time after you started the new job, the moment when you find that - even if it was a really good choice you made - there are drawbacks, there's routine that you don't like and that there's a lot of work you still need to do before you really become excellent at the new job.
And it happens like this most of the time - I speak from personal experience, as well as watching other people on new assignments.
But that doesn't mean it must be like this. Still people are different.
I don't know if maybe women are different from men here, but I must admit that I immediately thought that you were female. And again sorry to say for all those who claimed gender has nothing to do with this problem: men and women are quite different in job behavior. I have supervised a lot of males and females, and there is a clear pattern: while men tend to overestimate their achievements, women underestimate them - cliche yes, but statistically true.
So maybe username_3 is quite correct with comment 1, and (s)he has made quite a point that it has nothing to do with your achievements and qualifications.
If username_3 is right, then you should not worry too much. This phase will pass. Look to cheer you up with something, pamper yourself a bit. Develop some routine you like - simple things like seeing where to get the best coffee at your new job, or maybe there's a nice place to take a stroll after lunch.
However, your current state could point to the fact that you are unhappy for some reason with your decision. I think you should ask yourself the following: are your feelings mostly connected with yourself? Then see this as a passing phase. You've done well, you have the job you wanted, and you are just a little exhausted.
If you find that these feelings are connected to certain details of the new job, then find out how you can improve these things.
Most important: you have a hard time behind you. You need some rest. Take your time now. Even if you find out that you made a bad choice - now is the time to collect energy. If you need to change your decision, give yourself some time first,
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I felt the same way when I was offered a full-time lecturer position. Get this -- it was even at an institution where I'd already been teaching for a decade, knew everyone involved, already taught all the same classes, was roundly supported by everyone in the department, and where I consistently said to everyone that I loved teaching there. I knew it was crazy, but I was totally morose for a few weeks in the summer before starting the new job title.
Here's the best I can process that: You're making a big life change, and one opportunity is being pursued, and some other possibilities are being left behind. It's probably natural (for some of us) to have a period of grieving. We're not kids anymore and one part of our life is behind us, with other parts now in better focus ahead.
So at least in my case, after the "wake" period, I've been finding my new position spectacularly better than before. The new things and added responsibilities and contacts are some things I've been missing out on for years, and the more I do the better it gets all the time. Of course, none of us are completely locked into any job permanently; if it turns sour for any of us we can look elsewhere and make a change. Judging on overall emotional trajectory, I would hope and bet that you'll have a great experience ahead of you; if you care enough to feel any emotion over it at all, then likely that's a sign you'll be a caring, sensitive, and successful teacher.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/05/23 | 329 | 1,501 | <issue_start>username_0: I received a request to contribute a book chapter about a month ago, which I turned down. This was from a university in another country, and from someone I have personally met.
Today, my own supervisor asked me to contribute a similar chapter to a book which she has been asked to be an editor of.
Given that the two requests happened in a relatively short time, and the reason I gave for declining the former request might still stand, would there be a problem if I accept the latter request, when I have declined the former?<issue_comment>username_1: This is not an ethical issue at all. You are free to contribute to whatever book / project you like. There is no obligation that you can't join a different book project just because you turned somebody else down before.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: As username_1 said, you are free to contribute to whichever project(s) you choose. Declining once does not obligate you to decline twice.
You commented that you have chosen to decline the first offer because of not having enough time. This second offer is coming from your supervisor, who presumably knows your work better, and should have a sense of what you may already have written which will need relatively little revising to become a book chapter. If this is the case, then even if the issue should somehow come up with the individuals involved in the first offer, it will easily be understood that the situation is different.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer] |
2014/05/23 | 1,893 | 6,175 | <issue_start>username_0: I'd like to download automatically tons of papers listed on .bib file so I'm trying to find a way to facilitate the process by, e.g. I import or input to a tool a certain .bib file which contains a list of literature, the output is the literature's .pdf file. Any idea to do so?<issue_comment>username_1: Mendeley can do this, though for non open access articles, you will get at most the abstract. Also, there's no guarantee on automatically getting pdfs, as this depends on user uploads.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: BibTeX is usually a very heterogeneous source of bibliographic references. URLs can be stored in several fields like 'url', 'howpublished', or 'citeulike-linkout-0', 'citeulike-linkout-1'... 'citeulike-linkout-n'. Moreover, some entries have a DOI, arXiv ID, PubMed ID or PMC ID and some don't.
As a developer of Paperpile I had the pleasure to dig into this over the last years, and there is no easy solution to a problem like this, but I think Paperpile comes close to a 'least effort' solution for the user. Let me explain
how you can handle such a task with Paperpile.
1. Simply upload the BibTeX file to Paperpile
2. Paperpile will automatically match the uploaded references against databases like PubMed or Google Scholar to get better bibliographic information. The key point here is that it will retrieve DOIs which point to the website of the article at the publisher.
3. You can then trigger automatic download of the PDF of these articles
The nice side effect is that you will have an updated bibliography with many of the articles being up to date and having the abstract. Of course, you can also export your references then again as BibTeX.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: [Zotero](http://zotero.org/) can import many formats, including \*.bib.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: You may don't like this answer but automatic download is explicitly forbidden by many publishers and can result in the ban of labs/campus access to the journals of the publisher. Such automatic download can made by e.g. EndNote (actually, it does it automatically in some settings), and done by some students in our lab - as a result, a bunch of IP addresses get blocked.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: In contrast to the freemium/proprietary tool suggested in the answer by username_2, I propose a FOSS solution that works reliably for this specific task.
Assuming you are connected to a network that provides permissions to legally download the required content, the cross-platform reference manager,`JabRef` has integrated fetchers to download full-texts for the entries in your library. Import your `bib` file into Jabref (maybe just start a new library for this task to keep things clean) and select the desired number of entries for which full-text PDFs are needed. Then, from the `Quality` pull-down menu, select `Lookup Fulltext documents`.
However, you still have to manually confirm all downloads. From the user's perspective, this requires just a bunch of clicking the `OK` button in the same on-screen co-ordinate (for pop-ups that appears sequentially for each citation entry). Jabref does all the heavy-lifting and correctly downloads the desired PDFs of the full-text and link each of them appropriately by matching to their relevant citation entry in the library.
The latest [master build](https://builds.jabref.org/master/) of Jabref is recommended, since there were some [recent fixes](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/issues/3966) to its IEEE fetcher (i.e. if IEEE matters to the OP).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Some of these answers are overtly incorrect. OpenURL is a publisher endorsed standard (amongst others, such as DOI), that was built to facilitate exactly this. There are subscription models which most universities sign up to for this. The issue around Schwartz and Scihub etc. is linked but it is possible to legitimately download many articles in an academic bibliography in a batch/automated fashion. Endnote is a commercial tool that specifically has a function which involves downloading full text, as an example.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: I have taken the script developed by <NAME> (<https://janikvonrotz.ch/2020/05/07/bulk-download-papers-from-scihub-for-text-mining/>) and updated it:
```
urlencode() {
# urlencode
old\_lc\_collate=$LC\_COLLATE
LC\_COLLATE=C
local length="${#1}"
for (( i = 0; i < length; i++ )); do
local c="${1:i:1}"
case $c in
[a-zA-Z0-9.~\_-]) printf "$c" ;;
" ") printf "+";;
\*) printf '%%%02X' "'$c" ;;
esac
done
LC\_COLLATE=$old\_lc\_collate
}
readarray list < ./doi-list.txt
for doi in "${list[@]}"
do
echo "Download for term: ${doi}"
echo "$(urlencode "${doi}")"
link=$(curl -s -L 'https://sci-hub.se/' --compressed \
-H 'authority: sci-hub.se' \
-H 'accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,\*/\*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.9' \
-H 'accept-language: en-US,en;q=0.9,es-CO;q=0.8,es;q=0.7' \
-H 'cache-control: max-age=0' \
-H 'content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' \
-H 'cookie: \_\_ddg1=BtxiJLnNZJLBkABn4hpt; session=97bea0eea9e31566256d52c73ff7f0c8; refresh=1632424058.9403; \_\_ddgid=ZhCUNBqgvzZw8NyO; \_\_ddgmark=fwbZCB5monJGgo14; \_\_ddg2=xmUHEIajmbeImx4L' \
-H 'origin: https://sci-hub.se' \
-H 'referer: https://sci-hub.se/' \
-H 'sec-ch-ua: " Not A;Brand";v="99", "Chromium";v="92", "Opera";v="78"' \
-H 'sec-ch-ua-mobile: ?0' \
-H 'sec-fetch-dest: document' \
-H 'sec-fetch-mode: navigate' \
-H 'sec-fetch-site: same-origin' \
-H 'sec-fetch-user: ?1' \
-H 'upgrade-insecure-requests: 1' \
-H 'user-agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/92.0.4515.159 Safari/537.36 OPR/78.0.4093.231' \
--data-raw "sci-hub-plugin-check=&request=$(urlencode "${doi}")". | grep -oP "(?<=//).+(?=#)")
echo "Found link: $link"
cd ./Downloads/papers/textmining && { curl -s -L $link -O ; cd -; }
done
```
This version accepts one URL (BibTeX URL field), PMI/DOI, or search string (BibTeX title field) per line in the input file
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/24 | 451 | 2,073 | <issue_start>username_0: My MSc thesis work in Computer Science involves developing a software solution for a particular problem for which already exist several solutions, in particular commercial software. I know I can't ignore them in my work and have to cite them, but I have no access to them, so I can't perform any comparisons to prove that my work will actually contribute to research in this field, rather than simply being another software program trying to deal with the problem.
What's the best approach in this case?<issue_comment>username_1: It's my experience that software companies attempt to secure intellectual property rights for their codes in the form of patents. This is especially true in the United States. You could attempt to find information about the subject matter that you are interested in using the publicly available US Patent and Trademark Office portal, PAIR.
A search on a company name - as applicant, or keywords in the title or abstract might get you somewhere. If you are successful, you will not - necessarily - find code. What you might get is an outline of how the patent's subject matter fits into the existing state-of-the-art. In this way, you can map out what these commercial vendors' software does and if your work will extend the subject.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If you want to shoot high, read their advertisement. If they want people to buy their stuff, they probably say something like `Recovered 78% of the data after feeding the hard drive to a white shark`. Note that this benchmark will be done in the best possible conditions for their specific algorithms, but will give you a nice high target. If you get anywhere close, awesome! If you beat them, tell them to hire you!
If this is not available, you may email the company and ask them for a benchmark or some sort of quality assurance.
Lastly, to state the obvious: have you tried to search for "[name of the program] benchmark"? Maybe someone with a licence has done it and posted it online or on a research paper.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/24 | 1,229 | 5,173 | <issue_start>username_0: As part of my work as a graduate student in maths I currently teach a basic second semester calculus course. It seems like every semester I teach, one or two students want some sort of special privilege to turn in homework late for a month or take a test a week after they are supposed to. Many times they have somewhat legitimate reasons (documented depression, getting a divorce, wife having surgery.....). How should I handle these cases? I am not big into putting up with lots of late homework or late tests, but then again I would want someone to be lenient with me if things such as the parenthetical reasons above arose in my life.
How should I handle students with such situations? Should I write them off and just feed them to the dogs or should I allow them to catch up at their own pace? My honest opinion is that school is a sort of competitive game (Bad, yes, I know) and if they lose they lose. We do not shorten the football pitch because some club's striker is not a good runner. However, I think students should be allowed to have a chance to make things right.<issue_comment>username_1: This is really up to you. You can be very strict and demanding or a total pushover. It's best to calibrate yourself against others in your department (or college) as there is usually some sort of rough standard / aka departmental culture.
Personally I have better things to do than to police students but other colleagues seem to relish this task.
What you shouldn't do is ever view your own "Rate My Professor" webpage [as you will despair for the minds and souls of your students].
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If people have a legitimate reason for wanting an extension of the deadline, I would simply give them the extension. If they cannot provide a good reason, i.e. they simply procrastinated too much, they have to take responsibility for their behavior, and they do not get the extension.
This has nothing to do with being a hard-ass, but being fair. Other people have done the work, and giving people that procrastinated an extension is not fair to them. In addition, getting work done that you where assigned (even if it is hard or boring) is a valuable lesson to teach a student. Their future boss will also not be sensitive to a missed deadline because of procrastination.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I usually create a few safeguards like telling everyone from the beginning that only the best 10 out of the 13 quizzes will count towards the grade (so you can just miss 3 and still get the full score), that I will average 2 other midterms if one midterm exam was missed for a good reason, and that everybody who aces the final (>95%) gets a decent grade even if he has performed poorly during the semester (this can be implemented in many ways). After that I allow no make-ups except for the time conflict on the final exam (this is out of my hands anyway and is governed by the general university policies).
The point is that I allow the students to take some time off without any effect on the grade, so if they encounter some temporary problem during the semester, they can easily compensate for it by doing well the rest of the time without any special arrangements or (sometimes awkward) explanations. On the other hand, if somebody tells me that his grandmother died on the date of the first midterm, his girlfriend left him on the date of the second, and he was hit by a car when coming to take the third, then I just suggest that he sort out his personal life before enrolling into the course.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I penalize late work **very** strongly: 2 marks out of 10 for each day late. This is to prevent a cascade of lateness from assignment to assignment. However that is for folks with no reason who just didn't get it done on time. When someone wants an extension, to write the midterm or final on a different day, or to have the marking scheme changed, and proffers me some reason for it like the ones you mentioned, **I send them to Special Needs** aka Student Services aka Disability Services etc.
Why? They are trained on this stuff. They know when to ask for a doctor's note and how to evaluate one. They can think of more creative solutions than just having more time. They know when someone is "playing you" and when they need help. That's their job and they're way better at it than I am. **When they direct me to accommodate, I do** with no qualms at all. I have been so directed for both physical and mental or emotional reasons.
We have a fair number of students ask to write a final early to accommodate a plane ticket they bought long in advance. I defer these to the departmental secretary, who knows all the students and their history. If she's willing to supervise you writing it, I'll compose a special one for you. If not, too bad.
This helps me, as an adjunct, because I don't know the students super well. I believe it also results in decisions that are fairer both to the student with a problem and the rest of the class. I have never had a complaint about this approach in the 12 years or so I've been doing it.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/24 | 655 | 2,876 | <issue_start>username_0: We submitted a paper to a journal published by Cambridge Press. The paper was submitted last year (2013). After five months we got the decision yesterday. We don't mind the decision, however, we are shocked by the editorial comments that although they have the reports they don't relay the reports to the author/s for papers which are not proceeding further. Is this approach common in journals? We feel this is very unethical from any author's point of view.<issue_comment>username_1: The reports are the property of the editor of the journal as they are the commissioning body. They do have the ability to share parts of the reports to the ms authors but they are under no **legal** obligation to. In some cases (especially with negative reports), the referees may ask that the editor to not share the comments.
There are really no grounds for effective mechanism to appeal this type of policy.
The best suggestion would be to go to another journal -- perhaps one with a faster turnaround time. And ask some of your colleagues to read your ms and see why it might not be getting the positive results you had hoped for.
Followup: The journal has no legal obligation to tell you why they denied your paper. They might have a moral one (such as the disciplinary association urging them to), but no legal one. If they have it written in their bylaws that they will, then of course they will, but there is no legal requirement to.
This is similar to universities not having a **legal** (as opposed to moral) requirement to tell you why they didn't hire you or private granting agencies not having a legal requirement to tell you why they didn't give you funding. Again, if their policies (or if there is a federal/state/local requirement, etc. then they will) dictate they they must, then they will but this is rare to non-existent for private institutions (including non-profits).
Source: I've sat on the editorial board of the flagship journal of my discipline (in the social sciences).
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I consider that not giving authors the ground on which the decision was taken to be both unethical and bad for science. How should the authors improve the paper if they don't even know why they have been rejected? How can they get a sense of what the community expects from them?
I am not alone in this: the International Mathematical Union issued ethical guidelines for journals, including that the default policy should be that referee's reports are forwarded to author. However many journals give the referees the opportunity to give comments solely for the editors, and some editors prefer not to forward some reports to avoid pissing off the authors. I never heard of a journal with a policy of never forwarding reports of rejected papers before; this sounds absurd or really cowardly.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer] |
2014/05/24 | 1,391 | 5,801 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm an undergraduate studying Mathematics & Philosophy in the UK, about to sit my third-year exams. My course is structured as a three-year self-contained BA and a fourth year 'integrated masters' with its own exams, which I automatically progress to as long as I get a [2.i classification](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_undergraduate_degree_classification) from my combined second- and third-year results.
I've not been a good student. My tutors consistently report that I'm clever and engaged but I've suffered real motivation and work ethic problems. My results in second year were poor, and while I'm reasonably confident I can get a 2.i in these exams I'm unlikely to achieve stellar results this year.
I'd like to have a shot at going on to further study. Obviously I would need to do well in my fourth year, and as well as is possible this year; that's a given. I'd like to know if anyone has any advice on other things I could do to 'rehabilitate' a potential application, both from the perspective of being a better candidate and with a view to getting reasonable references from tutors.
While I'd welcome general answers as well, for specificity the most likely further study I'd be applying to would be a masters programme (combination taught/research) in philosophy.<issue_comment>username_1: I can't speak to Philosophy programs so this may not be terribly useful to you, but in general, if your grades/marks are not stellar, and you exams are not either, then you should probably rely more on the power of recommendations from people who know your good traits well.
There are probably several ways to do this, and though I'm not sure about philosophy, in the sciences for example, a couple of years of volunteering in laboratory with one or two different researchers and making yourself invaluable to them can garner you major points.
I didn't do wonderfully in my studies either, and my exams were not fabulous, but I spent three years after graduating my undergraduate university volunteering in two different labs, and enrolling in evening courses to (a) try and do better in essential courses pertinent to my area and (b) demonstrate that I was serious about graduate studies because of my initiative in taking all these courses.
I ended up with three great letters and job opportunities, and later grad school (PhD) through working with these professors.
However, a word of caution: If your weaknesses really include motivation and work ethic, then post graduate study is not going to be fun for you. It's completely different than undergrad as there is way less structure, and you have to be very self-motivated, make your own deadlines, work all the time without people asking you to, and complete projects on your own. It's really hard. If you do decide that you can do it though, I suggest finding an advisor who will be more hands on.
Hope this helps a little!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't know the details about Phylosophy (the large majority of the population of this site seems to be STEM, unfortunately), so I will speak from my experience (first and second hand) in Physics and related fields.
Universities in the UK thrive to be fair and objective. Admissions are regulated by committees that put high weight in objective measurements: that is, your transcript mostly. Even if you had a brilliant last year in your master's, your bachelor record may hinder you to get a position, at least in the better universities. Spain is a more extreme case, where a score function of your academic record and, to a lesser degree, proven research experience (ie, publications, that very few undegrads ever get) is the sole parameter considered for a grant.
In other countries the system allows for a more flexible and subjective evaluation. Good memory and analytic skills may get you high undergraduate marks, but if you lack creativity and good thinking you will not be good at research.
In Sweden, the PhD student is normally chosen by the PI based on whatever criteria he decides. I believe the majority of them put high weight in the projects you have done as an undergrad or master, and how well they think you will be able to work together. Grades are not so important for many because until some time ago, most universities only have "pass" or "fail" marks. I know of cases of PhD students that were hired without their supervisors even looking at the transcripts, but had a very good masters project.
Bottom line: *if you were in STEM* (as I cannot know if this is extrapolable to you), if you apply yourself in the last year, you could have options in a lower tier (but perfectly reputable) university in the UK; but you would probably have better chances in other academic cultures. Improving your grades will always help (don't let them fall); but the best you can do now to make you show apart from the other candidates is to excel at your thesis.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I can say something about philosophy Postgraduate study in the UK. If you have a 2.1 By, you ought to be welcome onto a whole load of decent MA courses, though to be prepared for a major step up in expectations. Bristol and Edinburgh both have MAs in Philosophy and Mathematics, for instance. If this is where you want to go I'd email their PG contact in Philosophy, say you're on an exit velocity for a 2.1, though nothing spectacular, and would anything stop you applying?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Going straight from undergraduate work to graduate is not the only path (not sure what the alternative paths would be in philosophy exactly - but I can imagine they are many and varied). The years between undergrad and grad can certainly be used for reform. Recommendations can weigh very strongly.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/05/24 | 429 | 1,803 | <issue_start>username_0: I am possibly quitting my PhD. I am 2 years into my PhD and now I am writing a cover letter for an opening at a company. My question is, do I mention in the cover letter why I am quitting ? In my CV I just mention what I've done for the past two years and write that the PhD is not complete.
I feel like I need to mention it, because it feels like an elephant in the room. Also to avoid confusion I think I need to mention it. (e.g. They can think I tend to continue working on the PhD while I want to work there).<issue_comment>username_1: Yes. They are going to see it in your CV anyway and if you say nothing, it just looks like you are trying to hide something and they are going to assume the worst. I would tell them the reasons why I quit (e.g. what to do something applied, ...).
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You don't put your reason for leaving on your resume, this is instead an issue to be addressed in a cover letter and/or the interview itself. Your resume is a positive document, describing your strengths and qualifications and is designed for the sole purpose of landing an interview.
Instead, the appropriate place to explain your current situation and reasons for applying is in the cover letter. Here you summarize your key qualification and why you are applying for the job. Mentioning your ambitions to develop a career taking precedent over your PhD program should explain your resume plenty.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Why not just list it as "Additional Graduate Courses Completed" ....
Then put a list of the courses you completed.
Save the reasoning for the interview. There are many understandable reasons why people don't complete a Ph.D. {money, time, family, stress, other opportunities, etc. }
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/05/24 | 350 | 1,335 | <issue_start>username_0: I am considering applying for postdoctoral positions in the US.
However, I would like to find more information about
how it is like to be a postdoctoral scholar.
**Question 1:**
Is a postdoctoral position a full-year position (12 months)
or an academic-year position (9 months)?
**Question 2:**
How should I interpret postdoctoral salaries?
For example, an MIT postdoctoral information page (see [link](http://web.mit.edu/mitpostdocs/vpr_update.html))
lists the minimum postdoctoral salary
for a person with 0 years of experience at $42,000.
Is this salary for 12 months, or for 9 months?<issue_comment>username_1: In general, postdoctoral positions—unlike faculty positions (in the US)—are considered to be 12-month positions, with the salaries determined accordingly. You are not normally expected to provide your own funding for the summer months, nor are you expected to find outside employment.
If this is *not* the case, then it should be **explicitly** mentioned in the advertisement for the position. However, this is so rarely encountered that it would be very much outside the norm for postdocs.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Post-docs come under staff category not faculty, so it's always 12 months. More than 50% places expect you even too work in weekends.
Upvotes: -1 |
2014/05/24 | 612 | 2,492 | <issue_start>username_0: To provide a background, I am currently a Physics major and along the way I ended up getting really interested in Mathematics, so much that I'm now planning to do pure math in graduate school. Now, the problem is that, we are required to do a senior's thesis before we graduate, and I still don't have a topic in mind.
I actually worked a little bit with a professor in Theoretical Physics, I did bits of grunt work under him. I got exposed in Asymptotic methods when I was in his lab, and I got the idea that maybe I could do an undergraduate thesis about/using asymptotics. During the time I was working there, I was under the impression that he'll eventually talk about my thesis topic but he never even mentioned it (to be fair though, I never talked about it to him either), so now I'm kinda panicking that I might end up going solo in my research.
Now, in the case that he'll not accept to advice me on this , my question is, is it naive to even think about doing an undergraduate research that mainly involves Asymptotic Analysis/Methods when I've never even taken a formal course in it? To make the odds worse, it seems it's a graduate level topic, I am willing self study it though.
I want to know just how far I can go with doing research in a topic I haven't formally studied in a classroom setting, it doesn't really need to be Asymptotics or anything, I just wanted to do something that's theoretical, and that's borderline math, just so I'd be forced to learn as much math as I can during my last year in undergrad. I figured doing research in applied math is the best area to do work on since I'm still a Physics major.<issue_comment>username_1: To answer your question: it depends on the department and if you can find a supervisor.
It being a graduate level course or topic just means it may involve more work and the same is true for not having taken a formal course in it. If you do not mind the extra work (you shouldn't imho) it is no problem at all.
However, there are two questions left: Is someone willing and able to be the advisor for that topic? Is the research question suitable for your undergrad thesis?
So, talk to your (potential) supervisor about it.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: **Of course you can!** (I did. My advisor did. Most of my students did.)
Someone will have to agree to supervise your research, but that's true even if you *have* taken a course in your proposed research area.
Upvotes: 4 |
2014/05/24 | 599 | 2,546 | <issue_start>username_0: The faculty, of course, will not first hear from me over email - we have maintained semi-regular research-related meetings over the semester. I have not yet asked her to be my advisor, but now since the academic year has ended, I want to make this an *official* advisor-advisee relationship. I'm wondering if it would be bad form to just ask the question directly over email, as she doesn't seem to be around the department anymore. I should add that I am already a PHD student in the department, and funding is provided by the department, so I am not really asking for money either.<issue_comment>username_1: I would first send her an email asking when she might next be around campus and able to meet. If she responds that she's traveling (which is entirely possible now that the academic year is over), I think you can send a polite follow up asking her to be your official advisor.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't think it can be construed as bad form to contact a potential advisor by email. This is the way that I approached my advisor. I had completed a undergraduate course with him but he would not have remembered me due to class size and time lapsed. I drafted an email explaining the course I had taken under him, gave a very brief outline of my research topic (about 5 lines) and had another couple sentences as to why I thought he would be a good match as an advisor for that particular topic.
I would not expect (as in my case) a yes or no reply but if they are interested it would be assumed that they would email you back either looking for some more detail or to set up a meeting to discuss the proposal with you. You may have to wait some time for a reply but you could leave it a couple of weeks before following up. It may also be good to check with the department in case the person is on leave etc.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I don't think it's bad form at all - as long as you're concise and polite. I asked my PhD dissertation advisor via email (like you I already had a relationship with him) and he actually responded thanking me for asking via email, rather than springing it on him in person (where I guess it might be harder to say no or think about how it would fit into his current workload...). I just wrote a short email reminding him of my research topic, laying out why I thought he would be a good match, and asking him if he would consider being my advisor. He said yes via email, and so far (I'll be completing next year) it's all going great.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/24 | 612 | 2,314 | <issue_start>username_0: I have to write an official letter to a professor to explain my research interests and my research plan to him, so that he could evaluate my eligibility for support through a research assistantship.
would you please say which of the following sentences is better in order to finish my letter:
*I hope this helps. If you need further information, Please feel free to contact me at: My email*
*I hope this helps you evaluate my eligibility for financial aid better.*
*I hope this helps, please let me know if you need more information.*<issue_comment>username_1: As user11192 says, the closing sentence does not matter much. I'd advise you to focus on proofreading your entire letter. Not to be unkind, but there are typographical mistakes in two of your three closings:
>
> I hope this helps. If you need further information, Please feel free
> to contact me at: My email
>
>
>
The first letter in "Please" should not be capitalized.
>
> I hope this helps you evaluate my eligibility for financial aid better.
>
>
>
This is fine, except, as aeismail points out, financial aid is need-based, while you are applying for a job, which is presumably merit-based.
>
> I hope this helps, please let me know if you need more information.
>
>
>
This is a [comma splice](https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/2/1/34/).
In a closing, I would also thank the professor for his/her time:
>
> Please let me know if any further information would be helpful. Thank you for your time.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I think this is not important as long as he think you are eligible for his RA. The important thing is to show him that you have the ability to do research.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I would just say"Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. Should you need additional information, do not hesitate to contact me at ... (phone, e-mail, whatever). Yours, (your name)". "I hope this helps" sounds like it is you, who are doing him a favor by sending him all that stuff to read, which is hardly the case. On the other hand, I'm not a native English speaker, so take all I said with a grain of salt. And yeah, the outcome depends much more on what is in your explanation than on how the ending passage is constructed.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/25 | 597 | 2,647 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm not sure how to phrase the question exactly in the title, but the issue is essentially this. I gave some feedback for a subject I did, which I was told was confidential. The lecturer found out I gave the feedback and approached me about it. From what she said, they were able to piece together who I was from the examples I gave of my concerns.
I realised from their statements that the feedback was given directly to them, but with no names attached (I assume). I don't feel that this was adequately stated in the survey. Now while I no doubt they will be a professional moving forward in this situation, I cannot know for certain that they now hold a vendetta against me. Conversely, they could also inflate my marks to appease me as well. Either circumstance I think we can agree is not favourable.
I have already emailed the university about this some time ago, but never received a reply. The thing I am most concerned about is the lack of clarity about the feedback, I would not have included "incriminating" evidence had I known this was given to the lecturer's directly - though I am unsure if that was an incorrect assumption on my part.
Anyways, my question is: **should I chase this up or should I let it go?**<issue_comment>username_1: At most institutions in the United States, instructors are given their course evaluations in toto, only stripped of names. It's up to students to not write anything which would lead to deductive disclosure. But there's plausible deniability, so you could have feigned ignorance when she approached you (which was an entirely unprofessional thing to do).
If you are worried about retribution then speak to your chair or at the very least send an email note so that you have a paper record of your concerns.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If it appears that the lecturer is not being impartial when it comes to assessing your work, you should follow that up. As for "following up" how the feedback was obtained and provided to the lecturer, there really is nothing to follow up. In many cases the policies are set by the university. You could attempt to rally a student movement to institute a different policy, but you would really have to demonstrate that the new policy provides better learning outcomes or really upsets your fellow students. It is not uncommon for universities to solicit open comment feedback from students and then distribute those comments unfiltered to the lecturers. Many universities only provide the feedback after the exams, put it is equally common to provide the feedback to the lecturer immediately.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/25 | 588 | 2,381 | <issue_start>username_0: In a previous book I wrote, I submitted the entire manuscript along with a couple page proposal to a few different publishers. Both editors never responded to me.
In my current book, I sent the entire manuscript with a short description to an editor at Springer, and it has been two weeks, and I have heard nothing, not even an acknowledgement of receipt.
Am I doing something against proper procedure?
Update: I emailed the editor again asking her if she received the manuscript, and she said she did. She was just on vacation. (I guess Europeans take longer ones than those in the U.S. are used to…)<issue_comment>username_1: Did you follow the [book proposal guidelines](http://www.springerpub.com/resources/Authors/Book-Proposals#.U4H9xMKx7cs) for Springer? It does not include sending the entire manuscript but does include items like:
* Author
* Author CV
* Any other contributors (include CVs)?
* Who's the audience including undergraduate or graduate
* What book do you see as the main competitor?
* 3-4 paragraphs describing the contents of the book
* Unique Selling Points (why should someone buy this book)
* etc.
Note: I'm not sure that I've linked to the book proposal guidelines for your area, but they surely exist.
Second Note: Geremia provided a link to the [book series webpage](https://www.springer.com/series/5710#). Poking around on the page and tracing links, I did find a general [manuscript preparation page](http://www.springer.com/gp/authors-editors/book-authors-editors), but nothing on what the proposal should look like. I maintain that unless they tell you explicitly to send the entire manuscript, you should send a brief proposal or even a query ("are there guidelines I should follow?") to the editor first.
Based on blogs and articles that I've read by fiction editors and agents, not following published guidelines for a submission is one of the top pet peeves and a quick way for your submission to get deleted or tossed in the recycle bin.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I am pretty sure the author meant different Springer:) if there is no reply, try calling the editor you find via contacts listed for each discipline at springer.com
In any case, do always mention that the proposal was also sent to xxx, so as to avoid more editors arranging reviews for the same proposal
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/25 | 844 | 3,429 | <issue_start>username_0: I want to give up my current PhD program, which I started 5 months ago, because I really do not like my current advisor's personality and working style. He lives a relaxed life and has no enthusiasm for science after getting tenure. He does not have funding and never releases decent papers because he does not work hard.
But I like my current direction. So I want to give up my PhD and switch to the master's program - as I have nearly finished all the coursework, and I do not want a gap in my CV - and then apply to a new school, as there is no other professor in my school doing work in my direction.
My question is: how can I tell him that I want to leave the PhD program? I do not want to tell him the true reason, because I want him to write a recommendation for me, and I think he likes me.<issue_comment>username_1: If you want a good reference the only thing you can really try is to tell him the subject does not suit you at all and fit your new found plan to become an x, y or z. Your supervisor may wonder why you are asking for a reference to go do some similar course if you do that after telling him you hate the subject, though...Your supervisor may try to persuade you to stay, in which case you could negotiate he stop doing whatever is annoying you or just keep firm with your decision.
What you must not do is fake family death or personal illness. You will in all likelihood, need to prove those have happened, especially if you want a reference.
Personally, I think not liking your supervisor is a terrible reason to quit your PhD. You will always have to suffer fools in life, that is just part of being an adult.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: Tell him why you're even more excited about the places to which you're applying.
>
> At University X, Dr. Y is doing groundbreaking work in Z, and has published three papers in Prestigious Journal With A Latin Title in the last two years alone. Her students are also proving amazing results and speaking all over the world about them, and one of them just got a job at Top-Class University W. Every week they have a seminar where they discuss blah-blah-blah... [etc., etc.]
>
>
> I'm grateful for all the opportunities you've afforded me here, and I think that X,Y, and Z would be an even better fit for me.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: It seems that you have been [wondering whether you had chosen the right advisor](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14760/choose-a-professor-to-work-with), ever since you started your PhD 5 months ago. You didn't even like your subject then.
Earlier I commented that I was not sure if what you described would be a valid reason to leave your PhD program. Given that you have struggled with this decision for the last 5 months and you have not seen any improvements except that now you like your subject, it could well be the right decision to leave. I must quickly add, though, that many PhD students have had minimum guidance from their advisor, yet they persisted. This is something you need to decide yourself, and it seems that you are determined to leave, and that is fine.
What you must not do, as others have commented, is to lie to your advisor. Do not think about getting a recommendation from him. First, I don't think it is necessary, and second, it will help you be more objective in conveying to him your reason for leaving.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/25 | 856 | 3,874 | <issue_start>username_0: When working on an assignment (e.g. essay, report), is it allowable or ethical to reference (as in both "read" and "cite") previous students' submissions for that assignment? For example, the student may have a friend or relative that sat the subject previously and is happy to share their assignments.
From my understanding, unless the teaching institution has an explicit policy, this should be allowable assuming the referencing is done correctly. So saying, it may not be the best educational experience, as the student may not undertake the critical thinking and research the assignment expects.
To be clear, I am not talking about referencing assignments of students currently studying that subject. That is clearly collusion.
I also assume the student attained previous submissions with consent from all the authors. However, I do not assume that all students currently working on the assignment have access to all past submissions.<issue_comment>username_1: I think it is both ethical and within the rules (or at least it is within the rules at my university) as long as the reference is clearly cited.
Furthermore, it should also be fine with current students as long as the work is cited too.
For example for undergraduate experimental lab course I took during my 3rd year, I worked on an experiment with 2 other students working on the same experiment independently. We each had to write a project report on the results we obtained during the experiment.
Only one of us managed to get a particular dataset for a part of the experiment that was sensitive to conditions and difficult to get results on. In that situation we were able to used that student's data so we could discuss their result in our report (as long as we cited the person who actually obtained the dataset, of course).
In a seperate experiment I let someone use a java code I wrote for the analysis. This was also fine, because the person cited me when they used my code in their report.
I think if the handin were supposed to be completely independently written (e.g. a math problem sheet) it would be collusion to reference older (or current) work but that is generally acceptable to cite anything (past student work or otherwise) in work which you would normally expect to see citation (e.g. essay or report).
If you have assessment regulations, there is probably a clear indication of what your university expect in there. That would not be able to tell you the answer to ethics part of this question but otherwise might be able to tell you the rule at your College or University.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I agree with username_1's answer as far as it goes; I don't think it's *unethical* to reference work done by past students in your own work.
However, my worry would be that, except perhaps in certain specific environments, "work done by past students" is hardly authoritative. Courses for my degree, at least, only accept certain types of sources, mostly published books, certifiably authoritative websites, and of course journal articles.
In other words, I don't see a problem with reading past work, and of course mentioning that you have read it, but I personally wouldn't be comfortable with *citing* that work as a source.
Of course, this becomes less applicable the further up the education system you go; if you're writing a dissertation, you'll almost certainly be referencing past dissertations.
---
That said, the important question here, on a practical level, is whether or not *your instructor* thinks that reading or citing past students' work is ethical, not whether it actually is.
I'd advise caution; an email to whoever assigned the work, or a trip to their office, is more than worth the effort, considering the possible consequences if they eventually do decide that this is collusion.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/25 | 595 | 2,570 | <issue_start>username_0: Is it academic to tell the reader in the introduction what the essay is about directly?
For example, after some introductory ideas, you tell the the reader this essay or section discusses so and so.
Or should the writer end the introduction with the thesis statement that indirectly tells the reader what the essay is about?<issue_comment>username_1: I'm not sure what you mean by "essay", but for an academic paper in general, the reader should be told a minimum of four times what the paper is about and what your contribution is. This should be stated in (1) the title, (2) the abstract, (3) the introduction, and (4) the conclusion.
That is a typical North American style. In some academic cultures, such as Northern Europe where I'm sitting, it's common to not do any of that. In a typical paper here, you can read all of the four parts mentioned above and still have no idea what the author is bringing to the table. You're guaranteed to annoy many readers that way.
So my answer to your question is: Tell the reader as soon as possible what the point and punchline of your paper is. The reader doesn't want a mystery novel, he wants to know as soon as possible whether your paper is worth reading.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: There are many ways to structure an introduction. However, in the context of psychology I am familiar with the two broad approaches you mention to writing an introduction.
In psychology, students are often taught to write lab reports using an **hour glass structure** where they start broad and then narrow in gradually into stating aims and hypotheses at the end of the introduction. This structure can really annoying to read, because the purpose of the paper is not immediately clear.
Personally, I prefer the **opening-body-currentstudy** structure for an introduction.
Specifically, the opening section of the introduction contains around three paragraphs that cover the importance of the work, a little context, a little bit of the gap, and importantly **the aims of the paper**. The introduction then reviews relevant literature, and culminates in a statement of a brief description of the current study ([see here for a little more discussion](http://jeromyanglim.blogspot.com.au/2009/12/how-to-write-introduction-section-in.html)). Thus, in the opening few paragraphs, you might have a paragraph that begins: "The purpose of this paper is..."
The general principle is: Make it easy for the reviewer/reader to see what is the novel contribution of the paper.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/05/26 | 1,357 | 5,838 | <issue_start>username_0: I have recently been updating my academic CV. I realise that some items are not as internationally recognised as to that every reader will be aware of their importance without googling them. Hence, I am thinking about inserting hyperlinks to those items lest the reader wish to learn more.
Now, many items on my CV are clickable, and a reader particularly interested in one item may now just click on it to see a webpage with more details to pop up.
However, I rarely see a CV with many hyperlinks behind those words/phrases. Is this a taboo, or I am OK to do so?<issue_comment>username_1: As long as it does not reduce readability, I don't see any reason for not including hyperlinks.
Readability is of course about format. As a personal preference, I would not like to read a document where all words are in blue and underlined, or equation numbers in a red square. So you have to find a way to make the links discreet (but still easily noticeable by the reader).
Readability is also, and mainly, about the content. Be sure your content is still clear when your CV is printed (or in case links are broken). Also, try to keep links meaningful. In particular, keep all your links high-quality: if links to your publications or to the diploma system of your home country will help for your evaluation, you would ruin all your effect if these links are "drowned" in a sea of meaningless links.
Did you consider about tool-tips instead of some links? It will still provide some information, but with the drawback of having to load a new page.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I agree: most academic CVs do not have a festival of hyperlinks. I don't see a problem with it, unless -- as @username_1 says -- the large amount of hyperlinking creates clutter in the document. For something like a CV, where the spacing on the page is highly adjustable, I would think that you could probably have even a highly hyperlinked CV and take a little care to make sure that it does not look too busy to the eye.
I can tell you though why I don't feel the need to hyperlink my CV (and I imagine the reason holds more generally). It's simple: I also have a webpage, and anything which appears on my CV which could get linked to also appears on my webpage. Further, the translation between the two is straightforward: I have a section of my CV listing papers, and I also have an immediately visible link to a subpage containing papers from [my main webpage](http://alpha.math.uga.edu/%7Epete/) (which, as you can see, is no frills to say the least, but it seems to get the job done).
Although I am certainly no expert on the visual display of information, webpage design (you'll know that immediately if you clicked on the above link) or anything like that, it is my opinion that a webpage is a more natural medium to have clickable content than a CV.
I think every young academic should have a professional webpage. If they do have one, I'm not sure that a heavily hyperlinked CV is necessary, although again I see no harm in it.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: General advise would be, yes, include links but do not rely on them for key information. You do not necessarily know if the recipients read the electronic version or a printout. If it is a printout, it is very unlikely that people will key in URLs to look up information, unless *they* are interested. In for, example a job application, your application may be one of a large number and there may not be time to spend on looking up information that should have been included directly in the first place. Remember it is you responsibility to yourself to provide everything the reader of the CV may want, not the other way around.
So although, there is no problem with including links, think twice about what information you link to and what you actually put in your CV.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Another option is to keep most (if not all) hyper-links the same font and colour as the rest of the text. Most PDF readers change the cursor icon when hovering over a hyperlink, so if the reader expects something to be a hyper-link (such as an email address or DOI), they should easily discover that it is indeed a link.
It will not be so obvious that some less crucial links exist, but for the eagle-eyed viewer *they are there*. For those who are just quickly scanning the document, the links won't introduce distracting clutter.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: I would advise against including *any* hyperlinks in your CV. There is very good chance that your CV will be printed out for consideration and it is at this point that you need to have your CV shine so you should design your CV to be read on paper rather than on screen. Hyperlinks, by necessity, will want to be formatted differently from the surrounding text but this will look odd in a printout where the links are non-functional and add no benefit.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: Include hyperlinks for things that can't be Googled, or examples of your actual work.
Links to general information aren't helpful and clutter links to the real meat of your work. The odds of someone clicking a link on your resume are slim, so make it count if they do.
Unless you are a graphic designer, no competent hiring manager cares about the design or colors of your CV.
After some research on this and having interviewed dozens of candidates, that's what I came up with :-)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: You can include hyperlinks. But make sure that it does not affect readability and do not assume that the reader will click on the hyperlinks. The reason is that often some recruitment committee will just print out your CV to discuss about it. Moreover, some persons may just not want to click on hyperlinks if there are many.
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/05/26 | 918 | 3,894 | <issue_start>username_0: There is a published research paper I would like to read. The website it is published in, charges what I think is quite a lot of money, considering that I won't use this for research or work.
I want to read this paper because its about a subject I am really interested in, but has nothing to do with what I study. I am a software engineering student and had never participated on any kind of research and I do not quite understand how all this things work.
So, the question is: is it right to ask for a copy of this paper to its author? If it is, how should I do it?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't think that it could be a problem to ask politely for a copy of this paper. It is understood, however, that you are polite and say thank you.
So, if you are interested, you should show it that way. It doesn't hurt to ask.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: There is an issue with this question in that one request "is no request" but if this becomes systematic, each author starts to become a "server" for their papers. I am sure no-one would want to end up in that situation.
I personally do not mind if someone asks for a particular paper as long as they also engage in some scientific discussion on why they want it. There is of course no rule that says you must do that other than common courtesy. Fortunately, I am not in a position to get many requests but back in the day of paper reprints, it was known that some persons (still scientists) were simply collectors who wrote and asked for every paper that was published.
So in the end, if you really have use for a specific paper and you have a hard time finding it, don't hesitate to ask. Saying a few words about why you are interested in the paper may start up a positive conversation on the topic and your interest. The main point is: make it a positive event.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: Use a search engine to see if there's a free copy online – many authors put their papers on their own websites and, in some fields, on ArXiv or other repositories.
Ask your university's library if they already have access to a free copy online or have it on paper – libraries subscribe to as many journals as they can afford to and may also be able to obtain a copy from another library at less cost than from the publisher.
If neither of those options work, politely email the corresponding author (if there is one, or any author, if there isn't) and ask for a copy.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: I am always thrilled when someone asks for a copy of one of my journal papers, because I have adopted the pessimistic view that this stuff never gets read. So yes, feel free to ask, so long as you are polite. And as someone else pointed out, it wouldn't hurt to indicate why you want to read the paper.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: Yes.
I've asked authors for copies of papers several times, always with a note about what in my own research led me to take an interest in that particular paper. The authors have always said yes. One even dug up an old paper copy and scanned it for me. I got the impression each time that they were delighted to hear that their work was relevant and interesting for new scholarship.
Usually the authors' agreements with their publishers allow them to make single copies on request, so legalities are not normally a problem.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Yes, from the authors' point of view it won't hurt to send the paper to someone who asks nicely (unless the corresponding author is the top scientist in the field and gets many unsolicited emails).
Check whether the author has profiles in research networks such as <https://www.researchgate.net> and ask them through the site's options. This is particularly better for those who keep their profiles up to date, as it gives you more potential of a networking than a mere email.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/26 | 889 | 3,980 | <issue_start>username_0: I am roughly in the following situation (field: physics/mathematics, location: Europe):
I have enough credits to finish my undergraduate degree this year if I want to. I can also choose to stay as an undergrad for another year.
I have done almost all undergraduate courses at my university that interest me, so I would be doing graduate courses 90% of the time.
With some extra work, I could obtain a master's degree at my university. However, I could also apply for a PhD program immediately after finishing undergrad next year, without getting a master's degree first.
Not counting research experience, is it advantageous to 'formalize' one's graduate courses by getting a master's degree, from the viewpoint of career opportunities?
I am not sure about this because on the one hand, a master's degree may give other people a better indication of one's ability, but on the other hand admissions committees and such may be more demanding from students with a master's degree.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> Not counting research experience, is it advantageous to 'formalize' one's graduate courses by getting a master's degree, from the viewpoint of career opportunities?
>
>
>
For industry, yes, it is advantageous to get the Master's degree if you're doing basically the same work. The Master's degree is generally considered a terminal professional degree for many industries, so there's some value in getting that rather than just a Bachelor's degree.
For academia, no, it's typically not advantageous. Most US-based PhD programs will require you to do core coursework roughly equivalent to a Master's degree regardless of whether or not you already have one. (I do not know enough about European programs to comment on them.) They will also typically present you with an opportunity to earn a Master's on the way to your PhD. Thus, getting one before you start a PhD program at another university is, perhaps, redundant. The only exception is if you are planning to switch your focus a bit. For example, you might get a Master's in Public Health and then start a PhD program in Computer Science focusing on applying computer science research to public health problems.
You also mentioned that you were interested in a PhD, but wanted solid letters of recommendation so that you could have a reasonable chance at a top university. The best way to do this may not be through coursework. Obviously, coursework is important, but you may find that working with a research group as an undergrad allows you to more closely interact with a faculty member and get a more personal letter of recommendation. Professors write letters of recommendation for students based on coursework all the time, but it's more rare for them to write one for an undergraduate with whom they have worked on research projects. Also, this would allow you to determine whether or not you enjoy research and learn a bit more about what you would like from a graduate school. Research is quite different from coursework. It's more of a career than a school experience.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: In Europe, the answer depends on your field and what kind of PhD you apply for but generally (and especially in the UK) **a candidate with a masters is more competitive when applying for the PhD** and will be more likely to progress to interview.
The reason for this is that with a masters degree you are expected to have completed an extended piece of project work and small thesis. This reassures the admissions committee that you understand the undertakings of a PhD and what it will require and have developed those skills (beyond book learning). The biggest benefit of the masters in the eyes of the PhD admissions committee is not the extra and fairly broad knowledge (a PhD is, after all, very specific) **but the experience of planning and undertaking an independent project and writing/presenting a high quality report on it.**
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/26 | 373 | 1,523 | <issue_start>username_0: I have missed my makeup exam this semester. We are given 3 chances at my university to pass a course, 1 regular, a retake and a third exam for those who failed the previous 2 ones. I missed the third exam because of work, and because I almost never able to keep up any schedule.
I wrote an email to my professor to let me retake it, but because I wrote my email at the same time as the exam was, my professor deems it unfair to give me another chance in this.
If I was not a problem student I would agree with his decision, but I spent half a year in a psychiatric ward because I was unable to visit any kind of community, and in this very semester with the help of tranquilizers I almost attended all of my lectures.<issue_comment>username_1: You should ask Disabled Students Services at your university for help. They can help with even recalcitrant faculty.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: From what I can gather from the question and comments is that you missed the first exam, the resit, and the resit-resit due to some serious psychological issues and you have asked the Professor for a 4th shot and he said no. At this point there is no reason for you to try and convince the Professor to change his mind. Your university likely has a clear policy on missed exams (especially when you miss all three standard opportunities). You will either qualify for a 4th shot or not under the policy. You "student services" office will be able to help you file the proper paperwork.
Upvotes: 4 |
2014/05/27 | 816 | 3,544 | <issue_start>username_0: I am an Indian undergraduate student completing my BTech in Industrial Engineering in one of top three universities in India. I am planning to move on to physics for graduate school and I have a proper profile for it with research projects and internships in physics. I am confident I would get accepted to a good graduate program for physics, probably in the United States.
After browsing through the forums I found, it appears that a masters or PhD in physics is not a very lucrative option in terms of career. I in fact read that people are still in search of jobs after their PhD for three or four years. I also heard engineers have significantly greater career security after their graduation. So I am considering a double major in Physics as well as in Engineering to increase my future job prospects. I am determined focus on Physics in my masters program so it seems I should either to major in Physics and minor in Engineering or major in both. My primary job preference would be in the field of Physics academia, but wouldn't mind shifting to other areas.
*What is the best choice of undergraduate major/minors to provide me the best career prospects?*<issue_comment>username_1: I have heard that it is challenging to find academia jobs in physics in the US. However, industry may be very different. Financial firms, scientific modeling, consulting, and tech companies are very open to hiring physics grads. Having the degree shows that you're intelligent and can think critically, though you wouldn't necessarily be working on physics projects. Having another degree in engineering or cs would only help.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: At least in Europe, and probably in the US too, physicists are highly considered in industry, the unemployment rate is almost a technical zero. Doing research is another different beast: there are not so many positions, and you have to fight for them. Also, Academia not a very lucrative career path: a first job for a physicist or an engineer in industry may grant them 3-4 times more than in grad school (depending on the conditions), and it continues onwards.
I see you are eager to study both degrees, which is commendable, knowledge never hurts. What you need to consider is the costs, both economical (can you afford the university?) and in effort (can you really do both degrees at the same time?). Both degrees are difficult, and will take a great emotional toll.
Some universities offer double degrees, where you end having both titles, and the subjects are (hopefully) sorted and arranged in the most convenient way for the student. For example, in Physics and Maths you need linear algebra; in a double degree you would only take the courses from Maths, as the ones in Physics are a subset. If the university does not have this arrangement, you may find yourself doing the same subjects twice, that may lead to added frustration.
Another cost are the grades: doing two things means you cannot do them both so well. Some admission put hard thresholds on the grades, and they may or may not consider your second degree as a sufficient merit to lower it. On the other hand, and provided the grades are not very damaged, almost any employer will see it as a great CV boost and will make it easier to get an industrial job.
As a last advice: if you go for it, be aware of your limits and ready to drop one of them if things get difficult before it brings you down. A degree and a half is a merit, two three-quarter degrees are two failures.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/27 | 888 | 3,801 | <issue_start>username_0: I have found an interesting paper which is very relevant to my research. After reading the abstract in English, I would like to continue to read through the methodology and its discussions. However, only the abstract is available in English, and the content is in another language which I don't know.
I really want to read through the content as some of the figures are very interesting to me. I have tried to translate it using Google Translate, but it is very difficult to understand.
**Is it appropriate to send a polite email to the author, asking for a translation of your paper in English? Does the author have the obligation to do so?**<issue_comment>username_1: As far as I'm aware there is no obligation to provide a translation of a published paper from one language to another.
I think it would be rude **to ask** for a translation of a paper. However, it would generally be fine to **enquire** as to whether such a translation exists, or whether similar work has been published in English.
More broadly, it may be in the author's interests to provide an English translation in order to increase the impact of his or her work.
If the work is really important to you, you could always pay for a translation. At the extreme end, perhaps where there are a large number of important works in a particular language, you may even want to learn the language.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is it appropriate to send a polite email to the author, asking for a translation of your paper in English?
>
>
>
The answer to almost any question that starts with "Is it appropriate to send a polite email" is yes. You are of course allowed to ask.
That being said, if there is no English translation of the paper already available, to which the author can just point you, I am pretty certain that the answer will be "no". It seems very unlikely that the author translates an entire paper on your request into your language, basically so that you don't have to.
>
> Does the author have the obligation to do so?
>
>
>
**Of course not** (and I strongly suggest not indicating anything along that line in the polite mail you are writing).
Let's assume for a second the paper is actually written in English, but you are a native speaker of a not very common language (Swedish, for instance). Assume further that your English is not very good and you cannot understand the paper well. You wouldn't feel entitled to having the author produce a Swedish version of the paper for you, would you?
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: It is in an author's interest for his/her work to be read and cited; this is the reason most authors will be happy to hear from someone who is interested in their work (it is, after all, a potential citation-in-waiting…).
With a bit of luck, one of two things happens:
1. She already has a translation of the work (or something close to it) which she happily shares
2. She is willing to work with you on coming up with a good translation. This will involve some work on your part - she provides a "poor English" version which is sufficient for you (who are an expert in this field) to grasp; and in return for her help, you edit the document into a "good English" paper which you send her to say thanks for the help (so the next person gets option 1). You might even collaborate on improving the work and turn it into a joint publication in an English language journal.
An outcome such as the above would be a win-win. The only way to find out is to send a polite email.
There is NO OBLIGATION on the part of the author to respond or provide a translation - but assuming that she takes her role as an academic seriously, she ought to be happy to help you come to an understanding of her work.
Upvotes: 3 |
2014/05/27 | 580 | 2,448 | <issue_start>username_0: If someone has a PhD contract in France and wants to work during summer for instance, is it fine if that person receives any external support during that time, outside the PhD contract support?<issue_comment>username_1: I am not familiar with the French law, but if you are an employee and don't have an exclusivity contract, it should be fine. If you are funded by grants, they may require the student to not have other sources of income, in which case it will be stated on the conditions. I don't see any reasonable reason for this to be limited, but law works in mysterious ways.
If the person in this situation is already employed, the safest option is to contact the legal services of the university. If they are not easily available, a careful reading of the contract should do the trick.
If the person is thinking about applying for this, the eligibility conditions should state if the successful candidate cannot be working at the time of hiring.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: You most likely signed a contract for your research grant and/or a teaching assistant position. The conditions for a job during vacations should be listed in the part of the contract about vacations. Since there are many possible grants with their own conditions, it is difficult to be more precise. For example, as state workers, elementary schools teachers can have another work during their vacations, but with a lot of restrictions; I guess that state-funded grant have similar restrictions.
In any case, the first thing to do is to ask your PhD advisor, your doctoral school or the person in charge of contracts in your university administration.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: It depends on the work you plan to do (see [here](http://media.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/file/Doctorants/23/7/circulaire_24_juin_2009_doctorants_contractuels_117237.pdf), paragraph IX).
* You are NOT allowed to do extra activities of the kind that could be part of your PhD contract (teaching, diffusing scientific information, expertise...). If you want to do this kind of work, it needs to be under your PhD contract.
* For the other cases, you need to obtain an authorization from your employer. If your employer is the university, they will ask your advisor's opinion and evaluate whether the extra work risks compromizing your PhD before making a decision. I don't know if such authorizations are commonplace.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/27 | 1,395 | 6,333 | <issue_start>username_0: My supervisor has asked me to stay in a lab in a foreign country for a few months. That lab has some collaboration with us but their research is actually not related to mine. I don't know why my supervisor asked me to go, but I think it would be a great chance to broaden my experience so I did not complaint.
Besides travelling around the city and knowing new friends, what should I prepare and what should I do there to utilize this opportunity to help my PhD? I hope this opportunity can both benefit me academically and personally.<issue_comment>username_1: A few months is a fairly long time, and that could either be good or bad. There's no easy answer. You must quickly do some research and find out what other benefits you might get from spending time there. It could be very boring and take away valuable time from your schedule, but frankly it can be whatever you choose to make of it. Being prepared and having a "can do" attitude, then, is crucial. Alternatively, you can always recluse there and get a lot of private thinking and writing done! Also, some of the travel benefits are obviously personal enrichment and growth, but we're talking here more about academic benefits. (These may intersect!)
Most importantly in my mind, foreign academic experience provides a different context to the research that you are already doing. Universities are usually multi-cultural places, and you may meet a lot of international students who will give you useful perspectives in addition to the host lab members. Email and join in activities with the international student society that they will no doubt have! We are global citizens, and to be a prominent and respected scientist in the future you will be expected to have a global presence. So, understanding global perspectives on your work is valuable.
That said, if you will be visiting a tiny country with little academic infrastructure or funding, this may not be a particularly relevant point. But if it's a well known university, or in a "bigger" country, then you should get some valuable perspective from it in this way, which will also improve the value of putting this experience on your CV.
Participating in nearby conferences, or at asking to give a research presentation at the host institution (e.g. just a regular department seminar), all looks very good on your CV. It's usually a "given" that you will at least be able to give a departmental seminar if you visit.
Finally, as a PhD student, it's sometimes hard to get adequate breadth of experience about your research area while working in one lab with one mentor. Look for the connections with your collaborator, not the differences. Realize that this is an opportunity to get "free" input on your work and advice about the broader field from people who care about similar things. You will probably learn some insightful, useful (maybe even surprising) things about your mentor's personality or scientific approach that will help you become more independently minded and mature as a scientist.
Maybe the perspectives of your host lab will help you broaden your appreciation for what you should aim for in your scientific career. There are a lot of bigger, inter-related questions beyond what your current lab cares about, which you might not yet be able to appreciate with your prior background.
Lastly, as an extra incentive, remember that your hosts might be your future peer reviewers or writers or recommendation letters! Personal networks are very important in academia, even if sometimes there is some scientific disconnect between the everyday work that you do.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: This is standard practice in Denmark (where I'm currently located). All PhD students are essentially required to spend 3-6 months at a foreign institution. Similarly we host a large number of PhD students in our department for stays of about this length. So, this is a question that's pretty relevant.
To take advantage of this opportunity you have to think about what you personally hope to get out of it. I'd say there are several possibilities:
1. Discussing your research with people outside of your lab and narrow subfield. This can be a great opportunity to get novel feedback and insights. But, you need to make sure you actually have the chance to do this. Does the lab you're going to have regular meetings? Do you have a chance to present your work? Will you be able to go to local workshops/meetings/conferences at the host institution? We sometimes have students who end up not getting a lot of face time with members of their host institutions, which is unfortunate and you want to avoid that.
2. Learning whether there are other areas of your discipline that are interesting besides what you're currently working. Presumably after you're done with your PhD you'll have to move somewhere else. This may require you "branch out" slightly from your current research work into related areas. This might be a good opportunity to learn about somewhat related work and get some knowledge that might help you start a new project, or land a postdoc or assistant professorship in the future.
3. Getting a feel for another department. All departments and labs are different. They have different culture, different norms, different levels of social interaction, etc. This is a great time to see how another lab/department/university works and via that experience get some insight into aspects of that environment (and your home institution) that you do and do not like. This can be valuable for deciding what kind of environments you'd like to be part of in the future.
4. Networking. Going to another institution is a great way to broaden your network. But, you need to make sure you'll actually get a chance to meet people. You don't want to end up going somewhere and just sitting in your office the whole time alone. Make sure there's a network of PhD students you can meet while you there and that you make a concerted effort to meet with faculty. And, outside of work, try to make some friends.
So, to prepare, figure out what you want to get out of the experience and then make sure the institution can satisfy those things (and, as part of that, try to setup the desired opportunities in advanced by scheduling meetings, etc.).
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer] |
2014/05/27 | 3,935 | 16,150 | <issue_start>username_0: I'm planning to apply for a master in computer science, and I need to choose between a computer science MS - master of science, and a computer science MCS - master of computer science.
I haven't really understood the difference. Is is true that MCS is more "professional" in the sense that it doesn't prepare students for a PhD but it is for who wants to directly work after graduating? Do they both last 2 years?
EDIT: I've also found MSCS: master of science in computer science.
PS: So for example MSCS has the thesis. Does the thesis help you getting hired?<issue_comment>username_1: Many Master's degrees exist that could reasonably be considered "computer science" degrees, and the distinctions between them differ from one university to another. Thus, you should probably ask someone familiar with the programs that you're considering about the particulars for that scenario.
The best general answer to your question, if there is a general answer to it, is that many of the degrees named simply "Master of Science" require writing a thesis. For example, compare North Carolina State's [Master of Science](http://www.csc.ncsu.edu/academics/graduate/degrees/ms.php) program with their [Master of Computer Science](http://www.csc.ncsu.edu/academics/graduate/degrees/mcs.php) program. Often the thesis degree is awarded to PhD students who have completed their qualifying exam and coursework, but this also varies from one university to another.
Since writing a thesis is an important distinction for Master's degrees, you may wonder what a thesis is and how it might be viewed by potential employers. A [thesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thesis) is a document produced as the result of academic research. While you will learn more about analyzing academic research, formal writing, and how academia works in your field of study, you will not typically learn more skills that are directly applicable to the profession. For this reason, you *can* think of the thesis master's as an "academic" degree and the non-thesis master's as a terminal "professional" degree, but that's also a bit of a simplification.
If you're looking at degrees that start with "Master of Science in" and end with something like "Computer Science," "Computer Networking," or "Software Engineering," then you probably won't have to write a thesis. These [Master of Science](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Science) names differentiate a degree in science, engineering, or medicine from a degree in English, history, or philosophy, which are [Master of Arts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Arts_%28postgraduate%29) degrees. Often, these are both shortened to just "Master's" degrees. So instead of a Master of Arts in History, you might simply say that you have a Master's in History. For example, NCSU has a [Master of Science in Computer Networking](http://networking.ncsu.edu/), which is regularly shortened to Master's in Computer Networking.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There is unfortunately no one general answer that applies across the board.
For specific degree requirements (so you know what you're going to be learning), you should look up the individual programs. The only specifically non-professional masters degrees are ones you may get en-route to a Ph.D. (often called an M.A. or an M.Phil.), but even there, there are differences in naming conventions. Moreover, terminal masters degrees often have the same names but have a "thesis option" or "course option" depending on your career goals.
Luckily, where you go, how you do, and what you learn will matter a lot more than the name of your degree. At least in the US, nobody will care whether you have a M.S. or M.C.S. or whatever else -- they'll just think of you as having a "master's."
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: In some countries MCS (2 years) is offered as a 16-years graduation degree, which is equivalent to BS(CS). It is offered specifically for those who have earned a 14-years bachelor degree or sometimes for people coming from other backgrounds, to provide them a fair enough base in computer science.
A computer science MS or MSCS are both similar terms (2 years long), which is an 18-years graduation degree.
Coming to your question:
Is is true that MCS is more "professional" in the sense that it doesn't prepare students for a PhD but it is for who wants to directly work after graduating? Do they both last 2 years?
The answer is: Yes, MCS is like any other professional degree out there. In addition, after having an MCS degree, an MS degree (2 years) is still pursued to get prepared for a PhD degree.
MS degree mostly has a thesis, while MCS, if it has the one that is definitely, we can say the lighter one, since the candidate has not been trained at this level to produce a thesis.
Does the thesis help you getting hired?
This simple most answer is: "It totally depends upon the employer and her demands for a specific position offered".
As I said:"MS degree mostly has a thesis". Well I know people and the universities were they have MS degrees (18 years) but without a thesis. So how do they do this? Mostly they compensate the research credits with additional course work.
I also know places/individuals (internationally) where people with 'MS degrees without a thesis' have also been haired for an explicit research positions (e.g., Research associates, PhD students with RA ships, etc.) in academic institutes for academic research. Where, mostly thesis is a requirement OR in other words a thesis is inevitable to provide a candidate with the required skill set for such positions.
Finally, while considering the above description about the acronyms valid, I would say that a thesis with an MCS degree has an importance similar to to any other professional degree with thesis (i.e., the case when a thesis is also prepared at end of a professional degree in order to fulfill the requirements).
N.B. Some universities also name MCS to a computer science MS degree.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: Very old post, but I thought I'd chime in, in case my knowledge and research can help someone. In the UK, for example, I believe a Master of Computer Science is, wait for it, an undergraduate master's degree, as opposed to a graduate master’s degree. And 21 terms after matriculation, just like some other master’s degrees, they are elevated to MA status, like the BA. The UK system is complicated as there are also graduate bachelor's degrees. The difference seems to be that bachelors were broader, masters are more specific, and doctorates are beyond a master's in order of specific study and depth.
In the United States, in contrast, the Juris Doctorate used to be called the Bachelor of Laws and was an undergraduate degree. They elevated it to doctoral status based on how much work and study was put in to achieve it, but it is not equivalent to a research doctorate. It is often called a first professional degree, and technically ranks below a master's degree. The de facto master's degree in law in the United States is the Master of Laws, LLM or MLL. Beyond that is the JSD, Doctor of Juridical Science, and in the US, it is equivalent to the PhD. Other American doctorates equivalent to the JSD and PhD (in that they are research doctorates and hold the same prestige) include the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) and Doctor of Engineering (DEng). However, if you read this article: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrees_of_the_University_of_Oxford>
you will see that a PhD is one of the lower ranking doctorates, as is the DEng. There is even an MEng that is considered an undergraduate degree, because it has the specific scope of study, but not the depth or rigor of a graduate degree. Another example where the US and UK differ is the MD, or Doctor of Medicine. The MD is the US is a first professional degree, and not a research doctorate, and ranks below the PhD and even a master's (academically). However, in the UK, the MD is one of the highest doctorates attainable. Another high doctorate, the Doctor of Science (DS) ranks very high in the UK and in some universities in Europe the DS and other doctorates or their equivalents are considered higher doctorates for beyond PhD research or in recognition of great contributions to the field of science. The DBA either does not exist in the UK, or is not prevalent, same as the Doctor of Arts (DA). Traditionally, the MBA is a terminal degree and no research degree or other degree in business is more advanced than an MBA, but the US invented the DBA as a PhD equivalent for people who wanted to do research, and there are others, such as the Doctor of Management, called a DM in the US to not confuse it with an MD, although in Europe and New England, an MD can also be referred to as a DM, adding to the confusion.
When it comes to Science and Computer Science, at the master’s level, which is always graduate level in the United States, unlike a doctorate, which can sometimes be professional (MD, JD...) and rank below a research doctorate (PhD, DBA, DS), they are the same level: master's. The difference is that the MCS is a professional master's degree for those wanting careers while an MS is in preparation for a PhD. Often, an MCS requires additional coursework and a project, while an MS student tries to practice research for the PhD. Given this, an MCS is superior to an MS if you do not intend to pursue a PhD. If you do want to pursue a PhD, the MS prepares you for that course of study, however, the MCS teaches you more things, so they both accelerate you, just in different ways.
For US study, if you visit <https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-structure-us.html>
you will see that there are six levels of education, from lowest to highest (I also give examples): associate (AA, AAS, AS), bachelor (BA, BFA, BS), first professional (JD, MD), master (MCS, MS, MBA), advanced intermediate (Post-Graduate Certificate), and research doctorate (PhD, DBA, DS). Notice how the Doctor of Computer Science is not on that list of research doctorates. However, if you find a program offering a DCS, you assume it is higher than an MCS. More complications if you try to draw relations: some schools offer a JM or MJ, a Master of Jurisprudence. Some might think that is below a JD, but the JD used to be a bachelor's and was elevated to a first professional, which would make the MJ like a bachelor's, but all master's degrees in the US are graduate degrees.... The MJ is considered by some schools as equivalent to the MLL and focuses on learning law for people who are involved in law but are not lawyers. So technically, academically it is higher and a JD (formerly the BLL) BUT does not prepare you for the lawyer profession and does not enable you to pass the bar. In more ancient times, master and doctor were used interchangeably. It seems doctor is used for those who are prepared for the profession or have professional experience whereas a master is used for someone with great knowledge and academic achievement, regardless of professional experience. But then what is a professional master's degree? An example is an MBA and I've heard it be called a second professional degree. Since it is a terminal degree, some people consider it higher than a normal master's degree, and traditionally, there was no DBA, so it was like a doctorate, without the distinction of a doctorate, in that field. So here we see doctor being a distinction, not a higher level of academic study. Think about it this way, a RESEARCH doctorate is a master's degree where you are generally paying to do research at a school instead of being paid to do research. But not everyone wants to be a researcher. Also, in the US, a research doctorate typically requires more course work. So, therefore the Doctor of Computer Science is considered higher than a Master of Computer Science because it requires more coursework but is not considered to be at the same level of a PhD, according to the US Department of Education. So, it is a strange degree that is in between a master's and a research doctorate, according to them. It is the fifth level, according to them: advanced intermediate, a level that offers certificates, diplomas, and even degrees. Why did I go so much in depth and talk about doctorates? Because while a DSC (Doctor of Computer Science) is considered lower than a PhD, for master's level, the amount of coursework is slightly more, and any research done by an MS student is just an introduction into professional research that will be done by a PhD. There is no prestige in MS research, it is just a substitute, and therefore in the US, academically, an MS is equivalent to an MCS. And the name MS is sometimes misleading, as there are schools in the US that offer an MS without requiring a thesis, instead wanting projects or just coursework, making them an American MCS but keeping the traditional MS name. Globally, MS is recognized as higher than an MCS, but in the UK, an MCS (undergrad) is later elevated to MA status after so many terms, and therefore after so many terms and maturing the MCS holder will be considered an MA, which is higher than an MS in the UK. In the US, they hold the same rank academically, but are geared towards different goals, in the same way an MS in Electrical Engineering is for careers in electronics while an MS in Biology is for going into biological research, medicine, or pursue an MD or PhD. I have not seen any DCS in the UK, but it is likely they would not hold any higher ranking than an MA, the same as an MCS. So, the DCS is a bit higher than an MCS, but the difference is considered negligible and in the UK is not recognized, as they would say the MCS matures to MA status, the DCS does not exist, but I assume they would think they just mature faster to an MA level of study. If you read the Wikipedia article, you will see that MA is held to an extremely high level of respect, and only the DD and DCL hold more prestige if the holder only has one degree. I think the only mistake in the Wikipedia article is that the BD (Bachelor of Divinity) is considered higher than the PhD but is not listed in the right place.
Lastly, I have seen DCS programs that require many more units than some PhDs. Some PhDs I have seen require the same if not less credit units than a master's degree but just add research and dissertation, which further emphasizes that doctorates are degrees for those in practice, while a master's degree is solely academic achievement. This contradicts the US Department of Education, as some level 5 degrees are potentially superior to level 6, depending on the school and program. And if you want to be an actual doctor like a medical physician or a lawyer, the JD and MD are superior, but also having a PhD will make you a more knowledgeable and capable professional. Different names, different worth for different things.
To sum it up, if you plan to study and work in the US, the MCS is just as good as an MS, especially if you do not plan to pursue a research doctorate. If you plan to study or work overseas, the MS translates more to what the US graduate program represents. If you want to get a PhD in the US, either should work, but you should check with the school you want to attend. If you plan on getting a doctorate and want international recognition, a PhD or DS is better, but if you stay in the US, a DCS may essentially be the same. Countries are trying to standardize things to match up, but there are still some differences. Last examples, a licentiate in Europe is a master's degree level or higher award to prepare someone for a profession, and sometimes is considered higher than a master's degree (like an MBA) but below a doctorate, depending on the country. Look up "Higher Doctorate" on Wikipedia, and you will see countries like France, Russia, and Germany offering either degrees or distinctions beyond a doctorate. There used to be something called ISCED level 9, but it was removed.
Other sources: Personal research and experience
Upvotes: 0 |
2014/05/27 | 2,450 | 9,676 | <issue_start>username_0: Suppose you write a paper and you use Wolfram Mathematica to do calculations. In the article, should the program be mentioned with the registered-trademark symbol immediately following the name and in superscript style, i.e., as follows?
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> Wolfram *Mathematica*®
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>
><issue_comment>username_1: Formally, yes, registered names should have the appropriate symbol listed (usually a superscript "R" or "TM"). However, in common usage, such trademarks are often neglected. In most cases, it's easiest just to follow the journal's recommended guidelines for how to handle such cases. You may just need to indicate the trademark symbol, and the journal will do the work of supplying the correct formatting for you.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: For Python, [PSF Trademark Usage Policy](https://www.python.org/psf/trademarks/) states:
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> * Use of the word "Python" in email and informally -- Allowed without the circle-R symbol.
> * Use of the word "Python" in academic papers, theses, and books -- Allowed without the circle-R symbol. Books should include the symbol.
>
>
>
I don't know how it is in general. Wikipedia pages on [registered trademark symbols](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_trademark_symbol) mentions that it indicates trademark status, but does not mention that it needs to be used.
In any case, I see software in papers being mentioned without "TM"/"R", though often in emphasis.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Typically, use of a trademark symbol by the owner (in your example, Wolfram) is an **assertion of their rights** – “Hey, we own this name! It refers to our product and you cannot use it to mislead folks into thinking it is your product, or your use of our product, or that we endorse your product’s integration with our product...” and so on. So, it is critical for the **owner** of the trademark to use it often and consistently.
You, on the other hand, do not need to use it to protect their rights, but need to use it in order to **not to infringe on their rights**. For example, use the mark it if you are talking about your product or service in relation to their trademarked product.
The more formal the mode of publication, the more you should consider using their mark, e.g., you should use it in a book, but probably not in an email. Like an abbreviation, use it once at the first occurrence only. Nobody wants to read something littered with ®s. The first use signifies that you recognize their rights.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: I could not find anything on any **legal** requirements to use trademark symbols if you are not the trademark holder (or are required to use them by a contract). [Here](http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/required-or-not-to-put-the-r-trademark-symbol-977692.html), several attorneys state that you do not have to use them even in the “stronger” case that you are reselling the product. Briefly, it’s the trademark owner who is responsible for using it and there is nothing that requires you to use these symbols, unless you have signed a contract to do so:
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> It is the trademark registrant/manufacturer who is responsible for putting the indication on the product, not you.
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>
> ---
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> Since you are merely resoling [sic] the product, you have no obligation to put any symbol (R or TM) anywhere.
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>
This leaves the question of **style**, on which I share the opinion of *[But FUNKY!!!web!!!DUDES.com is their trademark!](http://www.theslot.com/webnames.html)* (written by a professional copy editor), which is mainly on capitalisation and punctuation, but can also be applied to trademark symbols to some extent:
One should rather adhere to general spelling and language rules and to what benefits the reader than to what a company wants its product to be called:
>
> The companies and their trademark lawyers want you to duplicate their capitalization. They also want you to use the trademark symbol. They also want you to use the word "brand" and a generic identifier to guard against the loss of their trademarks (journalists eat Big Macs; McDonald's lawyers might want us to eat BIG MAC® brand sandwich products). Are you going to give in to all of those demands? Do you want your stories to look like press releases?
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>
>
Following this, I would call Mathematica just “Mathematica”, maybe in italics or small-caps in accordance with the journal’s or your own style and accompanied by an appropriate citation.
I would not use a copyright symbol as it does not benefit the reader or anybody else¹ – **it just diverts from the content of the text and slightly looks like you are paid by the software company to advertise their product**. (I also would not use “Wolfram Mathematica“ unless I have to expect that some reader confuses it with something else which is also called “Mathematica”.)
There may be some situations **specific to Mathematica**, where one has to expect some readers to be confused, as, e.g., they do not directly identify it as a software due to its name being not obviously a name. However, in those cases you can refer to it as “the Mathematica computer algebra system” or provide a citation.
---
¹ except, perhaps, the marketing people of the software company – who are not going to read your publication
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: APA, MLA and Chicago style manuals all recommend **not to use** trademark symbols.
### Chicago
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> In publications that are not advertising or sales materials, all that is necessary is to use the proper spelling and capitalization of the name of the product. A trademark attorney can tell you when the use of the symbol is required.
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>
>
from [The Chicago Manual of Style Online](http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/RegisteredTrademarks.html)
### MLA
>
> Although owners of trademarked names may suggest otherwise, publishers are not obligated to denote the trademark status of a name when that name is mentioned in text. Authors representing trademark owners frequently feel obligated to use the trademark or registered-trademark symbol (™ or ®) after the first mention of their product names but often do not use these symbols consistently to indicate the trademark status of other names not owned by their particular sponsor or employer.
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>
> Because the fair and consistent use of these symbols (or of footnotes denoting the trademark owners) requires exhaustive verification and vigilance on the part of the editor and because the use of these symbols (or footnotes) is not required by law, do not add trademark symbols, registered-trademark symbols, or trademark-denoting footnotes to trade names in MLA publications. In the interest of consistency, editors should also delete such references when inserted by authors.
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>
> At the same time, MLA recognizes that authors are often supported and encouraged by their institutions or other funders and that this support may be what enables an author to produce any written work at all. MLA editors are therefore advised to consider carefully an author’s express request that trademark status of particular names be denoted (merely including symbols or footnotes in the submitted manuscript does not constitute an “express request”).
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>
> If trademark status is denoted in a particular case, these guidelines should be used:
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>
> * Use the trademark or registered-trademark symbol, not a footnote.
> -The author must specify which words should be denoted and with which symbol (™ and ® are not interchangeable). Trade names not specified by the author should not be cited with these symbols.
> * Use the symbol no more than four times in one article for each trade name: the first mention in the article’s title, the first mention in the running head, the first mention in the abstract, and the first mention in the article’s text.
> * If the article is part of a JMLA symposium, add symbols to the trade names in question in all other articles in the symposium for consistency.
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>
> In all cases, whether trademarks are denoted or not, the proper spelling and capitalization of trade names should always be verified and consistent. See Appendix C for a list of trade names common to MLA publications and their proper spelling.
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>
>
from the [MLA Style Manual](http://www.mlanet.org/p/cm/ld/fid=252)
### APA
>
> No, it's not necessary to include the trademark symbol for a trademarked term in academic writing. The trademark symbol is generally necessary to include only in commercial writing, meaning writing that pertains to commerce or the buying and selling of goods (e.g., advertisements). The word Twitter (and other names of companies) can be written in regular, nonitalic font as well.
>
>
>
from the [APA Style](http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2009/10/how-to-cite-twitter-and-facebook-part-ii.html) blog (answer by the author to a comment)
---
In certain jurisdictions the **trademark owner** may be required to use a trademark symbol or may benefit from the use of such symbols in a law suit (see the International Trademark Association fact sheet on [Marking Requirements](http://www.inta.org/TrademarkBasics/FactSheets/Pages/MarkingRequirementsFactSheet.aspx)).
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: In most of the world (not the USA) the meaning of ™ or ® (or © for that matter) is nonexistent. When you refer to a trademark you certainly don't have to do anything. When you use a trademark (as a way to sell your things) what matters is the use, not some lettering, although the lettering could give a tiny nudge in case of doubt (that there shouldn't be in the first place).
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/27 | 1,936 | 8,826 | <issue_start>username_0: I took up an introductory course to forensic science in Coursera, because it was actually the only forensics course I could find that was accessible, however I do wonder if it is worth anything in my CV, as a student it is obviously better than nothing, but is this something good enough to show?
How does it compare to courses completed directly through MIT open courses, or those from another famous university? And if these are assets to a CV, if I go ahead to complete enough for a degree, how does it fare in comparison to the proper degree from the corresponding institution?<issue_comment>username_1: *Value in an academic environment*: zero. Everything you learn at Coursera you'd simply learn from a textbook in a few days if you needed it for your academic research or teaching.
*Value to a non-academic employer*: marginal, mainly as a signaling device (this person will sacrifice his spare time over a non-trivial amount of time to improve himself), but certainly lower than a certification in a field or skill directly related to your job.
*Value to a prospective spouse* (as suggested by [earthling](https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692/earthling)): depends. I'd certainly look favorably on someone who took a Coursera course instead of watching TV.
*Value to yourself*: again depends, but could be highest of all. I certainly know that those courses I took were mainly for my own pleasure and benefit.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: MOOCs like those taught on Coursera are a matter of differing opinions. I think they are great for the students since they provide a great free tool for helping learn content that may be difficult to learn, interpret or even access alone. Unfortunately, they have problems with verification: students do not have to do very much to confirm their identity, and there is much speculation of plagiarism within the classes (even The Guardian wrote a small piece on that recently <http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/mar/14/students-cheating-plagiarism-online>).
Have I taken classes on Coursera? Yes. Do I put this on my CV? Yes...for internal purposes anyway, under a "continuing education" or "professional development" section to show my employer that I am continuing to improve myself and stay up-to-date where necessary. I'm a scientist.
My husband (a software engineer) tells me that, while MOOCs or similar training is good on a personal level, it is considered a negative thing for people in his profession, and usually only added to CV to make up for a lack of real technical training or experience. So, unfortunately, I guess the area of your work will make a difference to how others perceive your good intentions. But, yes, Coursera is better than TV!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: One of the commentators mentioned that MOOCs might be seen in a negative light in some fields, such as software engineering. Especially for this particular field, I would not at all be surprised: Many of the current professionals got their hands-on training through working on projects on the internet in their youth, and such projects would obviously go well beyond a simple introductory course. As such, MOOCs provide only introductory material to the field, and this material has been available in an easy to access format on the internet for a long time, anyway (YouTube tutorial videos predate contemporary MOOCs by years, and simple websites even more so).
I should point out that for other fields, often more specialized in scope, the sort of lectures offered by MOOCs have not been available unless you went to university to study the stuff. Sure, books have existed, but there is a difference in learning from books and listening to lectures (the latter being much more passive, and therefore often more enjoyable, while perhaps not as deep or efficient).
Having said this, I strongly feel that taking MOOCs on your spare time shows that you have motivation to deepen your knowledge, be it in your own profession or just enlarging your horizons and understanding other fields. While reviewing the basics of a field that you are supposed to be an expert in could be viewed in a negative light, a basic understanding of project management and economics would probably help your application even if you were a software engineer.
I have heard some recruiters say that they appreciate an internet presence, and joining in on all the new fun would certainly show that you are technologically capable and follow what is happening in the world. In the software engineering world, one could well put their StackOverflow alias on their CVs. I am sure that some recruiters disagree, though.
Finally, to address your point about how online courses compare with real live universities. Traditional courses usually have a higher workload, and more stringent control on passing a course. MOOCs being very new, it is nigh impossible to know just how difficult it is to pass a particular course or whether you even know the stuff now that you have. Granted, a traditional university degree does not guarantee these things either, but prospective employers better understand how much one can expect one to remember from the courses taken at a real institution. I think MOOCs will play a slightly bigger role in the future than they do now, but we are not quite there yet.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Actually these courses for self-paced learning. Those who are really interested in a subject and could not study in any regular university course in any subject of choice, can learn following a path offered by these online courses. It is Similar to "learning on your own". Practical course like programming in any particular programming language currently preferred by industry is good but certificates won't count as much as a regular university degree. In these practical value oriented courses will prove nothing because at the end efficiency will matter and industry will hire those people who have this efficiency and regular degree will always score high. This certificates won't get you an entry in any reputed University for going further with the study of the subject. Professionals take these courses mostly owing to the fact that a curricula offers better disciplined and structured way of learning in which testing what you learn provision within the curriculum is there. Professional, already in a field learn better in self paced learning way. These are the benefits among few others. But one other thing for these online courses associated with university can not be ignored. All over the world private university funding and "Live On your own" and "Live on your own earning" policy for the Universities are one of the causes for them to offer online courses to the people which in the past and still is for only a graded few is for earning money. People who are willing to earn a certificate which might give them an edge over others in the competitive market pay few dollars to enroll and at the end spending few hours earn a 'certificate of value'. These dollars are one of the ways for the universities to earn a fraction of cost to run universities.And not all subjects can be learned this way, suppose Genetic Engineering or Medicine can never be learned through online courses. Yes you can expand your horizon of your knowledge in any particular field of study of your choice. And that's the primary reasons of these courses, i.e MIT open course ware.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Alone, listing an MOOC on a resume has about the same value as expressing other interest in a topic. It serves only to get you past early (automated) screening steps of a selection process. This is valuable in that it might save a little time establishing common ground between interviewer and candidate.
But the I can see an opportunity for this to change with the integration course information with evidence of participation in online forums on a topic. As a screener/interviewer, if I could and see the questions asked and answered in a classroom setting, that starts to add value.
The challenge however is scaling this to massive open online learning. In many cases, the "good" questions one might asked and answered online and forums like stack exchange. Posting duplicate questions often gets discouraged (voted down) in this sort of environment. But if a MOOC platform could also let me see the related searches and clickstream generated by a candidate the possibilities are there that MOOC's might differentiate themselves through participation (even somewhat passive participation) in activities related to the course. I've not yet seen this in practice, but it seems like what might be needed to increase the value of online information resources over textbooks.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/27 | 2,673 | 11,605 | <issue_start>username_0: I just finished my PhD in Mathematics and am in between my PhD and postdoc positions. I was very fortunate to have the ability to present my research to seminars and conferences over the last couple of years. My complete results all reduce to a standard storyline and I feel like I have spoken about it to various audiences a lot, especially the specialists in my field. I have a conference coming up with the specialists again and I am a bit concerned about giving a talk that is just a minor mutation from the talks before.
My question is therefore:
* **How long can one talk about the same material in the conference loop until the talk becomes stale?**
* **Is a repertoire of multiple research talks expected of a recent PhD?**<issue_comment>username_1: A recently minted PhD would not typically be expected to have multiple seminar-length talks at her disposal, because in general the PhD work *should* be presentable as an integrated whole. However, once one starts getting substantially into the postdoc phase and beyond, one should have more than one research talk available, as there is greater diversity in one's portfolio of work.
With respect to "staleness," this is also somewhat of a concern, but only partially. Research progresses in time, but that doesn't mean the older work is made irrelevant (or unimportant for audiences to know about). However, you should revisit your talks periodically (before you give them, of course) to determine what is still "fresh," and what is already well-known enough to gloss over in less detail.
As for assigning a "shelf life," that really depends a lot on your field. Some fields progress much faster than others, so a blanket statement such as "never talk about results that are more than a year old" is unlikely to be helpful.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: It's important also to look at your audience. If you're likely to be giving the same talk to two audiences that overlap significantly, then the time between talks is less important than the fact that the audiences will perceive the talk as 'stale'.
For example, you might give a talk at a general interest conference, and then a slightly modified version of it at a workshop with specialists, many of whom may not have attended the general interest conference. That would be fine. You might then go on the colloquium circuit and give the talk at venues with only small overlap with the specialist group.
But if you gave the same (or similar) talk to the same (or similar) audience more than once, that would be a problem.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> How long can one talk about the same material in the conference loop until the talk becomes stale?
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As other answers have pointed out, certainly the answer is not going to be "N months" for any value of N. Here are some things to think about:
1) You say that "my complete results all reduce to a standard storyline". Yes, but that's true for entire subfields of mathematics. I like to tell the story about how I heard a close friend in grad school give a talk about his thesis work just as he graduated. I heard him speak again when he came back to visit almost a year later. As we were catching up afterwards, I somehow let on my surprise that he gave essentially the same talk both times. He looked at me in disbelief and told me "There was hardly a single result in common between those two talks". It turned out that -- not withstanding that we were both arithmetic geometers -- I simply didn't have enough knowledge in his subfield of speciality to penetrate far enough beyond the standard storyline -- Galois representations, big rings, some filtered semilinear algebra, perhaps an R = T theorem... -- to see what was new about the second talk, despite the fact that an expert would say that it was *all new*. I have found this to be one of the more profound experiences of my professional life and I tell it often in a variety of contexts: e.g. I mentioned it to a linear algebra student who said that she was largely following the lectures but sometimes was having trouble understanding the differences between what we were doing from week to week. When you tell an undergraduate a parable, it's probably safest to spill the beans and tell them the moral: I recognized her perception as an indication that she was farther away from engaging with the material than she herself realized. In your case the moral is admittedly a little less clear, but I think that part of it is that we can build a highly successful academic career by hewing largely to a "standard storyline": the devil, and thus also the glory, is in the details.
2) So I have a question: is your concern about giving *cognate talks* or literally giving essentially the same talk over and over again? Let me assume the latter. It's harder to know how often you should simply repeat yourself, and I am wary of giving advice because I know myself to be close to one end of the spectrum: I *don't* usually travel around and gave the same talk multiple times. The one time I really remember the feeling of repeating a talk more than once was when I was on the tenure track job market, when I did it four times in a couple of months. The last time I gave that talk, it indeed did feel stale and I remember not getting much in the way of feedback from the audience...and then I got offered the job. I am much more likely to want to take every given talk as an opportunity to speak about what's on my mind that month or that week: this is not necessarily a good thing, but I try to make it work.
I think though that you are rightly concerned about giving the same talk to largely the same audience of specialists. When that starts happening, might you not simply be speaking too much? One thing to do is look around: if you're in the same group of specialists, they are also speaking frequently, I guess. Do you observe others around you -- at a similar career stage and also those who are more senior -- largely "repeating themselves" in the talks they give? (Sometimes a really good talk is worth repeating. I remember fondly having heard <NAME> talk about the "15 Theorem" at least twice, probably three times. Each time I grasped the picture more fully and thus liked it even more. Obviously Manjul could have talked about other work; he *chose* to revisit this amazingly beautiful well, and his insistence on promoting his own good taste has had such a positive role in influencing later mathematical work, including some of mine.)
Here's a piece of advice: when someone invites you to give a talk, before you accept or decline, ask them what they have in mind for you to speak of (be ready to follow up immediately with a list of options). If you think that the person who is inviting you to speak has heard you speak about the same topic before, or if a lot of the audience feels the same way, ask them explicitly about that.
Another thing to do is to consciously update your "standard talk" to reflect recent changes in your thinking about your research. You're right that a talk is a story, and the story can change even if the core results remain the same. Reinterpreting your past successes in terms of what you're doing presently and are trying to do in the very near future is a big part of research. I have heard <NAME> speak about bounded gaps between primes; I would gladly hear him speak again, even if I were a seamless expert on his paper on the topic (note the subjunctive!) *just to hear at the end of his talk what he is thinking about now*.
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> Is a repertoire of multiple research talks expected of a recent PhD?
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Multiple *disjoint* talks? No, probably not. It is not too soon to start working on a "non-research talk", i.e., a much friendlier broader talk that you could give to undergraduates, but I think that's not what you're speaking about. I do think that having multiple projects is a good thing even for a young mathematician nowadays, but one does not want to sacrifice breadth at the expense of depth. If you have basically one research talk that you've given half a dozen times or more over a period of a couple of years, by now that one talk is probably really good. I would concentrate on further refining and updating that one great talk rather than just feeling you should start from scratch in order to show "multiplicity". (Again, I am conscious of being unusually lured by the siren song of multiplicity. Oh, well: we all need to identify the good career advice which is not good *for us*.)
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: For conference talks, this shouldn't be too much of a problem - fully outlining a complicated paper is very difficult in ten minutes, and often leaves listeners confused as you've tried to cover too much information in too little time. I've given a few talks on my dissertation work, which is based on relaxing a particular assumption in competitive strategy (that substitute technologies are mutually exclusive), by altering how a simple utility function is modeled (decomposing it into a summation). Trying to get through all the implications of that in ten minutes, as simple as the core idea is, is just too much. But focusing on a single point can still get audiences excited.
I've given a talk on the tension between creating the single best technology, or making a technology that is still useful even if a buyer has already adopted another technology. That is 2-3 pages of the paper, but is enough of an idea that the audience can walk away knowing they've learned something new, and can think about things in a new way. Another talks about indirect complementarity - where two technologies appear to be substitutes, but behave as compliments in the presence of a third technology. That's another few pages, but another single point that audiences can take away, knowing they've learned something. A third presentation is the empirical test of my idea, which is context specific, and requires a bit of explanation to highlight 1-2 more key points. Each of these is part of the same story line, but each still represents a distinct takeaway - and if your audience takes away one new thing from each talk, that's quite the accomplishment compared to most talks. This is *especially* true if talking to specialists, who know enough of the background for you to focus on mechanisms in isolation, with some depth, to convey something new. For a general audience, I would still think about how to concisely convey the big picture, and then focus in on one piece of information you want to be sure they get out of the presentation, even if it's not to the same depth as you could get to with a specialist audience. This allows you to keep things fresh over time, and also ensures you understand the phenomena enough to communicate the component pieces clearly.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_5: Presumably you can improve the talk each time you give it. Even if the core mathematical results are the same, you could perhaps ...
1. Make the notation cleaner or more consistent
2. Improve the motivation — explain better why your results are important
3. Add pictures/diagrams to illustrate the ideas.
4. Add new example uses of your results.
5. Add new connections to other results, especially very recent ones.
6. Add new ideas about future extensions.
7. Add some related open problems.
8. Add some discussion of attempted solutions that didn’t work.
9. Remove material that you’ve found to be incomprehensible except to a few specialists, based on previous talks.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/28 | 2,105 | 9,004 | <issue_start>username_0: My understanding of research is that it's a way to find solutions/answers to questions/problems in a certain subfield of a bigger discipline, which in my case would be Computer Science (honestly, it'd be more like Computer Engineering).
I think I know, however, that if these problems and solutions are too simple or banal, the whole process of doing research is irrelevant because
1. surely somebody else has already worked in that, and
2. there's no sense in working in something that won't contribute a significant amount of knowledge to the discipline.
This means that in order to get *worthy* (or at least relevant) problems to research, you must be at the cutting edge of the field so that you have an idea of what's not yet known and you can start working on it. Am I right?
If I am, that sounds kind of *complicated*. I have heard that I should read lots of papers in an area of my interest and work from there, but I'm sincerely not sure about how to start doing even this. I have access to the ACM Digital Library, for example, but I don't know what to search for, what to read, or in what order to do so.
I am alone in this, for my university is weak in research and no professors seem to be interested in it. Do you have any tips, or any specific set of steps that you followed to get into research?<issue_comment>username_1: It'll certainly be easier if you can find a professor willing to supervise you, so I strongly suggest that you keep trying on that front. But even if you can't, all is not lost! Here are the steps I recommend. Note that this may not be the *only* way to get started, but it's a way that works for many of my students:
### Step 1: Start by identifying an area of interest
A good way to start is to identify a topic in class that interests you. Approach the professor for that class and ask him/her to suggest some related papers for further reading.
### Step 2: Get a better view of this area
Thoroughly reading those papers may take a while, since this is new to you. Don't be discouraged by this! After you have a reasonable understanding of the papers suggested by your professor, start to branch out: look up the papers cited by/citing those papers to get a broader view.
### Step 3: Reproduce some existing results
Somewhere in all this reading, you'll come across something that *really* interests you: a proof, a design of a system, a software implementation of an idea. See if you can reproduce this result (by going through the steps of the proof, writing your own software, running a simulation, etc.) Again, this may be more difficult than you expect; don't get discouraged.
### Step 4: Do something new
Now that you've reproduced someone else's results, can you extend them? Is there a small variation on the system design that could improve the results, an interesting application in another domain, a stronger result you can prove? Get to work.
### Step 5: Communicate your results
Congrats, you are now *almost* a bona fide researcher! Go show the professor who recommended the papers what you've been working on. A big part of doing research is communicating the results, once you have something to show. (And to get into a good grad school, you'll need to impress some potential letter writers.)
You should also consider writing a draft of a paper and soliciting feedback on it.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If the main goal here is to learn to "think like a researcher", then you only need to work on a problem that's new to you; it doesn't necessarily need to be at the cutting edge of the field. Indeed, there may be pedagogical value in having the ability to compare your solutions with those found by more experienced researchers. Of course, your results may not be publishable, unless you find something interesting - but at your career stage, that doesn't necessarily matter. You still will have something to discuss/write about in applications for grad school, and you will have learnt a lot!
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: I would start by seeing if your university has an undergraduate research program or runs summer projects with researchers in any formalised way. If they do this is an excellent way to get started in research as you have an experienced researcher to help guide you and it helps create useful contacts if you are interested in a future in academia.
If your university has no formal program you can email professors in a field you are interested in to see if they any projects you could do over the summer. Keep preserving if the first people you contact have nothing, they are probably busy and if they do not expect a summer student they are unlikely to have a project prepared.
It is probably helpful if you have a vague idea of what you want to research into. Not necessarily a specific project but at least a field or sub-topic. This not only helps you identify academics with similar interests but shows you are keen and helps them formulate a project for you.
If your university is very weak at research one option may be to look at doing a summer project at another university which is more research focused. This is not ideal as knowing how to contact will be harder and there may be extra costs such as accommodation, but it is a possibility.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: How to get to know what to research, possible approaches:
1. Find supervisors that do things you consider interesting, ask them
what could you do for them.
2. Find research groups that do things you consider interesting, ask
them what could you do for them.
3. Find a research project that is interesting, work in that project.
4. Find a problem that is interesting and not solved yet, work on that
problem. Generally problems are either new or hard, sometimes both.
Sometimes (often? always?) solving an easy problem in a proper way
turns to be very hard. Proving it's the right way to solve that
problem is very often much harder.
5. Find what is interesting for you, then find problems in that area
and find funding to solve those problems.
6. Find a business model, if you are not certain about what is interesting for you, then consider what is interesting for everybody else, so interesting that they would be willing to pay for it.
7. Find what are you good at and it [may](https://www.readability.com/articles/ecdm2zpc) become your passion.
8. Find current trends in research, hot topics, there should be problems, money and success there.
In the end it doesn't really matter what you find first, you have to find everything else (a supervisor, funding, etc.) however the order in which you find some things will probably determine what you find later, i.e. the information you get and the decisions you make direct your search throughout the process.
How to find things? Searching. It's hard and tedious, there are no shortcuts, AFAIK.
The only advice I can give is: "Don't make the problem, find it", problems should not be "created" or "invented" to do research, some situation may not have been perceived as a problem before, that's fine, you check that situation and change it, hopefully for the better. Research in computer engineering consists in using (sometimes making) computers and/or software to go from point A to point B (as a very naïve description), hopefully point B will be better under some perspective than point A, but what I would like to stress is that point A should be real. It may not be common (that's fine) but it has to be real.
Point A is in the world, not in any book, there may be books (papers, etc.) that describe point A, that reach to point A (from a previous one), etc. but point A is in the real world and this should be never forgotten. The most theoretical part of computer science doesn't care whether A is real or not, that work is important by setting the foundations of things that will be used in the future, when we reach to a point A where that is relevant (if that ever happens), it's a very hard and uncertain type of research, that I don't personally like (for me) and that you don't seem to pursue. Therefore, for us, point A is in the real world, out there.
This is important because that means that we can access point A from the world and from the way it relates with other things. There may be people interested on that, research groups, research projects, papers describing it, business to do in solving it, skills that are relevant for it, trends that involve it, etc. Those are paths to find it, to get to it.
So this is your first research topic, you are in ignorance, point A, you want to find a research topic, point B (that will later become A). How do you do it? I offer you this "relational approach", try to find a better one. After all, we are only talking about information, searching, maybe it's too soon to make a search engine for this, but maybe someone can make a search methodology that will probably involve using conventional search engines.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/28 | 520 | 2,377 | <issue_start>username_0: There is a conference that my advisor suggested that I attend and present at, but unfortunately as this was just suggested today, I missed the abstract submission deadline by about a week.
I know this is my fault, but I am just wondering how lenient conferences are wrt late registration. I emailed the organizer politely explaining the situation and asking if it would still be possible to register. If anyone is curious, this is for the SIAM annual meeting in Chicago.
I've never attended any sort of conference at this level before (but do have some experience with poster presentations), so I'm wondering should I even expect a reply, let alone a positive one? I think this would be a really great opportunity for me to present my research to people in the field, and I will most likely attend the conference even if I'm not able to present at the poster session.
---
**Edit and update:** The organizing committee has agreed to give consideration to my abstract, and said they'd let me know by the end of next week re: acceptance/rejection.<issue_comment>username_1: Some conferences usually/always extend. Others don't. I suggest writing to the organisers and asking - the worst that can happen is that they say no, and they might say yes, even if an extension hasn't been formally announced!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Some conferences (I don't know if it applies for the one you have in mind as well) give the opportunity for the submission of so-called "late breaking posters" even after the official submission deadline until shortly before the conference date.
By this one can present very recent results that did not get ready before the deadline. As a drawback it should be noted that the contribution will normally not be listed in the conference proceedings as they will already go into preparation/production soon after the deadline. Also the reviewers might have a special eye on the originality and the currency of the contribution, so submitting some rather well hung stuff just to get a poster presentation and a reason to attend the conference might not work.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Most would not let you submit your abstract. However - I would guess that it depends on the size of the conference, the amount of submissions, and the committee members themselves.
It doesn't hurt to ask!
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/28 | 3,400 | 14,623 | <issue_start>username_0: The paper in question is based on research my collaborator X and I did together some months ago. Our respective contributions to the research were around 2/3 for X and 1/3 for me. In terms of the actual text of the paper, X wrote about 1/3 and I wrote about 2/3.
During the writing of the actual paper, X decided to leave academia. I can no longer contact X: emails to the old address go undelivered and there is no forwarding address for physical mail. Attempts to find X through web searches and contact X through mutual acquaintances have been unsuccessful. X has thus not seen a complete draft of the paper, only the sections that were actually written by X.
In these circumstances, is it ethical for me to submit a paper with X's name on it, without a complete version having been checked by X and without X's approval?
If I do submit it, should it contain a note of the fact that X was unable to check the completed paper? I am considering the hypothetical possibility that I could have inadvertently introduced an error while writing the complete paper (and such an error might survive through peer-review and into publication); responsibility for such an error should be mine alone.
There is no possibility of separating out my contribution into a separate paper. Either the work has to be published as a whole or not at all.
I am in a field where alphabetical listing of authors is standard, so there is no question of the order of authors.<issue_comment>username_1: Typically, yes, it would be unethical. You should always allow co-authors the chance to review a paper.
However, this case of *missing co-author* is a different situation.. I'm sure if you try harder, you could find X. If you have exhausted all resources and absolutely cannot find X, you might consider bending the "rules" a bit and publish the paper with X's name.
You might also consider contacting the journal editor for their feedback.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I would also say, yes, it is not totally ethical to have X as a co-author if he did not approve the final version. If all attempts to contact X fail, and also you are sure that X left academia for good, it would suggest to mention X's contribution in the acknowledgement in a honest way.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: If you can *document* that you have made a good faith effort to find X, and have been unsuccessful, I would think you would be covered on both the legal and ethical fronts. There's no reason for all *your* work to go to waste just because your associate has gone into hiding. If the publisher/journal won't accept them as an author without their signed release, publish it under your name and very prominently acknowledge their contribution (as a special note in the introduction). Make sure the journal is aware of this special case, so neither you nor the journal are blind-sided if X shows up. Note that you have been unable to contact them and would appreciate hearing from anyone who can reach them (and, needless to say, readers will likely have a hard time contacting them).
If you decide to publish "jointly", explain in an introductory note that X did not review the final work, any errors are solely yours, etc.
Do you know for sure that they simply left academia, and didn't in fact die? Have you checked "white pages" phone listings? Have you checked online death records?
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: The story makes me a bit concerned about the safety and well-being of X. I might try to vocalize that concern to X's former department head and see whether she has anything to say to allay it. If really not, then perhaps you might try: "I am concerned that X might be a missing person. Would you be willing to help me contact the authorities about this?"
Somehow though the vibe I am getting from you is that X really just definitely left his own career and does not care or want to be contacted by his former colleagues. Academics are famous for being a little distant, but truly making oneself unable to be reached is quite unprofessional and even irresponsible behavior. How much can you worry about the future academic career of someone who is willing to sever all contact with his former coworkers for the indefinite future? It is very strange and by the way disrespectful to you: did he say anything to you about your project or did he just completely leave you in the lurch?
Let's hope that X is still alive and well, but he certainly sounds like he had a dramatic "death" in the sense that <NAME> used the word: i.e., he has brusquely left the academic community. So I think that dealing with this as you would if he were actually deceased sounds strange at first but is a reasonable way to go.
In this circumstance I would do as @username_2 suggested: don't put X's name on the paper. ~~Dead men don't write papers.~~ Less preciously, there is an inherent dishonesty in listing someone as a coauthor in this situation. Rather you should carefully explain the part of the work that was due to X and that you unfortunately lost all contact with X and are forced to write and submit the paper on your own. Should you expect to have to explain yourself -- and in particular, explain that you did try the things that everyone (including me) thinks should have worked to reach X -- to a journal editor? Yes, absolutely. Is this going to create additional hardship for you in trying to publish the paper? Yes, it certainly might. It's kind of a crappy situation for you, honestly. But I don't see what else to do.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_5: This is actually the subject of a blog post over at [Adventures in Ethics and Science](http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/2010/02/14/what-to-do-when-your-coauthor/). In general, it seems that several possible actions are defensible. However, whatever action you take, you should make sure to
1. Document your efforts to reach your co-author
2. Let the journal editor know at submission time what's going on
[RetractionWatch](http://retractionwatch.com/category/by-reason-for-retraction/forged-authorship/) is full of stories papers that were retracted for having been submitted without a co-author's knowledge. These steps can help you avoid that fate.
Given you've done 1 and 2, your choices are then:
* Include the co-author, despite the radio silence, or
* Acknowledge the co-author
The problem with the first choice is that authorship signals endorsement of the paper's contents. If the missing co-author has not read and endorsed the final contents, having his name as an author is misleading. However, you can resolve this to some degree by including an explicit statement (e.g., in a footnote) that Author X could not be reached to review the final version of the paper.
The applicability of this choice also depends very much on **the journal’s official policy** and what responsibilities each of the persons listed as authors have met. I'm sure we can all agree that it would be out of bounds to forge the missing co-author's signature on a form that needs to be submitted with the manuscript! However, even if *you* have to sign a form stating that all the authors have reviewed the manuscript, you shouldn't do that either - tell the editor you can't, and explain why.
The problem with the second choice (acknowledgement instead of authorship) is that the missing co-author has presumably done enough to warrant authorship of the paper. However, you could argue that an essential part of authorship is to see the paper through to publication - and that if the missing co-author has not done that, he does not deserve authorship. Again, if you do this, you must clearly document the author's contribution in the acknowledgements and alert the editor.
Which action you choose will probably depend on authorship standards in your field and the outcome of your conversation with the editor. Whatever the result, make sure you clearly and honestly communicate the contributions (and lack thereof) of the missing co-author to both your readers and the editor.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: [This was mentioned as a comment to the question, but since a couple of people thought it useful, I'm promoting it to an answer.]
If your colleague X was a foreigner, try contacting the people at his university (usually a separate office or division) who handle paperwork for foreigners. The US govt tends to require a lot of information about foreigners when granting visas. They might have a forwarding address or phone numbers or something, maybe in his home country. You might have to go through X's ex-department if the people performing these services refuse to give information, citing confidentiality issues.
As far as whether to include X's name as a co-author, add him to acknowledgements, or omit him entirely, I would lean towards not including him as a co-author, but including him in the acknowledgements, and adding a note that you would like to have him as a co-author, but don't feel you can reasonably do so; and including a brief description of the circumstances. It is unclear whether acknowledgements require permission, in fact I [asked a question about exactly that](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/19604/285) some time ago. Generally, I play it safe and ask for permission, but under the circumstances, I don't think anyone will blame you if you don't.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: I am surprised that a certain issue has not been raised here:
Copyright
=========
Depending on the country the copyright of his work may either lay with him or the university. If the **university** owns the copyright for his work than indeed with proper permissions from the publisher and proper acknowledgments it would be quite ethical to publish such a work. If however the **author** still owns the copyright it would be absolutely illegal to publish his works without his consent. Now, as far as I know most universities handle this quite well and it tends to be a standard clause in any contract, but it is **absolutely something you should check** as I have heard about universities where this was quite explicitly not the case on an ideological basis (just check your own contract).
Associating X's name without his consent
========================================
Another issue that has not been raised is whether it would be ethical to publish X's name in the first place. Personally I am inclined to argue that in case that the copyright lies with the institution and author X has disappeared in such a way that you were not able to find him, it might not be in his best interest to publish his name, nor add any value for you. Now, don't misunderstand, I am not arguing for not mentioning him at all, rather I would refer to an anonymous author in the author list and in the acknowledgements describe the situation without mentioning his name.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Your university/department probably has a protocol for investigating research malpractice (ie the people who would be responsible for any disciplinary investigation if the "missing author" made a complaint about the route you eventually choose). I suggest you approach them for advice now. And definitely approach the journal editor for advice - they may have seen this before.
Ethically, there is no perfect solution. One thing to weigh up when considering whether the missing author should be an author: are your results controversial in any way? Do you have any reason to think that the missing author might disagree to any significant extent with what you've written? If so, this should weigh heavily in your ethical analysis of the various options.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: There is, of course, the possibility that the foreign-born author fears problems or retaliation at home if they published. Not knowing the topic, I can't say, but the persecution of <NAME>'s "The Satanic Verses" with a **fatwa** and death threats springs to mind.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_10: Can't you just rewrite the article? That is, keep all the ideas, techniques, etc., but produce an entirely new text? That would at least deal completely with the issue of copyright. In that case, you would be the sole author (though you *must* include a very generous acknowledgment note, for sure).
Even if your article contains experimental data/lengthy calculations, you can reuse that data as long as you remake tables, graphs, etc. as your own work. Again, conspicuous attribution is required.
And speaking as someone who has herself gone away abruptly from a doctoral research position, you should consider that the troubles you are going through right now may very well have been fully foreseen and intended by your MIA colleague. So that if you manage to finally track him down, he may simply refuse to publish or even flat out refuse to talk to you. And he's fully entitled to do so. (Not trying to imply that you mistreated your colleague in any way; I certainly felt mistreated before I left, and if someone ever came looking for me, for whatever reason, I'd tell them to shove it. But in my case I rather doubt anyone will.)
So, the gist of it, as I see it, is that you are fully entitled to use the ideas, data, that is, the *substance* of the work itself (with very explicit attribution and acknowledgment); but you cannot in any way list him as a coauthor without his formally expressed consent (that would be misrepresentation on your part); and you certainly cannot publish anything he actually wrote while omitting him as an author (which would be plagiarising).
On a final note: Keep in mind that, though he may appear to be missing, it is very possible he is still keeping an eye on whatever your lab/department is doing. If someone from my previous workplace did anything like that to me, I would be sure to be back to give them as much grief as I possibly could.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_11: If a co-author had died while a paper was being prepared, I would normally expect to see them continue to be listed, along with a footnote mentioning that fact.
The situation here is slightly more woolly because it requires more explanation and in the case of a death there's no risk that the co-author will reappear and repudiate the work. Nonetheless they seem close enough and a footnote along the lines of "X did A work but was unavailable to contribute to the final draft of this paper" would be appropriate.
As others have said, flagging the situation with the editors and any local ethics committee would certainly be prudent.
Upvotes: 2 |
2014/05/28 | 792 | 3,514 | <issue_start>username_0: Whenever I submit an article, conference paper or other written document, I get tons of useful feedback from my supervisors and other PhD students. So far, I've made sure to adjust my submissions according to their good comments, and then just throw the feedback away. But I feel like I could use that feedback much more efficiently.
I would like to categorise/condense the feedback in some way that makes it easy to identify my weaknesses and common themes, and also to see whether I'm actually improving in all areas or there are some recurring comments.
Does there exist a good framework for this task? If not, how should I approach it?<issue_comment>username_1: Your writing skills usually improve gradually over time. It seems like a very natural approach to obtain feedback and improve papers accordingly,thereby learning important skills.
If you want to be more efficient/structured I suggest that you not try to collect and categorize all feedback you get but try to build up a collection of "Tips and tricks". What I mean is, that you could skim the feedback for general advice and useful tricks that seems to be applicable in more general form (such as "write the introduction from general to specific and write the conclusion from specific to general") and collect only these bits.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Do you ever have the opportunity to peer-review other peoples' work? This may not seem related to the question of improving your own writing, but it really is. By reviewing the work of others, you generally tend to see where weaknesses can creep into a manuscript -- it is easier to see errors or different ways of wording things when the work is not your own. In doing so, you can often become more conscious if similar "things" occur in your own writing (and of course, you learn a ton from reviewing the content). Peer-review and copy-editing manuscripts for co-authors has helped me a lot in my writing over the last 15 years or so. Of course, I also took a 2 day course on scientific writing, which pretty much opened my eyes up to the reality that you are writing for the reader and must do everything you can to make sure the reader can understand from start (big picture) to finish (graphic details) the story you are trying to tell.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: My approach is simply to be alert to *patterns* that recur in the feedback I get (or as you call them, themes), so that I can improve in those areas. For example, I have learned that I still have a natural tendency to write too short of an introduction (not providing enough context for my work), and to assume that my audience has knowledge that they may not have. Those are the faults that I'm trying to "cure" myself of at the moment, so these are the areas that I try to pay the most attention to as I write a paper or prepare a presentation.
I don't have a checklist of things to watch out for, although that's not a bad idea. I find that by focusing on a couple of my worst flaws, eventually I internalise what I've learned so that I don't need to think about it. For example, when I first started writing papers, my supervisors had to tell me to show a logical connection from one idea to the next, so that the reader could follow my train of thought. I tend to do that automatically now, which leaves me to focus on other flaws.
I find that I do best if I focus on improving one or two areas at a time, rather than trying to improve everything at once.
Upvotes: 1 |
2014/05/28 | 333 | 1,536 | <issue_start>username_0: There is a scientist I am interested in contacting with expertise in peptidomics. I would like to email them to ask if they had ever explored findings from a related area of research. How do I politely contact them for their input?<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, check their personal website and any other content they have published which you have access to which may already offer the input you require. It would certainly be in order to personally e-mail the researcher, but be specific as to the type of input or information you require. The scientist is probably very busy, and a broad question is more likely to go unanswered in that case.
If you intend to refer to certain findings from a related field, ensure you provide all the necessary information to answer your question, or at the very least provide links to the related papers or websites for the convenience of the researcher.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Virtually every publication will list a corresponding author along with contact information, usually an email address and/or phone number. All authors are listed with their university and department. You can and should use any or all of this information to find these people and get in touch with the authors of any papers about which you have questions.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Send them a brief, polite email. Brief because nobody has time to read huge walls of text from strangers; polite because you want them to help you.
Upvotes: 2 |
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