When can I know the updated status from reviewer or editor after i submit a revised manuscript to that publisher?

Check with your colleagues in quantum chemistry what the standard timeline in publication is. In particular, you want to know how long it takes to receive reviewer reports. If your colleagues have reviewed papers, you can also ask how long they are given to review.

Chances are very good that 3 weeks is not too long - in fact it'd be abnormally fast to receive a decision in 3 weeks. Therefore relax, and wait.

If you're still concerned, I would email Wiley and ask about the status. They probably won't be able to give you a decision, but you can still ask questions such as how many reviewers have agreed to review, when the review due dates are, and so on (no guarantees they will give you the details though).


How to choose romanization for non-Latin script in an otherwise Latin script text?

For things that you won't publish, you can adhere to a standard you choose, for example writing in the Korean script using LaTeX.

It's difficult to talk more specifically than that because journals have their own requirements, which can have more to do with their typesetting systems than academic rigor.

If a journal publishes your work with ambiguous transliteration, you may be able to keep an alternate copy on ArXiV. (N.B. I'm not sure it's kosher to do this but I suspect it's fine as long as the alternate version is designated carefully.)


Is it a mistake to talk about hobbies in a job application?

There is a time and a place for everything. When evaluating your application to determine if you’re going to be one of the half dozen or so people who might get on the short list, your hobbies aren’t going to rate very high in the decision-making process, unless they suggest that they’re going to pull you away from your work too much.

But I’d also rather not work with a potential colleague who is so focused on their careers that they give up being someone you want to work with. Having hobbies and interests that have nothing to do with your daily job make you a better person, and it’s something you can talk about during a phone or in-person interview.

In the specific case you’re asked, then that means it’s something they decided they do want to know about and you should answer candidly.


How should I begin my meeting with my former teacher whom I haven't been in contact with for three years?

If she has already agreed to write you a recommendation letter, I would think the most nerve-wracking part is over. At least for me, meeting with professors and not knowing with 100% certainty that they would write a letter for me was the source of most of my anxiety over the meetings.

I would definitely not ask if she brought you a souvenir from Japan (or anywhere else) unless this is a culturally acceptable thing (at least in the US, such a question would likely be considered strange at best and rude at worst). I would also avoid questions/topics that can be considered personal, like her living situation, love life, et cetera.

I think it would be fine to ask her about her travels (e.g., "tell me about Japan"), or ask her about her current research or experience at the school. At least to me, those are innocent questions that also show that you have an interest in what she has been doing. From there, you can lead the conversation to what you have been doing and what you plan on doing in graduate school, and this naturally leads to a discussion of the recommendation letter.


Are references included in page limit on ACM conferences?

It varies, sometimes even within submission types at a single ACM conference. I am aware of no single set standard. Your conference should have a proper "guide for authors" or "information to authors" page, and it is often also included in the full "call for participation" or "call for papers", as well as a template in Word and/or Latex (which is also itself likely to give this information in it), and additional information about review processes, guidelines, timelines, etc. I've never seen a legitimate modern conference that omitted this, but you might also want to check the previous year's conference website just in case the detail wasn't properly copied to the new year website. In such a case you should still email someone on the organizing committee to verify the information is correct and inform them of the oversight.

As an example of a policy that is typical to my field, at ACM CHI full papers have a 10 page limit, and this does not count references (have as many as you like, but appendixes are not included in the main file at all). However, "work in progress" or "late breaking work" at CHI has a 6 page limit that does count references in the page limit, and this is typical for any of the extended abstract-style of submissions to this conference. It has been this way for at least a few years, though conferences evolve and often change their limits and what is included in the limit over time - so you have to check to be sure nothing changed every single year.

In short: there is no single ACM standard, and you should not assume anything and instead verify with current official conference materials what the rules are (many conferences will automatically reject your submission if it violates these basic rules, though not all). Verify with someone officially involved with the conference if the material is not already listed clearly on the conference website in call for participation/papers or the author guide.


I'll guess that the university in question is still an R1 university (and in the US) and is about mid way through the rankings of those. From that I assume that the standards are high and that you should get a fine education.
And, from comments, you probably need a solid grounding in the new field, so I don't really see any down-side.
A small program can be a bit of a problem, however, if it gives you fewer options. Alternatively, it might also give you the opportunity to work more closely with a faculty member or two rather than being part of the "mob".
However, don't make assumptions about what is required for admission to a US doctoral program. People frequently choose a different field than their undergraduate major. The typical program is heavy on coursework at the start and often not a lot different from what you do in a masters. So, I'd suggest that you get a solid understanding of the real requirements.


How to conduct academic research across different fields as a undergrad?

If you're a freshman doing research in your first year, and your professor has mostly left you to your own devices, then I think it's reasonable to assume that:

The main benefits of this research will be the experience you gain
There is a high chance that what you are doing will not result in publishable work, and that is okay

The most important thing is to communicate with your advisor. If you are unsure of what to do, then relay that to your advisor.

They will not look down on you for asking for direction or expressing confusion, and if they do, it is their fault for hiring a freshman to work in a brand new research area. Helping you out in areas like this is precisely why you have an advisor.

  what is expected of me

That you do what you're told to do, communicate when you're confused, and when they give you freedom, give it your best effort.

Do not flounder for weeks on end without asking for help!

  How can I bring up issues to my adviser?

I like email, because it lets you gather your thoughts and think about what you're saying. Your professor will likely either respond by email, and either set up a meeting, or give you some advice for email.

Tell them you're unclear on what exactly how to do, and you'd like to ask if they have specific expectations, or if you're free to try things on your own.

Be honest, but be brief. Professors are busy, and if you get to the point, they will take it much better than if you waste their time dancing around what you're trying to say.

  How do I stay with the institute

Honestly, in my experience, starting with a group is the easiest way to stay with them. Work hard, communicate well. If they see potential in you, they will likely want to keep you.

And, be honest! If you like working there, say it. Professors like students they know and trust when recruiting for post-grad studies,
and often your undergrad projects can lead into your graduate work.

  what should I be doing in my research in order to complete it successfully?

This is a very complicated question. Communicating will help. Try to manage risk: try out ideas on a small scale before you devote your time to them. And, you will read a lot. Knowing what has already been done will guide what you do, as well as ensuring you're not accidentally duplicating someone's research.


How to address title-field inconsistency?

Your Ph.D. is in the department is says it is in, and there's nothing that you can (or should) do about it.  For example, my Ph.D. is in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, but my thesis didn't really have anything to do with EE.  That's OK: most people understand that the actual names and structures of departments are complex and often historical artifacts.

What will really speak for you in your application is your thesis and publications.  If the titles of those clearly show your area of work, then just make sure that they appear clearly and prominently wherever you present yourself.


Should I provide feedback to a PhD application I have received?

You will do the student a kindness if you send feedback.  Try not to be harsh.  Perhaps something like, "Did you know that company X already makes product Y that appears to incorporate what you have proposed as research?  That being the case, I'm sorry but your proposal is not suitable for my lab."


Is it true that 'nice' professors fail to produce good students?

That advice from the blog says to avoid an advisor who

  1.  Is nice, and friendly, and available.

  And never gives you the fierce criticism and the tough pushback that forces you to confront your weaknesses, take risks, stop whining, cut the excuses, get over your fears, and make hard decisions about reputation, money, and jobs.

It's the part beginning with "and never" that describes a problematic advisor, not the "nice, friendly, and available" part.

An advisor who is unwilling to criticize a student and share harsh truths when necessary is certainly problematic for many students. But I wouldn't necessarily conflate that with being "nice." For most students, an advisor who is genuinely nice is a good thing.

As for

  If you’ve never cried before, during, or after a meeting with your advisor, something is amiss.

Doing a PhD is difficult and sometimes discouraging  for most people. My advisor is one of the nicest people I know, and I've walked out of his office on one or two occasions and gone off somewhere to cry. Not because he isn't nice, but because what I'm doing is difficult, and sometimes we have to have some very difficult and/or discouraging conversations.


When do postdoc positions typically start?

Postdocs are often so informal that they can start almost any time.

I had one starting in early August and one starting in February, both not at the start of either semester.


How to add mathematical rigor to systems research?

You sound like me five years ago! Here's what I did to become more theoretical.

Go back to basics.  I went back and relearned Calculus and Linear Algebra.  Watch YouTube videos on different subject matters. Mathematical maturity is the key.  You get this by reading lots of maths (any maths will help).   I also started learning Real Analysis.
Search Google for books/resources on 'how mathematicians think?'  Also learn how to do proofs.  There are plenty of books available.
Start reading theoretical CS papers/books, and learn a math tool; e.g., a branch of math programming such as linear program, non-linear, etc...

Best of luck with it.  Unfortunately, there is no short term solution, but the payoff is well worth the effort and frustration!

Proofing stuff in general is hard.  Otherwise, any man and his dog will be able to do it!  Books on how to construct proofs will help here.  They will get you into the correct mindset and also provide the framework that will allow you to 'hang' your proof.


How to differentiate "imposter syndrome" from actual lack of suitability for grad. school/academia?

We can’t tell from what you write how promising you really are.  But I can say you’re showing many classic signs of impostor syndrome.
Believe the assessments you receive from instructors.
At least in my experience (the US and NW Europe), “sarcasm” is very rare, and considered quite unprofessional.  I would certainly be shocked to see it used in a letter of recommendation, or a formal course report, or anything like that.  It might be used in informal personal feedback, but this would be unusual, and considered by most academics today as inappropriate and unprofessional, or (at best) regrettably old-fashioned.
Grade inflation is a realistic concern to some extent, as is “praise inflation” in letters of recommendation.  But it sounds like you’re taking this concern far over the top — don’t discount grades or praise entirely.  If your instructor praised the paper, it really does mean he was impressed by it.  Sure, you are aware of the flaws in it — but he saw those flaws, and nonetheless remembered it as very impressive overall.  (Incidentally, it isn’t at all unusual for a paper to have some sloppiness, but still be extremely impressive by showing good insights, knowledge, or exposition.)  Which brings me to:
Don’t judge yourself by a double standard compared to your peers.
There’s a saying: “We compare our own behind-the-scenes to everybody else’s highlight reels.”  Everything you write sounds like what that describes: When you get praise or positive feedback, you are looking for reasons to discount it; but you are taking your peers’ positive feedback at face value.  At the same time, you say you see lack of confidence in you from professors, but everything concrete you mention is positive.
These are all massive red flags for impostor syndrome.  It’s always hard to judge our own capabilities, but when in doubt, look at the most concrete feedback you’ve received from people whose judgement you trust, and take it at face value, especially compared to the feedback they give your peers.  If you look for specific reasons to discount it, you’ll always find some, because you know your own life and flaws better than anyone else.  (Just like when an arrogant person looks for reasons to discount criticism, they can always find some good excuse.)  So, fight any tendencies to discount feedback, either positive or negative.  Try to believe your professors’ assessments and feedback, praise and criticism, and take both on board.  Good luck!


How do I withdraw a paper from a journal after it was accepted but before it was fully published?

Check out the journal’s policy. While they do not always address the issue of what stages a paper can be withdrawn, you can find some indirect information. For example, if the policy says:

  Manuscripts for which page proofs are not returned in a timely manner will be withdrawn from publication.

(here in the case of the JACS journal), then you can still withdraw the paper at the proofing stage.
Leave a bit more time to the editor… it's a time-consuming job, and he might just be very busy. You can send a gentle reminder. Just mind that you are the one asking for something out of the ordinary, so mind your manners.
Where are you at in the publication process? If you have signed the copyright transfer agreement, paid the processing fee (you mentioned one; no all journals have them) and sent back the final proofs with your corrections, you might just be too late legally speaking. It probably doesn't hurt to ask, but you might not have legal recourses apart from retraction (and avoid that).
Whatever you say, don't ask for retraction. Retracting a paper once published is a grave decision to make, and it is not appropriate in your case.


What positions in industry should I apply for after a phd and postdoc in software engineering?

We don't know if you will get one of the jobs that requires 3-5 years experience.  But there's no reason not to try.

As you're reading job descriptions, avoid the ones that clearly involving sitting and coding for eight hours a day -- because you say that's not your strong suit.

When you apply for a job you think you would be good at, you must tailor your CV, your cover letter, and your interview to the specific job.  Piece together the work you've done to make a jigsaw puzzle picture that resembles, to a reasonable extent, the picture they have in mind.  This does require some chutzpah.  That's okay.  The job hunt process is not the place for humility.

In other words, you will argue that you have 3-5 years' relevant experience (in some sort of equivalent form).

If that doesn't get anywhere -- then you can go back to the drawing board.

(By the way, you might want to get involved with a headhunter.  I myself can't advise for or against going that route.)


Is it OK to use personal email ID for faculty job applications or should we use (current) institute's ID

If you have an institutional email that will still be accessible for the foreseeable future, I would suggest using it. When I see applications for academic positions that use @hotmail.com or something, I sometimes (subconsciously perhaps) judge the application to be of lesser desirability.

However

This momentary judgement of the applicant's email address is quickly dismissed if the rest of the application is quality. If you are using a good @gmail.com email address or something similar, there is no shame in that. It should go without saying, but obviously do not apply for faculty positions with an email such as pick_butts@yahoo.com (or whatever). Even an email like sparkle.38@gmail.com should be avoided.

I would suggest creating a nice gmail address specific for just your applications.

  Roger.M.Turley@gmail.com (assuming one's name was actually Roger M. Turley)

This will allow you to be professional in your presentation as well as funnel all necessary correspondence to a specific and single purpose email account.


A Student turned in an essay answer to a question I haven't asked yet. What to do?

This is clear cut plagiarism. And not only is it plagiarism, it is also very poorly conducted plagiarism, which is a bit worse in my book, since it indicates that the student does not even takes studying seriously enough to read through the assignments and understand what he/she is plagiarizing.

Your university surely has guidelines. If you don't know the guidelines, you can ask the person responsible for undergraduate education at your institution, which will probably also be the person you should report to.

And let me just add one final thing: You don't do the student any favors by not reporting. Plagiarism exploits the mutual trust there always needs to be when teaching, and this is harmful for university education as such. Plagiarism and cheating should therefore always have consequences.


Generally asking multiple questions in a single question are discouraged on Stack Exchange sites, since asking questions in bulk reduces their exposure as individual questions.

@jakebeal is correct, authorship and the ordering thereof, is extremely field-dependent. A tag search on Academia.SE should give you an idea about how different things are in different fields.

Here are some general answers that might hopefully be of some use:

  Do advisory committee given a different treatment when it comes to the contribution? Are students expected to list them as authors?

Co-authors are people who have contributed to the work at hand. How that's defined is quite up to the field and sometimes even specific groups. I know for instance that in maths and physics, even having a lengthy conversation over a cup of coffee or two might be rewarded with a co-authorship. It is somewhat more strict closer you get to biology and medicine. But there is no written rule as far as I know..

  How are contribution and authorship communicated, what is the norm and when draft is sent or circulated through email (between members)
  should the student add their names as authors, leave it blank, so
  whoever want to contribute will add his own name?

In my experience, it's usually (and hopefully) decided in advance and revised prior to submission or after reviews, in case any extra work is required. I have never heard of "sign up if you wanna be a part of this article" approach before.

  Should the PI providing the data or equipment be listed on the students work even if he doesn't light or contribute to the drafting
  them a script?

There's a long, and I mean long path between drafting a manuscript and getting it published. The PI will most likely be involved in those steps in between, if not in the beginning.

You also need to see that the role a PI assumes might vary from person to person, some are hands-on and some adopt a more sink-or-swim approach. Some will micromanage details, and some will leave it up to you to figure things out along the way. My point is, if your PI hasn't been contributing much so far, there might be more than one plausible explanation for it, don't be quick to judge.

And finally to answer the question, I cannot imagine a world where you can exclude the PI who's providing your salary, and the resource you've used from a publication that you have produced, unless the person specifically tells you to do so.


Schools in the US operate on a department basis. Almost all big research institutions will offer research work in the subject field. If your friend doesn't know anything about where the subject he is trying to study is thought, I think he is wasting his time on a graduate degree. Graduate study is research intensive work that requires more commitment on the student's side then it does on the professor's or school's side.


Do non-native English speakers appreciate it when I carefully correct their English in peer reviews?

I think it is a good idea.  Yes, even in mathematics.  And even papers by native English speakers.

Sometimes, if the English has many errors, I just note that in my review, and suggest the author have the paper corrected by an English speaker before re-submitting.

Journals should have their own people to correct English after papers are accepted.  But who knows what happens with modern free-access no-fee journals who cannot afford such luxuries?


How to deal with students leaving the class for 10 min during the lecture?

The existing answers seem to me extreme.  I don't think some sort of draconian blanket "leaving-the-room policy" is needed here.  I would suggest the following:

For students leaving occasionally: Ignore it. They are adults and sometimes things in their lives may take higher priority than your class (e.g. going to the bathroom, feeling unwell, family emergencies, etc).  If it's distracting to you, well, deal with it.  It's a classroom, not a funeral, and you are a professional.  Take a breath and get back to teaching.
If you see a particular student leaving often: Have a private word with them to see if things are okay.  They may have special circumstances that you don't know about (chronic illness is one distinct possibility).  Once you know their situation, you may be able to offer specific suggestions that will reduce the disruption and/or get them more engaged in the class.
If, after talking to them, you are convinced they are just walking out from spite, and they won't stop: Follow your institution's policy on disruptive students.  Your department chair should have further guidance.  It may ultimately be necessary to drop them from the class.

A short break in the middle of a 75-minute class is a reasonable idea, but I would keep it very short: perhaps 1-2 minutes, enough to stand up and stretch, not more.  It should not significantly reduce the amount of time students spend on task.  (Otherwise, as mentioned above, you may encounter problems with your institution's authorities that your class does not provide as much instructional time as promised by its number of credit hours.  Moreover, some students will see it as wasted time and resent it.)  Better yet, break up the lecture with some other sort of productive activity (small group discussions, problem solving, etc).

I don't think it's appropriate to publicly shame students for poor etiquette, or shut them out of class if they leave.  You will unfairly punish students who legitimately need to step out for a few minutes, and anyone who is doing it from spite or boredom will just be further alienated.


How this is handled probably varies between universities, so you should check what is considered customary or acceptable at yours.  I don't think there would be any explicit rules against contacting potential donors yourself, but it could antagonize the administration.  Securing a large donation is often a lengthy process of building a long-term relationship with the donor, identifying shared goals, and convincing the donor that this would be the best use of their money.  U.S. universities have special staff who are (or at least should be) skilled at handling this, and they would probably not appreciate individual faculty members interfering.  Working with them would probably be more effective and would keep the university administration on your side.

A further issue is that it's not good for anyone if competing faculty members try to convince the same donor to support their project instead of the competition.  It's better to sort this out at the university level, rather than undermining each other.

The best case scenario for fundraising by an individual faculty member is if they already have a personal connection with a potential donor who is not otherwise being asked for funding.  If you are not in this position, then it will be difficult to identify the right people, and you are better off seeking professional advice from the administration.


Following up with a potential supervisor

Your potential supervisor, like pretty much everyone else, expects useful professional correspondence. By useful I mean that they expect to learn something new from it. If no event has taken place that would warrant a change of state, your potential supervisor has no reason to assume that your position has changed. Therefore, there is no need to send any email, that would confirm something they already know.

Two weeks is by no means a long time for an admission process status update, so, that needn't worry you. However, if the process would take a disproportionate amount of time (how much depends on local factors), I would consider emailing the professor again. But that is a change of the circumstances as explained above.

Another case in which I would consider contacting the person is a reminder. That is usually the case when you expect them something to do or if you got no response the first time. You state that you already communicated a change of state and that they acknowledged it by thanking you.

Bottom line, if you have nothing new to report, nothing to inquire and no need to remind the recipient of anything, there is no need to send an email.


Identifying new references when appending to existing reference list

If you are using the EndNote reference manager, it will tell you that you are importing duplicates, which references are duplicates, and then give you options for what you can do with them. It seems reasonable that other reference managers will do the same.

As an example, many journals now have adopted the practice of publishing articles online before they have been assigned to a print volume. Thus, I may want the manager to replace the old reference (without page and volume information) with the new (with that information). EndNote lets me choose to do this.


Does APA style have a simplified short-paper format?

From an on-line search of APA style guides it appears that the APA style-guide is set up for research papers that would include a title page and abstract.

It appears though that most universities that I searched either had a defined page count before an abstract page was needed or said to check with the course instructor.

These are just a sample of some;

At this private college the exceptions from an abstract are where,

  Smaller essays (3 pages or less)
  Informal writings (in almost all instances, the paper will be 3 pages or less).
  Papers over 3 pages in length that are formatted in APA style but do not contain a citation or reference.

At Western Oregon University they have two sample papers, one for a short paper (without abstract) and one for a formal paper (with abstract)

Lastly ,as an example, these two colleges Capital Community College and Empire State College state that the student should check if an abstract is needed.

Connecticut

  Check with your instructor to see if an abstract and/or keywords are required elements of your paper.

Empire State

  Be sure to ask your mentor whether or not s/he requires an abstract.

So while it appears that APA does not have any special short paper format it appears , from samples above, that institutions either have a formal policy or leave it to the discretion of the instructor.


If a PhD position I applied for and didn't hear back from is removed and relisted, does this mean I was rejected?

Reposting a search does not mean that all the applications received so far are unsuitable. It often means that they have not received the volume of applications they expected/wanted and are worried, without having necessarily looked at the applications, that they might have missed qualified applicants.

Given you applied on line and never got a status update, it is always reasonable to ask if everything is okay. Given the position has been reposted, it is worth asking if you need to resubmit your application. Sometimes HR and electronic systems do not carry applications over from one position to the next.


Can a published well-received research paper contain misprints?

Yes, and there are a lot of reasons for errors. There is also a large machinery for keeping errors out, but they fail regularly enough. Sometimes the error is a misunderstanding by a copy editor. In printed work, even by the printer's employees.

But the biggest issue is probably how hard it is for people to proof read their own material. I struggle with this constantly in my own writing. Once you put a mistake into a paper, you are likely to read over it when proof reading. You tend to "see" what you think should be there, not what actually is there. One of the purposes of intelligent reviewers is to catch such things. But we are all human and the mistakes we make we often repeat.

If the "error" isn't thought of as serious to understanding by a reader, they may just ignore it. Or even, might "see" what they expect to see in such things as formulae. Especially if they are commonly used.

There was once a version of the Bible printed in which, among the other commandments it was stated: Thou shalt commit adultery. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_Bible


What is a 'yield rate'? Do graduate department seats go unfilled?

I had a look at the link you shared. The yield rate is defined as the number of applicants who accepted offers of admission divided by the number of offers of admission. Yes, it is indeed true that graduate departments send out more offers of admission than "available seats" and forecast a number of enrollees that is approximately the capacity of the program.

This creates some challenges when admitted students receive offers of graduate financial aid like teaching assistantships, research assistantships, or fellowships. But it is the job of the graduate programs director in any particular department to develop an admissions strategy that meets program goals while remaining financially feasible. For this reason, you often see active waiting lists for graduate programs admission.


When should I release deadlines for assignments?

I see no problem in releasing your estimate of related dates "as you've been asked to help some students schedule," with the same caveats you give here (which I would highlight). It's always good to be responsive to fairly easy requests by students, but it would be unreasonable for students to expect a schedule to be set in stone.


Proper way to format computer code included in a thesis/dissertation

There are a number of excellent LaTeX packages for typesetting code, made for just such occasions.  The listings package is one good example, which includes standardized formatting for a number of languages.

It does not provide a "definitive" way to typeset code (there is no such, since there are a number of competing conventions) but its defaults provide a standard and well-recognized formatting that is entirely appropriate for academic publications. Furthermore, it can be customized to follow any unusual requirements of your institutions thesis format.


How to decide whether to publish your paper in conference proceedings, as a journal article, or as a book chapter?

As one of your fellow computer scientists, I often think of it this way:

Start with a conference paper: the page limits mean you'll likely only be able to present the core elements of the work, but it's a fast route to feedback, publication, and beginning to get your results noticed by the community.
Next, upgrade to a journal paper: this is where you put out the nice full version of the work, with all of the details and supplementary information.  Generally a bad idea to do before you've got a version in print somewhere else, because many computer science journals are dreadfully slow (I think this might be because we've got conferences for a fast option, so journals feel less pressure than in other fields).
Use book chapters only for reviews and similar.  The problem with book chapters is that they're generally much more difficult for people to find.  Most conferences will either be open access or will go into an archive like IEEE Xplore or ACM DL that most institutions have access to.  Books, not so much, and it seems to make a quantifiable difference.

There is also the option of workshops, which you did not mention.  These, I think, are a great place for preliminary work or for work that you want to discuss with a very particular community.


Same recommendation letter for different semesters?

Yes, that's perfectly acceptable.  I've submitted duplicate letters myself in support of reappointments for some of my students and they've all been successful.  (But like most instructors, I only agree to write an LOR if I can write a good one that I think will be helpful.)  The only reason for concern would be if you were turned down on your previous application and you worry it might have been because he/she gave you a weak reference.


Writing letters of reference for a faculty position in China?

Writing my comment as an answer, following a suggestion.

I’ve spent two years in China as a postdoc. I have never read a recommendation letter (LoR) but I’ve experienced the culture in academia. As someone else hinted I also do not think anybody will actually read the LoR in any detail, but just skim through it. The focus is on who wrote it (more precisely, what is the author's university ranking and impact factors).
About the contents I’d recommend just dropping cliche positive comments but without any exaggeration. The Chinese are extremely sensitive to any form of criticism, and will generally not appreciate outspoken, frank discussions. This will look particularly "serious" if put in written, from a "leader" and addressed to 3rd parties, and might be interpreted as a gentle warning against the candidate.


Thesis or published papers for PhD application?

This depends on where you are and what are the traditions of the places you would intend to apply to for a doctorate. It would also depend on the field, which you state as mathematics.

However, the advantage of the thesis is that you get some direction in creating it, but probably less direction in the writing of a set of papers.

The other thing is that a thesis comes with a fairly definite end point. You write it, someone reads and approves it and you are done. With papers, it is much less definite as you then depend on getting the papers accepted somewhere. Depending on your field and the publishing venue this can take a long time. There are questions here that suggest that eighteen months in review happens frequently enough to be alarming.

Note that a thesis normally ins't "a book" though in some fields (not likely math) it could be. In the sciences rather than the arts or humanities, it is normally a scientific study of some kind with a written summary of methodology and results. In mathematics the thesis could either be strictly (theoretical) mathematics or an associated philosophy or historical study. If it is a theoretical thesis then you need a suitable problem to work on. Moreover you need to be able to make progress on that problem in some way. Finding a problem can be difficult (hence the advisor) as some are too easy, some are too hard, and some are just right. But you aren't normally expected, as a master's student to come up with your own problem, though this varies by place.

I'm also going to guess that the non-thesis option isn't designed to leave you a lot of time to write independent papers. Normally it would be filled with coursework that has its own (time consuming) requirements. Most places, the thesis option would imply a bit less course work and more "quality time" with an advisor or research group working on some problem or study.

You can be successful with either. You can also be successful if you do the non-thesis option and don't produce any publishable research along the way. Acceptance into a doctoral program can be achieved through a variety of paths, as long as they predict success in scientific/mathematical studies and research.

You don't, in fact, need to prove that you don't actually need the guidance of a doctoral program just to be admitted to it. You aren't there to prove to people that you don't need to be there.

Finally, let me note that scientific/mathematical writing isn't just writing. You need something to write about. That is the research part that needs to precede any writing that explains the methodology and results. If you don't do that, then you have nothing to write about.


Can I do research at a different college than the one I am attending?

There is nothing wrong with asking and nothing wrong with doing what you propose. However, your regular college may not accept any "credit toward graduation" from the other place, and the other college may require some sort of official attendance, even as a part-time student.

Depending on how the professor is funded, this may be easier or harder. If he/she has external funding for the research it is probably easier as they have a bit (at least) more control over how it is carried out. Likewise if the professor is on an "academic year" contract then summer month activities may not be considered part of employment. But you will have to explore locally to know what rules apply.

Your regular college won't have any problems with you doing this unless  you want them to accept credits. Then, rules will apply.


Should I worry about a referee who recommended rejection being offended if my paper is accepted?

No, you should not worry.  Referees offer opinions.  The actual decision to accept or reject a paper rests with the editor.  The referee may very well be offended by the editor's decision to ignore her opinion, but that's certainly not your problem.


Can I supplement my unofficial transcripts with missing context?

I don't think there is any rule that would suggest it's bad practice to add the scorecard to your unofficial transcript. However, I would say that it is unlikely to change much. If you think it is important to address the grades, I'd rather find a way to weave this into the letter or any other free text that will accompany your application. This is likely a much better way to put your grades into context. Consider that even the percentages tells you next to nothing. In the US system see here a D generally ranges between 60-70%, so in comparison to your table it should be considered better than average? But nevertheless, if you apply will all Ds or even all Cs in the US system you will likely be dismissed out of hand. So in my eyes, a personalized note would be needed to convey the nuances about your grading system.
Of course, I am not sure if your applications offer up space for such a section.


Interviewing for an academic position after abusive department chair in previous academic position

You can honestly say that the former position was "a bad fit" personally and professionally and that you seek a "more compatible" environment. I've been in enough strange situations that I suspect people are aware that they exist. There are enough similar questions here to indicate that academia isn't utopia.

You needn't speak ill of the former head. But if the "environment has become less conducive to personal and professional growth" it is likely a fair assessment.

Also, just having been promoted is an excellent time to "look for other, more challenging, opportunities."


Do academics and graduate degree holders need to publish articles or books to be respected in their fields?

Publication is the most obvious route to prominence, but others most certainly exist.  I think it would be extremely rare for somebody to be well-known and respected for non-publication reasons without having ever published (expertise, as demonstrated by publication, is often a ticket for entry to other things), but there are definitely people who are known for things largely unrelated to their publications.

For example, I have some colleagues who are important figures in their community due to their prominent role in founding and maintaining a large annual event.  They've got some good publications, but that's not the primary thing that people know them and respect them for.  This is not the typical route, but it's also quite possible.


Is it okay/common practice to reuse reference letters?

In the US, this practice essentially can't happen, because letters of reference are almost never given directly to the student—instead, the referee submits the letter directly to the requester. So you would have to ask your referees to submit the letter again on your behalf.

If you're in a country where the norm is to give a letter of reference directly to the applicant (such as Germany), the letter is usually given out without a target recipient, and is therefore much generic. In such cases, you do not need to request permission to reuse the letter, as it is already designed for such use.

If you're in doubt, just ask the person who wrote you the letter. Most people will want to update a letter, particularly if it's several years old.


Postdoc delayed decision! Possible reasons?

If the delay could possibly cause you to miss another opportunity elsewhere, then it would be a good idea to follow up. However, if that is not the case, then patience is suggested. It hasn't been very long and people often miss deadlines even when they don't mean to. It is a busy time of year for most academics.

The question about the number of references is too local to comment on here. There may be a local rule, but certainly not a global one.


Is the math jobs wiki around this year (2013)?

Here's the reply from Greg Kuperberg to this exact question asked a month ago on MathOverflow.

  I will put it back up soon. –  Greg Kuperberg, Sep 24 at 10:56

It'll be up soon unless he has changed his mind. Upvoting the comment there might help... hopefully.


Should one research multiple independent topics while pursuing a PhD?

The main downside is that it takes a significant amount of effort to gain enough specialization in a given topic to be proficient enough to perform useful experimentation. Given that a a graduate student you're spending almost all your time familiarizing yourself with the topic you're actually performing research on, it would be very difficult to become an expert in an area unrelated to your work.

That being said, many research topics are very conducive to multi-disciplinary research. To use myself as an example, I usually tell people that I'm a cross between a neuroscientist, behavioral psychologist, signal processing engineer, and statistician. A colleague of mine started his research examining how to use the lungs as a power source for an implantable device, and ended up publishing a significant paper in the field of organic chemistry, fairly unrelated to his intended research. Becoming an expert in your own field enables you to research some pretty interesting and diverse topics.


Does this count as an IEEE Conference paper?

Yes

Can I safely assume that all papers available on IEEE Xplore or ACM
Digital Library are published as IEEE transaction or conference
papers, and ACM papers respectively?

I think so and will be surprised if that is not the case.


Is it possible to switch from a "normal" IT career to an academic career?

Its very possible - but it also depends upon your profile. If you have a bachelors already its very easy to do a masters with a thesis component and then move towards a PhD. Or maybe if you have a masters already you can look into a Mphil and then PhD.
Something similar


If I see a research paper published in multiple places, how can I tell whether or not it is unethical dual publication?

Generally, a publication is an unethical dual publication if

the editor didn't know about the previous publication (i.e. the authors did not disclose it), or
the author didn't cite the previous publication (and policy requires them to do so), or
the authors have violated the "dual publication" or "extended paper" policy of the journal, which may have its own specific requirements. (For example, many, but not all, journals in CS and EE have a policy that conference papers republished as journal papers must contain 25% new material, a determination that is made by the editors based on the reviewers' assessments.)

In your example, the authors do cite the previous publication in their reference list. There is no way for you, the reader, to know whether the editor was aware of the previous publication during the review process, but it seems likely (since the authors cited their previous work.) If you're concerned that they didn't know about the previous publication, you can always send the editors an email and ask them.
The policies of IEEE, the IEEE Communication Society, and JSAC, all permit conference papers to be re-published in journal form, as long as it's cited and properly disclosed to the editor at submission.
The document you've cited from the IEEE is about using CrossCheck, a plagiarism detection tool that finds "similarity" between a submitted document and previously published material. It says:

Interpreting Matching Percentages of Individual Sources
It may seem that any source of matching text should be a concern, but in fact many matching sources are likely to not be the result of plagiarism. For example:
...
>25% match - This level of similarity from a single source should raise serious concerns about inappropriate reuse, and should be checked very carefully

which is probably why you believe that IEEE punishes authors "who publish material which uses more than 25% of the content from another publication." That document then it goes on to say

Factors to Keep in Mind when Reviewing Individual Sources
Is the similarity to the authors’ own work?
This can often be the case. Authors build upon their own previously published work, and will often reuse portions of text. While this would not be considered plagiarism, it may still indicate a potential problem if the reuse of previously published content is not cited properly.

The plagiarism discussion with the ">25%" guideline is not about authors who reuse their own material.  A separate "self-plagiarism" policy applies to them. The policy on authors republishing their own work (in identical or modified form) is called the "dual publication policy." The IEEE Communication Society's (JSAC is a ComSoc journal) dual publication policy is:

The guidelines recognize that it is common in technical publishing for material to be presented at various stages of its evolution. As one example, this can take the form of publishing early ideas in a workshop,  more developed work in a conference and fully developed contributions as journal or transactions papers. This publication process is an important means of scientific communication. The editor of a publication may choose to re-publish existing material for a variety of reasons, including promoting wider distribution and serving readers by aggregating special material in a single publication. This practice continues to be recognized and accepted by the IEEE. At the same time, the IEEE requires that this evolutionary process be fully referenced by the author.
Authors submitting manuscripts must disclose whether there are prior publications, e.g. conference papers, by the authors that are similar, whether published or submitted. They must also include information that very clearly states how the new submission differs from the previously published work(s). Such papers should be cited in the submitted manuscript.

In other words, they permit re-publishing as long as the editor agrees and:

On submission, the authors disclose that the work is previously published, and state the specific differences between the new submission and the previous publication.
The previous publication is cited in the new submission.

This is consistent with the general IEEE policy on author originality.
The journal's specific policy is also consistent with the IEEE and IEEE ComSoc policies:

With respect to authors' previously published or to-be-published work, material which has been previously copyrighted, published, or accepted for publication will not in general be considered for publication in J-SAC. Exceptions to this rule include an author's prior publications that have had limited distribution, have been printed in abstract form only, or have appeared in conference records or digests. All papers are considered on the basis of their individual merit alone, and the fact that a paper may have been accepted for presentation at a conference does not ensure its acceptance for publication in J-SAC. In many cases, a conference paper must be substantially revised to meet the technical standards maintained by J-SAC. A manuscript identical to or largely based upon a conference paper must be so identified. Please refer to IEEE's policy on originality of content for more detailed information on the use of previously-published work as the basis for a J-SAC submission.

Specifically,

Work that has only appeared in conference proceedings may be considered for publication.
Authors must disclose at paper submission time if they are submitting a paper that is "largely identical" to an already published conference paper.


Request an extension of revision deadline over the holidays

Let me recapture my understanding of your situation:

You cannot make an appropriate resubmission in time.
You informed the appropriate person of this fact (hopefully giving appropriate reasoning).

I further assume that:

The person who will decide whether you get an extension can decide on a per-case basis using common sense and is not dogmatically bound to rules.
Further communication cannot possibly have any positive effect.

Then, there is nothing you can do, except hoping the person deciding upon the extension is reasonable and decides in your favour. Whether this is actually the case is something that we cannot predict any better than you. Whether the journal office is open should hardly matter (and again is something that we cannot tell any better than you).


I think the issue is that the concept of "tenure-track" doesn't really exist in many European countries—at least not as it's interpreted in the US. Consequently, start-up packages can be difficult to compare.

When I started my present position, I got a very small package, if you reckoned it in terms of what's needed to buy equipment and pay for travel. On the other hand, I was guaranteed two full-time scientific positions for the lifetime of my appointment. (These positions could be used for either PhD students or postdocs.) Reckoned in that sense, however, the package is quite generous (close to $1 million).

In other nearby countries (Netherlands, for instance), the support is not nearly so strong: typically just one student supported by the university, and relatively limited budgets.


Are academic associations obliged to comply with the US government?

The organizations you mention, while not controlled by the US government, still need to obey all applicable laws and regulations; employment laws, for example.

But the government, sometimes by presidential decree, has wide latitude to set regulations related to national security. In many cases the claims don't actually need to be proven. That is the nature of "national security". The fear is that it may be too late if you have to wait for congress to act or for solid proof.

Whether this is good or not is a long standing debate as the power can be abused.


What is the eligibility criteria for doing research in physics?

There are none.

If you want to get paid, again, there are no fixed criteria but you had best be more qualified than the other applicants for the job.

  If I want to switch to doing research in physics, how difficult would it be?

You already studied a lot of physics plus some extra math.  It should not be so hard.  If you apply for PhD programs, you should clearly articulate why you are switching.  Many people do PhDs in areas that include both physics and math - if you go that route it will be easier than if you try to so something purely experimental.


Postdoc in China: what are the possible difficulties and disadvantages?

I'm doing a postdoc in computer science at Nankai University, Tianjin, China.  You've asked about the negatives, but I first want to point out that I love living in China (my friends talk about how they should visit China one day; I live here!).  It's not perfect, but it's not nearly as bad as made out on Western media.  And I feel physically safer here than I do in any other country.

Some items that might be of concern:

Culture shock.  Have you been to China before?  Because wow!  It's a shock when you're new.  I recommend visiting (e.g. for 3 months) before taking up a job here.  Things you'll need to get used to:  chopsticks, squat toilets, pollution, crowds, haggling, real Chinese food, the great firewall (e.g. Facebook, Google, Dropbox are blocked), crossing the road, finding clothes that fit, fighting over the bill, people pushing in front of you, traffic.  A lot of the time, you won't really know what's going on because it was explained to you in Chinglish.  At other times, things won't make sense because they're just done differently in China.
Low salary (by international standards--well paid by Chinese standards).  But the university should cover accommodation (so no bills to pay), and cost of living is next to negligible (as long as you eat the local food; Western food incurs Western prices).
Language barrier.  Even if your colleagues all speak English, you will need to do things like buying food, taking taxis, etc., which will require some level of Chinese (unless you want to disturb your colleagues repeatedly).  You might end up misunderstanding important things (e.g. your salary level) because it was explained to you in broken English.  Also, how good are you at pronouncing Chinese names (your future co-authors names)?
Medical care.  Forget having privacy; expect to explain your medical conditions in front of maybe 5 other patients.  Oh, and probably one of your work colleagues will need to translate for you, and help you buy medicines.  (It helps if you know someone who's a doctor.)
Loneliness.  All of your friends will probably be through work.  They will go off and spend time with their family and friends, or go back to their accommodation, and you'll be left alone.  You'll be a kind of outsider, and people might be too shy to invite you to events, even though you are lonely.  (From my perspective, this is the worst aspect of living in China.)
Proofreading papers.  You're probably going to get asked to proofread/polish a whole bunch of papers.
Administration.  In order to get a work permit, there's a lot of forms to fill in.  You'll need a "foreign experts certificate", a "work certificate", and there's a medical check and an interview.  Many forms will be in Chinese (and your colleagues will likely need to fill these in for you).
Grants:  There's also special grants for foreigners: Research Fellowship for International Young Scientists (which I'm on currently), and the 1000 Talents Program.
No fixed address.  When people ask me for my address, it's hard to explain to them I don't actually have one.  (E.g. I'll stay in some random hotel for the next few weeks, then I travel to some country, and will stay in some other random hotel.)  I essentially live out of a suitcase.
Hard work.  People in China seem to work much longer hours than in Western countries.  (E.g. I'm in the office virtually every day, including weekends, from morning to night.)
Team work.  China is the country of people power.  Everyone in our lab helps out everyone else, and we end up with papers with many authors.
LGBT?  Don't be too obvious about it and virtually nobody will care.
Religious?  For my postdoc, a government official told me that it's okay to have and practice a religion, but not to preach religion.  (Easy for me; I'm not religious.)
Vegetarian?  It's tricky completely avoiding meat; it's easiest to just accept that you'll occasionally end up with meat.  (You'll probably need to get used to tofu and spicy food, if you're not already.)
Woman?  Expect groups of men (typically construction workers and gardeners) to stare at you, making you very uncomfortable.  Also, some Chinese men will think of you as "exotic".  (Oh, and I can't find anywhere to get my eyebrows tinted.)
Man?  You'll probably be requested to drink (lots) at celebrations, dinner meetings, and so on.
Bathrooms are disgusting.  Knock before opening the stall door (if there is a door)---it most likely doesn't lock and if you open it without knocking, you might interrupt someone (and you need to say "you ren" = "has person" if someone knocks on your door).  You'll need to get used to squat toilets and carrying around your own toilet paper.
People are less uptight about things.  E.g. people will compare skin colors; males will have pictures of sexy women on their computer; movie and software piracy is not a big deal (even on the lab computers).  Things that are not really appropriate in Western countries.
Other things: Random people will take photos with you (or of you).  Fresh milk is difficult to find.  Coffee is poor quality and expensive.  It's hard to get decent wine.  Don't drink the tap water.

The things you ask about (but I don't have a general answer):

Collaborations.  It's a bit embarrassing having to ask for letters of invitation from colleagues.  Other than that, it's been real easy for me to travel.
Conferences.  It's easiest for me to go to conferences as the professors are too busy, and I don't need a visa for most places.  I travel a lot.
Duties.  They're trying to make me associate professor here; which will require teaching a course.  I have no idea how I'm going to do that.
Attitude to scientists.  Held in high esteem, although you might be mistaken for a foreign student if you're young looking.  The public won't be able to understand what a "postdoc" is, though (it's easier to say "teacher").


Getting into a topic one is barely familiar with?

While your concern is perfectly valid (been there myself more than a few times), you should probably consider and accept that this is the way you are going to learn new things for most professional endeavors. This is how things work out of college; e.g. think about this: are you able to foresee what technologies and concepts are going to be required for your next project? And even if you could name them, could you set aside enough time for mastering them to be prepared for the next assignment?

As I see it, you already have a sound plan, I would stick to it. I would, however, recommend that you not get too engaged in just familiarizing yourself with the new environment. Sure, take some time to get some grip on it, but once you are got the basics, I suggest proceeding with your plan. One major asset of your assignment is going to be your new acquired skills, but that mastery will come in small portions along the whole road of the project. I find it unlikely (for students and professionals alike) to be able to learn a new paradigm in a reasonable time, without some means to guide the effort, e.g. class projects, so, instead of trying to get to the bottom immediately, get the basics and learn the rest along the way.

Other than that, as I said before, your plan is sound, just don't let the fear of the unknown overwhelm you into panic.


The ECTS was created precisely for this kind of issue. If you think there is any doubt, just say how many ECTS your degrees are worth. In any case, the Bologna process started about 20 years ago. I think by now everyone knows the lingo. Be aware that the first degree is usually called "bachelor", though. Bac+5 is master's degree, so if you do have a master's degree, just say so.

In any case I would be very surprised if "bac+n" was understood in Finland. You should realize that "bac" refers to "baccalauréat", the French high school diploma. Even assuming that someone understand that "bac+n" means "n years after the bac", they are very likely to think that "bac" is "bachelor", the French "licence"... And "bac+n" is hardly a useful metric anyway, the content of the degree matters much more.


What is the proper way to ask for ideas for a research topic to a professor on a different institution that I have no connection with?

While it would be nice to imagine that we all do research for the betterment of mankind, the reality is that it is often transactional. This is because you’re asking for some stranger’s time and efforts, and they don’t see why they should give it to you.

If you manage to show them that you are able to come up with non trivial results by yourself, or offer them some indication that they’ll get something out of it (a publication hopefully), you might get a chance.

The reason that this is the way things are is because professors get approached with these requests all the time, and they have to prioritize them. First dibs go to their own inner circle of collaborators. Guess what circle random strangers are on?

If professors responded seriously to each such request they’ll end up with no time, and because most of these requests end up as dead ends, they tend to be wary of allocating their efforts to high risk collaborations such as the one you’re offering.

Good luck!

EDIT: if you really want to impress a professor, take their class and shine! Alternatively, open a literature review, and start doing the hard work of familiarizing yourself with the field. You’ll need to anyway if there’s gonna be a paper coming out of it. Also, write down your thoughts. Start a draft paper and write down your initial ideas. What is the problem? Why is it important? What is your proposed solution? Even if it’s a draft or rough or stupid to you, just write. Then you can send this to professors! This tells them two things: you’re serious about this and that you can formally write out your thoughts. It’ll also help you crystallize what exactly is it that you want to do.


What is the most effective way of starting a presentation for students?

It depends on where you're presenting and who you're presenting to. If this seminar/conference/class has a moderator who introduces you, then you don't need to introduce yourself. Typically, this will be the case, instead of them just sending you on stage without an introduction.

Either way, begin your presentation with a motivating example, which might also explain why you're qualified to talk about the subject to your audience. "You might not think chemistry has a lot to do with squirrels, but it was recently discovered that squirrels' pineal glands secrete a unique chemical that..."

Since you're speaking to other students, be sure to keep the talk at a level that they can understand without a particular background in your field. And once you've started well, do the rest of the presentation well too.


what do you do if you have test anxieties?

Cognitive behavioral therapy, conducted by a licensed mental health professional, does reduce test anxiety.  This is usually used in severe cases.

Students who are told that it is normal to be anxious will feel less anxious and perform better.  Students who are told that being anxious will help them get a better grade also get a better grade than students who are not told that.

Reflecting on why education is important helps students overcome their anxiety.

These strategies are based on experimental evidence.


I think you (or the hypothetical person here) are gaming the system to your own disadvantage. I'm reading the first sentence as "...more than a Tier 2 journal...".
You don't know you will be rejected. The suggestions of the reviewers might, when incorporated, result in acceptance.
And there is no guarantee about the time to publication for any journal. It is highly unpredictable for most journals, depending on the work load of reviewers, etc.
Moreover the break between "tiers" is pretty fuzzy.
Send it to the "most appropriate" journal for the work itself.


Statement of Purpose, is it conventional to add a small title to each section?

I haven't seen it often in the many, many application essays I've read, so I'd hesitate to call it "conventional practice," but I'm certainly not opposed to it. As you say, it can help make the essay more scannable, such that readers garner a quick but useful impression of who you are and what you chose to highlight about yourself. It may also help you organize your thoughts as you write.

Two pages honestly isn't much to read -- almost anyone who's reading applications to graduate school reads far more than that on a regular basis! -- but at least some of us will be impressed by the courtesy of your design, and others by its professionalism.

On balance, then, I'd say that if it makes sense to you to do this, go right ahead.


I am a PhD student from Ecuador studying Software Engineering. I received my US green card a couple of months ago, but I did my bachelor's degree in the US and applied to the PhD program as an international student, so hopefully my experience will help you.

Something that my professors told me while I was getting my bachelor's is to NEVER accept an offer that does not pay for my education and does not give me a monthly stipend for the entirety of the program. They told me that this is very common for PhD programs in the sciences. I know that this is true for Computer Science and Software Engineering; I am getting a monthly stipend and do not have to worry about any financial obligations with my university since it is all covered by the research money that my advisor has. In fact, I have no idea how expensive classes are here in my university since I do not have to worry about that. Now, I am not sure about Biostats or Statistics, but since it is a STEM field, the same cases might apply to those fields. You might be able to contact the business offices of the programs that you want to apply to check with them.

Another thing I was told when applying to graduate school is to apply for external funding such as fellowships or grants. This is beneficial for the university since they do not have to spend money in you and they get a graduate student who will do research and make them money. Unfortunately, all the fellowships and grants I looked required the applicant to be a US citizen. So that did not apply to me. Some universities that I applied to had scholarships for international student, although I did not get any of them.

You will have to pay for your own health insurance and living arrangements, but most universities will help you with those tasks once you have accepted their offer. All graduate students who I know can survive with the stipend they receive and the expenses that they have. I have never heard of a graduate student that is struggling with their finances.

In summary, being an international graduate student in the US is not that complicated as it seems. International students are actually the majority group in graduate school! If your program is in the sciences, you might not have to pay anything for the program and you will receive an stipend for your work. I have never heard of an international graduate student that left their program with any type of debt.


How is US law on equal opportunity enforced in academic recruitment?

Being an equal opportunity employer means that the institution abides by the US federal law on Equal Opportunity - basically that the employer cannot consider race, color, religion, sex, or national origin when making personnel decisions. Additional protected classes, such as age, have been added to Equal Opportunity over the years. Equal Opportunity does not force an institution to hire someone they would rather not hire on the basis of being a member of a protected class, but it means they cannot artificially exclude that candidate. Equal opportunity means that all applications must be evaluated fairly. It does not mean that the best candidate on paper always gets the job.

This is in contrast to Affirmative Action, which in the US is "positive discrimination". In other words, the institution is forced to artificially maintain diversity in its staffing if it does not happen naturally. Affirmative action can mean that you would have to hire your second (or third) choice over your first choice to maintain diversity.

Edit - to address some comments.

From the perspective of an applicant, EO violations can difficult to prove, and the burden of proof is usually on the applicant. Most of the information collected during a hiring process is not (and never will become) public. It is shredded/deleted once the position is filled. An applicant's on paper qualifications are nearly impossible to know, unless you are a close acquaintance of the person. The CV that person posts on their website might be abbreviated, incomplete, or out-of-date.

Additionally, most hiring committees often consider important intangibles that are assessed during the interview. Academic positions are different from positions elsewhere. Most academic committees are assuming that they are hiring a person who will stay at that institution, get tenure, etc. They need to assess if the candidate is likely to do so, if the candidate is likely to thrive in the current culture of the department, if the candidate will get along with the faculty personalities, if the candidate is likely to start looking for something bigger and better five-ten years later, if the candidate is likely to survive the tenure process, if the candidate's specialty/expertise fill a current void in the department, if the candidate is likely to meet service expectations with enthusiasm, if the candidate is amenable to the crappy teaching load he or she will get the first semester, if the candidate's research plans are feasible given other expectations and institutional resources, etc.

You may have more awards, publications, conference presentations, fellowships, grants, letters after you name, or whatever on-paper metric you are using, but you may not have met the needs of the department or institution as well as the other candidate. You may feel more qualified, but someone else was a better fit overall for the position. This question and the answers to this question suggest that applications that look too good may not be considered seriously because hiring committees are afraid of a bad fit.

Alternatively, as may happen, the department you applied to may have always intended to hire the person they hired, but to meet legal and institutional requirements they conducted a search. They interviewed several other strong candidates from diverse backgrounds to satisfy EEO requirements, and then they hired the person they wanted to hire. I won't pretend that such behavior isn't shady, but it can be common, especially for administrative positions, and it is legal. The best way for a hiring committee to prove they are following EEO guidelines is to interview a diverse array of qualified candidates.

To allege that your application was artificially rejected because of your membership in a protected class, start by getting a lawyer. Don't risk jeopardizing your case by inadvertently proceeding without one. Then, do whatever your legal counsel advises. That is what they are for. The only real proof that the hiring committee discriminated against you is if no members of your protected class were interviewed. If you were interviewed, that means they either 1) considered you a strong candidate or 2) went out of their way not to exclude you. Either way, you have almost no case. It may make you angry if the second thing happened, but there is little you can do except to warn people you know away from applying at that institution. If they discriminate against you because you are not the one person they really want for the job, it is not illegal, it just sucks.


Admissions - University - Graduate School. Is this a commitment?

Not knowing the policies of the university and whether the offer from the professor amounts to a commitment or not, I'd say yes, you can apply elsewhere, but as you have given at least a verbal/email/whatever assurance, you can't accept any other offer.

I would make other inquiries somewhat discrete, however, so as not to cause concern should the first professor learn of them. You also shouldn't represent yourself as being entirely free to accept an offer in the interim.

But you can also inquire of the administration of the first university what is the actual meaning of the offer given and accepted. Can you expect paperwork to follow or is it still tentative? You have a right to know this, of course.

You could also, perhaps, ask this question of the professor involved, asking him/her whether you should keep looking or is it a signed-sealed-delivered offer.

You don't need to leave yourself at risk, but you shouldn't put others at risk either.

And congratulations.


International differences between "adjunct professor" and "visiting professor"?

In the United States, "Adjunct Professor" is essentially an academic temp worker.  They are typically paid very poorly, have no job security, and often live near or below the poverty line.  They are often not well respected, particularly as many faculty perceive them as either a threat (administrators often use adjuncts to avoid making tenure-track appointments) or as a source of cheap labor.

A "Visiting Professor" on the other hand, typically means somebody who has a position elsewhere and is temporarily associated with the faculty, e.g., while on sabbatical or as a courtesy appointment for a person from industry who is teaching a course.  A visiting professor might or might not draw any salary from the university, depending on the particulars of their appointment.  Their status and degree of respect generally depend on their main position.

Note, however, that this vocabulary is not legally protected, and so some US institutions may change these titles around, particularly if they are seeking to camouflage the nature of an poorly paid post.


There are many people who attend far more reputable institutions than Walden and accomplish significant amounts during their PhD program and still have problems finding meaningful teaching positions. It's unfortunate that you went through the entire program without realizing this.

Unfortunately, a lot of people think the process goes like:

Get PhD (in 3-4 years!)
Apply to a few great teaching jobs
Have to decide between multiple great offers

But the reality is often more like:

Get PhD... eventually
Apply to many jobs
Have a few interviews if you're lucky
Get rejected from most desirable positions
Decide to do a post-doc to get more teaching/research experience
Repeat while applying for post-doc positions

The academic job market is fairly saturated in many fields and so even if your degree was from an accredited and reputable institution, you may not have a simple case for getting a teaching job at a college. Particularly if your PhD experience did not lead to any teaching experience or publications.

I would recommend looking into local community colleges. It sounds like you did this online, which means you may have been working fulltime during your study - community colleges often have courses you can teach which you may be able to combine your academic study and work experience to be a desirable candidate.


Editor rejected my paper stating that reviewers had refused to review it long after submission; How can I understand what is wrong with my paper?

The delays you mention are really excessive (note: I feel that way even though I am a mathematician), and your anger is quite deserved for that.

From what I heard from editors I know, it can happen that a paper is sent to successive referees who decline to referee, or worse accept and then don't do the job and do not respond to queries. At some point, the editor have to either do a referee's job themselves, which usually do not happen, or reject the paper. Usually, this happen with papers that are not clearly wrong or uninteresting, but that are difficult to read and do not really interest the tentative referees. In some case, you can have better result by submitting to a different, e.g. more specialized journal.

In your case, what bothers me is that being in a PhD, you have an advisor. What does she think of the paper? If there is no obvious problem in it, did you submit to journal suggested by her? On what ground? Is it possible that your institute, whose PhD committee you says received your work well, has much lower standards than international journals?

In any case, the only effective answer to your question is: seek feedback from a knowledgeable individual. It could be your advisor, but if needed it could also be another senior researcher in your field and institute, or even someone working elsewhere in your field. The closer the better, as it increase the probability of getting the feedback and the probability that it will be honest.

Last, as already mentioned, open access journal can be as toughly selective as subscription journals, and should not be considered easy shots when everything else has failed. I would not recommend submitting to a shady journal, let alone an OA one since shady OA journal often charge several hundred of dollars for publication.


To my eyes, your examples fall into two very different categories.

When researchers are in conflict about who did something first, that is typically known as a priority dispute. When the stakes are high, these can be extremely bitter: see, for example, the fight over the discovery of Haumea or the fight over CRISPR patents.  The problem here is that it's not really a scientific dispute at all, but rather a historical or societal dispute, and scientific methods cannot generally help to resolve it.

On the other hand, when scientists are contending over a technical question, ultimately the fight will be settled by nature and not the scientists (even extreme political pressure can only defy reality for a limited time). When considering low-intensity conflicts, this is so common that I'm not even sure that it has a particular name---it's just a natural side-effect of the scientific method. Get any two scientists in a room together and you will find that there are things that they disagree about and are would be happy to see settled one way or another by additional evidence.  When they are larger and more persistent, they typically end up being called something along the lines of a debate (e.g., "the nature vs. nurture debate") or a controversy (e.g., "the Hopi time controversy").  In this case, ultimately there is usually some truth to both sides, and the ultimate resolution is often actually a reframing of the problem.


When should I write a thank you letter to the author of a scholarly paper?

It certainly wouldn't hurt, and as a published author myself, I would say it would be very nice feedback, particularly if you include details about:

specifically any particular points/methods you found useful.
A brief outline of how you are extending the work.
Perhaps any question you have about the article.

This could be a good way to make yourself known in Academia, especially if the author is an influential scholar in your field.  However, a caveat, don't overdo it - in terms of being 'over the top' complementary or too many 'rapid fire' letters/emails.

But, it would more than likely be appreciated as it would be a validation of the author's work.


Does the authors opinions or solutions to the reviewed problem have to be inculded in a review paper?

I agree that the request seems odd, but I haven't read your paper. For many things no real "solution" would be possible. For others, it might be. Think about the request and see if there is something that is worth saying in the paper, but it might just be that a note to the editor that the request isn't really possible to fulfill in the current context might be enough.
It is possible that the reviewer is inexperienced, but it is also possible that the reviewer is very experienced and sees something that you haven't noticed. So, it is worth a look.


How can I get sufficient guidance from an advisor who's always travelling?

Some possibilities:

Consistently-scheduled discussion-by-video (Skype, Google Hangout, whatever). Treat these as you would any meeting: send a good agenda in advance.
Collaborative workspaces, e.g. a Google doc where you and your advisor can leave comments to get issues resolved
A bug tracker, even if that's an idiom both you and your advisor understand
Someone else deputized to triage and help you over simpler problems, so that your advisor knows that whatever reaches them is important and/or troublesome

The goals here are to ensure that you get what you need as conveniently as possible for your advisor and as quickly as possible for you.


Should I mention in my SOP about one of that of my relatives studying at the university inspired me to join the same university?

No, this could not possibly help your application. (It could possibly hurt it, if the committee feels that your inappropriate statement of purpose reflects badly on you, though this is unlikely.)


Is there an independent oversight body of Journal Impact Factors?

No.

Academic publishing is not regulated by any oversight body.  There is not even a universal standard for what constitutes a publication.


How can I tell if a paper is too old to be a reference for my research?

The age of the paper per se should have no relevance. However, the researcher had better be certain about whether the conclusions of the old paper have been superseded or even invalidated by more recent work. This sort of problem is unlikely in, say Mathematics, but other fields can be different. There are Philosophy papers that, to my knowledge, have invalidated old work. The old work said "X is impossible". The new work said "X is indeed possible and here is an important example." This wasn't mathematical philosophy (logic) of course, but observations about learning (epistemology).

The fact that a paper hasn't been cited in 50 years is of little importance, especially in a narrow subfield  of some larger field. The fact that it is no longer relevant is of vast importance. However, there are some studies intentionally done to compare the old with the new and here, citing both is the essence, of course.

One reason for not finding old papers is just the difficulty and expense of properly indexing them in databases. For "popular" things someone is likely to want to go to the trouble, but for arcane things, not so much as there seems to be little payback for the effort.

And yes, you normally don't need to go back before the Principia, but, you know, Euclid was an interesting guy.

Note that another question here asks about finding more recent papers than the one you are reading.


Worth applying to PhD Programs with a very bad Math Subject GRE

This is very variable.  Some admissions committees think that the subject GRE score is important, and some do not.  Even at the same department, it may vary from year to year depending on who is on the committee.


When does a paid research assistant become a co-author?

The decision of whether someone should be a coauthor is completely independent of monetary compensation: authorship depends on what sort of intellectual contribution each person has made, and it would be unethical to treat them differently based on their job (paid assistant, student, colleague, amateur, etc.).

People in different roles may be treated differently based on their contributions.  For example, an assistant who does no creative or insightful work, but instead just carries out explicit instructions in a straightforward way, should generally not be a coauthor.  (Still, the assistant should be thanked by name in the acknowledgments.)  When the assistant's work starts to involve exercising nontrivial skill and judgment, coauthorship may be appropriate.  If the assistant is doing a serious part of the creative intellectual work, then coauthorship is mandatory, even if the supervisor's role is deeper.


Is it legal for a university to post a copy of a copyrighted (pay for access) journal article?

To answer the (original version of the) question in the title:

  Are scientific articles of public domain?

the answer is absolutely not, unless the relevant copyright holders declared it so or that its copyright has expired. Note that public domain is emphatically different from open access.

To answer the question in the body:

  Is it legal for the university/organization to host a copy of an article, if this has been published on a conference or journal with paid access? Does it matter if the authors of the article belong to that university/organization?

the answer is it depends.

What does it depend on? Very simply, the publication agreement or the copyright transfer agreement or the licensing agreement signed by the author when the article has been accepted for publishing. For example:

Here's the version for Science
Here's the one for IEEE
Elsevier compiled a handy table for their journals.

As David Ketcheson points out below, a great resource for checking the self-archiving and open access policies of is Sherpa/Romeo.


What should I write for "Research and Teaching Merits" when applying online for a PhD?

AFAIK, the section Research and Teaching Merits ought to encompass accomplishments made as a researcher and as a teacher. This could include any distinguished teaching award you might have received in your teaching tenure. If there isn't a separate publication field, you may include your publication here.

As for the field named Field of research, this would mean your current domain within the main subject of research. For instance, in Computer Science, fields could be like Machine Learning, Computational Neurosciences, Wireless Sensor Networks, Data Security, etc. Likewise, there would be many specialization areas within Mathematics, Electronics, Instrumentation, Mechanics, and so on.


To sum up the comments: There is no such thing.

I also think that there is some reason behind this. Writing a book is quite some work and in fact, it is quite some more work than writing lecture notes. I guess one can put it this way: If the manuscript is written (in form as it would be written as lecture notes), then at least 80% of the work is left. Things that are left to do include:

Check if the material is organized in the best possible order, given the possible readers and lecturers a path how to access the material but also to offer additional routes than just going through the book cover to cover.
Cross check all notation for consistency and clarity.
Build and, far more important, cross check the index.
Build, if necessary, a list of notation and/or a glossary.
Recheck your list of references for completeness, but also if it still is up to date. Many textbooks also have a "commented list of reference" to give hint for further reading.
Edit, edit, edit, and edit again.

Besides all this things: There are many different writing styles, for textbooks even more than for scientific papers. If you have a bunch of authors and you did not fully agree on the style (by agreement or by chance), you will probably end up either with a never ending editing going in different directions or with a books that changes the narrative style several times and hence, is not a smooth read.

On the other hand, I, personally, think, that it is a good idea to write a book in a small team of two or three people. However, you probably need some joint writing experience to make this a success.


Over a month seems normal to me. The editor will need time to consolidate the reviewers' comments and decide on whether to accept, reject, or return the paper to you for revision. It might take longer if the recommendations from the reviewers are conflicting. Bear in mind that the editor has other responsibilities and might handle a number of papers at the same time.

Usually in the online submission system there will be an option to send a message to the editor handling the paper. You can try it if there is one. I would not suggest contacting other editors in the editorial board as they may not be involved with the review of your paper.


It is useful to think of a thesis as answering a question. In your case that question would be: Are thing A and thing B related?

The setup of your thesis would then be:

You introduce the question
You than theorize why they might be related, and why they might not
be related.
You summarize previous research on thing A and thing B, and their
relationship
You describe the design of your approach (or approaches) to answer
that question, and what the advantages and disadvantages are compared
to what has been done before.
You describe the results.
You conclude by answering the question, in this case thing A and
thing B are not related.
You discuss some implications of that finding
You discuss some weaknesses of your approach and potential other
designs that might mitigate those weakness (but have other weaknesses
of their own).

It is definitely easier to write up, and especially publish, research with a positive finding. But the research is not a failure: You started with a question, and you ended up with an answer. It was not the answer you expected, but if you knew the answer before starting the research, then why do the research? So, this is not the end of your PhD.


How can someone be a co-author in a paper by just presenting undocumented evidence?

I think the true answer depends on what the other co-authors think.  In my field and particularly for application-oriented papers and case studies, we often add industry representatives or clinical staffs as co-authors, even when they don't contribute much to the writing of the paper.

We do this because it fosters good relationships, demonstrates their facilitation of the analytical work, and (in our belief) is good a "people-practice."

For others, we simply list them in an 'acknowledgements' section with some comments.

It all depends.


How to demonstrate excellent undergraduate and graduate teaching capabilities in academic position applications?

It is a great question that I have asked myself in the last several years and I'm also looking for an informed answer. In the mean while, I have come up with an idea to demonstrate my teaching abilities to potential employers:

After graduation, I taught several graduate courses mainly on mathematical analysis, such as measure theory, harmonic analysis, C*-algebra. Based on these experiences, I have written a lecture note on C*-algebras which is available in arXiv. I thought if a serious employer really wants to evaluate my teaching abilities, nothing speaks better than my lecture notes.


How to negotiate with referees of your paper

You perhaps know that journals often have this policy that you either should implement all the changes suggested by referees or withdraw the paper.

Which journals have such a policy?  I don't think this is the case for any AMS, MAA, or SIAM journal, for example, and I'm not aware of any journal with such a policy (although of course I have direct experience with only a small fraction of the journals in mathematics).  Here's how it works in the cases I'm familiar with:

Any changes suggested by the referees are merely suggestions, which do not need to be followed if the author and editor are in agreement.  If the change involves fixing a mistake or correctly attributing work, then no responsible editor will accept the paper until the situation is resolved (either by making the change or establishing that it is not needed).  Matters of clarity are also taken seriously.  However, some referee suggestions are just opinions that the author may reasonably disagree with.

It's perfectly reasonable to write to the editor and say "Here's a new draft of my paper.  I've made changes A, B, and C proposed by the referees, and I'm grateful to them for identifying these issues, but I have not implemented D and E.  I think those changes are not truly needed, because ..."

  what is the best strategy to negotiate with referees?

I'd think of it instead as negotiating/discussing with the editor.  The editor is the one who makes the decision, with the referees providing advice and expert opinions.  Ideally, you'll be able to convince the referees that not all of their proposed changes are necessary, but the editor is the only person you need to convince if the referees are stubborn.

Editors are used to this.  As an editor, I've occasionally written an acceptance letter (conditional on revisions) that says explicitly that only some of the changes are really needed, and even when I don't say so authors certainly don't always make all the changes.


Many universities have a "counseling" office that can help with such things. But, I agree that it is probably imposter syndrome as you have moved to a situation in which your peers are more skilled than in the past. You probably stood out from the crowd in the past and now you don't, most likely.
But you have affirmation, just by being where you are, that you are worth it.
It is hard during a pandemic, but developing some social relationships with your peers can help. When I was a doctoral student, some of us played paddleball, rode bikes, played softball, etc. just to help keep our sanity.
But if the pressures are mostly internal, you can also set limits that seem artificial. For example, exercise for an hour before lunch every day. Get some aerobic exercise for a few hours every week end - on schedule.
You may find that these breaks aren't unproductive to your work, actually. Your brain will continue processing "stuff" even when you aren't staring at a computer screen. In fact, too-long hours can be counterproductive, producing blocks.
Give yourself a break, but also try to talk to a professional.


I suggest placing travel funding under the "Awards" heading, because they are funding for your travel expenses and not your research.  Funding for research I would call "Grants."
However, there are many reasonable ways to do it.  People are not much interested in small amounts of travel funding.


Can I request the code behind a research paper from the author?

Ask for the code. Please do, however, explain why you want it and what you intend to use it for.

Personally, I would be quite happy if someone contacted me about my research, and would try to give all the necessary tools to recreate my data. Especially so if I am not currently working on a follow up piece.

That said, I've asked for parameters, codes, procedures etc. several times from the authors when the description in a paper has been vague. I've had a lot of different responses: Some have plain ignored me, others have given me everything I asked for, and yet others have only obliged when I've suggested that I might be willing to put them as co-authors if I built upon their code in a way that leads to a publication. Finally, some have refused my request. This has happened for a number of reasons, for example those discussed in this question.

If you ask for code and say that you just want to verify some of the conclusions of the authors or use it as a reference for your own implementation, you can most typically expect a refusal or no reply. This, at least, is the experience I've had.


Tools for PDF presentations commenting that respect slides

If you use webex at least one part of your problem is solved. In Webex the comments I do stay with the slides.

Zoom is somewhat funny regarding the defaults: A scribble on one page of a presentation is rarely relevant to the next page. But that's zooms default behaviour. And yes it's rather annoying to erase each time you change slides.