<issue_start>username_0: What do undergraduate students in mathematics do for their thesis, if they have done one, besides expository or applied math?

I was thinking that the kind of research they do is something applied, say using math in social sciences or a problem in one of the less rigorous natural sciences, or discussing such a problem (that's what expository is, right?).

To me it seems something non-expository or non-applied is an original contribution to mathematics, something that PhD students do.

I attended some pure math undergraduate thesis presentations. I was quite surprised: *Did they prove anything new?* Never bothered to ask due to fear of looking stupid. Would it be out of the ordinary to expect an undergraduate proves something new? If they did not prove anything new, what the heck are they talking about?

It seems like if it's not new, they are giving a lecture. If it's new, that seems like a PhD-level accomplishment.

I mean, do math undergraduates frequently prove new things?<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, undergraduates frequently prove new things, in the sense that every year there are new, publishable results proved by undergraduates. So, although a relatively small number of undergraduate math students participate in true "research", there are certainly students who are able to make nontrivial discoveries as undergraduates, and more than one might initially think. I have been at prestigious research schools and at anti-prestigious regional universites in the U.S.A. At every school I have been, there were undergraduates in mathematics with the aptitude for publishable research. The talent needed may not be "common", but it is certainly not "rare". The obstacles are primarily cultural, not intellectual.

The topic of undergraduate research has also been the subject of a [question on MathOverflow](https://mathoverflow.net/questions/45802/undergraduate-math-research), which makes for good reading.

For an example from personal experience: I recently published a peer-reviewed paper in what I consider to be a high-quality journal (and which is not in any way a "student" journal), with an undergraduate student co-author, who discovered the proof of one of the main theorems on his own between two of our research meetings.

Another example is the journal *Involve*, which is devoted to genuine student research. From [their self-description](http://msp.org/involve/about/journal/about.html):

>
> Involve showcases and encourages high-quality mathematical research involving students from all academic levels. The editorial board consists of mathematical scientists committed to nurturing student participation in research.
>
>
> Submissions in all mathematical areas are encouraged. All manuscripts accepted for publication in Involve are considered publishable in quality journals in their respective fields, and include a minimum of one-third student authorship. Submissions should include substantial faculty input; faculty co-authorship is strongly encouraged. In most cases, the submission (and accompanying cover letter) should come from a faculty member.
>
>
> Involve, bridging the gap between the extremes of purely undergraduate-research journals and mainstream research journals, provides a venue to mathematicians wishing to encourage the creative involvement of students.
>
>
>

One thing that undergraduates are unlikely to have is the *breadth of knowledge* that is expected for PhD recipients. Particularly in mathematics, PhD students are examined in a range of subjects, and are expected to have mastered large parts of the undergraduate curriculum. Undergraduate research often involves learning enough about one particular area to prove new theorems. The student still needs to spend time learning other areas to have the knowledge expected of a PhD.

The real key for undergraduates who are looking to do publishable research is to find a collaboration with a good faculty mentor. *Independent* research by undergraduates is indeed quite rare (in fact, the majority of mathematics papers currently published have two or more authors - even experts benefit from collaboration). The MathOverflow thread linked above has more advice from other mathematicians.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm going to disagree with Oswald. In my experience, undergraduate students do not often prove new things in pure math. I wouldn't even say master's theses often contain new results. There are a few main reasons for this.

Firstly, pure mathematics operates at a level that is not very accessible for most undergraduates, even those doing research. Undergraduates doing research are often well out of their depth and holding on for dear life. This can mostly be attributed to just not having enough time to get up to speed with what is considered modern mathematics. Most courses in mathematics at the undergraduate level are about math from 50-100 years ago (if not older).

Secondly, undergraduates do not often have the mathematical experience to know what the right plan of attack is when faced with an abstract and new problem and they may not know how to check their work thoroughly to make sure there are no major oversights or blunders. A lot of mathematics involves lateral thinking and it takes a lot of time to build those connections. The hardest part of a pure math PhD (in my opinion) is learning how to attack a problem no one has considered before. Standard techniques that others used may not be useful at all to you for one reason or another. An undergraduate won't have the creativity to navigate this kind of issue because the kind of creativity that is needed comes with a lot of experience. Even when an undergraduate student thinks they've proved something, the nuances of their argument likely will not be apparent to them. (This is especially true when it comes to functional analytic/measure theoretic arguments - the devil is in the details.) Thus a proposed proof may not even be close to being right.

Lastly, not many undergraduates in pure math do research because the gap they have to overcome between coursework and modern mathematics is pretty substantial. Those that make contributions in pure math are those that are very, very talented and have very thorough backgrounds (backgrounds that rival master's/PhD students).

Undergraduates in pure math are not expected to make contributions. That is not what research is about for them. Introducing an undergraduate to research serves a couple of different purposes: it introduces them to more advanced topics and it gives them a taste of what research is like so that they can make an informed decision about whether or not graduate school is right for them. As such, the theses are more like surveys of a specialized topic in mathematics. There is a lot of independent learning involved and there may be some unique examples, insights, and connections contained therein. They may not be presenting "original" work, but poster sessions are there to present what they've learned regardless of whether or not it was original. So yes, it is kind of like a lecture. *They are undergraduates* and far from being experts in their field.

Note that I am not saying that no undergraduate ever produces new results in pure math (there are some *high school students* that are better than most PhDs), but it is not a common occurrence and is not expected or considered the norm.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: The answers so far contain a yes and a no, so let me add a yes-and-no.

Undergraduates can - and often do - prove new things, but hardly ever anything of importance. It is up to the advisor to find an interesting question which is simple enough to serve as the topic of a thesis, but not yet dealt with in the literature. Different from a Ph.D., a bachelor or master thesis is heavily constrained in time, so as an advisor you should only give a topic if you are pretty certain that something can be done by an unexperienced researcher in short time. On the other hand just repeating the literature is boring for the student. One way to find good topics is to look at what is often referred to as folklore: Every textbook contains the theorem that X implies Y, and every expert knows that quasi-X already suffices, but noone bothered to write it up. This will most probably not be worth a publication, but proving a theorem not yet contained in the literature is motivating. Another simple method is looking at all the things you excluded from your own papers. If you worked out an example, but did not include it in a publication, you can let the student generalize it.

What you should not do is ask a student a problem you are really interested in. First the student will be frustrated, because the problem is too hard for him, then you will be frustrated, because you will spend much more time explaining things to him then you would need to find the results for yourself, and finally everyone is frustrated, because you find an answer and have to explain it to the student.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Some of the implicit premises of these sorts of questions, or the implicit premises in responses to the question, are really the issue. I would heartily agree that undergrads of all "calibers" should "be in the room" when something resembling "live" mathematics is being discussed. But/and this is most meaningful when we look at the falseness, artificiality, and sterility of the typical undergrad curriculum: it's fake and moribund, with no immediate room for anyone to do anything at all, and no hints about reality, either. Ghastly, yes. But that does not immediately entail a sort of "opposite", that novices need know very little to make meaningful contributions. Raw cleverness has already been exercised, quite systematically, for some hundreds of years (thousands?). People have learned useful things, and to not know these is to not know how to change a tire, or a light bulb, or a furnace filter, or open the door. Not that the usual curriculum helps much, either, I agree! But that does not mean that basic operational skills (involving occasionally subtle mathematics, literally, here) are irrelevant. Getting outside the degenerate "school math" thang is excellent... but thinking that that means "we don't need to know anything!" is obviously silly... even if appealing. "Complicated".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: ***I can tell you my experience as I am currently writing an undergraduate thesis (though as a summer project).***

I am an undergraduate student in mathematics currently doing a summer « introduction to research » internship. I'm studying probability theory.

As a first year student, about half of my time was spent solidifying my mathematical background in probability, measure theory and analysis. I also spent quite a lot of time studying specialised articles, and finally I applied the general theory I studied to a specific problem, where I did prove something « new », while very closely following other published results. On the way there, I also proved a few lemmas, that, while not of general interest, are « new » and interesting to me.

Clearly, undergraduate students are not expected to find groundbreaking results of general interest. However, they can contribute to mathematics by summarising and gathering related results from multiple articles, applying new theories, finding examples, etc.

***A word of advice.***

You should not aim for great discoveries, but rather simply try to do your own mathematics. Ask yourself a lot of « stupid » questions and find their answers. That's how you'll end up with a few small new results. Make sure you can grasp the big picture of your field of study, that you look at it from a critical standpoint and that you understand the issues that motivate it.

***Do math undergraduates frequently prove new things?***

Yes. But not *great* things, and sometimes things that might already be known to experts (but not widely accessible). I think that it is good enough for an undergrad to prove things that are new to him/her and her classmates/advisor/etc.
Upvotes: 3


<issue_start>username_0: I am meeting him in his office on campus. I am a master's student in computer science. I figured that suit and tie would be too formal as it isn't really an interview since I already have the position. If I were just regularly attending grad classes, I may wear T-shirt, shorts and flipflops (during the summer/fall) and jeans, polo, light jacket, sneakers during the cooler months. Should I wear khakis, dress shoes, and a nice button down shirt? Ties? Yes or no? I want to make a good first impression but not have it look like I'm trying too hard.

In addition, he invited a few other grad students to his house for a cookout next weekend. What should I wear to that? I'm guessing more on the casual side but should I go in shorts/t-shirt or jeans/polo?<issue_comment>username_1: I've never even visited any universities in that part of the country, but I think your comfortable shorts/T-shirt should be perfect for a cookout in any part of the country. For the first impression, make sure you choose something comfortable. I think dress shoes would probably be overkill. However, a short-sleeved button shirt (i.e. tailored shirt with a collar) would be a nice touch. Do you have some sort of sports shoes? That would be a happy medium between dress shoes and flip flops. If not, I'd go with the dress shoes.

If you ask what food to take to the cookout, I'll chime in on that one too.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Whatever you want to wear should be fine within reason. To be honest it wouldn't even occur to me to worry about such things. But if you are worried, just wear a clean shirt (doesn't matter what kind, as long as it's clean and has no holes), any pair of pants (shorts might be slightly informal), and a clean pair of closed-toe shoes. Ties are overdoing it and it will more likely make you look like a douche :)

As a side note, personally I don't care at all what my students wear as long as they're wearing something, but when they don't shower and it's noticeable, that can really put a damper on the first impression thing.

Once you meet your advisor in person, you should more or less have a good idea of what to wear for the cookout (judging by how much of a fancypants he is), but I'd just take the same suggestion as above, unless it's really hot, in which case shorts should be OK (but I'd stick to wearing socks in case you're invited to his house and you have to walk around barefeet).
Upvotes: 0


<issue_start>username_0: I am an assistant professor on a year-to-year contract in academic med (I'm a PhD biostatistician). I just signed a new contract in July. I have been 'head hunted' to join a private company, and I am seriously considering it. What do I 'owe' in terms of my contact? I get the feeling the contact is more to protect the faculty member from the university and not the other way around, right? I would not be leaving until the spring, so 4-5 months notice. I dont have any teaching duties. Can I just give notice?<issue_comment>username_1: It usually depends on which country and state you live in. However in the academic world we are almost always flexible, especially if you give plenty of notice where the department will be able to get someone in to cover for you. Really what you need to do is talk with HR. They are very discreet about this sort of thing and will tell you your options. If you're in a union then you can also talk to your rep who will be discreet.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The only real recourse that they would have is to sue you for breaking the contract. Although that's possible, chances are that they wouldn't be able to prove substantial damages and that even if they prevailed you wouldn't have enough assets to make the suit worth while. This is why academics who break their contracts are seldom sued for breach of contract.

However, depending on how you do this you might end up losing any chance at a positive reference from your former employer. This is probably the biggest risk that you face.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: You can leave your contract. Usually, there will be a notice period that you'll have to comply to, so you should see if you can find that information on the HR website if you have access.

There aren't (or shouldn't be) legal repercussions in leaving a contract, it's (generally) the same as leaving an on-going position. However, this is not a guarantee and will vary from place to place, country to country etc. Get familiar with your HR policies concerning what breaking a contract entails. It could be as simple as just complying to the notice period, which is what mine was.

I had a year contract that I'm leaving in two weeks after only being on it for 6 months, something better came along. My notice period was a month. No biggie.

I've shifted to a one-day a week to see out teaching while I start research at another institute. But I don't *have* to see out the teaching, I've chosen to do this so as not to leave my school in the lurch, and both employers were happy to accommodate the new arrangements.

The general consensus (at least in my experience in academia) is that you take the opportunities you are offered, even if it means breaking a current contract.
Upvotes: 0


<issue_start>username_0: I have been invited to review a manuscript written by several authors. One of them has been the editor of one of my recently published papers. This is the only interaction I have ever had with the author of the manuscript.

Would it be OK for me to accept the review request?

While I personally do not see anything wrong with it, it might be the case that I am positively biased towards the paper, without realising it. Hence my question.

Bonus question: the journal adopts an open peer review system, where the reviews and the reviewers' names can be published alongside the paper. Shall I accept the review request, would it make sense to disclose my concern in the review I submit? Assuming that the paper gets accepted, of course.<issue_comment>username_1: Short answer: yes it is ok to accept the review.

Long answer: Yes, it is (still) ok to accept the review. If you can only review paper written by authors you have never ever interacted with, at some point in your career, you'll stop reviewing. Especially if you are working in a small field of research. For me, in your case, it is more than fine to accept the review. The question becomes more tricky if it is from someone you work(ed) with...

If you want to try out some really tricky reviewing scenario, try out this test: <http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bmcblog/2015/08/21/quiz-can-navigate-tricky-peer-review-scenarios/>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Several institutes have detailed guidelines that clarify what is a conflict of interest and what is not. While it's hard to make hard rules that cover all the cases, it can be useful for a young researcher to see something like this to get a hang of what is considered appropriate.

For instance, the research grant program office of the [university of California](http://www.ucop.edu/research-grants-program/_files/documents/srp_forms/rgpo_coi_policy.pdf) considers a person in COI if:

>
> 1. Is a close personal friend or family member of an applicant or grantee.
> 2. Is a recent (less than 5 years)
>  employee/employer/mentor/student/teacher/co-worker of an
>  applicant or grantee.
> 3. Serves as a volunteer for the applicant or grantee organization
>  (volunteer staff member, committee member, advisor, or board
>  member).
> 4. Serves as a paid or unpaid consultant for the applicant/grantee or
>  applicant/grantee organization on other projects.
> 5. Is a co-investigator or research collaborator with an applicant or
>  grantee.
> 6. Has co-authored scientific articles with an
>  applicant/grantee/reviewer during the past five years.
>
>
>

I have seen similar rules in several other places, sometimes with the 5 year period reduced to 3, or with stricter defintions of "personal friend or family member".

As you can see, in your case the interaction with the author is very far from being in the danger zone.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: So I repeat what I read in your post:

1. You published a paper XY to Journal A where <NAME> handled your paper.
2. <NAME> from Journal B asked you to review a paper ZZ by <NAME>.

I don't see any reason why you couldn't do the review. Still, if you are in doubt, you can ask <NAME> if he -- the editor -- sees it as a conflict. A short mail would do:

>
> Dear Josh,
>
>
> I'm ready to review the paper ZZ by <NAME>. However, he was the editor of a paper I published in Journal A. Do you see it as a conflict of interest, or can I make the review nonetheless?
>
>
> Best regards,
>
>
>

In the end it's more the journal's policy that matters than your point of view, as long as you are not being pushed into blatantly non-ethical behaviour you're not willing to do; but that's not the case here.
Upvotes: 3


<issue_start>username_0: I was the TA for a course a few years ago.
As part of the course, I was able to obtain a set of business case studies.
At the bottom of each page, it is written something to the effect of:

>
> This document is authorized for use by [my name], from [start date] to [end date], in the course [name of course] at [name of school]. Any unauthorized use or reproduction of this document is strictly prohibited.
>
>
>

Is it ethical for me to keep these readings after the course is over,
and to read them some time in the future?

### Conclusion

I appreciate the opinions of all who answered and commented.

I had asked this question because the licensing agreement
**sounds too bad to be true**.
The students had to pay more than $100 for all the readings for this course.
If the students were to purchase a textbook,
at least they are allowed to keep it and read it in the future.
I suspect that the publishers wishes they had the technology available
to make the case studies like the
"Mission Impossible" style self-destruct messages
which would explode once it is past the license end date.
This seems acceptable to me for software,
but strange for something like readings.

At the end of the day, I have to make my own decision
about what is the right thing to do in this instance.<issue_comment>username_1: That is a highly specific restriction, I'm not going to discuss whether or not it is legal and to what extent, but take it as it is. It clearly states the extent of your use of the readings, so after the licence expires you can't use them any longer.
That certainly includes presenting them in another course or the same one next year or putting them online etc. But, I don't think there are ethical reasons why you couldn't keep them for yourself, since you already had unrestricted access to that information for some period of time. So in that light, you could've learned them by heart or transcribed them into your notebook by the time the licence expired.

Bottom line, from the ethical point, I don't think the restriction applies for your personal use. From the practical point, you could contact whoever licensed the readings in the first place and inquire the specifics.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Technically, it may not be ethical to keep a case or data set past its license period. Most dataset licenses also specifically state that the holder should not hold material of both physical or digital form (or even preprocessed form) of the licensed matter past its license term. It also stated that the backup of all forms should be deleted.

Having stated above, it is still a widely practised taboo to use cases and datasets past their license periods. You may attain knowledge from it but will only get into trouble if you were to publish any material that relates to the dataset/case that you currently possess beyond its license. This also depends on how strictly the license owner enforces the license.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: It looks like the use outside of that particular course and date range is prohibited. You might probably keep the documents/data, but you can't use it at all. Even using it for a completely unrelated purpose (say as practice data for statistical analysis in another course) is not allowed even during said date range.

The conditions imposed are quite draconian, and might even be considered unreasonable. But that would be for a court of law to decide, and you don't want to go near that. You agreed, abide by them.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: The answer is implicit in the condition that you mentioned: the document is authorized for use by you, for a specific period, and only for a particular course. Anything else is prohibited. You may ethically keep the objects (printed pieces of paper) as long as you do not use them in any way whatsoever, which would include reading them. Bottom line, the restriction does not say anything about a personal use exception. As with any contractual matter, you can always ask for a free modification of the conditions, but you must ask.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: The definition of Ethical Behavior as defined in an entry from [www.businessdictionary.com](http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/ethical-behavior.html) is:

>
> Acting in ways consistent with what society and individuals typically think are good values.
>
>
> Ethical behavior tends to be good for business and involves demonstrating respect for key moral principles that include honesty, fairness, equality, dignity, diversity and individual rights.
>
>
>

As you are discussing your decision and your action and in general our society has an expectation that people will honor the terms of the contracts that they enter into, then in order to act ethically you would likely need to either

1. Destroy all of the copies of the business cases that you obtained under the license and not use them.
2. Request an extension as username_4 suggests
3. Purchase a new license to the material
4. Borrow a copy of the material from a library that has license to lend the material to you.

If you entered into and agreed to a contract, whether implicitly as was the case here, or explicitly, then violating the terms of the contract without agreeing to a change of terms with your contract partner or receiving a legal judgement that the terms of the contract are illegal and therefore you are not obligated to follow them would be an unethical choice.

To further add to this would be the idea of fairness, as you mention with regard to the fact that the students that took the class were required to pay for the readings where as you received the material to use in the context of teaching them. The license was either paid for by the school, which means indirectly by the students or from a grant obtained by the instructor for the course, or was a comp from the publisher for the instructor selecting the material for the course in the first place. So while you could argue that your use is not really harming the copyright holder, the fairness argument to those who had to pay for the license, namely the students, calls into question the ethics of using them and strengths the case for not using the material.

That being said, I find the ethics of the publishers that chose these types of limited licenses highly questionable. When I have seen these types of licenses, they are generally for texts that get updated with great frequency, and the updates to most every chapter are at most a few sentences or a figure or two. It is part of a broader business model to make used textbooks less valuable and to force students to purchase the version of the text that the instructor is using. This is more the case where an instructor assigns homework problems and the problems are renumbered or parts of the problem are changed so that either the instructor needs to manage responses from multiple editions or they need to insist that everyone buy the new version. Another way to devalue used editions is to sell and get instructors to use online material which is licensed only to a single user and expires with the end of the course.

The problem is that two wrongs do not make a right. So just because the publishers are behaving questionably does not mean that it gives license to act unethically in response. Can you do it and live with yourself? Sure. But that is entirely your choice. And as you said, only you can answer that question for yourself. Strictly, in a legal framework you are breaking the terms of your contract and their copyright. And as a few of the commenters above stated, if you were to then use that material for new work produced, you could likely find yourself in trouble not only with the copyright holder, but also your institution if you published based on material you did not expressly have license to access.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_6: I don't see how the ethical question can be answered completely without the legal question whether the statement is binding or not and to what extent.

* It is certainly ethical to find out whether the conditions are legal in your country - particularly, if the conditions seem to be "too bad to be true".
The fact that a publisher writes some conditions does not necessarily mean that they are binding in your legislation.

Copyright legislation here (Germany) allows teachers to copy e.g. a chapter of a book for their course - the university has to pay for that (via [VG Wort](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verwertungsgesellschaft_Wort#Zug.C3.A4nglichmachung_f.C3.BCr_Unterricht_und_Forschung)) but doesn't need to ask for permission - unless the publisher offers e.g. a dedicated teaching pack - which may or may not be the case in this question.
* My "legal feeling" again for my legislation (Germany\*) is that there is a big difference between going on the use the course material as a participant of a course (OK) vs. going on to use the course material as a teacher for a new course (not OK).
* In this question, what is ethical for me coincides with what is legal. I don't see any reason to apply ethical guidelines here that are more strict than what my legislation asks for. Nor do I think there are good reasons for not paying the legally required fees (AFAIK 0,008 EUR/text page/course) for use of teaching material (the more so as university teaching is privileged here over commercial courses where that easy procedure does not apply).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that the kind of disclaimer you've described is legally baseless in the USA, and you shouldn't feel bad about ignoring it. Feel free to keep your readings, refer to them, and cite them in the future. Once you've purchased a physical copy (without some agreement otherwise) nobody can legally place restrictions on the ways you use your physical copy.

If you want a strictly ethical answer, I would say that it's unethical for the editor of your readings to try and restrict the ways in which students use the material they've purchased. They've got no legal basis to do so, unless you've signed a contract or otherwise mutually agreed on some restrictions. You may upset someone by ignoring their wishes, but that's not the same thing as being unethical.

The relevant US legal concept is called the [First-Sale Doctrine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine). It says that once you purchase or otherwise obtain a physical copy of a written work, you are then free to do with it whatever you want. You can take that physical copy and keep it, you can read it, you can sell it to another student taking the class next year. Once the owner sells the physical copy, they lose any interest or control in the physical copy, and you are free to do with it what you wish.

Note, however, that copyright law prevents you from freely copying a work. You have your physical copy and can do most anything with it, but you're not allowed to make your own copies and then distribute them.

As an aside, any teacher who is telling students that they can't keep written documents and notes from their class, without an extremely good reason (the course material is considered secret or privileged), is probably not a teacher you want to have. My guess is that the person who added that statement wants to encourage every student to purchase a new copy of the course materials every semester at full price. I would call that behavior grossly unethical- students are not a cash cow to be milked at every opportunity.
Upvotes: 1


<issue_start>username_0: I have a degree in *Social Education* (done in Portugal). I am wondering whether anybody can help me in finding organizations that can provide an *equivalency certificate (report)* for this degree. I have searched and a degree in *Social Pedagogy* is very similar to mine. However, I don't know how to obtain an equivalency certificate (report) for that degree either.<issue_comment>username_1: There are various companies that offer commercial services of varied quality for generating and delivering *degree equivalency certificates (reports)* as well as some other related services. One of the most well-known such companies is *World Education Services (WES)* (in their terminology, an equivalency certificate and the process of its generation are referred to as a *credential evaluation*). Please see my [related answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/46852/12391) for a bit more details and a warning about WES.

I would suggest you to consider performing an Internet search for finding similar companies and comparing their services against your specific requirements before finalizing your decision.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: In the UK, [NARIC](https://www.naric.org.uk/naric/) is the government designated agency for comparing foreign qualifications to their UK equivalents.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]


<issue_start>username_0: For universities that give two tries for passing the PhD qualifying exams, are the two tries "equal"? In the sense that does the committee consider more carefully on the second and last try of the applicant before failing him/her?

Just an analogy: for driving tests, examiners are known to be more lenient on the second (and subsequent) attempt, and more strict on the first attempt. Not sure if it is true for PhD exams...

Just to ask any professors/students here who are more experienced in this matter.

Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, certainly, although "fails" are stressful for all parties, if a student has mis-judged the preparation needed, for whatever reason, the *first* "fail" can send a message that more attention is needed or something needs to be done differently. In contrast, yes, in a system like my university's, where a second fail results in termination from the program, the committee is well aware of this possibility.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It depends on how common it is for people to fail. In my department, somewhere between a third and one half of people fail on first attempt (but will utimately pass it). They use the first attempt to get a feel for the level of preparedness, and may choose to take it in a semester when they have covered the basic classes, but maybe not the last one in the sequence yet.

If so many people fail, then there is no stigma attached to failing (and we don't consider it negatively either). I would ask how that looks in your department.
Upvotes: 3


<issue_start>username_0: Many years ago, when I was very new to the world of scientific paper publishing, I was a co-author to a paper that was subsequently retracted after an investigation of the findings. This was before I did my PhD (was a Master's student in a different field that I am currently in).

To explain, my role in the data collection and analysis was quite specific, and in the investigation it was deemed that my part of the work was verifiable and sound. In hindsight, I have long realised that I should have taken on a more active role in proof-reading the article as a whole, cross checking the findings and being more active in the article writing process. For that, I have always taken responsibility - so, even though I do not have anything to do with the lead author anymore - I am not blaming anyone.

Since then, I have been co-author and first author of over a dozen more papers - many are published without difficulty (we check, cross-check and check everything again nowadays).

But, the question remains, in terms of applying for postdocs, funding, grants and the like - how damaging is it to have been a co-author of a retracted paper?<issue_comment>username_1: [The effect of retractions on scientific careers has been studied](http://retractionwatch.com/2015/06/16/life-after-retraction-in-many-cases-its-forgive-and-forget/), and the conclusion is essentially that retractions don't hurt scientists who are behaving carefully and ethically.

For your case, it sounds like you were clearly exonerated, and that your only fault was being a junior researcher who wasn't proactive about ensuring honesty on the part of your collaborators. Since you've since gone on to be more fully educated as a researcher and to establish a good publication record, I would not expect that this past retraction is likely to have any significant effect on your current prospects.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You do not mention the specifics and what exactly the investigation was about, but a reasonable person would expect the *reason* (pun intended) for the retraction to be of importance:

* "It seems that our [equipment was faulty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug); it turns out that the results of our 6-month long experiments on whether *frumbling* the *meerps* is more efficient than just *frobbing* them are not statistically significant after all".

This happens all the time. Depending on the situation, the authors might repeat their study from scratch, they might publish a study on *why* their previous work was invalid and how to avoid the same issues - or they might decide that retracting the paper is a better solution, especially if they cannot provide a follow-up in a timely manner. I would expect this behavior to be expected and even applauded - provided that it does not happen *too often* in which case it would indicate lack of due diligence when researching.
* "Immediately after our theoretical paper was published, Dr. Jones from the Coruscant University pointed out a contradiction with the well known and frequently repeated experiments performed by Dr. Hamil."

While slightly more embarrassing, this also happens all the time. It could be a simple error in the arithmetic, or it could be that the author was not aware of all the implications of their results in all fields, especially if they have limited access to online libraries. Depending on the field and the actual cause an author might follow-up with work that expands on the original assumption ("Let's see what happens in a universe where two parallel lines actually do intersect at a non-infinite distance") - or they just retract the incorrect paper to avoid references of the "here why that paper is wrong" kind in the future.
* "Noted anesthesiologist Dr. Palpatine was relieved of his position yesterday, after the revelation that the clinical studies on rectal constructs referenced in more than 200 of his papers never actually occurred."

Now *this* is a bit different. It would certainly help if an investigation has cleared you by ascertaining both the validity of your own contribution and your lack of knowledge about (let alone participation in) any fraudulent activity. But keep in mind that some people would always be reluctant, (rightfully?) assuming that in many such cases the absence of proof of guilt is not equal to proof of innocence.
Upvotes: 3


<issue_start>username_0: My efficiency is very high during exam week. How do I keep this high efficiency at other times?<issue_comment>username_1: You probably can't.

Exam periods are high intensity last minute sprints, exhausting and taking a toll on the other aspects of your life. Personally, I barely spent time cooking or meeting friends. My time was spent on life support activities (eat and sleep), studying, and regretting not having managed my time better. I also remember being exhausted and not being able to do much intellectual work right after the exams were over.

You can pull this off for a short period of time, but you cannot keep this for long without being burned out. Plan ahead, spread your workload, and make sure you get enough rest and leisure to keep your brain rested and at peak efficiency.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I'd say you can not.
And I will not only compare it to my own experiences during university time - but also as a sports athlete that did lots of competitions on international level.

Like a sportsman you define which races (exams) you find most important - or at least where you need to put in lots of work to succeed.
You will notice that you can't always succeed in the same way for every race (exam) - you will be burned out a bit after a heavy exam the same you will be burned after a hard race.
You need regeneration - everybody will notice this after heavy work is done. You need to step back and enjoy your success - but in any way you need to get some sleep, meet some friends, have fun.

You manage to be fit and powerful just on top of the hill - this is where your race and exams starts. If you will exercise to be fit before this day comes you can not hold it until the important day comes.

So just lean back and be sure you do what you have to do when it is the right time and enjoy life in the times where you can. (This is in my humble opinion the most important advice I can give you for your whole life) - there is nothing wrong with you!

--
When you do some races on international level you need to qualify in some other races way before the important race day comes. Yet, you have to do really good on those qualification races.
But anyhow - any athlete will not have his 100% race condition on those days - he will exercise and plan to have them just at the race day. And if you ever did sports and trained a lot for races you mostly experienced how awesome you did during the race and you never imagined before that you could do that!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I agree with the previous answers: you cannot keep up your efficiency as high as during exam time. However, I think you yourself know that it is not humanly possible. I think what you really want to know is how you can maintain a decent pace of work during other times, so that you are not so overloaded during exams. I would advise my students to follow this plan when I was teaching:

* At the beginning of the semester, list down all the work that you
have to do for the semester, breaking each larger piece of work into
smaller units that can be completed in 2-3 hours.
* Calculate the study time that you think you can devote comfortably
each week and set targets for yourself to complete a few units within
each week. Keep some buffer time, just in case you cannot complete
one or two tasks or something urgent comes up that takes away some of
your study time.
* You have to ensure that you complete the scheduled tasks within the
week.
* Begin and end your stud time by having a look at the list. Tick off
tasks from the list as you complete them. This will give you a sense
of satisfaction.
* Reward yourself on the weekend if you have completed the task; punish
yourself if you don't. For instance, you get to go to a movie if you
complete the tasks, but you cannot go if you don't. Change the
rewards each week for novelty.

Hopefully, you will be able to maintain a good pace if you diligently follow this plan.
Upvotes: 1


<issue_start>username_0: I submitted a paper to a journal three months ago and was told that the review process could take up to three months but that they aimed to do it faster.

Since I haven't heard back within the quoted timeline, would it be appropriate to contact them and ask how the process is going?

On one hand, I could see that they may be very busy and have received more submissions than they anticipated.

However, I also wonder about the possibility that something has slipped through the cracks - like perhaps the review is over and they lost my contact info or something.

What's the appropriate action to take?

The journal is free to submit to, free to read, so I know that folks aren't getting paid, which makes it harder to expect the timeline to be met, but I'd still like to make sure things are on track.

Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: As a sometime-editor, I wouldn't be offended by such an email. Not happy, but not offended. I'd say go ahead and email.

(My first editing stint significantly increased how fast I turn around peer reviews...)
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: If the three months have passed (and you've waited for the next working day to pass) then you should contact the editor and see what the status is. Depending on the status of your submission, you could still be waiting for an editor to be assigned, or they could be waiting for reviewers to accept the task, or best-case scenario the reviewers just need a little more time to finish writing up their comments. Many large journals have a system online where you can check the status of your submission, so check that first if available.

If an editor is especially busy, your submission may not be a top priority. You might have to wait much longer than the initial estimate. So, a gentle reminder/query about your paper is a good idea so that it gets the attention it deserves. Keep in mind though, the people involved in the peer-review process are basically volunteers, so if you have to voice any type of complaint (e.g. if you aren't getting responses from the editor) then you should contact the editorial support staff (who are paid employees). After all, you are paying for them to publish your paper!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The following are the factors that you ought to be aware of before you send a reminder. The factor might differ from one reviewer to another.

* Journal reviews do take much longer time in charges-free journals.
* Most journal reviewers do their reviews altruistically -- they do not get paid to review your manuscripts.
* Some manuscripts might have priority over others.
* Sometimes the reviewer for your research area might not be available in time.

Apart from the above, also bear in mind that ethical standards usually forbid you to submit your manuscript to any other journal publication while the current submission is under review. A gentle reminder is advisable if you have your own time constraints.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: To add one more aspect to the existing good answers:

A few years ago a well known journal (in its field) had accepted our paper for publication. Several month later we were wondering where it was, and wrote to them. It turned out it was lost somehow on its way to publishing. So do not exclude human error in the presumably busy life at a journal.
Upvotes: 3


<issue_start>username_0: I submitted a paper to a journal and had it returned with "revise and resubmit". After the revision was submitted, the journal's status page told me that it was under review. Once the reviews were completed the status changed to "awaiting editor recommendation". However, I checked it today and it appears to be back out for review. Is this common? Any ideas what it might mean?<issue_comment>username_1: This might indicate that the editor has decided that another review is necessary. For example, reviewers might have very different recommendations. It can also mean that some of the reviewers did not finish their review in time.
This happens sometimes and is not a cause for concern.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I saw this sequence of statuses in the Elsevier system.
I do not think it means anything bad for you. Maybe just a system mistake. Write another paper in the meantime...
Upvotes: 0


<issue_start>username_0: Wikipedia states that '*Although the arXiv is not peer reviewed, a collection of moderators for each area review the submissions.*'

If a paper is not published in any other publication, does it means that it will not contribute to your C.V. when you are applying for an MS or PhD program? Because on arXiv it is not reviewed specifically implies that it does not have the same weight as compared to other publication.<issue_comment>username_1: You are correct that, since arXiv is not peer-reviewed, a paper in arXiv generally counts less than a paper in a peer-reviewed publication.

That does not, however, mean that it does not count. This is particularly true when it comes to graduate admissions, where few students have any publications at all. An admissions committee that is considering whether you have potential to do well in their program may find a strong manuscript in arXiv to be a very good sign. Note, however, that the degree to which this is true will be strongly field-dependent: in a field that makes heavy use of arXiv, such as physics and mathematics, faculty may be quite accustomed to arXiv and understand how to judge such manuscripts; in a field that does not, such as many biomedical fields, faculty may ignore it completely.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: The arxiv preprints are eligible for CV inclusion. It is better when you have both traditional journal publications and preprints.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: Having a paper that was not peer reviewed but is available from arXiv will help you just as much, and in exactly the same way, as having a paper that was not peer reviewed and is available from any other easily accessed online source. The main things that are important are that:

1. You have written a paper (according to some definition of "paper").
2. The paper can easily be accessed and looked at by anyone wishing to evaluate your strength as a grad school applicant.

Note that the value of such a paper to your admission prospects can actually be negative if it is clearly of very poor quality, shows delusional tendencies (e.g., a paper with the title "A simple proof of the Riemann Hypothesis"), or comes across as a dishonest attempt to create a false impression that you have done something important when clearly you haven't. Setting aside such obvious exceptions, an arXiv paper will probably have a positive, but in most cases not very large, value for your applications.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: In my field, you often see the CVs of post doc applicants listing preprints, but **usually such a paper has been submitted to a journal for review**, i.e. you will read

>
> <NAME>, "On the existence of sentences with eight words", preprint (2015). arXiv:1215.12345. Submitted to Famous Journal.
>
>
>

People who have a sizeable number of publications usually stop adding preprints, but that's just an observation, not a rule.

Edit: I should have mentioned how much these publications count. I would say that depends on the individual case: these entries are looked at on the arXiv and their merit is judged individually. (There should just be one or to "submitted" publications, or things look fishy.)

On the other hand, I would say that an arXiv-only publication that is not marked as submitted, either in the CV or on the arXiv, does not count very much, as it looks like the author does not value the paper high enough to try to get it through peer review.
Upvotes: 2


<issue_start>username_0: I am in the final stages of my PhD in pure math, and have been submitting applications to positions. Most of these have been through mathjobs.org but some positions of interest to me don't use that site.

When applying through mathjobs.org, I have a standard AMS cover sheet (generated by the site) giving my personal address, the address of my department at my university, my email address, and my phone number.

I've also written a cover letter for each school that requires one. Following advice of professors at my school, these cover letters give the university address as the return address, not my personal one. Apparently this makes it clear that I can actually be contacted through the school I'm saying I attend, and that I'm not some crazy person pretending to be getting a PhD. But in reality I am not in the habit of getting mail at my school. Also in the midst of sending out many applications it slipped my mind that some non-mathjobs.org applications have now been sent with only my school address, since they don't have the AMS cover sheet. Is it really not appropriate to have my own address on a cover letter?

Where would a response from a hiring committee typically be sent? Should I get in the habit of checking for mail to me at my department? Is this usually done by email? Or would a job offer be sent to my personal address? Would they call me on the phone?

While I'm at it, how long should I expect to wait before receiving any responses? I know this depends highly on which job it is, but just a rough idea of this would be helpful.<issue_comment>username_1: When I applied for postdocs a couple years ago, everything important came by email, with a couple follow-ups by phone.

A couple schools sent their official offer letters via snail mail, but these arrived a couple weeks after I got an email offer and I had already seen an identical pdf. I think there is little risk of missing anything important if you don't check your school mail every day.

Not much will happen until after the NSF announces their postdocs, with the exception of a few elite programs. As a not particularly star candidate, I think I got my first offer by email during the JMM in early Jan, continuing through March or so for places where I was not the first pick. I think there is another thread here discussing the timing in more detail.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You'll typically be contacted by email (you did include an email address in your applications?) In search committees that I've been involved with we also contact applicants by telephone if we don't get a prompt response to our emails- many times emails are lost to spam filters.

Some search committees will be conducting in person interviews at the upcoming joint mathematics meetings in early January. Other search committees will do initial screening interviews by telephone or skype. Either way, most search committees for positions in the US will have application deadlines around January 1 and be doing their first round of interviews some time in January.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Based on my job search experience from a couple of years ago, there are three kinds of communications you might get by snail mail:

1. Equal-opportunity questionnaires, asking your race, gender, etc, for statistical purposes (usually not shared with the search committee). Responding to these is optional, and certainly not time-critical.
2. Rejection letters. Obviously these don't need any response at all, and they usually don't tell you anything you didn't already know; often they aren't sent until long after the search was obviously finished.
3. Formal offer letters. You'll know when these are coming, because you'll already have been informally offered the job by phone or email. (And in some cases, you might have also had to negotiate what the offer letter will contain, though for postdocs it's more likely to be "this is our offer, take it or leave it".) At that stage, you could ask the employer to be sure to send the letter to your home address.

All communications that are actually relevant to whether you get hired or not will take place by email, phone, Skype, or in-person interview. Time is of the essence in hiring, and nobody wants the delay of snail mail for something that needs a quick response.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]


<issue_start>username_0: I am reviewing a paper for possible publication in a respected journal. The English in the paper is very poor. The authors are clearly not native English speakers. I want to write something to the effect of the following in my review.

>
> I advise the authors to find a native English speaker to proofread the manuscript.
>

My question: **Is this appropriate in a review?**

On one hand, I think it is good, constructive advice. The paper would be significantly clearer if someone spent a few hours helping them fix it up. I can try to help them through reviewer comments, but it would be much easier if someone could help them in person. The authors are located in a western English-speaking country, so they should be able to find someone.

On the other hand, I don't want to be "the mean reviewer." I understand that English can be difficult to master for immigrants. Perhaps there is a more diplomatic way of saying this.<issue_comment>username_1: It's obviously appropriate and constructive to comment on writing issues that significantly affect the quality of the paper. The only question is how to do it as constructively as possible.

Personally, I prefer to suggest that "the authors get editing help from someone with [full professional proficiency](https://english.stackexchange.com/a/105762) in English" rather than asking for "a native English speaker." I see other reviewers write the latter, so it's not uncommon, but I feel like it sounds a little bit like I'm "punishing" the authors for not having been born in an English-speaking country. There are plenty of academics who are not native English speakers, and don't have the same proficiency as native English speakers, but are still perfectly capable of high-quality academic writing.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: I think this sort of review comment is pretty common, but I dislike it. The purpose of the review is to advise the editor about the quality of the manuscript. Advising the authors is beyond the scope of the review. For most journals, corrections to spelling/grammar are (in theory) provided by a copy editor. For expensive subscription journals, authors should be allowed to use this service.

There are also three ways this sort of comment can make the reviewer look bad:

1. The paper was written by a bunch of native speakers who have funny names. Yes, I have seen this happen.
2. The review has terrible grammar. This happens > 30% of the time.
3. An implication of bias, which can be avoided by replacing "native English speaker" with "expert editor" or similar.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I think the answer somewhat depends on what kind and intensity of problems we are talking about.

First, however, some thoughts on who else could deal with this:

* **The editor and the initial quality check** (if one exists) have apparently judged the quality of English to be sufficient for you to review the paper. Thus, you have to expect them not to address this issue by themselves.
* **Copy editors** can and hopefully will fix many issues, but as they are not experts of the subject, they can only do so much (also, some publishers have lousy copy editing). For example, I had copy editors miscorrect *a triangulation* to *the triangulation,* as they did not know that the triangulation was not unique in the context. In another example, I know cases where non-native speakers coined new technical terms making suboptimal use of English that however becomes only apparent to somebody who understands the concept described by the term.

Also, copy editors only act after the paper is accepted, which does not help if the quality of English is so bad that it’s impeding the review.

Regarding phrasing your advice, I prefer to avoid explicit suggestions what to do, but rather state what what problems you had and what has to change. You do not know the circumstances under which the manuscript was created and what ways to improve the language are available to the authors. For example, it may be that one of the authors has a good command of English but wasn’t strongly involved in writing the manuscript. Make implicit hints strong rather than subtle though, as the authors may fail to notice the latter, given their English skills.

In addition to [username_1’s arguments against explicitly recommending native speakers](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/60577/7734), I think that recommending a native speaker ignores the importance of understanding the subject matter. Somebody with decent English skills¹ who understands the manuscript is often much more valuable than a professional proofreader who is not from the field.

To get some idea how to phrase the advice, I suggest asking yourself the following questions:

* **Did you fail to understand significant portions of the paper due to bad English?** – If yes, you should definitely indicate this, as at least in the next round of review, you need to understand the whole paper. I suggest (and consider it appropriate) to write something along the lines of the following:

>
> Unfortunately, due to shortcomings in the language of the manuscript, I could not fully assess its quality.
>
>
>

This is an honest statement of facts that does not explicitly tell anybody what to do, but strongly implies that something needs to be done. Moreover, you are implicitly saying that this is not about the scientific quality of the manuscript and that you would like to assess its quality if only you could.
* **Is the quality of English consistently bad?** – I often see manuscripts where you can clearly tell that certain passages were written by different authors. If some of the passages are good, this suggests that their author has a sufficient command of English to revise the rest of the manuscript. As an author, this person is likely best suited for the job. However, it could also be that the authors had only some passages proofread for whatever reason.

Thus an explicit suggestion may be inaccurate or confusing and I would suggest pointing out which passages are problematic and praising the others. This should make it sufficiently clear what to do:

>
> While Sections 1 to 3 were well written, I found it difficult to understand the English of Section 4.
>
>
>
* **Are there some kinds of mistakes that occur particularly often?** – If yes, point them out. For example, some authors tend to use multiple compounds wherever possible without properly hyphenating them, or mix up definite and indefinite articles. (In both these cases, correcting them often requires a deep understanding of the subject matter and thus cannot be done by a copy editor.)
* **Did the review take significantly longer due to bad English?** – If yes, and you expect to have another round of review, you can save some time by remarking on the quality of English now, which I consider appropriate as you are volunteering to review after all. For example you could say:

>
> Due to language mistakes, the manuscript was difficult to read.
>
>
>

If not, and if nothing else is wrong with the language that cannot be addressed on a per-sentence basis, a comment to the editor or a negative rating of the language quality in the editorial system (if it asks you for this) may suffice.

---

¹ preferably with a native language that is different from the authors’ one
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: It is not only the case that you *can* advise the authors to work on improving the level of English of their paper (including getting the paper proofread by others), but I'd argue that you *should* do so (or even go beyond advising to *requiring* that they have the paper proofread, or even beyond that to outright rejecting the paper on the grounds of being not comprehensible enough) if you feel that this is a serious enough of an issue. Generally speaking, it is your duty as a reviewer to point out and criticize any flaws in the paper that make it less valuable for the journal and its readers. This extends to all aspects of the paper, from the science, to the clarity of exposition, technical correctness, and the language. In particular, in cases where a major flaw in the paper's ability to communicate otherwise good science to the readers can be removed through the relatively small effort of having the paper proofread by a person with good English proficiency, it seems absolutely appropriate and advisable to advise, ask, or even require the authors to do that.

On the other hand, as username_1 pointed out in her excellent answer, asking for the proofreader to be a native English speaker is an illogical requirement. What matters is that the proofreader should have a high level of proficiency in English, particularly with regards to professional or technical texts.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I've seen a couple of variations of this pattern in articles I have authored or coauthored:

* The most useful variation is where the reviewer points out specific places were grammar might not be correct, and specially places where those mistakes can lead to misunderstandings. Just write the paragraph you are referring to, and your preferred rewording. That helps the authors see how you are understanding their manuscript.
* Also useful is stating potential terminology issues, where something is being referred to with terms which are understood differently by the target journal or community. Those can be alluded to, so that they can be fixed throughout the manuscript.

In the cases above, I feel there is no need to call for a ”proficient English proofreader“.

However, if the manuscript:

* Is difficult to follow, because the grammar might be correct, but contorted;
* Makes you feel unsure about the claims, because of the writing;
* Is utterly opaque…

Then say so, and use @username_1's suggestion of professional grade proofreading.

Ps. I have also seen the ”please, let co-author X proofread the manuscript“, when X is known to be a proficient (usually native) English speaker, but doing that is both a slap to the main author, and to X, because if s/he is a co-author, s/he should have already done so. Only write that when you're sure of the implications
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: I disagree in a subtle but significant way with many of the current answers. I absolutely agree that it is the responsibility of a reviewer to point out language problems.

I strongly disagree, however, that the reviewer should tell the authors how to solve those problems, any more than they should tell the authors how to solve their scientific problems. The reviewer should say something like:

>
> This paper has numerous grammar and language issues, which need to be addressed.
>
>
>

Then it's up to the authors to figure out whether they need a native speaker, a professional proofreader, simply more care on the part of the current authors, etc. If you presume to diagnose *why* the paper is the way it is, it is just as inappropriate as if you said "the authors need to enlist the help of somebody who know statistics to improve their data analysis." Even if you *do* know why and it would somehow be appropriate for you to say to the authors in person, remember that reviews are generally blind, and the authors can't tell you from some random jerk reviewer #3.

In short: constructive reviews state the problem, rather than presuming the solution, and this applies to language as well as technical content.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: Although I consider myself fluent in English (having lived most of my adult life in English Canada), technically I am not a native speaker, as my mother tongue is not English.

On more than one occasion as a reviewer, I advised authors to have their paper reviewed by a native speaker of English. I always understood that phrase to mean either someone whose mother tongue is English or someone who speaks (and writes) English at a native level, but not necessarily someone whose birth certificate was issued in an English-speaking jurisdiction. I feel compelled to do this when the paper in question contains a large number of grammatical mistakes or odd turns of phrase, too numerous for a reviewer to list or correct (if there are only a few mistakes, I just point them out and list them); and especially when the journal in question is not known for its high quality copy editing.

What good it does, I don't know. But I certainly never felt that it was inappropriate for me to offer this advice. Being an immigrant myself, I don't think that I am prejudiced against non-native speakers. I have done this both for papers that I recommended for rejection and also for papers that I deemed suitable for publication.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_8: I, as being myself not native English speaker and as a person who has published in a respected journal, would recommend you to politely advise the authors to proofread their paper by a native English if *their target journal* is published in an English speaking counrty and/or has the requirement for good language. Some journals (for example, respected British journal) do have this requirement.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: I always find it useful to tell these type of issues to the editor. If you tell the editor that the document is poorly written in terms of language use, I believe that the editor will find a way to forward your message properly to the writers.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: I do accept 'Nat' comments. As a non-native english speaker, what english do we have to learn. British, American, European, Austrilian or Indian? I strongly feel that content is very important and then grammer comes next.
If you suggest/correct the sentences, it is more appreciated, that is what I do normally when I review papers.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_11: You can ask them to do that, but it may not be appropriate.

As an experienced native English proofreader who is very familiar with the peer-review process, I can say that often what is needed is not a proofread at all but rather a multi-stage substantive edit followed by a proofread.

There are some proofreading companies that will give you a proofread if you ask them for one; I, and most other freelancers, will ask to see a sample of the work and then suggest what the most appropriate service is before quoting on providing that service.

The requirement for native English versus non-native is a different question, and I would say that for publishable work it is normal to require a native speaker.

Hope that helps.
Upvotes: 0


<issue_start>username_0: I'm giving a presentation at an undergraduate conference. There are awards given for the best talks. The focus of each talk is what the student has been working on for their research project.

What, in general, do the conference judges look for when they evaluate a talk? Is it the general quality of the presentation? The significance of the results? The way the presenter answers questions from the audience?

For context, it is a physics conference and the talks are short (10 min). In the past, the judges have been graduate students or physics professors at different universities.<issue_comment>username_1: yes! :)

When I'm involved in such things, I usually take all into consideration, when applicable. If the prize is decided before the presentations, you can't judge the presentation.

Specifically for undergrads, I tend to focus on **how** the research was conducted rather than on the results obtained. I don't usually expect groundbreaking originality from undergrad research, but I do want to the "proper path" being taken.
That means:

* a proper bibliographical revision, where you correctly put your contribution among the literature;
* a well developed methodology, where you explain and justify all the choices made during the project;
* a decent analysis of the results, focusing not only on the results but considering also the behavior/interpretation of what was done (undergrad students love to say high probability numbers without the proper analysis)
* A deep discussion of the contribution, including the pre-requisites for it to work, how, why and when it fails. This last part is usually omitted even by more experienced researchers, deemed 'not sexy'.

In short: I want to see that the undergrad now knows *how* to do research properly...
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I apologize for the length of my reply, but I think this is a really great question that I discuss with undergraduates and even grad students all the time, and want to use this as an opportunity to share some of my thoughts with you.

I completely agree with the points that username_1 made in his answer. However, I want to add one general tip with you that I have found to be extremely effective in my experience both presenting talks and posters as well as judging them.

The way I see it, when undergraduate talks/posters are judged, there may or may not be certain specific criteria against which you will be evaluated, but there are certain important subtleties in how you *conduct yourself* when talking about your work that will almost always affect your evaluation whether there is specific criteria or not. Let me clarify:

As username_1 mentioned, there are many important technical factors that are commonly taken into account when judging presentations, but aside from this, I believe that one of the most powerful tools to get great scores on research talks is to demonstrate some passion and interest into the work you are presenting.

This is typically the biggest problem with undergraduate presentations. Undergraduates are often not very well-versed in the big picture of their research project and therefore end up simply presenting what they did and what data came of it and what they think it means (or what their advisor told them it means). There is rarely any visible interest in the work, or evidence of creative thought on the part of the student, and this is the biggest factor that separates a great undergrad talk from all other undergrad talks.

No matter how dull your research talk may or may not be to you, when you stand up there in front of all those people, make sure to talk and act like you're the most excited person in the room about the work that you have done. This gets people's attention, in my opinion, above all else. Some great ways of doing this are:

* Never, ever, ever, ever, ever read from your slides, especially your
title. Always come up with a great "prose" way to describe your whole
project and then your data.
* Try to look at your slides as little as possible, unless you're pointing out something on a figure. Look at the
audience, glance around the room. In a scientific forum setting,
simple presentation skills often directly translate into command of
the material being presented.
* A great way to prevent yourself from doing the above is to not have
many words on your slides, this keeps people interested and keeps you
from reading to the audience. Many undergrads believe that their research cannot be presented without many words on the slides, but there is almost always a creative way to do this.
* Question yourself, and question your research. This does not
mean you should tell the audience that your conclusions are not
accurate, but rather avoid being too rigid in how you describe your conclusions. Avoid words phrases like 'definitely,' 'clearly,' 'this means that,' 'we discovered,' or any version of the word prove/proof/proved, unless used as a technical term such as 'mathematical proof.'
* Always talk about your work in terms of what it could mean for the
future, For example, talk about some interesting data that you
couldn't yet explain; offer several possible ways to frame your
conclusions; try to add a few "next steps" to your presentation (and not as a list on the last slide, but work it in in a few places as you talk about your work).
* If you anticipate a question or questions from the audience that you
will probably not know how to answer, bring it out in the open as
part of your presentation, and say that you are still working to
understand that particular part of your project.

Some of these things may seem trivial or obvious, but these are probably the most common "mistakes" undergraduate students typically make when giving oral presentations. I say "mistakes" lightly because it is obvious that sometimes the student simply does not get the proper guidance from their advisers, either about their project, or about how to present the work properly, or both. In these cases, of course, acting like you truly love your project may not be possible because it may not be true.

But either way, what it boils down to usually, coming back to something username_1 said above, is that at the undergraduate level, the expectation is less on whether the results are impressive, but rather whether you can demonstrate that you are a good researcher, and that you have done the most with the results that you have.

Good Luck!
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]


<issue_start>username_0: I'm at an engineering department at a public US university, and I'm somewhat new to writing proposals. The call I'm submitting to wants know if the project budget is higher than the amount of the grant, what other sources of funding the PI will use, presumably to ensure the success of the project.

First, I'm not rich. But this leads to me to think, is it okay to use personal funds to do research? For example, if a piece of equipment costs $4000 and I only have $3950 left, can I supplement it with personal funds?

What might end up happening is that I might convince a colleague to lend me his instrument. But I don't want to say this in the proposal. Also, I'm not sure saying the project will be "supplemented by personal funds" is a good idea.<issue_comment>username_1: I think you shouldn't offer private fund to supplement a research budget, and I also think people won't let you for the two following reasons (among others):

**1. It's not your private responsibility to fund your research.** For the sake of your own self respect, you shouldn't pay to work. It will give a bad signal, even subjectively, about the quality of your work. It's important for an academic career to be able to show that you can secure complete funding for your research.

**2. Personal funding is not reliable:**
People reviewing your application will see that the project is underfunded and will doubt that you will effectively be able to compensate with your own money. There will be no ways for the institution to enforce a funding commitment like "the project will be supplemented by personal funds". Funding is generally secured via contracts or other forms of legal documents.
Besides, any institution that relies on researchers breaking their piggy banks to pay for equipment is doing a sloppy job and it's going to hurt its reputation.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> The call I'm submitting to wants know if the project budget is higher than the amount of the grant, what other sources of funding the PI will use, presumably to ensure the success of the project.
>
>
>

Almost certainly the answer to that is not "my private money". I can see three "correct" answers from the point of view of the funding agency:

1. The PI will make sure that this does not happen. Optimally, you will attach a detailed cost planning that is well within the grant amount to substantiate this point.
2. The host institution is co-funding the project. This is often quite popular with funding agencies, as it shows commitment from side of the host institution.
3. Another funding agency is (potentially) paying for it (see info on other submitted or accepted grants). This one is a bit iffy, as relying on another submitted grant is high-risk. Also, depending on the concrete setup, you may involuntarily raise the suspicion that if your current project is not accepted, the "other" agency may fund it in full - and as you can imagine this is an impression you want to avoid at all costs.

>
> For example, if a piece of equipment costs $4000 and I only have $3950 left, can I supplement it with personal funds?
>
>
>

You can definitely do that, and in practice this can sometimes happen (maybe subtly - for instance by going on self-paid conference travels, using your own laptop, etc.). However, the project proposal is certainly not the right place to mention this.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: Not sure about the US, but over here in Europe (Britain to be specific) we usually ask the university to top-up the grant as to fill the gaps. If a researcher succeeds to get 90%, the institution that gets credit for the research should give something in return in the form of 10%.
Upvotes: 2


<issue_start>username_0: [Many](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/63619/452) authors do not intend to make much revenue from books (textbooks or research books) they contribute to, yet they don't make it open access. Why?<issue_comment>username_1: ff524 basically answered in the comment: publishers don't usually allow it. Just as with journal articles it might be possible to negotiate publishing under an open access license for a fee. Sometimes it is also possible to negotiate being allowed to publish a "preprint" version on your homepage or a preprint server such as the arXiv. Typically this is a version without the editing and layout work done by the publisher.

Of course authors can just decide to not publish with a publisher (or self-publish) and just upload the book to their homepage, as many people do. You will miss out on royalties (not a big deal, as noted in the question) and marketing efforts of the publisher.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: There are a number of reasons why not to, and they stem from the reasons one might want to publish a book, even if you aren't making much if any money:

* The prestige of the publisher matters. For many tenure committees, professional organizations, etc. "A Book from BigDeal University Press" > "Some Markdown Files on Github" or what have you in terms of evaluation. In effect, you are getting paid, but in prestige and reputation rather than money.
* Publishers take care of a number of things that, if you're self-publishing an open access book you have to do yourself, including copy-editing, layout, and most importantly, finding peer reviewers.
* Seeing a book adopted widely (another part of the whole prestige aspect) will likely be more difficult for an open-access book, at least at present, where they are fairly common. Who is going to do the marketing? Has it actually been properly peer reviewed? Are there nice, hard-bound copies available (some of us like reading things on paper), etc.

That is not to say that there are not some very successful efforts in my field to do open access books. Hernan and Robins causal inference book, for example, has drafts and code available online: <http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/miguel-hernan/causal-inference-book/>

But neither one of those authors is in the position to *need* much benefit from a book publication, and it's still being placed in a traditional press when it's finished.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> Many authors do not intend to make much revenue from books (textbooks or research books) they contribute to, yet they don't make it open access. Why?
>
>
>

First, while authors may not "intend" to make much revenue, that still does not mean that they will happily give up whatever revenue they are actually going to make (and keep in mind that the actual amount of revenue is impossible to predict with accuracy at the time an author needs to make this decision). So if an author feels that making their book open-access will lead to a loss of revenue, then unless that author is sufficiently generous, passionate about open-access, and/or financially well-off, not insisting on making the book available as open-access would be a completely rational decision, regardless of whether the publisher would give permission or not.

Second, and more importantly in my opinion, after you have spent a few years and a huge amount of labor and creative energy writing a book, the idea of giving it away for free is simply ... uncomfortable, even for purely psychological reasons. I decided to make my book open access and am quite happy with my decision, but I can completely understand and respect authors who have made the opposite decision, and don't think such a decision should be criticized by anyone who hasn't gone through a similar creative journey themselves.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: As the entry level for self-publishing is now very low, there is a whole swamp of the low quality content. Once you join this swamp, it is very difficult to raise above it, as nobody can find you. A good quality content initially belonging to this swamp takes long time to be noticed, if ever.

It is critical to have the public reviewing system not for picking best of the best but first for discarding the really low quality junk. Automated search tools, even Google technologies, cannot do this properly, as the junkwriters are often much more experts in "search engine optimization". Hence they trash with lots of revenue generating ads around somehow always takes if not the first then at least a second place in the search results.

The only way known for me to mitigate this is to link (or publish in) the official website of the notable university. Web search will take this into consideration, but the option is not easily available for all potentially good publishers.

It is the lack of the serious public reviewing system that hinders publishing of the free content.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: There is a point about human nature - people tend to value things according to how much they have to pay to get them. An author might well feel that if people can download something for free from a website that it will not be valued. As a user of some excellent free software and the recipient of some excellent free advice here, I know that this is not always true, but other users and other authors might not agree with me.

There is also the obverse to this - that some people will ask, "If it's that good, why is she giving it away?" This meshes with the belief that anything which is valuable can be "monetized" and anything which cannot have a numeric value put on it, does not have value.

Again, I think that the internet is changing these perceptions, but not for everyone and not in every circumstance.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: I'm surprised at all the answers given because they all seem to miss the point.

**If you publish something open-access, you need to pay for it.** An author publishing a non-OA book receives author royalties. The same author publishing an OA book has to pay the publisher. The price is *not* cheap. Check out [Cambridge University Press's website on OA books](https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/open-access-policies/open-access-books/gold-open-access-books).

>
> **How much are your Book Processing Charges?**
>  Our standard charge for a monograph of up to 120,000 words is £9,500/$14,500/€13,000 (excluding any applicable VAT or local sales tax), and £55/$84/€76 per additional thousand words. We are usually able to offer a discount of £2/$3/€2.5 per page for camera ready copy.
>  We do, however, consider each book individually. Additional fees may apply depending upon the complexity of the work.
>
>
>

It's one thing to write a book and make little/no money. It's another to actually *lose money* writing the book. Yes, CUP's website also says you will continue to receive royalties, but OA means the content is available for free. How many people will pay for the book when they can already read for free?

tl; dr: authors don't make books OA because it doesn't make economic sense.
Upvotes: 2


<issue_start>username_0: I would like to know particularly how is regarded in a scientific community since it is not peer reviewed.

>
> It should be noted patents do not go through similar peer review as journal publications. Of course, this is slightly depending on whatever requirements patent laws in a specific country put on the claims put forward bu the patentee. But no country really requires another researcher to scrutinize the claims made by a patent at the point of filing it, like a publication does.
>  There are patents of cars that run on water, fusion-powered space craft etc.etc, ie. things that do not work. So as a reference a patent is definitely a weaker source, especially if it is not something someone is using/selling yet.
>
>
>

Is it allowed to publish patent and then paper?<issue_comment>username_1: A patent is a legal document written by lawyers trying to say as little as possible while protecting an idea. Peer reviewed papers are trying to inform people and say as much as possible about an idea.

one makes you money, the other one keeps you a poor academic.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You're asking multiple questions at once, so let's start with:

>
> What are the differences between a research paper and a patent
>
>
>

There are many, but briefly a research paper has the purpose of communicating research findings to the relevant scientific community and the general public. Patents are legal documents used to prevent other people from commercializing the process or devices they describe. Research papers typically report **results** of a scientific process, whether experimental or not, while patents describe processes and devices along with their respective intended **applications**.

Patents are typically very open-ended, not unlike a very long "future works"-section of an academic paper. The strategy is to cover a maximum of possible usages for the technology.

>
> it is not peer reviewed
>
>
>

That is correct, peer review is a strategy used by researchers to filter, improve, and curate scientific literature. For patents, the review is driven by the legal requirements only. A major point is absence of overlap with existing patents and other publicly available material\*. In some regions, a minimal demonstration of how the process/device works is expected by patent offices, but it's not the same as peer review.

>
> Is it allowed to publish patent and then paper?
>
>
>

Yes, it's the other way that's problematic because as stated above, if you (or someone else) published a paper about your process or device you cannot patent it anymore.

Most journals are interested in novel results and all (legitimate) journals don't want to re-publish existing literature but the fact that the processes are patented is not an issue. As stated in my first paragraph, both documents should have very little overlap.

---

\*On that subject, see the entertaining if not entirely historically accurate
[Donald Duck as prior art case](http://www.iusmentis.com/patents/priorart/donaldduck/)
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: A patent is a paper that describes an invention. When the patent is accepted, the invention is protected to the extend of the made claims. This means that you can sue people for replicating your invention into their product, within the scope of your patent.

The deal of patents is you get exclusivity in exchange of detailed public disclosure of the invention, which become free to be exploited after a certain period of time (namely 20 years?)

Research paper on the other hand, aim to disclose a finding regardless of any application. Its main focus is results of some experiment, which may or may not include products, inventions or applications of any type.
The peer-review makes for more credibility to the content of the publication.

Making a publication after a patent should be possible, on the other end the opposite is not. While filling a patent, the invention must not have been already disclosed. Otherwise it is considered prior-art.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Patents and publications are completely different in several regards.

Technically each patent has to be a solution to a given problem in the form of an application. You cannot patent ideas such as for example the idea of using electric engines in a car, which is not elligible to be patented unless you have the exact implementation. Only this specific implementation will be protected.

Many things cannot be patented, such as algorithms which are protected by copyright, and math formulae, which are not protected. US system is notoriously bad as far as granting computer related patents go. Each patent can be tested in court and might get annulled: look at Samsung v. Apple cases.

In short for something to be patented it has to be new, innovative and monetizable.

What most people view as broad and unclear definition is usually not the case with good lawyers and I woukd advise to look for another one, since in court every unclear point will be challanged. If a technology can be used with pneumatics and hydraulics it should be in the patent.

The main reason why you cannot patent after publishing, is because from the point of law from the moment where the technology is available it is part of the stand of technology and is publically available, therefore not patentable since it is part of "common knowledge".
Upvotes: 3


<issue_start>username_0: I have applied for a PhD position in October 2015. I was not informed about the result since then.

Is it appropriate to send a mail to a member of the hiring committee (with whom I have contacted before applying) to ask about the process? Or should I wait for them to contact me?

The university is in Sweden and I have contacted with the member prior to the application since he is the head of the research group that I intend to work in.<issue_comment>username_1: It depends. What does your acknowledgement say when you had submitted your application?

If you were told something like "you will be informed your result by XX month/year" and you have not received anything in that regard by that period, then you can write an e-mail to inquire the status of your application.

If you were told something like "only successful candidates will be informed by XX month/year" and you have not received anything in that matter, then you can write an e-mail to your contact person to know the status.

In any case, you can write email politely to know about your application status if you think it is already too late. There is no harm to inquiring application status.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I don't think it is inappropriate nor rude to send them an email. It's your right to be informed with your result as time is passing.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: If you're waiting 6 months for someone to write you back, perhaps that reflects poorly in their eyes on your skills as a researcher... seriously, though, you have to be more assertive about these things. If you feel it would be rude, try to make it as un-rude as possible: Ask about applications in general, not just your own; say you want to make sure you haven't missed a reply by mistake; ask whether they can estimate when a reply can be expected (rather than asking whether you were accepted); etc.

But don't just wait for it to happen!
Upvotes: 3


<issue_start>username_0: I'm about to graduate with a BS in computer science, my question relates to even higher education.

I generally found most of the topics (Aside from the post calc 2 math) pretty easy and am graduating with a 3.5 GPA. I had the chance to get into an early entry MS program but applied over winter break and 2 of my instructors didn't send their recommendation in time. Now I don't have enough credits to double count as masters level credits for the next semester. I plan on working and letting my employer pay for my Masters degree after a few years, but they won't pay for a PHD.

Would it be worth the extra time, work, and money to get a PHD? I don't want to be "overqualified" and denied jobs because of the extra salary and I'm not super interested in working in academia (At least not until I'm about to retire). If there is someone with a PHD who would offer their input I'd love to hear from you. Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: A master degree and a Ph.D are two completely different things.

The master degree has the intention to specialise you in a field, to know what is already there and allow you to build new things (applications, webservices, ...)

The Ph.D has the intention of teach you how to do proper research (in a given field, but the main idea is to know what is research). This includes how to experiment and treat data to come to a conclusion about a problem, publishing papers etc.

Ph.D are not specific to academia, in fact, many doctors are working with industry or leading their own firms.

At the end, the choice lies in what kind of job you want to work. A master level job will probably be about creating innovative product, manage a project, whereas a Ph.D level job will mostly involve managing a research project, dealing with specific problems and looking for ways to solves them, then eventually coming up with a product.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: By looking at the wording of your post, I suggest you to run away from a PhD degree as fast as you can.

A PhD degree is one of the milestones in an academic's life and is not something to pursue if you don't know *it's worth it*.

Getting an extra salary and having a PhD is two different things. A salary is based on your value for the company. A PhD is something that you earn by conducting quality research. It seems you try to have a PhD degree just for some extra money. That is not the way to go.

PhD would not teach you how to be a good employee and an inevitable member of the company. If you want to earn more in the industry, you should keep away from academia and start putting all your effort into your job.

Your employer of course would not pay for your PhD because i) it is usually 4 years long, ii) a PhD student will have numerous opportunities to earn scholarship and iii) pursuing a PhD will require some time, which means your productivity for the company will drop.
Upvotes: 3