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thread-9628 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9628 | Can we send our research paper to multiple journals at once? | 2013-04-25T08:00:48.450 | # Question
Title: Can we send our research paper to multiple journals at once?
I have heard that if someone sends his paper to two different conferences and is somehow caught, then there would be severe consequences for the researcher.I did not know that before but I heard two supervisors talking about it yesterday. So is it okay to send a research paper to different journals at once?( I am talking about sending to all,not publishing in all). My field is computer science.
# Answer
Short answer: No. Then to expand on the different aspects of your question, acceptable or not and effects:
1. It is generally not acceptable to send the same paper to two journals (in your question your title states "journals" but your text talks about "conferences", I will focus on journals). Typically you sign or agree to a statement that the work is not under consieration elsewhere when you submit work. If so then you are clearly violating an understanding you have agreed to. This does not prevent people from doing so. I have experienced (as editor/reviewer) a paper that was submitted to three journals at the same time.
2. There is no way to provide formal punishment if you break the rules but you will become "known" for this behaviour quite quickly and you do not want a bad reputation. Again, this does not prevent the problem from happening but I guess some authors think the world is too big for anyone to notice and prior to Internet and its search capabilities, this was probably at least partially true; now it is much easier to trace duplicates.
Your final commnet confuses me a bit. why would you send a paper to a journal if you do not intend to try to get it published there? If this is to get free feedback to improve the manuscript, I would strongly advice against such behaviour.
A final comment: I deliberately did not consider the case of a conference since all conferences may not lead to a publication, but then you would submit an abstract and not a complete manuscript.
> 6 votes
---
Tags: publications, etiquette, computer-science
--- |
thread-9631 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9631 | Favoring citations in the same journal | 2013-04-25T09:35:35.223 | # Question
Title: Favoring citations in the same journal
I have once, some time ago, received a rejection notice in which the journal editor made what I thought was a peculiar comment. The reviewers all found that the work was good, but one emitted a doubt that I had chosen the right journal for it, saying the paper might not appeal to the broad readership of the journal (it was a general physics journal). So far, nothing out of the ordinary.
However, the editor indicated that his judgment to reject the paper was based on the fact that **very few of the citations in the manuscript actually referred to the journal I had submitted it to**. (Like, 2 citations out of 35. Some of the other citations were to other general physics journals, some to more specific journals.)
Back then, this looked very weird to me. To some extent, **it could be interpreted as a push by the editor to increase self-citation of his journal**. It has never occurred to me since.
Is it common practice? When does it become ethically wrong?
# Answer
Answering as editor of a journal (albeit not in Physics) I have never heard of such comments. It seems misdirected. The one possible and reasonable (in some sense of the word) reason for it might be that the editor considers the journal so specialized that most relevant literature in the field would be published in the same journal. As a result, one could conclude that if the manuscript lacks references to papers in the same journal it is peripheral to the field. I am by no means suggesting that this would be a good way to make such assertions.
Sometimes, and I am now speaking in my experience as an author, I have felt that such comments are excuses for other reasons to reject the paper. Without seeming too paranoid, I think this can be the result of a rash decision by the editor based on confidential comments by a reviewer but which cannot easily be conveyed. As an editor, I see different comments from reviewers which almost say that I (as an editor) would essentially be stupid if I did not reject the paper and where it seems clear some personal reason rather than scientific arguments are the basis for the judgement. What I am trying to say is that there may be reasons that are far from clear as to why you receive such comments. Unfortunately there is not much one can do about it unless you feel comfortable asking the editor to provide some background for why? I think such a question is reasonable, if for no other reason than to avoid "burdening" the journal with "off topic" questions in the future (quotations meant from journal/editor perspective).
> 9 votes
# Answer
It is not unheard of. For a journal that I submit regularly to the instructions for authors state
> Given that the Journal has been in existence for over 80 years and has published of the order of 35,000 papers on a wide variety of acoustical topics over its lifetime, the absence of any references to previously published papers in the Journal raises a flag signaling the possibility that the paper lies outside the de facto scope of the Journal
I think it really is a scope question and not a self citation question. That said, the handling editors of this journal often alert authors during the later stages of review of potentially relevant in press publications within the journal. Most have been relevant and I am happy to add the sentence or two to the background, but I also think of it as a clear attempt at increasing self citation counts.
> 11 votes
---
Tags: publications, journals, citations, ethics, editors
--- |
thread-9634 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9634 | Is it safer to carry on undergraduate research areas to gradschool or start from scratch in an unknown area? | 2013-04-25T06:32:57.497 | # Question
Title: Is it safer to carry on undergraduate research areas to gradschool or start from scratch in an unknown area?
This question is in spirit a very general one. When a person (say in CS) is choosing among multiple options for gradschool, which one would experience and prudence point towards? Along with research interests and all that, things to factor in would be the extra strain involved, to be honest.
Case in point:
1. Choice A: PhD advisor in the field of computer vision and machine learning. My undergrad experience was mostly in image processing, with one instance of training a rather vanilla backprop neural network. So this would be pretty much be building on the base of undergrad research experience. Yeah, the school is a tough one, and my math background is rather sparse. lots of catching up to do on the maths front.
2. Choice B: PhD advisor does work in graphics. mostly interactive graphics, lighting models and all that. These are topics i am vaguely familiar with, never having taken a graphics course during undergrad. Nor did any research project on that. Its a fresh topic for me, but I am not qualified enough to judge whether to pursue this or not.
# Answer
If you start by thinking about what's *safe* as an undergrad/grad, I think you may experience (unpleasant) surprises down the road. **Do what you like best!** Grad school is not an easy path, and motivation is sometimes hard to maintain throughout, so the best way to help your chances of success is actually to do something that you enjoy (and hopefully will enjoy for the next few years).
> 9 votes
# Answer
Personally, I think grad school is as much about learning than it is about doing research. Don't be afraid to learn new things and expand into new fields - grad school is exactly the time do that. My main regret from my own graduate studies is that I focused too much on doing research and not enough on learning. Of course it requires hard work, but if you don't want to work hard I would say grad school is probably not the right choice for you.
As Fx writes in his answer, you should pursue whatever interests you the most. Of course it is also important to have a good advisor - so if you have no knowledge of the field you might like to ask around.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: research-process, university
--- |
thread-9624 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9624 | Whether to publish one big paper or many smaller papers for a given research project? | 2013-04-25T06:11:41.627 | # Question
Title: Whether to publish one big paper or many smaller papers for a given research project?
Let's say I invented a system to solve a problem. To run this system, I made my own algorithm.I also created some other things for that system. The main contribution was supposed to be the system.So is it a good idea to have as many research papers out of the project as I can? Or to publish a single research paper?
I have seen a lot of researchers where they were targeting a single problem and they proposed a single solution. Now, what they would do is write a research paper for every component separately. Then they would write a single research paper showing how all the components would fit together.
So is it a good idea to try and increase the number of publications you can have out of a single research project?
My own personal opinion is that the quality of your research matters not the quantity. But I have also seen a number of institutions requiring a specific number of publications to even apply for their jobs.
# Answer
The way I see it, there are a number of factors at play:
1. Your goals: Do you want your paper to be published in a high-impact journal? If so they will most likely be interested in the whole story rather than a small piece of it.
2. Readability/General appeal: Can you make a coherent story with individual components? Will they all be interesting for wider audience on their own? In other words, if you opt for multiple papers out of one project; can you make sure these will be able to stand on their own? I personally think going for multiple papers is only valid when combining them into a single big paper would push aside some of your interesting results (or methods) to a metaphorical corner
3. Limitations imposed by the target journal: Can you actually put together all that in a single manuscript? In biomedical research you always get a limit on the number of words in the manuscript, and there is only so much you can put in supplementary.
With regards to quality-vs-quantity, I heard that early on in your career quantity is more important while as you become more and more senior, quality becomes the main concern. I am often told that as a PhD student I can, and should try to get involved in as many papers as I can. Around the time I do post-doc, however, it's time I pay a lot of attention to where I put my name and try to work on a good paper, preferably in a high-impact journal.
> 26 votes
# Answer
I think we all want fewer but high quality publications but many aspects of academia seems to favour quantity. We should also not forget that apart from numbers of publications, the impact of them through different index measures such as the "" and number of citations play a vital role in evaluating your output. A paper with no citations is not "good" for your record. I think one has to consider when our publications count and I can think of two and a possible third case (in the following I am concentrating on numbers/quality not impact/h but one could (should?) argue that quality = high impact/h):
1. Publications count when you seek employment. The publications will be scrutinized by peers and in this case the quality definitely counts since the publication will be the key evaluation parameter of your scientific capacity, possibly in parallel to your ability to attract funding.
2. Publications count when you apply for funding. In this case it is not likely that your publications will be read and evaluated; your proposal will. And, your publication list will be looked at as a sign of productivity. So in this case I would argue that numbers count (not even first/leading authorship may be critical although must be present).
3. Publications may be important when it comes to promotions and particularly salary discussions. Here it is less clear if quality or quantity counts but I would argue that quantity is more important since your productivity can be shown as a statistic ( by the dept. and univ.) whereas quality is more difficult to quantify directly.
Since you are likely to seek funding more often than switch jobs, one might suspect that quantity is a must. In my funding system, a certain productivity is expected and in this case it is merely a number/year (on average; if you fall short it will be taken as a negative). At the same time you may lose opportunities when applying for jobs if quality does not enter the picture.
So there is need for a balance between quantity and quality. Very few can survive in the long term by writing few but high profile quality papers and it is also not likely you will survive only on quantity if that is at the expense of quality. We of course need to remember that all papers that count are peer reviewed and as such have formally passed quality control.
My personal reflection is that most of us do as much as we can to produce good quality science. If one were to try to constantly push low-quality manuscripts to gain quantity, ones reputation would probably soon suffer, so there may be additional equalizers at play.
So to answer the question: yes quantity counts but cannot be gained at the expense of quality. To "squeeze" as much as possible out of your research is good in the sense that your experience gets out to the public but negative if your research becomes fragmented across several publications that are lost in the background noise. Finding a good balance and seeing how many quality publications can be produced from a project idea is important.
> 15 votes
# Answer
The UK is rapidly moving to a low quantity high quality model. The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is an exercise that is conducted every 4 years and is used to rate the research quality of "departments" (they are not truly departments, but the details are irrelevant). For the REF each researcher is expected to return 4 items (i.e., 1 per year on average) and these items are rated on a 4 star scale, with 4\* being the best and encompassing about 10-20% of the submitted work. Given how REF computes value, an person who publishes a single 4\* paper and nothing else over a 4 year window is more valuable than an individual who publishes 100 3\* publications. For the REF quantity above 4 is completely valueless and quality trumps all.
Research councils in the UK are following suit saying that they are uninterested in funding 2\* research.
> 11 votes
# Answer
It depends on many factors. People may love to have a single "great" article, but there can be obstacles:
1. Many institutions or countries have objective measures such as the number of publications, being published in a journal which is indexed in Web of Science, and has a high rank among the competitors, etc. These limit the authors.
2. Journal limitations. I personally love to have perfect articles. But those will be very long, Journals would not love them very much because the reader gets bored. So a way is to split it. As a matter of fact in some instances, it was the reviewer or editor who asked me to remove many parts of my article. I could not stand seeing they are going to be flushed away forever, so I published them as another article.
3. And finally, note that it is difficult and sometimes impossible to "subjectively" judge the quality of a paper and say "well this paper is high-quality and is worth three average papers"... I have seen strange judgments from senior researchers. For example, I have seen the results of a nation-level contest, where a very poor paper was selected as #1 by 5 judges and another paper which was absolutely unique in its field and very high-quality, was chosen as #2, because the judges were not familiar with the content of the latter (or whatever other reasons they might have) \[they later changed their minds when the researcher explained the research to those idiots! but the grant was already given to the poor research!\]... So in such situations, objective scores are the only tool for qualification, and the notion "quality" is not even applicable! This is why some researchers would prefer split
> 4 votes
---
Tags: research-process, publications
--- |
thread-9659 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9659 | Scholarships in general and Ontario Trillium Scholarship in particular | 2013-04-25T23:45:04.313 | # Question
Title: Scholarships in general and Ontario Trillium Scholarship in particular
I am a new PhD student in Canada. Recently my university nominated me for the Ontario Trillium Scholarship (to my surprise), which I eventually won. I originally come from a country which do not use the system of scholarships and awards, so I do not know much about the benefits of scholarships. As I see there are three potential benefits:
1. More money for living ($40.000 each year for four years in this case, for living and tuition)
2. The Scholarhip pays for tuition and other fees, so your supervisor/institute do not need to pay anything
3. Looks good on a CV
I have not much advantage of the point 1, since my institute usually gives higher PhD salaries than standards in Canada and therefore I only receive slightly higher salary relative to that (people from other institutes will of course benefit from the extra cash). Number 2 seems to be a really good benefit of scholarships, since they make you more free and able to pursue your own interests even more (since your supervisor is not paying).
My question is primarily about point 3. How big a role does Scholarships play when applying for a post doc position? I generally see many people in North America, especially the US, which have a lot of scholarships and awards they have won. This is my first ever, since we do not have awards in my original country. Is there any real advantage to be able to mention previously won scholarships? And my final question is, how good is the Ontario Trillium Scholarship in this regard? Is this a standard type of scholarship?
(Sorry for asking this anonymously rather than using my stack exchange profile. My profile contain my real name and I would rather stay anonymous for various reasons).
# Answer
> 7 votes
The Trillium scholarship is very good. The only scholarship I know of that's worth more is the Vanier ($50,000 for two or three years). The Vanier is open to both Canadian and international PhD students as long as they're studying at a Canadian institution, so it's extremely competitive. The Trillium is only open to international PhD students studying in Ontario, so the applicant pool is a bit smaller; however, only 75 are awarded each year, so it's also very competitive.
Two other typical scholarships are the NSERC PGS/CGS, which pays between $17,300 and $35,000 a year, and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, which pays $15,000. In my department, about a quarter of the people who apply for these scholarships will win.
As for the the other part of your question, when applying for a post doc position, scholarships certainly won't hurt you. Your publications are more important, of course, but since the Trillium application includes a "plan of studies", winning it suggests that you will be able to win grants in the future. A scholarship won't make up for a lack of publications, but it can give you an edge over a similar applicant who didn't win one.
---
Tags: phd, graduate-school, cv, funding
--- |
thread-9657 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9657 | What are the good indicators of fake conferences? | 2013-04-25T22:14:52.657 | # Question
Title: What are the good indicators of fake conferences?
**Here is the story:**
After working on a project for a couple of months, I put the results in a scientific paper format in case I would submit it to a conference or yet this is a good practice for my writing. The paper is about a specific software engineering topic for which you could not find many scientific events to submit. However, I sometimes check www.wikicfp.com to not miss any deadline if there is one. Finally I found one, read the details about the conference and submit the paper.
This week I got the results. It was positive, I think this is great because I am warming up for academia. However, when I received the review (only one), I felt that this conference could be fake or bogus. They sent me a text file that has the following review (with the name and some strange gmail address as the reviewer email):
> paper quality is good different models are explained but this is not a result oriented paper no comparison results for different models with graphical point of view
Thank God I had a paper rejected before. I had submitted it to a workshop on a different topic and the reviews were detailed, well explained without reviewer strange email addresses.
Besides the acceptance email has details more about the registration details, bank accounts, fees etc., than preparing final draft or other scientific related issues.
So right now I am a bit confused about what to do next or how to react. But my question is the following: **What are the good indicators of fake/bogus conferences?**
# Answer
> 9 votes
In your description, there are three telltale signs that the conference might not be very good:
1. The reviewer email is revealed: **a conference that doesn't protect reviewer anonymity** (blind review at least) **is probably not very good**.
2. The review itself is, frankly, not high quality. It may make sense for a standard conference scientific committee to appoint another reviewer if the first one didn't do his job properly.
3. Financial details appear very important to the organizer…
To make your final decision, see answers to this question: check out the organizers and invited speakers.
# Answer
> 9 votes
Seek the opinion of third parties. Here are some suggestions.
* See if the conference is indexed by a major digital library, like Scopus.
* See if the conference is sponsored by a reputable professional organization, like the IEEE Computer Society or the ACM. Although these societies sponsor all types of conferences, from top-rank to less illustrious ones, I haven't heard them sponsoring "fake" ones.
* Have a look at the Conference Ranking Exercise that has been performed by the Computing Research and Education Association of Australasia (CORE). If the conference is there, you'll get a (subjective) rank of its importance as a publication outlet. Note that the list is somewhat dated.
* Similarly, look at the conference ranking list compiled by Osmar R. Zaïane at the University of Alberta
* Consult the automatically-compiled list created by Microsoft's Academic Search engine.
An alternative approach that a group of researchers followed back in 1995 is to submit silly or gibberish papers (e.g. "The Footprint Function for the Realistic Texturing of Public Room Walls", "Visualization and Intelligent Design in Engineering and Architecture ", "Distributed Multiprogramming System for Pen Selectors with Error Probability") and see whether they get accepted.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I have many years of academic experience and I have been a reviewer of submissions for conference presentations and scientific journals. Speaking from experience, often times the reviews given in response to a conference abstract submission can be extremely brief. This is often due to the reviewer having way more submissions to review than they ever dreamed of and a deadline of say "tomorrow" - YIKES! Serious though... Okay so moving past that, to judge the merit of a conference, I would make most of my decision based on the conference hosts or sponsoring group. If they have a large or influential membership within the discipline, who is directing the group of conference and their professional reputation, the size of the conference venue, etc... if that is all positive then I would go for it.
You might call up a colleague or two of yours in academia within your discipline and ask them if they would like to attend the conference with you. Sometimes those that are currently in the academia loop have insight about the "perceived impact" of a conference or sponsoring group.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I think there is no definitive way to understand if a conference is a fake or not, but here I can suggest you a strategy. Surely the most important indicator is the **experts' and community's opinion**: if you know someone expert in your field (maybe your supervisor?), you can ask him/her information about that conference.
Maybe you can ask also to online community members, too.
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Tags: conference, disreputable-publishers, workshop
--- |
thread-9617 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9617 | How can I cite software documentations? | 2013-04-24T18:43:00.647 | # Question
Title: How can I cite software documentations?
As my bachelor's thesis, I'm developing some software (a mocking framework for MATLAB). As such, I often need to reference software documentation - both from MATLAB and the software which serves as my inspiration. It would also be nice to be able to reference the documentation of the specific feature I'm referring to (the analogue of referencing a specific page in a book). However, I mostly access this documentation online and by its nature it tends to exist just in electronic form, which is not really recommended in publishing. So far, the best I've come up with is this:
```
@misc{mockitoFeatures,
author = {{\em mockito} developers},
title = {Features and Motivations},
note = {\url{https://code.google.com/p/mockito/wiki/FeaturesAndMotivations}},
urldate = {2013-04-24},
}
```
(ok strictly speaking, this isn't part of the official docs but it serves the same purpose: it's a specific page and it's only available online)
Specific questions:
* **Who should be the author?** In the case of MATLAB I guess it's Mathworks or somesuch; I guess listing open-source projects as "xx developers" is the best I can do.
* **How should I mention the version?** Urldate helps in general, but if I'm referring to a particular software version, where should I put this info? In the title?
* **Are there any "official" MATLAB citation recommendations?** MATLAB is used in research a lot, perhaps there's a suggested way of doing it and I'm just missing it. The rest of the question still applies for other software, though.
# Answer
> 4 votes
In general, I would treat software documentation depending on how it's distributed.
* If it's published in book form, then it should be cited as a book. The version number goes where you would put the edition, and the company that manufactures the software is the "publisher."
* If the manual is distributed electronically, then you should cite the website from which it is obtained as the "source."
* An exception to this is if you are asked in the documentation to reference a specific work (for instance, a research article, or a website) when citing a code. Then you should follow the specific guidance provided.
# Answer
> 2 votes
In addition to @aeismail's answer:
* In my field it is common to refer to Matlab in the text "Matlab version X.Y (The Mathworks, USA)"
* as @Bitwise comments, scientific FOSS often specifies how cite. So we refer e.g. to R as a normal book. R's recommended citation includes the version.
* If the version is not included in the recommended citation, I put it into the note field (Bibtex) - that's the R way of putting together such citations:
```
> citation ("cbmodels")
To cite package ‘cbmodels’ in publications use:
C. Beleites (2013). cbmodels: Collection of "combined" models:
PCA-LDA, PLS-LDA, etc.. R package version 0.5-20130417.
A BibTeX entry for LaTeX users is
@Manual{,
title = {cbmodels: Collection of "combined" models: PCA-LDA, PLS-LDA, etc.},
author = {C. Beleites},
year = {2013},
note = {R package version 0.5-20130417},
}
```
* If there's a "normal" publication, I combine the normal citation data with additional URL and version information:
```
> citation ("softclassval")
To cite package 'softclassval' please use:
Claudia Beleites, Reiner Salzer and Valter Sergo: 'Validation of Soft
Classification Models using Partial Class Memberships: An Extended
Concept of Sensitivity & Co. applied to grading of astrocytoma
tissues', Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems, 122
(2013), 12 - 22, DOI: 10.1016/j.chemolab.2012.12.003, arXiv:
1301.0264, R package version 1.0-20130318,
http://softclassval.r-forge.r-project.org.
A BibTeX entry for LaTeX users is
@Article{,
title = {Validation of Soft Classification Models using Partial Class Memberships: An Extended Concept of Sensitivity & Co. applied to Grading of Astrocytoma Tissues},
author = {Claudia Beleites and Reiner Salzer and Valter Sergo},
year = {2013},
number = {122},
pages = {12 -- 22},
journal = {Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems},
note = {R package version 1.0-20130318},
url = {http://softclassval.r-forge.r-project.org},
doi = {10.1016/j.chemolab.2012.12.003},
eprint = {http://arxiv.org/abs/1301.0264},
}
```
(Here, I don't need an additional date, because the release date is included in the version number.
* I've been using other FOSS software where I did not find a specification, so I asked the developers how they want to be cited.
The experience is that the developers usually are very happy about this kind of question.
---
Tags: citations, thesis, software
--- |
thread-9674 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9674 | What changes after peer review but prior to final submission are acceptable for a conference paper? | 2013-04-26T12:35:48.607 | # Question
Title: What changes after peer review but prior to final submission are acceptable for a conference paper?
Suppose I write a paper and submit it to a conference. The paper gets some weak rejects and weak accepts and lots of criticism, but the conference is not that prestigious, so they accept it anyway.
Obviously, if I agree with the reviews, I will want to change the paper (which is in part what the reviews are for). But how far can I go with these changes? If the paper is computer science, for instance, I may easily run additional experiments, or slightly change the setup and re-run the existing experiments. If I submit the paper with these results, I will basically be publishing experiments that have not, in their current form, been peer-reviewed.
At what point do changes to a submitted paper post peer review become unacceptable?
# Answer
> 17 votes
Following the acceptance of a paper, I would not make any changes that go beyond "editorial"—that is, improving the grammar, or adding a recently published citation. These do not change the "technical" content of the paper.
Anything where you make edits that change the actual research or results presented in the paper should be presented to the editors of the journal or conference in question, with a request for guidance. The individuals in charge can then make a determination whether or not additional peer review is required.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Once you submit a manuscript (MS) and have had it reviewed, you are not supposed to make any substantial changes such as adding data, running additional model runs or anything that would negate earlier reviews and make new reviews necessary unless specifically asked to by the editor, for example, in response to reviews.
If you receive reviews, no matter of what sort, but so that the editor allows you revisions, you should make the revisions necessary to sort out the problems. This could mean rewriting to clear out fuzzy formulations or improving figures and potentially remaking calculations, runs whatever. But, remember that typically there is a specific time frame for such revisions and any experienced editor would also judge if the revisions necessary may fit in such a time frame. If they don't rejection would probably be the proper verdict. This means that revisions cannot be extremely large and thereby time consuming for a MS to be revised.
If you think your necessary revisions need a lot of work you should possibly withdraw the MS.
In essence the editor will (or should) determine what changes are sufficient and provide you with directions. If you think (significantly) more is necessary you MS may become so different that it essentially is a different MS. You do need to discuss this with the editor to make sure this is acceptable. After all, the editor should be able to tell you what is within reason and the time frame of the publication of papers for the conference or journal to which you submit.
---
Tags: publications, peer-review, conference
--- |
thread-9648 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9648 | Scientific output of researchers in industry and academia | 2013-04-25T19:09:28.023 | # Question
Title: Scientific output of researchers in industry and academia
How does the scientific output of PhD’s who work in industry compare to that of PhD’s who stayed in academia (professors, mainly). I mean, in terms of number of publications, conferences, etc.
# Answer
> 6 votes
*Disclaimer: this answer applies to computer science. I suspect things are dramatically different in the natural sciences*.
It's hard to measure these things, and a bit unfair. If you work as a professor, publications are the base unit (along with funding) for measuring your performance as a researcher. You also are encouraged to grow research groups that in turn will produce more and more papers.
If you work in industry (even industrial research labs) (and I've done both), you are evaluated not just in terms of paper output, but in terms of internal metrics relating to how you help the company.
So the incentive structure in industry is different.
Bottom line, since I haven't really answered the question: I expect that the average number of publications/researcher will be slightly less in industry than in academia, but the average will get closer as the lab characteristics become more "university-like": think MSR vs (say) Walmart Labs.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I voted Suresh's answer up because its holistically very good and just wanted to add that in the field of scientometrics (a field I am somewhat familiar with and still getting familiar with), there has been some past work done on this general topic including academia-industry productivity and collaborations.
Reading some of these literature might be useful for you if you are looking at quantitative evaluations of such productivity and impact. Mind you though that quantitative evaluations do not always yield the complete or "true" story behind things. Regardless, this, this, this, this and this might be useful for you.
**Note:** This is only a small sub sample of such scientometric research and is not meant to be comprehensive or representative.
# Answer
> 4 votes
The ability of industry and other non-academic personnel to publish and present papers can often be restricted by intellectual property concerns, security restrictions, and other concerns. Therefore, even though the amount of high-quality scientific research being performed in non-academic settings may be comparable, the "measurable" amount—as seen in conferences, papers, and other "recorded" means—will often be somewhat lower than an academic group of comparable size.
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Tags: publications, industry, bibliometrics
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thread-9646 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9646 | If one wants to generate several papers from a single research project, what is a reasonable way to do so? | 2013-04-25T18:58:06.420 | # Question
Title: If one wants to generate several papers from a single research project, what is a reasonable way to do so?
*As a follow-up to "Whether to publish one big paper or many smaller papers for a given research project?":*
Suppose one wants to generate a number of publications from a single research idea or project, because other things being equal, more publications is better. What is a reasonable way to do so; one that does not dilute or compromise the quality of ones papers?
# Answer
> 6 votes
There is one trend that I see around me, which is in some cases to **split a piece of work in two pieces: a high-impact letter, and follow-up full paper** with all the details.
There are many reasons why this might be a good idea. Increase in number of publication is one of them, but there are others:
* If you work in a rapidly developing and highly competitive field (i.e. you risk being scooped if you wait 3 more months to publish your idea), this allows you a fast publication of the idea and first results (proof of concept, if you will). Also, letters tend to be reviewed more rapidly, which also decreases publication time. Then, you will publish all the details, influence of method parameters, etc.
* If your work would be interesting to a wider community, it allows you to deliver two different messages (or at least, the same message at two different levels) to two communities. This increases the overall impact of your research.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Of course it depends how narrow or wide you define what a "project" is.
I'm chemometrician working with vibrational spectra of biological samples. So there are:
* Applications (e.g. a particular biological/medical question)
We write papers about medical diagnostics or biochemical characterization of samples or biochemical changes that occur with some disease, ...
Even within this "application" topic, there may be distinct subtopics. E.g. basic research about a disease is different from developing a diagnostic method.
* As chemometrician, I develop data analysis methods (often triggered by the application).
We write methods/theory papers.
* We also develop instrumentation to measure our samples.
We write papers about that as well
These separations are sensible to me: A reader who wants to learn about a particular disease may not want to dive into chemometric theory development but instead wants to see biochemical findings. Another reader may be interested in the chemometric details but not in the particular disease. Readers looking into instrumentation details may not care about the disease or the particular statistical model applied to our data.
# Answer
> 3 votes
This will probably vary from field to field, but I've seen instances of publishing different analyses in different papers. One rich data set can yield many different analyses which may be largely unconnected with each other.
By way of example, a single longitudinal study of depression may collect data on a number of fronts; information about the participants (gender, age, location, etc), their depressive episodes, family history, genomics, neuroimaging, etc. Each of these can result in a different set of analyses, many of which would be of interest to completely different fields. A neuroscientist interested in activity patterns in the brain would not necessarily be interested in a study examining instances of suicide in high-SES vs. low-SES populations.
By thinking carefully about study design *before* collecting data, you can position yourself to examine questions in many different fields, leading to numerous publications.
As a final point, I'll just briefly mention that cross-disciplinary collaboration is a wonderful thing, and is very relevant to this discussion.
# Answer
> 2 votes
If you have a specific research question/problem, and devised a technique, method, algorithm or system, to address it, then I think it makes more sense to showcase that method in a way that seems natural, in a single self-contained publication, to the extent that it is possible within space limits, rather than artificially breaking it up across multiple publications solely to increase the number of publications. This will, first, annoy readers, who don't care about your publication rate. It will likely also make editors/reviewers unhappy. Of course, if the method *naturally* breaks up into more than one paper, than that is fine.
To generate multiple publications around a single method, I think a good way to go would be to write additional papers that supplement and possibly enhance a single major publication. For example, suppose you were to devise a new technique to analyse some data set(s). Then additional publications could be, for example, an extension of that technique to analyze additional, different, data sets. Also, you could have a separate publication which just describes the details of the software implementation. This would not fit well into a (say) statistical research paper, but could be a perfectly viable publication on its own.
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Tags: research-process, publications
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thread-9683 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9683 | Any book/guide for university managers? | 2013-04-26T17:05:18.083 | # Question
Title: Any book/guide for university managers?
Academic scholars have written many books guiding managers at different business/industry positions. I wondered that I was unable to find any noticeable book describing the roles of a department head, dean, vice presidents, etc.
Academic scholars always guide managers in different sectors to use academic (scientific) methods for managing an organization; then, why there is no academic advancement to classify the role of university managers/administrators?
The main resources, as I searched, are few scholarly journals devoted to higher education in general.
If you know any book/resource on this matter, feel free to share.
**My question is:** if someone is just appointed as a department chair or decided to implement changes to his management system, where he can find books/guides on this matter?
# Answer
Mathematician John B. Conway has written a book: On Being a Department Head, a Personal View.
> 3 votes
# Answer
I am not sure if this is helpful since I don't know for which academic system you are asking. Anyway, this question may also be found by other people searching for an answer to the same question, here is an answer for the German academic system:
There is the book "In Forschung und Lehre professionell agieren" by Lioba Werth and Klaus Sedlbauer. A German description is available here. I haven't read the book myself, but it has got a few good reviews here.
> 0 votes
# Answer
How Professors Think: Inside the Curious World of Academic Judgment might be very helpful for you although it does not answer your question directly. However, it generally critiques the thought and decision processes in academia.
> 0 votes
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Tags: job, university, books
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thread-9283 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9283 | Grading system: Why A-F and not E? | 2013-04-10T18:14:08.397 | # Question
Title: Grading system: Why A-F and not E?
Why do we use F for failing on an otherwise arbitrary alphabetic grading scale? Isn't E just as meaningful for failing as A is for excellent?
I'm more interested in a response on the history of how the current scale came to be.
(Edit: prompted from the comments below, I am asking about this situation within the context of the American grading system.)
# Answer
I think, and this is really only conjecture since I don't know the history, is the potential conflict with the ESNU system where E stands for excellent. The ESNU was (and potentially still is) used in US based elementary education.
> 7 votes
# Answer
My US high school had a grading scheme where A-D were all passing grades, and E and F were both failing grades (E is between 50 and 60, F is less than 50). I believe the difference was that an E class could be retaken, whereas an F could not.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Since it seems we have trouble finding a true history of the A-F my guess would be the following. Many scales rely oon an odd number scale because then something can be in the middle. It is also then possible to think of C as the center of a normal distribution, if that is how grades should be distributed. We used to have a grading system from 1-5 with no intermdiate steps in schools in Sweden where 3 was considered an ok grade and 1 and 2 were poor. There was also a fail whioch was a dash instead of a number.
By accident or by construction, F became Fail. It is possible that a five grade scale was chosen to make F Fail but my guess is that it was more a fotunate coincidence rather than deliberate choice.
> 1 votes
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Tags: united-states, grades
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thread-8970 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8970 | As someone with low grades how can I prepare myself to study MSc in CS in USA? | 2013-03-29T08:06:58.840 | # Question
Title: As someone with low grades how can I prepare myself to study MSc in CS in USA?
I have completed Bachelor in IT from a third world country in 2008. I have achieved 49% marks. I am 30 and working in a bank. Now I want to study MSc in CS in the USA and eventually PhD. I believe that this world is not all out for me.
* How can I prepare myself so that I can improve my chance of admission in post graduate level?
* Money/GRE/TOEFL/IELTS/Vendor Certification....what should I need?
* how can I show that I have potential research capability?
# Answer
> 10 votes
Since you intend to do it on CS I want to point out that the GRE Subject Test on CS (the one usually asked) will not be administrated anymore.
According to the ETS website:
> The last administration of the GRE Computer Science Test will be in April 2013. The test will be discontinued after the April 2013 administration. Scores will continue to be reportable for five years. (https://www.ets.org/gre/subject/about?WT.ac=grehome\_gresubject\_121017)
I wanted to say this in a comment (since it's not exactly an answer, but I think it's an important information to you), but I can't since I don't have enough reputation on this website to do it :( Therefore, even though I think you wanted more a opinion from people already in academia, I feel obligated to put some more thought on my answer:
I'm a student, currently undergrad (will graduate at the end of this year) and I'm "kinda on the same boat" (from a third world country, wanna do a Ph.D. on in US in CS and I've being somewhat lost regarding what to do). Here is a compilation about what I have found so far that may be helpful to you:
The notions of PhD and MSc in the US may be somewhat different from what you are used to. Quoting from something I've read in a university website (can't remember which one right now) "Masters is about breadth, PhD is about depth". At least in my country (and I'm guessing it may be the same for yours), both are pretty depth-oriented. **-\> Keep in mind that, some MSc are breadth oriented, these may not be the droids you are looking for.**
Also, the programs vary a lot from place to place... (And if you are used to the fact that you have to do a MSc prior to the PhD, this is not true for a lot of PhD programs in the US, you can join then directly if you have a bachelor's degree). Example: At CMU, the masters degree is "breadth-oriented", meaning that you take a lot of advanced courses in various topics, and the PhD is totally research-oriented (average 6 years, in contrast to the average 2-year MSc + 4-year PhD in my country). But in MIT, as far as I've understood, you apply for grad school, if you are accept and you don't have a MSc, you are put on a MSc program, if you already do, you are put on the PhD program (so, seems to be a lot research oriented on both programs). **-\> Make sure you read thoroughly how the programs in the universities you intend to apply are, cause there's no "standard".**
About the "money" part of your question, as far as I've seen, it goes something like this:
* MSc: You have to pay for tuition, you may get a paid TA-ship (Teaching Assitant paid position), you may get an RA-ship (Research Assistant paid position), but nothing is guaranteed.
* PhD: Top universities usually pay you monthly and if the professor that is orientating your research doesn't have funding, you need to get an RA or TA job. On other universities,you may need to narrow your options to professors that have funding.
**-\> Keep in mind that, PhD is a better option money-wise, but harder to get in.**
As pointed on the comments, research capability is a must (for the "depth" programs at least) and matters even more than grades. Quoting from a CMU professor on the "Grad School Talk" available at their website:
> It does not help you, in my opinion, to be closer to 4.0 \[GPA\] as opposed to 3.5. It’s a much better idea to spend your time on research than on optimizing your GPA.
**\- Keep in mind that proving your research capability matters a lot.** But another important quote from this same pdf regarding grades is:
> Your grades may be somewhat low – under 3.0 – because you were having a good time in college and you may therefore be having trouble getting into a Ph.D. program. In this case, you may want to do an MS and use the time to boost your grades and reapply after the MS.
Another important thing to note: The things that each program prioritize when looking at your application seem to vary a lot, even among programs at the same university/department. **-\> Try to figure out what the programs you are aplying prioritize.** (eg: by reading their websites well).
About **TOEFL**: It matters a lot, but as far as I understand, it **matters in a sense that it prevents you from getting in a program if you don't have the minimum score needed.** **Each university asks for a different TOEFL score.** The top universities (regarding CS programs) usually ask for 100 on the IBT (internet based test, out of 120), an exception being Stanford, that asks for 110. Regarding IELTS: All universities seem to accept TOEFL, a lot of them seem to accept IELTS, but you need only one of them, so I suggest you go for the TOELF (for US universities).
As a **plan of action**, I suggest this one (which is kinda what I'm doing myself).
* **Boost your ability to prove "research capability":** It's VERY important that you have some prior research experience. Have you ever done research as an undergrad? Do you have professors that can write a recommendation letter for you? If you don't, you are (probably) gonna need to pursuit this kind of stuff. My suggestions if this is the case: Pick a professor that does research in a area that you are interested (better if it's a professor that may remember you from university) and try to contact then to see if they can let you assist on any research projects (even if voluntarily), or take some time to read his recent published papers and understand then, then go talk to him about this. Also, try to see if getting a job at any private research company is an option (in case they exist in your country, in mine "private research" is pretty much nonexistent :( ).
* **Figure out what your "level" is:** What universities/programs that you want to get into that you can realistically hope to get in. This can be done by reading the programs/universities' websites, search for some information about the qualifications of people that got in, etc.
* **Make a list about the programs you are interested in:** After figuring out your "level", what universities from this set have programs that you are interested to?
* **Read everything you can about this programs and pick the ones you want to apply:** Learn what these programs prioritize on applications, what options do you have regarding money, etcs. Finally decide which ones you are going to apply and see what each of then require.
* **Get ready for the aplications:** Taking the GREs (or whatever they are gonna use, now that the CS subject test is gone), TOEFLs and bla bla bla takes a lot of time. Prepare for the stuff you need to take, search for example tests on the internet, study for them, etc... and take they as soon as you are ready. FYI: As far as I've seen, the deadlines for applying for grad programs are usually in December, for pretty much all universities (they gotta have something in common, after all).
**Some useful stuff to read:** \-
* CMU's "Grad School Talk" www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf - The one I quoted a lot in this answer.
* Demystifying the American Graduate Admissions Process: nlp.stanford.edu/~rkarthik/DAGAP.pdf - I found this paper extremely
helpful, it's written by a guy that worked on Stanford's admissions
committee, he also has a blog where he talks about this stuff (link at the end of the paper).
Additional Notes:
* In case you are unfamiliar with how the GPA works in the US, here is some explanation: http://www.ehow.com/how-does\_4619318\_a-gpa-work.html
* If your grades are low, it may be hard to enter the top universities (although I don't see it as impossible) but keep this in mind: A) A lot of "not the top, but good ones" are very good, and may even be very strong in research at an area you are interested in. B) I believe that any recommendation letter saying something like "This guy showed up out of nowhere wanting to assist in my research (even though he was out of academia for some years and was working on a regular job) and helped a lot" shows a lot of "research capability", a lot of self-motivation and can be VERY strong.
Good luck. :)
# Answer
> 2 votes
Good question, TOEFL is a must, GRE would be helpful most of the time, in the US universities, different departments really have a huge variation of admission requirements. For instance, some departments in MIT admit students without bothering the GRE scores - as long as they want you.
For graduate studies, you need to show your mathematical skills - the fundamental for logical reasoning and calculation. The skill for programming - needless to say it is fundamental and essential. The skill for doing research - state any related experience, including academic contest, publication, Bachelor thesis, etc... Some skill for engineering - highlight some of them, but keep in mind that research comes first when considering the ability for potential academic successes. So fill your personal statement( or statement of purposes depending on the university ) with mathematical skills, research experiences while leaving a few place for your best engineering experience.
And standard test score really varies from time to time and from department to department.
The best way to find out the requirement is to visit your dream school's website an call them directly. Good luck!
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Tags: graduate-school, graduate-admissions
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thread-9644 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9644 | What to do when emails to a potential advisor are not replied? | 2013-04-25T17:53:42.300 | # Question
Title: What to do when emails to a potential advisor are not replied?
I asked a potential advisor for possible research projects but I haven't received a reply.
What is the appropriate thing to do?
* Reply with my previous mail quoted, and say something like I having heard from you... and try to arrange a personal meeting to discuss the topic.
* Or simply forward my previous email hoping that somehow my email wasn't read the first time.
# Answer
First things first: whenever you write again or otherwise contact your potential advisor, stay polite and respectful. Conduct yourself in the most professional manner you can. **While you might feel your correspondent is acting unprofessionally in not responding at a rate that pleases you, asking again in anything that looks like a demanding tone is not going to reflect well on you.**
There are many possible reasons why your correspondent hasn't replied to your first email yet, even 10 days down the line. You are probably already quite aware of the possibilities, but here are a few:
* He/she is simply busy. Is it a busy time of year? Is it examination time? Is he/she likely to busy marking/providing feedback. providing lectures?
* Is he/she on holiday? A quick check with the Department/School/Institute administration should answer this.
* There could be personal reasons. You don't want to appear a demanding person when the academic is making preparations for a family member's funeral - for example! Extreme sitation, yes, but not impossible.
With these possibilities in mind, you could write again to your potential advisor, reminding him/her that you are very keen to work together. **I do not advise simply re-sending your original email unless you have good reason to believe that the original didn't reach its target** \- e.g. you have received a mailhost error relating to an undelivered message. I suspect this is not the case. In your follow-up email, **refer** to your previous email. Resending an email is similar to saying to someone "I SAID....!!!".
In your follow-up email, I would acknowledge that the academic might well be very busy and that you would gratefully appreciate any time the academic could spend talking with you about research opportunities. Offer alternatives - you've hinted at this - such as arranging a meeting or a telephone call at a time convenient for the academic.
**At this stage, be reasonably formal. Your spelling and grammar should be as good as you can make it. This indicates that you are taking this correspondence seriously, as should he/she.**
It is very easy to appear demanding, annoying or otherwise negative in an email, even if that is not your intention. **Turn up the politeness up a few notches**, even if you think it's starting to be sickly and ingratiating. In emails, it is extremely easy to appear demanding or accusatory. You don't have the advantage of being present in a conversation to send all those little non-verbal clues which make up the vast majority of human communication.
I think that it is appropriate to **mention that you have some expectations** when you'd like to have this interaction. You could mention that you are meeting with other advisers (if true) and that you'd like to be in a position to make a decision in one/two month's time. For this reason, you'd like to have a meeting sometime in the next 1-2 weeks, if possible.
Summary:
* You be unfailingly polite and professional,
* You put effort into your next email - don't just resend a previous one,
* You suggest as many alternatives for an interaction you can think of,
* You provide some kind of time-scale for action.
> 17 votes
# Answer
In my opinion, it would be worthwhile to seek the advice of someone at your institution: the director of graduate studies, an older graduate student, anyone with more experience than you whose experience you trust.
Please keep in mind that institutional cultures and advisors' personalities vary widely, and also some professors are notorious for ignoring their e-mail. Someone who knows the advisor in question will be able to better guess what this "means".
> 4 votes
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Tags: etiquette, email, advisor
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thread-5716 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5716 | Asking for official e-mail address from ex-employer University for publication? | 2012-12-13T16:11:41.037 | # Question
Title: Asking for official e-mail address from ex-employer University for publication?
I am no longer affiliated with a University. In the instance that I publish a paper (co-author or otherwise), **is it appropriate for me to e-mail my old University and ask them for a staff e-mail?** This journal is highly ranked. I don't know how the University rankings work so maybe they will look favorably upon this if more publications under that University's name means a higher ranking expectation.
I used to have a staff e-mail but they destroyed it when my contract terminated.
# Answer
> 8 votes
I'd say whether asking is appropriate depends on whether the paper is still related to what you did at that university.
Whether the university gives you such an email address is quite a different question. My experience is: probably not.
That is, when I moved to my new institute I asked whether I could have a `.forward` to my new institute for some time. This was not possible, not even with the prof's statement that he would like this, too (the address got prolonged another 6 months, then it was deleted).
The reason for asking was that I wrote a software at my old university and published it with that email address. So it would have been quite in the interest of the old university to stay associated with the software.
I'd think re-activation of an already deleted account is even less probable.
# Answer
> 2 votes
There's nothing stopping you asking for your staff email to be retained. You've lost nothing by asking. In particular, some universities have various forms of affiliate academics, which may allow you to maintain an email. And as you say, if you make the case that this is needed for a publication, then this may add an incentive to approve the request.
More broadly, your affiliation for a publication is distinct from your email address on a publication. Thus, if you still felt it was appropriate you could still put your former university down as the affiliation, while using a different contact email address.
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Tags: research-process, publications, research-undergraduate, email
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thread-9707 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9707 | How should I write literature review for a paper that is an extension of my own research paper? | 2013-04-29T05:32:41.613 | # Question
Title: How should I write literature review for a paper that is an extension of my own research paper?
I am a Masters student in Computer Science. I am planning to write two papers. The first is based on computer simulation and queuing theory. I have written its literature review and everything else. The second paper is parallelization of my first paper.
I am just making the code for my first paper parallel in my second paper. The problem is I don't know what to write in the literature review section as this paper is just an extension of my previous paper. I can't write about past attempts at computer simulation and queuing theory because I already wrote about it in my previous paper. I also can't write about previous attempts at parallelization because nobody has tried to parallelize my work before and I don't think it would be relevant to list other parallel speedups in the literature review of my paper. What should I do?
# Answer
> 7 votes
I think the best approach is to think of them as two completely separate papers. When you write the second paper you should write it as if you have read but not authored the first. You therefore need to add the necessary background and literature review to make it stand on its own. The reason for this is that anyone who finds your (second) paper once published will not necessarily know of the connection, may not have read the first, and will need a reasonable introduction to the subject.
So, each paper should be an entity of its own. The only clear case where this may not be necessary is if you publish two papers back to back as part 1 and 2 of a series with the same main title but differing sub-titles. Then it is clear that the papers belong together and you may expect people to note and read both papers to a larger extent.
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Tags: publications, research-process, literature-review
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thread-9698 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9698 | How to make my papers accessible to other researchers? | 2013-04-28T16:27:28.960 | # Question
Title: How to make my papers accessible to other researchers?
I have published some papers in some conferences, but the problem is that the people in charge put them in bibliographic repositories, such as DBLP, and they take too much time to do that.
I would like to know how I can allow more people access to my publications, so they would be able to review them, use them if they want, maybe bring more ideas or even suggest that I correct something.
Initially, I was putting them in a personal webpage that I have created, but I took them off because I also got some papers accepted by ACM and IEEE and they require a payment to see them. In this last case, if I upload them for free (on my personal webpage) could I be charged with something by these institutions?
# Answer
From the context of your question, I assume you are a computer scientist graduate student. (Computer scientist because you mention DBLP, and graduate student because you're worried about people finding your research *quickly*.) My answer is specific to computer science, **especially the first two points.**
* **Just post your papers on your web page already.** Among other things, posting your own papers will allow Google Scholar to find and index them after only a few days. Despite scary legal language to the contrary, neither ACM nor IEEE (or SIAM, or AMS, or Springer, or Elsevier, or...) has any interest in suing individual researchers for providing copies of their own papers.
* **Post preprints of your work to the ArXiv and/or your institutional preprint server.** Again, despite scary language to the contrary, granting a license to the ArXiv to publish your papers does not deprive ACM or IEEE (or SIAM, or AMS, or Springer, or Elsevier, or even ACS) the right to later publish peer-reviewed version of your papers later. Many publishers explicitly allow you to publish post-reviewed but pre-copy-edited preprints on the ArXiv and similar servers. Posting camera-ready versions is technically illegal, but neither ACM nor IEEE has any interest in suing individual users for such violations.
* **Post publication announcements on Facebook/Google+/Twitter/your blog.** Yes, this works. Really.
* **Give lots of talks.** At a minimum, you should give talks about your results in an appropriate local seminar. But especially for really strong results, you (or your advisor) should also arrange to have yourself invited to a few other institutions to give a talk.
* **Send copies of your work directly to a few colleagues.** Just send them email with a link to your web page. (*Don't* blindly send papers as attachments; remember that some people read email over the phone and pay by the byte.) But don't just spam the whole world. Limit your email to the small handful of influential people that you are *sure* will be interested — other researchers working on the same problem, people whose results you directly improve or extend, your advisor, and—**if** you're nearing a point like graduation or tenure where you need letters—a few potential letter-writers.
* **Take the long view.** It really is not important that see your results RIGHT NOW THIS MINUTE ZOMG NOW NOW NOW !!!!111¡¡¡CXI. Relax. Yes, DBLP and other indexing services operate with a delay of several months. (Although my impression is DBLP has gotten faster, thanks to some outside funding that allowed them to hire more than one human being.) And yeah, that's frustrating. But in the long run, those few months of publication delay are not going to make a bit of difference.
> 30 votes
# Answer
You need to check with the specific rules of the journals to which you submit to determine what is or is not allowed. For instance, journals published by the American Institute of Physics allow you to publish preprints that are not created by the journal on servers like arXiv without having to pay any fees and without other major limitations. By contrast, American Chemical Society journals do not allow you to post preprints, *even on your own homepage*. You can link to their site, and after twelve months, the link becomes effectively "free."
But, beyond that, if you want to advertise your work, you will have to do it yourself. You can mention in it in presentations, and cite it in abstracts that you submit to other conferences. You can email colleagues or use social media (sites like academia.edu, LinkedIn or even Facebook to announce your paper. If you have specific colleagues you think would be interested in the paper, you can send it directly to them as well!
> 11 votes
# Answer
You should **read the copyright transfer contract** that you have signed.
In general, the major publishers tend to be fairly permissive nowadays as regards to online posting.
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With **ACM conference publications**, you can (and **should**) do all of the following:
* *Before* you submit the paper, post it to **arXiv.org**.
* *After* your paper has been accepted, post your *own* version of the paper (with an appropriate copyright notice) on:
1. your own **personal web page**, and
2. your **university's open access repository**.
* *Later* you can prepare a journal version ("major revision"), and you can do with it whatever you want — for example, submit it to an **open access journal**, post it online, etc.
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With **IEEE conference publications**, the main idea is similar: you *can* post your work to **arXiv.org** before submission and to your **own home page** and a **university-wide open access repository** after revision.
However, some details are a bit different. My reading of the policies is that with ACM you *cannot* update arXiv.org with a revised version, while IEEE *requires* that you update arXiv.org with the accepted version of the paper.
However, don't take my word, read the copyright transfer form (and additional explanations available on the publishers' web pages).
> 5 votes
# Answer
You should check the conditions of your journal using the SHERPA/RoMEO list. Most journals allow to publish your **final draft** (designed and typeset by yourself) on your institutes server right after publication and on open-access servers like arXiv.org 12 month after publication. Your institutes open-access server will also be found by e.g. Google Scholar.
Many journals will also send you an **authors copy** of your article which you can share with colleagues (e.g. via email) but you should not publish that one on the internet.
> 4 votes
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Tags: publications, open-access
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thread-9721 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9721 | How important are the grades compared to the cover letter when applying for a Ph.D? | 2013-04-29T13:32:56.287 | # Question
Title: How important are the grades compared to the cover letter when applying for a Ph.D?
Some months ago I finished my MSc. I immediately started to send several applications for Ph.D vacancies. So far I've spent a lot of time in doing this, but there is only one place that did not reject me. This place was actually the least interesting for me in terms of the job, therefore I was not keen from it at all. I believe almost no one applied for the place I was not rejected by... As for all other applications, I'm seriously thinking the problem is my final MSc mark. To tell the truth with my mark I can access to most of the Ph.D programs (it's a UK "merit"). However if I know there are almost no chances for me to do what I would like to do then I resort to something else and avoid waisting my time in writing cover letters that no one bothers.
# Answer
> 4 votes
When I look at an application there are four aspects that count:
1. grades
2. cover letter
3. earlier written work (BS/MS thesis)
4. Recommendation letters
Out of these, I focus most of my attention on the latter two: if the thesis is well-written, has received a good grade, and the letters of recommendation support the candidate in terms of ability to do research (from reading up on the field to writing everything up) and independence (how much (or little) support the candidate needed.
The cover letter would not make the application, but could break it if it is unfocussed and does not show any skills in expressing the interest in a structured way while avoiding irrelevant information. The grades would, in most cases, be the least interesting since they primarily show one's ability to read and understand, not necessarily reasoning and deduction. The exception is the grade for the thesis.
So, to answer the question, I am not sure which might be more important but anything that supports your ability to do research is of prime interest to anyone evaluating an application.
EDIT: To follow up on Gerrit's suggestion, my personal ranking list would be (in falling order):
1. Earlier written work
2. Recommendation letters
3. Cover letter
4. Grades (although the grade on the written work is included in 1)
But, all parts are useful and in the end some mix of all will be used. I would also add that 1 and 2 will "make" the application while 3 and 4 will mainly help to "break" the application.
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, grades
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thread-9722 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9722 | My paper was accepted in Springer International Conference and National conference. What to do? | 2013-04-29T13:50:07.283 | # Question
Title: My paper was accepted in Springer International Conference and National conference. What to do?
We had prepared the paper and applied for National Conference. After some days came to know about the International Conference and improved the paper and applied for it. After a month we got an accept mail from Springer Conference(Not expected as we are beginners). Today we presented our paper in the National Conference and our paper was selected as the Best Paper as well as got shortlisted for the International Journal. Now we are totally confused what to do ? Can we accept for publishing in the Journal but the Slight Modified (Improved) paper will be getting published in Springer Conference in July this year. Will this lead to any problem ?
This would help a lot in boosting our resume and also getting an Admit from Good University for my Masters.
# Answer
> 8 votes
The only thing you can really do here is to contact the organizers and publishers of both journals, and indicate what is going on. More likely than not, you will need to withdraw one of the papers, as publishing both papers under very similar titles with identical scientific content (or very nearly so) is considered inappropriate.
# Answer
> 6 votes
**You *must* withdraw the second conference submission.**
Simultaneous submission of the same paper to multiple conferences or multiple journals is completely inappropriate. If you do not withdraw, you run the very serious risk of having **both** submissions rejected and your invitation to the International Journal rescinded
> This would help a lot in boosting our resume and also getting an Admit from Good University for my Masters.
No, it wouldn't. In the long run, publishing the same paper in multiple equivalent venues will only hurt you. To put it bluntly, that's a form of academic fraud. If I discovered that a graduate student in my department had done this, *even before they were admitted,* I would recommend immediate dismissal.
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Tags: publications, journals, conference, masters
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thread-9731 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9731 | Academic affiliation: which to choose? | 2013-04-29T17:38:51.553 | # Question
Title: Academic affiliation: which to choose?
I am actually working for two different universities in my country, and the problem is that they do not give too much support to academic research. I mean for paying the costs of tickets, travel expenses or accommodation when one paper get accepted for a conference.
I usually work as an independent researcher, but the problem that I have is that if I put my author affiliation as Independent researcher maybe I will be not be considered "serious" enough for the reviewing program committee of the conferences that I plan to submit my work.
Now what should I do? should I put the name of one of the universities that I am working at random, and at the end change my affiliation and put the name of the university that will give me the funds for the travelling expenses of the presentation?
What would we the best way to act in this way? I remember that for one paper that I was submitting, the Dean of my past faculty told me that he could give me the money, but if I put him like a co-author. Actually it was his way to get publications to his name without working on them. Of course, I did not accept that.
Any suggestion would be of great help
Thanks
# Answer
My immediate reaction is to put them both on; It is not unusual to have two affiliations. I then mean to state "A and B" to show a shared affiliation. That way both departments could benefit from your publication. The question is then how to get the different departments to losen up their purses. In my system no such funding is typically given out by departments/university, one has to apply for money from different sources oneself. I could possibly convince my head to provide the money if the reason was particularly well deserving. So I cannot comment on how such support would be provided.
I would suggest communicationg with both univesities stating that you will publish the paper with them as an affiliation to see if anyone would provide funding. I would obviously put any funding source as my first affiliation afte the fact.
Finally, to get a request to put an extra name on the paper in order to get money sounds terrible, in fact unethical. It is of course easy to say that when you are not facing the situation so thumbs up for standing up to that behaviour.
> 17 votes
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Tags: publications, conference, affiliation
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thread-9729 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9729 | Travel grant for undergraduate researcher for attending conference | 2013-04-29T16:48:12.817 | # Question
Title: Travel grant for undergraduate researcher for attending conference
I am an undergraduate student doing independent research. My research work is selected for presentation at a very reputed conference in the US. I am from India. **I cannot afford to attend the conference at all. How should I fund my trip?** The travel grant for students available from the conference is very low. It can hardly buy me a one way ticket. What are my options?
# Answer
There are several strategies for this in addition to the usual ones outlined previously. I assume you are in CS/IS/IT from your profile. Your primary costs are conference registration fees, air fare and living expenses.
1. If its a top conference, it will have student volunteer positions. For instance, this and this. This defrays cost of registration (free) and some of your living expenses (food and some cost of living). Apply for it immediately.
2. You mention that you are getting some travel grant from the conference. Thats a good thing. Keep it for airfare.
3. If its a ACM/IEEE conference, it will be sponsored by a SIG. SIGs have their own funding. For instance, see this and this. If you are an ACM/IEEE member then you can apply for these funds which are independent of conferences.
4. Sometimes, in limited ways, industrial research labs and other government labs have funding. Search for and apply for these. For instance, see this , this and especially this.
I was once a poor student and had to make use of multiple sources of funding to go to conferences. You can also do it ! Basically, apply for everything that you find and see. Of course, the best way is to simply ask another co-author or someone actually visiting the conference to present the paper.
Another way is to just pay the registration fee (which is comparatively less). That way your paper is still indexed in the ACM DL or IEEE Xplore etc.
> 13 votes
# Answer
I've seen several solutions to problems like this.
* Ask someone else to present it. Your supervisor, or another professor at your university may be able to travel. Alternatively, they may know someone else nearby who is attending the conference already. As a final alternative, they might know someone in the US who is planning to go. I have seen people add the presenter as an additional author on papers. Not sure about the ethics of this, but it could be used as an incentive.
* Contact the conference organizers directly, and explain your situation. Their general travel grants budget may not be the only source of funding available. You might be able to get some funding in exchange for helping with the conference registration desk, for instance.
* If your paper made it into a top tier conference in the US, it is likely it will be accepted at other top tier venues. Consider a journal publication (no travel required). I also see many top tier conferences in places like Beijing these days, so you might be able to find one closer to home.
> 4 votes
# Answer
The only option I can see is:
* start a PhD at a place that will have money
* get them to pay for your trip.
There may not be enough time to carry out this plan. But having a paper accepted at a reputed conference certainly will contribute to you getting a PhD position at a good university.
This assumes that you want to do a PhD.
> 1 votes
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Tags: research-process, publications, conference, research-undergraduate, travel
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thread-9740 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9740 | When can I safely use CC-BY license on arXiv? | 2013-04-30T17:02:48.970 | # Question
Title: When can I safely use CC-BY license on arXiv?
On arXiv one can license a preprint on one of the following (see also a note on arXiv on licenses):
For cases when it is fine to submit a paper on *arXiv.org perpetual* (see also Does publishing a paper on arXiv prevent me from submitting it to a non-open access journal?), when I can safely use **CC-BY** (Creative Commons Attribution license)?
Ideally, I would use it all the time, as it is the most permissible (=open) license, which requires attribution. (However, I used it only once, it a case where I don't intend to send it to a journal; so, except for that case, when one should (or shouldn't) be afraid of using CC-BY on arXiv?)
EDIT: Here the emphasis is on **arXiv perpetual** vs **CC**, not on choosing between CC licenses.
# Answer
> 11 votes
Using a **CC-BY** license on arxiv.org will be fine whenever you don't need to retain exclusive rights. **CC-BY** is a non-exclusive license, and you are free to grant as many non-exclusive licenses as you wish. However, you won't be able to grant a exclusive license thereafter, which is what most commercial publishers are looking for. The typical "*transfer of copyright*" would essentially be an exclusive license in these cases.
If you intend to publish the paper submitted to arxiv.org with an open access publisher, it should generally work with a CC-BY license. Most open access publishers require only a non-exclusive license to publish a paper, so there would be no conflict here. It may however not be possible to go to a publisher which requires either an exclusive license or a copyright transfer afterwards.
Interestingly, a copyright transfer may be less restrictive than an exclusive license in this case. In principle, it should be possible to transfer copyright even if a license have already been granted to someone else (that's how a company would buy software from another company that has already been licensed). So, why not try the following with your next paper:
1. Submit it to arxiv under a CC-BY license.
2. Submit to a commercial publisher, and add a statement like this to the copyright transfer agreement:
> "This agreement is with the understanding that a non-revocable, non-exclusive license under the terms CC-BY has been granted to a arxiv.org."
I wonder how they'd react...
# Answer
> 6 votes
There's no way to know except by checking with the journals you have in mind. In mathematics, almost all journals will be OK with the default arXiv license, but most of them have copyright terms that would be incompatible with the CC licenses. Some may make an exception for you, but I would guess that many commercial journals would not (and probably some non-commercial ones, too - for example, the ACM is not friendly towards this sort of thing). Because this would often involve an exception to posted policies, I don't think there's any way to find out systematically besides asking individually. They may also be reluctant to make any general statements that could be interpreted as a precedent.
So in mathematics, I would be wary of the CC options unless you are sure you will submit only to the minority of journals that allow this. (And, of course, you should never choose any license without agreement from all coauthors.)
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Tags: publications, arxiv, open-access, open-science, creative-commons
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thread-9664 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9664 | Grey literature, point it out as such in the bibliography? | 2013-04-26T08:07:13.193 | # Question
Title: Grey literature, point it out as such in the bibliography?
For my project I rely on several sources of information including such that is not peer reviewed (conference proceedings, industry reports, master thesis, interviews). I wonder if I should mark them as being not peer reviewed in the bibliography, for example adding the nature of the publication:
> Boo 2013: "A question on grey literature". Stack Exchange April 2013. **Forum post**.
or
> Boo 2013: "A question on grey literature". Stack Exchange April 2013. **(not peer reviewed)**.
Are those sources included within the list of peer reviewed articles or is a separate chapter within the bibliography necessary (as is often done for websites)?
# Answer
> 7 votes
References are references, and the reader already has all the information needed to make his decision on the quality of the source (the trust he has in the source) without you adding information. You don't need to separated references in different “sections” (which would make it much harder to read), or adding information. It is clear from the reference itself:
> boo2060, “A question on grey literature”, Academia Stack Exchange (`http://academia.stackexchange.com/`), 26 April 2013
that it is not a peer-reviewed journal paper, which would have a very different style:
> T. T. S. Boo, “A question on grey literature”, *Academia SE Monthly*, **17**, 13-14 (2013)
# Answer
> 1 votes
Sectionalised bibliographies are very common in history, where a variety of different literatures are brought together at the same time. For example, a standard bibliographic section headings I'd contemplate would be:
* Major archival sources ("Deposit A from archive B")
* Secondary archival sources ("That one letter from file X collection Y archive Z")
* Published primary sources
* Secondary sources
If I felt there was a benefit in breaking down Secondary sources by white / grey / black; theory / non-theory I would. I probably wouldn't consider doing this, because I would assume a reader would know how to tell if texts are theory or pop-history or "grey."
Breaking down a bibliography like this may be field specific due to the sources being the "evidentiary" or "empirical" element of the work.
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Tags: citations, grey-literature
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thread-9745 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9745 | Gamification in Asian Classrooms | 2013-05-01T03:35:12.780 | # Question
Title: Gamification in Asian Classrooms
I've been thinking about how to improve attendance in my classes as well as how to get my students do the expected work outside of class. I've tried a lot of sticks but the weak students care very little and I end up failing what seems like too many of them.
Lately, my mind has turned to gamification (that is, using elements of the gaming world such as badges, points, and similar things used even here on SE sites) to encourage student engagement.
While reading in English, a lot of what I found is about students in western countries. There has been plenty of research showing that there are significant differences introduced by culture, and to paraphrase Blaise Pascal, what is true in one country is false in another.
Since I teach in Asia, I'm wondering if anyone knows of any studies (or has any experience) using gamification in Asia to improve students' performance.
# Answer
I am not aware of any study on using gamification in Asia to improve student performance. The following is based on my observation of college education in Taiwan in Asia.
Gamification can certainly be used as a tool to assist you with encouraging the student engagements. I don't know how effective it will be and how long its effects can last.
Everyone knows that students' motivation is the key reason for students to learn. Gamification will make the game awards to be one of the motivations. You make them learn for the game points they earn. I am not too sure this is a good thing in your environment. There is one difference between Western world and Oriental culture. Gaming is generally considered a not serious good thing. Some students/parents/school officials would resist it. You could get back fire when you use it. You need to be careful. I would use it as the last resort when everything else fails if I were you.
Many Taiwan students attend college because their parents want them to. They are in your classroom not by their own will. They lack motivation to participate in your class. All they want is to graduate to make their parents happy. And then they can do the things they truly want to do.
For those students, I seriously doubt gamification would do any good. I don't believe their parents will be much happier when they see that their kids earn some game points in the classroom. What they truly want to see are degree diploma and good transcripts.
Now, my suggestion as how to encourage the students to learn.
> **Talk to them to find out what they truly want to do after graduation. Convince them what they learn in your class will be helpful to their future.**
For example, many college students in Taiwan want to run coffee shops after they graduate. (Please don’t laugh, this is for real. I don’t understand why either.) As a business professor, you can tell them they need to learn business management so they can run coffee shops successfully.
I have reasons to believe whatever happen in Taiwan may have happened in other places in Asia because the cultures are similar. The problem you are seeing in your area may be different. I believe my suggestion would still be helpful, that is, talk to them to find out what’s the best interest for them. Once you find the root cause, the solution will be right there.
> 7 votes
# Answer
While not exactly an answer to your question ...
I should start by saying I am not an expert in the field of education or learning sciences, but it appears your gamificiation strategy is based upon extrinsic motivators. In my opinion, Malone and Lepper (1987) make a pretty clear case that intrinsic motivators are the way to go. Therefore, asking a question about how to optimize extrinsic motivators seems like a premature optimization problem. The framework that Malone and Lepper (1987) set out with individual motivators (challenge, curiosity, control and fantasy) and interpersonal motivators (competition, cooperation, and recognition) seems like it should be universal, although how to achieve those motivators, and the relative strengths of them, will likely vary with culture.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I don't have any citations or literature for you and I can only base this off personal experience. So, consider this answer as a single data point and completely anecdotal. I went to one of the top Indian schools for statistics as a masters student. Usually, it was all about doing math in each one of our courses.
However, in one of courses, we had a really cool professor who had just returned after spending about 10 years teaching in various other universities internationally. He didn't use any techniques like badges etc. However, we had a online running tally of points based on certain things in class - homework, data analysis, coding etc. - based on the understanding that he would take the top students out for lunch as a reward for doing well all semester.
Anecdotally, it was a lot of fun. :)
> 4 votes
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Tags: teaching, motivation, asia
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thread-9752 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9752 | Can I write an article in a reputable CS journal not with results but conjecture? | 2013-04-30T12:03:31.347 | # Question
Title: Can I write an article in a reputable CS journal not with results but conjecture?
I work in industry and some interesting idea has struck me. This is a conjecture which will take a year or two of full time research work to confirm it although it looks very realistic. Unfortunately I cannot apply for post doctorate or a grant due to my work commitments but I would be glad to publish an article if a reputable CS journals would be interested. This may solve very hard practical problem but surprisingly it is difficult to monetize so I cannot do it in industry.
# Answer
> 10 votes
You can certainly publish an article based on a conjecture. (One famous case is Subhash Khot's 2002 paper introducing the Unique Games Conjecture.) On the other hand, you need to include some supporting information in the paper. Why is your conjecture plausible? Can you supply examples or applications? What are its implications or connections with related work? Answering these questions may be much easier than resolving the conjecture, but they can still require some serious work.
You're most likely to be able to publish the conjecture if there's no straightforward way to resolve it. If it's clear in principle what you should try, and the only issue is that you don't have time to try it, then you're more likely to meet resistance (it may still be possible, depending on the publication venue, but this would probably rule out many of the more prestigious conferences).
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Tags: publications, journals, computer-science
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thread-9761 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9761 | What's the expected level of paper for top conferences in Computer Science | 2013-05-01T15:15:07.367 | # Question
Title: What's the expected level of paper for top conferences in Computer Science
What's the expected level of paper to be submitted to top level conferences in theoretical computer science (FOCS/SODA/STOC)?
I think there should be four main concern:
1. Is it a novel results?
2. How hard is the paper?
3. Generality and extension of the results.
4. Is it an interesting topic?
But actually I cannot imagine how reviewers are going to measure above concerns, e.g, If in some paper there is 10 mediocre result means is good? ...., also I don't know is there any other important thing that we should be careful about it for top conferences.
Actually someone can try to send the paper to the FOCS/SODA/STOC and see if is rejected then send it to some other conferences, but IMHO this is not appreciated. It's good if referees to related conferences help to understand what did they expecting for top conferences?
P.S1: Actually one of an important things in all the conferences is writing style, but suppose all preliminary stuffs like writing are OK.
P.S2: I could talk about this with my adviser, but also it's very appreciated to see other top conferences reviewers/participants/... opinion about this.
P.S3: Also experience of reviewers in similar fields would be very appreciated.
# Answer
> What's the expected level of paper to be submitted to top level conferences in theoritical computer science (FOCS/SODA/STOC)?
**Top. The top level.**
My experience on program committees for STOC, FOCS, ITCS, SODA, SOCG, etc., is that there are ***FAR*** more submissions of publishable quality than can be accepted into the conference. By "publishable quality" I mean a well-written presentation of a novel, interesting, and non-trivial result within the scope of the conference.
For example, I was on the STOC 2013 program committee. We accepted 99 out of 361 submissions. Program committee members were specifically instructed to limit the top rating to only the top 20% of the papers we reviewed; at least for me, that meant some *very* hard choices. Most of the discussion in the last week of the review cycle revolved around papers that were clearly very strong, but were not obviously "competitive" with other papers that were already accepted.
There are several questions that come up over and over in the FOCS/STOC review cycle:
* How surprising / novel / elegant / interesting is the result?
* How surprising / novel / elegant / interesting / general are the techniques?
* How technically difficult is the result? Ironically, FOCS and STOC committees have a reputation for ignoring the distinction between *trivial* (easy to derive from scratch) and *nondeterministically trivial* (easy to understand after the fact).
* What is the expected *impact* of this result? Is this paper going to change the way people do theoretical computer science over the next five years?
* Is the result of general interest to the theoretical computer science community? Or is it only of interest to a narrow subcommunity? In particular, if the topic is outside the STOC/FOCS mainstream—say, for example, computational topology—does the paper do a good job of explaining and motivating the results *to a typical STOC/FOCS audience*?
As a general rule, for a paper to be accepted to STOC/FOCS, at least one person on the program committee must be willing to pound on the table and *demand* that the paper is accepted, with strong answers to all these questions. Which means that as a minimum, *the authors* must have compelling answers to all these questions, even if professional modesty forbids writing those answers into the paper.
Specific criteria vary between different conferences, and not only because of the obvious differences in topical coverage. A well-written paper that combines existing techniques is a surprising way to obtain an elegant proof of a novel and interesting result, but does not introduce new techniques or require much technical sophistication, is much more likely to be accepted at SODA than at STOC or FOCS. (I've seen more than one paper rejected from STOC and accepted to SODA with precisely that review summary at both conferences.) ITCS favors conceptual contributions — new approaches, new models, new problem areas — over technical difficulty.
But at its core, conference reviewing is a random process. (As Baruch Awerbuch put it: "...whose expectation depends on the submissions, and whose variance depends on the program committee.") Every submission is a gamble. Your chances of winning the lottery may be small, but they're infinitely larger if you actually buy a ticket than if you don't.
* Write the best papers you can.
* Keep your target audience in mind when you write.
* Especially if you're submitting to a conference for the first time, get feedback on your paper from a community expert well before you submit.
* If you believe you have a *reasonable* chance of acceptance, submit it. Be respectful but brutally honest with yourself. Do not listen to the Impostor Syndrome.
* Regardless of the outcome, take reviews and other feedback seriously. Don't just revise your paper; also revise your writing habits *and your mental model of the audience* for future submissions.
* Rejection is not the end of the world. It's only one paper; you'll write dozens more.
> Actually someone can try to send the paper to the FOCS/SODA/STOC and see if is rejected then send it to some other conferences, but IMHO this is not appreciated.
It's a bit more subtle than that. Submitting a paper that *might* get in is fine. What PCs really don't like is being asked to review submissions that are clearly below threshold, especially papers that were previously submitted to comparable conferences but were not updated to respond to previous reviews. (Even when a paper is submitted to several different conferences, it's not uncommon to have overlapping sets of reviewers. I've been asked to review four different submissions of the same paper.)
> 43 votes
# Answer
When I review a paper for a conference or a journal, this is how I answer these questions:
> Is it a novel results?
Do I know something equivalent? Do the authors make a good job to compare their approach with related work? Is the difference with related work important enough?
> How hard is the paper?
It depends on what you mean by "hard". If I read a paper where everything seems obvious/trivial, then I might question the actual contribution of the paper (and I'm talking about obvious/trivial here, i.e., where every result in the paper does need any justification). Of course, a paper can be extremely simple and elegant, and be a very powerful contribution.
On the other hand, if I can't understand the results of the paper, then I'm probably not the right reviewer for this paper.
> Generality and extension of the results.
Can I reuse the results of the paper for something else? Are the simplifications/assumptions of the authors reasonable?
> Is it an interesting topic?
Did the authors make a good case to motivate their contribution? Am I personally interested in this topic?
There are of course many other aspects to take into account. Personally, the only difference I make when reviewing a paper for a top-conference compared to a small workshop, is that in the latter case, I understand that "the authors leave that aspect for future work" more often. The other different is the threshold: for FOCS 2012, 169 papers were *rejected*. So, if I classify a paper as a "weak accept" for a small workshop, it might passes, whereas the competition might be much tougher for a top-conference.
Just write the best paper you possibly can within the deadline, and don't think "hum, this level should be enough": if you can improve it, do so!
> 7 votes
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Tags: conference, computer-science, paper-submission
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thread-9763 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9763 | Final round of reviewing for a Program Committee | 2013-05-01T16:35:33.157 | # Question
Title: Final round of reviewing for a Program Committee
I've been recently involved in a Program Committee, and I was wondering what exactly was expected of the PC members from the PC Chair. Once all the reviews have been collected, are the reviewers expected to engage in a discussion about the paper? Or do they need to wait for specific questions from the PC Chair? Are the reviewers expected to comment on the other reviews?
In case it matters, we are using the EasyChair system, so everything is done online, and I don't know the identity of the other reviewers.
# Answer
> 4 votes
In my experience, usually the PC chair sets expectations by providing explicit instructions and guidance on the process.
In my field, the deadline for submitting all reviews is usually a week or two before the PC meeting. That last week or two is reserved for a "online discussion phase". During the discussion phase, reviewers are expected to read the other reviews on the papers they were assigned and discuss what to do on each paper, to try to reach consensus on the final discussion. This might involve some discussion on points where reviewer opinion differed or on technical points of disagreement, for instance. Each reviewer is expected to take the lead on beginning the discussion, without waiting for the PC chair to prompt you or ask you a specific question. The goal is to try to reach a clear decision before the PC meeting in as many cases as possible, or at least reach agreement on what the strengths and weaknesses of the paper are so that a final decision can be made on an informed basis.
If there is no in-person PC meeting, the online discussion phase becomes especially important.
But that's just my personal experience and my field. Practices may vary in other fields, for all I know. If your PC chair did not instruct you on what he/she expected, it is completely reasonable to contact him/her and ask what he/she should like you to do.
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Tags: conference, peer-review, program-committee
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thread-9768 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9768 | Details to include on the cover letter for sourcing part-time tutoring/marking positions | 2013-05-01T22:53:31.497 | # Question
Title: Details to include on the cover letter for sourcing part-time tutoring/marking positions
Many universities have a job section and invite prospective applicants to submit their CVs that (as I understand) are placed in a database and sourced if a part/time tutoring or marking role comes up. The database (as I understand) is searchable. There is no deadline for this submission (i.e. ongoing).
From the point of view of the university (lecturers searching the database), what are some key things they look for when employing a recently minted PhD?
# Answer
> 2 votes
Key things to include are
1. Relevant experience - such as tutoring, teaching, marking,
2. Educational achievement - you have a PhD, presumably this is in a field related to the field in which you will be marking/tutoring,
3. Other experience relevant to the role, e.g. working with students in any role such as mentoring, personal development, group work, and
4. Some evidence-based statement relevant to the proposed work.
For number four, this is an opportunity to show that, for instance, you are able to work alone or as part of a team, that you are able to work to deadlines (important for returning marked scripts), and that you have excellent written and oral communication skills (important for feedback). Your comments in this statement must be backed up with evidence drawn from your past experience, work or training.
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Tags: job
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thread-9757 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9757 | How frequently can you ask for a personal reference without being disrespectful? | 2013-05-01T14:24:41.103 | # Question
Title: How frequently can you ask for a personal reference without being disrespectful?
When applying for post-doctoral and faculty positions you are typically asked for three (sometimes more) reference letters to support your application.
Given that it is competitive out there, it also makes sense to apply for all positions that are good matches to your qualifications and career development goals (in the case of post-docs).
Sometimes this may mean asking for several reference letters (or pre-application "can you support me if required?" requests) in a short space of time.
Also, there may only be a small pool of people (i.e. 3 or 4) who know your work sufficiently well to give an excellent reference.
I have also been told that referees want to help you out, and that there is no reason to fear asking them. And, that in many cases once a letter is written it can typically be quickly repurposed. But there must be a breaking point.
How do I manage this without being disrespectful? How many requests in a given unit of time is too many, or harms my credibility? I am asking this question in this forum, as I am interested in the norms in the academic world, which are often somewhat different than the rest of the working world.
# Answer
> How do I manage this without being disrespectful?
**Just ask.** Ask *at least* a month before your first deadline. (Ideally, your writers should be people who know you well enough not to be surprised by your request.) If possible, ask in person. Give them as much information as you can about where you're applying, including your *complete* application package — CV, statements, sample papers, names of your other references, everything. Ask for feedback. Listen. If they agree to write you a letter, keep them regularly updated as your CV and application targets change.
Most importantly: **Given your references a way to tell you which letters they've sent.** This could be as simple as "Please send me email when...", or a private Google doc listing your application targets and deadlines. (From personal experience: Having a common Google doc for *all* your letter writers is particularly effective, since each writer can see when the *other* writers have sent their letters.) Check regularly that your references are actually sending their letters, **and bug them *mercilessly* if they haven't yet.** This is *not* being disrespectful; this is helping them to do the job they agreed to.
Finally, keep your references updated whenever you get an interview, get a job offer, or accept a position. **Don't forget to say thanks.**
> How many requests in a given unit of time is too many, or harms my credibility?
That's entirely up the the individual writer. But as Rex says, it's common for one applicant to apply for dozens of positions. When I agree to be a reference for someone's faculty search, I generally expect to send letters to **30–50** different targets. I can use (nearly-)identical letters for most targets, but inevitably there are major variations. For example, tenure-track faculty positions, industrial research lab positions, and postdoc positions all require different letters, even when the applicant is applying to all three types of jobs.
Moreover, there is no standard mechanism for submitting letters. Some places want letters submitted in parallel with the application; others ask automatically when the application is submitted; others ask only when the application passes an initial filtering stage. Some places want letters by email; others use standard services like MathJobs; others use home-grown web pages; a rare few still require paper letters with wet signatures.
**This is what agreeing to write a job letter *means*.** Most faculty already know this and won't agree to act as your reference unless they're willing to do this much work. Still, just as it's important to ask "Can you write me a *strong* letter of recommendation?", it's important to be completely up-front about the *scale* of your request.
> 14 votes
# Answer
Will the same letter do for many of the jobs to which you're applying?
In math, many jobs are on MathJobs, the recommender can upload a single letter, and the applicant cannot read it but can have it sent anywhere. I also know that some departments maintain files of letters on behalf of their students, with a similar purpose. There are also commercial services that do this, such as Interfolio.
I recommend seeing if similar services are available to you, and are acceptable to the institutions to which you'll be applying.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I am not sure what would be called a norm since it is likely to vary from place to place, but more importantly person to person. I think a person is more liely to write many letters if you have worked more closely with that person, through for example thesis work etc. If you ask someone who has had little contact then the number is less. The basis for this i sof course that a person with whom you have worked much has more to say than someone you have barely talked to duing, say, a class.
The best approach would be to actually talk this over with the persons you wish to have writing letters. Explain what you will do and ask if they would be willing to write provide the letters for you. If you are open and frank about it they could provide you with a routine around the job that would work for both of you. What I personally feel frustrated about is if I am pressed into writing letters over-night, but if I have a say in when and with what head time I can expect then it is less of an issue. So, provide the basisi for a good working relationship.
A final point is that what is too much in this case highly depends on how you communicate your wishes or expectations and showing that you understand that writing these letters takes time and effort on behalf of your references.
So, sorry, no number can be given.
> 3 votes
# Answer
You should just ask. I'm sure the professors have all dealt with this many times, and will not have a problem with it; it's understood that sending out letters of reference is part of the job of being a professor and that candidates will be applying dozens of places. I'm sure your references will already have solutions they're comfortable with. If you're in a field where many physical letters need to get sent out, it's quite normal for a professor to simply give a copy of the letter to a secretary and have him/her make copies and send them out.
> 3 votes
# Answer
For faculty positions it is not uncommon to ask for letters to be sent to dozens of institutions; I know someone who applied for around 80 positions, for example (which was noticed to be rather a lot by the people who wrote him letters, but they still sent them).
For postdoctoral positions, you should plan on fewer; in most cases, the letter is not the first step. You have a CV and presumably publications; you may have met your advisor-to-be at conferences; and so on. If the person/people in charge of hiring you seem potentially interested and you are serious about the position, go ahead and ask for a letter. If you are merely curious, try to do your part of the work first, especially if your former advisors etc. will have to tailor their letter each time. Sending one letter to eighty institutions is easier in most ways that writing five letters with different details. Still, that said, as long as you're pursuing reasonable opportunities and you're gracious, most people willing to write you letters will send as many as it takes. (Keep in mind, though, that if you ask for dozens of letters for postdoc applications and are never offered a position, it is probably not the case that you just need to ask more!)
> 1 votes
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Tags: etiquette, recommendation-letter
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thread-2506 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2506 | Which bibliometrics index to trust more? | 2012-07-18T14:51:16.650 | # Question
Title: Which bibliometrics index to trust more?
We've already discussed about which bibliometric indeces are diffused the most, and how they work.
We all know that, along the most common **h-index**, there are many other parameters deriving from it or similar to it. From Publish or Perish website, we can list:
Between these (and other) bibliometrics indeces, **which one do you trust more?** Which one do you think is the **best one** to get the scientific excellence of an author? Why?
Thanks!
# Answer
The short answer is NONE. A longer answer is "to get the scientific excellence of an author, read their papers and understand their contributions".
The problem here is in expecting a number to characterize the contributions and quality of an individual researcher. Probably the only way in which these measures can be useful (and that's stretching it a LOT) is if they are viewed in aggregate (for a department/university) to get a very crude picture of **research productivity** (not excellence).
But the signal is so noisy as to be useless.
Really, there's no shortcut for the hard work of reading, researching and asking in order to assess the "scientific excellence" of a researcher.
> 20 votes
# Answer
You can trust them all, equally. Each index has a precise meaning that is well defined (once the database used is given). For example, if a researcher has h-index 3, you know that she has at least 3 papers with at least 3 citation each, and that she has not 4 papers with more than 3 citation each, and this is quite reliable informations.
Now, what you probably mean is whether we can trust some index to say something else; but what? Research productivity? Academic success?
It's just like the number of books sold by a novelist. You can trust it to tell you how many books she sold, and it may help you decide whether you want to publish its next one if you are only interested in sales. Of course if you want to decide whether she deserves the Nobel prize, you might not want to base your decision on this index.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Indices are (unfortunately) liked by managers, administrators and funding agencies rather than by researchers. Hence, you should ask these managers, administrators and agencies which indices they trust (and why). I am not sure that academia.SE is the right place to find managers...
> 1 votes
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Tags: bibliometrics
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thread-9809 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9809 | How do I cite an unpublished work in my paper? which incidentally is my second submission to the same conference | 2013-05-03T21:50:25.327 | # Question
Title: How do I cite an unpublished work in my paper? which incidentally is my second submission to the same conference
The problem is I completed a work earlier and did another work which extends this work. However, I haven't got the earlier work published. I plan to send these two papers to a conference but I do not know how to cite the work of first paper in second paper.
# Answer
> 5 votes
Many people, including myself, use the following style:
> Author. “Paper Title,” manuscript, year.
>
> e.g.: \[13\] A.N. Author, “Paper Citation Rules,” manuscript, 2013.
If it's your paper you can also cite it as
> Author. “Paper Title,” submitted, year.
The proper citation style may depend on the conference you submit your paper to. In my area, theoretical computer science, there are no strict citation rules.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I don't know or have information about the writing style or style guide that is usually followed in your field and you should follow those style guides to find out how to cite unpublished works .
To get you kickstarted in the right direction, I have provided information about the APA, Chicago and MLA styles and how to cite unpublished works. Of course, your field may use completely unrelated style guides but they should have typical information for unpublished works. See this, this, this and this for more information.
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Tags: citations, writing
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thread-9792 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9792 | Why do PhD students volunteer at conferences? | 2013-05-02T20:31:22.623 | # Question
Title: Why do PhD students volunteer at conferences?
Other than the possibility of waiving registration fees, What is the objective of graduate students volunteering at conferences?
For instance, I am considering volunteering at IJCAI these days and wish to do it at least once (never done it before) but do not really have a clear motivation for it.
# Answer
**tl;dr** No registration fees, networking and attending relevant sessions.
There has been some talk and background informationabout this already. See this, this, this and this for some background. With this background, IMHO, the primary reasons why PhD students should be volunteers for major conferences in their line at least once are:
1. First up, no registration fees. Yay ! Primary reason one.
2. Networking with other PhD student volunteers who are likely to be PhD students in similar departments working on similar stuff. For instance, most student volunteers at CHI 2013 are PhD students from HCI/CS/IS/ischools working on HCI stuff. Its great to meet with peers and bond with them. \[Yay for student volunteer party !\]
3. Possible networking with relevant faculty. This could be someone from the organizing committee or the program committee or someone else who you come in close contact with for the duration of the conference. There might be a certain someone who is a good researcher in your line and whom you might want to keep in touch with in the future. Getting in touch as a student volunteer in a conference might be one such strategy.
4. Picking and choosing conference sessions/tracks to attend. You could, with some dexterity be the student volunteer in charge of a track or a session or a panel which you are really really interested in watching. As a student volunteer pretty much, you stand and assist and you do get one of the best seats in the house, albeit by standing. :)
> 21 votes
# Answer
Volunteering can be fun, it's a change, you get to meet new people. Volunteering is good for you - you feel a part of something bigger, and like you've achieved something useful and immediate (unlike, say, a thesis or a paper).
It's probably good for your career in the long term - getting a reputation as a person who says "Yes" to things is always going to help.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Again, this is one of those things that might be different from conference to conference, but in the ones that I frequent, here's how it works:
* Only local students, in particular, students from the local organizer's university (if there's more than 1 university in the city) get to volunteer. It's not that others are barred, but just that the email gets circulated within the department. If you manage to hear about it and contact the organizers, then you can be a part too.
* You agree to be a room help/PA support/IT support/etc. for different sessions. If you're interested in the sessions, you get to pick and choose which ones you want to go to (i.e., you can help out at a session you were going to attend anyway).
* The best part — you get paid `$minimum_wage_in_state` for the hours you work. That meant that if you managed to pitch in 3-4 hours/day for a 5 day conference, you get something like 120-150 bucks for attending something that you like. Considering that PhD pay (in the US) is only a little above minimum wage and that local students don't get per diem compensation, this is not a bad proposition at all.
> 3 votes
# Answer
From the IJCAI link you provided, I found the following on the travel grant application web page,
> In the event that travel grant applications exceed available funds, preference will be given to students who have an accepted technical paper, and **then to students who are actively participating in the conference in some way**.
I take it to mean that you have more chances to get the grant if you volunteer.
Send the application form now before it's too late if you did not get support from your department and you don't have an accepted paper. I would run to register for volunteering if I were you.
> 1 votes
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Tags: phd, conference
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thread-9820 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9820 | Where does the title Dr come from for PhD? | 2013-05-04T18:36:50.803 | # Question
Title: Where does the title Dr come from for PhD?
I have always wondered why a person is given the title of Dr after completing a PhD in a non-medical field. This is especially because of the confusion over the medical title of Dr. Why hasn't a better distinction been formulated by now?
# Answer
> 54 votes
It's actually exactly the opposite: "doctor" is Latin for "teacher" and the title originally had no special connection with medicine. Instead, a doctor was anyone qualified to teach at a university (in medieval Europe teaching qualifications were typically determined by the church). The concept of a formal PhD degree came much later, but it continued this earlier terminology.
The confusion in English is irritating, but not problematic enough to make universities give up a 1000+ year old tradition. It's not clear why this situation arose. One natural explanation is that if you want to emphasize your medical skills, you can do it by explaining that you are not just a healer, but in fact someone qualified to teach other people the healing arts. In other words, you're a doctor of medicine in the academic sense of the word "doctor". Until very recently universities were fairly exotic, and most people didn't talk about academic doctors very much, so the medical usage was much more salient for the general public and for most people it became the standard meaning of "doctor".
Of course this difficulty with this story is that it doesn't explain why, for example, German does not confuse the terms the same way English does. Maybe it's just chance, or maybe there's some cultural reason.
In any case, though, academia had the title first and is reluctant to change it.
# Answer
> 22 votes
It seems that the real question should be "why the title of doctor seems to be now more associated to medical sciences than other fields".
Doctor comes from doctum, that is a derivative of docere, Latin verb for "teaching". The first doctors in the very first universities studied in four faculties: arts, medical sciences, law and theology. We still use PhD (Philosophiae doctor) but the meaning of the word philosophy has changed over the centuries. During the renaissance, the word philosophy had a broader meaning since philosophy at that time encompasses the whole spectrum of science.
In some countries (France for instance), it is forbidden to use the title of Dr for those who are not MD. In this case, Dr is a degree but not a title. Why do we not use MD everywhere instead of Dr (which seems to be the way to suppress the ambiguity while respecting history)? I don't know.
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Tags: phd
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thread-9819 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9819 | Sign research contracts in a private university or create a "ghost" company | 2013-05-04T18:33:17.047 | # Question
Title: Sign research contracts in a private university or create a "ghost" company
We are a research group from some private university and we offer research contract services. The problem is that when we get customers, the contract is signed by the highest authority of the university, and we appear on the contract as second players. Also they get 20% on the budget, and all intellectual property that might come from our work. I do not know whether the same situation is in public universities, but we do not like this and we are thinking about other alternatives, for instance, since we have now a lot of potential customers and contacts, to sign the contracts through a smallest possible company that we would create, so that our university would never know about this. The problem is that with this approach, we can not hire people for working on the projects in our university, so they should work out of academia, and we would never get officially recognition for this work. So it seems we have only two options, we stay in this university and accept the situation, or we leave completely and create a spin-off. I would like to know your opinion or advice about this, or what would you do in our situation.
# Answer
The situation you describe is fairly typical of research contracts—if you are employed at a university, then normally the university is the one that negotiates contracts on your behalf. This is usually for legal reasons, although it does, as you indicate, usually come at the cost of having to give the university some of the money in the contract as "overhead."
As you also indicated, however, it *is* possible to form a start-up company; there's nothing wrong with doing so in most countries, and such companies can engage in contract work with private firms. However, there are often restrictions on receiving government research awards unless they're partnered with universities or other approved non-profit organizations.
Some points to consider:
* How much of your business leads are the result of the identification of your group with your host university?
* Will you have enough outside business to support your staff through this outside research income?
* It is quite likely that much of what you save in overhead payments to your university may go out to your government in the form of taxes as well as to pay for other business expenses you have.
You *cannot* expect to run a company while on-campus, using university resources. If this is discovered, you can almost certainly expect to be terminated for misuse of university resources (and worse, possibly public resources as well, depending on what country you're in). At a minimum, you would expect to have to have off-campus resources, and employ your contract employees separately, if you want to maintain this arrangement.
> 8 votes
# Answer
> Also they get 20% on the budget, and all intellectual property that might come from our work.
Only 20%, that is a dream rate, are you sure it is right? For research related activities from fedral agencies in the US 70% is not unheard of. See this table from Harvard. Charitable foundations often get discounted rates, while industry partners often have to pay extra. At my country university industry contracts usually carry at least a 100% overhead rate.
As for the IP, universities tend to be willing to let you give away the IP, they just want to make sure they get a cut if you try and make money on the IP. Whether or not the support the university puts in makes them a reasonable investor is a hard call. You have to make a business case to determine if you are better off going independently.
> 5 votes
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Tags: contract
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thread-9840 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9840 | Going to conferences: all the research team members together or everyone alone? | 2013-05-06T08:05:17.827 | # Question
Title: Going to conferences: all the research team members together or everyone alone?
I have been discussing with friends and colleagues about the strategy to use to decide, in a research group, who has to go to a conference and with who. The issue is: if someone in the research group submitted a scientific paper to a conference, and it was accepted, should he/she go all alone to the conference, or with other group members?
Basically, I found two different way of thoughts:
1) since money is always lacking, and it is important to broaden the scientific discoveries and to have new professional relationships, **only the main author of the paper should go to the conference, all alone**. If everyone goes to a different conference, the team works will better scatter, and they will get more visibility.
2) since to work as a group, it is important to think as a group and, above all, to team up (if there is enough money), **all the paper authors or all the research group should go to the conference**. This way the group will team up and personal relationships between the research group members will strengthen.
What do you think? **Which school of thoughts do you stand for?**
# Answer
> 6 votes
If I
1. had the time, and
2. had the money,
I would go to every conference directly related to my field that I could. They are a fantastic way to find out where the tip of the spear is in your field, to network and meet new people, and to see parts of the world you might not be able to see otherwise. Additionally, many conferences have workshops, expos, and special speakers that all add to one's professional development.
Why do I bring all that up? Most, if not all of the time, it is professionally advantageous for everyone involved with a paper to attend conferences. Practically, this rarely happens (at least in my field), simply because funds can't support it, and time commitments make it difficult to travel to various parts of the world.
So, my answer is, **send as many people as can practically afford to go,** because they will almost certainly gain from the experience.
# Answer
> 5 votes
Seems pretty simple. If the only reason you are attending the conference is to present the paper, then only one person (the presenter) should go. If there is value to the conference beyond that to more people in the group (i.e., other interesting research is being presented, it's possible to setup helpful meetings), then more people should go.
# Answer
> 4 votes
@Chris Gregg explains the importance of going to conferences. I will not repeat them.
I would suggest some practical solutions.
If you only have one accepted paper this year. Send as many as you can. Find cheaper airfares, share hotel rooms. Talk to your supervisor to get support. Apply for travel grants else where, for example, see this answer.
Long term wise, write more papers. Get more accepted papers. Then you guys can take turns. For example, half go to this conference, the other half go to the next one. As a group, you can work it out.
Just don't miss the conferences.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Any answer should work for research groups of all sizes. Sending the entire research group does not: in a large group, people will be spending all their time at conferences and none actually doing work, or people with conference-worthy work will avoid going simply because it takes too much time.
Likewise, everyone who is an author can be too many; there is some very good work done where very many people are on each paper (due, for example, to many different skills being needed, and the required skills being provided by people who specialize in different areas).
So even if funds permit, the "everyone goes" answer is not a good answer in general.
On the other hand, going to *some* conference is a very valuable way to keep up with the field you're in. Thus, a sensible strategy is something like:
1. Everyone in the group goes to at least one conference a year--that one which is most relevant to what they're doing. There is usually a default conference that is obvious if a more specialized one does not apply. For example, in neuroscience one could choose to go to the Society for Neuroscience conference if one wasn't working in an area where some other meeting made more sense.
2. The most critical person/people go to any additional conferences that are valuable and where they are presenting. In addition to going because one is presenting, people should go (funding available) when it will be very useful to them, either because they've done the work, or they ought to be doing work in that area so they get up to speed.
The key is to not treat this as a purely social event. It is to an extent, but you're also trying to develop people's skills and increase their exposure / interaction with peers, and neither simpleminded model of "go yourself if you are presenting" or "everyone goes" adequately accomplishes these goals.
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Tags: conference, colleagues
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thread-9855 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9855 | Does an author have to submit an article to Math databases once it has been published in a journal? | 2013-05-07T00:09:49.257 | # Question
Title: Does an author have to submit an article to Math databases once it has been published in a journal?
Let us suppose one publishes an article in a peer-reviewed journal that is archived, indexed, etc. in databases such as Zentralblatt, ResearchBib, etc. Does the author have to manually submit his/her information and his/her journal article to those databases, or this is done automatically by the journal or by such databases?
# Answer
For Zentralblatt or MathSciNet, which are by far the most important databases in mathematics, there's no need to manually submit anything. I would assume the same is true for any comprehensive database (if you depend on author submissions, you won't get anywhere near complete coverage), but I suppose it could depend on the particular case. I've never heard of ResearchBib, so I can't say anything there.
> 10 votes
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Tags: publications, journals, mathematics, online-resource
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thread-9864 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9864 | Mentioning Products of Companies in Technical Paper? | 2013-05-07T12:16:07.693 | # Question
Title: Mentioning Products of Companies in Technical Paper?
I am writing a technical paper for my college project. This is my first time so I don't have much experience in this arena. I am writing about a philosophy used by Mechanical Engineers while designing a product. Now there is a situation where I have to mention a product and the company whose product it is. I am saying this by:
```
... so popular that it has been incorporated by ABC Company in their XYZ Product suite ...
```
Now I want to ask whether I should mention that:
```
ABC & XYZ are registered trademark of ABC Inc.
```
If yes then where and in what format?
# Answer
No need to mention the trademarks in a technical paper, although you could certainly cite their website if it talks about the product.
I generally cite anything that I think the reader could get more information about that is pertinent to the topic. That said, a paper isn't a web page, and you shouldn't litter it with gratuitous cites.
> 4 votes
# Answer
If you're concerned, then you can say:
`... so popular that it has been incorporated by ABC Company(R) in their XYZ(TM) Product suite ...`
with appropriate glyphs for "registered" and "trademark".
But that said, I don't think it's strictly necessary to mention trademarks unless you have a compelling reason to do so.
(An example of a comeppling reason to do so would be if you had to run the paper by the company's lawyers first and they want you to refer to the product in a specific way. If so then in the best interest of collaboration you should do what their lawyers say.)
> 0 votes
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Tags: publications
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thread-9802 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9802 | What are polite appellations for teachers in British universities? | 2013-05-03T05:39:50.993 | # Question
Title: What are polite appellations for teachers in British universities?
Teachers in primary and secondary school usually are called as Mr.\[surname\] or Miss/Mrs.\[surname\]. However, cases in universities are more complex. It seems we need to call a teacher who is a professor professor or prof.\[surname\], and a teacher who is not a professor but a doctor Dr.\[surname\]. But not all teachers are professors, so what about
1)one whose name we know but neither a professor or a doctor?
2)one whose name we know but we do not know whether he/she is a professor or a doctor?
3)one whose name we do not know?
# Answer
> 14 votes
Here's an answer based on my experience in the United States. I don't know how well it generalizes to other countries, but some issues may be similar.
You can't go wrong calling someone Professor or Doctor unless you know for sure that it is inappropriate and they know that you know.
At the college level in the U.S., it's common to refer to your teacher as Professor X regardless of whether their official job title includes the word professor. (The primary teacher of a college course is considered to be acting as a professor for that purpose, even if their official title is visiting scholar or postdoctoral associate or whatever.) This may not apply to grad students, but it can cover just about everyone else.
When possible I'd avoid gendered titles like Mr. or Ms., and specifically Ms. The issue is subconscious sexism: some people tend to use fancier titles to address men than to address women in comparable positions, and calling someone Ms. may make her wonder whether you are one of those people. (If you are such a person, then you should mend your ways, and even if you're not you could still be mistaken for one.)
On the other hand, Miss and Mrs. are far worse than Ms., because they indicate marital status. You should never address an academic as Miss or Mrs. unless she has explicitly indicated that this is what she prefers.
# Answer
> 12 votes
Within an academic setting while you might run into a Dean or a Duke, generally Professor is the highest honorific you will need. Therefore, I suggest calling everyone you do not know Professor. If they are not a Professor, or do not want to be called Professor, they will correct you. It seems to me to be a lot less pompous to say "actually, I am only a doctor", then it is to say "actually, I am a Professor/Dean/Duchess/King".
# Answer
> 6 votes
Everywhere I've attended and worked in Britain, I've called teachers by their first name and been called my first name.
It also depends on what you mean by a college. Most universities are not called college (and if they are going to, say, Birkbeck College, one would say one is going to university. Most colleges are technical colleges, or colleges of further education (I've attended or taught at http://www.burton-college.ac.uk/, http://www.nulc.ac.uk/, http://www.southstaffs.ac.uk/), which have no professors, and few staff with PhDs - although there are also colleges of higher education which would have professors and where most staff would have PhDs (but most of these have become universities).
# Answer
> 5 votes
In the UK a professor is higher status than a Dr. and not nearly as common So a Dr. won't be offended but they might be snippy about the lack of local knowledge about them if get that wrong.
I spent a while worrying about this when I first got to university as it seemed like a minefield. With that in mind I can tell you UK universities usually list the staff on their websites and often a Dr/Prof will have their own page which tells you all about them and their publications etc. So, you can usually find the answer to this without having to worry. Just in case though, I'll give you an answer for each one.
**1) one whose name we know but neither a professor or a doctor?**
Mr/Ms (Ms is best for women because it can offend someone if you assume anything about marital status when you don't know them)
(and sign off your mail 'Yours Sincerely,')
**2) one whose name we know but we do not know whether he/she is a professor or a doctor?**
In this case google is your friend. You will be able to find out. I would not advise emailing an academic to ask them for anything without first finding something out about them (or their research at least) first.
(and sign off your mail 'Yours Sincerely,')
**3) one whose name we do not know?**
Dear Sir or Madam (and sign off your mail 'Yours faithfully,')
In all three cases how they end their letter to you will tell you how you can relax. If they sign off as 'Jim', you can lose the formality (especially if that's not even their real name ;-))
# Answer
> 0 votes
1. Mr/Ms
2. Why not ask what they prefer to be called?
3. Again, ask them.
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Tags: etiquette
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thread-9868 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9868 | Individual presentation for a PhD application | 2013-05-07T23:13:30.810 | # Question
Title: Individual presentation for a PhD application
A friend of mine applied to a PhD program and luckily they called her for a presentation. They said that the presentation should be a maximum of 10 minutes long and should consist of three slides. These slides should include past experience and research interests, they say.
We are trying to prepare an optimal presentation. We think of,
(1) Presenting a brief CV, including academic background, education etc.
(2) Past research experience, especially during the MSc thesis,
(3) Work experience.
In addition to research experience, we want to emphasize the teaching experience and the experience gained from the courses taken.
However the problem is that research experience and work experience significantly overlap with each other and we are concerned about not using slides optimally.
We would like to hear advice from you about this type of presentations. Or if you know any sources on the web that are specifically for these type of situations, we would be very happy to hear them.
Note that the presentation should be ten minutes long with three slides and should focus on interests & past experience of the individual.
# Answer
> 8 votes
I have not been in this situation so my answer below may be at odds. I was required to have a chat with a potential supervisor and then lodge a detailed application. The fact that the supervisor endorsed my topic was a sure indication of acceptance by the university.
It appears that you are being over cautious (and I can understand why - you only get one shot at this!). My advice is to follow the simple rule of presentation i.e. keep it clear, concise and relevant.
So I would suggest the following for your three slides:
* Slide 1 - Tell them what you want to do and how you will do it (i.e. topic and methods)
* Slide 2 - Tell them why you want to do it (i.e. gap in knowledge you are addressing)
* Slide 3 - Tell them how qualified you are to complete it (i.e. your skills and experience)
The contents and presentation skills go hand in hand, so prepare thoroughly. Unless you have a good reason, don't be too defensive of your approach. Give the impression that you are ready.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I also have not been in this situation, but my advice would be to focus on the work done during the MSc--what was the thesis on, why was it interesting, how would you extend it (to research, if it was not a research-based thesis; or to further experiments/work if it involved a significant research component already). If the work experience was related either to what the MSc was on, or to what the PhD will be on, go into that also; otherwise just mention it in passing.
The admissions committee already has all the information they need from the CV about what your friend's background is. What they don't know is how she can think about a research project, and how she comes across in person (in a formal setting like a brief talk). The latter will happen regardless of the choice of topic, so the former is, in my opinion, what to aim for.
Also, your friend should make sure that the presentation is tailored to the appropriate level for the people present! A bit of high-level why-is-this-important is good regardless of level, but if it's a very focused program in the same topic, she should go into more depth than if it's a broad one (e.g. computational neuroscience vs. biology).
Anyway, if I were listening to such a presentation, I would be trying to figure out: is she interested in research? Does she understand it? Is she enthusiastic about it? And, since the near-universal advice is "show, don't tell", I'd be looking not for her to say that she does/is any of these things, but for it to be implicit in the presentation.
Finally, I'm assuming she'll be talking one-on-one with a number of people also. That's probably more important! Stressing overly much about the presentation to the point of e.g. getting inadequate sleep is almost surely the wrong way to go.
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Tags: presentation
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thread-9881 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9881 | How to say that research work was done as part of research project? | 2013-05-09T11:23:01.433 | # Question
Title: How to say that research work was done as part of research project?
I'm carrying out a research work as part of a big research project. How to mention this in the abstract for an article?
The best I can is "This research work was conducted as part of the project #xxxx-xx", but I believe there's well-known phrase to replace "as part of".
# Answer
> 3 votes
**Updated to address comments.**
If Project XYZ is simply a funding agency or entity that may have provided funds or materials but no intellectual contribution, then you use the phrase "We acknowledge Agency XYZ (Grant #) for financial support" or "Funding provided through Project XYZ (Grant #)." For example, if your work is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health...
> "Funding for this work was provided by the NIH, Center for Work on Really Interesting Science (#1234567890)..."
If project XYZ has defined the research problem/scope, you could say "This research was inspired by Project XYZ" or "This research follows from Porject XYZ."
If Project XYZ is an institute, center, or other entity that worked with you on your project, then you use the phase "in collaboration with". For example, if your computational model was run on at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, you might say:
> "This work was conducted in collaboration with the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center \[ref\]..."
Lastly, if the intellectual contribution from someone at Project XYZ was large, that person needs to have their name on your paper (with placement in the order according to the customs of your field):
Grad Student who did the work\*, Grad Student who did less work\*, Grad Student at Project XYZ<sup>#</sup>, Collaborating PI at Project XYZ<sup>#</sup>, Your PI\*
Affiliations:
```
*Department of Epic Awesome, University of Cool, 123 Street Road, CityTown,
ProvinceState, CountryNation, ComplicatedPostalCode.
#Center for Statistical Mayhem, International Project for
Enhancing Statistical Literacy through Academic Research, 456 Boulevard Ave,
CityTown, ProvinceState, CountryNation, ComplicatedPostalCode.
```
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Tags: publications, thesis
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thread-9878 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9878 | Do old preprints actually exist? | 2013-05-08T23:01:00.400 | # Question
Title: Do old preprints actually exist?
It is quite common (in some areas) to see the reference to the paper, which is cited as "to appear" or "in prepapation" but never actually appeared. Such citations are treated in the same way as references to unpublished results, conference talks, etc.
However, this approach doesn\`t really work for references to preprints. The results *are* published. The problem is that old preprints (say, from 1985) are now inaccessible, they are often not digitized.
So, it is not clear how to treat such old preprints and papers based on results from them: should I believe the authors citing it or consider it as non-existent?
# Answer
You should try to track down the preprint. Having to track it down is annoying, but it's usually not hard to do by asking around. If your friends don't have a copy, and the author can no longer be contacted, then you should feel free to write to someone who has cited the preprint to ask if they know where to find a copy. (You can also try the author's collaborators, thesis advisor, students, etc.) When I've done this, it has generally led pretty quickly to a copy, and I've always found one eventually, even for unpublished work from 40+ years ago. If necessary, you can also do things like post online requesting a copy from anyone who has one, but this is typically not necessary.
If you can't find a copy, I would suggest giving the citations you have seen the benefit of the doubt and mentioning the preprint in your paper; it's possible that the citations are mistaken, but not likely. If you can't verify the claims, you can note that you have not been able to track down a copy, but it is cited in X, Y, and Z. (You should only say this if you have seriously tried to locate one but failed.)
For some purposes, seeing the preprint doesn't really matter. For example, you may be citing it merely to assign credit, in a situation where all the factual content can be obtained from elsewhere in the literature. In that case, it's perfectly reasonable to follow the consensus in the field about credit, without worrying about investigating it yourself.
On the other hand, if your work depends on the actual content of the preprint in a way that cannot be verified without a copy, then you really need to track one down. Some people may be lazy about this, but that's not a responsible scholarly approach.
The most frustrating situation is when you're told that something you've discovered may be previously known, but you are unable to access the paper that might contain it. In this case you need to try especially hard to find a copy, to counteract your natural incentive to give up and decide the paper doesn't exist or isn't relevant.
> 10 votes
# Answer
While I completely agree with Anonymous Mathematicial, it is generally acceptable in my field to say "Jones found x (1945, cited in Smith 1985)." This makes it clear that you did not verify the information (from Jones) yourself but someone else (Smith) did claim it to be true.
> 9 votes
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Tags: publications, preprint
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thread-9884 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9884 | Curriculum Vitae in application for PhD | 2013-05-09T16:28:58.323 | # Question
Title: Curriculum Vitae in application for PhD
I have contacted a professor (in Europe) informally and asked for a PhD position. She answered in positive manner and asked for a CV.
What should I include? Do people in academia care about the usual 2-page restriction?
# Answer
> 7 votes
Generally I would say No, people do not put restrictions on CVs unless specifically asking for it.
In a case such as the one you decribe you should send a complete CV that lists everything that can be meriting for the position you will apply for. The following would be of interest:
1. A brief description of your drive and interest to pursue a PhD
2. Course work includig grades
3. Scientific/equivalent experience is a given of course.
4. Any publications and scientific/equivalent reports you have written. If you have some significant report/thesis that you have written during your education, you can list that as well. I would say that any report longer than, say, 10 pages of text might be useful to list. In such cases you should perhaps add inwhat context (Course) the text was written. In the end what a person looking for a PhD position will be looking for is someone who can successfully complete work and write it up in written form.
5. Scientific/equivalent presentations in a public context, open department seminar, scientific meeting etc.
6. Any academic work experience such as working inlabs etc.
7. General work experience. This can be listed to highlght work experience of any kind. This shows how active you are.
8. Anything else that you think will be meriting.
If you have written a paper (thesis) of some sort, provide a copy. Only one, the most important though. If you do not have one that is fine, no one would expect you to have written much.
Despite the length of the list try to make it brief and clear so that it can be assessed with ease. ry to find a good layout that make sthe structure easy to see.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Someone else had mentioned this on a related question here: the words "curriculum vitae" are taken from the Latin for "course of my life". So there's not much point in a page restriction :), unlike a corporate resume, which is often required to be one page or one sheet.
As for what you should put in it, Peter's answer is very comprehensive.
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Tags: phd, cv
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thread-9892 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9892 | Choosing the title of a paper: are provocative titles better? | 2013-05-09T22:18:22.747 | # Question
Title: Choosing the title of a paper: are provocative titles better?
I am currently working on a paper that challenges some long-standing practices within my field, but am questioning how to title the paper. Basically, the old view in the research field is "we do Y instead of better method X, because X takes too long." We show that X is usually just as fast as Y, and often is actually faster.
Given the fact that we're taking what could be a "controversial" stance, does it make sense to put the controversial idea directly in the title, or should it be saved for the abstract.
Basically, the question is if a "traditional" title, such as:
> Using New Method X to Improve Solving Problem Y
is preferable to directly mentioning the issue in the title:
> Using New Method X Makes Assumption Z Obsolete.
Or is finding a title that suggests superiority without questioning relevance a satisfactory compromise?
# Answer
> 24 votes
It might be viewed as incivil to refer to someone else's work as "obsolete", whether or not one could defend such a claim. An editor or referee might object to the title, too, and, perhaps even be subliminally biased against your result because of a too-aggressive title.
That is, "provocative" in the sense of more-vividly-descriptive, without too-direct negativism about prior work, might be a very good thing. But I think if "provocative" too much means "antagonistic", the net would be counterproductive and regrettable.
Asserting that you've made progress is already a bit aggressive, suggesting, as is inevitable, that previous work is being superceded (even if still relevant as some sort of historical/dialectic record). My own taste is that winners can afford to be generous.
Edit: in light of edits to the question... I'd still encourage a sort of "innocent" -seeming, or almost-apologetic seeming, self-description. My point would be that people who understand the situation will see the implications of even a very-modest statement. Descriptiveness is good, yes, but perhaps not "judgemental" phrases.
# Answer
> 10 votes
A significant fraction of papers in theoretical computer science describe results of the form "we describe an algorithm for problem Y that is faster than every other algorithm known." But it is *very* rare, and would be considered quite rude, for the *title* of such a paper to specifically call out a previous method as "obsolete", especially if that previous methods was strongly associated to a single person or group. In fact, I know of ony one example: Volker Strassen's seminal paper "Gaussian elimination is not optimal", which was published centuries after Gauss was safely dead.
Provocative/evocative titles are fine. Challenging conventional wisdom is great. Insulting your colleagues, not so much.
# Answer
> 7 votes
> Or is finding a title that suggests superiority without questioning relevance a satisfactory compromise?
Supplementing Paul's fine answer, I agree that if by "provocative" you are directly attacking someone else, then you should not do it. Be provocative in stating the benefits of your method. Ignore the inferior method in your title.
You should also include a descriptive subtitle so that we know what your paper is about.
For example, this paper has the title "Sequence Matters: Modulating Electronic and Optical Properties of Conjugated Oligomers via Tailored Sequence". The first two words are provocative, but not antagonistic. They suggest that those who might believe that sequence does not matter are incorrect, but it does not say so explicitly, nor does it specifically accuse any previous research/method of being deficient. It is followed by a descriptive title that then tells you what the paper is about.
So, in your case, you might go for something more like
> "Simplifying the Solution to Problem Y: A New Metric-Based Analytical Methodology for Enumerating the Variance in Substandard Models."
The first part of the title gets at what you want (that previous solutions to Problem Y are not as good as yours) without specifically targeting any previous method. Save that for the body of your paper.
# Answer
> 5 votes
I agree with the other answers that "obsolete" is too confrontational. You could still directly address the issue in the title, though. How about something like:
> Using New Method X challenges Assumption Z
or
> Using New version of Method X challenges assumptions about problem Y
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Tags: writing
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thread-9894 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9894 | Should CV include special note about published 'cover articles'? | 2013-05-10T00:42:57.177 | # Question
Title: Should CV include special note about published 'cover articles'?
I just published an article and, when I saw the journal, I was surprised to discover that they put my article on the cover.
My question is, should I update my CV to make special note of the fact that my article was not just published but is the cover story in a particular journal?
# Answer
> 4 votes
A cover article is noteworthy, but not all noteworthy material goes on all CVs. I include a note about cover articles on my CV iff I am also including citation counts. I only include this extra information if the CV is for something that is trying to evaluate the "impact" of my research.
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Tags: publications, cv
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thread-9902 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9902 | Practical Tips: Mathematical research and discoveries | 2013-05-10T11:24:08.087 | # Question
Title: Practical Tips: Mathematical research and discoveries
> *How to behave when you have the feeling of working on something innovative? What to do if there is a chance (even the 1%) that your work is leading you to something original?*
For example what if I don't know mathematicians I trust to ask? Is a good idea to talk about your results (even if are not real results) to someone?
> **Question:**
>
> What do you do if you have this feeling?
>
> I'm looking for a **list** (or links to related SE questions/guides/books or others) of **practical tips** to use while studying a certain subject you have the feeling of having found an innovative approach that can provide a new solution.
I am interested too in books about the mathematicians' way to research. (I think is related)
> *I already asked this question on Math.SE but was closed two times. Here the link to MathematicsSE*
# Answer
> 16 votes
`0.` To give original contribution to the understanding of mathematical objects is what mathematician do, and talk about all the time. There is *a priori* no need to fear for ideas being stolen; if you want to play secure, you can publish a preprint to ensure priority.
Given the wording of your question, I assume that you are an amateur mathematician, and that you feel that you may have found something about an important, well-known question. Sorry if this is not the case.
As most mathematicians, I receive demand for advice of this kind from time to time, so here is my usual answer.
1. Be prepared to have made a mistake,
2. be prepared to have found something known for a long time,
3. be prepared to have found something that will not attract interest.
This may sound very negative, but these are the worries that are much more likely to be relevant than seeing your contribution stolen. I have seen recently an amateur publishing on viXra after seeking advice from me, that was afraid of having her ideas stolen. It turned out that her contribution was a few hundred years behind current knowledge.
Researchers in mathematics only succeed in advancing knowledge because they spend much time learning their specialty and keeping up with what is being proven, and we do sometimes reinvent the wheel (I got scooped by 130 years once, realizing that Camille Jordan already solved a cute problem I was interested in), or make mistake, or do things that do not interest our colleagues. It is tremendously difficult to avoid this pitfalls when you don't have access to the literature, don't have colleagues to speak with about your research, don't have a regular seminar to listen to, don't have had a PhD advisor to guide you through your first problems.
So, for a positive piece of advice:
`4.` learn the field you are interested in (e.g. read books, from the point you are in your knowledge to the field you are interested in). Be prepared for this step to take much time.
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Tags: research-process, mathematics, citations, independent-researcher
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thread-9503 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9503 | Are there grants available to pay for travel to my PhD program? | 2013-04-20T10:30:42.483 | # Question
Title: Are there grants available to pay for travel to my PhD program?
I have looked at this travel grant question but it talks about when the OP already was pursuing his PhD.
I am from India and have a different scenario as I have just received my PhD offer in Computer Science. Are there institutions that can fund my going there (even just the flight)? I do have good academic records as well as papers published.
I have searched on the internet and have found one from tata. But, Are you aware of any others that do provide support?
# Answer
> 5 votes
I am not aware of any relocation only independent grants, but there are a number of other ways relocation expenses could be covered. There may be funding available via the University, Department, or PI. If you are being funded by an external grant relocation expenses may be allowable (e.g., the NIH allows relocation costs).
# Answer
> 3 votes
If you have already been in contact with your future (potential) advisor, you might raise the issue with them. They might have funding they can use, or (more likely) they might be able to pull strings with the department or university to provide travel funding.
However, I do *not* recommend raising this issue as your *first* contact with a potential advisor.
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Tags: phd, funding, travel
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thread-9495 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9495 | Is it Worth the Risk of Going into Debt for a Masters Degree Versus a PhD? | 2013-04-19T20:32:30.910 | # Question
Title: Is it Worth the Risk of Going into Debt for a Masters Degree Versus a PhD?
I realize that this sort of question has been asked before and I have read through some of the other threads but I figured I'd see if there are any more perspectives out there. I am currently a research embryologist for a small fertility clinic with a Bsc in molecular biology. I have about 2 1/2 years of experience and have been accepted into an Masters in Bioinformatics program. I am very excited to begin taking classes but l have recently begun second guessing whether I should have tried to get into a PhD program. I will not be able to continue working at my current job while I am in school so I will likely be paying for school with loans unless I'm able to find a job after I relocate.
Those of you who have Masters degrees, would you do it again or go for a PhD? From what I have found searching around the site many people say PhDs are more academically focused while Masters degree holders tend to find more positions in industry. Is concern over the cost of a Masters degree a good reason to consider a PhD instead or do most of you find you were able to offset your education costs with the job you eventually found? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance!
# Answer
> 3 votes
When I was studying for my MBA I also thought about this choice. However, a PhD is long and I was looking forward to working with my new-found knowledge sooner than a PhD would allow. For me, I prefer to balance practice with theory. That is, I did not want to wait for longer than I had to before being able to use my knowledge in the 'real world.'
That said, I'm now looking seriously at a PhD and I certainly do not regret my decision. I could work while I was studying during my MBA. Now, I do understand that one can take some time off during a PhD but I wasn't really looking forward to starting something which would likely require a break. I prefer the clean completion which the master gave me.
Since I could work while studying my MBA, finances were not much of an issue. The cost of my education was easily offset by the higher salary which came with the degree. The payback period (considering the increase in my income directly related to my additional qualification) in my case was less than 18 months.
It is a little different from your situation in that many people who study business for work in the real world do not go beyond an MBA. I will, but I also teach.
In short, I'm glad I got my MBA before pursuing a PhD.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Just a side note from a central european (Germany) perspective. Although things have similar names now (Bachelor, Master), things work a bit different over here.
While we know that this is possible in the anglo-american education systems, people here wonder whether someone who has not completed a Master (or Diplom) is actually fit for tackling a PhD project (in terms of subject knowledge, working techniques, and experience you learn during the Master's).
However, most PhD projects here have a Master's or equvalent degree as prerequisite. In your case you may argue that your work experience in research should be counted as equivalent. Over here, this would likely lead to an invitation to take a bunch of oral exams before you are officially accepted into a PhD program.
# Answer
> 0 votes
First, disclaimer. I'm not sure I'm qualified to be giving anyone advice of this nature. But since you asked, here are my 2 cents.
The bottom line is that people do a PhD if they want to do research. Otherwise, probably not. I believe this is true in both academic and industry circles - if you want to do research type stuff, you need a PhD. I could be wrong about industry - if people know of counterexamples, please comment. So, a relevant question is whether you want to do research.
My experience is that in practical terms, at least in the applied sciences, research translates into more autonomy pursuing questions which you find interesting. In general, not having a PhD means less autonomy. Of course, having a PhD does not mean anything like total independence - there are always people you have to answer to. However, with just a Masters, you are much more likely to be taking direction from people in the choice of projects you pursue, and how you pursue them. You should try to figure out how happy you will be doing this. I used to think I would be Ok with that, and discovered later that I really wanted to be making my own decisions. So, you might think now that you are happy to do what you are told, you you may later discover that you do not consider these decisions that others make for you to be all that great. It really depends on your personality and inclinations.
It seems ridiculous that people will treat you differently on the basis of a piece of paper, but that is how human beings, at least the more bureaucratic variety, are constituted - they like to pigeonhole and put labels on people.
Having said all of the above, of course, if you do a Masters and then decide you want to do a PhD, you can always do it later, but I suppose you are trying to figure out the more efficient path to follow.
One fairly obvious question - is there some reason you can't go into the PhD program and leave with a Masters if you decide you don't want to do a PhD? I have done that (left a PhD program with a Masters), and it seems like a relatively common thing to do. I think that some Masters degrees do require a thesis, but others may just require coursework which you will be doing as part of the PhD program anyway. You can check with the programs you are considering what the rules for pursuing these options might be. If you could do this, it might be your best option. You can leave yourself some space and time for figuring out what you want to do, not pay lots of money in tuition, and not burn any bridges.
I have a PhD in Statistics, and know a fair amount about programming and related things (check my SE accounts), though my primary background is mathematical. I've also done some bioinformatics work. Given that, I'd say the comment by @Bitwise above is right on the money. With a big interdisciplinary field like bioinformatics, you need a lot of background and a fairly substantial and diverse skill set to get moving - cramming all that into a masters degree will be brutal unless you know a lot already. After a masters degree you might not know enough to do anything really interesting. Of course, you might be able to get an industry job where they will be willing to give you the space and time to learn more and develop. I don't have any experience of industry jobs; however from what I have heard, those sorts of conditions are more easily met in academia.
Also, personally I would not consider the cost of a MSc as a major factor when making such a decision, though of course it is a factor. I would think bigger picture, myself.
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Tags: phd, masters
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thread-9917 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9917 | Should I keep generic reference letters from my supervisors? | 2013-05-10T18:13:46.533 | # Question
Title: Should I keep generic reference letters from my supervisors?
As for reference letters, I have come across distinct policies.
Some recommend to only give a reference letter for a particular application - it might be tailored to the particular position which the applicant soughts for.
Other do not seem to have a problem with providing generic reference letters. I personally prefer this one, because it is clearly less work for all parties involved.
So, which kind of reference is appropiate to ask for from your supervisor? Which one is socially accepted? (I am a former student that needs a letter of reference from his former professor).
# Answer
Let me answer the question in the title.
> Should I keep generic reference letters from my supervisors?
**No.** You should not keep copies of reference letters, generic or otherwise. Your supervisors should send whatever letters they write directly to the jobs to which you apply. Those letters should never pass through your hands at all.
It's entirely up to your references what kind of letter to write. You should always ask for strong letters individually tailored to each position you apply for, but there's no way to *make* anyone do that, or even to check whether they have. Ultimately, you just have to trust the people you ask to do a good job, which implies that you should only ask people you trust to do a good job.
> 7 votes
# Answer
It can be reasonable to ask for letters tailored to specific *kinds of jobs* but unreasonable to ask for letters tailored to *specific jobs* assuming that you're applying to many jobs. Many people are already writing dozens of letters a year, so writing say 10 different letters for one of those people is clearly unreasonable, but two could be fine. For example, if you are applying to both tenure-track liberal arts jobs and research jobs then you may want to ask certain recommenders for two different letters (e.g. for your teaching letter, or if your thesis advisor co-supervised an undergraduate research project with you).
> 5 votes
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Tags: citations
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thread-9913 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9913 | I am a 2nd year undergraduate student. What should I do now to prepare for my PhD? | 2013-05-10T14:26:15.907 | # Question
Title: I am a 2nd year undergraduate student. What should I do now to prepare for my PhD?
I am a 2nd year undergraduate student in Aerospace Engineering, in India. I am really willing to go into Academia as a researcher. I am specifically interested in Aerospace Controls. Some points to consider :
1) I love the fast internet access in university, so that I can research and learn all I want.
2) I have read up a few research papers regarding error reduction in GPS measurements, when I was doing a Supervised Project under a professor. Reading research papers are gruelling, but after 2-3 days of bending your mind over them and finally understanding what the author intended to say, I feel elated. In this specific case, I read up a few algorithms and got excited on the prospect of developing my own algorithms for error reductions.
3) I have a fair academic standing with a cumulative grade point of greater than 9 out of 10
So I would like a few pointers on what I can do now, as an undergraduate student to prepare for my PhD.
# Answer
> 18 votes
As an undergraduate student, the best thing you can do to help your admissions case is to *get involved in research*. This will allow you to demonstrate that you have the capability to do good research, which is one of the biggest things admissions committees and individual professors are looking for when choosing among applicants. Maintaining a solid academic record is also useful, and having an understanding of the literature in the field you're interested in is also good. However, direct experience will let you see if academia really is what you want to do or not.
# Answer
> 6 votes
It depends on where you're getting your PhD, but in countries (like the Netherlands) where a PhD position is treated like a job that you interview for, I would say *get published*. This is encompasses aeismail's answer, but I would focus on the specific goal of getting a paper published. Every student project you do, ask yourself what kind of results would make your professor say "we should publish this". This has the following advantages:
* Publishing a paper takes some psychological development. You need to be able to deal with the drudgery of finishing a project without procrastinating, and getting it to a certain level of quality. If you can show that you've already mastered this skill, you will be a much more valuable PhD student.
* It forces you to work to a higher standard, so you'll learn more, and you'll focus on the details that are important for research work.
* It gives the person evaluating you for a position something to look at that is much more informative than a grade list or a CV.
Of course, if the threshold to PhD-ship is an exam rather than an interview, you should study with the exam in mind, but the goal of publishing while you're still an undergrad will help you be a better PhD student once you get in.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Here are a couple of pointers that are distinct from aeismail's answer that **research is the most important thing you can be doing to prepare for and to be competitive for graduate school**:
1. Read as many papers as you can from high profile conferences and journals in your field. Even if you don't understand everything right now, you'll start to get a feel for where the cutting edge is, and and also about how to write good papers. You'll probably also start to see which schools publish the most papers, and if you're looking for top programs, these are probably the ones.
2. Take hard classes, and get good grades. Eventually, if you have the right prerequisites, try to take a graduate-level course or two and excel in it/them.
3. Start talking to your professors about graduate school, and try to form relationships where you will be comfortable asking for letters of recommendation. They all went to graduate school, and some will have good advice on your path. If you are doing research for a professor, especially make sure you discuss your future plans with him/her.
4. Learn LaTeX. Although this seems like a little thing, you'll certainly find it helpful to be competent in LaTeX during graduate school.
5. Try to track down former students from your school who went on to graduate school in a similar field, and ask them about their experiences, and for suggestions about applying.
6. If your research leads to good results, attempt to publish those results. Even if you get rejected, you've at least gone through the sometimes-obtuse submission process, and it is a worthwhile exercise.
7. Start looking into scholarship and fellowship opportunities now. Even if you don't apply for a couple of years, you'll know what you may qualify for, and can start tailoring your application materials now.
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Tags: phd, undergraduate, research-undergraduate
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thread-9934 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9934 | Changing the typeface from the official style in a conference paper | 2013-05-11T14:32:32.333 | # Question
Title: Changing the typeface from the official style in a conference paper
I'm a big fan of the Euler typeface for mathematical typesetting, especially compared with the standard Latin Modern. I feel somewhat justified in changing to Euler for a paper, but Euler doesn't usually look very good with the default body text typeface.
It's a small thing to change that as well (\usepackage{charter}, for instance), but at that point you're really messing with the official style supplied by the conference.
On the other hand, some conferences also allow submissions from Word documents, so the visual unity is unlikely to be maintained anyway.
So, two questions:
* How unusual and frowned-upon is it to change the math typeface?
* How unusual and frowned-upon is it to also change the body text typeface?
# Answer
In general you are not supposed to make any such changes. Most journals and proceedings have some form of either "instructions for authors" or template, or both, which you are supposed to follow. If you submit something with a different type face, the most likely result is that it will be changed to whatever the journal/equivalent requires.
If you submit to a conference which do not have any specifications on paper formatting, I doubt that anyone will make complaints about your formatting.
The key point I would make is: if there is a set of instructions/template which you are supposed to follow/use, then you should do so. Otherwise trust your instincts and experience of what consitutes good formatting.
> 14 votes
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Tags: paper-submission, formatting
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thread-9941 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9941 | Proportion of journal submissions by developing countries | 2013-05-12T01:43:45.917 | # Question
Title: Proportion of journal submissions by developing countries
Is there any source that details the ratio of journal submissions that come from developing countries to those that come from developed countries?
I see extremely low acceptance rates in my field and wonder about the contribution of developing country submissions to this high rejection rate.
EDIT: Feel free to answer the slightly different question of the ratio that comes from extremely low ranked institutions (e.g. below 1000th in the world).
# Answer
This is a question straight out of the domain of scientometrics - a field I have had some limited experience in. There is no one source which gives you your answer; rather this is a **contextual**, **complicated** and rather **nuanced** question which you have asked. The true answer is ***it depends on the field.*** For instance in the field of ICTD (Information and Communication Technologies for Development), the proportion of articles is very high (which makes intuitive sense) but this may not be true for other fields. Remember also that the term *developing countries* has a very shifting definition and is therefore **temporally bound**.
With this exposition, here are some studies which I can point you towards which have looked at answering some, sub-section of your question. I also include studies on conferences (because certain fields are more conference centric) and also broadly scientific productivity and impact among scientists and researchers in developing countries. This is because these are all highly related and in total, might help you.
This study tells us that only 7.9% of articles in the top 21 Library and Information Science journals are from developing countries or eastern european countries.
This study tells us that articles from developing countries tend to cite other articles form other developing countries and thus, creates a vicious cycle of citations.
This study attempted to define a special collaboration metric for articles from developing countries. It recommended usage of this metric to measure productivity and impact from developing countries instead of the usual suspects (h-index etc.)
This study, specific to Chile attempts to find out root causes of low scientific productivity (i.e. publications) from Chilean authors in Chilean universities. (eg. low priority of funding, lack of interest in research, corruption etc.)
This study is a meta-level article into looking at the scientific productivity in developing countries across the world. It presents a socio-historical approach and also attempt to quantify certain key characteristics of developing countries' scientific productivity and reasons behind the low numbers of article.
This study points out that the present measures of bibliometric/scientometric analysis is skewed towards developed countries and as such is not a good indicator of research productivity in developing nations. The authors point out that alternative sources of databases, specifically presented as a case study of Cuba might provide better insights.
I would also request you to take such quantitative studies with a pinch of salt because they do not often paint an accurate or holistic picture of what's actually going on behind the scenes.
> 13 votes
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Tags: publications, journals
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thread-9939 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9939 | How to hire editor to improve my paper | 2013-05-11T23:55:31.530 | # Question
Title: How to hire editor to improve my paper
I'm thinking of hiring a contact/freelance editor to help me improve my paper, before I submit it. I'm looking for someone to perform proofreading and copy editing as well as broader, substantive editing services, to save me some time.
How should I find and select a suitable editor? Should I look specifically for a technical editor with knowledge in my general area, or will any editor be able to help? Does anyone have any recommendations for how to make this most effective?
---
Clarification: the term "editor" is potentially confusing, because it has multiple meanings. The meaning that's likely to jump to your mind is that of an Editor at a journal, but that's not what I'm referring to. Instead, I'm referring to professionals who help with editing manuscripts. Many folks are familiar with copy editing and copy editors; that is actually just one type of editing service, and other editors may offer other editing services (e.g., developmental/comprehensive editing). I'm trying to be a bit more general and not limit this question to just copy editing -- but if you're not familiar with the editing profession, you can think of my usage of the word "editor" as referring to a "copy editor" and you won't be too far off.
# Answer
> 13 votes
### How to find an editor
In the UK, there's the Society for Editing Professionals (SfEP) \- get one of their members who meets the criteria for selecting an editor (below). This search for Advanced SfEP members in academic consultancy should give you a lead (disclosure: the editor I work with is on that list). If you're not in the UK, your country may have a similar organisation.
You could also try asking the journal publisher of your choice, as some now keep a list of recommended editors for pre-submission work.
Ask your peers for recommendations too.
If your employer has a department of Research Services or similar, they may be able to recommend someone.
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### How to select an editor
Here are some criteria for selecting an editor for pre-submission services, based on my own experiences of hiring technical editors over the last 7 years, and working with one as a publishing strategist too over the last year or two. These criteria are in no particular order - I recommend finding someone who meets all of them.
1. Someone with a good track record in technical editing / publishing. Everyone's got to learn some time, and so every new editor needs their first client. But you don't want to be that guinea pig, unless saving money or helping their career along is more important to you than getting the best result. Someone with a track record will already have thir editing-macros / tools and ready, and have streamlined their workflow.
2. A gamekeeper turned poacher. That is, someone who's been an editor on the post-submission side, working within journals. They'll know the rules and the etiquette from both sides. They may even have a helpful network at your target publisher.
3. Someone you can communicate clearly with: you'll only find this by actually doing it, at least via phone / skype / emails / tweets / whatever. Clear quick communication will save you money and give you a better result.
4. Someone who understands your speciality at least enough to get the gist of what's required. As a minimum, that means if you're in the humanities, you want someone from the humanities; if you're in sciences / tech / engineering / maths (STEM), you want someone with a STEM background.
5. Someone fluent in your writing medium. So if you write in LaTeX, you want someone fluent in that. Ditto for MS-Word, LibreOffice, whatever.
If you find might be using a good editor a lot, it's probably worth finding someone who you could develop a longer-term professional relationship with; in that case, pick someone who'd be able to help you develop your publishing strategy over time, too.
# Answer
> 4 votes
This is probably not going to be an answer you might like specifically but here's what we do.
I am a doctoral student and in our department, it is pretty common for students to iterate pre-submission and post review drafts with each other (especially before the deadlines of major conferences). It works pretty well. I have also seen tenured and un-tenured faculty doing this in our department.
Therefore, my bigger recommendation is, circulate drafts among your own departmental colleagues. Surely someone will give you sanity checks on your submission material?
# Answer
> 2 votes
You may be able to use "any" editor to help with simple matters of grammatical constructions and general structure and clarity. However, if you require a lot of technical jargon in your paper, you may find it more advantageous to seek out someone who works in your specialty. Otherwise, they may want to change words that have specific meanings in your field.
If your university has a "writing office" or some other service that it offers to students and staff, I would begin by inquiring there. They may either have some professionals on staff who can help out, or provide you with recommendations for professionals in your area.
# Answer
> 0 votes
First, to avoid any confusion, an *editor* is typically a person associated with a journal or a publisher. The purpose of an editor is not to primarily to work on improving a paper but rather to judge if a paper is up to the standards of wherever it is supposed to be published. It seems in your question, you are looking for someone to help you with the writing process. This means you might go very wrong if you contact an editor for the tasks you describe. A *copy editor* and a *proof reader* is usually also part of a publishers chain and the purpose of such persons is to make sure everything adheres to the publishers standards before going into print; they are part of the end of the publishing chain, not the beginning. So, persons professionally working under titles like these are not likely of interest to you at a manuscript stage.
So typically, what you describe you need help with is part of what we all have to do to get published. We all should learn this process through our (primarily graduate) education but, in the end, there will always be room for further improvements for as long as we live. The first source for help should be your peers, or simply friends, in your research environment. They should have enough insight to check the science and general writing aspects. What may be more problematic if not an native English speaker, is language.
In the case of language there are numerous specialists that can be hired to check and correct your paper if that is also what you need. Many publishers have associated such specialists and it is probably necessary to find some service that specializes in scientific writing; remember that threre is much need for other types of translations, legal, fictional literature etc., so that many specialize and may not be suitable for science writing.
So, try your peers, you will probably have a hard time finding a person to hire to proide the services you require, with the exception of language corrections.
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Tags: productivity, writing, proofreading, copy-editing
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thread-9951 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9951 | Going for PhD or MS in research right after under graduation? | 2013-05-12T14:33:08.827 | # Question
Title: Going for PhD or MS in research right after under graduation?
I have a bachelors degree in computer science and am going for PhD or research MS, but I do not have research experience. Can I expect to successfully obtain a PhD? What are the major problems faced by a student who has no prior research experience but has good technical knowledge in computer science (but perhaps less so in mathematics)?
# Answer
> 4 votes
In certain disciplines it's very common to enter a Ph.D/MS+thesis program straight out of an undergraduate degree. Computer science is one such discipline. Usually you spend the first year or two in the Ph.D program getting up to speed and doing research. For an MS+Thesis program, things are more compressed, but you also aren't expected to produce research of the same **scope**.
While it's always better to have some research experience as an undergraduate (and this helps your grad application) it's not a requirement for success at the graduate level.
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Tags: phd, graduate-school, masters, computer-science
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thread-9946 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9946 | Can departmental funding combine with fellowships/grants? | 2013-05-12T08:55:28.447 | # Question
Title: Can departmental funding combine with fellowships/grants?
In trying to plan for the future and decide on preferred programs and career paths, I'm trying to figure out the seemingly Byzantine nature of how academic funding sources interact. I am particularly confused about how departmental/institutional funding effect fellowships or grant money.
To give a specific example to illustrate the general point that I'm asking about, consider this FAQ for Prospective Students at Carnegie Mellon, where it is stated anyone accepted into the PhD program can expect their tuition to be paid by the program/waived, and a stipend of ~$24k per year. The page also suggests applying for a fellowship like the PIER Program, which states it provides about a $30k stipend + $10k towards tuition. Another possibility would be something like the SMART Scholarship, which provides tuition assistance, stipend, and allows non-interfering fellowships.
This is all well and good individually, but what happens if you get department funding and a fellowship like this PIER program? Does the department keep its funding entirely and you only get the greater of the two? If your tuition is paid because of your position, does the contribution of a fellowship towards tuition just give your school some extra funding but does not effect your financial situation individually? And how does a SMART scholarship factor in?
Please note I'm not solely interested in this limited example (as it would be of interest to so few people), but more generally how this works in academia across programs and institutions. I'm in the US, though surely how this sort of thing works in other countries would be valuable to know anyway.
As a second example, consider something like a SMART scholarship and then getting a TA/RA position (which they allow) which earns tuition remittance. Does the scholarship funding source get the tuition remitted back to them, or does any part of the tuition remittance get returned to the student?
The bottom line is deciding the real affordability of various institutions and living areas if you expect to need significantly more than a single stipend amount (raising a family, helping kids pay for their college, etc), and of course to help to decide if seeking certain scholarships and fellowships has a sufficient potential ROI for the time required to seek them.
Thank you all for any help in unraveling this Gordian knot of academic finance!
# Answer
In general, the rule of funding in graduate programs is that external money is used to replace internal money. That is, if your department gives a stipend of, say, $20,000 per year, and you win a fellowship that pays $15,000 per year, the $15,000 will be used to offset part of the $20,000.
However, most departments that I'm aware of will also guarantee that fellowship and grant holders don't suffer relative to their peers by bringing in outside money. That is, they guarantee to make up any shortfall between the value of an external award and the department's standard. (In the sciences and engineering, I would steer clear of any department that *doesn't* have such a policy!) Many departments will even incentivize bringing in outside award fellowships by giving a premium or bonus that supplements the outside award. This might be done either by multiplying the standard award by a percentage (so, for instance your total would be 125% of the department's standard), or by giving a lump sum on top of an outside award (if it exceeds the standard, for instance).
One thing to watch out for, however, are **restrictions** placed on the outside fellowship: your department may have to certify, for instance, that you will *not* be assigned teaching duties or other non-research duties during the fellowship period. If you are unable to attain such a certification, the award may not be given out.
For the PhD phase of a program, the tuition should be covered by the department and the outside fellowship; however, in general the student does *not* receive part of the tuition payment back. In general, the tuition charge is a negotiation between the university and the fellowship program, as this is at the graduate level usually a financial transaction. Also, if the student were to receive the tuition payment which was then forwarded to the school, this could be called taxable income, which would make things very messy for everyone.
> 13 votes
# Answer
The answer is: **it depends**. It depends upon the rules of both fellowships. This will be allowable only if both fellowships allow it.
Often external fellowships will have a "no double-dipping rule". For instance, NSF Fellows are not allowed to receive full funding from an alternate source: if you accept the NSF Fellowship, you can't also accept any other fellowship, including an internal fellowship. However, it may be allowable for NSF Fellows to receive a limited supplement/bonus on top of the NSF Fellowship, as a bonus and thank-you for receiving an external fellowship. Other fellowships will have other rules.
For internal fellowships, typically the intent is that you don't receive both an internal and an external fellowship: external funding replaces internal funding.
None of this is cut-and-dry, and there are exceptions to everything. If you have been offered two fellowships, you should contact both fellowship programs to find out about the rules they impose on fellows; that will tell you what you can and can't do.
> 5 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, graduate-admissions, funding
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thread-1547 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1547 | How can I get the rights to my final year project? | 2012-05-13T08:09:33.383 | # Question
Title: How can I get the rights to my final year project?
I live in the UK, study Computing and I'm about to start my final year. I have been told by friends that the University holds the right to my final year project. Is there a way of getting the rights and intellectual property of my final year project?
# Answer
> 15 votes
The first question is why you want the rights. For example, if you are working on something with serious commercial applications and hope to start a company or sell the technology, then this is a very serious issue. The first step is hiring a lawyer, who can advise you on precisely which rights you and the university currently hold, and who can help you negotiate with the university regarding commercialization.
On the other hand, most student projects are of no commercial value. If you just want to display your work online (to help build a portfolio for job applications and in case this work is useful for someone else), then it's probably easier. It may depend on the university, but presumably they don't want to limit the dissemination of student projects, so if you ask them I bet they'll grant permission. You should think about exactly what you want to provide and under what sort of license (for example, if you put code on the web, nobody's allowed to use it unless you license that). I imagine the university would be happy with some sort of Creative Commons license.
I'd recommend being very clear and straightforward when asking, to avoid raising suspicions that you are trying to trick them into giving up the rights to valuable technology.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I expect that it differs from university to university, but in general you won't be able to do this unless you buy the rights from them. Somebody in your students' union/student support services might be able to give you a better answer.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I would double-check on that statement of your friends. If you are not employed by someone to produce some intellectual property, then **you will own the copyright** to all texts and other material that you create. You are then free to transfer that right to someone else (at least in the UK), or give out licenses.
So unless either
1. you have a **work contract** with your university for this project, or
2. you signed an **agreement** that the university will own the rights to your project,
I would expect that you retain all rights in the project.
There is one caveat: Any **material that is provided to you by the advisor** of your project is of course not your intellectual property, and you would have to deal with it as with any external source. This may include even the initial project description, if it is of substantial intellectual value!
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Tags: undergraduate, university, copyright
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thread-9972 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9972 | Should my withdrawals be included on my transcripts for graduate admissions? | 2013-05-13T20:36:34.393 | # Question
Title: Should my withdrawals be included on my transcripts for graduate admissions?
When I first started college out of high school I attended a university for a few months before withdrawing. I received all W's on the transcript from that school. I am now about to graduate from a different university and am applying to different graduate schools.
Do I need to send the transcripts from this first school where I received the W's or do I only send transcripts from schools where I earned credit?
# Answer
This will depend on the schools that you're applying to. The best bet is going to be to call the admissions office and just ask. Every application I've sent in has specifically stated *all colleges **attended***, but I suspect that your mileage may vary.
House-keeping note: Welcome to Ac.SO! Your question is fairly specific to your circumstances and so would be generally frowned upon as it doesn't really adhere to the format of the site. Check out the FAQ for more information on what a good SO question looks like.
Best of luck with your applications.
> 7 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, transcript-of-records, withdraw
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thread-9974 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9974 | Making sense of PhD Transcript | 2013-05-13T22:15:50.483 | # Question
Title: Making sense of PhD Transcript
At my university, there is no grading on a PhD transcript. There is no exam or predefined coursework (i.e. you can work on any aspect of the dissertation and in any order, which is not assessed but reviewed by the supervisor). At the end of the program (three years), the candidate must submit a dissertation for examination.
The PhD dissertation is examined by internal and external examiners and their reports give either a pass or a fail. There are various shades (e.g. pass, pass with minor revision, pass with major revision, fail, fail but allowed to resubmit, fail with a lesser award, fail with no award etc.).
The final transcript states "satisfactory progress" for each semester of enrolment and "pass" for the final semester. The graduation then takes place and the degree is awarded.
I recently had a request to provide the transcript of my PhD. The problem I have is that "satisfactory progress" and "pass" can both be seen as equivalent to a "C" grade (as per the key to grading that explains the grading for all university programs e.g. bachelors degree) I know this is not the case for a PhD. (I got some outstanding feedback from the examiners!)
**How do I reconcile this situation?**
I know I can alawys provide the examiners' reports but each report is close to 10 pages, with positive and negative comments. The award of the PhD is subject to the candidate making changes to the dissertation as per the examiners' comments (or otherwise defending why the examiners' comments are not valid in regard to the study). The final dissertation is not the same as the one the examiners assessed and in almost all cases it is a better product (hence the examiners's comments are no longer a true reflection).
**How does the grading of PhD work in other universities?**
**EDIT:** The 'issue' with no grades being available is that the Official Academic Transcript lists the six semesters (three years) with "Satisfactory Progress" for the first five semesters and "Pass" for the last semester. On the back is the grading information (i.e. what "Satisfactory Progress" and "Pass" mean). "Satisfactory Progress" is coded SP and means meeting all requirements to progress to the next course in a sequence of courses in a postgraduate research program and "Pass" is coded "C" and means demonstrated satisfactory levels of achievements in all objectives designated as essential for passing the course. The grading information also provides information on the highest grade which is HD (High Distinction) through to the lowest grade F (Fail). In this situation, why shouldn't a person see "Pass" as a C grade for a PhD!
# Answer
> 14 votes
> How do I reconcile this situation?
**You don't.**
It will be clear to the anyone reading you transcript that your university does not provide grades for preliminary stages of your PhD. **Most likely, what they're *really* asking for is merely proof that you have the degree.** If they actually want more detailed grades, that's too bad for them, because those grades don't exist.
> How does the grading of PhD work in other universities?
**In the US, dissertations are not graded; you either get the degree or you don't.**
Along the way to the degree, PhD students may take classes (either by requirement or by choice), and grades for those classes typically show up on the transcript just as they do for undergraduates. US PhD students also typically sign up for research credit hours as a "class" during semesters when they aren't taking real classes, but those "classes" are almost always graded pass/fail or equivalent (for example, at my university, "satisfactory/unsatisfactory"). The actual dissertation and defense never shows up in the transcript, even if a student fails their defense.
I can't think of any circumstance where anyone (at least in the US) would even look at the transcript of someone's completed PhD program. Proof of degree, sure, but *grades*? Never.
> In this situation, why shouldn't a person see "Pass" as a C grade for a PhD!
Because PhDs don't have "grades".
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Tags: phd
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thread-9694 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9694 | Good, neutral source for ISBN linking? (on citing books) | 2013-04-28T08:55:25.983 | # Question
Title: Good, neutral source for ISBN linking? (on citing books)
In my bibliography, I want to link the ISBN number to an actual website. My question is: which website is recommended to be used? Is there some 'neutral' source that I can expect to be still functioning in 5 years and that will return reliable results?
IBSN numbers are apparently provided by the International ISBN Agency, so this would clearly be the best source. Turns out, however, that they do not offer an ISBN lookup! I am currently considering two options:
Google Books: http://www.google.comco.uk/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=isbn:0060930314&num=10
ISBNSearch.org: http://www.isbnsearch.org/isbn/0060930314
Both appear to have their commercial interest, but they appear to be reliable enough. I would prefer Google. Or is there any other more recommended website?
# Answer
You could use worldcat.org, it is built and maintained collectively by the participating libraries around the world (see Wikipedia article). They offer ISBN search, e.g. www.worldcat.org/search?q=isbn:0060930314
> 20 votes
# Answer
Google Books is a great website and there’s nothing wrong with using it for your purpose. But if you don’t want to be dependent on Google you could use the following sites:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ABookSources&isbn=0060930314
The downside for Wikipedia is that it doesn’t show the book title and one has to search another time for the book. But it’s ad free and certainly still online in five years.
But I’d suggest OpenLibrary: http://openlibrary.org/search?isbn=0060930314
Non-profit, ad free, part of the Internet Archive. Also high possibility of availability in five years.
> 8 votes
# Answer
http://www.bookfinder.com/ has been around for a long time and they claim they never charge a markup from search results, so although not neutral as such maybe useful?
There is also http://www.openisbn.com/ which says
> OPENISBN is a personal project dedicated to provide its users ISBN search services and ISBN data, introduction, book reviews, book preview, free ebooks and book price comparison for your specific book.
Possibly something that will not be around for decades, but it sounds at least very neutral.
> 1 votes
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Tags: citations, books
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thread-9994 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9994 | How to write a postdoc research proposal in mathematics? | 2013-05-15T04:33:11.023 | # Question
Title: How to write a postdoc research proposal in mathematics?
I have to write a research proposal for some (post doctoral) fellowship (for Mathematics/Mathematical Physics). The authority wants me to submit a short research proposal (preferably in two pages which includes bibliography). Can someone suggest what one should consider while writing such a proposal with a length restriction? I believe, I just have to highlight the main points of the the research and give a bibliography with it, but I may be wrong. The idea in my mind contains several steps. Should I give a time frame as well to finish each one? Please help.
Reconsidering once again, can someone tell me how to write good research proposals in areas like pure mathematics (I mean, like Non-commutative geometry, K-Homology etc. where, unlike some other subjects, number of papers, an average researcher can produce at the time of graduation, is less).
# Answer
I think this might be useful as complementary to the questions mentioned by Suresh. I heard for the first time about **Heilmeier Catechism** in one of the grant writing workshops. Since then I always think to Heilmeier questions while writing a proposal or paper.
I copy Heilmeier questions from DARPA website, however another version is available from Wikipedia.
1. What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon. What is the problem? Why is it hard?
2. How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?
3. What's new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?
4. Who cares?
5. If you're successful, what difference will it make? What impact will success have? How will it be measured?
6. What are the risks and the payoffs?
7. How much will it cost?
8. How long will it take?
9. What are the midterm and final "exams" to check for success? How will progress be measured?
> 22 votes
# Answer
I'm sure this depends wildly from area to area, and while I work in the theoretical side of CS, I claim no expertise on math research proposals. Having said that, there are some general guidelines.
Since you're applying for a fellowship, it's competitive. So you have to make a few points in your proposal:
* \[**WHY**\] that the problem you're studying is interesting and worthwhile
* \[**HOW**\] that your line of attack (briefly sketched) is plausible
* \[**WHO**\] and that you have the right skills to execute this plan
and all of this in 2 pages !
Unless specifically asked for, I'd be surprised to see a timeline, especially with open-ended research. However, if the postdoc is for a fixed time, then the work being proposed should expect to produce some tangible results in that time frame if the plan works.
> 10 votes
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Tags: mathematics, postdocs
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thread-10010 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10010 | What computations of the Lotka function exist for publications in humanities meta-disciplines? | 2013-05-15T23:21:16.713 | # Question
Title: What computations of the Lotka function exist for publications in humanities meta-disciplines?
Given Lotka's law's general applicability to publishing rates and bibliometrics; what computations of the Lotka function exist for the meta-disciplines in the humanities? (Philosophy, History, Literary Criticism by language, Film criticism, Anthropology, History and Philosophy of Science / Science and Technology Studies)
I wish to test cultural assumptions ("work culture") about publication rates of sole authored papers against Lotka values to check managerial assumptions, and my own assumptions, about productivity levels and "workload". Yet I have no adequate grounding to find computed Lotka functions for discipline.
# Answer
There have been a few papers published in this space by bibliometricians/scientometricians already. Having said this, why would you need pre-configured values of lotka's law for certain sub-disciplines in the humanities?
I would collect data (perhaps using Web of Science/Google Scholar/Wiley/Elsevier etc.) ; then do empirical testing with the generalized Lotka's law on particular sub-disciplines and then control against your cultural assumptions and other variables. This is because every discipline changes over time and a paper published on this in the 1970's may yield different results now with the same methodology. Most of my references cited below point this (or some variation of this) out as limitations of temporally specific computations of these laws.
Having said this, there are a few papers which might help you in this task if you haven't found them already:
This paper specifically looks at generalizing Lotka's Law in the humanities and formulates the same queries that I laid out earlier about it being spatio-temporal specific.
This paper is the Pao's modification to Lotka's law for humanities and has some empirical evaluations from certain humanities literature.
This paper is an empirical modification of Pao's variation (see above) to Lotka's Law in certain humanities disciplines.
This is an editorial response to Lotka's law applicability in the humanities.
This is a general paper which looks at quantifying author productivity and impact specifically in the humanities. It is a very good read for approaches.
In other words, do some up-to-date empirical evaluation and then perhaps, run your study. The first could actually make for a fine empirical paper by itself in the scientometrics world. Pre-configured function values are like using empirical regression estimates ; they are fine and *specific* to *that* study but may not be generalizable across all studies.
> 3 votes
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Tags: bibliometrics, humanities
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thread-10013 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10013 | What if I can make a profit for an assignment/project I did similar to "Google"? | 2013-05-16T04:31:01.880 | # Question
Title: What if I can make a profit for an assignment/project I did similar to "Google"?
This is kind of like the google story. We are currently doing an project individually. The idea I came up with can be used as a website that can make profit. My question is, let's say I was able to make money with the code I am writing, since this is a university project that I will submit for marks, do they own a piece of that profit. I know that the Google guys had to pay about $300 million to Standford but it seemed to me like the "patent issue". And they dropped out so I really can't say much about their case. The facebook story is different.
So am I obligated to share the profit with the university or does this differ from institution to institution? After all, even if they take my code, since I wrote it, I can rewrite it with ease.
**Edit:** It's kind of like inventing something that can be sold or used as a service. Does the institution own a piece of it.
# Answer
> 3 votes
This cannot be answered in general.
It depends on the contract you have with the institution and the applicable law in your jurisdiction. It may depend on how you were funded as well.
I know of examples from both extremes: your university owns 100% and your university owns nothing, as well as everything in between. Some intermediate setting is probably more common, but, as I said, it depends.
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Tags: university, research-undergraduate
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thread-10001 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10001 | How can I ensure that my software is correctly cited? | 2013-05-15T14:55:34.047 | # Question
Title: How can I ensure that my software is correctly cited?
I have the following situation.
I have published a paper and in order to get and analyse the results for my research I created some software. I want to make my software open-source, so that anyone can do research with it and change/improve it for their purposes.
But I would like people to cite my paper if they are going to publish anything using my software. So if someone is just using it for fun, I do not care, but if someone modified it and used his modified version to collect/analyse the results, which he publishes in any paper, I want him to cite the paper I have wrote.
Is there an appropriate software license or other means for this purpose?
# Answer
You could try adapting one of the existing open source licences, with help from your university's Legal IP team. **But** a software licence is the wrong tool for the job.
One way to do it, is to write a **methodology** paper. That's the paper that then gets cited by anyone using your code, or an adapted version of your code, to produce material for subsequent papers.
As the paper you published was just about the results you got from the software, I've got some bad news and some good news for you.
The bad news is that you've got to write another paper.
The good news is that this new paper will use work that you've already done. It will be a methodology paper where you describe the software in detail, providing the source as supplementary information. And that's what will get cited, by those who use your software.
You can also include something such as a bibtex file in with the distribution of your software, to make citation easier: **the more you can do to reduce hurdles to citation, the more chance you've got of getting those citations**. Once you've got the above paper written, the bibtex file should describe that paper. And before then, you can do what the R-project does:
> To cite R in publications, use
```
@Manual{,
title = {R: A Language and Environment for Statistical
Computing},
author = {{R Core Team}},
organization = {R Foundation for Statistical Computing},
address = {Vienna, Austria},
year = 2013,
url = {http://www.R-project.org}
}
```
> Citation strings (or BibTeX entries) for R and R packages can also be obtained by citation().
> 12 votes
# Answer
You cannot guarantee that people will cite the paper. All you can do is make it easier for them.
A rather obvious idea: why not write on the software's web page something like
> If you use or adapt this software in your research could you please cite it as follows: **\[details of citation, such as bibtex\]**.
Include this message also in the README file, the user manual and so forth.
> 10 votes
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Tags: publications, copyright
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thread-9990 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9990 | Alphabetical Order for Authors in Computer Science | 2013-05-15T01:00:02.703 | # Question
Title: Alphabetical Order for Authors in Computer Science
I was wondering, in the field of Computer Science, if there is a convention for acknowledging that author ordering for an academic paper is by alphabetical order, not contribution.
I know that in CS, alphabetical ordering, isn't all that common, however due to a lack of internal consensus, alphabetical ordering would be preferred in my situation.
Even in fields outside of CS, is there a convention for perhaps indicating in a footnote that the author list is alphabetical and NOT by contribution?
EDIT: To elaborate a bit more, after examining the question posted here, our field would likely be considered 'computer systems' (rather than theoretical computer science) where it is stated that the first author is usually the team lead. However in our situation, as I said, we are having internal disagreement over which person would be considered 'leader', and I was wondering what the best way to indicate equal contribution, or perhaps use alphabetical ordering to avoid the issue all together. We weren't really expecting to submit our work for publication (we're undergraduates), so this all has been rather unexpected.
# Answer
In theoretical CS, alphabetical order **is** the norm - see the relevant wikipedia entry.
> 10 votes
# Answer
We ended up making a note with the author's list that names were in alphabetical order an not indicative of contribution.
> 2 votes
# Answer
It depends on the subfield. Andrew Appel has a nice paper working this out for different conferences. (Hat tip Dylan Thurston on MO.)
> 0 votes
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Tags: publications, authorship, computer-science
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thread-10023 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10023 | How to tackle the bibliographic work as an entering PhD student? | 2013-05-16T18:18:37.343 | # Question
Title: How to tackle the bibliographic work as an entering PhD student?
I'll be starting my PhD in the next fall. I already looked over the internet for advice for a beginner, even read two books on the subjects. Still, there is one point I haven't seen discussed as I wanted, it's the time and the way the student should be investing in catching up on his field and his specific topic, I'm speaking about the bibliographic part. For sure a student needs a lot of (continuous) input, but at the end he'll be solely judged on his output. From my previous research project, I'm not really confident in my way of balancing between going through articles/textbook material and trying to solve my own problematics. To be honest, it sometimes feels like a sneaky way of procrastinating: I'd tell myself that I'm still not ready to tackle my problem and that I need to make a little "detour" by existing works; and when it's done I don't feel more at ease to answer my questions. Or is it a normal aspect of research?
In my specific case, I'll be working on a quite new subject (string theory) when I only had advanced lecture of quantum field theory and general relativity; so I'm thinking about going through the canonical textbook on the subject during the summer, do most of the exercises and derivations in there (which already represents hundreds of hours invested), maybe revising some mathematical tools I need to be really familiar with. Once I'll have a general idea of the topic I'll jump to the main articles in relation to my thesis. I also know that I will be using numerical tools (Monte Carlo methods) and will need to get conformable with that. So far I only have a superficial knowledge and use of the tool. Does it seem like a good use of my time? I already know that time and willpower are limited resources in grad school and I really don't want my desire to do well to burn me out from the beginning.
# Answer
> To be honest, it sometimes feels like a sneaky way of procrastinating: I'd tell myself that I'm still not ready to tackle my problem and that I need to make a little "detour" by existing works; and when it's done I don't feel more at ease to answer my questions. Or is it a normal aspect of research?
It is probably the most common way that new grad students attempt (consciously or otherwise) to avoid doing research :)
You have to remember that prior knowledge is an ocean you're swimming in, not a cup that you have to finish drinking. There's literally no way to "read all the prior literature": there's always something more.
General reading is perfectly fine, but when you have a problem to work on, it's best to break down bibliographic research into:
* what does prior work say about your problem and what's the key open question (and this is something your advisor can help you with)
* Once you start thinking about a specific problem and are trying to apply some specific tools, is there material to help you understand those tools better ?
* When you're writing up, what **related** (not **prior**) work should you be aware of ?
At each stage, read only as much as you absolutely need to, in order to avoid going down rabbit holes. And remember, as a new Ph.D student, it's not a terrible thing if you reinvent something that someone discovered before, and only learn of this after the fact. You just don't that happening at your dissertation defense :)
> 8 votes
# Answer
That you are thinking about these matters is a very good start. You need to remember that exactly what you need to know and to read up on will only be known in a genral sense. your PhD project theme will provide this general direction. What details you need to pick up in terms of numerical methods etc. will to a lrger extent develop as your research develops. So you do not need to worry about what you could possibly have use for. You probably know key areas relavant to the topic.
So, you need to lay a broad foundation and read up on the topic and supporting areas (fields). If there are key methods or equivalent you can start looking at that as well. However,I ould expect your advisor will also provide guidance in setting up direction through course work and suggesting reading. I would personally not expect a student to have a complete background by the time he or she starts.
So, as I state earlier, that you are thinking about this is very good but you should not worry too much because you will not know the details until you have the PhD project clearly defined and started woring with your future advisor. So any knowledge you can gain will be a bonus but you are not expected to finish your PhD until you have completed your PhD studies.
> 3 votes
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Tags: phd, citations, methodology
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thread-9771 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9771 | Are there actually students who learn by watching? | 2013-05-02T01:58:55.120 | # Question
Title: Are there actually students who learn by watching?
I'm a PhD student in physics, and I sometimes tutor undergrads in introductory physics classes on the side. Now, there's widespread agreement among people who teach or tutor physics that the only way to effectively learn the material is to *use* it, generally by working through practice problems in homework assignments and sample exams.
But recently I was contacted by a student who was interested in "tutoring," where by use of the quotes I mean that what she wanted was for *me* to do problems, and she would watch and ask questions when she was confused about something. At one point this student wrote a long email full of what seemed like psychological mumbo-jumbo trying to justify her assertion that she actually learns that way, and that the normal method of having *her* do the work would not be effective. I didn't believe it (thus I declined the tutoring assignment), but was I wrong? Are there actually students who don't learn by doing the work, and for whom it *is* a more effective strategy to just show them how to go through a problem? I would definitely appreciate pointers to educational psychology research on the matter, if anyone knows of any.
Note that I'm not talking about how to teach a topic for the first time, to a group of students who have never seen it before. In that case I know a bit of demonstration is necessary. The situation I'm asking about is reviewing for a final exam, where the student would (or should) have already learned the material in class and completed a homework assignment or two on it.
# Answer
I am not an expert in cognitive science or psychology but I have a few years of teaching assistant experience behind me so I will have a go at this one and I suspect that a few others might even agree with me.
My general roles are in leading discussion sections and in lab sessions (information science: so combination of coding and data analysis in context with social science literature)
Now learning by watching aka observational learning is not a new concept. Scientists have been studying this for a long, long time. However, note the example literature cited in the previous links. There is a marked difference in learning how to strike a Bobo doll and acquiring a complex skill such as deriving Newton Law's of Motion
Having laid all of this expository work, I would like to argue that personally, I **believe** that observational learning exists and happens in the natural world around us. I just don't believe that one can acquire complex mathematical notions and concepts just by observing (unless this girl is some sort of a savant).
I think that this student was just trying to make you do her homework problems for her.
> 15 votes
# Answer
I think the student is reasonable, up to a point, then she is unreasonable.
When tutoring a student (teaching of any kind, really), you should give some examples in order to give her the key information she will need in order to do the work which will be expected of her. However, after you have covered the key points, which includes showing her how to work through a problem or two (or three, depending on the situation) then you must assess her learning (and your teaching).
The natural way to assess is to have her produce, for example by solving problems. If she only wants to watch you and does not want to produce then it seems she is not interested in you assessing her and she is not interested in assessing herself. I would not start (or continue) tutoring this kind of student.
So, yes, perhaps she does learn best that way...but part of the educator's job is to see if the education is actually taking hold and the only way to do that is to have the student produce something.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I have done almost all of my math learning so far this way. Consequently, I know a whole lot of math and I know a whole lot *about* a lot of areas of math, but I suck at proving things, and my knowledge isn't terribly deep. Thankfully, I am finally going to be taking some pure math courses where I will have to prove things and develop my skills.
Less generally, I think that one can learn facts and knowledge and problem solving strategies by watching, but they will not develop skills. For that they need practice.
> 4 votes
# Answer
If one were to wager, the smart money is that it's a con. However, in principle, an exceptional person certainly does not need to be subjected to the orthodox fake-rigor fake-serious pretense. That is, a person with some natural talent catches on very, very, very quickly, while other kids are effectively resisting and thinking of something else anyway.
By this point in my life, I am inclined to give people a chance to "be talented", rather than to doubt that they are, even while I might privately bet against their self-estimate or pretense. After all, letting a few people "game" the system while we treat serious people well is better than brutally policing everything, crushing sincere talented people, just to be sure that no one "gets more credit than they deserve".
Btw, I think it's not about "learning styles", but about degree of engagement, optimistically. (Or else it is a con, but it's better for all of us to try to believe it's not...)
> 0 votes
# Answer
I would like to provide another perspective to this question; regardless whether or not the student is trying to fool you into doing her work for her, you can take a look at it from a practical perspective.
You (=tutor) are required to teach to her (=stuent) and presumably to many others like her. Likewise you are expected to read articles and do research. I would even argue that your primary task is to do research, not to teach undergrads. So, while your responsibilities are to prepare material and give lectures etc, their responsibility is to go through the material and do the work (hw/assignments). Given that you provide enough examples during the lectures, I don't see why you should go through the review or homework assignments for the student(s).
After all it's probably not feasible (time) or reasonable for you to do all that. Are you going to have individual sessions for every single student, so that their thoughts don't get disturbed by others who might ask questions? A compromise could be to hold *one* lecture where you solve old exam questions for the whole class. Our calculus teachers used to do that. THey would take an old exam, and solve each question, explaining as they go.
I am all for helping people with special needs (hearing aids, dyslexia etc) but *"I don't want to do the homework assignments, you do them for me and I watch you solve them"* is not a special need, it's good old laziness.
> 0 votes
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Tags: teaching, methodology
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thread-9222 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9222 | How to present data in a paper in terms of style | 2013-04-08T12:23:57.187 | # Question
Title: How to present data in a paper in terms of style
I have previously been involved in a course, where we (the students) were supposed to use a specific style, when presenting our graphical data. By `style` I mean the size/color of legends, thickness of datapoints, layout of the figure, etc....
Does similar guidelines exist when publishing data in a peer-reviewed journal? Or is it entirely up to me to decide, how it should look?
# Answer
> 12 votes
The purpose of any style when presenting graphics should aim at making the information as easy to read and comprehend as possible. I do not think any journals would provide specific style recommendaions except provide information on, for example, the thinnest posible lines, smallest possible font sizes to be reproduced in printing, color models etc.
I think it is important to think about how you present data in any scientific or professional communication. It will be largely up to you to make decisions on the material you visualize. My recommendation is to look at the book The Visual Display Of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte and then to learn by example. This book, in my opinion, like no other, provides a good basis for understanding graphic display of data. Look at what others do and critically evaluate how successful those attempts are.
# Answer
> 3 votes
There may be journal-specific guidelines, but none of the journals I dabble in have specified such. I tell students that journal articles require "professional" looking graphs. This usually translates into simple graphs. If you take something like the Excel defaults you will see the opposite of professional looking. Excel puts lots of colors, too small fonts, lines everywhere, titles, unlabeled axes, etc. Simple black and white plots work just fine for most plots. Your job is to present the data for easy access to the reader. If you want to understand this, just grab some recent journal articles in top journals and look at their graphs. You'll see what good graphs should look like.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I'd suggest just using a good graphics program and using its defaults. This would normally look good enough, I imagine most journals would not be too fussy about such things. You probably also want to use a scripting language for reproducibility and efficiency. The following packages are reasonable choices, produce high quality graphics without much work, have reasonable defaults which can be tweaked if necessary, and export into the common image file formats like PDF, PNG etc. `ggplot2` in particular is designed to be very high level and flexible, and is based somewhat on the Grammar of Graphics book by Wilkinson, which describes a high level approach to data visualization. Specifically, high level implies ignoring the small details of your graphic and letting the program taking care of it for you.
The R package `ggplot2` already mentioned is quite popular. You could also try `PGF/TikZ` and the plot package that uses it, `pgfplots`. `matplotlib` is another possibility, though I have not used it much. Also note that both `R` and `matplotlib` have `PGF/TikZ`backends. For `R` see `TikZDevice` though it does not seem to be actively developed. For `matplotlib`, see matplotlib: Typesetting With XeLaTeX/LuaLaTeX.
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Tags: publications, graphics
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thread-10021 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10021 | Is it legal to run interviews for an academic job when the post has already being assigned? | 2013-05-16T14:38:10.680 | # Question
Title: Is it legal to run interviews for an academic job when the post has already being assigned?
The normal UK process to hire new academic staff would be:
1. The position is placed on job adverts, websites, specialized magazines
2. The curricula and forms from prospective candidates are collected
3. A filter is applied and a short-list produced
4. The short-list candidates sit in a workbench for an interview
5. The position is assigned to the most qualified candidate
I happen to know of a case where the position is **already assigned**, but the job avert has been published, so it should be open to all candidates. Since the position has already been assigned, steps 2 through 4 are a waste of time and paperwork as other responding candidates will not be seriously considered.
*Is this superfluous search process legal?*
# Answer
> 11 votes
In many cases, academic institutions will be **legally obliged** to fill positions according to the procedure you described. This usually requires publishing a call for applications in a suitable medium, and putting together a short list of selected candidates based on qualification for the position and fit to the announcement.
Now there may be the "problem" that the person or group that will select the candidate already has a specific candidate in mind and want to "assign" the position to that candidate. However, simply hiring that candidate without going through the formal process would in fact be illegal. So the typical workaround in this case is to make the announcement so specific that the desired candidate will be the best qualified person for the position. It may be ethically questionable, but I fear **it is totally legal**.
Still, even for other candidates, this approach seems to be better than allowing the institution to just fill the position without the formal process. Especially if there is a committee deciding on the short list, this may even be different from the group that made up the announcement, and there may be people pushing for candidates they deem more qualified than the originally desired candidate. Chances for other candidates will clearly be rather low, but still higher than zero as in the case without announcement.
As to the question whether it is possible to find out about such a situation in advance, I fear it is not that easy. It works best when one has good contacts to people in the committee, and can ask informally about the situation. Otherwise, a reasonable approach would be to phone a contact given in the announcement and discuss details of the position. In many cases, one should be able to figure out whether the other person is open to applications or not.
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Tags: job-search, interview, legal-issues
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thread-9985 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9985 | How to ask an university for application selection result before accepting an offer from another university? | 2013-05-14T19:13:45.720 | # Question
Title: How to ask an university for application selection result before accepting an offer from another university?
I have an offer from one university and still awaiting results from others.
How to approach other universities and ask them about my application status so that I receive my selection / rejection before the deadline of accepting the offer? Is it rude to inform the universities that I have an offer from another university and will be accepting if the results are not announced before the deadline?
All the universities are in the same region.
# Answer
> 9 votes
Like everybody else is saying: **Just Ask.**
And do it sooner rather later. Telling a university that you have an offer already will signal that other schools' further along in the process think you're great.
And anyway, you have absolutely nothing to lose by asking. If they want you, they're not going to think it's annoying and will be afraid that will lose you to your other offer. If they don't want you, asking can't hurt. If they are on the fence, a signal that you're admittable will only help.
# Answer
> 9 votes
A related, but not truly duplicate, answer
Just ask. Tell them you have been accept at X, but Y is your first choice. The admissions committee does not need much explanation since it happens all the time. Asking to speed up the process will not hurt your chances. They may not be able to speed anything up, but if they do/don't, they will not hold it against you.
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Tags: masters, application, graduate-admissions
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thread-10018 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10018 | Master Thesis - use of cover illustration | 2013-05-16T11:14:46.897 | # Question
Title: Master Thesis - use of cover illustration
I'm currently writing my master thesis and would like an opinion on whether or not to use a cover illustration on the thesis.
I've noticed many students around me do not take the time to make the cover page attractive (e.g. a simple title is all).
What is the "standard" convention regarding the cover page of a master thesis?
Note that I have no restrictions from my university.
# Answer
> 2 votes
The primary reason for not having a "pretty cover" is simple: practicality.
Keep in mind that many schools will have "official" copies of the thesis bound; for archival purposes, and to keep production costs down, the covers don't typically have illustrations, but are usually monochromatic standard bindings. The cover art would therefore not be obvious to anybody looking at the thesis—and the low traffic for theses means it's usually not worth the effort to produce it.
However, as Chris points out, if your school *doesn't* have a policy, you can do what you'd like. On the other hand, I'd focus on the quality of the material presented in the thesis before worrying about the cover art!
# Answer
> 6 votes
I'd like to provide a counter to the "content is what matters" advice. Of course the content is what it's all about, but I think that a great many people in academia underestimate the importance of presentation.
Look at the way people decide whether or not to read a paper. They look at the title. If that suggests that it's interesting to them, they read the abstract. If that's interesting enough they read the introduction and maybe the conclusion, and so on. That means that of the 4000 or so words in the paper, the five that make up the title are the most important. You're fully justified in spending as much time on the title as on 1000 words of the description of your method. The presentation of your paper is not just gloss, it determines the size of your audience. If your presentation is bad, your results have to be really exceptional to find even a small readership.
This translates directly to your Master's thesis. A nice cover shows that you care. What's more, the largest group of people that will come into contact with it, will only pick it up, look at it and put it back down again, without even really reading the title. Your cover illustration is the only opportunity you have of communicating with them and enticing them to read the title properly. From that, the summary, and from that the first paragraph of your introduction and so on.
Don't mistake presentation for gloss. Academia is all about communication, and communication is worrying about the details.
# Answer
> 5 votes
It's your thesis, and if your committee approves it with beautiful cover art, then you're all set.
For professional theses, the standard is a plain cover with pertinent details about the thesis. Departments or universities generally have a template document or provide specific guidance, but if that isn't true for your school, then I wouldn't worry about it.
Bottom line: I would discuss it with your advisor, and other committee members. If you want it to be a surprise to them (not advisable), then by all means give it a shot.
# Answer
> 2 votes
For many students, there are strict guidelines that describe how a thesis can be formatted. If you're not restricted by guidelines, and if you have the time and inclination to have your thesis be a beautiful object, there's no reason not to.
Although the content matters much more than any amount of fancy layout, great presentation can make a difference. As in food, the first bite is always with the eye.
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Tags: masters, thesis
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thread-10040 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10040 | How common are 'monitors' (class leaders)? | 2013-05-17T14:03:52.437 | # Question
Title: How common are 'monitors' (class leaders)?
I have found that in Asian universities, there is a concept I am unfamiliar with: The monitor. The monitor here is not someone who monitors but rather one student, usually elected by the other students, to speak for the group and to perform administrative tasks. This is a position of leadership and signifies that this student is special (and might get preferential treatment from the teacher).
From my other university teaching experience (outside of Asia), I have never seen this. I'm wondering, is this common across Asia to have these 'monitors?' Is it common in other (non-Asian) parts of the world?
Does anyone have any insights on things to be concerned with (for someone new to the idea of monitors)?
Note: It seems the monitor position starts in the earliest years (pre-K) and are not just at the university level but they also go up all the way to graduate-level classes.
# Answer
I can provide details in Taiwan. I know the situations in many other countries in Asia are similar. Hopefully users from Asia on this board can confirm this.
In Taiwan, the role is called class leader in elementary school, middle school and high school. They are usually assigned by the teachers of the classes.
In college, it is called the class representative. The representatives are elected by the students. The length of the term usually is a year.
Upon entering college, students already select their major. The university groups all the students having the same major into one or more classes depending on the number of students (the standard class size is 50). **They take all the required courses together if possible.** The students in the same class know each other very well. The class is like a big family. Naturally, you have a representative who speaks for the class and handles all the administrative matters. You also have a deputy representative in case the rep is not available. There are other students responsible for other duties such as purchase, sports, etc.
The rep gets elected usually because he/she is popular in the class or a good student. I would not say he gets preferential treatment from the professor/department because he is the rep. Sometimes it is the opposite. I once declined a rep nomination because I wanted to concentrate on my study.
However, being a rep can be advantageous. You learn how to be a leader. You learn how to communicate with other people who are sometimes superior, such as the professor, department chair or even the dean. Leadership is not something you can learn it all from the books. You have to do it. Two of the four reps in my college class are very successful in their late career.
It would be much easier for the professor to talk to the class rep when he wants the whole class to do some unusual assignments. Once you can convince the rep it's the right thing to do, the rep would then pass the message to the whole class. You are more likely to get the cooperation from the students. I would not recommend you to use him very often, though. He represents the class, not you. He would lose the trust from his classmates when he becomes your pet student. In general, **the class representative concept is more like the department chair of a university department**.
Hope this helps.
> 7 votes
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Tags: teaching, group-dynamics, asia
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thread-10045 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10045 | How to decide whether a statement requires citing a reliable source | 2013-05-18T06:23:20.620 | # Question
Title: How to decide whether a statement requires citing a reliable source
When writing a paper, I usually face the problem of deciding whether a sentence is cite-able or not. Let's say I am writing about optimization of an algorithm. And I used Java to implement it. So, in the introduction, I would say something like "Java is a class based object oriented language..." This information is available in many java books and online tutorials. Does the ubiquity of the sentence make it un-citeable? Or do I cite that fact. I have read many prominent papers that simply use that sentence without quoting a source.
Or do we only cite numerical facts that go like "Java is x times slower/faster than c++". I once read an article that says "when writing a paper, you should cite every sentence that you happen to read some where." But this is unrealistic; and we might have almost as many citations as the number of sentences in the paper.
Is there any rule that dictates on what is quotable or not?
# Answer
> 16 votes
Yes, there are rules on what requires citation.
Generally, publicly-known information (widely known, common knowledge, etc.) does not need to be cited. Your sentence about Java being class-based would fall under this category.
Information which is based on someone else's work (analysis, research, pictures, etc.), whether quoted or paraphrased, should always be cited. Your sentence about Java being x time slower/faster than C++ would fall under this category.
If you are unsure, cite it to be safe.
# Answer
> 5 votes
These are not rules but the way I think about it:
1. if the information is basic introductory text book material, you may not need to cite it.
2. If the information can be found in advanced text books (not intro-level), cite a book that you are familiar with and that supports that statement.
3. If the informaiton is only found in research papers obviously those are what you reference.
If yu are uncertain, you simply quote a higher level: uncertain if it goes into (1.) then do (2.) etc. It is worse to miss referencing than providing a citation/reference "too much". In the worst case someone might suggest removing the refence/citation.
# Answer
> 4 votes
It depends of the audience at which is aimed the article.
In theory, in a scientific document you must explicitly list the basis for all your assumptions, and defend them. If the correctness of the thesis described in your article depends on fact $A$, then you either prove $A$ or give a reference to someone who proved $A$. In practice scientific reports skip some references assumed to be common (e.g. definition and properties of the logarithm): it used to be important to save printing space (not so true now with electronic proceedings), it stays important to keep the article uncluttered. Given the reasons for skipping some references, there cannot be any absolute rule about which ones to skip: the decision depends of the audience you are aiming at, and in particular of your evaluation of the knowledge in common between you and them: put references when they are necessary *to your audience* (and do not clutter your article when they are not).
For instance, your sentence about Java being class-based would be unwelcome (in addition of unnecessary) in an article aimed at researchers in computer science, because this fact is supposed to be well known (and agreed upon). But it might be welcome in an article aimed at students (in computer science or not), or researchers in other fields than computer science (e.g. biologists). On the other hand, the fact that Java is slower than C++ might evolve in time (e.g. java compilers getting better), or be argued against (different type of applications): you should always give a reference for this kind of statement if you did not argue or prove it yourself.
Hope it helps!
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Tags: citations
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thread-10059 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10059 | Mentor trying to be first author? | 2013-05-18T17:00:40.240 | # Question
Title: Mentor trying to be first author?
I was on an internship with professor A at University B in China. We were working on a computer science project. During the internship I implemented professor A's idea and got some results. Three weeks ago I finished a paper draft and left University B for a new internship. Me and professor A were planning to submit the paper draft to a conference (deadline: May 20).
Until yesterday (May 17), the order of authors was: me, professor A, other students & collaborators in the lab... And professor A had no objection with that. However, last night I received an email from him. He said he wants to be the first author... His reason was for intellectual properties and patent issues. My understanding is that because I was merely an intern at University B, if the first author was me, it would cause IP troubles for him?
**I feel deceived. But, should I feel like this?** I was counting on a first-author paper because I'm planning to apply for a PhD program in the US. One paper may not mean a lot to someone who's published a lot. But for someone who hasn't published yet, it means something.
Looking on the Internet, I found something that might explain professor A's motivations: In China specifically, corresponding authors are often underappreciated by universities and research institues. This might be the case for University B. Given professor A is relatively young, he may want first authorship for promotion.
**Summary of my questions:**
1. Should I go discuss with professor A and try to persuade him to let me be the first author?
2. If I want to apply for a PhD program in the US, would being the first author be more helpful or being the second author is as well helpful?
**Edit:**
1. My affiliation for the paper has always been University B. I didn't mention my current university or internship in any sense.
2. I emailed back to professor A yesterday, saying I think I should be the first author, because I did most of the work; because the idea was originated from him he should be the corresponding author. He replied this morning, saying he agree with what I said. He explained that because I was doing an internship in his lab and not a student of University B, putting me as the first author could cause IP and patent troubles for University B... So this problem is fixed now.
# Answer
> 12 votes
I don't really understand what the motivation here for the professor is. Since you did all of the work for this paper at University B, you should *not* list your new affiliation (whether it's an internship or another school) as an "active" affiliation for this paper. It *can* be listed as a "current address," but not as an active address for this paper. In that way, the professor still gets credit for your work, with your affiliation showing as being part of his group. (I suspect that the professor's concern is that, if you are at another institution and list *that* as your address, he won't get credit for his work.)
Another issue is that if you are not going to present the paper at the conference, he may have felt it was in his interests to list himself as a first author. How appropriate this is I have to leave to the CS community to judge.
In general, however, the first author *should* be the person who has made the largest contributions to both the research and the writing of the paper. Deviations from this need to have a very good foundation.
# Answer
> 11 votes
My answer to whether you should feel deceived is yes and no. Strictly speaking, if you have an agreement, it should stand. That is the easy part of the answer. Then comes different traditions and personalities, which makes the territory almost impossible to negotiate.
You could simply send a reply stating you disagree with the reordering. The point of having intellectual property involved is certainly true and merits co-authorship. The problem is of course the weight between your work and the original idea. If you have worked on this on your own without any help or assistance, first authorship seems clear. If you have had help through discussions etc. through the process it becomes less clear.
In the end the matter will be up to you, if you think you will gain much from taking the fight. You can ask to add something in the acknowledgement to make clear who contributed what. Another possibility, if the paper is mostly about your work, is to add yourself as corresponding author (which can be different from first).
# Answer
> 7 votes
> Should I go discuss with professor A and try to persuade him to let me be the first author?
I think so.
At least you would like him to explain to you why he changed his mind. He had no objection with you being the first author in the first place. Then he sent you e-mail saying he wants to be the first author a few days before the submission deadline. There must be some important reason for that.
The intellectual properties and patent issues make some sense to me since you are no longer with University B. They might cause some trouble for Prof. A.
I am not convinced the corresponding authorship in your case makes a difference. First authorship does matter in China if you are also a professor at the same level, say both of you are assistant professors. He could be looked down because you made more contribution than he did. But, you are an intern. He can explain to others that you did all these under his supervision. I think he would actually earn extra credits by helping interns/students to publish papers.
I have the same suspicion as aeismall does. Your active affiliation may be an issue for Prof. A. Which institute will you represent when the paper is presented at the conference? Who will present the paper? I think these questions are his concerns.
**Edit**
After talking to some researchers knowledgeable about the corresponding authorship in China, I learned more about the issue. Some authors don't want to be the corresponding author because they are busy with other research interests. Some are just shy away because English writing is hard for them. Some are interested in the role because they would be more widely known in his area. In most cases, the first author or the one who makes the most contribution to the paper is the corresponding author. So far, no one is able to explain to me why corresponding authors are underappreciated. It seems to have little to do with your issue.
**End of edit**
# Answer
> 6 votes
It is possible the professor is trying to take advantage of you, but it would help to clarify things if you would expand on your answer to include the following.
It is implied that the paper is based on Professor A's idea. What this a full-blown idea, or just the kernel of something. Or, putting it differently, did he just point you in the general direction of something, or was this a relatively finished idea that just needed to be worked out in detail? Was this an idea you expanded on, or significantly improved? Did he provide significant intellectual input while the project was ongoing, or did he leave you to your own devices?
Also, you talked about implementation. Does this mean code, or something else? Did Professor A participate in the implementation in any way? If not, did he look at the implementation?
What about the paper itself? Did he participate in a substantial way in the writing of it?
If the answer is that you did most or all of the work, and did much of the working out of the idea, then it sounds like you should be first author. If he contributed substantially, it is less clear.
However, the paradigm in general is that the junior person gets the first authorship, because they need it for career reasons. Most people are willing to abide by this. I know someone whose PhD adviser put himself as first author on his (the students) papers, and the person in question regrets it now. If you go along with this, you may also regret it.
If you don't work for this person, the question is whether you have to do what he says for some reason. If you are hoping for a good reference, a first authorship on a paper might be worth more than a reference. Does he have any other hold on you? Do you need his further input on the project, or are you hoping to publish further papers with him? Also (perhaps not very important but serves to indicate tone) was the email polite or not? Personally, I think a conversation would have been more appropriate than an email in the circumstances.
For the record, I find the argument about intellectual properties and patent issues less than compelling, but it would also help if you could say more about how these things work in your university.
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Tags: publications, graduate-admissions, ethics, authorship
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thread-10055 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10055 | Will rejecting more papers than I accept reflect negatively on me as a reviewer? | 2013-05-18T16:35:45.150 | # Question
Title: Will rejecting more papers than I accept reflect negatively on me as a reviewer?
I made a little statistics about my review decisions. I found out that I reject way more papers than I accept. I honestly try to accept the reviewed papers, I read them carefully and my review are always long. But most papers I review are low quality (in my opinion). Some colleagues told me that I should be more gentle in my review, as this will affect my profile somehow (negatively of course). Is that true ?
Also: should I adapt the toughness of my review to the quality of the journal/conference I am reviewing for?
# Answer
It is of course impossible to say if you are overly critical. But, some statistics might help. With prestigious journals the rejection rate might be 90% (very high in any case). I am Editor in Chief of a smaller journal and we have a steady 50% rejection rate. The extremely high rejection rates in some journals come from limited space, in my case we simply impose strict guidelines and the rejections come from reviewers assigned by associate editors. So the rate in our case is fairly certainly upheld by what the community sees as acceptable or not.
So if you end up finding you reject large numbers (at least around 50%) I would not say that it is out of the ordinary. I do not of course know what typical rejection rates are in the journals for which you do reviews, so the number may of course vary.
So getting to the question of how this affects you. I very much doubt that you get a negative effect by being a fair reviewer. If you do many reviewes over time and you are not considered fair, I am sure you would notice the numbers of appointments dropping. If you get re-invited by the same journals/editors, I think they appreciate your work and I would take that as a sign that you do fine.
Should you try to adapt to the journal? In general, no. You should apply your knowledge and understanding to provide a critical review of the submitted work. An editor should take your comments along with comments from one or more additional reviewers and provide a recommendation to the authors. You are not solely responsible in this process! If the journal is such that it publishes material with which you are familiar but where its audience is in a different field, you may consider handling the paper differently, but obviously not ignoring errors and misconceptions.
> 24 votes
# Answer
An important thing to be aware of, is that (as far as I can judge) editors tend not to send papers on which they have a bad first impression to experienced people. It follows that junior researchers tend to receive a relatively large proportion of demands to review papers that are below average. That might explain your feeling.
> 17 votes
# Answer
Many more papers are submitted than accepted at top venues/journals, so statistically speaking, you should reject more than you accept.
Harsh reviews are ultimately good for science, so long as they filter the crap and help improve papers with potential but are not there yet. If your review is able to help the PC/editors decide whether or not to accept the paper and help the authors improve their paper, then you are doing your job correctly. If you are harsh but unhelpful, then you need to change your approach.
I think your reviews can change a bit depending on the venue. If you are reviewing for a workshop, your goal would be to help choose papers that are likely to generate interesting discussion. This is especially the case if there is no associated official publication.
> 13 votes
# Answer
Some journals allow you to see the reviews provided by the other reviewers of the paper, which is often a good way of monitoring your own performance as a reviewer. If you are harsh to an unreasonable degree, I suspect that editors will stop sending you papers to review, so if they are still sending them, that is an indication of sorts that there is not a fundamental problem.
As long as you are happy that you are applying a standard that you feel is reasonable, I'd stick with it. You probably review too few papers to know whether you are being unduly harsh or that you have just been sent a series of bad papers by random chance.
When I get a rejection, I am generally fine provided that the reviewer does a good job of explaining what they (incorrectly ;o) feel the problem is and what needs to be done to the paper for them to be happy with it, in sufficient detail for me to be able to do so if it is actually possible. The problem I have with negative reviews is when they make vague criticisms that can't be addressed as there is not enough information to actually act on, or where reviewers raise additional issues on the second review to reject your paper that could have been raised on the first review. So if your reviews are detailed and constructive, they are probably good reviews.
At the end of the day, it is ultimately in the author's best interests not to publish poor work, and if it can be usefully improved, then the reviewer is doing them a favour in not accepting it.
> 5 votes
# Answer
In addition to points made in other answers, and strengthening Dave Clarke's first sentence: not only the best, but even "medium-good" journals receive far more *good* submissions than they could possibly publish ... at least within the traditional "page limit" constraints, and possibly within some tacit constraint about appearing sufficiently selective. (That is, even if all the papers were quite good, a journal that publishes 10,000 pages a year will be suspect...)
Thus, the job of "editor" tends to degenerate into trying to find reasons to reject.
There simply are not enough "prestigious" journals to publish all the (good!) work done by all the good young people... who now can typeset things much faster and get them submitted. (In contrast, pre-TeX, pre-internet, getting something sufficiently presentable to send to a journal was much more of a hassle... Also, the number of researchers has grown much faster than the number of good journals, at least in my field, mathematics.)
Returning to the literal question: as others have said, indeed, try to be constructive and helpful, rather than merely a gatekeeper. At the same time, you cannot count on corrective feedback from editors if you are "too harsh", because they may not realize this, and in fact have incentive not to worry about that exigency, because you are making their job easier.
Also, one should note that in recent times many respectable journals explicitly declare to referees that they, the referees, are *not* responsible for *correctness* of an article. It is supposedly the author's responsibility. This is obviously strange, but can be understood when we realize that the gatekeeper function of journals, editors, and referees is at least as important as the scientific function... as disillusioning as that might be. But it does explain situations that are otherwise baffling and counter-intuitive.
> 4 votes
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Tags: peer-review, rejection
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thread-10076 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10076 | How to talk to a project advisor as an undergrad? | 2013-05-20T02:47:55.493 | # Question
Title: How to talk to a project advisor as an undergrad?
I'm an undergraduate working on a small project with an esteemed scientist, whom I met through a connection. I'm communicating via email due to distance. The problem is that I'm having a lot of troubles with this project, and the last time I asked him a question he just told me to re-read the information he sent me.
I want to tell him that *it doesn't make sense* (I think he made an error), but to do so without appearing arrogant or ignorant. He's intimidating and it always seems like he's two seconds away from declaring me incompetent. Yet, I am very interested in his field and this project could yield a publication.
I don't know what to do; should I just keep asking questions (if so, how do I word them in a way that shows that I'm not just being lazy), or find a way to drop the project? I don't want to close doors on future collaborations when I'm more knowledgeable.
Thank you.
# Answer
If you think your advisor made an error, then I would suggest you figure out how to *prove* he made an error. This is the first step to showing someone they've made an error without being ignorant or arrogant (the rest follows from general customs about politeness, but you absolutely must do this first bit. He supposes, presumably in good faith, that he proved something to you; the "burden of proof" that he's wrong now lies in your hands). Besides, this is a good exercise. Lots of things don't seem like they make sense until you yourself figure out how to make them make sense to you. This can be a lot of work. This act of "hacking" someone else's grand idea until it makes sense to me is how I spend most of my time. Thankfully this often leads to totally new ideas and directions that the first guy didn't see (or thought too trivial or obviously wrong to mention, yes that happens too...)
The problem is that, in very many fields, undergraduates *are* actually extremely frustrating to work with. They don't yet speak the language, or have the baseline knowledge that all of your colleagues share. But nonetheless, this person is not the ideal advisor if he lacks the patience to put up with a lot of questions -- this is *absolutely* normal behavior for an undergraduate advisee, totally to be expected and many advisors find the interactions quite rewarding!
On the other hand though, you have some hard questions to ask yourself. Basically, you say that you want to ask questions without sounding lazy, but you must be honest with yourself about whether or not you are in fact asking lazy questions. The research process (again, at least in fields I'm familiar with) is most emphatically *not* "do exactly what some famous guy told you to do." It generally involves painfully slogging through material that *no one* really understands and proving everything you think you know to yourself repeatedly, and then to others, and then occasionally having it pointed out that you made a really silly assumption, or that some obscure paper already solved everything you had set out for. Again, the point is to create new knowledge, and so you have to know your tools inside and out. In fact, if your advisor is explaining *anything at all* clearly and to your satisfaction, what he is explaining is, by definition, old knowledge.
> 5 votes
# Answer
> I want to tell him that it doesn't make sense (I think he made an error),
I would suggest you to write an e-mail to him to explain the error you found.
Do re-read the information he sent you earlier before you write the e-mail. Verify the error is indeed an error. Then write the e-mail in concise manner. Explain the error in details, step by step. Don't just say there is an error. Use evidence, theory to support your claim.
Of course, etiquette is important. However, this has nothing to do with arrogance or ignorance. It has everything to do with finding the truth. Every scientist I have met would like to know any error found before the research project is finished, the earlier the better.
> 3 votes
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Tags: etiquette, research-undergraduate
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thread-9834 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9834 | To pursue research career in physics; How much physics courses should I pass in my undergraduate engineering degree? | 2013-05-05T18:42:19.840 | # Question
Title: To pursue research career in physics; How much physics courses should I pass in my undergraduate engineering degree?
I am an undergraduate student of electronics and telecommunication engineering in a govt. college in India. But I am extremely interested in physics and mathematics. I want to pursue a research career in physics and mathematics. I generally receive suggestions like taking the GRE test. But I have the following questions:
1. What is the minimum amount of physics I am supposed to have mastered at the end of my engineering?
2. How much of physics or physics related subjects should I have in my UG course?
3. How much is an adequate grade (What puzzles me most is that if I am intending to do physics why should my grades in engineering should be considered?)
# Answer
Cross-disciplinary movement does happen fairly frequently, particularly between engineering and the mathematical and physical sciences. Unfortunately, as the academic disciplines themselves become more cross-disciplinary, it becomes much harder to say what *specific* training one needs to move from one field to another between the undergraduate and graduate levels.
A good way to check for the qualifications you are likely to need is to examine the course requirements of schools you're already interested in attending as a graduate student—if your undergraduate program has sufficient depth in math and physics to allow you to take those courses as a graduate student, then an admissions committee will likely be OK with the lateral movement.
If you have questions about what is necessary, you can contact the person in charge of admissions at some of the departments you're interested in for further clarification.
> 3 votes
# Answer
It is *very* difficult, almost impossible, to enter into a good graduate program in the US with an undergraduate program in engineering from India. So, instead of preparing for the GRE, you should try to get into the Masters program in Math at ISI, CMI or maybe at the IIT's. If you're interested in physics you should try to get into a Masters physics program at IIT through JAM. So, you should start preparing for their entrance tests.
I would suggest you to choose either physics or math because preparing for both the entrance tests at the same time can be really difficult.
Grades
Since you asked about grades and courses I think these pages will give you a good idea.
http://www.physicsgre.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1847
http://www.mathematicsgre.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1003
http://www.mathematicsgre.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=685
> 2 votes
# Answer
I believe Engineering (communication) gives you a good amount of mathematical tools. It gives you basics in Physics like electromagnetic for instance. In Physics and Math, they concentrate more on the physical aspects and mathematical aspects of Physics and Math. In engineering, they focus more on applications. Moreover, they focus much more on theoretical aspects. For instance, there is a big difference between a probability course for mathematicians and that for communication engineers.
I think you can compete, since engineering students are usually smart. Perhaps you will need to take few courses before being able to compete with students having undergrad degrees in Physics or even Math.
Note: I have an engineering degree (electrical), and then moved to Computer science. I can't really answer your question precisely. But when I started my Master I needed to do study 2-4 CS courses.
> 0 votes
# Answer
I am on the same path as of yours. I am thinking of taking IELTS test. Well actually I did Electronics and Comm bachelors and worked for 2 years in embedded systems and now planning for physics masters.To bridge the gap, I am right now taking courses in coursera.org and edx.org. Perhaps you can consider this too.
> 0 votes
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Tags: research-process, career-path, undergraduate, engineering, physics
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thread-9769 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9769 | Can one excel in graduate school with a demanding family life? | 2013-05-02T00:47:04.877 | # Question
Title: Can one excel in graduate school with a demanding family life?
The essential gist of my question relates to what the real, unvarnished realities are of graduate, post-graduate, research, fellowship, and professorship attainment - *when you aren't a single person with no pressing demands other than feeding yourself*.
\[**EDIT**: *I am humbled by the incredibly helpful and thoughtful responses so far, all of which are +1 from me. I'll leave the question open a few more days before clicking 'accept' on any one, but you all have my gratitude and I hope others will benefit anywhere near as much as I have.* \]
**What I don't know** is what succeeding in this path truly requires in time committment and family support.
Right now I can handle a 12-14 credit course schedule with 3.7-4.0 GPA (in the top 5-10% for college and program, dean's list, etc), work part-time, and still have time to be home and not have a burn-out/breakdown - and the academics are the easy part by far! I could do more, but I need to work more too.
**What I really need to know** is how sharply different is the time/dedication curve of graduate work and above. I realize each step is a filter that removes most of the entrants (most people don't get a degree, most who do don't attend/finish graduate school, most who do don't seek a PhD, most who do don't seek/gain professorship...and on and on). But I don't know how severe the stepping is - I'm not talking "tenured professor at MIT or bust" - I realize that bar is many orders of magnitude higher.
**Background Details:** As an "adult, returning" undergraduate student with a (disabled) wife and kids, I'm halfway through a bachelor degree now. I've located a field of study (in a focus of Industrial Engineering) that has made me very interested in altering my life path to include seeking a Masters and maybe even a PhD/professorship (my father was a professor, so its not a purely novel concept to me). I've met and spoken with my advisor and 2 other professors with experience in related fields, and all is encouraging; I have a graduate school in mind, I've received lots of great advice on preparing for school (on this forum and in person), I test well (no GRE fears remain), good grades/class rank, good prospects for future strong referal letters, etc - a comparitively charmed existence for which I am very grateful! I just have to investigate whether I can make it through with an intact, cared for family!
Any guidance you could provide me, and other aspiring "non-traditional" students alike, would be appreciated immensely - thank you!
# Answer
> 52 votes
I feel for once I am somewhat qualified to give an answer here.
A bit of background to know where I am coming from and hopefully give some insight to my situation. I am currently finishing my second year in a MA Mathematics program and beginning my first year of my Ph.D. in Mathematics in the fall. I am married with two children(a 3 year old and an 8 month old). I had my first child during undergrad and my second child came two weeks before the current school year started. I attend a smaller department that is most certainly less intensive in regards to the expectations that another school would have(such as a top tier research university). I've been a Research Assistant for the past two years doing active and successful research with an amazing supervisor. This past year has been the most stressful since I decided to take three core year long sequences, which is a great deal of work to keep up with.
## **Above all, put your family first**.
I would hope this goes without saying, but it can be easy to lose sight of this when you're up to your neck in homework/deadlines. When something comes up with my family, I drop my schoolwork to deal with it. I make it a point to always put my family before school. I'm sure there are professors out there who would argue otherwise, but I'm grateful that my professors seem to (hopefully) understand the situation and that I just can't put in the hours that other students can. I generally score lower on average than other students but I think I do fairly well. Could I do better? Absolutely...if I were to put in the hours and sacrifice time with my family I could score better on my tests and homework, but that isn't what really matters in the long term to me. Of course I want to do well in school(and I generally do!), but sometimes I have to make a choice and school gets the axe.
In the end, you choose your own priorities, and I would suggest opting for spending time with your family over finishing that HW. You just can't get those moments back.
## Having a Strong Support System
I would **absolutely not** be able to do this without the support of my wife, family, and friends. Without my wife to help out with the kids and pick up some extra housework when studying for tests/finals/my oral MA exam, I would certainly have dropped out or (worse) ruined my marriage or become a terrible father. I make sure to try and do extra work whenever the stressful times pass and try to make it up to her as I can.
We are lucky to have family close that can help out with childcare and babysitting when I need to go in on an off day or want to stay late for a seminar. Without the support system we have in place, I'm not sure I could physically do it. If you have a similar support system, then it will be a huge relief to your stressed.
I should also mention that without some amazing people at my department, I wouldn't be able to succeed. Professors have been amazing with deadlines if the time just wasn't there for me some week. My RA supervisor has been absolutely amazing as well. She's extremely understanding with the kids and even being cool with me bringing the little one to meetings if everything just fell apart for that day. If I had a less understanding supervisor, I probably wouldn't have made it.
## Time Management
This is probably the trickiest part. Time management is always important, but it's extremely important to successful manage school and family. You just don't have all the time that other students do so when it's time to work you need to remove all distractions and get as much done as possible. I arrive at school between 8-9am and in between classes I work nonstop on homework or studying until I leave at 3-4pm. I have a computer in my office, but I purposely keep it off unless I absolutely need it on. I disable the wifi on my smartphone and removed nearly all the time wasting apps(facebook, games, etc..). I check my e-mail probably twice, once near the beginning of the day and once around the time I'm getting ready to leave for the day.
I do take small breaks from work to socialize with other students or check in with professors as needed, but I strive to make sure that I don't waste an hour doing absolutely nothing in someone else's office. Socializing is an important part of graduate school, so don't neglect it but don't let it consume all your precious time.
When I come home after school I shut off school mode. I spend the rest of the night with my family, eat dinner, and help get the kids into bed. Once the kids are in bed then I'm free to do homework. I don't always go straight into homework though because it's important to me to spend time with my wife relaxing and watching an episode or two of TV shows to wind down. It doesn't happen every night, but I usually make an effort to take it easy on weeknights when I don't have school the next day. The "school nights" I usually retire upstairs to work on homework. I'll work until midnight or later depending on how early I have to get up and I'll average around 6 hours of sleep. It's not great, but sacrifices have to be made somewhere.
Finally, in my opinion, **give yourself the weekend**. Once I leave school on Friday, I'm done with math until at least Sunday night. The weekends are prime family time and we spend every weekend visiting the zoo, science center, art museum, the park, or virtually anything else the kids would enjoy. I initially thought it would be impossible to take the entire weekend off schoolwork and still succeed, but I've been doing it for 2 years. This past year was the worst, but I stuck to it and I can safely say I managed to survive it and do just fine in my courses.
## Dealing with Stress
Let's face it, you'll be stressed. Grad school is stressful as all hell to begin with, but then you go and toss kids into the mix? It's insanity, and you have to handle it somehow. I'm a fan of exercise, which takes up that precious time but is totally worth it. You have to feel as good as you can and any sort of activity is a great way to relieve stress. You could also do another hobby, or something that you do to relax. I'm also an avid reader, so losing myself into a book every now and then is great. The time I have to read varies, but it's one of my top hobbies. Find something you enjoy and do it frequently to relax.
Sometimes it just can't be helped. If you find yourself *really* freaking out, you really should seek out the school's counseling center. They are no doubt used to overworked students and having a place to lay all your problems on the table and have a trained therapist help you sort it out is probably exactly what you need.
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To sum it up, I put my family before everything else. School takes a high priority but there are far more important things in my life than getting an A in every course. Schedule your time wisely, remove distractions, and work when it's time to work. Do something relaxing for yourself on a regular basis. Give your family the attention and time they deserve. You can't get those moments back and no letter grade in the world is worth that sacrifice.
**Above all, make sure you are happy.** It's such a small thing but I've seen students absolutely miserable hating what they are doing. *Don't be that person*! Life is too short to waste it being miserable. I suggest every 6 months or so, take a step back and evaluate how you feel about your situation(this should apply to anyone, not just graduate students). For instance, I vow to myself that if there ever comes a time when I begin to genuinely dislike what I'm doing, I will quit and find something else.
Good luck and don't forget what's really important. Grad school has a way of giving you tunnel vision and destroying you emotionally...just don't let it do it too often. :)
# Answer
> 24 votes
I cannot resist the urge to answer this question or at least provide some insights based on my experience.
I am an adult and married with two kids, both of them born during my candidature. I work full-time in a high pressure advocacy company. I have been in my adopted country for less than 10 years (so that brings the question of settling in, finding your way around etc.) To cap it all, English is my fourth language.
I completed my PhD on a part-time basis and I have now graduated. The key is to enjoy what you do, so choose a topic that grabs your attention. There are long and lonely periods of solitary work and unless you like what you do, you will never get through.
Look after your family and fit your studies around their needs. This may mean not starting your study until after 9 pm when the kids are in bed.
Enjoy the little things in life, like going to the park and spending some quality time with your family. You still have a life even if you are studying.
If your study relates to your work, it makes things a lot easier as you can continually think about what you need to do and when it comes down to studying, you can start with a bang.
Adapt. Go to your work an hour early and leave an hour late so that you can use that time for studying. If you have one hour lunch, take a nap to compensate for your sleepless nights!
Have a supportive supervisor. Do not be afraid to make non-traditioanl arrangements. Instead of going to the university (which was 3 hours drive from my workplace), I found that my supervisor made weekly visits to a place near my home (to visit a relative). So I offered to have coffee with him every now and then.
Be kind to your self and careful of your self talk. Give yourself a break or a reward or whatever motivates you. If you don't feel like studying, make a conscious decision and spend the same time with the family. In this way, you will not have regrets.
Finally, don't lose sight of your end goal which is completion of your study.
So yes, it is possible and even though the reality is harsh, it is worth it!
# Answer
> 10 votes
Javeer has provided a great answer. I did a little searching around for any studies that might address pursuing an advanced graduate degree while supporting a family, but I was unsuccessful (and if there aren't any, it sounds like low-lying fruit for a budding social scientist!).
You might consider checking out the lively discussion on the Chronicle of Higher Education Forums: Having a baby while in a PhD program.
When I was in graduate school, one of my Electrical Engineering professors with a wife and three children had a strict 9am-5pm policy, which he had apparently also kept during his PhD studies at MIT (though I do recall him telling stories about all-nighters the day tape-outs were due, so it couldn't have been set in concrete!). Bear in mind, he is also the most efficient person I have ever met, and when he was at work he was **at work**. I never once saw him dilly-dallying around, and for every hour that us graduate students put into real work, he probably put in three times as much.
So, I know it is doable for the right person, but it almost certainly takes an extremely high level of concentration while at work to pull it off successfully.
p.s. To address your actual question, I found that graduate school work comes in stages (at least in the U.S., and for me):
* First, you have a number of hard classes, which takes most of your time, but not more than undergraduate school (except for the projects...). If you get an advisor early, you may start research immediately, or at least have other duties such as reviewing papers, and, of course you may have TA responsibilities. You're definitely busier than in undergraduate school altogether.
* Once you finish your classes, research really takes over, and the work can come in spurts, especially around the time conference and journal submissions are due. I've seen graduate students disappear for weeks at a time, and they don't seem too harmed by it in the end. Keep in mind that summers will be taken up by research or internships, too, so you don't have much of a break (although academia definitely slows down to some extent during summer, with lots of people out of the office).
* The spurts continue until you really get down to writing your dissertation, which is a constant weight that you could spend every hour working on. I got some reprieve when I sent my advisor chapter updates (and you have to take breaks for sanity), but there is always that next chapter to work on, or the bibliography to fix up, or the figures to modify, or the defense presentation to practice. It can be a rough time for many students, just because your dissertation can seem like the Eye of Sauron looming in the distance. This is probably the time where you need to tell your family that Dad might be more stressed than normal.
* The few (possibly longer) weeks after you graduate are some of the most relaxing days of your life. :)
# Answer
> 6 votes
I can share my personal experience as it relates to your question. I am 42 years old and hav decided to return to the world of academia to pursue a PhD in Computational Science part-time after earning my BS twenty years ago in Computer Science and Math. My wife and I have been married twenty years and we have four children ranging in age from six to eighteen (the oldest is actually starting college in the fall at the same college I am attending). Oh yeah, I have a full time management job.
As the other posters have commented, time management is a must. It takes a lot of planning; we had to work out a schedule of who is going to bathe at what time, what time dinner is, what time each child gets help with homework, and so on. And as one person mentioned, it means not starting your class work until the family tasks are dealt with - even if it is 10 PM!
I am still in graduate school, but have a few real world bits of advice to share.
1. Research your program's requirements on completion time and lay out your class schedule ahead of time. We had to submit a proposed course of study at the beginning. Our program had a time limit of ten years, and I paced myself to finish in seven. This leaves a few years of breathing room.
2. Look for any residency requirements. The program I am in requires two consecutive semesters "in residency". Basically you have to take a full course load (nine hours) for two semesters. My plan is to do those with my Dissertation hours.
3. Find a good advisor who has a schedule that works with yours.
4. Honestly I have found the coursework easier overall. This might be a maturity factor and not procrastinating as much as I did as an undergrad.
5. Talk to your employer. My boss is pretty understanding, and I can deal with a lot of work-related tasks in the evening. This gives me the freedom to go to campus to deal with homework and projects.
6. Don't forget your family! Sometimes you have to make sacrifices, and it is easy to cut family time in order to finish an assignment. This is okay every once in a while but do not make it a habit! Don't forget to bring your wife flowers and tell her thank you for putting up with your late nights.
7. Talk to your instructors. Tell them about your situation. I was pleasantly surprised by how understanding they are when I needed to turn an assignment in late because I had to go out of town for business or when I skipped class to take a child to the doctor.
8. Involve your family! There are numerous family oriented activities on our campus, and the kids enjoy going to campus and seeing where you go to class, do research, etc. Let them meet some of your professors. Our campus has a movie theater and a Dunkin Donuts - two instant wins for my kids! My wife enjoys walking around campus and reminiscing about our years as undergrads and showing the kids where we went when we lived there.
9. Take advantage of every second of spare time. Going on a trip? Take a paper to read or notes to study. My two youngest kids love going to McDonald's to play on the indoor playground when the weather is bad outside. I carry my laptop and work on homework or research. Sometimes you also need to find a few minutes just to relax!
I hope this bit of insight helps! Good luck!
# Answer
> 5 votes
Getting excited about a field of study is a great intrinsic motivator. But, as a grown-up, you know that the things that get your children excited (ice cream?) may have side effects (sugar rush that the parents have to manage? longer-term obesity risks?). So unlike a 20-something out of undergrad who can afford spending a few more years in school, you have a different perspective on what works in your life, and how things *should* work. While it may be true that Ph.D.s pay better, if you are say in your mid-40s, it is not entirely clear if the 5-7 years you will spend on the program with an income of $15-20K (losing $50-60K opportunities) are worth the gain from $50K to $80K that you will only enjoy for about 15 years. Having a better mid-age income may be especially important to get your kids through college (unless you really get a professor job with accompanying discounts; that's probably 10-15 years down the road for you, and may be worth factoring in.) You must realize that few research schools will hire Ph.D.s of age to tenure-track positions -- by being burdened with a family, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage of not being able to put 100+ hour work weeks like single fresh Ph.D.s in their late 20s would be able to (or ship your kids to China to be brought up by grandparents, as some married profs can do). An example of an MIT grad with a strict schedule that Chris gave is terrific, but is likely to be an exception; in some places, if you try to pull something like this, you will be asked to correct your work ethics.
Talking to professors is all fine -- they all will be very happy to see you go in grad school, get a Ph.D. and become one more professor (more so important if we are talking about a country native working on an STEM field; you have seen all sorts of discussions of how bad the shortage of STEM qualified personnel is in the US -- I assume we are talking about US here by your references to MIT :) ). To put it differently, they will want *you* to become one of *them*, and frankly I would not expect any different answer. Keep in mind that they are the success stories, at least in the sense of academia. To balance things out, find a few Ph.D. working in industry in your designated field (industrial engineering, heh?), and ask them (i) if the degree really helps in their jobs; (ii) if the degree was necessary to propel them to where they are (things are changing here: you must have a Ph.D. to hold some of the higher positions, and you hit a glass ceiling at some point with lower degrees); (iii) why they went to industry rather than academia.
When I taught at a university, I used to have a much greater respect for adult learners in my classes than for the "mainstream" students. These students are way more focused and have a much better idea of why they are in college, to begin with, and what they are going to do with their degree. They obviously have better social skills, which is important in every walk of life, and more so in engineering which is traditionally considered a nerdish discipline. You would want to play to these advantages that you have over the teenagers surrounding you in your classes.
As a matter of qualifications for this particular question: my wife and I came to do our Ph.D. programs with a 1-year old son, and we had another daughter the year before the job market. My wifeis a tenured professor now, I work in industry, and have a great degree of skepticism about academia, as you can easily tell :).
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Tags: graduate-school, professorship, work-life-balance
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thread-10079 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10079 | How does your area of research affect your chances of getting job in academia? | 2013-05-20T03:53:55.417 | # Question
Title: How does your area of research affect your chances of getting job in academia?
I've heard that the trendiness of your area of work is one of the important factor that has am impact your chances of getting job in academia. How far is this true?
Also, how do I decide what areas are trendy and what areas are not in the field I'm interested that is mathematics?
# Answer
> 6 votes
Trendiness can be factor, but a much more important factor is what needs the hiring department has. If they're chock full of topologists, it doesn't matter how "trendy" your work in topology is: there's a good chance they might be looking to expand in other areas.
OTOH, if they're looking in your area, then being at the cutting edge can't hurt. The danger of course is timing: trends rise and fall quickly, and what might be trendy right now might not be so in a year or two (maybe in mathematics, trends move more slowly).
So I'd argue that trendiness, while one potential factor, is not a universal key factor at all. Every department has their own needs.
As regards your second question, usual measures of "trendiness" include the relative frequency of publication in that subarea. In CS, it's relatively easy to determine this via conference acceptances, but in math I'm not sure how you'd go about measuring this frequency. It also helps to attend big meetings and listen to where the buzz is. An advisor can also be helpful in this regard (especially if they're pre-tenure and need to keep track of trends themselves :))
# Answer
> 4 votes
I would recommend that you work in an area of mathematics where big theorems are currently being proven. That usually means that lots of moderate theorems are also being proven.
Some ways to see what these areas are:
* Go to national conferences; for example attend the (US) Joint Math Meetings and go to the hour-long invited talks.
* Go to your department colloquium every week, if you have one.
* Browse through the tables of contents for recent issues of the *Annals of Mathematics*, and see what areas are getting lots of papers published. (This is a sign not only that these areas are "trendy", but also that they're seeing significant ongoing progress.)
* Look at colloquium schedules for top-10 institutions, and/or institutions similar to where you hope to get hired. See what kinds of topics the speakers are lecturing about, i.e., what kinds of topics the professors there want to learn about.
* Browse the Math Jobs Wiki, click through to the web pages of successful job candidates, and skim their papers.
* (The most important) If you are in grad school, and have not yet chosen an advisor, find out whose students have gotten jobs similar to what you hope to get, and/or are doing interesting work now.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Regarding the third point of Anonymous's suggestion, here's an article *Topical Bias in Generalist Mathematics Journals* by Joseph F. Grcar in the december 2010 issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society.
In many branches of mathematics, the so-called "generalist" journals are perceived more prestigious and publish many of the best results. Typically they claim that they publish papers of the highest quality in all branches of mathematics. However, they don't necessarily accept papers from each field equally likely. In fact, as the linked article's figures clearly suggest, there are clear biases for/against certain branches if you count the papers of a certain topic published in generalist journals and compare the number with the total number of papers of the same kind.
Since good generalist journals are among the most prestigious publication venues in many branches of mathematics, by looking at statistics like this, you may be able to detect prejudices about branches among mathematicians, which is mentioned in the linked article. So, if your definition of "trendy" is highly correlated with this type of prejudice (which I think it is because, all else being equal, the number of publications in prestigious journals in your CV increases your chance of getting a job in academia), it can be a fairly reliable measure of trendiness.
The Annals of Mathematics Anonymous mentioned is definitely among the very top generalist journals. So checking the latest issues may tell you something about what's hot in mathematics now.
The big caveat, however, is that it only publishes 50 or so articles in each year. So, if you only look up in recent issues, your statistics can't be extremely reliable. Using a record of several years defies the purpose of knowing what's trendy right now, so you're in a bit of a conundrum. Making things more complicated, each generalist journal has their own bias as well; different journals tend to publish papers of different topics more frequently.
So, it might be better to take samples from multiple generalist journals which are considered among the top journals by many. Those journals typically publish an extremely small number of papers though. For example, the Journal of the American Mathematical Society published only 32 papers in 2011 (and 35 in 2010) according to ISI Web of Knowledge. Some prestigious generalist journals publish even fewer papers. (I'm not going to talk about which journals you should use for this purpose because it's inevitably controversial and subjective.)
In any case, if you want to check what kind of topic is discussed in a given journal, you can do that quite easily by MathSciNet. The American Mathematical Society classified branches of mathematics and gave a code number to each branch. And they've been keeping track of publications in mathematics. Just search for the MSC code of your field with a specific journal in MathSciNet and see how many hits it returns. This way, you can see how trendy your field is as well as which prestigious generalist journal likes your kind of mathematics more.
This method doesn't always work equally well though, e.g., if you're interested in applied mathematics or mathematical sides of computer science, what the Annals of Mathematics loves nowadays may not be the most reliable measure that reflects what's trendy right now. Another example is when your field became fashionable relatively recently so there isn't a good catch-all MSC code yet. For instance, arithmetic combinatorics has seen a miraculous revival in recent years in mathematics. Ann. of Math. and other prestigious journals are publishing papers in this field, but there isn't a good MSC code to capture this.
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Tags: research-process, career-path
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thread-9899 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9899 | Reading (& understanding) a lot of papers is hard. How to deal with it? | 2013-05-10T07:17:57.320 | # Question
Title: Reading (& understanding) a lot of papers is hard. How to deal with it?
I am a student doing my Masters (in Computer Science). I am much interested in Ph.D and I know to do Ph.D I really need to read and understand a lot of papers. (I also know that its not all about reading papers, but doing something new and useful) but I find difficult to understand papers, especially mathematical. There are lots of things (like bloom filters, k-means algorithms, and a lot lot much more terminologies) which we, normally, don't encounter (except if you are a Ph.D or doing one) but are really crucial to understand papers.
I am not very good at understanding such stuff (atleast quickly, if given time I can but it takes time). Are there people like me who have done/are doing a Ph.D and had the same problem? If yes, how do you overcome it?
# Answer
> 35 votes
The good news is that you have a good 4-6 years of time to learn how to process that sort of material, and you aren't expected to be able to do it immediately. A professor once told me (about physics papers, but it translates into mathematical and CS papers fairly well) that eventually you start to read the math-heavy parts a bit like music -- you see familiar patterns, and you get the general idea without having to dig deep into the details.
Additionally, you'll find that the more classes you take, and the more reading you do really does prepare you for that next paper and that next step. You'll find that as you start specializing on a particular topic, most of the papers in your topic will become easier to read, simply because you have the experience and have gained the knowledge about the particulars over time. Furthermore, you'll start coming up with your own ideas in the subject, and this just happens to be the goal of graduate school!
> There are lots of things (like bloom filters, k-means algorithms, and a lot lot much more terminologies) which we, normally, don't encounter...but are really crucial to understand papers.
The beauty is that you will start encountering them more, and you'll start understanding them more and more as you continue your education.
To answer your particular question,
> Are there people like me who have done/are doing a Ph.D and had the same problem?
I still have difficulty getting through math-heavy papers (in CS), but I either re-read sections closely until I figure it out, or I ask someone to help, or I simply move on and hope that the rest of the paper fills in the details. I don't expect to understand everything technical that I read, but it becomes easier over time to get what you need out of a particular paper even if you don't get each and every detail.
# Answer
> 16 votes
I don't think very many people come into academia with the ability to parse tons of math-heavy articles quickly. It's a skill that develops over time from reading lots of papers, asking someone in the know to help you understand confusing parts, and getting through relevant coursework that will build up your skills and intuition. If it's a matter of speed of getting through things, that will undoubtedly improve in time. If it's a matter of you simply not understanding them at all, then you may want to reconsider your options before diving into a PhD.
# Answer
> 9 votes
Start by not reading papers straight through. Most research papers are difficult to follow if you read through start to finish without a loooot of context.
Normally, I read them in approximately this order to begin with:
* Abstract/introduction
* Conclusion/summary
* Future Work
* Results
* Methods
You want to understand what the paper is about first. Generally speaking, unless I know a topic well, the beginning section doesn't do a good job answering the, "what is the point of the next X pages" but a conclusion and summary do. Future work helps me understand, "why is this research even relevant" and then going backwards results helps me understand what they did, and then, once I have context, I read through methods.
Honestly, too, I don't care about understanding detailed methods unless I see a value in understanding them. Reading for the sake of reading is hard, so I "incentivize" myself by showing "oh, there is value in understanding the details of what they did!" and basically trick myself by how I read through things.
Depending on how well I must understand a paper sometimes I stop early in that process or reread sections, etc.
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In addition to this, make sure you don't read every paper word for word. You don't have to.
Also determine if you are able to read on your computer or if you need to print them off. Some people cannot effectively read on a computer. Some can. Find out your personal abilities here.
# Answer
> 5 votes
If it helps, I was two years' into a full time research degree in psychology (no courses) in which I read all day long and one day I suddenly realised that I was reading an economics book with very little effort. I could read! I still feel the excitement. You do just get better and better but it is like going to the gym - constant application is needed.
Writing took much longer to get easier and I strongly recommend that you make a habit of writing daily. Make sure you always have a writing project on the go and add something every day, no matter how bad. Get a calendar; cross off the days; and don't break the chain. You needn't spend long - under an hour will do. But constant application is the key.
If you are lucky, you will have mentors who demand papers from you. It is a lot easier to write if you have deadlines. But if not, start a blog and start building up a portfolio. The feeling of pressing the publishing button and seeing your blog grow makes up for disinterested supervisors.
Stick with it - in few years you will marvel at the ease with which you find your way around 'heavy' material.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I have found that reading papers of a specific topic within my research, then looking at Google Scholar to track down similar articles helps. I always have a relevant dictionary handy and write down questions related to the topic that I am not to sure about for follow up.
Taking regular breaks to reflect on the information is also useful.
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Tags: phd
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thread-10081 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10081 | Is is possible to study mathematics PHD with another bachelor degree like Business Administration? | 2013-05-20T03:33:10.473 | # Question
Title: Is is possible to study mathematics PHD with another bachelor degree like Business Administration?
Is it possible to enrol in a mathematics PhD program with a bachelor degree in Business Administration? Have you heard of someone doing something similar and if yes, how did they do it?
I am a BBA student. I found that I love mathematics after taking some analysis courses and want to keep on studying mathematics and doing research. However, since I didn't really enjoy studying BBA, I have a poor a GPA and I suspect I won't be able to enrol in a competitive mathematics PhD program.
I currently have some background in analysis, including metric space topology, some basic differential manifold, functional analysis, real analysis and of course some other basic math courses.
*What is the best way to continue my academic career in mathematics coming from an unrelated field?*
# Answer
The short answer is: "yes, but it won't automatically be easy"
First, every department of every school in every major has a set of preferences - things they like to see in an applicant. This list includes GPA, GRE, sometimes subject-specific GRE, specific coursework, specific reference letters, and the rarely-ever-listed undergraduate research/term papers that lots of people here give great advice about but that I didn't previously know was a 'thing'.
Looking over the admittance pages of prospective programs can give you an idea of this at times. In your case, I looked at a few schools math departments I'm familiar with, and using this one as an example because its not terribly atypical (but you should research your own preferred institutions): University of Wisconsin Mathematics
> 1) A GPA of at least 3.0 overall and substantially higher in mathematics courses.
>
> 2) 18 or more credits of mathematics beyond calculus. The 18 credits should include at least one semester of both rigorous analysis (sometimes called advanced calculus) and abstract algebra, and preferably two semesters. Advanced undergraduate courses in other topics further strengthen your application.
>
> 6) A “Supplemental Application Form” is required after submitting your online Graduate School application. It is important that you include all advanced mathematics courses you have completed, are currently enrolled in, or intend to take...
>
> 7) Three letters that address the question of mathematical promise. These letters should be from mathematics faculty, or other faculty familiar with the demands of graduate work in mathematics...
Now keep in mind that any published outlines are a "wishlist", and they don't automatically toss anyone. But every area you don't fit requires explanation or some other counter-balancing factor. Some programs give a list of x requirements, then say they'll waive 1-2 of them without further explanation needed, etc.
If you are missing all of these, then you need to look at a different program, but you might find no program that's a fit. If this happens, that doesn't mean you can't do something, just that you might have to go about it sideways or backtrack a bit.
If you are missing just a few things, like a course or two, some programs have probation where they'll tentatively admit you on the demand you complete X courses on your first semester and get at least Y GPA, etc.
Alternatively, you might need to make arrangements to take advanced math courses at an undergrad/graduate level. It's harder to get financial aid for this sort of thing (you can't qualify for a Pell grant anymore, etc), but you can still get loans or pay for it outright. If you need this route, you need to talk personally with professors in advance to discuss what your goals are and make any possible arrangement to do extra work, write an academic research paper, etc. You need to find people you can have enough contact with to be willing to go to bat for you in writing strong reference letters if you don't already have math professors who are familiar with your past work. Join math clubs, go to math study labs, volunteer, whatever you can manage.
Before you go running off and doing any of this, however, you should make contact with math faculty at your present school and/or at a target school, and get an opportunity to talk with them about what you want to do and get their advice. Sometimes just showing "mathematical promise" can get a magic wand waived over your application, which maybe you already have - but only someone familiar with what you've done can tell you that. If you have a piece of mathematical "best work" from your most advanced class, bring it with you to such a meeting.
Once you've gotten a few honest appraisals of where you stand, be kind to yourself in looking for programs that will fit YOU, not some imaginary ideal program for someone else.
Finally, one last piece of advice. Keep your mind open to hybrid possibilities. There are whole fields of study you might really like that you aren't aware of, including applied mathematics study offered by business schools, economic fields that emphasize mathematical theory and/or application, etc.
Sometimes we have to try to mold ourselves to fit an existing mold a little better, but sometimes its trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Talk to people and investigate the possibilities, get a clearer understanding of your relative shape, and seek out openings with geometry congruent to yours. Good luck in your journey!
> 5 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, mathematics
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thread-10104 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10104 | Where to upload a reprint (post-print) of my publication? | 2013-05-20T16:29:34.143 | # Question
Title: Where to upload a reprint (post-print) of my publication?
I used to self-archive papers on my homepage in the institute where I was doing phd. I just noticed that my homepage and the reprints were removed -- that's normal, I'm not working in that institute anymore.
I can legally self-archive these papers. For example, J. Appl. Cryst. allows authors to post reprints
> on their own personal website, on their employer's website/repository and on free public servers in their subject area.
What are the best "free public servers" to upload electronic reprints? (IIUC arXiv is for pre-prints rather than post-prints).
# Answer
arXiv is not only for preprints (actually, updating after publication is highly encouraged). So if you can self-archive\*) *and* you have an intersection with an arXiv discipline, it is the best place to place it.
\*) The only objection to post-publication is in case where you are not allowed to self-archive and don't wan't to mess with it.
For other disciplines, see Preprint services other than arXiv (for other fields).
Or (maybe even better) just - putting them on GitHub repository. It is a stable service + makes it easy to upload work with source code (tex + figures) (much alike arXiv, but on GitHub it is more convenient). Just make sure to link the pdf file in the `README.md` and reference it properly (i.e. the full citation, the best with a DOI link) so to have its status clear.
> 6 votes
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Tags: publications, online-resource, repository
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thread-10100 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10100 | Using a software screenshot in a paper | 2013-05-20T15:53:10.640 | # Question
Title: Using a software screenshot in a paper
When writing a paper which, as an aside, talks about the design of a user interface on a particular piece of software, can one insert a (correctly labeled and referenced) screenshot of the software to help readers understand - or does that cause copyright issues?
For example, I wouldn't use a photo unless I held the copyright, or a diagram - but I'm unsure of the legal position of a screenshot...
# Answer
> 7 votes
If you're displaying the screenshot as part of a paper on user interface, the use of the screenshot will almost certainly fall under "fair use." Make sure you cite the software properly, and you should be all set.
# Answer
> 3 votes
The answer, like many copyright questions, is complicated.
First, the images of the software interface is almost certainly copyrighted. As a result, the exclusive rights to reproduce images of the applicatoin lie with the copyright holder (i.e., the creator of the software.
*However*, as another answer has suggested, the use of a single screenshot of an application should almost certainly qualify as Fair Use under US copyright law or something similar and analogous under other systems. In other words, it's a small and relative inconsequential reproduction that you can do without having to ask for permission.
*However*, fair use is notoriously tricky and subjective. there is a multi-prong balancing test at the heart of fair use that is complicated and that makes it hard to know for sure whether a use if fair or not. As a result, many journals are risk averse and will systematically block many types of "probably fair" uses. I've had difficult conversations with production staff members and editors about the use of software screenshots before.
I would say go ahead and try to have the conversation with your journal editor or production staff. The worst thing they can do is ask you to take it out. This, of course, is what you would do preemptively now if you choose not to include it in the first place.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Definitely, but one major issue will be resolution. A screen shot will typically yield a very low resoluton image which for most journals will be too low (recommendations are ypically 300 dpi in the final published figure size, which is usually impossible to achieve with screenshots. I would therefore recommend to make use of any possibility to zoom the window and then make a screen shot of the window as large as possible on the screen. If you are designing your user interface as you state in the question you could consider making a mock-up of the interface that is identical in every respect but which is based on higher resolution graphics, vectorized or bitmap based. Since you have access to all the original graphics elemnts this should not be difficult.
# Answer
> -1 votes
Generally yes, you're allowed to use screenshots that you create yourself.
Depending on the publisher, they might ask for copyright approvals on the screenshots.
I believe that, as long as you yourself created the screenshot, you're the owner of it (just as if you take a photograph of something, you hold the copyright, not the creator of whatever you're photographing), but this is still, I believe, a legal grey area.
As mentioned, be sure that you provide a proper citation to the software.
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Tags: writing, copyright, software, graphics
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thread-10124 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10124 | Dealing with consulting agreements where NDA conflicts with research interests | 2013-05-20T22:34:32.590 | # Question
Title: Dealing with consulting agreements where NDA conflicts with research interests
I am a computer science doctoral student working on machine learning (ML) research. Meanwhile, a startup approached me to consult/advise them in areas related to algorithms in ML. Needless to say a lot of work that I do as part of my research encompasses ML deeply. They want me to sign a mutual non disclosure agreement (NDA)/ non compete clause before i engage as an independent consultant with them, while pursuing my program full-time. In this context, they know well that I will be pursuing my program for at least the next 3 years.
I have a few problems here.
1. The confidentiality information covers:
> ...techniques, know-how, processes, algorithms... related to current and future proposed products and services... and includes, without limitation, their respective information concerning research, experimental work, development, design details and specifications, engineering..."
I am worried about this part mostly. Most ML research uses some form of classification or clustering in various domains. Every other startup is mining some patterns that they may use to their advantage. The methods used are generally known in the ML community and published in existing literature. Can a startup claim that an "algorithm" (which already exists in the literature) was used by me in some form at a later point of time for work unrelated to that domain? Additionally, I intend to use or publish research methods developed as part of my doctoral research during its course or in future. Does "without limitation ...respective information concerning research, experimental work, development" restrict me from doing this i.e can the organization restrict me from publishing work done in my doctoral program by claiming that I was also working with them during this period, so they have a right to what i publish during this time?
2. Regarding confidential information:
> "...if orally disclosed, designated as confidential at the time of disclosure and marked in writing as “confidential”."
Does this mean that anything said orally related to ML is considered confidential?
3. Non-Compete clause:
> "...with a direct competitor of Company while engaged with Company and for thirty-six months following the termination or completion of this engagement..."
As an ML researcher, I will be working on ML in the future years to come. Asking me to stop working in ML for 36 months is equivalent to asking "don't work for 3 years". Additionally, the startup does work which is similar to the kind of work a lot of analytics/data science related firms do. Most of ML research broadly falls into pattern mining in some form which almost all organizations engage in. In this context, does 36 months not seem a bit unreasonable?
4. What exactly can i get them to write in the NDA which informs that they are aware of my research position and do not expect IP for my academic research?
# Answer
You are dealing with a legal document, and you are asking questions about legal language. **The only way to get answers to your questions is to consult a legal expert.** Any advice you receive here will necessarily be inferior to that dispensed by the legal expert.
Having said that, you're asking good questions, and during the negotiation part of the discussion you can and should discuss your concerns with a legal expert and with the company representatives. Negotiations are a normal part of any contract discussion. The document you have was written by their lawyers to provide his client—the company—with maximum legal protection, in their best interests. The job of your lawyer is to provide yourself with the same protection, in *your* best interests.
If you are concerned about the cost of hiring a lawyer, do the math; the total amount you expect to receive from the consulting should be significantly more than the cost of the lawyer, and the potential cost to you of not hiring a lawyer may be pretty large.
Regarding finding one, speak with the faculty in your department; chances are at least one of them has consulted in the past and can provide you with both advice and hopefully the name of a qualified lawyer.
> 9 votes
# Answer
Non-disclosure documents are almost always trying to squeeze the employee. Here are a few specifics that I can glean from the snippets that you've posted.
I'm not a lawyer, but honestly I don't think you need a lawyer to interpret much of the language in an NDA.
## ONE: The NDA
First, the NDA claiming that it covers processes and know-how relating ML methods refer to anything that you are working on *related to current and future proposed products and services*.
So let's say Company X is working on, let's say, movie recommendations and uses, for example, SVM (support vector machines) and collaborative filtering for the bulk of their recommendations. This does not mean that you can no longer talk about SVM and collaborative filtering with anyone - it DOES mean that you cannot talk about their particular implementation of SVM, you cannot tell people how they're doing collaborative filtering (ex: their features, their weights), you cannot mention what's in their databases and so forth. In fact, you probably can't tell people that the company uses SVM and collaborative filtering unless they tell you that you're allowed. If you develop some new technique of doing a movie recommender, you cannot tell people outside the company about it or publish it unless you get permission from the company. The key part of non-disclosure is that you basically need permission before you can talk about certain things, but common knowledge is common knowledge - it's not like the company can restrict you from talking about SVM and collaborative filtering. But if that's on their "super secrets" list of stuff, you better not go to a conference, give out your business card, and then say, "Well I know a lot about collaborative filtering and SVM".
Usually, "without limitation" *DOES* cover stuff that you work on outside of your work hours if it's directly relevant to the company. If there's a remote chance that your dissertation work and your publications might be inspired by, let's say, solving a company's problem or working with the company's data, then they actually do have the right to restrict you from disclosing your work without their permission, and may in fact claim copyright as well.
On the bright side, there are possible recourses for you. You can talk to them and ask them explicitly that you want to *retain* your copyright and that you want to *reserve the right to publish* about algorithms and so forth that you develop while you're there. You can promise to not disclose the company name and line of work. You can ensure that any papers you write go through their legal department so they can rubber-stamp it before delivery. These are things though that you want to ask about before you sign the NDA. Often, you CAN negotiate on terms like this, but it depends on their legal team.
## TWO: Confidential
It seems to me that this is pretty clear. We've all taken formal logic, yes? That would mean that if something is orally disclosed to you, told to you that it's confidential, AND marked in writing as confidential, then you cannot talk about it. Unless they tell you, "Our implementation of SVM is confidential" and then point to the document that says, "The company's SVM implementation is confidential" then presumably you can talk about it.
That said, it seems like their lawyers made a mistake here, because you'd think it should be an 'OR' relationship here - "mentioned as confidential at time of disclosure OR mentioned in writing as confidential".
In any case, since SVM is basically public knowledge, most of what I mentioned under 1 would apply here. SVM and collaborative filtering and other stuff like that is public knowledge. However, don't say "Company X does SVM and collaborative filtering" in public.
## THREE: Non-compete clauses
I can't really comment as well on this as I have no experience with non-compete clauses, but in some states they're not even legal (ex: California) and if they're phrased incorrectly to be unenforceable you might be off the hook.
I'd be more concerned about "who their main competitors are" rather than how long the agreement is. Such an agreement wouldn't prevent you from working in ML research, but it might prevent you from working at Netflix if your current company is in movie recommendations. Much of the time the non-complete clauses are made to prevent an employee from stealing corporate secrets and other implicit knowledge.
## FOUR: Exceptions
Don't worry about where you'd put that stuff, you're not going to be writing the NDA.
You should bring all of your concerns with them though. The main thing is that you've brought it up with them and possibly written it down, maybe in an email, so that they can get their legal department to put it in the right location.
All of that said, I think your main concern is that "I can't talk about machine learning while working at this company." I'm 99% sure that isn't going to be the case. They don't care that you talk about general ML techniques or continue to do ML research, but will care if you're exposing corporate secrets, developing algorithms that might help their business with their data but not keeping it secret, or going to work for their competitors right after you finish with them.
Before hiring your own lawyer, I'd simply advise asking theirs about every clause in the NDA. That would save you some legal fees. If they are unable to answer, or if the answers aren't satisfactory, then you can consider getting your own lawyer to go through it.
> 5 votes
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Tags: phd, conflict-of-interest, consulting
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thread-10107 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10107 | When should a student attempt unsupervised research? | 2013-05-20T17:19:32.623 | # Question
Title: When should a student attempt unsupervised research?
I just finished my masters and am currently working as a research assistant before starting a PhD in applied mathematics. I was doing some preliminary work for a possible project and derived some minor results which I find interesting, but in the end, we decided not to go ahead with the project.
I still find the minor results interesting and thought of digging a little bit deeper by myself. However, since the group is no longer interested in this, I would have to do this by myself, unsupervised. Is this a very bad thing? Or a good learning experience?
I had a bad experience doing unsupervised research (wasted a lot of time for no results). However, I know that as a PhD student, I must eventually publish first-authored papers. How do I know when to make the switch?
# Answer
It is a common thread - see "Go rogue too soon/too late" in 10 easy ways to fail a Ph.D. and Going Rogue at The Chronicle of Higher Education. An excerpt from the first:
> The advisor-advisee dynamic needs to shift over the course of a degree.
>
> Early on, the advisor should be hands on, doling out specific topics and helping to craft early papers.
>
> Toward the end, the student should know more than the advisor about her topic. Once the inversion happens, she needs to "go rogue" and start choosing the topics to investigate and initiating the paper write-ups. She needs to do so even if her advisor is insisting she do something else.
>
> The trick is getting the timing right.
>
> Going rogue before the student knows how to choose good topics and write well will end in wasted paper submissions and a grumpy advisor.
>
> On the other hand, continuing to act only when ordered to act past a certain point will strain an advisor that expects to start seeing a "return" on an investment of time and hard-won grant money.
>
> Advisors expect near-terminal Ph.D. students to be proto-professors with intimate knowledge of the challenges in their field. They should be capable of selecting and attacking research problems of appropriate size and scope.
Personally, I have a lot of experience with unsupervised research (yes, usually *wasted a lot of time for no results*), starting from high school.
Sure, doing advisor's project is much safer (as, in some sense, (s)he is responsible for the big picture, references, judging which result is *good enough*) and allows to forget about doubts (for good or bad) and concentrate on work.
However, what I've discovered after 1.5 of my PhD (mostly "going rogue") is that there are two important things:
* asking experts (or peers), and
* day-to-day collaboration.
Sure, you can have an expert *and* a collaborator in the same person of your advisor, but as long as you are not afraid of talking to other people and have some knowledge in the topic, it shouldn't be hard to ask experts appropriate questions. When it comes to collaboration - it may be trickier (but not if you locally have people with an interest overlap).
On contrary, working alone for months on a theoretical problem, with little feedback, may be very hard (both technically and psychologically). I've learnt it the hard way. It is not a problem for one research line, but it is when all research is done alone (may be inefficient and depressive, *perhaps* unless you are in a *deep love* with it).
> 21 votes
# Answer
My former Ph.D. advisor's philosophy is that a student should become a teacher of their supervisor. He seems to give the green light when the student
1. explains their own research problem clearly,
2. shows a clear sign of familiarity with all relevant work,
3. puts their work in context,
4. gives a convincing argument about why it's important and interesting,
5. looks they can make it, and, somewhat more importantly,
6. chose a topic that isn't too unfashionable to the extent that devoting their time during their Ph.D. student phase to that kind of topic is a career suicide.
I wrote my first paper when I was a second year grad student, and my first joint paper with my former Ph.D. supervisor is after I got my degree. My friend who got his Ph.D. from the same advisor at the same time as me was also like this, and he's doing pretty well in academia. So probably all that matters when it comes to starting your own math research is if you're ready for it. And if you're ready, I don't think your advisor can talk you out of it anyway. At least, randome guys on the internet like us surely can't.
So, I'd say if you're being honest to yourself and still confident that you know about your research topic better than your advisor, and if you can get him interested in your research, it should be fine.
> 13 votes
# Answer
It is not necessarily a bad thing to forge ahead on your own and it will certainly be a learning experience. It is definitely a good thing to try this, because it will demonstrate and help reinforce that you are an independent researcher, something which you need to be at the end of your PhD studies.
But this is not without some **risk**.
Part of the role of the supervision that would otherwise be provided is to improve your skills as a researcher and writer of scientific texts. Without this guidance, your skills at the end of your PhD may not be as good as they could be. You may have gaps in your knowledge that would need to be filled. The presentation of scientific material in your writing may end up being suboptimal, because you won't have someone to proposed better ways of writing. And worse still, your ideas may not end up being the best they could be, because you won't have someone questioning them and your assumptions, ultimately forcing you to produce better versions of your ideas.
I've seen it before. Some highly independent students I've seen in action fail to follow recognised mathematical conventions, produce new notations for existing concepts, miss key references and lack understanding of key concepts that would help improve their work, and so on.
Independence is a good trait, but try to take advantage of opportunities to receive guidance from your supervisor(s) while you can.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Basically, the only restrictions are issues related to funding. If your funding is intended for you to work on a specific topic, then your primary efforts should be given to the designated topic. However, you can, if so motivated, pursue the research topic independently. In mathematics, this might not be such a huge issue, as the infrastructural demands are not so large (except for some applied math projects). However, in other disciplines, where this "unsupervised research" may require experimental supplies and other resources, this is a *much* bigger issue. In the latter case, you **must** obtain approval from the PI whose equipment, material, and other resources you will be using!
If your time is "unrestricted," in the sense that it is not tied to any particular project or program, then you should talk with your supervisor to see if you can use some of your "normal" time to devote to the "side" project. If you can, great; if you can't, then again, this needs to be "on the side"—beyond your main project.
As for the question of doing "first-authored" research, well, that transition process, in many respects, *is* the goal of the PhD! If you are to be a successful researcher, then during your doctoral studies you will learn how to do research independently, and eventually unsupervised. (Moreover, you will hopefully also have the chance to learn how to supervise others!)
> 3 votes
# Answer
Performing unsupervised research is also a great way to develop the self-discipline needed for a PhD and developing your own research strategies. This time could be considered a valuable time for personal and academic growth.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Think of research as a learning paradigm, whenever you learn something new spend time asking yourself how you would develop it if what you just learned was the state of the art, and what interesting directions would be. As you learn more about the topic you can see whether you were right. This makes learning to do research a constant part of your life rather than something you are learning to do when you start your thesis or dissertation.
> 1 votes
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Tags: phd, research-process, advisor, collaboration
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thread-10096 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10096 | How to replicate others' results quickly? | 2013-05-20T13:48:19.510 | # Question
Title: How to replicate others' results quickly?
Lately, I've been getting the impression that before I can conduct cutting edge research, I have to first master state of the art methods/techniques. Often, this requires spending (i.e. wasting) lots of time trying to replicate the results that others have already established (i.e. make sure that I can do what others have done first before moving on to other territory). When I try to master a new technique, I often find that it is extremely difficult because
1. Research papers don't seem to disclose enough details to replicate their results easily.
2. There are no advisors/colleagues that are familiar with these methods
3. Emailing the corresponding authors with questions about specific details about their research tend to go unanswered.
The only advice i've been given thus far is simply to read and re-read the research paper and dissect every little detail until I figure it out. But are there any other general strategies I can use to replicate others' results more quickly? In particular, I'm looking for strategies for replicating numerical results that require very careful implementations of mathematical algorithms.
# Answer
As JeffE points out, trying to reproduce existing results before embarking on new endeavors is **not** a waste of time. It can be particularly useful, especially in tracking down issues that you have within your own code—or, perhaps, in the existing literature. My most-cited paper, and much of the research work currently ongoing within my group, came about precisely because I could *not* replicate an existing paper. As it turned out, there were some significant methodological problems in the existing literature, and this led to a fair bit of digging around, plus a lot of careful analysis to demonstrate what had happened and why. As I've also said, the issues we uncovered there indirectly led to a different line of inquiry that has already led to half a dozen additional manuscripts.
If you are determined to speed up the process, however, you might try to consider simplified versions of the research cases presented that can validate what you're working on. For instance, can you find a "prototype" problem whose solution would be known with your method as well as the existing methods? Can you find one or two test cases which can test most of what you're looking for? Can you devise a new problem that compares the two better than the existing cases, and is also simpler to execute?
> 9 votes
# Answer
The fact that you can't quickly and effortlessly do this is *exactly why this is not wasting lots of time*, assuming that you do in fact mean to build upon this very same research. You're learning how to solve problems in this arena, given an outline that you know works, but insufficient detail to actually implement it fully.
Other than that, for numerical results you simply need to do lots of testing to make sure at each stage the calculation comes out to be what you expect (and tests any important corner cases). For example, if something's piecewise polynomial, and you drop three points at random into every piece, and it's accurate to within machine precision, you've almost surely got it right, and if it's not you've almost surely got it wrong.
Now, once you're already well-versed in a field, you may write a paper which referees want you to compare to some other new result in the field. Replicating someone else's poorly-described new methods really *can* be a waste of time; you don't learn anything except that they left out a lot of fiddly details. (Editors may be sympathetic and let you skip it or e.g. use a common dataset instead.)
> 5 votes
# Answer
I must agree with the answers posted above - it most certainly not a waste of time at all - my current supervisor explained to me that in a way, it is analogous to the saying "Learning to walk, before you can run" - if you can master what has been researched before, particularly learning the methodologies used - then you would have a greater chance of improving these methods and potentially further refining the results.
Also, consider that when the papers don't give much away, that this is a prime opportunity to develop your problem solving skills within the field that you are researching. I am doing the same, with a unique Android app as part of my research, I am entirely self taught from learning how other apps work.
Don't give up - keep on persevering, it is worth it!
> 1 votes
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Tags: time-management, reproducible-research
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thread-10126 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10126 | Teach in a university with a master degree | 2013-05-20T23:11:40.797 | # Question
Title: Teach in a university with a master degree
I don't know if here is the best place to ask that but I'm finishing my master degree in pure mathematics and I would like to travel and know another countries before enter into a doctorate school. In my country with a master degree you can teach in a private university or even in a public university with tenure in small villages or in public universities with 2-years contract in bigger cities.
I would like to know if in your own home country is easy to work in a temporary job as a "professor" or be a permanent professor with tenure in smaller areas with a master degree.
**Remark**
I know that is impossible to teach pure mathematics with only a master degree, but there are a lot of faculties of civil and food engineer, actuarial sciences, computer sciences, etc... which have logic, calculus, linear algebra, etc... courses, i.e., simpler courses with doesn't necessarily need a PHD professor to teach it.
Thanks a lot
# Answer
In the United States, a master's degree typically qualifies you to teach at the junior college or community college level, and also to teach as a lecturer at the university level. However, you should know that in mathematics there is substantially less supply of these jobs than there is demand for them. That is, they are hard to find and don't pay very well.
> 10 votes
# Answer
If I've understood your question correctly, you are asking if you can work with your master's degree as an instructor in mathematics while you are touring the world before beginning a doctoral program.
If that is indeed the case, the answer is **maybe**, although it would be very difficult to accomplish.
The reason for this is that you would likely have to surmount visa issues, which can make it difficult for foreign nationals to gain employment in another country. You'd probably have to line up the position *before* you traveled, which would complicate things even further.
However, another thing to keep in mind is that in most universities, the math courses are taught out of the math department—including "service" courses taught for other departments, such as CS, engineering, and physical science. Even in these cases, first priority likely goes to faculty, existing teaching staff, and graduate students within the department. Only if there remains a need for additional teaching staff will they be likely to offer you a contract. And, as Stirling points out, they're unlikely to pay very well. (But then again, I suppose this is just a means of supporting yourself during your travels, in which case this might not be such a bad deal.)
> 3 votes
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Tags: professorship, job, degree
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thread-10088 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10088 | How often do techniques/methods that are considered old or obsolete become relevant again? | 2013-05-20T09:34:32.010 | # Question
Title: How often do techniques/methods that are considered old or obsolete become relevant again?
In many, if not most, disciplines methods age, get old and eventually become more or less obsolete, in the sense that some other method perhaps using a different technology becomes common-practice for a particular type of experimentation. One such example could be Edman sequencing, which used to be *the* method for sequencing peptides, but is pretty much outdated nowadays, not because it does not work, but because it's costly in time and labor.
In my experience, these old/obsolete techniques are taught both at Masters and PhD level, primarily to give a deep understanding of the field, albeit being more theory than practice. *Are there any other benefits in learning/studying older methods, rather than only studying the state-of-the-art?*
I was wondering how often, if at all, such old methodologies come back (perhaps following a breakthrough in overcoming some original limitation) and regain popularity. *Are there known examples?*
As a follow-up; is such change in methodologies a phenomenon observed in experimental research, or are there equivalent scenarios in theoretical research as well?
# Answer
There are some important examples of techniques and problems being "revived" after having lain dormant for many years. For instance, in my own field, one of the cornerstones of computer modeling was originally derived in the 1920's, and then basically remained undeveloped until the 1970's, when it was brought back in fashion. (It has since been replaced by faster methods, but it is still regarded as the "touchstone" for high-accuracy calculations.)
Similarly, entire fields of research may have been developed before the applications caught up with them. Again, bringing up an example from my own field of research, the class of materials known as *ionic liquids* was known as far back as the early 1900's, but again were forgotten until the 1990's (or so) when they were "rediscovered" because they were nonvolatile materials and could be used as replacement solvents in the chemical industry. (It also offered the ability to do "combinatorial chemistry," which was also coming into fashion.)
THe point of these examples is that sometimes theoretical and even experimental techniques may be developed in one era, but the ability to exploit the technology to its fullest extent has not yet been attained. Keeping awareness of such methods thus can have some use. Whether it should be taught to every student of a field is a different issue.
> 2 votes
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Tags: research-process, methodology
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thread-10089 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10089 | Getting in between another teacher and his student | 2013-05-20T10:07:46.733 | # Question
Title: Getting in between another teacher and his student
One subject I teach is also taught by another teacher at my university. Usually we do not both teach this subject during the same semester but sometimes we do. Students do not get to choose their teacher, the are assigned into one class or the other.
This has introduced a strange dynamic in that some of the other teacher's students have come to me asking for information about the subject, since they know I also teach it. So far, I've been quite hesitant to answer any such questions because I am worried about getting in between the other teacher and his students. I can imagine that I might have an answer that is different than the other teacher (perhaps my answer is wrong, perhaps my answer is right, and perhaps both of us are right but we have different ways of looking at a problem). The issue is compounded by the fact that I am from the West but the other teacher is Asian so there are cultural issues at play here (and I'm in Asia so it's not my culture).
I imagine this would be less of an issue in subjects like math where there is a specific formula but in management subjects the perspective of the teacher can change things significantly, especially if one teacher might be less strong in the subject than the other.
So, what should a teacher in this situation do? Refer the student to their teacher? If they feel they cannot get an acceptable answer then refer them to a search engine? Should I jump in if they feel they are lost and their teacher is not helping them understand (this seems like it could cause serious problems, even if handled well)?
# Answer
> 18 votes
My first question is, why are you (the faculty) both teaching the same class at the same university without talking to each other? I can understand the cultural differences, but this is even more of a reason to talk to your colleague about the class!
I would suggest (as posdef does in his comment) to talk to the other instructor about the class, offer to have him sit in on your class, and ask about collaboration. You could also ask to sit in on his class if you'd like, but you need to be careful to phrase your request so it is clear that you're there to gain insight into his class and not to provide criticism. I can't tell from your comment, "...if one teacher might be less strong in the subject than the other" if you believe he is the weak one or if you are, but regardless, you can both learn from each other.
Finally, it is in the best interest of both classes of students that you collaborate with the other instructor -- if both courses are listed as the same in the course catalog, the students should be able to expect that the class will cover roughly the same material.
# Answer
> 4 votes
You mentioned you’re from the West teaching in Asia. The school invited you from the West to teach while they already have instructors who can teach the same subject. I would think they all want to learn from you. Here, *they* are not only the students but also the faculty.
As posdef suggested in his comment, I would talk to the other instructor in some kind of informal meetings if I were you. You can talk to him about the class, the students and the department. You two are teaching the same course. There must be a lot of things you can share. In particular, you can ask him exactly this question and see what kind of solutions he would recommend. I think he would have a more insightful answer than most users on this site because he is in the same environment as you are.
Whether or not the other instructor is willing to talk to you is another issue. From what I know, most Asians are nice to the guests. If you are there for a tenure track position, he might see you as a competition. Then I think you should handle this matter in a formal manner. If you are not there on a permanent basis, I think informal meetings would be enough.
The most important thing is, what is the best interests for the students? Many Asian students believe there is always only one standard correct answer for every question. We know this is not always the case. Even for math related subjects, you can have multiple approaches to solve a problem. I suspect the students from the other class came to you to confirm the answer given by their instructor is the standard one. If that’s the case, you and the other instructor need to coordinate. Both need to explain to the students that there may not be only one standard answer per every question.
If the students came to you because they doubt their instructor or they don't get acceptable answers, you need to handle this with care. Respecting the teachers is an integral part of Asian culture. However, the best interests for the students is even more important. Talking to the other instructor in person is the first step to resolve this issue. You two together need to figure out how to tell the students the correct answers. Again, learning together is everybody’s goal.
# Answer
> 3 votes
**\[Edit\]** I'm assuming the questions asked are not ones where there is a consensus about the answers.
Here's the advice I give to students who come to me from the another instructors of the courses I also teach (sometimes the other instructors are teaching assistants): The person grading your exams is the other instructor, therefore it's in your best interest to get the answers from the other instructor.
The answer sounds perhaps like we're brushing off the student, but if we contradict the other instructor, it won't help the student.
Put yourself in the shoes of the other instructor. What if a student answered an exam question according to advice from the other instructor, but out of context, or according to another perspective. How would you grade it if you disagreed with the answer or point of view?
I teach software analysis and design at an undergrad level. Some students rarely come to class and answer questions based on analysis or design methods they used before. Some get upset when I qualify all questions "according to the process learned in class" because they can't write any old answer from their past experience. One instructor's style or method could be different (not necessarily wrong). But much of the evaluation in a course is based on what the student learned in that course.
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Tags: teaching, workplace
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thread-10152 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10152 | How do researchers handle hypotheses? | 2013-05-22T05:57:49.857 | # Question
Title: How do researchers handle hypotheses?
In my field (biology), the end of the introduction in a research article generally ends with a list of hypotheses that the researchers tested. A common structure of this part of a research paper is:
```
'We tested (1) hypothesis X (2) hypothesis Y and (3) hypothesis Z'.
```
The research papers I read often test between two and four hypotheses. I'm interested in how the researchers generally arrive at this list of two and four hypotheses. Do they start with a list of 10+ hypotheses, and tick off the ones that they fail to say anything useful about? Or do they stick with the same two to four hypotheses throughout a research project? Or do researchers not begin with any hypotheses, and fit some suitable hypotheses after checking their results?
# Answer
I believe that in many fields of study, the hypothesis is "implicit," in the sense that we're not explicitly writing down a statement such as "we believe that effect Y is the result of cause X." This is especially true in fields associated with "inverse" methods, where the idea is to build a model that explains a result. In such cases, you know what the "answer" is (the phenomenon you're looking to explain or quantify), but you might not necessarily predict in advance what causes the result you want. Even if the model is successful in reproducing the result, you may not be able to predict *why* that model worked without deeper investigation of the data that is produced. Hence, any attempt at formal, explicit hypotheses is largely guesswork.
> 3 votes
# Answer
In my field, Physics, I have only focussed on a single, yet detailed, hypothesis. This has been true for my thesis and published papers.
I find that it has been and is easier for me to concentrate and explore one single hypothesis thoroughly, any new hypotheses that arise from from this form the basis of several sie projects and further research.
> 3 votes
# Answer
In social science, there are often a number of formalized hypothesis in every paper. This is because in human behavior study, there are often a number of nuances which are being studied at the same time (which allows you to reach aforementioned hypothesis)
The way in which I, as a current graduate student (not in social science but intersecting with it in my work) have been trained is through the following two approaches.
1. If I am doing qualitative research then I often adopt a grounded theory approach in which there are no pre-determined hypotheses. There could be research questions instead.
2. If I am engaged in quantitative inquiry then I adopt formalized hypothesis from the existing literature. e.g. existing literature says X contributes to Y. I think Z is another variable which might contribute to Y ergo, I might develop H1: X + Z contributes to Y.
> 3 votes
# Answer
In (cognitive) neuroscience, most often there is either a single hypothesis in the introduction, or two competing ones. The Journal of Neuroscience, for example, limits introductions to 500 words, which doesn't allow for much space to describe the theory behind many hypotheses.
In the results and discussion section, however, it is common to offer alternative hypotheses which could explain the obtained pattern of results, and to then proceed to discard them through control experiments, additional analyses, or on theoretical grounds. There is no real limit on the number of alternative hypotheses tested, but usually, the stronger the journal, the more analyses you need to persuade the reviewers that your explanation is the most likely one.
> 3 votes
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Tags: publications
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thread-10136 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10136 | What are the differences between M.Sc, M.Tech and M.Eng.? | 2013-05-21T11:32:14.977 | # Question
Title: What are the differences between M.Sc, M.Tech and M.Eng.?
Based on this other question where the OP asks whether or not a second Masters degree is possible, I realized that I am not sure what the difference is between *Master of Science* and *Master of Technology*.
I have graduated from a Swedish university and after 5 years of studies (Bologna process) I got my undergrad (*kandidat*) and masters (*examen*) together as it is very common here. I double checked my diploma now and even though I have graduated from the technical faculty and an engineering program, I am given a *Master of Science*. I believe there is no *Master of Technology* degree in Sweden, so I am not sure what it means. To make the matters worse, I stumbled upon another similar degree, *Master of Engineering*.
I would really appreciate some insight into the differences of these degrees, and whether or not they would be considered interchangeable abroad (read: outside Europe).
# Answer
There are some differences, especially in the concept of the programs M.Eng./M.Tech. and M.Sc (and M.A. obviously too).
From my experience, and Wikipedia states this also, the M.Eng./M.Tech. degrees are rather given by Universities of Applied Sciences (at least in Germany, Canada, Finland etc,) and seldomly by Universities focusing on research. Any program that is research oriented will thus very likely give M.Sc. degrees. The M.Eng. is even given as an undergraduate Master in the UK (see the Wikipedia Link) that gets granted immediately (without a bachelors in between).
For the career of a graduate, the title itself is not too important as aeismail mentioned, since any employer will have a look at what's inside (= the student track record).
Because there are so many slightly different programs, especially in computer/information engineering/technology/sciences I am not sure where universities draw the line regarding the "not granting a 2nd masters degree in the same field/area/discipline" policy.
> 4 votes
# Answer
At some schools, there may be differences in the formal degree requirements, such as the requirement of coursework or completion of a thesis; at others, including the graduate school I attended, the distinction is purely a departmental issue—engineering departments give out M.S. or M.Eng. degrees, while science departments give out only M.S. degrees. I think, from an admissions perspective, in most cases, these would be viewed as largely interchangeable. Some schools may have very particular entrance requirements, but these would be noted as part of the admissions instructions.
Where I now work, we don't specify the nature of the master's degree required for enrollment as a PhD student; any relevant master's degree will suffice, and the exact title of the degree is more or less immaterial. (We do have to petition if it's a foreign degree, but this is mostly a *pro forma* process.)
> 2 votes
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Tags: masters
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thread-10087 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10087 | Resources for English speaking students with poor command of grammar and writing style | 2013-05-20T08:46:01.683 | # Question
Title: Resources for English speaking students with poor command of grammar and writing style
I sometimes read student assignments where the grammar and writing style is poor. Paragraphs don't really flow. Sentences go on for ever. The ordering of words is awkward. Instead of concisely introducing the subject of the sentence, it goes on forever.
I'd like to be able to recommend resources to such students. Ideally, such a resources would be available online so I could just give them a link or two to some writing style and grammar materials with exercises.
**What is a good resource (preferably online) for teaching English speaking university students how to improve their writing style?**
# Answer
I know that this can be the source of great frustration for teachers, especially when they do not teach writing. However, writing is one of those things, like other communication skills, that I think we all need to teach (at least a little bit) if for no other reason that our students will fail if they cannot compose a well-reasoned essay, even if they understand the material from our subject quite well.
There are plenty of universities which provide very good source material for this. Here is one from the US. Here is one from the UK. I have used materials from both (and many others) but I do not find that I can simply point the students to these sites and expect everything to work out.
As educators, sometimes we need to teach things which are more fundamental in nature. Unless your school has a 'writing center' so you can direct students there for help (my school does not). I find I need to spend 1-2 hours per semester to cover core writing issues.
> 7 votes
# Answer
As a teacher, I teach 'science literacy' to all year levels as part of my overall curriculum. Alongside this, I have the students continually practising these skills, as well as peer reviewing their work.
It takes time, but the overall benefits make the effort worthwhile.
> 3 votes
# Answer
A selection of the best online writing sources from different universities is available here. In addition to writing, resources are available for assignments and grammar.
Moreover, library of some universities have books (hard copy or ebooks) for these purposes which are very useful. Personally, I liked *Writing academic English by Alice Oshima, Ann Hogue* as a start point.
> 2 votes
# Answer
I've progressed in my writing ability as I've progressed in my reading commitment. Have you tried assigning papers to read, followed by a short essay describing what they read?
> 1 votes
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Tags: teaching, writing, writing-style, online-resource, grammar
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thread-2929 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2929 | Ethics of a journal requiring that submissions cite existing articles in the journal | 2012-08-21T12:46:06.850 | # Question
Title: Ethics of a journal requiring that submissions cite existing articles in the journal
Recently, I became aware by own experiences and friend's stories that some international statistical journals (whose names I prefer to omit) are rejecting papers because they do not include a reference of the journal in question. This is, if you do not cite a paper from journal X, then you cannot attempt to publish a paper in journal X.
This, of course, has an influence on the Impact Factor of the journal and the administrators are trying to increase this.
Are there explicit regulations regarding these issues? Is it possible to denounce this kind of behaviour?
# Answer
There are no explicit regulations regarding impact factors; the definition is too simple. (In terms of complexity, it's a lot like calculating a slugging average in baseball. So it's open to a lot of manipulation, and all of it is permissible. However, permissible does *not* mean ethical, and this is clearly a situation where, if true, the journal editors are trying to manipulate statistics to make their journal look better. Such a policy, if done with the intent of manipulating statistics, is deplorable, and should be denounced—via web campaigns, blog posts, open letters, and so on.
That said, there is a counterargument that is less nefarious in aim. It is possible to argue that you should, in general, cite *some* article from the journal you're submitting a paper to. If you can't do that, why is your article suitable for submission to that journal (let's call it journal X)? Presumably, there are a number of other journals (A, B, C, etc.) whose works you have cited instead of X. In that case, the journal could argue that your paper is a better fit for journals A, B, and C instead.
Since it's not clear *for which reason* the journal has the self-citing policy, I would make sure that you can determine it convincingly, one way or the other, to avoid embarrassing yourself. The last thing you want to do is spearhead a campaign that turns a molehill into a mountain.
> 7 votes
# Answer
Not quite the same thing, but I was once requested by the EIC of a journal to add some references to papers published in the journal in question to a paper that I had submitted, explicitly to promote the journal by improving its impact factor. I did not comply with this request; the papers that were relevant were already in the reference list. Sadly this sort of thing is becoming increasingly common (as is manipulation of review times etc.), although rejecting a paper on such grounds would be taking things to another level!
> 2 votes
# Answer
The impact factor is what, 3-year moving average? 5-year moving average? Cite something that is 17 or 20 years old, let them have it.
I wonder, though, if you can find any suitable wording in the Ethical Guidelines of the American Statistical Association, say, that would indicate the editor stepping over them. Article A.10 requires
> Disclose conflicts of interest, financial and otherwise, and resolve them. This may sometimes require divestiture of the conflicting personal interest or withdrawal from the professional activity. Examples where conflict of interest may be problematic include grant reviews, other peer reviews, and tensions between scholarship and personal or family financial interests.
If the editor is paid more for the greater impact factor, or is more likely to get promoted, then of course this constitutes a clear conflict of interest. This is not as ridiculous as it sounds: if editorship of a prestigious journal is considered to be a part of the service component of a university professor evaluation, and the said editor claims in their annual report that the IF of the journal went up last year, and finally that on the basis of this claim the professor gets their annual raise, then the causal chain does link the greater impact factor with money.
Articles H.4 and H.5 state:
> Support sound statistical analysis and expose incompetent or corrupt statistical practice. In cases of conflict, statistical practitioners and those employing them are encouraged to resolve issues of ethical practice privately. If private resolution is not possible, recognize that statistical practitioners have an ethical obligation to expose incompetent or corrupt practice before it can cause harm to research subjects or society at large.
>
> Recognize that within organizations and within professions using statistical methods generally, statistics practitioners with greater prestige, power, or status have a responsibility to protect the professional freedom and responsibility of more subordinate statistical practitioners who comply with these guidelines.
So the editor, being in the position of power, has this responsibility to protect your professional freedom of citing whatever you consider relevant. You, however, also have the ethical obligation to expose the corrupt practices... which you are doing here on this website, and I commend you for reaching out.
I think it is appropriate to send an email to the leader of whatever professional organization you expect the editors to be members of, and inquire whether the request for citations would constitute a breach in the ethics. Knowing a little bit about how ASA works, I can help you identify the relevant person.
> 2 votes
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Tags: journals, citations, ethics
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thread-10029 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10029 | E-books and e-publishing | 2013-05-17T05:26:57.573 | # Question
Title: E-books and e-publishing
What options are there, and how do they compare against each other, for digitally publishing (for example, a series of short stories)?
In addition to the issue of format management (producing whatever electronic file formats are appropriate) any information about distribution would also be welcomed.
I am a teacher in a graduate-level literature program and am looking for solutions I can pass on to my students, so this is not just for my own use.
# Answer
> 4 votes
The good news is that once you've got a text in one eBook format, it is relatively painless to publish it in additional formats (PDF being the notable exception, though it is generally easy to get a document into PDF format--you can do a decent job with a converter such as Calibre--see below--but translating the format properly is sometimes tricky).
At the very least, you should publish in PDF format. While not a particularly good format for reading on portable devices, it is a universal format that *can* be read on any any modern eReader, and, of course, on a PC screen.
I would also suggest formatting the book in the open EPUB format, and in a Kindle format (either .MOBI, AZW, or .KF8). I would then link to all of the formats on your web page, possibly with instructions on how to get the volume onto a particular device. You could also consider self-publishing the volume to the Kindle store, but bear in mind that there may be restrictions, and I believe you will be forced to charge for the volume. The iTunes Store is another possibility, but comes with its own restrictions and formatting / conversion guidelines.
You should definiltely download the fine E-Book manager, Calibre, which can convert between formats and is free.
In the end, there isn't one true standard for eBook formats yet, but it is not difficult having a few different formats on your web page.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I would suggest using iBook Author (free).
## Drawbacks
* The drawback is that e-books created with this software are only viewable as PDF or on an iPad.
* As someone who has used InDesign for page layout projects, I find the layout capabilities are limited.
* As @Chris Gregg points out, this application is only available for **Mac running Lion** or higher.
## Advantage
* The advantage is that this format allows teachers to add chapter/unit review quizzes, embedding of 3D objects, image galleries,presentations, & even html.
*Feel free to contact me if you need more information about this.*
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Tags: publications, books
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thread-10177 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10177 | What to include in a letter of support for an academic assessment? | 2013-05-23T01:22:31.517 | # Question
Title: What to include in a letter of support for an academic assessment?
I have been asked to write a short note that includes comments about the impact and importance of a colleagues' work over the course of the past year - for a pre-tenure review.
I could discuss a notable recent publication, a conference he is organizing, inspiring discussions we have had over the past year, and his public outreach at a recent conference. But it is not clear how I do so in a way that most effectively supports his work, and would appreciate advice from more experienced academics who request and review such letters.
How can I most effectively frame and focus these points while keeping the letter brief and genuine? In addition to these points, what are the key features of such a letter?
# Answer
I would suggest by starting with a general statement about your colleague as an academic (quality of work, productivity etc. relative to others, in general, in the specific sub-discipline) following that you could exemplify this with the points you mention. Tiyr second paragraph could almost be copied into such a letter but with some more detail. A second item may be to set the last year performance in perspective of the longer term. This seems not to be asked for but I think it is a valuable step to set the year's performance in perspective both relative to what has been achieved earlier and relative to what can be expected visavi the person's job siuation (teaching load, admin load etc.. For tenure, I suppose personal traits and activities within the department are not of interest since they would be known internally. Other wise such points should be included.
> 4 votes
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Tags: writing, recommendation-letter
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thread-10183 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10183 | How to compose a great recommendation letter? | 2013-05-23T08:10:16.893 | # Question
Title: How to compose a great recommendation letter?
I was asked to compose a recommendation/reference letter for a Computer Engineer that works as a Researcher in the Research Center I am supervisor. I don't know if Academia is the right site to post , but since the nature of the job is Research and people involved "Research Engineers", I believe is the right place.
So, I need to write a great recommendation/reference letter, but the problem is I have never written a letter of this kind before. I've seen many of them, and even more on the web but the problem is that they all look "copy-pasted" and not written in a way that would make me believe that the author of this letter really spent time on it, believing in the skills of his employee and really wanted to recommend them.
I've already written the letter, the best I could and I will like to ask about some parts of it, how they sound and if they could be any better.
1. As a first paragraph, I wrote who I am, the position I have in the Research Center and what is the purpose of this letter:
> My name is... I am a ...
> The purpose of this letter, is to serve as a reference to my cooperation with Mr ...
2. In the second paragraph I wrote about the position of the person (Research Engineer) and for how long he worked with us:
> Mr. X joined our team in the X Research Center as a full-time Research Engineer under an ongoing X month contract...
At this point I don't know how I could point out better the fact the the person was under a normal full-paid contract and not just given a "European Grant" to work with us. I wrote they were `full-time`, but still there are many people that join programs after studies that work for a few months as Engineers in Research Centers. In this case, I want to stress that they were working as a normal Research Engineer, especially chosen for skills and paid a normal salary for the position as Engineer. Maybe add something like `"full paid contract"`
3. In the 3rd paragraph I wrote under what framework the person worked (European project) and a few words where and how they were involved. I didn't want to go into great details here as I believe this stuff could be easily read from their great CV. Is it wise to describe exactly what he did (Names of real-life applications that was part of developing etc). I pointed out that they deeply involved in what they did, how well they integrated with the rest of the people and how motivated they were and that they actively contributed in the project. Anything else I could add here?
4. As a last line I would like to show that I can't recommend them enough, but without getting "too excited". I want it to be serious, I want it to leave no doubts. Also since the person is young and is interested in continuing with post graduate studies, or working as a Researcher or even getting a computer engineer position in a private company. Is it okay if I mention all of them? Usually we recommend someone for one type of position. But this position, working as computer engineer doing research (aka Research Engineer), leaves no doubt that he would be great as a PhD student, as a researcher or as a software engineer. So I wrote:
> For all the aforementioned reasons I would like to highly recommend X, as a strong candidate for future postgraduate studies, research and employment offers.
What do you think about it? How could I make it better and is there something I should change? If you don't like some part and you give me an alternative please point out why you don't like the part, as some times its a bit of personal taste and not that something is wrong. Would be great, if you could post some examples of letters you composed or parts of them, or an example from the web that you consider great.
# Answer
> 15 votes
There was a good link that I'd found on this topic, while applying to graduate school:
Advice to Graduate School Recommendation Letter Writers
The above link is a pithy list of points to be kept in mind by new letter writers. As a summary, I'd like to highlight some sections of it that I've found repeated in other such articles as well:
> **Be Concrete**
>
> If you take away just one piece of concrete advice, let it be this.
>
> The single biggest problem with most letters is that they are filled with abstract generalities and infinitives. If we don't know you or your institution, we can't judge what any of these statements mean relative to our standards. Always consider the illustrative anecdote:
>
> ```
> Due to deadline pressure, I asked him to grow a pumpkin in just one month. As you know it takes over 100 days to grow a pumpkin, but over the weekend he devised a new method to accelerate their growth. On Monday morning I arrived to find not just a pumpkin but a steaming, flavorful pie.
>
> ```
>
> Anecdote about acts of raw coding are only so helpful in understanding research potential, but they're better than nothing (see the section on Corporate Letters, below). An extra book or paper they read, and demonstrated understanding of (again, be concrete about why you believe this), goes a long way.
>
> **Corporate Letters**
>
> An important special case is the corporate letter: when you, the letter-writer, work in industry and have no academic affiliation. Many corporate letters (like many academic letters, but more so) tend to be vapid, clearly written in a different culture and for a different audience. Unless they actually did academic research with you, here are some suggestions for improving them.
>
> A common mistake is to focus on teamwork. This is important even in academia, but often this is the primary focus of the letter, which makes it less valuable. Of course we care about it, but it's secondary to their technical skills.
>
> 1. Tell us if they learned something particularly quickly, mastered a complex technology, or solved a problem others were stuck on. Give us a paragraph of details.
> 2. If you have a concrete reason to evaluate research potential, do so concretely. Otherwise, don't bother.
> 3. Give us a brief bio-sketch, including educational qualifications. 4.Put the applicant in context, and tell us the context. It's fine to relate it to your own student days, or to your experience hiring students. E.g.
> * Compared to the students I studied with at Cucumber and Melon University, and the ones I now recruit from there, I would put him in the top 10%.
# Answer
> 8 votes
This is what I would recommend and it is not far off from what you have outlined:
I am assuming your will start the letter cordially to whomever will receive the letter ("Dear so-and-so" or "To whom it may concern"). I also assume you're writing on letter head where your name and contact information and date for the letter is written.
## 1st part (paragraph)
First state that you write the letter on request by the applicant. Follow up by stating who you are in terms of your professional status (expertise) and your relation to the applicant. The purpose is to make the recipient aware of your standing relative to the applicant, it makes it easier to value your comments. This paragraph should obviously not be very long since it is not you who are to be evaluated, but still long enough to provide a fair picture of your qualifications.
## 2nd part (one or more paragraphs)
Outline the most important aspect of the applicants merits that are sought for the position, if it is a teaching job then etaching experience, if it is research then research related. It may end up more than one paragraph because you may need to discuss the research done (type of research past and present) in one paragraph and then follow up on the person's ability to attarct funding and colaboration in a second (depending on length). You also need to value the publications briefly in terms of journal impact factors and citations, in other words the quality of the published work.
## 3rd part (one or more paragraphs)##
You need to write about the personal side of the applicant, starting out with for example ability to collaborate and contribute to the research and work environment. This can be followed up bu more personal aspects and "soft values" that descfibes the persons pesronality at work and elsewhere. You obviously need to focius on aspects that may be relevant for evaluating the applicant as a colleague.
## Final Statement
Finish of by summing up the major points above and express your personal support for the person in terms of how the person would fit the announced position. You can for example tie back to your own expoerience and position and value in terms of how you see the applicant relative to others you have worked with and so on.
## Final Points to Consider
The length of a letter can vary greatly. Honesty is what everyone expects. I think it is valuable to also mention weaknesses as long s they are done fairly and with insight. The employer will want to know the person, not just the glossy exterior. This part is always trickiest to write and also very personal so additional advice is hard to provide.
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Tags: research-process, recommendation-letter
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thread-10003 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10003 | Is it a bad idea to send an article under review as a writing sample? (faculty job application) | 2013-05-15T16:14:03.547 | # Question
Title: Is it a bad idea to send an article under review as a writing sample? (faculty job application)
I have a manuscript that is under review in a major journal which is a main result out of a few recent years of my research. When applying for faculty positions, I would like to send the draft as a part of my writing sample. But since the material is not yet published, I am not sure if it is a good idea.
What are the foreseeable disadvantages of sending an article in review to the faculty search committee?
My area is neuroscience / biomedical engineering.
**Update**: The paper got into a high-profile journal, and I got a job at a different place which did not require a writing sample.
# Answer
First, From a legal point of view I do not think you will have any problems sending out a pre-review version of your manuscript since your have the intellectual rights to your own work. Usually most publishers' copyrights start when they have processed the material in some way but even then, if you are not using the material for any commercial purpose or for being reproduced publically, I cannot see any problem.
Then, I cannot really see any problems sending a pre-reveiw manuscript to a search committee unless it is of poor quality. Sending your work allows people to see what you are doing and a manuscript (in very good shape) will allow people to see your latest work in detail. Naturally a manuscript will not carry as much merit as a published paper since it has not been through peer review. But, if it is interesting, well written and in impeccable order you will be showing your skills in some way.
So it could provide a slight positive in a search situation if good but be very negative if bad and your judgement is what will be at stake.
> 15 votes
# Answer
Although your question is specifically for faculty job applications, I would like to generalize and add to Peter's answer.
For doctoral program admissions, I often sent out an article under review whenever asked for a writing sample. Not all programs ask for this ; for some its optional and for some its not but I sent them anyway. Usually, when I was interviewed for the position after having made it through some of the initial cut-offs, my writing sample was alluded to and often, questions were centered around it.
Therefore, I would like to say that sending it in anyway will not detract from your application but might even add to it.
> 8 votes
# Answer
To add to the existing answers, I'd note that in some fields, the review process can be very long. If you stick only to papers that have been published, you'll be giving the committee a picture of your research that may be years out of date. Committees will understand this; sometimes they *explicitly* ask for preprints.
If you're confident in the quality of the article, and have a reasonable expectation of eventually getting it published, send it along. Conversely, if you don't feel the article represents your best work, don't send it, even if it has been published already!
> 4 votes
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Tags: application
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thread-10145 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10145 | Is there a stigma of assigning the title TA to an undergraduate? | 2013-05-21T19:04:40.970 | # Question
Title: Is there a stigma of assigning the title TA to an undergraduate?
I am entering my senior year of undergraduate study in Computer Science at a small, primarily undergraduate institution. I plan to attend graduate school and pursue a PhD in Computer Science and Mathematics, my main goal to teach. The school I attend is quite small, and is all but unknown outside our geographic region. As such, I've attempted to add as many positive bullets to my CV as possible, mainly because I feel I will have to fight harder than my colleagues at larger universities to get into a great program.
One of the things I have attempted to add to my vita is teaching experience. I have had the opportunity to tutor in our Mathematics Tutoring Center for a couple years now, and have fallen in love. I have also had the pleasure of assisting a professor in her Freshmen CS labs. Last fall I spoke with her about increasing my duties to more than just fielding questions as the students type their programs. I wanted to start grading lab submissions, and perhaps even hold office hours. She was delighted that I wanted the increased responsibility, but sharply objected to calling it a "TA" position.
Is there a stigma of assigning the title TA to an undergraduate?
# Answer
A teaching assistantship (TA) is a formal job category at most universities, which implies that you are being paid a specific wage for teaching duties while a graduate student. Consequently, you would be misrepresenting your work on the CV if you called yourself a teaching assistant, because you are not formally a graduate student.
At the university level, another issue may be that while many undergraduates do participate in teaching responsibilities at many schools, this is often in the form of tutoring programs and informal arrangements. Part of the reason for this is that many universities want to be able to claim a higher percentage of teaching duties are done by faculty than is really the case. Calling undergraduates graders and tutors helps to shift off the balance, since they are not officially "teaching staff," and therefore wouldn't be included in such time accounting.
> 21 votes
# Answer
In my experience, the answer is: teaching assistantship (TA) is a formal job category at most universities, which entails a specific combination of job duties. Those job duties go beyond what you are doing. Therefore, you would be misrepresenting your work on your CV if you called yourself a TA, because you have not been formally appointed as a TA (and because a TA would be expected to take on additional duties beyond what you have been doing).
Note that this is a little different from aeismail's answer. In many institutions, undergrads can be appointed as a TA, under certain circumstances. That doesn't mean that you can just call yourself a TA if you feel like it. For instance, assisting informally or helping with grading papers doesn't necessarily make you a TA; it's not unusual to hire undergraduates to help with those tasks, under some other job title -- but not as a TA. A TA is a very specific job title, and unless you've been appointed under that job title, you should not call yourself a TA.
And I think you're misinterpreting the situation, when you presume there is a stigma against hiring undergrads as a TA. I suspect it's more likely that there is a different explanation: that your instructor reacted negatively because you were proposing to describe yourself as a TA when you have not actually been formally appointed as a TA.
> 4 votes
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Tags: teaching-assistant
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thread-10155 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10155 | Should unreadability or sloppiness of students' work be reflected in their evaluation? | 2013-05-22T08:12:37.150 | # Question
Title: Should unreadability or sloppiness of students' work be reflected in their evaluation?
When evaluating and grading students' work in technical fields (like computer science or mathematics), I often face ones that are really messy, sometimes even unreadable (I mean structure, not - handwriting). It's not clear at all what part belongs to what or what is the final result. Instead of spending a lot of time trying to figure out if there is a good result buried somewhere in the mess, I'm tempted to just fail such a work as unreadable.
While these (I'd say) formal aspect don't reflect the ability of the student to solve the problem, it strongly reflects his/her ability to present the solution. And in their future professions, it won't be much good that they can solve problems, if they're not able to present the solution to someone else. Or for example grant agencies simply reject proposals that fail even slightly given formal criteria.
My questions are:
1. Should the evaluation include evaluation of readability, proper structure etc. for example in a textual form (without impacting the final grade perhaps), something like *"The solution is completely unreadable."* or for a larger work *"The solution lacks a proper structure - there is no introduction or conclusion of what have been accomplished."* etc.?
2. Should such deficiencies be also reflected in the grade? If so, how much? Would it be acceptable to even fail a work just because it's completely unreadable?
# Answer
I think the most important part of your post is in your comment
> Or for example grant agencies simply reject proposals that fail even slightly given formal criteria.
If a student isn't corrected for sloppy work while in school, when will he or she improve? The question really boils down to
> *How best can we as instructors give guidance to students so that they will succeed in the future?*
Evaluations in an educational setting can serve many purposes, but fundamentally they should be used as a tool to help students succeed. Obviously, you have to be careful because a poor grade on a transcript can have long-term ramifications, but ignoring sloppy or unreadable work by trying to see through it is doing a disservice to the student on a particularly key issue: *communication of an idea is as important as the idea itself.*
To answer your questions:
> 1. Should the evaluation include evaluation of readability, proper structure etc...?
Absolutely. To ignore this would be bad pedagogy. Determining *how* to relate this to the student without causing a misunderstanding about the idea itself is the difficult part. Encouragement or direction to seek out writing help is a good idea, as is having students re-write or re-submit work that is sloppy. Hopefully the work improves throughout the course; being picky at the beginning of a course can set a good standard for the rest of the course.
> 2. Should such deficiencies be also reflected in the grade? If so, how much? Would it be acceptable to even fail a work just because it's completely unreadable?
The answer to this ties directly back into the first question. I would suggest letting students re-write or submit material without penalty (or with minimal penalty) early on in a course, with the understanding that they must improve by the end. If your only assessment is a final project, consider allowing a re-write with an incomplete grade. But, if that is your policy, I'd strongly suggest providing a time for draft review well before the final project is due in order to minimize the need for this route. As always, I would also spell out in a syllabus your policy and the fact that presentation is a part of the course, and I would also discuss this on the first day of class (with examples of past work that is sloppy!).
You've posed a hard question, but an extremely important one. I probably suggest rejecting 30% of the papers I review for conferences simply because they are unreadable. Most of the time I don't even get to the idea behind the work before I realize that it doesn't matter what the idea is because it is too poorly written (and this ends up in the review). I want more papers that are well presented, because I'm certain some of the papers I give poor reviews to because of this problem have great ideas behind them! Teachers that encourage students to improve their writing and presentation are necessary for this to occur.
> 47 votes
# Answer
While I do agree with Peter Jansson's answer that we should make it completely clear to students what they need to do to have their work understood, I feel differently about the impacting on assessment.
In industry, the ability to write readable (which means maintainable) code is critical. The ability to write a really cool, super efficient block of logic which nobody can understand is simply producing a ticking time bomb which will explode as soon as someone else goes to edit it. Students need to know that you are not just being a 'stuffly old prof' but rather that there are certain expectations from the profession and they must live up to them. Coding is not just about making a solution - it's about making a solution which will not explode 12-18 months later.
On the academic side, I also have students who have similar problems where they do not care much about being careful in their writing. I generally handle them like this:
1. If I can understand it, but it is difficult, then I will mark them based on the overall quality of their work. If it is difficult to understand then the quality of their work is not great. Even if they are far smarter than me, they should be able to write in such a way that they can be understood.
2. If I cannot understand it, then I simply fail them. They are responsible for showing me that they understand and if they do not do that, then I must fail them - this is my responsibility.
So, yes, educate them. However, I would not let poor quality slide.
I try to remind my students of the story of the family. Every happy family is happy in the same way. Every unhappy family is unhappy in a different way. The students are usually lost at first, then I explain to them that for the family to be happy they must get 100 things right. But, get anyone of them wrong and the family is unhappy. If they want to be happy then they must get it all right.
> 17 votes
# Answer
Proper presentation of results is a vitally important part of modern research. It's also a necessary skill for *any* field of work into which an academically trained individual will enter after graduation.
If one does not learn how to exchange information with other people and organizations, the results can be catastrophic. Edward Tufte's *Visual Information* uses the *Challenger* explosion as a case study in exactly what can go wrong when communication skills are ignored at a fundamental level. The launch was not aborted because the engineers just provided a bunch of disorganized data to management, who couldn't parse it out to understand that it was too cold to launch.
So, as much as possible, presentation and organization of material *should* be considered when assigning grades. Now there are situations when it would be unfair to penalize: for example, in the context of a timed exam, where students may feel rushed and may not be writing neatly. (However, I also feel that this is a largely contrived circumstance, which doesn't reflect true understanding in many important ways.) In any situation where they have had time to independently prepare their work and submit it, then presentation and writing style should definitely be taken into account.
However, at the same time, unless the class is a writing class, then it's unfair to fail or strongly penalize a student who has turned in work that would otherwise be satisfactory, but was not put together well. Personally, when I am grading project reports, I "control" for this by making a decision on what the grade for the technical content of the project. I then give a bonus "partial" grade level for a well-organized and well-written report, and similarly deduct a "partial" grade if it's substandard. So, for instance a report that would have gotten a B+ could become either an A- or a B.
> 10 votes
# Answer
Ideally, no. The main problem when evaluating is expressed by a saying in my native language "muddy writing, muddy thinking". Essentially, if you cannot decipher what is written, either because it is sloppy writing or poorly expressed, then one faces problems when grading. Students often complain about grading where they sense they are misinterpreted etc. This is when we cannot understand what they are writing. Often, I believe, we also give people the benefit of the doubt and grade more leniently than what the verbatim answer would state. This is, of course, never picked up by a student. Hence a catch 22.
What can we do? The problem lies in the examination.
First, we can provide clear guidelines about clarity of language and writing. This should be pointed out long before the exam, in fact early in their education. A study of Swedish students showed that they learn two ways of writing in pre-university levels. In languages, focus is on grammar, spelling and language but not content; whereas in other subjects focus is on content and not language. When they arrive at the university they do not realize that both are important; we need to tell them.
Second, we can chose other means of examination where those with poor hand-writing can do better. Examples can be many: from essays through take homes to verbal and of course highly depending on the course, contents, level etc. Examples of the means of grading is to have external graders (more resources!) or to do as one of my teachers did; ask students to request everyone writes the exam with the pencil, and then after the exam use a pen to add corrections to their own exame as the teacher went through the exam. The exam was then collected and graded by the teacher. I mention this as an example, fully realizing it would not work in every situation.
So the answer for me is no, but our assessment is always tainted by many factors whether we want it or not. To reduce the element of subjectivity is what we would be looking for.
> 6 votes
# Answer
When I set marking rubrics for my students' work, I usually include two main areas: Clarity and Contribution.
**Clarity** specifically addresses whether the student has communicated their ideas (or answered the questions) in a clear and unambiguous manner. As such, poor presentation or (really) bad grammar impacts this portion of the mark.
I generally don't detract from the student mark for `speeling errurs` \[sic\]; even though I am a native English speaker, I am an Australian working in the US and am frequently in a quandary over whether to use Australian or American spelling.
My present students are generally from non-English speaking backgrounds, and I find their clarity generally very good, even though their turns of phrase sometimes seem awkward to me. I give feedback on this awkwardness but, unless it impacts the clarity of their presentation, I don't dock marks for it.
**Contribution** is used to address the correctness or fitness for purpose of the work.
I also add a further C, **Collaboration**, if the work is a group project.
---
**To directly answer your questions: Yes, and Yes.**
As a side-issue: Because many of my students are non-native English speakers, I also tend to allow double-submission of assignments. The students may submit their assignments twice before the due date.
I give an undertaking that I will do my best to give early feedback on an early submission (because I am an adjunct, I make it clear that "early" means the submission has to happen before a weekend before the due date). The students can then take my feedback and implement it on their new submission. I find this improves the quality of the presentation (clarity), but not so much on the contribution (unless they were really, really out of line on the first submission).
Unless the students do a complete re-write, the second marking is usually just a "delta" / "diff" on the first.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
You as an instructor may see hundreds upon hundreds of papers a term. The students do not have that same luxury for comparison. If penmanship and other elements of style are important to you as an instructor, then as a student, I suggest you express your standards and expectations up front, even if it seems that is something I should know and do coming into your class.
I expect no less from an employer as an employee.
1. Note the degree of impact for presentation on the syllabus, even if there is no plus points for exemplary, and only negative points awarded for substandard.
2. Provide a sanitized modicum of 'bad', 'passable', and 'exemplary' presentation for comparison.
3. Encourage them to seek clarification or special consideration up front, as opposed to seeking remedy to penalties after the fact. They may have certain existing conditions which precludes them from generally meeting those standards. Or more commonly, they may not have been exposed or acclimated to the technical writing style you are accustomed to in that particular field..
> 5 votes
# Answer
I particularly like the answer that suggested having rubrics to identify criteria such as clarity.
When it comes to a situation where work is completely unreadable, I apply the pedagogical pattern known as Grade it again, Sam. Very often, the student who submits unreadable work is simply not making an effort. When I refuse the work using this pattern and give the student a second chance to improve readability, the second work is always better and subsequent works are usually also better.
> 3 votes
# Answer
As a current student of computer science (master level) I can say that commenting on the readability of work from students, providing pointers and even taking it into account when grading is of great importance. It will benefit the student a lot in the long run. At my university, many professors point out bad readability and incoherent structure, although mostly on project/paper type assignments and less on weekly homework assignments. However, it is considered important in all cases. I'm now writing my thesis and have written two research papers as part of research projects (for publication) and the comments I got on structure and readability greatly improved my writing.
Also, I see from fellow students that they write solutions without providing reasoning and without introducing the topic and the problem they are solving. I believe this is very bad style (for group work this has unfortunately led to me rewriting the group documents many times simply to improve the structure). However, students don't often see a problem because it gets accepted by the teacher.
An important note though is that I think grammar and spelling should be of significantly less importance. For instance, the Chinese students in our class often forget the word "the" in writing (all documents are written in English for my master). Although this affects readability and is often pointed out by teachers, it is generally not considered an error significant enough to deduct points.
The line between decreased readability due to grammar/spelling and actual incomprehensibility is hard to determine, and should be determined on a case by case basis. Still it is important that students also learn this.
In short, definitely help students in improving their structure and on communicating their ideas and force students to do so by making it affect the grade! It will only help them like it helped me!
EDIT: As a side note, handwritten solutions are generally not accepted where I study, but if YOU are requesting handwritten solutions, it would be unfair to deduct points for bad handwriting. Some people just don't have a nice handwriting, an unfortunate result of the modern computer era. If students CAN but don't have to hand in handwritten solutions, then it should affect the grade as it is the students choice to write instead of type (if it significantly affects the readability of course).
> 3 votes
# Answer
What is your evaluation measuring? Are you grading a 2nd grade math test, or are you evaluating a doctoral thesis on neuroscience?
If it's the former, then no; sloppiness and structure take a backseat to getting the subject matter correct. The reason is your focus should be on evaluating the crucial element of the subject being evaluated. At early levels of development, there must be some leniency given to presentation in order to focus on the fundamentals.
Of course, there is a reasonable limit to how sloppy or unreadable something can be before the evaluation ceases to be useful. Intentionally sloppy responses relying on confusion in the hopes of gaining partial credit don't deserve any credit at all.
If you're evaluating a student in a near-professional setting, e.g. university and higher, then it makes sense to consider presentation as part of the grade. Well structured, carefully written responses should get more credit than sloppy and careless ones. Presentation becomes important because in the "real world" people evaluate you based on the whole package. Nobody is going to buy a bottle of Tylenol with a hand-scribbled, barely legible label. Likewise, even superficial details should be considered important in high level evaluations.
I was a sloppy student through primary school and even most of high school. Many teachers simply refused to grade some papers that were unacceptably sloppy, and others graded what they could within reason. None of those teachers who refused to grade a paper stick out in my mind, nor did their insistence on neatness change my behavior. I excelled in the subjects where my understanding of the core materials mattered most, and did not focus my attention on subjects where presentation was considered more important than the concepts being taught.
Overall, I graduated in the top 5% of my high school and went on to a good college. By the time I got my masters degree, my value of structure and presentation has improved sufficiently that I can survive in a professional environment. Becoming a professional, I believe, is the goal of "teaching" organizational skills.
> 2 votes
# Answer
I am not a teacher, but I am in my second year of my associates working toward my bachelors. My opinion is that yes you should, it will only hurt them later in life. In high school I passed my classes with C or a C+, now in college I am getting As and Bs. The reason is not that I am magically smarter, it is that I apply myself at least twice as hard.
There is so much information out there to learn anything, APA or MLA, and sites like *Grammar Girl* and reference generators. I think spelling should and grammar should be graded hard, maybe not at the first of the semester.
If they are bad at first, correct them and give them places to go for examples of the correct way(s) to do it. If by mid-term they have not figured it out then grade them hard. All work should flow; if it does not, let them know now because in their career they will not get a nice correction and time to fix it. I work my butt off in school and feel as if I get graded hard, but it is when the teacher gives good feedback that I learn and make the change. So giving them a grade lower than an A needs an explanation of what they need to fix.
This is why we are seeing on job descriptions -Bachelors from a reputable University- teachers need to be hard so that the student walks away with a real education not just a piece of paper that cost them thousands of dollars.
> 1 votes
# Answer
When you discuss formatting constraints of the grant application process, you're getting close to a solution, I think. There are really two components here; one of these is structural/formatting criteria, and the other is clarity. When you're in a situation where structural requirements and great care are part of the lesson you're teaching, I find it best to refuse to grade work until it has been presented in the proper format, and apply whatever late-work structure you normally use.
This teaches the lesson that formatting is not optional fluff, but is instead a precondition to being taken seriously. That said, if you're going to follow this method, your instructions on format should themselves be crystal clear and unambiguous. Ask a competent peer to follow your formatting instructions and see if they can arrive at the right format.
The second question about messiness is more troublesome, and to some extent your response should depend on where you're situated within the broader track your students will follow, and what constitutes messy/sloppy. I think your response should be two-pronged:
1. I wouldn't advocate failing students outright for unreadable work, but let them know you can't grade the assignment until you can understand it, and ask them to discuss their work with you one-on-one. Like above, allow your late-work policy to degrade the value of their work if they don't come address it swiftly. I ran into a few students who had a sense of what academic writing should sound like, with the result that they were completely incomprehensible when trying to parrot a voice they had no real command of. But they were able to explain it in person. This method allows you to show how imperative clear communication is--it's a precondition to being graded--and avoid invalidating what may have otherwise been good work. The ultimate penalty is based on how quickly the students resolve the problems with their work.
2. Include some metric of style/quality/organization on your rubric. While I understand the inclination to see writing as something students should already know how to do--and that you probably don't see yourself as an instructor of writing--I think rubrics should always always always reflect the qualities you actually expect of good work in your field. Your rubric telegraphs your own priorities, and if you don't communicate clarity and style as a concern, it shouldn't come as a surprise when students think it doesn't matter.
> 1 votes
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Tags: teaching, grading, methodology, assessment
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thread-10199 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10199 | Differences in opinion when teaching a course jointly with another instructor | 2013-05-24T09:00:34.617 | # Question
Title: Differences in opinion when teaching a course jointly with another instructor
I am working as a university lecturer in a local university in my country. I am sharing one course with another lecturer who has been teaching that course for approximately 3 years for now. A problem began when some of my students complained that they were not able to cope with the material. The dean was not willing to lose those students (as they pay a monthly tuition here); so he decided that myself and the other lecturer should switch groups.
Actually this situation has transformed in something worse. The other lecturer wants me to strictly follow the problems and solutions that he has on-line. I particularly do not agree with that situation mainly because I have a higher educational background, apart from research in my field of expertise.
I have written a complaint to the academic coordinator, explaining my situation. I feel the students here are treated like some kind of stocks in a bursary market. The university loses money if they leave. What would be a good thing to do?
# Answer
There are some things which are unclear in your question. However, I'm going to make a few guesses and if any are wrong then you might want to disregard this answer altogether.
It sounds like you have more education but less teaching experience than the other instructor. If you are new to teaching, one very common issue that new teachers often overestimate students' abilities. If the other instructor has more teaching experience then you might be better off 'going with the flow' for this first semester.
Another reason to go with the flow is, as Chris Gregg pointed out in his comment above, students once given a syllabus should not have it changed on them mid-stream. It's bad enough (for them) to have to deal with a change in instructor, they should not also have the syllabus changed on them as well. Consider what you could learn from the way the other instructor designed the course - we can learn things from those with less education than us.
I don't know what you mean by *treated like some kind of stocks in a bursary market* but, of course, without students there is no point of teaching so, yes, they are important. Nobody wants a large group of students to leave.
So, my suggestion is to try one semester following the other teacher's guidance and next semester consider taking everything you know, and everything you learned, and improve things.
> 5 votes
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Tags: professorship, teaching, coursework
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thread-10208 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10208 | What is the best way (terminology) for a postdoc (PDRA) to refer to their 'boss'/'supervisor'? | 2013-05-24T14:07:44.540 | # Question
Title: What is the best way (terminology) for a postdoc (PDRA) to refer to their 'boss'/'supervisor'?
A postdoc, postdoctoral research assistant in a university on a contract has a supervisor or a boss. They may not be the PI on the grant which pays the salary as it may contain other universities as well.
In conversation and in email, what is the best term to use for your postdoc boss? Something doesn't seem correct with the term boss or manager, or even supervisor.
# Answer
> 10 votes
I've heard "supervisor", "advisor" and "mentor". They can be clarified as "postdoc advisor", etc, to avoid confusion with a Ph.D. advisor.
There's also the simpler "I work with Professor Smith."
# Answer
> 3 votes
I would lean toward "advisor," as that encapsulates the role best in normal circumstances. You should be an independent researcher as a postdoc, so you shouldn't need much more than advice from your PI.
I personally reserve the term mentor for someone who advises you about (and throughout) your career, not just for a particular project.
# Answer
> 3 votes
One "clean" way is to use `host`.
> I'm a Postdoc at U of U., hosted by Prof. P.
sometimes it might indicate that that's the guy who pays your money, but not necessarily serving as your mentor.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I think it is really up to you (both you and to some extent the "boss"). The term "boss" to me is too managerial. I don't like the sound of "my PI", even if the boss is a PI, they are not really your PI. I prefer advisor over supervisor, I think it sounds more supporting.
That said, since you think it is an issue, just refer to the boss as Dr. Smith and then say you are a post doc for Dr. Smith.
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Tags: research-process, postdocs, terminology
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thread-10223 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10223 | Should I mention my reference's university role (administrative) when listing? | 2013-05-25T02:00:10.393 | # Question
Title: Should I mention my reference's university role (administrative) when listing?
I have a list of references in my CV. One of them happens to be the Dean of the graduate school and the other a Vice Chancellor. Both of these roles are administrative and their primary position is that of a Professor. Would listing these referees as
```
John H. Doeberg
Professor and Dean of the Graduate School
University of Foo
Jane Q. Publicowski
Professor and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs
University of Bar
```
be better (give more credence/weight) than simply listing them as a Professor. I know that ultimately what they write in those letters is what matters, but for the purposes of this question, it can be safely assumed that both letters are going to be stellar recommendations.
# Answer
The thing to remember here is that your reference letter writers will be providing official letters, and therefore will be including their full titles (presumably the letterhead will list this). In such a case, it doesn't really seem to make much sense to "hide" the status of the person writing the letter. Moreover, if the position is one which will include some administrative duties, a letter of reference from someone doing university administration might even be a plus.
> 5 votes
# Answer
You haven't said what the letters are for. If it's for a position based on academic credentials (whether in academia or industry), I doubt it makes much of a difference. If the position involves administrative responsibilities, then mentioning this would help, so the people requesting the letter would make sure to ask them.
> 3 votes
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Tags: university, citations
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