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thread-14336 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14336 | Do we mention the work that we did ourselves while giving a research proposal? | 2013-11-24T06:09:18.020 | # Question
Title: Do we mention the work that we did ourselves while giving a research proposal?
A university has asked for a research proposal of around 200-250 words in length.
I have done some work on it myself and hence I want to propose that same project for research. Should I mention about the work that I did or should I just present an abstract?
# Answer
Including preliminary results that indicates the strength of the proposed research is never wrong. If your work has just started and your results are just inconclusive then you may consider not including them, simply because they do not contribute much to indicate the potential success of the proposed project. Mentioning that you have started work could still be useful to mention since it indicates you have thought through the process very carefully but then you should probably also consider adding something that makes it clear you cannot complete the research without additional resources. Otherwise, someone might get the idea you do not need any support and that you will complete the work anyway.
> 6 votes
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Tags: research-process, graduate-school, graduate-admissions
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thread-14347 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14347 | Publishing with Elsevier - Does the manuscript have the author info? | 2013-11-24T18:38:36.037 | # Question
Title: Publishing with Elsevier - Does the manuscript have the author info?
I am uploading a paper for an Elsevier journal. The system indicates that a Manuscript should be uploaded. I don't have previous experience with this system. My question is: should the Manuscript exclude all the information about the author? Or should the manuscript be the whole paper in its final form?
# Answer
> 7 votes
To expand on the comments: each journal sets his editorial policy, which is clearly stated on the journal's website and instructions to authors. For example, *Journal of Accounting and Economics*:
> This journal employs a single blind review, where the referee remains anonymous throughout the process (http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-accounting-and-economics/policies/peer-review-policy-for-the-journal-of-accounting-and/)
and *Computers and Education*:
> This journal employs double blind reviewing, where both the referee and author remain anonymous throughout the process (http://www.journals.elsevier.com/computers-and-education/policies/peer-review-policy-on-computers-education/)
If you want to submit to a journal with double-blind review, do not include authors' name (or any other incriminating information, for example in acknowledgments). If single blind, then include the author names in the manuscript.
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Tags: paper-submission
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thread-14352 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14352 | The best ways to cite a theorem whose assumptions/conditions are written earlier in the source? | 2013-11-25T05:01:58.463 | # Question
Title: The best ways to cite a theorem whose assumptions/conditions are written earlier in the source?
When one cites a theorem from a source in mathematics, the following problem usually arises: some assumptions/conditions of the theorem are written much *earlier* in the source, which do not appear in the statement of the theorem.
What are good strategies to solve this problem so that the writing could be more reader-friendly?
On the one hand, citing the theorem simply as *"By theorem 3.1.4 in \[Fang 2013\] ..."* means the reader may miss some of the conditions of theorem 3.1.4 if they appear earlier in the source.
On the other hand, yes, restating all the conditions of the theorem is considerably the "best" way. But if one has to cite a lot of *hard* theorems in a proof, restating everything may distract readers from the main issues.
---
Let me construct an example: if a chapter in a commutative ring theory book begins with "All rings in this chapter will be Noetherian", any theorem containing the word "ring" in this chapter would not include the word "Noetherian". If I cited one theorem in this chapter merely by its "number", a reader may be easily misguided if he/she directly read the theorem without reading the first sentence of this chapter.
# Answer
There are a number of ways to handle situations like this, depending on how much prominence you want to give to the result you are citing.
If the cited theorem is quite important to your work, and you think the reader will benefit from seeing it written out, then you can include a complete statement:
> **Theorem 1.2** \[Smith 1953\]. Suppose $X$ is compact, Artinian, and hyperfinite, and $\sqrt{Q(X)-57} \> \pi/4$. Then $U(X) \sim \gamma$.
\[Oh right, we don't have MathJax here. :( \]
Then elsewhere in your paper you can say "By Theorem 1.2, ..."
If the hypotheses of the theorem are particularly complicated and you don't feel it's helpful to include them in your paper, you could write:
> **Theorem 1.2** \[Smith 1953\]. If $X$ satisfies the assumptions of Section 5 of \[Smith 1953\], then $U(X) \sim \gamma$.
Then you can write elsewhere "We can easily check that $Y$ satisfies the conditions in \[Smith 1953\], so by Theorem 1.2., $U(Y) \sim \gamma$".
If you don't care to say much about Smith's result (perhaps it's well known, or you're just using it as a black box), you can just cite it, perhaps with a brief comment about its assumptions:
> Since $X$ is hyperfinite, by Theorem 5.6.7 of \[Smith 1967\], ...
>
> By Theorem 5.6.7 of \[Smith 1967\] (which requires $X$ to be hyperfinite)...
> 13 votes
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Tags: writing, mathematics
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thread-14370 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14370 | How to be effective at desk research | 2013-11-25T19:41:48.800 | # Question
Title: How to be effective at desk research
I have just graduated from a masters degree in information systems, and I'm due to begin a role at a large IT consultancy firm in 6 months time.
For the interim I have arranged a period of desk research with one of my old professors. I cannot go into specifics but to give you a taster my research will be around small/medium IT firm strategies.
I will of course receive direction from my professor on the detail, but some general advice for someone wanting to shift into an appropriate mindset for being effective at desk research would be very helpful.
What strategies would you use to tackle a desk research role?
# Answer
> 1 votes
Set clear objectives *and* deadlines as early as possible to force yourself into a practical mindset. Don't do it for your supervisor, do it for yourself. Try to funnel your thoughts and ideas into a confined key focus point .
This prevents you from procrastinating (which I consider to be a big threat in desk research).
# Answer
> 1 votes
Sounds like you're doing a literature review on two topics in management strategy. I assume you've been trained to conduct research from your Masters. Grab a (post-graduate) textbook on business research methods and go forth and conduct your literature review. Given you're planning on using publicly available documentation it sounds like a "discourse analysis" of "business strategy." You may want a (post-graduate) textbook on social science discourse analysis.
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Tags: research-process, university
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thread-14349 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14349 | Use Investment Bank Report as Reference? | 2013-11-25T00:13:01.893 | # Question
Title: Use Investment Bank Report as Reference?
I'm writing a thesis on a financial topic and some important arguments for my research can only be found in reports from investment banks, not scholarly sources. I think it's because the topic is very new but right now I'm not sure how 'respected' a bank report reference is. I'm talking UBS, Citibank,... The topic concerns QE causing distortions in the stock market. **Is it considered acceptable to use a bank report as a source in a thesis?**
# Answer
> 3 votes
Citing grey literature, such as investment bank reports, isn't unheard of.
There are a few caveats.
* Discuss it with your supervisors early on: they will know the whens and hows of acceptable grey-literature citations.
* It may not be easy to find useful citation metadata such as named authors.
* Your reviewers / examiners may not be able to accesss the report, and that would be problematic for them, and thus for you.
* You should not build arguments that are grounded only in grey literature. Corroborate with peer-reviewed literature wherever possible, even if it's just corroborating one aspect of the points you're taking from the grey literature.
* Business reports often have some wacky form of encryption that hinders text searching, which can make including them in your literature review somewhat hazardous.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Using a bank report is acceptable unless it appears as though there is some bias present. QE and its impacts are a hot topic so you are likely to find it written quite heavily about in bank reports and the like. However, you must be on guard that what is being written is not really sales literature.
If the statements is "You would be reckless with your finances to ignore the impact of QE so come and let us make your money work for you!" then you might want to avoid it.
Just follow common sense about critical reading and how to evaluate your source reading material. If the source seems credible and the content seems unbiased then there should be no problem citing it.
As EnergyNumbers wrote, it is always better if others have access to the report but even if others do not, that should not stop you from including relevant information. Use the best source material you have, wherever you can find it.
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Tags: thesis, citations
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thread-14355 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14355 | Should I agree to review papers as a postdoc? | 2013-11-25T11:09:44.207 | # Question
Title: Should I agree to review papers as a postdoc?
I am a post doc in mathematics, and was just sent a request to review a paper. This is the first time it happened to me. I never heard of this journal before, but it is a Springer journal, and upon checking the editorial board it looks like a respectable journal. Also, the paper looks quite interesting, so it appears that I shouldn't worry about it being dubious.
I wonder however, if this is a good time in my career to do such a job. Given that I am a postdoc, constantly in the run for the next job, and probably this will take some of my valuable research time. Is it normal for postdocs to review research papers? Should I accept it? If so, should I mention the fact I review for this journal in my C.V?
# Answer
> 80 votes
**Yes, reviewing papers is an integral part of your job now, and a very beneficial one at that!**
It's true that the first papers you will review will take you quite a bit of time, but it's a sound investment (unless you consider dropping out of academia next month). You'll improve your reading and ability to read between the lines. It will help you gain a wider view of what others are doing in your field, because it will force you to really go through the paper in depth, not just skim over it as we are so often forced to do when a paper is not at the core of our own research.
Moreover, it will give you invaluable experience when you write your next papers, because you will be able to put yourself in the reviewer's shoes! You will see better what could be problematic for a referee in the presentation of your work.
As for whether you should list it on your CV: yes!
# Answer
> 34 votes
I have served as a referee for various math and related journals since I was a graduate student. I'm a postdoc now, and during this career phase, I have refereed way more papers than I wrote. I put on my CV the names of journals I have served for as a referee. I don't think I have done anything wrong about this. Let's see if I will land on a tenure track job this year!
On a bit more serious note, I think it's normal for a postdoc to referee papers. One of the editors of Nature once said the best referees are postdocs because they're on the cutting edge of research but naive enough to be honest. I don't know if this equally applies to mathematics. But I think the fact that the editorial board you find respectable chose you suggests that you are qualified and needed.
# Answer
> 21 votes
The other answers have focused on why reviewing papers makes sense to you.
But there’s a second, equally as important facet to it: It’s your **duty** as a researcher to review papers.
Sure, nobody’s contract mentions anything about reviewing papers, and no grant proposal ever allocates resources for it. But, to put it bluntly, that’s a bug in the system (and one, I might add, that badly needs fixing).
Peer review is a fundamental part of how science is done today. And, by design, the people to do it are researchers. It’s simply *required* that researchers perform peer review. Of course we could all just say “eh, let other people worry about this” but I hardly need to explain how conceptually broken and ethically objectionable this concept is.
# Answer
> 14 votes
> Do unto others as you would have them do to you.
This sums it up quite nicely. Do you want your papers to be reviewed? Do you want the reviewers to do it properly?
I'm going to assume the answer to both questions is a profound **YES**. From the perspective of science, writing and reviewing are both crucial. As a scientist, it is part of your responsibility to review even if you consider it to be less rewarding.
This does not mean you should accept every review request. Sometimes you may get a request to review a manuscript which you may not be entirely suitable for as a reviewer. If the manuscript is in your field of expertise and there is no conflict of interest you should probably do it, though.
# Answer
> 8 votes
Yes, but you should be protective of your time. Here is my algorithm.
# We have a duty to review papers, but how many?
## How many reviews have you consumed?
My rule of thumb is that I will serve as a reviewer for each time when someone else was asked to serve as a reviewer for my paper. Therefore, if I have 4 first author papers, and each was reviewed by 3 people, then I have a duty to review 12 papers. When doing these calculations, I will discount my obligation if I had co-first-authors on the paper, but not for minor authors or senior authors. Senior authors are typically occupied with other obligations, such as serving as editors for journals.
## Will you benefit from this review?
Are you interested in the topic? If so, you are getting the first peak at this research, along with an opportunity to get the authors to respond to your questions. Do you respect the editor, and are you happy that she considers you an expert?
## Pay attention to how much time you spend on a review
I have a tendency to spend 5-10 hours on a review (biology), but have been told that 2-6 hours is appropriate. I am trying hard to compress that. The appropriate amount of time may depend on your field. A mathematician colleague of mine said that he spends several days reviewing each paper. This is feasible for him because publications in his field are very rare. Sometimes I spend a lot of time because I am interested in the topic but have not previously bothered to read the background literature, so I read several papers while reviewing the one. This may be a helpful or harmful habit for my career. Refuse to review a paper if it will require background reading that you are not interested in.
## Don't review unless you can get it done immediately
If you can't make time for it in the next few days, then you probably don't have time for it. It's best for everyone if the review is returned to the authors ASAP.
# Reject bad papers ASAP
## Refuse to review papers with bad abstracts
I have reviewed a couple of papers even though they seemed pointless based on the abstract. It turned out that they were indeed pointless. My new policy is to refuse to review any paper with a bad abstract and write to the editor that I do not consider the paper publishable. I have not had the opportunity to do this yet, so I don't know how editors actually respond. However, I think this is a legitimate basis for rejecting a paper. If the abstract accurately reflects the content of the paper, then the paper is indeed pointless. If the abstract fails to describe what is notable about the study, then the paper is poorly written and is not ready for publication. Some journals say that their papers are not to be evaluated based on "impact", but if a paper is as pointless/trivial as the stuff I've seen, it is not worth the effort of reviewing it, and therefore it is not publishable.
## Try to identify a fatal error quickly; if you find it, stop reviewing
Nobody benefits from detailed nit-picking on a paper that is not going to be published anyway.
# Answer
> 5 votes
There are already several good answers, but I will add one from a pure mathematician point of view, because this question is very dependent on the field (or at least, fundamental maths are outliers given the time needed to deeply review a paper: from a few hours for a clearly flawed paper to *years* in some cases).
Reviewing is part of your duty as a researcher, it adds a little bit to your CV, it pleases important people when done right, and most importantly it makes you learn stuff. But as said it takes a lot time to be done right, and you are in a position where your own research will earn you the right to have a career as professional mathematician or not.
I therefore consider that you should only accept to review papers that are either easy enough (or easily rejected enough) not to take too much time, or that are of primary interest for your own research, in which case a few weeks of part-time work on a review can be very beneficial.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I was referee for various IEEE journals / conferences / proceedings during my PhD studies.
Opportunities:
1. a good opportunity for your CV
2. some benefits from the editor
Duties:
1. if you are member of a community (research is community) you must participate to the community's activities
2. reject the review if the paper doesn't fall in your research field
Suggestions:
1. if you do not feel up to it, you can only evaluate the scientific soundness and point this out to the editor
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Tags: journals, peer-review, postdocs, mathematics
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thread-14362 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14362 | Technical documents to publish or not | 2013-11-25T16:10:02.273 | # Question
Title: Technical documents to publish or not
What can we do with the technical documentation we develop during our career? Is it worth to publish? If so, where?
I am considering those lines of code that we took time to write and that we usually only use in the first steps of our own publications, that we never actually added to the publication .. but saves all our colleagues (everyone one asks you to adjust your code to their needs...).
Is this a good way to guarantee that our colleagues give credit to the work previously developed by us?
# Answer
It depends on whether the software is private or not. If it is public, you can either:
1. add your name to the AUTHORS file (you have one, right?).
2. ship the manual with the code.
3. slap a technical report number onto it, so that people will find it easier to cite.
4. write up a detailed description of what the software does, and publish it in a journal that publishes algorithms --- there are many of them.
If the code is a well-kept secret of your research group, not available even for sale, I am afraid there is very little you can do. People won't be interested in documentation of some code they cannot run themselves. You can still do 1--3, but don't expect people to read and cite it.
Your only hope in that situation is that your co-authors are fair and acknowledge you appropriately whenever they use your code and documentation.
> 2 votes
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Tags: publications
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thread-14345 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14345 | What is the preferred GRE Writing score for MS/CS student? | 2013-11-24T14:37:09.567 | # Question
Title: What is the preferred GRE Writing score for MS/CS student?
I am planing to apply to study in graduate school, major in *computer science/engineering*. I just took a GRE test, this is my 1st time, and the result is pretty...not so good :(
Most schools, the science or engineering related program, reveals the average or preferred GRE scores for *quantitative* and *verbal* sections for admitted students. But it seems they don't care about the score of *Analytic Writing* section. Really?
To be honest, my writing score really bumped this time. I want to know if there's a preferred score range for this section.
# Answer
> 5 votes
There's a reason it's not listed--there is no preferred score, it doesn't really matter. I am not an expert, but I feel like the writing score is something that can only hurt you, not something that can help you, at least with respect to science or engineering graduate programs.
More concretely, I can see a very low score preventing you from getting into a program, but I highly doubt the admissions committee saying: "Well, he got a great score on the writing section, that really differentiates him from other applicants; let's admit him."
For a foreign student or non-native speaker, doing well in the writing section probably carries a little more weight than it does for native speakers; nonetheless, I believe that the above still holds.
# Answer
> 2 votes
According to my experience:
The GRE scores are just initial cut-offs.
Analytical writing usually requires a minimum score of 3 that's it. But this is true for most of the universities there may be some exceptions to the rule obviously.
```
Scores 3 and 2.5
Displays some competence in analytical writing, although the writing is flawed in at least one of the following ways: limited analysis or development; weak organization; weak control of sentence structure or language usage, with errors that often result in vagueness or lack of clarity.
```
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Tags: graduate-admissions, gre
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thread-14387 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14387 | Selecting Journals or Conferences to publish research work | 2013-11-26T09:33:12.403 | # Question
Title: Selecting Journals or Conferences to publish research work
I am working on a multidisciplinary subject which involves mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and chemistry. I have a decent amount of research completed and now I need to select a journal to publish my work. How do I select a good journal to publish my papers? Also for the same topic I need to select conference to present. How do I select that too?
# Answer
In general if you are looking for a journal where to publish a specific type of manuscript do a survey of the material you have referenced. Where are those articles published? You should pay special attention to articles that are multidisciplinary such as yours. The next step if you are uncertain about the appropriateness is to e-mail the journal editors of journals and ask if they consider multidisciplinary articles. I do not think you should send the manuscript to them because they usually do not have time to read anything substantial just to answer a question but do paste in your title, author list and abstract.
As of conferences, I cannot see a patented answer. If a conference is a recurring event you can always go back to collections of abstracts to see if other multidisciplinary papers have been presented. Another option is to see if you cannot organize your own session at a larger conference that permits sessions.
> 4 votes
# Answer
If the journal accepts pre-submission inquires try this way.
Alternatively consult Elsevier Matching tool, it should help.
> 0 votes
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Tags: publications, journals, conference
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thread-14382 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14382 | Is there an accredited doctorate in gastronomy? | 2013-11-26T04:56:52.480 | # Question
Title: Is there an accredited doctorate in gastronomy?
Can someone do research and eventually obtain a PhD in a gastronomy-related field (not approached from the side of chemistry, history or culture but rather from the culinary side) from an accredited university?
# Answer
Aside from the programs/universities mentioned in the link which Zenon gave in a comment, it appears that you may need to tweak a molecular gastronomy program to fit your interests. The Italian University of Gastronomic Sciences looks to have several programs that might fit your desired focus.
> 3 votes
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Tags: phd, research-process
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thread-14409 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14409 | Average length of graduate studies in the UK in the life sciences | 2013-11-27T10:49:09.817 | # Question
Title: Average length of graduate studies in the UK in the life sciences
What would be the usual time spent doing graduate studies (Masters + PhD; courses + research) in the UK for someone studying life sciences?
I am applying for a Junior Research Fellowship in hopes of doing a postdoc in the UK. However, one of the requirements is that I have fewer years of graduate studies behind me than I in fact have. I have other grounds to ask for an exception (pregnancy leave), but I am wondering whether my 2+4 years (Dutch) graduate program is longer than what the typical UK student does. I'm sure that programs vary, but if we were to pick a random UK life sciences postdoc, how many years would he have spent doing graduate studies?
# Answer
Usually a master's course is 1 year and PhDs are 3 years. There are exceptions to this though, some mphil's being 2 years and some structured PhDs being 4 years. However, it is possible in the uk to go straight to a phd after undergrad. Therefore the number of years of graduate studies varies between 3 and 6, though the average is around 4 if you ignore the special cases.
> 3 votes
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Tags: funding, international
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thread-14395 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14395 | How to check and correct editorial changes to a manuscript post-acceptance? | 2013-11-26T18:14:09.213 | # Question
Title: How to check and correct editorial changes to a manuscript post-acceptance?
A journal which accepted a paper of mine has made some alterations to the text of the paper as part of their editing process. They sent me the edited version for approval, and I discovered that at least some of these changes are erroneous (for instance, one of the changes included a typo, and another was changing the spelling of a technical term incorrectly). I asked for a list of all the changes made, and was told that this was "too messy" (I assume because the alterations to the text are mixed in with the changes to the formatting of the paper, which is a more standard part of the editing process).
At this time the journal is waiting for me to approve/make changes to the final proof before publication.
My question is how I should deal with this situation. I feel like I have an obligation to be responsible for the contents of a paper published in my name. (Though, if I'm mistaken about this, that would be a helpful answer.)
I can think of a few solutions, ranging from the tedious (compare the PDF files line by line to identify the changes myself), to the demanding (insist on a list of changes anyway), to the passive-aggressive (either withdraw the paper or add a sulky footnote disavowing responsibility for the unknown changes to the paper). These all have problems, so I'd appreciate more constructive ways to approach the situation.
# Answer
> 12 votes
I've run into bad editing situations like this. In these cases, I've gone through the paper line by line, with a fine tooth comb. Yes, it is painful, but it is a good idea even if the journal editors aren't obviously screwing up. (This can get doubly horrible if you have complicated formatting in your paper.) You should bear in mind whoever is doing this is unlikely to actually understand what you are writing, and my experience of people doing this sort of thing is that they can be well-meaning and not too bright, so they can take it upon themselves to "correct" your manuscript, while not understanding what they are doing. Additionally, if you give them last minute changes to the paper, make sure to check they have applied them correctly. Are you the sole author? Can you get anyone else to help with this? It would make it less awful.
Your other ideas sound less viable. Asking for a list of changes assumes that there is someone there who actually knows what those changes *are*. My experience is that journal staff are often amazingly technically incompetent, and probably have never thought of using version control for example. though I'd love to hear about the exceptions. But you can certainly try to insist.
Your passive-aggressive ideas just sound bad. You don't want to withdraw your paper over an issue like that. And if there are errors in the paper, they will reflect badly on you, and nobody else will care.
At times I've thought someone should start a site like ratethisjournal.org where people could discuss their experiences dealing with different journals.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Copy-editing is a normal part of the publication process, and a few errors can be introduced that way. **A good proof-reading is in order, of course, but if you miss a typo or two it's not the end of the world.** Moreover, if you later come to realize that a critical error has been introduced, which was not present in your initial copy and which you did not find in the your proof-reading, you can always ask for a correction at that point.
However, many publishers give you more information to help review the copy-edited proofs. For example, many publishers will gladly give you (automatically, or upon asking) the list of changes made (“edit track” or something like that). Something a bit like a `latexdiff` output, in most cases. It's a crowded document, and hard to read through because there are many formatting and copy-editing changes, but it can be helpful with some details.
# Answer
> 4 votes
A Copy Editor speaking. I have couple comments:
1. It is true that **it is impossible to seperate the changes in the text and changes in the formatting**, even in good systems like LaTeX.
2. **Good Copy Editor never changes any scientific terms as is.** Sometimes we have to change a formula (split in two lines, etc.), or we are dubious about a comma, preposition, hyphen or whatever. Even though the Language Editor corrects these, I sometimes don't make the changes if I feel it is against the intention of the author. Honestly, this is a complicated process, even inside the Editors' Office, not speaking about communication with the authors. As well, we put some notices in the Proofreading version if we're unsure about something, so that the author can be aware of it. Unfortunately, it seems to me that not many journals do quite a great job in Copy Editing.
What can you do:
1. **Read your manuscript really carefully during the proofreading.** No matter what happens, you can get as angry as possible at the Editor's, but if there was a mistake in the proofreading version and you did not point it out, it's your mistake, not the journal's.
2. **Prepare the manuscript as perfectly as possible.** Use the correct template (esp. in LaTeX), follow the (typo)graphic manual of the journal etc. This way, you minimise the changes the Copy Editor/Typesetter has to make, thus minimising the chance of something going wrong. My experience is that the amount of mistakes that appear is highly dependent of the quality of the manuscript when you send it. (Example: We work in LaTeX, and when I receive an article in Word, I have to re-write/revise all the math formulas. Imagine how many mistakes I make during this very stupid process.)
3. There are tools that allow a document to be "linearised". Then you can linearise the accepted version and the proofreading version and compare them. However, I don't have any how-to for this.
4. **If you find a serious mistake after the publication,** see what errata policy the journal has. In our case, the online version (we're open access) can be corrected, and additionally, Errata are printed in the next suitable issue.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Some background. Many copy-editors (I would say most) are not experts in any field but are experts on the house style of the publisher. I have experienced how copy-editors new to the journal make lots of mistakes, they sometimes edit several journals with different styles. They should not make such mistakes but sometimes the communication between the publisher and the copy-editor does not work well for one reason or another. Note that the journal and its editors may not be involved in this part of the process; I cannot say what applies in your case.
I would suggest you contact the editors of the journal, or the contact to which you are supposed to return the comments. State that your manuscript has been corrupted by the copy-editing and ask how they suggest you should proceed (considering that the state of the paper is completely unsatisfactory). What you can also do is to try to summarize the systematic errors you have observed so that the journal/publisher can provide these comments to the copy-editor. Unfortunately, the copy-editor will not likely be able to make any better judgements on the corrections without input from others, so I think it is safe to say at least some will most likely fall back to you to correct in the end.
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Tags: publications, copy-editing
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thread-14332 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14332 | Why ask both for CV and publication list? | 2013-11-23T21:20:42.193 | # Question
Title: Why ask both for CV and publication list?
Some academic job posts and grant applications require submitting both a CV and a publication list. I would have thought that it is a standard to put the publication list in the CV, hence it is not necessary to have the publication list again. What is the purpose of requiring both of them?
# Answer
On mathjobs, my workflow when glancing through files from candidates is to look at the publication list instead of the CV. This is for two main reasons:
1. CVs typically frontload a bunch of information which I already have from the mathjobs cover sheet (education, postdoc, advisors, etc).
2. CVs are longer than one page, so finding the publications takes some time. Publication lists have the info I'm looking for right at the beginning.
> 14 votes
# Answer
A CV is generally a short account of your employment history and skills, often squeezed (or stretched) into 4 pages.
Publication lists can span many many pages. 100 complete publication entries (including technical reports and invited contributions etc etc) could easily span 10 pages.
In short, CV contains the summary from a global perspective, whereas the publication list contains all details of one particular aspect of a person.
> 6 votes
# Answer
CV should be short (never more than 2 pages), while the list of publications can be pretty long. You usually mention some publications in the CV (well, if you have an article in Science, you surely do!), but surely not all of them.
The list of publications is valuable for different reasons: How many collaborators does he have? How many solo publications? What is the variety of topics? etc. CVs and motivation letters are easy-to-manipulate things. You can manipulate your publications, but that is something completely different (and soft-of more dangerous IMHO).
> 0 votes
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Tags: job-search, cv, funding
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thread-14396 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14396 | Inspiration for great presentations | 2013-11-26T18:39:48.677 | # Question
Title: Inspiration for great presentations
I enjoy creating presentations a lot and I think I have an eye for nice design, however, I tend to always have the same layout/colour scheme/etc. and I'd like to try something new for my defence.
So I've been googling great presentations for hours, and there are heaps of innovative designs but usually these are from outside academia. I still want to convey information in a serious manner. But when looking at websites that intend to give advice for scientific presentations I find the examples horrible and very much 1990s (bullet points...)
So, in short, can you think of any scientific presentations with unpretentious but great design, which can be found somewhere online?
**Edit** Thank you for your comments, which definitely include heaps of helpful advice, however, I was less looking for "basic" presentation guidelines but more for design elements, which do not distract the audience but which make the presentation a bit more interesting. For instance, a colleague of mine recently gave a presentation and before each section she'd have a slide with just the title of the section and a photo (e.g. "Methods" and a picture of her lab equipment). I liked that because it structures the presentation and is a nice break from charts, diagrams and (in the worst case) bullet points. So, yes, I am really more looking for inspiration on fonts, colours, using white space, ...
# Answer
There are two aspects to your question, in my opinion: design and function.
*Function*. Many have criticized PowerPoint and bullet points and perhaps none so much as Edward Tufte in his essay booklet The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within. The defaults of PowerPoint and reliance on bullet points is interesting and "forces" users into a particular form of presentation where bullets are more reminders for the speaker than the audience. From this background an alternative is to use the so-called Assertion-Evidence Structure which takes a very different approach to building slides.
In the Assertion-Evidence Structure the heading of the slide is the main point of the slide, a take-home message. The slides use graphics extensively to support and high-light the main point. The structure has been shown to yield significant improvements in both audience understanding than normal bullet-point presentations. Se the linked example of the structure.
The Assertion-Evidence slides are not necessarily pretty but they do the job very well so that brings me to the second issue.
*Design*. When you look at designing slides it is probably easier to list the don'ts than the do's. In general, anything "fancy" easily becomes boring when overdone. Therefore simple is better. I would also add that subtle is better. Do not use strong colours and avoid backgrounds that can clash with the text, either structurally or in terms of colour, after all you want your message to shine.
So design anything with a principle to do as much as possible with as little as possible and you should be on a good road. I think referring back to Edward Tufte is useful also here.
So taken together, it is not clear what is a well designed presentation depending on whether you are looking at aesthetic impact or factual impact.
> 9 votes
# Answer
I've tried following a number of design presentation guidelines (Presentation Zen being one of them).
In the end, I've found that the real focus of presentation design needs to focus first on your story (and therefore your content) and less on the visual aspects of your presentation. One colleague of mine read a lot of presentation books and then tried to do a presentation filled predominantly with large photographs (as recommended by one of them) and minimal text. A faculty member complained that he couldn't follow the talk because there were too few words. I've seen slides that are dull and boring that are accompanied by fascinating speakers. I've seen talks with boring slides and really amateurish graphics that are good talks (the amateurish graphics were actually interesting in that they made the presentation stand out).
I think my main message here is that we could throw examples of good scientific presentations with good visual design at you all you like but they won't necessarily improve your presentation. If you already knew that, then that's excellent - you're probably just looking for something minor then, like a new type of bullet or an interesting color scheme. But if you're hoping that "using more animated builds" to explain complex topics and adding "more punchy pictures" will help, that's not a sufficient condition!
> 7 votes
# Answer
If you are tired of the slide-by-slide format of PowerPoint, you can have a look at dynamic presentations with Prezi or Impress.js. These two tools can introduce you to a whole new way of creating presentations but using them must always be motivated by good reasons. Because PowerPoint follows a linear path in the presentation, it is easy to do the same with Prezi and Impress.js while they can afford for a higher level of interaction between each *slide*.
Last but not least, some people have motion sickness and using too many effects might annoy them.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Butterick’s Practical Typography has some great tips for making more readable presentations that don't look like typical PowerPoint ones.
**Don't use a white background**. High contrast slides can be very exhausting, especially if your presentation is given in a darkened room. In that case, consider a black background with light grey text. Even in bright rooms, using a light grey background with dark grey text reduces eye strain.
**Use a consistent font size**. Most presentation programs will automatically adjust the font size based on the text, which just looks messy. It's better to adjust your text so that it displays nicely at your font size.
**Limit the use of color**. Use color sparingly to emphasize or set apart certain elements. A lot of color quickly distracts from the content, and when everything is emphasized, nothing is emphasized.
---
Other than that, I have seen some really good hand-drawn presentations. They have a feeling of authenticity that you can't get from PowerPoint. I've seen two versions of this: using note-taking software, or simply a sequence of photographs of a stack of hand-written sheets of paper. The note-taking software can make it much easier to do certain animations, as you can draw on the slides during your talk.
> 2 votes
# Answer
I personally like the books from Nancy Duarte, "slide:ology" is about design and how to express certain concepts (Flow, Structure etc.) while "resonate" is about structuring the story.
Clearly these books can't be applied to Science directly, there is nothing about setting formulas etc, but they provide good directions and give inspirations on what to think about.
Beside this I would not focus that much on the whole presentation, but on special components, like "How to visualize Information/Data", typography or design in general. There are a lot of websites and books on these things.
Finally on real examples: There are tons of presentations on ted.com. In my opinion Hans Rosling is an interesting speaker, his talk "Global population growth, box by box" is a example of a presentation which combines powerpoint and real things. Brian Cox is also worth mentioning.
> 1 votes
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Tags: presentation
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thread-14351 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14351 | Is punctuation necessary for displayed formulas in academia writing? | 2013-11-25T04:47:23.093 | # Question
Title: Is punctuation necessary for displayed formulas in academia writing?
If a formula appears in the main body of the text, there seems no doubt that punctuation should be given to that formula when necessary. But when a formula appears *displayed* (i.e. solely taking up a line), there seems no consensus on whether punctuation is needed for it. I wonder if there will be any potential ambiguities if punctuation is (or not) included in this case.
This is essentially a question about *functions* of punctuation for displayed formulas. I don't want an answer about *rules* from certain style guide...
# Answer
In mathematics there is a near universal consensus that displayed mathematics should not be treated differently from inline mathematics with regards to punctuation. By this I mean that the vast majority of papers on the arXiv follow this convention, most journals will add punctuation according to this principle if it's not already there, and so on.
Thus whenever you're unsure whether or not to include punctuation at the end of a displayed equation, try to replace `\[ ... \]` with `$ ... $` \- whatever punctuation mark looks natural when it's inlined should be included also at the end of the displayed equation.
I don't think that texts without punctuation after displayed equations are necessarily *ambiguous*, but then again, a text without punctuation after inlined equations would probably not be ambiguous either. The main purpose of punctuation is after all not to reduce ambiguity but to increase readability and "flow" of the text.
> 16 votes
# Answer
As a probably-minority opinion, I try to avoid having English-language punctuation juxtaposed to mathematical notation, especially anything complicated, whenever possible. Also, I try to avoid beginning a sentence with mathematical notation, trying, instead, to begin with an obvious English word that is capitalized.
In that vein, I do not put periods or commas at the right edge of displayed purely-formulaic expressions, but have the next line start with a capitalized English word, signifying new-sentence.
My objection to juxtaposition of English-punctuation with formulas is the visual noise, small though it may be. At least my own perception of my own scanning of English+mathematics is that I think of English in a somewhat different manner than I think of the mathematics (apart from small naming-phrases), and everything's easier if the two functions of "comma" and "period" are clearly distinguished.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: Yes, of course. No matter what is the formatting on the page, the text is *linear*, with the only exceptions being floating objects (figures and tables), which obviously *float*. The fact whether the formula is on display or not should have no implication on the punctuation used.
This issue exactly is not much addressed by Knuth in his Mathematical writing. Still, him being a profesionnal typographer, a mathematician and an author of many books, his opinion on this (which is clear if you open any of his works) is IMHO quite valuable, being a strong reference for proper punctuation. The linked article is definitely worth reading.
> 2 votes
# Answer
The reason for including the punctuation is that text with math in it is still text. The reason for leaving it out is that it looks ugly because we're juxtaposing elements of two writing systems in which symbols have completely different meanings. Either possibility can be jarring to the reader.
A good way to deal with these problems is to leave some white space between the equation and the punctuation.
```
The Pythagorean theorem,
A^2+B^2=C^2 ,
has been known since ancient times.
```
In LaTeX, I use a \qquad for this.
In my personal style, I also sometimes end a sentence with a displayed equation set off by a colon, without a period after the equation.
```
Thus from Euclid's five postulates we arrive at our final result,
known as the Pythagorean theorem:
A^2+B^2=C^2
```
Here I feel that the colon acts like a signal on the tracks that tells the train conductor we're nearing the end of the sentence. The construction of the sentence also reinforces the reader's subconscious expectation that the sentence will not continue after the equation. Grammatically, the equation does not function as any part of speech; the style is similar to what one would use in introducing a diagram that was in-line in the body of the text and had no caption or figure number.
> 0 votes
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Tags: writing
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thread-14404 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14404 | What's the rough budget size for one person year (research asssistant/postdoc) in academia? | 2013-11-26T22:47:24.813 | # Question
Title: What's the rough budget size for one person year (research asssistant/postdoc) in academia?
For my CV, I want to mention the budget size of third-party funds I helped to raise, but I do not know the financial details. So:
What's the rough cost for one person year in academia, including personal costs, travel costs, overhead costs, etc.
---
Update: Since the budget seems to depend on the location: It was a German project ("DFG Einzelantrag auf Sachbeihilfe") and I computed the personal costs per year to be about 60 thousand Euro. But I have no clue how much the travel and overhead costs are per year.
# Answer
> 2 votes
The total amount of funding is difficult to guess. If you can't get detailed information, it's better to just state the number of positions in the grant and the total duration. Even that could be left out. If you're applying within Germany, everybody will know what a "typical" DFG grant includes. For applications somewhere else, I'm not sure how relevant this information would be.
The personnel related funding received from the DFG is standardized. See for example there for rates in 2012. The important question here would be wether it's a full-time or part-time position. That is field-dependent.
Overhead cost is standardized at 20 % of the total funding (at least for recent grants, it has been less earlier).
Travel costs and other is really dependent on the project.
---
Tags: cv, funding
--- |
thread-14408 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14408 | Authorship for paper based on my thesis | 2013-11-27T07:35:25.203 | # Question
Title: Authorship for paper based on my thesis
I rewrote my thesis work with improved analytical explanation of major problem statement and included few subsections which were not the part of thesis. Also I rewrote the algorithms with more clarity for better understanding.
One of my colleagues at current working place has helped me in organization of paper and correction of English. I submitted the paper by mentioning my supervisor as second and my colleague as a 3rd author of paper. I also mentioned in acknowledgment that work is extended version of my thesis work under supervision of Mr. X.
After acceptance of paper my supervisor is causing trouble and saying I cannot mention anyone else except him in acknowledgement, and he must be the corresponding author. But as per editor's response, it’s too late to make changes. Now he wants me to withdraw my accepted SCI paper and resubmit according to his wishes (1-He must be corresponding author 2-Acknowledgment must be written according to his wishes 3-Exclude 3rd Author)
My question is whether his reaction is proper? If I don't listen and proceed for publication whether it can cause some problem?
# Answer
The problem you ran into is one of the prime examples of why one should **always** get *all* the coauthors' approvals before submitting an article.
If you have in fact documented approval from your previous advisor for the paper in the form in which you submitted, the facts are on *your* side. And there's little your advisor can do about it: it is his own fault for not having caught something he disliked and to have given you the OK to submit. (Though pissing off one's advisor is generally not a good career move.)
If you *have not* obtained the approval, then you almost certainly *must* retract the paper. All journals I have submitted to and refereed for either requires the assent to publication be individually given by all the authors (in which case the journal will often ask for contact information of all authors to be keyed in when submitting), or that the corresponding author certify that he is in a position to speak on behalf of the other authors about the paper. The fact that your advisor is making noises means that either
* He will disagree, as a coauthor, for the paper to be published, or
* You have in fact lied when you certified that you can speak for him, in which case the journal will retract your paper for violating their rules
(assuming some form of this question was asked during the submission process). In other words, most likely you are already in a situation where you either voluntarily retract the submission (in which case the only people who will know about it are likely yourself, the two coauthors involved, and the handling editor at the journal), or, if you chose to publish anyway, be forced to retract the paper by the journal, since many journals take authorship problems rather seriously. In this latter case anyone with a subscription to the journal would know that your paper was retracted because of some sort of misconduct (yes, misrepresenting author information is scientific misconduct). Your call.
---
The above basically answers what you should do in your situation. But what about the case where the paper has *not* already been submitted, but there are disagreements over authorship and wording of the paper?
My only suggestion is that in that scenario, you should get together with your two "co-authors" and hammer out a compromise yourselves. While I find the objections by your advisor a bit strange, there may be ulterior reasons you are not telling us. A possible compromise in this case would be for you to publish one paper, containing only the contributions of your thesis work, with your advisor, and a second one containing the reanalysis and extension, with the other author.
And do **not**, in any case, go over the objections of your co-author(s) and submit a paper in a form they do not agree with. That's a recipe for academic misconduct right there.
> 19 votes
# Answer
I will add some supported information to the answer and comments, perhaps more for future reference. There are guidelines for author ship. The ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors has written up guidelines for authorship and contributorship based on the Vancouver Protocol. You can also see the post Paper contributions and first authorship The requirements for becoming an author are quite strict. Based of these guidelines you can see whether co-authorship should be reasonable.
You can also check out COPE's How to handle authorship disputes:a guide for new researchers and the American Psychology Association APA Student’s guide for thoughts on authorships and disputes particularly from the perspective of a young scientist.
To cap off, your situation is far from ideal. To evaluate possible co-authorships must be made early on. You will inevitably experience people who will bully their way into a paper (pressured authorship) and in some cases such behaviour is more a tradition than abuse (but nevertheless wrong and unethical). But remember that missing to add an author (ghost authorship) is also unethical. What you can do in this case is to contact the editors of the journal to seek their advice. Suggestions to retraction of articles is not something they take lightly. You do, however, need to assess the authorship issue carefully along the guidelines given in the examples above. Whether someone is missing from the acknowledgement or not is cause for any drastic measures. The acknowledgement is the only part where the authors can add thanks etc. as they see fit. It is not even necessary to have an acknowledgement, although that might appear odd to readers.
> 3 votes
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Tags: publications, ethics, thesis, authorship
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thread-14427 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14427 | Citation to well-known results and reference to user manuals | 2013-11-28T08:23:42.560 | # Question
Title: Citation to well-known results and reference to user manuals
There are some very well-known results and equations, e.g., Shanon Capacity formula, Erlang Distribution and Poisson Distribution, etc. Do we have to provide a reference for these results as well?
Also at times we seek help from a user manual while writing a simulation program or conducting a practical experiment. Do we have to provide reference for user manuals as well?
# Answer
My first comment will be that it is better to add one reference too many than one too few. Reviewers or editors might suggest to remove references during the review process if they seem superfluous.
In some cases, it might be more useful to add references to quite basic concepts. One such instance is when papers are directed at least partially to people outside the field. In such cases it may be sufficient to point at a basic book in the field, as an example to point to a good book on statistics regarding the Poisson distribution (the book has to provide some good information on the topic of course). This can help people who may have a different background to get deeper into the topic.
In general there is of course a fine line where references are or are not needed and with time one learns to identify this line better. What you can do is to simply look at other papers that you have read and see where they place the line and try to follow their example. That will likely form a very good basis for finding the right level of referencing. But, be aware that the line is different depending on the audience of the publication where the paper is published and you should briefly check to see what is applicable in each journal where you publish.
> 2 votes
# Answer
It is not necessary to reference *very* well- and generally-known results. For instance, it would be reasonable for somebody to say "by Pythagoras..." instead of trying to find a reference to his original writings ;-) I imagine that the Poisson Distribution would fall into the same category, but not being in your field can't comment on the others. Ultimately, as others have said, this judgement depends on your field and your intended audience. If in doubt, cite.
Re user manuals for software: If you have simply used the manual to learn how to use the software, a reference is not necessary - instead, reference the software itself. However, it would be appropriate to reference the manual if you are quoting from it, or if you are explaining how the software does a particular calculation and your evidence for this is that the manual says so (and perhaps provides more detail than you are including).
> 2 votes
---
Tags: research-process, publications, citations
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thread-14426 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14426 | How to mention "failed" final year thesis in SOP? | 2013-11-28T07:16:56.150 | # Question
Title: How to mention "failed" final year thesis in SOP?
I am an undergraduate intending to apply to an American graduate program. In my SOP, I decided to write one paragraph about my final year thesis. However, the truth is that I failed to propose something new in my final year thesis. The only positive things, I believe, is that I have found related papers quickly without any guidance.
I hope to talk positively about this experience. Is it positive to mention that "I have found papers quickly?" And how to mention such a "failed" final year thesis in SOP?
---
More background information:
Field: graph theory
My supervisor was busy and he did not spend much time discussing the topic with me or teaching me about it. I have a problem understanding papers that are somewhat concise. At last, I had no choice but to change my topic. He only described the topic, did not give any references to read. I found the references by myself, which were exactly what he wished me to read. The time is limited and hence I do not propose many new things in my final year thesis.
# Answer
I am not so sure that your final year thesis has actually 'failed'. It is not actually expected that many students will propose something truly new in their bachelor's thesis. The purpose is to teach you how to research a topic and write about your research. In this case, the fact that your supervisor did not give you much guidance or direction may actually be seen as positive, since you have succeeded in finding the relevant papers on your own, and have (I presume) written a decent paper about your research.
You are now heading into a phase where you *will* be expected to go beyond a literature search and propose "something new". Finding the relevant references is a basic skill required of any researcher. So is being able to work independently (that is, without someone always telling you what to do and where to focus your research). Your current supervisor's supervisory style has forced you to do this--point out this fact in your SOP! Take credit for having initiative and independence, and do not see your final year thesis as failed. It may not be outstanding, but it has served the purpose well.
> 8 votes
# Answer
At undergraduate level usually it is expected that student has basic understandings of intended field. Your SoP must state that what kind of motivation you got from your thesis/studies and how it is influencing your decision to select future field of research. Sometime you may select a topic (due to to lack of guidance and experience) which is not suitable to you. If this the case and you want to change your major research area be honest and explain why you want to change and why you are selecting new area of research.
> 1 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, statement-of-purpose
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thread-14440 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14440 | How to get access to university resources after graduation? | 2013-11-28T15:45:11.880 | # Question
Title: How to get access to university resources after graduation?
I'll get a B.S. in math this December and (hopefully) go to graduate school next fall. In the coming spring semester, I will stay around my undergraduate institution (in the U.S.), auditing classes, attending seminars, talking with faculty and so on. But since I will not be enrolled during the spring, I will lose my access to a lot of University resources. Specifically (not limited to),
> 1. I will lose access to the secure University Wifi network on campus.
> 2. I will not be able to borrow books for free from the University library unless I pay some money to become a member of the alumni association. But more importantly, even if I become a member of the alumni association, I will not have access to any math database (e.g. MathSciNet).
> 3. I will not have access to computer labs in my college where I can print 600 pages of papers for free every semester when enrolled.
I can understand University is also a business and I hope I could get used to my situation soon after graduation. But I wonder if there are some ways to improve such an embarrassing situation. What is the best way for me to get access to math databases for instance?
# Answer
One potential solution: I may register for a one-credit course at the University. It (hopefully) may not cost much and help me get access to standard University resources.
*Update*: the University library just told me I could get access to math databases through computers on campus libraries by applying for a guest account for free, though I can't get remote access.
> 4 votes
---
Tags: university, mathematics, library
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thread-14432 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14432 | How does one learn research methodology? | 2013-11-28T11:19:58.630 | # Question
Title: How does one learn research methodology?
I am a multidisciplinary person. I have a bachelor's degree in computer science and now I'm working on my master's thesis on strategic intelligence studies. The experience I have in writing both of my master's and bachelor's theses, and the experience of using both of quantitative and qualitative methods show me that there are so many things to learn within the scope of research methodology, be it the methods, the paradigms, etc.
So, instead of being lured into one of the related disciplines that I've been exposed to, I'm far more interested in learning the research methodologies which are applicable to them. I want to learn them all and I want to be able to devise such methods.
Thence my question, where should I begin my journey in learning and mastering research methodology? Is there any university offering such programme?
# Answer
> 4 votes
There is a strong need for learning research methodologies, and many postgraduate research courses require as prerequisite research methodology evidence.
The good news is that many institutions do offer specific courses in research methods; the better news is that many offer distance learning and there even some MOOC/Open learning options available. Below are some examples that I'm aware of (I'm sure there are many others):
There are also a squillion books on research methods
---
Tags: research-process, methodology, multidisciplinary
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thread-14447 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14447 | Can I write Research Paper on improving results of a Phd thesis | 2013-11-29T05:34:27.987 | # Question
Title: Can I write Research Paper on improving results of a Phd thesis
I do not have any prior experience of publishing any kind of research material, it would be a huge favour if you can give your comments in the following matter:
In a thesis related to Seismic Image Processing, the author has proposed a method for Automatic Fault Detection, I have implemented that method and I have improved the results of the method by introducing some more equations.
My question is, given the above situation can I publish my findings ? and how should I quote that thesis in the publication ?
Any suggestion/comment/idea is welcome. Thanks!
# Answer
This is standard practice. Someone does work and publishes it. Someone, possibly same people, but not necessarily, improves on the work and publish that. The fact that it is a thesis should make no difference, so long as the work being improved upon reflects the state of the art.
> 8 votes
# Answer
The best practice would be, IMHO, to contact that person, discuss your ideas with them, and make a common paper with them. In general, they will be interested in it (if they stayed in science), and you're sure you don't offend them or anyone. At least for me (in Math/CS), this is the way to go if you really "improve" some other's work. It might be a bit different if you "build on" their results.
You quote the thesis as any other source:
> John Doe. *My most stupid work on Josh phenomenon.* PhD Thesis, University of Neverland, Nevercity, 2013.
(These are the mandatory fields. You can add ISBN, number of pages etc. if you wish.)
In BibTeX, it should be:
```
@phdthesis { doe_2013,
author = {Doe, John},
title = {My Most Stupid Work on {J}osh Phenomenon},
publisher = {University of Neverland, Nevercity},
year = {2013},
pages = {666}
}
```
> 0 votes
---
Tags: research-process
--- |
thread-14449 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14449 | Title for a paper that theoretically compares several algorithms and implements one | 2013-11-29T06:58:12.147 | # Question
Title: Title for a paper that theoretically compares several algorithms and implements one
First, I am not asking for name suggestions. I am just not sure how to express very well the content of my paper. The paper theoretically compares four algorithms, and nominates and implements one of them. I found many papers in the literature which started with the name `Comparative analysis`. Does this term apply to my paper? (In all the literature I've found they implement all algorithms, not just one.) If this term does not apply, is there a proper term that can pinpoint the content? More specifically, my paper compares four pattern recognition algorithms and implements one of them that theoretically seems to be the best. Does **(Selection and Implementation of an Algorithm for optimizing ... system)** properly express the content of my paper ?
# Answer
> 5 votes
Difficult to choose a title without more information, but why not choose:
***Performing ..., theoretical comparison of four algorithms, and implementation of ...***
# Answer
> 2 votes
I would go for something brave:
> **Algorithmic Jungle on GPU: QuickSort, HeapSort and ShakeSort Compared.**
The fact that you implement one of them should be mentioned in the abstract, however, it seems to be too long for the title, and people don't like too long titles.
On the other hand, if the implementation is more important for you, then maybe:
> **QuickSort Implemented on GPU for Sorting Ducks.**
---
Tags: research-process, publications, journals
--- |
thread-14454 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14454 | Is it acceptable to modify the format when republishing an article? | 2013-11-29T20:31:39.313 | # Question
Title: Is it acceptable to modify the format when republishing an article?
My faculty has asked for permission to republish one of my articles. This is planned to appear in an upcoming magazine within the school I am currently working in. I have already asked the permission for republishing. It is an IEEE article, but I have some issues about the new printing.
The person in charge of the magazine has told me that they need the change the format of the article, so that it is according the magazine standard. Anyway they plan to change the following things:
```
- size of the font
- convert from two columns to one column
- referencing of the tables and graphs in APA style (I think IEEE uses another format)
```
But the content would be left unchanged. I have seen that in the Certification of Clearance sent to me by IEEE states the following:
> All uses not specifically authorized in this license and specified in the options for reusing IEEE Licensed Material available through the RightsLink service are prohibited, including (i) altering or modifying the Licensed Material in any manner
and in other part it says:
> If the Licensed Material is altered or modified in any manner, it must be within the scope of the license granted and it must not alter the meaning of the Licensed Material or in any way reflect negatively on the IEEE or any writer of the Licensed Material
So according to this, can they change the format? Thanks
# Answer
There are many types of rights related to intellectual property, and it is important to understand them correctly. The one you're dealing with here is copyright, which covers the text, graphics illustrations, and other possible graphic media (video, if your paper include any).
However, the copyright which you transferred to them does only cover these elements. Once they give you permission to reproduce the text and graphics, you can reproduce them in any way you want, following the license. But the presentation (fonts, page layout, etc.) is not part of the copyrighted material.
> 6 votes
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Tags: publications, copyright
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thread-14446 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14446 | A year + for first review, one referee report in, want to withdraw paper | 2013-11-29T04:08:24.533 | # Question
Title: A year + for first review, one referee report in, want to withdraw paper
A paper of mine has been under review for more than a year now. About 6 months ago I heard from the journal that one referee report is in while they are waiting for the 2nd. The editor promised he would get in touch with the Associate Editor to speed up the process.
In any case, nothing has happened until now.
I am thinking of withdrawing the paper citing excessively long review times. Could I ask for the one review that the journal received on my paper?
What is a good way to frame the withdrawal email with the request for the journal office to be kind enough to share at least the single referee's report they received?
# Answer
> 8 votes
To answer the question I must acknowledge the comment that times vary between disciplines (and to some extent journals). You should therefore check what applies to the journal where you submitted your manuscript. Based on what you find you can start thinking about withdrawing the paper.
From my perspective what you describe sounds like good grounds for withdrawing and trying a different journal. In my field (Environmental sciences) and in the journal where I am editor-in-chief, the time from submission to acceptance can be anything from a month and a half to slightly less than a year, but then the long times involve revision and a second round of reviews. If what you describe happened in "my" journal i would be very sympathetic to a request to withdraw. One could argue that because you have received a review you should feel obliged to stay because of the work the journal editors have put in, but then one must also consider the work they have not done, which is following up on the lack of response. It would not be too much work to assign a third reviewer when lack of response from the second becomes obvious. So in the end I think the journal seems to suffer from internal problems. A lack of response from a reviewer (which is not uncommon) should not halt the process for a paper. So with the assumption that turnover times in your field are within what I see as normal in mine, I think you have a good case for asking to withdraw your paper.
So, in my view, this is what I would do. I would write a polite letter to the editor explaining that you have decided to withdraw the paper because of the (severe) delays you have experienced. You do not need to point out the obvious short-comings of the journal but explain how the delays affect your personal situation. We all need publications to strengthen funding applications, job applications, promotions, evaluations etc. so significant delays have negative effects. Now it is of course not a responsibility of a journal to help your career but in a case like this, there is little point in blaming a (failed) process within which you have no insight, so focus on the effects it possibly has for you. And keep it brief.
# Answer
> 9 votes
I actually had a similar situation some years ago. I don't think my experience is very useful, but I will briefly recap it in any case.
I submitted a paper to a journal in October 2009. In April 2010, after several requests, I was told that one referee had given a report, and the journal was still waiting on the second report. The journal then sent me the report at that time (in April), though I gather that was not standard procedure, and as far as I can see, I did not explicitly ask for it, though I had been repeatedly asking for feedback of any kind. The journal wrote:
> In fact, we got a report from the first referee. The referee's opinion is rather negative. As a rule, we do not send a negative report before we get a report from the second referee. Taking into account your will, we send the first referee report to you - please find it below.
>
> SInce we have not yet got the second referee report, there is no editorial decision concerning your paper. We hope to receive the second referee report in April.
I don't know exactly what was meant by "taking into account your will".
The second report never arrived, and I withdrew my paper in September 2010, slightly less than a year after submitting it.
I suggest that you ask your journal for the one report. You might want to wait on withdrawing it till you hear what the report says. You could say that you would like to use the first report to improve the paper while waiting for the second.
If they refuse, I guess you could then say that you are withdrawing the paper, and then ask for the report again. If you are going to withdraw the paper, this marks the end of the process from the journal's point of view, and I don't see why they would refuse feedback that might help you. Of course, they might refuse regardless. I imagine that individual journals would have different policies about such things.
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Tags: publications, peer-review, editors, withdraw
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thread-14459 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14459 | Full length articles or multiple letters to publish in Journal? | 2013-11-30T14:48:48.307 | # Question
Title: Full length articles or multiple letters to publish in Journal?
Prior to submitting a Journal article, I had a conversation with my supervisor about whether it was suitable for a letter (max 4 pages) or a more detailed article (max 12 pages). My position was that the core contribution (a new method) could be concisely and completely be described in less than 4 pages, and should therefore be a letter. The complication was that some progress had been made on the application of the method to a particular problem.
I therefore wanted to publish the first letter straight away, and later publish a second letter later dealing with the application. My supervisor didn't like this idea. He said it was "playing the game" to increase one's own H-index, and it was more suited to a single article. I subsequently took his advice to submit a full length article. However, now (with the article submitted over 3 months ago, and still under editorial review) he has changed his mind and says it's "up to me" as to whether I would like to withdraw it and resubmit as 2 letters...
So my question is whether there is any disadvantage to publishing research as a series of short (more concise/readable, and faster reviewed) letters in the same Journal?
(In this journal the letters are also mandated as open access, which is an option rarely used for the full length articles, and may improve findability)
# Answer
My advice would be to go through with the submission as is. If you were to withdraw the manuscript you would then have to write the two new papers and go through review for each of them. These steps take a lot of time and effort, both of which you could spend on original research (e.g. use this new method to solve various other problems).
The only case where the resubmittal might be interesting is if your results are so novel and significant that you are almost sure you can publish them in a high-profile journal (more prestigious than the current one). Then again, if they had this kind of potential I guess your advisor would have spotted it...
Generally speaking, having two papers (one of them as a letter in a prestigious journal) is of course more gratifying than one long publication and looks better on the CV. There are however two points to consider:
* The results need to be important enough to warrant publication as a letter. In particular, the (uncertain) benefit of having it published must compensate the investment in time and effort (see above).
* The "long paper" should contain enough new material to stand on its own. "Salami slicing", also known as the search for the "minimum publishable unit", is frowned upon. Although this behavior is not apparent from the publication list, it can be detected by careful examination (e.g. by the candidate's referee on a hiring committee).
See also this thread for more details.
> 11 votes
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Tags: publications
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thread-14461 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14461 | What are the risks associated with taking a semester off while doing a Master's degree? | 2013-11-30T17:56:30.040 | # Question
Title: What are the risks associated with taking a semester off while doing a Master's degree?
I am curious about this - I'm currently undergoing a Masters degree and am almost finished.
I finished the coursework, however, I still have the thesis project *plus* the thesis. And it's looking unlikely for the Spring semester.
My prof is a little bit agitated, but I'm just strapped for time. I'm working full-time and school is simply becoming second-fiddle to work. I come home from work, and if I'm lucky I can spend 20 minutes on school material. Weekends are tough also, as I travel to meet family.
However, I feel that taking a semester off only hurts my overall situation. Because even being registered for 1 hour of thesis credit is a sort of motivation for me. I.E "OK I'm paying money so I better get my money's worth"
However, I see the other argument which is "well if you know you can't graduate this semester then why not just do the work without paying.. then register the following semester?"
But I am worried that there'll be some hidden snag associated with re-enrolling?
Does anybody have advice/suggestions? Intuitively I'd rather pay up and at least stay enrolled, but I can sympathize with my prof's view.
# Answer
I know several people who have deferred their degree's at all levels for one reason or another. In all these cases, the student has spoken not just to their professor but to the relevant department admin person and it's been pretty straight forward to enrol and pick up from where they left off. None of them have suffered from taking time out.
I think you need to ask yourself a couple of questions so you can figure out which is the best solution for you. Here's a few that spring to mind....
Is taking a semester out really going to solve your time problem? If you will have the same issue again the next semester you enrol in then taking time out is probably a little pointless.
If you take time out, do you think you will stay motivated enough to re-enrol again?
If you stick with it this semester, what can you do to generate more time? You mentioned you travel to see family at weekends - is this something you can stop doing for the semester or is visiting an absolute necessity?
> 2 votes
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Tags: professorship, masters, motivation, administration
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thread-14437 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14437 | Finding graduate programs supporting a specific research focus | 2013-11-28T13:11:38.460 | # Question
Title: Finding graduate programs supporting a specific research focus
I'm looking forward to finding a university that I could do my PhD in computer science in financial systems and machine learning. Financial systems means Foreign Exchange market or Stock markets.
**Is there any way to look for such universities?**
My background: I studied in three universities in Egypt, USA and Singapore for my bachelor in Comp Eng. Worked in two universities as undergrad research assistant (NTU, Singapore and Uni of Arkansas, US). I won several national and international awards and competitions. Now, I'm working as a junior researcher in north Italy (one year of experience, two by the next fall). And I published 4 papers in last 12 months
# Answer
> 12 votes
Three easy suggestions:
1. **Look for advisors, not programs.** It's unlikely that any department is going to have a separate program, or even a separate research group, with your particular focus. Look for authors of papers that you've read about financial systems and machine learning. (You *have* read such papers, haven't you?) Then look at the authors they cite, and the authors that cite them.
2. **Don't limit yourself to computer science departments.** If you do good research, nobody cares what department is listed on your diploma. (And if you don't plan to do good research, you don't really want a PhD.) *Lots* of faculty and students in non-CS departments do excellent computer science research.
3. **Ask your faculty mentors.** After working at six universities, you've built a large professional academic network; exploit it! Your faculty colleagues will be considerably more familiar with programs in their (and your) particular focus than Random Strangers on the Internet.
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Tags: phd, research-process, graduate-school
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thread-14466 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14466 | How does a graduate student judge if one is slacking off? | 2013-11-30T23:54:00.150 | # Question
Title: How does a graduate student judge if one is slacking off?
As a third year graduate student (theoretical physics) I need to find out methods to understand if I am doing well or not, am I making progress or not, am I putting in enough effort or not?
How do I judge/measure my performance?
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Of course a primary skew in my situation is that I found an advisor only towards the end of my second year of PhD. (..before that I was working in other groups on topics which I didn't like at all..)
# Answer
> 23 votes
It's a good question, and one that's rather difficult to answer. I'll say a few things though.
* being able to judge your own level of progress and evaluate yourself honestly but fairly is a crucial part of your development. After all, you won't have an advisor for very long, but you'll be a researcher for a long time. So it's good that you're asking this question
* Research has many phases, and to evaluate your progress it's important to recognize which phase you're in.
+ in an exploratory phase where you're looking at different topics to see what might be worth pursuing, you should be reading a lot. A plausible metric here could be whether you're reading something every day, and if you're getting a sense of familiarity with the literature (you know citations without having to look up the bibliography, you keep encountering papers you've read before, and so on)
+ when you are working on a particular problem, do you have an idea that you're trying ? If not, what are you doing to search for the next idea ? do you have concrete tests of whether the idea is going to fail or not ? If you're thinking concretely and constructively, then you'll automatically make progress (notice that I'm not talking about how long it takes, but rather whether you see paths to progress)
+ when you're writing up work, are you methodically identifying things that need to be edited/cleaned/removed, and are you spending enough time each day working on these. When there's a lot of grunt work to do, time spent is a good measure of productivity.
Conversely, students (and researchers!) often become unproductive when:
* they don't know what to do next, and don't know to ask, or how to find something to do next
* they have things to do next, but are overwhelmed/fearful, and avoid doing them, or fritter away time in busy work (getting the exact right font for the title, for example)
The trick is not to get caught up in doing things at a certain rate, or worry about the large-scale, but rather **ensure that you always have something to do next**. If you don't, that's when you go talk to your advisor.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I think that one factor should be "ask your advisor". Depending on the relationship that you have, they might be best placed to give you an honest opinion.
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Tags: phd, working-time, evaluation-criteria, evaluation
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thread-14239 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14239 | Presenting the publications of a research group online | 2013-11-19T19:47:36.083 | # Question
Title: Presenting the publications of a research group online
I'm looking for advice on presenting the research publications of my group on our webpage. Most groups seem to go with a simple publication list, sorted by year and maybe publication type. But there are also more elaborate implementations up to browseable publication directories (e.g., http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~sontag/papers.html ). What would be your recommendation for creating an online presence for research publications that is
* informative and useful for readers,
* visually pleasant, and
* easy to maintain for us?
I'd also be interested in links to websites that you see as role models for this issue.
# Answer
You could use BibBase.org. It's a free web service that I created with the aim to solve the problem you describe. I was originally motivated by the third point (easy to maintain). As input you can use a bibtex file, Zotero, or Mendeley, and unlike bib2html you don't need to rerun any program after making changes to your input. Visitors can resort by different criteria (author, year, keyword, number of downloads, type), get the bibtex source entry (even when not using bibtex as input), and subscribe to an RSS. Here is an example: http://www.isi.edu/integration/karma/#publication
*(Disclaimer: I'm the creator of BibBase.)*
> 7 votes
# Answer
My dreamed interface puts on the left a list of topics, a list of authors and possibly some other list (venue, maybe). Clicking on them filters the papers that appear on the right.
The papers on the right are in a table that can be sorted by year or title (or possibly something else, number of cites to that paper maybe). On each row there are two icons, one is a PDF icon that leads to the PDF file, the other one is a TeX icon that leads to a GIT repository with the TeX source.
All this can be done (for instance) in Javascript with the data coming from a JSON file that would be the only thing you would need to update to maintain this, so it's quite maintainable. This is my dream. Reality is very far from it, but it may serve as inspiration to you.
> 1 votes
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Tags: website, online-publication
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thread-10008 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10008 | How complete are academic databases? | 2013-05-15T20:23:23.533 | # Question
Title: How complete are academic databases?
Right now I'm using Web of Knowledge, ScienceDirect, etc. to find papers to read and get some metadata. My university has a subscription, so this is nice. As far as I know these databases simply have a selection of journals, download all of the articles from those journals, and display them for me, updating every time the journal publishes. My question is: what percentage of journals are actually represented here? Some people say there are between 10,000,000 and 100,000,000 published academic documents in the sciences. Web of Science has about 50,000,000, and it's not clear how many ScienceDirect has.
A good comparison would be: if you take everything that Elsevier, Wiley, Springer, and Nature have, combined, and subtract everything that Web of Knowledge has, how many things are left?
Another way to phrase it: Of the major publishers (like the ones I listed above), how many are represented in these databases?
# Answer
> 4 votes
The precise extent of scholarly publishing is unknown, difficult to estimate, and the subject of some debate. That said, there is lots of evidence that Web of Knowledge and ScienceDirect are likely only the tip of the iceberg.
That is sort of the takeaway from an article I found in from Library Journal on Online Databases-Online Scholarly Journals: How Many? (Google WebCache because the LJ copy seems gone) by Carol Tenopir and published in February 2004.
Apparently, one of the best sources online is Ulrichsweb which is a serials tracking website that is part of ProQuest. I just did a search for "Academic / Scholarly" and "Journal" and came up with more than 107,000 different results.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Previous research has shown strong evidence that there is a **language bias** in academic databases in the social sciences and humanities\[1\]. However, evidence for the sciences is mixed: Some cannot find an US bias using the Science Citation Index (SCI)\[2\], others actually identify also a strong language bias in the SCI\[3\].
Furthermore, you have to consider differences in **publication cultures** between disciplines: The humanities and social sciences still approve *monographs* and *edited books* as publications which are seldom listed in theses databases.\[4\]
<sub> **References:**
\[1\] Bookstein, A./Yitzhaki, M. (1999): Own-language preference: A new measure of “relative language self-citation”, in: Scientometrics, 46 (2), 337-348.
Hicks, D. (1999): The difficulty of achieving full coverage of international social science literature and the bibliometric consequences, in: Scientometrics (1999), 44 (2), 193-215.
Hicks, D./Wang, J. (2011): Coverage and overlap of the new social sciences and humanities journal lists, in: Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 62 (2), 284–294
Yitzhaki, M. (1998): The ‘language preference’ in sociology: Measures of ‘language self-citation’, ‘relative own-language preference indicator’, and ‘mutual use of languages’, in: Scientometrics, 41 (1-2), 243-254.
\[2\] Van Leeuwen, T. N. et al. (2001): Language biases in the coverage of the Science Citation Index and its consequencesfor international comparisons of national research performance, in: Scientometrics, 51 (1), 335-346.
\[3\] Luwel, M. (1999): Is the science citation index US-biased? in: Scientometrics, 46 (3), 549-562.
King, D. A. (2004): The scientific impact of nations, in: Nature, 430, 311-316.
\[4\] Nederhof, A. J. (2006): Bibliometric monitoring of research performance in the Social Sciences and the Humanities: A Review, in: Scientometrics, 66 (1), 81-100.
</sub>
# Answer
> 2 votes
Not very. For example, Elsevier is a large publisher, but only still publishes a fraction of the total number of journals and articles in the world. By my count, they publish at least 2,797 journals. They also market Scopus as
> the world's largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature and quality web sources
By my count again, and you may need a subscription to access this information, there are 3230 journals indexed by Scopus. So unless Elsevier publishes 87% of all the journals in the world, Scopus is missing some. In fact we know they are since Pubmed indexes 5,064 journals.
That said, most "reputable" publishers spend the money and/or produce quality products that they get included in the major indices.
# Answer
> 1 votes
An answer for you depends on *your* purposes and standards.
If you're hoping to rule out the possibility that any published prior art is relevant to a patent claim, no database will be anywhere near the degree of completeness that you would prefer.
On the other hand, every database is complete for some purpose. For example, my understanding is that Web of Knowledge has at least a mere mention (a journal title, volume number, and page number) for every item that has been cited in the core literature since the end of the nineteenth century.
That presumes a definition of core literature that is decided by Thomson Reuters editors in the form of the product's "master journal list" on the basis of Bradford's law. Those seeking an introduction to Bradford's law could start with Sturgeon's law, which apologized for the low quality of much science fiction by observing that "90% of everything is crap." Bradford's law is the more specific, better studied converse in regard to scientific journals, that if we can examine a small but highly valuable fraction of them all, then for many purposes we can ignore the rest.
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Tags: journals, bibliometrics, data, repository
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thread-14342 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14342 | Is there any preference given based on how far in advance of the deadline a graduate application is submitted? | 2013-11-24T13:54:58.250 | # Question
Title: Is there any preference given based on how far in advance of the deadline a graduate application is submitted?
During graduate studies online application submission period, is there any preference given for an applicant if he/she submits his application at the beginning of that period compared with someone who submits his/her application couple of hours before the deadline?
Or as long as the applications are complete there is absolutely no difference!
# Answer
Look at all the application rules and guidelines. **Unless the registration/application is specifically described as first-come first-served** (which would be unusual), **the date of submission doesn't matter** as long as the submission is complete before the deadline.
> 10 votes
# Answer
Here's some empirical evidence from my experience - having done three very late applications in the past which all ended with success.
**Short answer**
According to my past experience. No problem applying late - even the last hour.
**Long answer**
*Jobs 2013:* I have made *last hour* applications for two job posts recently, one for Computational Biologist at ICL and one for Bioinformatician at ICL. Both led to interviews followed by acceptance. Remarkably, the Computational Biologist post stated that "it is essential that the post holder has a PhD", which I did not have! I have now started this job.
*MSc Course 2012:* I was the last applicant of the Bioinformatics and Theoretical Systems MSc with CISBIO - most people applied during their BSc e.g. many on the course applied February but I applied in October after finishing my BSc! Not only was I accepted, but I got a scholarship that I did not even apply for! In the interview panel was a chair of BBSRC research grant, who set me up with the scholarship after the interview.
Good luck!
> 1 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, application, deadlines
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thread-12514 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/12514 | Is it unethical to submit for review multiple articles which overlap in some respect? | 2013-09-07T14:40:48.130 | # Question
Title: Is it unethical to submit for review multiple articles which overlap in some respect?
I am well aware of the ethic guidelines in the academic publishing world regarding submission for publication of the same article to multiple journals: I know this is broadly considered unethical and creates a bad reputation for the author in question among the academic community (this eventually giving way to negative repercussions –presumably and informal, tacit type of ‘black listing’).
I have a slightly different problem here:
I am wondering what happens if I submit a series of articles, one different article to one different publisher, but all of them more or less at the same time: each of these articles would consist of a theoretical premise (a formula of principles according to which a text’s analysis will be conducted in the article), **which is common to all the articles** in object, and then the main body, different in every article: that would be the analysis itself (on the basis of the formula) of the works of an author –a different author in every article.
The field of research is humanities (literature). I am attempting to determine, on the basis of existing definitions of a literary trend (the aforementioned formula, which itself is a sum up of existing definitions of the literary trend, by other researchers), which authors and which works of theirs may be plausibly associable to the trend.
So, to sum it up, **the formula of analysis (the definition of the trend) is the introductory part of each article**. **Conceptually speaking it is the same for all of them**. I could change the exposition from one article to the other for the sake of not using the same exact text in all articles. The concept(the theoretic formula), however would remain the same: it would mostly not be my own original contribution, give or take a few corrections or specifications I am adding. **The main body of the text –the original contribution to knowledge- is the analysis of the author’s text**: **this is the greatest part of the text and it is different for each article** (one author for every article).
Much of this research has already been done in a draft form. Hopefully at some point in the future, and if these texts are published as articles, I’d be able to organize them (along with a few necessary additions) into a broader text to be submitted for publishing as a book.
So the question is: would this strategy be viewed by any reviewer/publisher/editor as a breach of ethic guidelines in the academic publishing sector? Would it cause me problems of reputation in it?
# Answer
1. You should avoid **self-plagiarism**. Having an identical section in both papers would be ethically questionable. They could have the same overall meaning, but I would try to rephrase them differently as you might already have done.
2. Also have your papers **cite each other** as being submitted, and possibly update the final manuscript with full citations.
3. It may be a good idea to let the journal editor know that this is happening. They may be able to provide you with specific guidelines.
> 17 votes
# Answer
This practice is usually termed Salami Slicing or Least publishable unit. This is conducted by many researchers for whom having a series of N small and terribly overlapped papers is more convenient than having just one substantial paper.
> In academia, salami slicing refers to the practice of creating several short publications out of material that could have, perhaps more validly, been published as a single article in a journal or review.
This often happens when someone finds a result that applies to a certain family of logical concepts and prefer to "study" one member of such family at a time. For instance, you find that a certain result applies to any colour and, instead of publishing this result, you publish a paper saying that result X applies to red colour, another one for the green colour, another one for the black colour ...
It is not considered unethical in general (although Elsevier says it is unethical `http://www.ethics.elsevier.com/pdf/ETHICS_SS01a.pdf` in some cases such as slicing data sets), just ask yourself if you want to be classified as a Salami Slicer.
> 10 votes
# Answer
There is nothing unethical about simultaneously submitting different articles to different publishers. The slight problem is that you probably need to quote the other articles in each one (where needed of course). This is more of a technical problem, though. As long as the articles you submit are significantly different so that none is duplicating the other, you should be fine. It is not uncommon to submit at least two articles more or less simultaneously, to the same or different journals. Having three or more is just more unusual but certainly not wrong.
I have not heard that submitting papers the way you suggest would lead to any negative effects. That said, there is a tendency to split research that could be a longer paper into several shorter contributions, mostly to get more publications. Although this is not wrong, sometimes the papers may become too fragmented ("cooking soup on a nail" as the proverb goes in my part of the world). It is therefore a careful balance when dividing up (packaging) papers from a research project.
> 9 votes
# Answer
In some fields, if you are referring in a manuscript to other unpublished material you must submit it together with the manuscript. I suggest that if you plan to submit each of these manuscripts to a different journal, also submit the other papers as supporting material and notify the editor that they are submitted for review elsewhere. That way you are not hiding anything and the editor has all the information to reach a decision.
> 0 votes
# Answer
What you suggest somewhat sounds like a series of applications of some concept. If that is the case, and assuming you're not salami slicing but present a well thought out selection of applications of the concept, why not talk to a journal editor about this? A series of papers exploring a particular topic from different application perspectives isn't unheard of.
So if your idea is as good as you think, you should be able to find an editor. And if the selection isn't that concise (i.e. each new paper doesn't provide enough new stuff), your book wouldn't be worth its money anyways.
> 0 votes
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Tags: publications, research-process, journals, ethics
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thread-2640 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2640 | Will delaying entering grad school for a year to pursue study abroad put one at a strong disadvantage? | 2012-07-26T21:27:32.183 | # Question
Title: Will delaying entering grad school for a year to pursue study abroad put one at a strong disadvantage?
I'm a year away from getting my undergrad degree in (computer) engineering, with a minor in Japanese. I never had the opportunity to do a study abroad due to the rigors of the major. As some probably know, the JET program is a program by which selected individuals move to Japan to teach English at public schools for a year (or two or three, but not more, I believe). I've always been very interested in doing something like this, but I have always assumed that doing so would ruin my chances of getting into a graduate program or landing a good job upon my return.
It wouldn't be like attending grad school before entering the industry or vice versa, in that I would be teaching English for a living, not studying or working in my field. I could still self study, and my field gives me the advantage of still being able to apply my skills working on personal projects and open-source software, but I would certainly be removed from the industry and academia, I would expect.
I feel like leave from the field would look bad to any prospective schools or employers. How accurate is my assumption? Would a leave of absence to do something like this reflect poorly on me in the eyes of potential schools or employers?
# Answer
> 8 votes
This might have a small negative effect on your chances of admission, by making you look less committeed or sure of your long-term goals. However, I believe the effect would be quite small, and in many cases it wouldn't be an issue at all.
One way to avoid this issue completely would be to apply to grad school and then defer for a year after admission. Deferring may or may not be possible, depending on the field and university. In my department, several grad students defer each year, usually for things like Part III of the Tripos at Cambridge. I don't recall a case where someone was teaching English for a year overseas, but I imagine deferring for that would be allowed.
# Answer
> 8 votes
This will not hurt your future plans. International experience and second language skills like this will likely help, even if they are not related to your undergraduate or graduate career.
# Answer
> 5 votes
As others have said, a year teaching English won't look bad on its own.
That being said, if you are thinking of graduate school, you might want to figure out who will write you letters of recommendation, and ask them to write the letters now. You want your letter writers to write for you while their memories are still fresh, rather than having to remind them of what exactly you did with them a year later, by email.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I don't think a gap year of the kind you describe would influence my admissions decision adversely. If anything, it would make me more intrigued. As with all things, you should make sure to articulate your story well in your personal statement if you think it needs explanation.
# Answer
> 2 votes
In my experience (biology), I think that taking a couple of years off before grad school provided me with an advantage during applications. Granted, I was working at a biotech company, so I was still developing "relevant" expertise (though in the end, it wasn't really relevant to what I worked on for my dissertation).
I think that the most important consideration is that you continue to learn during your hiatus. Fluency in a foreign language can be very valuable in academia -- I expect that there are a lot of top-notch computer scientists in Japan. Ideally, you would be able to establish relationships with Japanese CS students/researchers; I'd bet that many of the students are itching for help learning/practicing English.
There are a few reasons that older applicants may be more attractive in general:
* They are not continuing in school by default/inertia, and so are more likely to complete the program
* They are more mature, so they are less likely to cause drama in the department.
* They can bring outside perspective into their research. The academic career machine places a big emphasis on "shaking things up" and learning from a wide variety of situations/mentors.
I also see a couple of possible downsides:
* Some fields have a youth cult, where they think that radical thinking comes from young researchers. Specifically, I'm thinking of mathematics, though this may apply to CS. In contrast, the conventional wisdom is that biologists value experience and perspective.
* You will be older when you graduate and start your academic career. This may not be a big deal if your grad programs are short (5 years). A low salary and the need to chase jobs across the country/globe may not seem like a problem when you are 21 and healthy, but things are different when you are 30 and have responsibilities and are not as strong as you once were.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, undergraduate, industry
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thread-5638 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5638 | What sort of research experience does a college or university expect a professor to provide an undergraduate? | 2012-12-07T21:21:54.773 | # Question
Title: What sort of research experience does a college or university expect a professor to provide an undergraduate?
A lot of universities nowadays expect professors to be able to provide research experience to their undergraduates. i.e. in job applications for new hires. What do they actually expect- Publications? Senior projects? Funding opportunities for undergraduates? While I agree research 'experience' is a great thing for undergraduates in principal, realistically the vast majority of undergrads aren't going to be able to make progress on real problems - so how will this reflect on a new professor?
# Answer
> 5 votes
Faculty in such situations might be expected to provide research experiences commensurate with the size and scope of the institution. Undergraduates usually cannot devote the time to a project that a graduate student does, so the outcomes are different. Publications are not generally expected; conference presentations are more common. Most importantly, the undergraduate gets experience working on a complex problem and develops transferable research skills. What the faculty member gets is not the same as what he or she would get from graduate students.
What an undergraduate does as research depends on the facilities, infrastructure, and culture of the institution. At a major research institution, undergraduates should be working on the same types of problems graduate students work on, but perhaps in a more limited scope. When I was a grad student, we had several undergrads in our lab, one of whom was grad student quality and got some publications. The others contributed valuable (if not always publishable) work to our projects.
At a smaller institution that maybe does not have a graduate progran (like where I am now), you give an undergraduate student work commensurate with the type of grants you are expected to write. My institution (and my department especially) does not emphasize pursuit of large external grants, and so the types of projects I can give to my students are more limited. At the undergraduate stage, the process is more important than the results. I regularly send my students to regional and national conferences, and I hope to eventually have them publish something, but I am not given low evaluation marks. However, if you are expected to apply for and get big grants, then your undergrads should be doing work at that level.
All in all, in the chemistry departments I have been a part of (large and small), most faculty have one or more undergraduates doing research and most undergraduates get the opportunity. However, not all undergraduates choose to, nor would their be enough opportunities to support them if they did. The onus is on the undergraduate to choose to do research, not on the professor to guarantee an opportunity is available to all students even if they do not want it.
# Answer
> 2 votes
My perspective is mostly Australian on this (with a bit of UK thrown in). "Research Experience" for undergrads here typically means exposure to and training in the methods of research. On one side this includes simply exposing undergraduates to the latest (important) results, but also incrementally introducing them to *how* to be a researcher, capped in the final year with an offering of a small research project. Such a project would not be expected to produce new results, but to demonstrate the student's capability with methodology.
Having said that, there does seem to be an implicit push to get people publishing earlier, which seems to filter down from the increased pressure to publish on academics - but that's another story.
Still, in general, it tends to be in my experience about exposure, rather than an expectation that the undergraduate will actually perform (individual) research. The ones that do are just a bonus.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Note: my perspective is from doctorate-granting biology departments in the USA
Undergraduate research experience comes in two flavors -- work-study (paid) or for class credit (often a senior/honors thesis). Both are valuable, and I expect that most departments do not have very specific expectations for professors aside from some basic effort to provide undergraduate research opportunities. Professors at these institutions are judged based on both research and teaching, and undergraduate research is just a small part of the teaching that these professors do.
You can see how universities present undergraduate research opportunities to the students (e.g. Harvard, UC Berkeley), but I doubt that you will find publications describing how these programs influence faculty promotions. Faculty can receive awards for undergraduate mentoring. Such awards are nice to place on one's CV when applying for promotions, but that this is secondary to research, graduate student mentoring, and teaching classes.
Here is my personal opinion on undergraduate research. Even if an undergraduate is only washing dishes and making media (sterile technique!), they are still being exposed to the laboratory environment and learning what level of rigor is required to do research. Given their other commitments (such as class), their inexperience, and their limited conceptual preparation, undergraduates should not be expected to accomplish anything of note. Their inclusion in research projects should be structured to support and advance the work of full-time lab members, with the expectation that undergraduates will learn from any exposure to research projects. Finally, they can provide graduate students and post-docs with the opportunity to learn how to be mentors themselves, which is an essential part of their training.
# Answer
> -2 votes
~~There's always the masters thesis, which in some instances might include original research.~~ Also, at my university, some undergraduate TA's gets involved in research a bit by professors giving them some problems to work on, usually involving doing numerics.
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Tags: research-undergraduate
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thread-14495 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14495 | Should my citation graph be acyclic? | 2013-12-03T08:00:38.747 | # Question
Title: Should my citation graph be acyclic?
In a recent question on how to deal with submitting several papers on similar subjects at the same time, one of the (good) practices suggested by the answers is make sure that they cite each other, and that each result appears as original only in one of them.
One may want to put informative references from one to the other; for example:
* paper A "An application of this result is in paper B";
* paper B: "We apply this result from paper A".
From the point of view of providing all the relevant context to the reader, this might be the most informative thing to do. However, the other use of citations is for computing metrics, and in this respect this practice could be seen as a dishonest way to improve one's citation count, since you get two (self-)citations instead of the one you'd normally get if the two paper were not written simultaneously.
Hence, the question in the title: Is this practice recommendable and/or acceptable? Or should I decide an implicit temporal order for my simultaneous papers, and only cite older ones from newer ones?
# Answer
If the two papers are already written and submitted at the same time, I don't see why not. You are right about the upsides: **making information easier to find for the reader**. This is one of the purposes of citations! The only small addition I would make is that **you should submit a copy of B along with A** (and the other way around), so **the reviewers can evaluate the need for this citation** (as they do with “regular” citations).
And to end on a practical note: **this will probably no inflate your citation count anyway**. You submit your two papers at a time, then let's say A is accepted before B. So A is published with a reference to *“B: F. Poloni, submitted for publication”*, which won't be counted in citation databases. Then when B comes out, it will feature a proper citation to A (either in full, or through DOI if A does not yet have full citation information), and this citation will be included in databases.
> 19 votes
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Tags: publications, citations, ethics
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thread-14513 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14513 | Presenting data of complex tables | 2013-12-03T17:58:52.910 | # Question
Title: Presenting data of complex tables
I finished some experiments on classification and I am now preparing for a **presentation**.
The experiment yields data which will then be manually verified to determine if the data is correct or incorrect. The experiment is run a total of 10 times and the output for each run is the amount of hits ("Yes") or misses ("No"). In the end, I have this complex table:
* What is the best way to present this kind of complex tables?
* If applicable (as in my example), should I present normalized data?
* If applicable (as in my example), should I present average values?
# Answer
I believe visual representation is nearly always a much better way to present data-intensive information. However, it may depend on your audience, and the depth of analysis you go into with your results. If you are repeating each experiment *n* times, it would be most useful, in the least, to present the average result (the mean), along with a standard deviation. There are many different ways to visually represent your data, but whatever method you use must be able to deliver the main points you need to convey clearly. To help you decide on the best form of presentation of data, here a couple of suggestions:
* Ask yourself what the main message is that you need to deliver from this data, and focus on a delivery style (graph, table, list, whatever) that *best delivers that main message* (and not all the other stuff)
* Reduce the number of variables you need to display to reduce distractions from that main message. So you wouldn't need to display results from 10 repeats of an experiment when you can just show the average result for that experiment.
* Remember that in the majority of cases, a picture tells a thousand words.
As an aside, regarding your statement *"The experiment yields data which will then be manually verified to determine if the data is correct or incorrect."* Always believe your data. Your data is always correct. You just have to come up with the explanations for why the data is as it is.
> 5 votes
# Answer
If you are going to show frequency data as yours with more than 4x4 cells in a presentation, I would generally recommend to use graphs instead of tables. Either you spend much time explaining such a big table or you will leave your audience with the feeling that they just saw something they did not have time to really understand.
The LabWrite Guide by NC State and the paper "Using Graphs Instead of Tables in Political Science" by Jonathan Kastellec and Eduardo Leoni provide some ideas for graphs substituting tables.
Note that there is a closely related question about Book recommendations for information visualization?.
> 1 votes
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Tags: data, graphics
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thread-14520 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14520 | Can I publish a technical paper on more than one publishing sites? | 2013-12-04T13:38:38.700 | # Question
Title: Can I publish a technical paper on more than one publishing sites?
Can I publish my technical paper on more than one publishing sites? The paper content is the same while only the formats differ. I am the author of the paper.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Short answer : No.
Long answer: Only under certain circumstances where you have explicit permission to do so. Be aware that even if you have permission to do so, there are many folks who take an extremely dim view of multiple publishing.
# Answer
> 1 votes
The only formal process that I'm aware of is the reprint mechanism. You publish a piece of work. Sometime later, editors of a compendium or collection wish to take your article and reprint it. In that case, the original publishers have to approve this (as well as you of course).
More commonly, papers published in a peer-reviewed venue might also appear in a Ph.D dissertation in some form. Here again, there's some form of copyright approval needed for it to happen.
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Tags: publications, journals
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thread-14488 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14488 | What does it mean to be on a short list? | 2013-12-03T02:36:15.023 | # Question
Title: What does it mean to be on a short list?
I recently applied for an academic job that did not request letters of recommendation at the time of application, but only a list of potential references. I just now received an email from the search committee chair that I had made it to the "short list" and to please contact my references to arrange for my letters to be sent. I thought that a "short list" was the list of people who were going to be flown out for an in-person interview, but it seems that the "short list" in this context just means "the list of candidates whose letters of reference we'd like to see". Is there an agreed-upon definition of "short list" that I'm missing?
# Answer
Nope, there's no widely agreed upon definition of "short list". Sometimes a committee draws up an official short list, while sometimes people informally talk about a short list based on who is being seriously considered even if there's no official list. Sometimes the short list consists of the people being interviewed, sometimes it's the people for whom letters are being requested, and sometimes it's in between. Things can get more complicated when there are several forms of interviews (e.g., interviews at an annual meeting vs. fly-ins). Sometimes a reference to the short list is a meaningless pleasantry meant to soften the blow of rejection when a committee member knows an applicant personally. Ultimately, the only thing you can say for sure is that it's better to be on the short list than off it. Beyond that, you have to guess from context or ask for clarification.
> 22 votes
# Answer
"The short list" doesn't have an agreed upon meaning besides "The list that's shorter than the long list" in my experience.
In some places, it does mean the people they're intending to interview, but not necessarily. In your case, since they've been kind enough not to waste the time of (potentially) hundreds of people writing letters for candidates that never stood a chance, it might actually *mean* what you thought it meant, just that there's an additional step between "We like him" and "Fly him out". Namely, get letters of recommendation before they spend airfare, department time and resources etc. for someone who has some hidden flaw that will come out in the letters. So the intent might be there, but with an added bit of due diligence.
It might also be that they have a "short list" and then a "shorter list", which would be the scenario you're assuming.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Your interpretation is similar to how things work at my institution.
1. We scrutinize the applications and filter them
2. For the filtered set, we ask for letters of recommendation (this is the stage you appear to be at). We do this because it takes work to track down the letter writers, and we don't want to invest the effort unless the candidate has some chance of making it to the next phase.
3. We go through the letters very carefully, solicit extral informal feedback if necessary, and then develop a (partial) interview list.
We don't necessarily tell candidates that they've reached phase 2, and in some universities there's no step 1, so it's not always clear what "asking for letters" really means. In your case, since the department explicitly mentioned a short list, you've likely passed a plausibility filter (which is good!), but you can't draw any further inference from it.
From the department's point of view, this is also a way to make you excited and motivated to push your letter writers into action (so it saves them effort :))
> 3 votes
# Answer
Being on a short list does not necessarily mean that they are going to interview you. It costs them quite a bit to fly you out and put you up in a hotel for a few days. But it is very possible that candidates ahead of you will ultimately turn the job down. And at some point they may well consider you, and fly you out.
Quite likely, also, they haven't decided who they are going to call for an interview, and they want to read the letters to get an idea of who they want to interview.
Finally, these decisions may be based upon things beyond your control, or your talents. For example, they might be looking for candidates with a very specific skill set, and you might not be a good fit. Or there might be some internal politics in the department - perhaps one person really wants to hire you, and another really wants to hire someone else. It's all out of your control.
> 2 votes
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Tags: job-search
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thread-14180 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14180 | Will anybody actually read your research and teaching statements? | 2013-11-17T16:48:57.273 | # Question
Title: Will anybody actually read your research and teaching statements?
When applying to faculty jobs, how much weight is given to your research/teaching statements? Talking with a few folks on admissions committees at Very Good Departments in Big Research Universities, I was told in no uncertain terms that
* your letters get you the interview,
* your talk and individual meetings get you the job,
* nothing else *really* matters,
where "nothing" includes your research statement, your teaching statement, the *content* of your publications, or your hairdo. Of course, I am working with a very small sample here. How true is this sentiment? (And if it is true, why keep asking us young folks to write these hackneyed teaching statements that nobody ever reads?) More importantly,
**Question:** For those who have been on faculty hiring committees, what are the ***actual*** criteria you use to invite applicants?
By ***actual*** (in bold and italics) I don't mean *"what the job posting specifies"* or *"what the department charter says you're supposed do,"* but rather *"how you actually make these decisions in a meeting right before lunch while preoccupied with a grant proposal due at midnight and the fact that the cafeteria is going to fill up with noisy smelly undergrads if you don't get there soon."*
# Answer
I am the chair of the faculty recruiting committee in a Very Good Department at a Big Research University. **I read research and teaching statements.**
I need to know that you have a compelling agenda for your *future* research; your letters won't talk about that at all. I need to know that you can describe and motivate your research agenda well enough to attract external research funding. I need to know that you know why (not just "that") your work is interesting, visible, important, and likely to have high impact. I need to know that you communicate clearly enough to be a good teacher, and that you care enough about teaching to formulate a coherent teaching philosophy. I need to know that your research, teaching, and career goals—as **you** describe them—match those of my department. I need to know that you are taking the recruiting process seriously.
In the long run, your publications (**which I also read**) and your recommendation letters are probably more important. But saying that your statements have *no* importance is a dangerous exaggeration.
Also, I don't eat in the cafeteria.
> 52 votes
# Answer
I agree that letters are by far the most important part of an application, but there's a big difference between not reading something and not having it be the deciding factor. Your research statement is needed to describe your research agenda; if you don't do a good job of this, you are unlikely to be hired. However, there's only so much one can learn from a research statement. For example, some people describe ambitious plans they cannot actually carry out successfully, some are very good at making incremental work sound exciting, and some may work in an area nobody on the hiring committee can evaluate confidently (perhaps that's why the department needs to hire in this area). The top candidates all have impressive research statements, and the differences between them are generally not compelling enough to matter compared with what the letters reveal. On the other hand, it's certainly possible to write a bad research statement, for example by giving the impression that your greatest ambition is to refine your thesis work forever. If you do that, you'll discover that someone was reading after all.
Teaching statements are a messier subject, and nobody can quite agree on what should even be in them. Search committee members at research universities differ in how they evaluate them: some read them very seriously, while others use them for nothing but filtering out applicants who might provoke a student uprising through incompetent teaching. I think you'd be surprised at how many people care about teaching, even in departments that are not known for teaching excellence overall, and even people who don't care about teaching know they need to maintain some minimal standards and put on a good show for the administration.
Of course, all this depends on what sort of job you are applying for. There's enormous variation, not just via the obvious categories (research universities, comprehensive universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, etc.) but also at the departmental level or just based on who's on the search committee. There are overall patterns, such as the importance of letters, but there is no agreement on things like whether cover letters matter.
> 25 votes
# Answer
It's certainly true that publications, letters and your performance in an interview are far more important than research or teaching statements; I'd much rather be on the job market with latter weak than the former. That said, I think you're conflating two things here: most applicants' research and teaching statements never get read. But if you get the job, it's pretty likely they were. Between TT and postdoc searches, my department currently has 623 applicants in our MathJobs queue; that's way too many to read all the research statements of. But eventually things will get narrowed to a shortlist, and then documents will get read.
> 19 votes
# Answer
As a member of a hiring committee in a small department at a primarily undergraduate institution, I read both statements.
> For the research statement
I need to know that the research planned by the candidate is feasible at my institution. If he/she needs access to one of only five specialty instruments in the world, then I am suspicious that the candidate may not be happy at my institution and will likely want to move on in a few years. I also want to see projects that look like they are friendly to undergraduates. Finally, since I am in a small department, I want to see research that somehow balances our desire to find someone who complements the types of research we are already doing while filling in voids in our expertise.
> For the teaching statement
Since teaching will be the majority of what the candidate will do, I read this statement for a few key items.
1. Is the statement cogent and organized? I do not care what the teaching philosophy of the candidate is so much as I care that the candidate has clearly thought about how they would approach teaching and learning.
2. Does the statement contain more specific examples than fluffy buzzwords? Even if the candidate has limited teaching experience, specific examples from classes the candidate has taken again demonstrate that the candidate has thought about what good teaching might look like.
3. How long is the statement? Half a page means the candidate put no effort into the statement. More than three pages means the candidate does not have focused thoughts on the matter.
Ultimnately, I make certain to read both statements carefully for the same reason I read the letters carefully. I want to make sure the candidate is the best possible match for the job.
> 10 votes
# Answer
Yes, people like to rant about the current state of the system, and most often over-exaggerate the importance given to this or that item. Some people find it sounds better to say *“the system is rigged/stupid/corrupt, all that counts is whom you know”* than *“it's a pretty tough job, and we need that much information to make the best decision”*.
I think the simplest way to make the point is this one: **with the huge amount of competition and pressure on that particular job market, hiring committees use all the information they can get their hands on to make the best decision**.
Going to the extreme, even things like your hairdo, your clothes and your language style do convey information to your interlocutors: does the guy know how to adhere certain basic social conventions, for one thing? It sure is a minor element compared to your publications, but it may come to play a role, because, well, plenty of other applicants will have stellar publications!
> 7 votes
# Answer
I sat on a hiring committee last year. We read all the research statements. Candidates didn't submit a separate "teaching philosophy" but did discuss teaching experience/perspective in their cover letters.
I would bet that it depends on the job. If the job is narrowly targeted toward a specific research area, your research statement is more likely to be similar to those of many other applicants, so it may carry somewhat less weight. For the committee I was on, the job ad was very open-ended, so the research statements carried considerable weight in weeding out people whose research didn't jibe with the department's goals.
At least in my experience, it is quite untrue that the letters are the only thing that gets you the interview. In our discussions, letters were among the least discussed aspects of the applications. Committee members would not if a particular letter seemed especially glowing or damning, but that was about it.
One thing you don't mention is your CV, which I found to be one of the most important factors. We spent a lot of time discussing the research output of the candidates.
In general, my impression is that it is (unfortunately) much easier to shipwreck your prospects than to boost them. We definitely had people who gave poor interviews, or poor job talks, and thereby took themselves out of the running. So, even if people don't give the research statement immense weight, it's worth your while to make it decent, because if it is noticeably sucky it could torpedo your chances.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Every time I do an interview I see the interviewers pull out a folder and read my research statements right in front of me. So yes, I am pretty positive people read them.
> 4 votes
# Answer
I have been on search committees. I have made decisions (usually decisions about who goes on my short list) on the basis of the research statement. So make an effort to have it readable and accurate.
> 3 votes
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Tags: job, application, job-search, faculty-application
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thread-14053 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14053 | How are British PhDs looked upon in the United States? | 2013-11-13T00:39:28.140 | # Question
Title: How are British PhDs looked upon in the United States?
Assuming I got a PhD in Computer Science from Oxford or Cambridge University, how would that affect my chances at becoming a professor at a top US university versus getting a PhD from a top US institution? Assuming also that I had US citizenship?
# Answer
> 16 votes
I am an American who earned a Ph.D. at Cambridge University. A degree from Cambridge or Oxford is well-respected in the US - I was warned to avoid other UK universities as they are not as well known in the States. The one caveat is that all of your network for post-docs and jobs will be in the UK, not in the US. It was an amazing experience though so I would not want to discourage you!
# Answer
> 7 votes
In mathematics, I would say that British Ph.D.s are very well respected in the U.S.A. Probably more so than many US universities. The US citizenship is a plus, because it means that the university can avoid the hassle of H1 visas and Green Cards. But a major research university will probably not reject you if you don't have US Citizenship.
# Answer
> 5 votes
My guess is that it the effect on academic employment would be relatively small compared to other factors, as pedigree is typically neither necessary nor sufficient for obtaining employment. Arguably, department reputation will matter more, but what you do while you are there will matter far more than that.
It might be helpful to your decision to note that *several* UK universities are very well respected in the US and elsewhere: Imperial, UCL, KCL, Edinburgh, Manchester, Sheffield, to name a few. Are Oxford and Cambridge the only UK institutions with respected CS departments?
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Tags: phd, university, career-path
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thread-8915 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8915 | What can/should be done about journals that spam potential contributors? | 2013-03-27T13:38:43.077 | # Question
Title: What can/should be done about journals that spam potential contributors?
I'm a very early stage researcher and my first two conference papers could have been better, but that doesn't stop new journals spamming me with offers to publish my work. This morning I received two emails from:
1. Journal of Communication and Computer (http://www.davidpublishing.com/)
2. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science (http://ijpg.org/index.php/IJACSci)
Now this is clearly spam, they know nothing about my research area or they wouldn't be asking me, and my first reaction is to not waste my time reformatting work that I've already done. But am I missing something here?
Personally I feel that publishing in these general purpose repositories dilutes the (our!) publishing model and makes it harder to find related research.
So what is, if anything, being done about this?
# Answer
> So what is, if anything, being done about this?
**Ignore them.**
No, you are not missing anything. These journals are scams, not serious scientific literature.
If you plan to publish a longer version of your conference paper, send it to one of the journals that your paper cites, or at least to a journal where you recognize a significant fraction of the editorial board.
Sadly, trying to "doing something about" these scammers is as futile as "doing something about" fake email quota warnings, diploma mills, exiled Nigerian princes, international email lotteries, and three-card monte. Set up your mail program to blacklist their emails if you can, but then move on with your life.
> 42 votes
# Answer
If you don't regard these journals as worth publishing in, then chances are no-one else will either. If you think you have unpublished work that people would be interested in reading, but isn't worth submitting for whatever reason, arXiv seems a good place to put it. There are lots of conference proceedings on there.
> 3 votes
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Tags: publications, journals, disreputable-publishers, spam
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thread-14534 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14534 | Is it better to apply to doctoral program in the fall semester or spring semester? | 2013-12-05T07:06:43.830 | # Question
Title: Is it better to apply to doctoral program in the fall semester or spring semester?
I plan to apply for USA universities. Is there any difference between the number of PhD opportunities in spring and fall semesters? I mean in which semester do I have a better chance to be approved?
In my country application for spring semester is not so usual. What about USA?
# Answer
> 9 votes
Most universities offer Doctoral admissions exclusively in fall semester (once a year). Deadlines for applications are typically in December. For more detailed information, you should check the particular department's webpage.
# Answer
> 2 votes
All institutions I know of in the US have *deadlines* for submitting applications to the doctoral program. The earliest ones I remember were in December, and the later ones were in early spring.
Your chances of being accepted are zero if you submit after the deadline, and if you submitted early it would be at best annoying. So long story short just follow the rules of the institution to which you are applying.
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Tags: application
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thread-14523 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14523 | What are the best CS PhD programs in Europe? | 2013-12-04T17:10:12.790 | # Question
Title: What are the best CS PhD programs in Europe?
In the United States, there is a clear ranking for universities and almost all universities offer PhD programs. Unlikely, not all universities in Europe do so.
I'm asking, what are the best Computer Science PhD programs offered in Europe? I plan to specialize in data mining/machine learning.
# Answer
> In the United States, there is a clear ranking for universities and almost all universities offer PhD programs. Unlikely, not all universities in Europe do so.
If you're looking for global University rankings, you can find various versions with dubious methodologies out there on the Web. For example, one of the more famous of these is the QS World University Rankings. Again though, these rankings are dubious at best ... the hint being that they present the "quality" of a university as a single dimension when the "quality" of a university has high dimensionality.
> what are the best Computer Science PhD programs offered in Europe?
This is an almost completely different question. The best PhD programme is a combination of three simple things:
1. great supervisor that you get on well with and that lends you the time and expertise you need,
2. great topic in an emerging area you are interested in and with a healthy global research community,
3. great environment in a good office with the resources you need, a stable academic atmosphere and smart colleagues to bounce ideas off.
You can find such programmes in many reputable universities, even if they're not in the top 5 universities in Europe.
My advice would be to read some of the recent literature in the data mining area (e.g., SIGKDD, ICML, WSDM, ICDE, etc.), find the research group whose work most interests you and get in contact with a professor or postdoc there (or preferably find a mutual acquaintance to introduce you to him/her).
Finally, just to add that when you do a PhD, you have to start building your own reputation and not rely on the reputation of the university from which you received your PhD. You will be judged primarily by the work with your name on it. This is different from Bachelors and taught Masters.
> 7 votes
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Tags: phd, europe
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thread-14504 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14504 | How can my students learn to value the rules of academia? | 2013-12-03T13:17:34.610 | # Question
Title: How can my students learn to value the rules of academia?
I teach a course in academic writing covering the writing aspects, the very basics of research skills, such as referencing works, plus related college skills. At this point in the term, quite a number of foreign students have begun to express frustration:
* Some wish they can organize their papers in more “creative” ways.
* Some want to share their feelings and personal experiences.
* Some see the style guide rules as overly pedantic or finicky.
They don't like the many “restrictions” dictating how they should gather information and organize and present their ideas.
I compiled a short list explaining why such strict conventions are necessary:
* Predictably-organized writing helps readers to access information quickly.
* The various research procedures generally raises the quality of the work, so others can benefit from the ideas presented.
Most of these students, however, have no intention of ever becoming “academics”, and maybe they don't care so much benefiting readers. They just want to get a degree and get a good job.
Can I help them to see some personal benefit to learning all of these conventions?
# Answer
The points you list are key, and a good starting point. I am not sure you need to add to that list but rather expand on the points to set them in a wider perspective.
There are several misconceptions that needs discussing. There is the idea that academic (scientific) writing is complicated and uses difficult language. Well, it does not have to be, and really should not be. With the huge onslaught of information, we must all learn how to express ourselves concisely and clearly. This is an art that requires training, not only in science but also in writing. Regardless of which sort of work we have, assuming communication is part of it, we need to be able to get our points across. Hence it is key to impress on students the importance of learning to write well. So point at the goals: being able to present information in a way that it can be understood by the intended recipients. You then need to be able to take complicated issues and express them clearly and in language that can be understood. Understanding terminology and concepts is the basis for being able to explain them and making necessary simplifications. Badly written reports will not serve the author, the company (equivalent) the author works for, or the recipients who need the information. I therefore think it is important to make these wider perspectives clear to students.
Companies usually have very strict rules for how reports should be written and formatted. Getting used to following such instructions may seem like a limitation, but understanding the necessity is a good preparation for the work place. With commercial reports come legal aspects that puts much restriction on how to express oneself. Learning about such rules and restrictions is therefore a key to become a successful contributor in the future, inside and outside of academia.
The fact that most (if not all) employers look for people who are good at presenting information, written as well as in speech should be emphasized (often included in social skills). These skills require much training and a solid foundation to build on. Courses in scientific writing and presentation as well as term papers and other reports (including a final thesis) are all parts of this education.
So, in the end, I am totally convinced that skills such as these will make a difference when applying for jobs. We just need to point out the fact. Getting feedback from employers about the necessity for these skills to share with the students is very valuable. Some students have better basic skills than others but none are good at writing concisely and clearly without the training we can provide. It is also important to make students understand that in the longer term they will have to develop their own skills, not just take whatever is served and think it is enough. It is a life-long learning experience which requires solid a foundation. and that is what we can offer.
> 10 votes
# Answer
> * Some wish they can organize their papers in more “creative” ways.
> * Some want to share their feelings and personal experiences.
> * Some see the style guide rules as overly pedantic or finicky.
I'm not sure why there are "rules" about organizing papers, and what's wrong with more "creative" approaches. As for style guides, they are often overly pedantic and finicky, and in any case are mostly appropriate for an actual publication.
It's possible you're referring instead to the way to organize a paper (in terms of introductions, related work, methods, discussion, and so on). In which case you can explain the particular roles these components serve, while emphasizing that these components achieve a certain purpose and if that purpose can be achieved using other methods, there's nothing wrong with it.
As for sharing feelings and personal experiences, it's common for students with little experience of writing formally to confuse the "what" with the "how", because they're focused so intently on the "how". One way to help them is to identify places where they're spending too much space on process words, and ask them to describe the outcomes instead. In other words, their goal should be to describe WHAT was done, rather than WHO did it, in order to ensure that the process can be repeated by someone else.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I would encourage a peer-exchange assignment that is not marked. Each student writes a technical paper (or maybe a short technical paper), and then each student has to read every other person's paper and then "mark" them on a scale of criteria such as "clarity of presentation" and "I was able to decipher the main ideas of the paper" and "This paper was easy to read" and "I clearly understood the technical contributions of this paper".
After they finish that with others' papers, then they should go back and read their own paper, and then mark their own paper. (I would also recommend in parallel that you or other markers also mark the paper to "check" that the marks given to the particular paper are not outrageously out of line).
By comparing their own work with those of others, they will get exposure to a large number of different writing styles, get constructive feedback, and a large portion of the class marking will be done for you as well. With so many papers to read, many of them will start getting a feeling of what works, what doesn't, what they skip, what they absorb, and so forth.
I wish I could say that I thought of this all by myself, but many of the ideas were mentioned in a talk by Scott Klemmer about innovation and evaluating innovation in a massively open course situation.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Consider emphasizing the potential personal benefits that come with good communications skills:
* Organizing information in an easily accessible manner makes others more likely to read your writing and follow your thoughts.
* Presenting ideas concisely helps make your idea more accessible, and therefore make it more likely that the reader will actually understand your point.
* Presenting methodology along with your idea demonstrates transparency, showing that you have nothing to hide, making you appear trustworthy.
* Citing other people's work has two benefits: Firstly, it demonstrates your knowledge scope by showing that you're familiar with the literature, and secondly, it improves your standing with the people you cited, as it shows them you found their work useful.
All of these apply to academia, but apply equally to all other areas of life. I used to work in academia, and I know work in operations for a health care company doing analytics. I use all of the above when I write white papers, and I have seen numerous times how following these guidelines helps others understand, appreciate, and build upon your work.
By emphasizing these points you may be able to better connect with your students.
> 2 votes
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Tags: teaching, writing
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thread-14540 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14540 | Which Masters is right for me? | 2013-12-05T14:42:00.393 | # Question
Title: Which Masters is right for me?
I am an undergraduate student in Canada doing a double degree concurrently, a B.Sc (Bachelors of Science) and a B.Eng (Bacehlors of Engineering) over 5 years. (8 years down to three at the price of my sanity? Sure haha!).
My Major in Science is Physics, and my Discipline in Engineering is Electrical/Computer.
When it comes to picking my masters, I have three options:
* M.Sc (Science, thesis based)
* M.A.Sc (Applied Science, thesis based)\*
* M.Eng ( Engineering, project based)
From knowing nearly nothing about these, I think the M.A.Sc sounds right for me, sort of a "middle ground".
I want to go on study quantum computers, specifically to apply the principles of quantum field theory to microprocessors and develop quantum computing hardware and software. (I work as a computer programmer alongside my studies, and I've been a professional polyglot programmer since I was 16, and a hobbyist since I was 11)
My question is, which masters would help me more on a path to a Ph.D, and eventually to a job in academia?
A fellow undergrad suggested I do a double-masters to compliment the double-degree, is this possible? Would it be useful to me at all?
# Answer
> When it comes to picking my masters, I have three options:
>
> M.Sc (Science, thesis based) M.A.Sc (Applied Science, thesis based)\* M.Eng ( Engineering, project based)
The letters in your masters degree do not matter. In other words, you'll never see an M.Sc. or an M.Eng. specifically asked for in an application call ... you'll only ever see "Masters". As such, your degree could be called an M.Xk.Cd. and nobody would really care. It's the topic and quality of your masters matters most!
If you want to work on quantum computing, then you should look for a good masters programme in either Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or a relevant field of Mathematics. These are typically M.Sc. or M.Eng. courses (again, not that the letters matter!).
A research masters is usually preferable, in that you may even get a publication or two which will help with PhD applications ... or you may continue in the masters programme and graduate into a PhD programme if you are happy with your supervisor.
On a side note, I would encourage you to be flexible in your interests. You quote "quantum computing" as an interest but it can often be unfeasible to get a PhD you like in a really specific area. I think at this stage it's important for you to decide what discipline you want to pursue (Comp. Sci., Maths, Physics, etc.). Having a sub-field in mind is great, but don't plan your future *too* rigidly around that.
> A fellow undergrad suggested I do a double-masters to compliment the double-degree, is this possible? Would it be useful to me at all?
Of course it would be useful. :)
But as to whether it would be worth your time, I would say absolutely not. See (1).
```
(1) Masters + 0.5 × PhD ≫ 2 × Masters
```
> 5 votes
# Answer
You have picked a nice area for having a wide background. **Most theoretical quantum computing positions usually ask for experience in at least two of Physics, Computer Science, or Mathematics**, so you are in good company. Don't pigeonhole yourself into one discipline if you are planning to be a theorist. More applied and experimental work usually requires a single background in the specific methodology used, and usually comes from Physics, Chemistry, or some type of Engineering. It is common for strong quantum programs to have professors of background in various fields, and in that case you will usually decided the letters after your M. based on the department/faculty of your preferred supervisor.
First, check if your undergraduate school offers a straight-to-Masters program, since that might be a viable option for you. I know that at McGill you can now get a Masters at the end of 5 years, instead of doing just a Bachelors, I am not sure how it is at Dalhousie. Ask your professors.
In Canada, your best bet for a Masters will be at the Institute for Quantum Computing in Waterloo. They have one of the strongest and largest quantum computing/information programs in the world (and definitely the strongest and largest in Canada). If you browse their website, you will see that **you can get any of M.Sc, M.Math, or M.Eng as your degree** with departments ranging from: Applied Mathematics (2 profs), Chemistry (2 profs), Combinatorics & Optimization (4 profs), Computer Science (2 profs), Electrical & Computer Engineering (3 profs), Physics & Astronomy (7 profs + 3 assistant profs). I think all of the programs are thesis based, and students are expected to produce original research. I would base you department choice based on potential supervisors (you will have to list who you prefer as supervisor during your application) and what sort of non-quantum courses you like (since you will be expected to take some non-quantum related courses in your department).
Keep in mind, that **in the USA, it is not customary to sit for a separate Masters before your PhD**, so consider applying straight to PhD with your choice of supervisor determining the department. The IQI at CalTech is a good choice, I know that John Preskill has an interest in the intersection of quantum field theory and quantum computing; note that most other work in quantum computing doesn't use QFT and concentrates on the non-relativistic limit. Make sure to do a little bit of work in quantum computing during your undergrad before you make your Masters/PhD decision, to make sure you have an idea for the lay of the land. A lot of people don't have a good grasp of what research in quantum computing will look like when they first say they are interested.
> 1 votes
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Tags: phd, masters, job, science, engineering
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thread-14572 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14572 | Can I adapt to learning Artificial intelligence in MS easily | 2013-12-06T18:20:36.093 | # Question
Title: Can I adapt to learning Artificial intelligence in MS easily
I am applying for my Masters in CS in US universities. I am very much interested in Artificial Intelligence, but some of my friends said that it would be very difficult for me to learn AI as I have no overview about the course in my undergraduate degree.
Can anyone tell me if I can easily learn by putting some effort on learning AI. I am very much interested in that course.
# Answer
I don't know about the US, but in some schools in Canada you can be admitted to a CS Graduate degree without prior background in an interest area. You'd have to take background courses to get yourself up to speed, possibly in excess of the bare-minimum program requirements, but it should be doable.
For AI specifically, ensure that the schools you're applying to have enough background in the topic, and that there are supervisors and supervisory capacity for you. Look for undergraduate courses in topics that interest you, as they may form part of your background studies.
> 4 votes
# Answer
From my experience, many graduate courses do not require prior knowledge about the specific subject being taught, only background knowledge. Alternatively, they may require only minimal knowledge that you could teach yourself very quickly. But it is worth checking specific courses - naturally some would be more advanced.
For something like machine learning, the relevant background would probably be algorithms, probability, linear algebra and maybe some calculus/optimization.
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, graduate-school, masters, artificial-intelligence
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thread-14561 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14561 | Can a new paper be published with only slight modifications to a published paper? | 2013-12-06T13:06:10.840 | # Question
Title: Can a new paper be published with only slight modifications to a published paper?
I have seen that some researchers in my field, that is Computer Science, do this:
* They publish a paper, for example titled "The use of the Fourier transform for problem X". The paper gets accepted.
* Then after a while they have another paper titled "The use of the Fourier transform for solving the problem X under these constraints". I read the paper and I see this is the same as before with only the title changed a little bit and published in another conference.
* Again, the same paper in another language "l'uso della trasformata di Fourier...", which has the same content, but submitted to a local conference
Is this alright? For me it just seems that it should only be put like one publication under their CVs and not "resell" the idea over and over. I have this question because they had asked me to translate one of my papers to a local conference, but I do not consider that to be like a new publication. Should I translate and claim a new publication?
# Answer
> 8 votes
In computer science, papers are published in archival conferences, which makes things a little confusing. (In many other fields, papers are published in journals, and conferences are just for giving talks -- you can only publish a paper once, but you can give a talk about it many times).
a) It is unethical, in violation of the rules of the venue, and an incredibly stupid idea to publish the same paper more than once in an archival conference. This is self plagiarism, and is a serious academic offense.
b) On the other hand, in computer science there are also non-archival workshops to which people are invited to give talks. (These are more like the "conferences" in other fields). It is fine to give a talk at such a venue about a paper that has been previously published elsewhere.
Your question seems to be whether you personally should commit unethical and stupid act a). I would advise against it. (It is unethical for obvious reasons. It is stupid because anyone who seriously considers your publication record will be sure to spot such a move, and you will not be able to get a reasonable academic job).
# Answer
> 5 votes
For the detail you've provided, it's difficult to tell.
* Self plagarism is a big no-no, obviously.
* However, when you're building on previously published work (e.g. by adding constraints), there's almost certainly going to be overlap.
I think what I'd look for is as follows:
* Does the new work provide a meaningful contribution? (E.g. is solving the problem with constraints tricky to do, or does it give unexpected results?) This will depend on the field, and the standards of the conference.
* *Is the previously published paper cited by the new work*? You don't specify whether this is the case or not in your question, and I think it's critical.
* Are large portions of the text lifted verbatim? If the author is continuing with prior work there's bound to be some crossover (there's only so many ways you can clearly describe a problem using standard terminology, after all, and that's before we consider page limits), but it shouldn't be a cut&paste job.
If they pass all that then it's probably ok, even if the paper isn't exactly wonderful - but chances are then, if it's making it through the review stage then it's probably been submitted to a less prestigious conference, and people will pick up on that.
With regard to translating a paper for a local conference, it's not an issue I've ever faced and I'm a lot less sure about what the accepted etiquette is. My gut feeling though is the key test would be whether anyone is being mislead as to what's happened. Off the top of my head this including the local conference organisers, the conference that published the original version of the paper, any funding bodies who might ask how many papers you've published, and the people later reading your CV. If you're deceiving any of them in the way you present the publication, or even leaving an unreasonable opportunity for them to misunderstand, then no, don't. Otherwise, I can't see a reason to object.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Such a paper can be published, but it should not be treated as a new research output. Using the Australian HERDC specifications for research publications at 9.1 a publication is characterised by:
> * substantial scholarly activity, as evidenced by discussion of the relevant literature, an awareness of the history and antecedents of work described, and provided in a format which allows a reader to trace sources of the work, including through citations and footnotes
> * originality (i.e. not a compilation of existing works. See important notes below regarding the treatment of scholarly editions and scholarly translations)
> * \[...\]
> * increasing the stock of knowledge \[...\]
When dealing with papers, a new paper on a theme must still "increase the stock of knowledge" by "substantial scholarly activity" and be "original". Adding a new case study may fit the bill. Using a new technique of analysis may fit the bill. A new theoretical context may fit the bill. "Substantiveness" would be indicated by the portion of the work that is "original." If the original component would fly as a paper by itself, in the sense that the component of the paper that is original scholarly contribution to knowledge is reportable as research by itself; then it is fine. My dictum when dealing with these is "new evidence?" "new analysis?" "new conclusion?." If it meets one of these, originality has been met, and probably substantial scholarly activity.
Authors have a separate responsibility in terms of IP and copyright agreements that they may have previously made, and obviously have ethical obligations to cite prior works.
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Tags: publications, conference, plagiarism, self-plagiarism
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thread-14576 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14576 | Number of citations after PhD | 2013-12-06T20:34:16.840 | # Question
Title: Number of citations after PhD
I am trying to compare PhD training programs of different universities, institutes and departments in my field of interest. One of the comparisons I made is where did the previous students go after they finished their PhDs; how many papers did they write during their PhDs; and how much are they cited 1-2 years after completing their PhDs.
Now, comparing the citations counts is difficult. They vary quite a bit. How many times should a successful young scientist be cited 1-2 years after completing his or her PhD? How about an average one? What is the minimum number to be able to continue in academia? I understand that exact numbers are difficult to provide but I would guess you senior scientists can provide good estimates.
# Answer
I believe that scientometric indicators of scientific productivity and impact are at best, limited if the overall objective is to compare different college, departments, universities, institutes, centers (or any other academic organization) in one discipline. This is coming from someone who has had rigorous training in bibliometrics/informetrics/scientometrics.
This is because there are massive variations in citation patterns ***within*** a particular field. This is especially pertinent if the field is rather interdisciplinary. Note though that in any given field, there is a general level of agreement among scholars in that field which departments are "*better*" than some other ones.
For instance, in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), critical theorists and ethnographers get, on an average lower numbers of citations per article published than say, ubiquitous computing folks.
However, purely on an ***exploratory*** basis, there could be several ways of looking at departments:
1. **Where are graduate students from a particular department publishing in?** *Are they consistently publishing in top tier venues?* e.g. In core HCI, I would look at CHI/CSCW conferences. When considering, the subfield of usable privacy, I would, in addition, look at SOUPS/IEEE Privacy & Security.
2. **Among these publications, are they receiving best paper awards or best paper nominations?**
3. **Where are students from these departments being placed on a consistent basis?** Are they being placed in industry or academia? Where, specifically? Google or a no-name startup? Are they getting tenure track positions or primarily post doctoral fellowships? Which other departments?
4. **Are some of these students recipients of prestigious fellowships during their doctoral studies?** e.g. NSF Graduate Research Fellowship or Facebook Fellowship? How many?
5. **Bibliometric Indicators:**
* Average number of peer reviewed articles? (full journal and conference papers)
* Average number of citations per article?
* Co-authorship network analysis (which gives a nice idea of collaboration networks)
* Average number of student grants received or otherwise?
You can go on and on and on.
The idea is that, there is always some way to standardize or normalize any given construct. Sometimes, that is an useful approach. But, strict adherence to bibliometric indicators at many times, **make you mistake the noise for the actual signal**.
Consider the bigger picture and use metrics to buttress your concerns. That might be a more holistic approach.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Although this approach to measuring is plausible, I fear it is not what you want. Although of course things vary by field, the *papercount* per se, or even "impact factor", or ... any other easily-measurable thing is not quite what will affect things.
At least in mathematics (my field), a smaller number of very-good papers is much better than a large number of irrelevant papers. One might imagine that this would be measured by "impact factor", but it is absolutely not reliably so. As an extreme case, consider what happens when an important problem is finally and definitively solved: there may be fewer follow-ups, fewer citations, simply because there's little more to say.
And there's time-lag: I have many examples of 10-20 year (and longer) delays before people widely realized the interest of a given paper. Srsly, surely we're not trying so much to be of-the-moment-celebrities, but to make a long-term impact.
One could go on-and-on about the unreliability of appealing-but-fatally-flawed metrics... but the real point is that a less objectifiable judgement is necessary to evaluate the "merits" of a program. Stats on the students is probably not quite what you'd want, even though it might seem to be. E.g., at more elite places, there is vastly greater variance among students... so the "outcomes" are harder to interpret meaningfully... and, for you yourself, what those other kids did or didn't do is operationally irrelevant:
That is, *your* level-of-performance, that causes (or doesn't) respected experts to commend you to their peers, is what will get you a job, or not. The "published papers" thing is a *side-effect*.
> 7 votes
# Answer
*You should decide on your PhD institution by the quality of the tenured faculty, not their students.* Great students make great co-workers, but it's the quality of your supervisor that can make (or break!) you. If you have good relationships with faculty at your current institution, you should ask them what, in their opinion, are the best departments to apply to.
You should review the publications of faculty members you would like to be supervised by, to see if their research interests you. The papers that are first-authored by the faculty member (they are still active in research and don't spend all their time supervising and teaching, right?) will be particularly useful in this regard.
> 3 votes
# Answer
I believe your first two criteria are far more relevant than the third one. Two years after the defence is too early to evaluate scientists based on citations. Moreover, the average number of citations varies a lot from one field (or even subfield) to another.
> 2 votes
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Tags: phd, citations
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thread-14591 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14591 | Do educational programmes need to be in italics within the Harvard system of referencing? | 2013-12-07T12:05:59.033 | # Question
Title: Do educational programmes need to be in italics within the Harvard system of referencing?
I am mentioning educational programmes within my essay and wonder if I need to have the name of the programme in italics? (For example, the *Wellmother* programme.)
Also I have mentioned a Government document, Midwifery 20/20 in the essay and wonder if this needs to be in italics?
# Answer
> 2 votes
In general, italics would not necessarily be used just to represent the name of something. You wouldn't write "the *Marshall Plan*", so you wouldn't write "*Wellmother* programme", either.
As for the government publication, that's a different matter altogether. If the document is a "stand-alone" publication, as most such works are, then it should be italicized as if it were a book. So, this could also extend to a program if it were announced as a formal document, rather than just a policy position.
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Tags: writing
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thread-14569 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14569 | Criminal record and work on federally funded project | 2013-12-06T17:47:53.257 | # Question
Title: Criminal record and work on federally funded project
I have recently interviewed for a position with a project with a major university. It is funded by federal grant (mainly NSF). It is not an academic position per se, but is led by a few principal investigators who are full professors. This is my first encounter with academia since completing my undergrad degree (I have worked entirely in private sector since then) so it's fair to say I'm pretty ignorant of many of academia's inner workings.
I think the interview went fairly well, and I like what I know of the job very much, but I have a concern: I was convicted of selling drugs (a felony) about 4 years ago. The position I interviewed for is software related and has absolutely nothing to do with pharmaceuticals.
While my layman's impression is that universities are fairly tolerant of such background in general (Bill Ayers and Timothy Leary come to mind. I'm sure there are better examples) I know that charges like this have bearing on eligibility for FAFSA student loans. Therefore I am concerned that there may be similar restrictions for projects that are the recipient of federal funding. The team may have liked me for the position, but they certainly don't like me several million dollars worth!
For what its worth, it is a private school. This is in the United States.
Any insights into any potential for conflict with federal rules? Any other potential roadblocks, or comments on the culture/conventions concerning these kind of issues?
My apologies for an anonymous question, but I think you can see why. If this question indicates lack of research I apologize as well, but I am outside of my realm of knowledge here and had little success with googling the topic.
# Answer
I was not able to find any documentation directly related to the NSF, however, I would find it unlikely that it would be a problem.
If nothing relevant is mentioned in your employment agreement/contract, then you are probably fine from a legal/regulatory perspective.
As for the ethical question of whether you should volunteer the information to your employer, I can say that if your performance on the NSF grant were contingent on criteria like your criminal history, the professors would have likely asked you directly during your interview. If they did not feel that it was important enough to interrogate you about it, it probably does not matter either way.
Where it *might* be a problem is if the grant requires you get a security clearance, as felonies usually invalidate candidacy for a clearance. It is very unlikely that a clearance would be required for NSF grants; it's more likely from funding agencies like DARPA and ONR. With that said, grants don't last forever, and the professors might eventually get one that requires you to get a clearance. If the professors thought that might be a possibility or concern, though, they would have likely brought it up during your interview. Also, the government often makes exceptions for software engineers/computer scientists since there is a shortage of ones who are otherwise eligible for a clearance.
> 7 votes
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Tags: ethics, job-search, contract
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thread-14593 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14593 | Unsatisfactory grades for unsatisfactory reasons | 2013-12-07T13:13:37.340 | # Question
Title: Unsatisfactory grades for unsatisfactory reasons
I am currently doing Algebra in a college in India. The professor asks students to note down solved examples in class, and then poses the very same questions in the tests.
I don't go to class for these very reasons. Hence, I end up writing alternate proofs for such problems. The professor is incompetent to the extent that he does not understand proofs written by an undergrad, and gives me zero on all those answers.
When applying for grad school, I will have bad grades in Algebra and other math subjects (I suspect). How do I convey the this to the Admissions committee when applying for a PhD?
I believe this is relevant to a lot of students studying in the sub-continent.
# Answer
> 12 votes
This is a supplement to aeismail's and JeffE's excellent answers.
I understand it may be hard to drop the class or move to another class for some reasons. For your best interests, it's better to follow the instructor for now.
> The professor is incompetent to the extent that he does not understand proofs written by an undergrad.
I have a suggestion for you. Sign in to our sister site Math SE. Present your proofs. See what people think. After you verify your proofs, you'll know your professor is incompetent or not.
If your professor is indeed incompetent, you should seriously consider dropping the class. You don't want to waste your precious time. However, if it turns out that you do have serious flaws in your proof, I would listen to my professor if I were you.
# Answer
> 7 votes
If someone else is teaching algebra next semester/year, just drop the class. Cultivate a competent faculty mentor that you respect and trust. Listen to them. Meanwhile, **document everything**.
If there are really no competent, trustworthy faculty in your department, do everything you can to move. In that case, sadly, your department is a diploma mill, and even with the best grades in the world, you're unlikely to get into a good graduate program.
If you can't drop out or move, at least stop skipping class; you're just giving your instructor a legitimate excuse to dock your grade. Yes, it's childish, but your grades are more important than your pride.
> The professor is incompetent to the extent that he does not understand proofs written by an undergrad
Careful. I also do not understand many proofs written by undergrads. But in most cases, that lack of understanding is not due to **my** incompetence.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Unfortunately, this is a classic no-win situation. If you protest about instructors being incompetent, you may come across as someone too eager to assign blame for mistakes to someone else. If you say nothing, then your record may be dismissed out of hand (given how important algebra is in the undergraduate math curriculum). You also don't want to admit that you're skipping class.
I think your best bet may be to take your chances with the poor grade in algebra, but then follow the advice suggested for other people with weak transcripts.
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Tags: grades
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thread-14536 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14536 | Why don't things work with comparisons in reference letters and refereeing? | 2013-12-05T08:49:57.777 | # Question
Title: Why don't things work with comparisons in reference letters and refereeing?
This recent question How high should I rate a good student for PhD admission? is just an example of how puzzling the problem of writing reference letters is.
One knows that there is inflation in the field, so they feel they have to adapt, but it is not clear how much inflation is appropriate and when it is too much. Negative comments are often omitted, and this gives the evaluators less data.
There is an analogous problem when refereeing papers, or serving as anonymous referees for research proposals and grants. This seems to be a flaw which is implicit in the evaluation method. Apart from this voluntary inflation bias, there is also an involuntary component: if I ask you to evaluate your research field/colleague/student is, you will unconsciously feel biased towards it/him/her.
**Is this perceived as a big problem?** If so, **why is there no attempt to obtain more reliable results?** Some possible strategies, although difficult to apply, spring to my mind:
* if there are enough data points for the recommender, normalize everything and "grade on a curve".
* don't ask "how good X is?"; give them two paper/applicants/projects to evaluate, and ask "which one is better, X or Y?". This makes it more difficult to find good referees, because they have to be familiar with two of the persons/projects under evaluations.
* force the evaluators to provide at least 3 positive and 3 negative points, the most outstanding ones. This won't affect the inflation bias, but at least it provides some more data on the negative aspects.
I have seriously considered writing a standard addendum to enclose to my letters and reports, stating that I realize how biased and unreliable these things are, I am in a difficult position giving an absolute score on a scale that is totally unknown to me and the other evaluators, and I'd really feel more comfortable with a comparison-based evaluation system. **Would this be appropriate, or raise some eyebrows on the trustworthyness of my evaluations**?
# Answer
I suggest that an academic committee, sitting in consideration of an applicant to their PhD programme, would very likely view your addendum as being an honest attempt to preserve your set of professional ethics with regard to fairly ranking the applicant.
I do not think that the academic committee would doubt your trustworthiness. However, I expect that the committee would view whatever ranking you provided on the Good/Great/Excellent/Outstanding/Genius scale in light of your action of submitting your addendum.
Therefore the committee are not going to doubt your ability to rank the applicant, but are going to doubt the veracity of your ranking on the artificial scale.
However, I would hope that any sensible academic committee is going to be aware of the problem that we are discussing here and are therefore going to take a scaled single-valued ranking of any applicant with a massive grain of salt. They must know that a single value rank is going to be useless when judging the suitability of an applicant for a PhD programme.
Thus I would hope that, with or without your addendum, a sensible academic committee would take very little notice of the single value ranking and pay much more attention to the substantive letters of recommendation.
The addition of your addendum would not, I think, damage the applicant's application before a reasonable academic committee, as it wouldn't be news to the committee that such single-valued rankings are untrustworthy. To a reasonable academic committee, your actions of submitting the addendum might prompt others to do the same, and the practice of demanding a single-value metric abandoned over time. To an academic committee that places great store in such single-value metrics, your addendum sets out your concerns and presumably instructs the committee how you the single-value ranking is to be interpreted.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I wouldn't worry too much about it. Good schools will rely primarily on the content of your letter. Focus on writing a helpful letter. Include comparisons to other students who you have worked with in the past, where possible. That will enable people to calibrate your letter.
I wouldn't don't worry too much about the numeric scores. Good schools won't pay too much attention to the numeric scores, if you've done a good job with the body of the letter and written a detailed, helpful letter with plenty of concrete specifics. Any school that puts more weight on the numeric score than the body of the letter is just screwing themselves by using bad decision-making processes. You can't do anything about that; you can't fix other peoples' bad judgement. All you can do is do the right thing when it is under your control, and leave it at that.
> 4 votes
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Tags: recommendation-letter, citations, peer-review
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thread-13238 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/13238 | NSF graduate fellowship: how specific should the statement of purpose be? | 2013-10-07T09:21:17.340 | # Question
Title: NSF graduate fellowship: how specific should the statement of purpose be?
Several of the students who have come to my group as summer students are planning to submit NSF graduate fellowship applications in the coming weeks. However, one question that I am not sure about is how specific the statement of purpose needs to be.
When I applied for the NSF fellowship (going on fifteen years ago), I had absolutely no clue what I wanted to do as a student, other than it was computational rather than experimental. Therefore, my application was all over the place, talking about three different types of projects I might want to work on as a graduate student (and I ended up choosing none of them in the long run!).
However, I get the impression that today such an essay wouldn't be suitable for the application, and that a more narrowly tailored essay is required. At the same time, there's also the challenge of ensuring that the research problem can be done at the school one has chosen, and not narrowing things so specifically that the student is too "boxed in" or too opaque for a review panel to see the merits of.
So how should students thread the gap between vagueness and specificity in writing these and other fellowship applications?
# Answer
> 5 votes
I think this is an issue that a lot of students struggle with; at least I did when I applied last year. I was rejected, so probably take what I say with a grain of salt. They say some things on their website that are important to note.
* Keep in mind that NSF does not just seek to fund scientists and engineers; NSF seeks to fund future STEM leaders.
* Use appropriate scientific form (hypothesis, figures, references) in the Graduate Research Statement.
* Instead of elaborate details on theory, focus on the rationale for your studies and the existing literature as it supports your proposed work.
The students that I know that were given the award properly addressed these issues. My proposal did focus on one research idea and that was rewarded with comments on the creativity and feasibility of my proposed idea. One of the critiques I got in my review was "While the applicant does demonstrate an excitement of discovery and should be able to communicate his results to a large audience, ... Broad societal impacts are not evident with respect to encouraging diversity and enabling the participation of underrepresented groups."
The feedback that I got was based on two scores: Intellectual Merit Criterion and Broader Impacts Criterion. I would make sure that your students take both into account. As far as the research proposal goes, I what JeffE said is true. It is an opportunity for the students to show that they are familiar with the current research and are able to come up with an appropriate idea to pursue.
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Tags: funding, statement-of-purpose, nsf
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thread-14602 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14602 | Are student records accessible by university officials? | 2013-12-07T23:16:29.687 | # Question
Title: Are student records accessible by university officials?
Application forms for graduate school usually contain some vague statements regarding the extents of usage of one's social security number. Some people believe that educational records at other institutes are private information and the universities should have access to the educational records that *the applicant* would disclose to them ONLY. (Regardless of potential consequences and/or ethical justification for actions of either party.)
My question is, having the applicant's social security number, can schools see which schools/programs the applicant has attended, for how long, and the courses that were taken in the past? If so, is this a common practice? That is, do graduate offices commonly check with social security information to make sure that the records from each previously attended institute is included in the application?
# Answer
I believe your question is really about the existence of some sort of central database where all student records can be searched, if one has a key like a Social Security Number (SSN).
I do not believe any such system exists as I have never heard of it and if it did exist, it would likely run afoul of FERPA mentioned in the comments.
Basically, the only way one school would know you were at another school is if you (or someone else) tells them. Having your SSN does allow people to find out information from you but that is mostly from credit reporting agencies. If you borrow money from the school and they report it to the agencies, someone might be able to find out some information that way, but I can't imagine they would find out the program you were in.
> 3 votes
# Answer
The answer provided by earthling is excellent. I would like to tackle this question from another angle.
I don't believe any school will purposedly leak or illegally obtain student information. You are in the US. You are protected under FERPA.
However, accidents always happen. For example, what if one of the professors in the school you previously attended just transferred to the school you are applying. He would know you were in another school and the program you were in. Or your current advisor met with your former advisor in a conference. Academia is a small world.
I would not worry about the SSN issue if I were you. Just focus on your application and your study. Put aside your past. Pursue the future.
> 5 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, university, privacy
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thread-14614 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14614 | Better organization of knowledge for courses? | 2013-12-08T11:51:32.583 | # Question
Title: Better organization of knowledge for courses?
I am currently thinking about organizing a course for next semester. The most important aspect that I worry about is: How to sustainably organize knowledge? This should be a new "hands-on" course where students research and work on novel solutions to real-world problems (Note: How to get the students to innovate is not the question I am asking).
One key aspect of this course is to keep track of knowledge from previous semesters, so students of later semesters can build on top of what was previously achieved, and can find good (over the years better and better) answers to commonly (and less commonly) asked questions. They should also be able to get a good idea of what students worked on previously, and even decide whether to build on top of what was previously done, or just roll their own thing.
The knowledge that needs to be tracked, in short:
* Q&A's regarding the course contents
* Interesting and useful material relevant to the course
* Project approaches and results by students who have previously taken the course
I am currently thinking of using a Stackoverflow clone in combination with a Wiki. Does anyone have good suggestions/experiences? Maybe more professional solutions?
# Answer
**TL;DR First build a knowledge base, then a knowledge community (more than 1 person), then a Q&A site...**
Apart from the practical questions (software, structure) I think you miss like many trying to start a community site/wiki that there really needs to be an incentive to participate continuously in such a project and answer and document things when there is a reader count of a few dozen (like it will be for a course). You see what trouble some specialized beta sites here on stackexchange have to get 1-2 questions at all a day to attract audience. **Gamification will not work for a such a small audience**. I participated in some research group wikis, the will of the members to participate is defined mainly by "how easy to use" and "what's my profit from this compared to my current personal note taking system (redundancy)"
Wikis work much better for such a small community for the purpose of documenting things and sharing knowledge:
* easier to share and embed PDF's
* many skins to get a layout suited for good overview
* often plugins to export Wiki syntax to Tex/Docbook/PDF so you can write basically your bachelor/master thesis with the wiki
* easier software to handle, many wikis can be file-based and run without server (more future-proof), I would only put my knowledge into a wiki if it is simple to copy and install at another place
If you put such criterions now here you get some candidates:
Dokuwiki, MoinMoin, PHPwiki, PMwiki I can recommend
MoinMoin runs without server (even on USB stick), has WYSIWYG editor (absolutely necessary or only few will use your wiki) and is pretty future-proof as Debian and other known communities are based on it. There is also a nice sidebar theme to keep overview and allow fast navigation, **don't underestimate overview when people browse a new site!**
So this is my recommendation, but the bigger question is how to motivate students to participate. Already putting some knowledge and stuff up yourself is mandatory, why participate in an empty website, that's why stackexchange invented the Area51 launching system, but even this is not reliable...
> 3 votes
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Tags: teaching, coursework, education
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thread-14599 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14599 | Author's email address in a published paper is not working | 2013-12-07T20:09:24.407 | # Question
Title: Author's email address in a published paper is not working
I have stumbled upon a paper that is very related to my field of research and after reading and discussing it with my supervisor, I found some issues in the paper that I need more information about, such as the data set they used.
When I sent them an email (their emails are university email accounts) I received a failure notice telling me that these emails have been discontinued.
What is the protocol that I should follow to pass my inquires to them?
I have found one of the author's LinkedIn account, from it I know his current working place, can I contact the company asking them for his contact information? And I have already sent him a connection request containing a brief message of my intentions.
# Answer
> 24 votes
There's no particular "protocol"; just try to find some other way to contact them.
I would try:
* Google the author's names.
* Look for more recent publications by the same author(s); see if they list updated email addresses.
* LinkedIn was a good idea.
* If you have found the author's employer, see if you can find his contact info on their website; or contact someone else at the company and ask.
* Some professional societies maintain a database with contact information for all members. For instance, mathematics has the Combined Membership List.
* Contact someone at the previous employer and ask if they have current contact info.
# Answer
> 12 votes
I would like to add one point of note to the other answer:
**Do check if the first author is still in academia.**
It is quite possible that the first author wrote the paper as a PhD student, and has since left academia. Quite probably, if he/she has left academia, he/she will not have time or want to make time to address the issue. When this is the case, probably their supervisor is also on the paper, and might still be in academia. In this case, contact the supervisor or another co-author.
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Tags: research-process, publications, etiquette, email, publishers
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thread-14618 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14618 | What incentives do supervisors get for supervising undergraduate projects? | 2013-12-08T17:35:57.020 | # Question
Title: What incentives do supervisors get for supervising undergraduate projects?
What is the prime motivation/incentive for people to supervise undergraduate projects? Students want the degree obviously, but what do the supervisors get? Is there some incentive? Are undergraduate supervisors paid per project as well? I am an undergraduate computer science student. We mostly make applications and computer programs as final year projects.
# Answer
Sometimes undergraduate projects can form an extended talent scouting, looking for good matches of personality and interests for future graduate students.
> 14 votes
# Answer
Beyond a general desire to train students to be good researchers, a few of the benefits of undergraduate supervision for the academic include:
* **Workload:** Some departments have a workload model with various degrees of formality. In such models, supervising undergraduate projects would count towards an overall workload. Thus, if you preferred supervising undergraduate projects to some other tasks such as teaching or various service roles, you could do a little more. In a similar way there might be a default expectation that each member of academic staff take on a certain number of undergraduate students.
* **Facilitating research:** Some undergraduate research is publishable. Thus, the research can contribute to the academic's research track record. Obviously undergraduate students don't usually have the research skills of a PhD student and the time frame is shorter. That said, with proper design of projects and some work by the supervisor, it's often possible to get a publishable research project or perhaps a piece of a publishable project. In other cases, merely supervising a project keeps the supervisor thinking about a project.
* **Identifying potential doctoral students:** It provides an opportunity to get to know a student and identify those with particular research talents. Such students may consider doing a PhD.
> 8 votes
# Answer
In community/junior colleges, faculty members may be offered a small fee for supervising student's honors projects. In my experience, most of those who agree to do this put in far more work than would be covered by the stipend. Although some may agree to supervise projects just because they are expected to, most do so because they enjoy working individually with motivated and talented students.
> 5 votes
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Tags: advisor, motivation
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thread-14613 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14613 | Contacting potential advisers before deadlines | 2013-12-08T07:44:39.440 | # Question
Title: Contacting potential advisers before deadlines
I am applying to PhD programs in physics in US. Majority of the deadlines are in one week from now. My question is, does that help at all at this time to contact potential advisers and let them know that I am applying and am interested in their research? (At least one place requires me to indicate potential advisers in the online application form).
If contacting can help my application at this point, what should I do if there are more than one potential advisers whose interests match my experience and interests in a given department? (For example in one case I am even asked for naming three potential advisers in the application form)
# Answer
It is definitely helpful to contact potential advisers for many reasons. In my experience, one important reason is that a professor for whom you would like to work may not have space or funding for you. Sometimes those things can be overcome, and sometimes they can't. If there is only one professor whose research interests you in a given department, and that professor isn't taking students for some reason, that could make your decision for you. It's not a pleasant situation, but I have seen it happen several times.
You might also find that, after talking to a potential adviser, the focus in their research isn't quite what you thought it was. Of course you can find that out by reading the recent publications, but a conversation can also be enlightening. They might tell you about one or two specific projects you would likely be working on, and if those projects don't interest you, you might want to move on.
If things look like they could work out, it is still an excellent idea to stay in touch. If someone on the admissions committee gets to know you somehow, that will really set your application apart. The chair of the graduate admissions committee at my undergraduate institution even told me that, more than once, he has admitted a student simply because he or she was calling or emailing and expressing real interest and desire to become a student in the department. Don't be annoying, but a couple of emails and/or a phone call or two never hurt anyone.
If there are several potential advisers in one department, that is great. It likely means that department focuses on research that interests you. Don't be afraid of getting in touch with more than one professor. The more people that recognize your name, the better. Just be sure to be polite and respectful and leave a good impression.
Good luck!
> 3 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, graduate-admissions, advisor
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thread-14629 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14629 | How to secure recommendations and apply for PhD after having worked outside of academia for two years? | 2013-12-09T09:33:31.023 | # Question
Title: How to secure recommendations and apply for PhD after having worked outside of academia for two years?
I have been working in a big-shot multi-national corporation as a developer for two years now, with a possible future as a software architect in some eight to ten years.
Now I want to enroll in a PhD program. I am planning to quit my job and join some university for PhD programs. Now most of the universities needs some research papers, of which I have none. They also require recommendations from professors, however I have already quit college two years back and don't have a working relationship with those professors.
How should I secure letters of recommendation? Will a letter of recommendation from my manager help? Does academia really care about professionals wanting to enter back into the world of higher education again? Will I be able to apply to competitive universities with my profile?
# Answer
I'm not a computer science guy, so I don't really have experience with the norms of a CS department in a university. But I can give this general advice:
1. If you want to do a PhD, you should at the very least: 1) know you enjoy research; and, preferably, 2) have specific research problems you really want to work on. **Don't enter a PhD program if you don't like to research.** If you're not sure, start with a master's in a program that has a history of allowing master's students to graduate into PhD programs and in-so-doing take advantage of their master's coursework.
2. **References: get them from people who make you look good and make sure your letter-writers know what makes a good grad school letter of recommendation.** If you have a good manager who can attest to your capabilities as a learner, sure, have him or her write a letter. However, not all managers are going to know what graduate schools are looking for -- so educate the writer. Grad schools want people who can learn and work independently above all. Emphasize that. And, of course, if you are interested in a certain kind of research, make sure your letter-writer knows that and can comment about it!
3. **The personal statement matters.** In your post here you mentioned your strengths (professional experience at a good firm) and weaknesses (disconnected from academia, non-academic references). Be straightforward about those in your personal statement. More importantly, use the personal statement to discuss what you want to research, why, and your prior experience in the area. Furthermore, explain why you are a good fit for the department...
4. **Fit**. You need to fit in at your department. This basically means you should apply to programs where you can have an appropriate mentor who is an expert in what you want to study, or expert enough to guide you along. Do not just apply to any-old program, or a program with a good name. Read through the department web site, figure out the kind of work they are doing, and contact possible mentors/advisors with questions that show your interest and help you decide if the program is a good fit. Having prior rapport with the faculty will help you, and if the department knows you **want to be there**, this will bump you up a little in the stack of applications. Of course, having good credentials and clear research interests is what makes for a successful application, but departments don't want to waste giving offers and potential funding to candidates who are unlikely to attend the program should they be admitted.
Hope this helps.
> 5 votes
# Answer
I believe you really should give it a try, but of course it depends on the field of CS that you are going to apply to. So try to check a field of specialization that is closely related to the one that you have been working, eg. Software Engineering.
Also here it depends to which university are you going to aim for. A certain number of them require that you have already a master's degree in CS; some of them can choose you directly to do PhD studies being just a bachelor, but that usually happens to students that got at least one or two publications in a respected peer conference or journal (that is for the admission committee to check it up if you have research skills). The last point is not a must, but it is important. I have talked a few days ago with a Professor in one renowned university in the North America area, and he mentioned me that the admission committee in his faculty is getting more strict each year, and now to have publications is really a must (apart of a MSc degree of course).
In any case give it a try, and do not forget to say in your cover letter your research interests and why you really want to pursue a PhD.
Good luck!
> 2 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, recommendation-letter, time-off
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thread-14633 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14633 | arXiv is running out of IDs -- is their solution known? | 2013-12-09T16:44:46.360 | # Question
Title: arXiv is running out of IDs -- is their solution known?
I just noticed that arXiv.org is basically running out of monthly IDs, as can be seen in this graph (source \[13-12-09\]):
They have gone over 8000 monthly submissions 3 times in last 1.5 years. With the steady increase in the number of submissions, it can be expected that it gets over 10000 in cca 2 years. However, the current ID format is restricted to 4 digits, i.e., 10000 submissions.
I haven't found any information regarding this on the webpage. So: How will the submission IDs look like if they don't fit into the scheme? It interests me because in some helper applications, I tend to rely on the `yyyy.xxxx` format of the IDs.
# Answer
The format presumed in the question is incorrect. The format is `YYMM.NNNN`, rather than `YYYY.NNNN`. Shortening the year to `YY` and including the month as `MM` gives a factor of 12 increase in the number of available IDs. Version numbers are appended to the ID, as `v1`, `v2`, and so on. That said, it is still a problem, but arxiv have thought about it.
> NNNN is a zero-padded sequence number starting at 0001 and permitting up to 9999 submissions per month. If current growth rates continue, we expect to change the sequence number to 5-digits NNNNN in 10 to 15 years. We will do this in a uniform fashion so that, likely starting on some year boundary, all subsequent identifiers are zero-padded to 5-digits. We cannot currently anticipate extension beyond that although extension to 6-digits would be possible.
This was posted in 2007 so we are 6 or so years into their 10-15 year window. Submissions of multiple versions might grant some extra headroom, however it does appear that we could run into problems in about two years. It looks like they underestimated their growth a little bit!
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**Status change in 2015.** arXiv.org switched to 5-digit IDs in January 2015. The format is now `YYMM.NNNNN` or `YYMM.NNNNNvV`.
> 28 votes
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Tags: publications, arxiv, online-resource
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thread-14647 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14647 | What citation style allows the author to reference sources with superscript numbers? | 2013-12-10T03:43:44.530 | # Question
Title: What citation style allows the author to reference sources with superscript numbers?
What citation style allows the author to reference sources with superscript numbers?
I'm at the very edge of my page limit. I'm allowed to use any citation style. I need something concise that can point to the relevant works I've listed on the works-cited page.
Anyone have any suggestions?
# Answer
> 2 votes
I am presuming this is a coursework assignment. If you're that tight for space, are you sure you haven't written too much? Be careful that your finished piece doesn't "feel" cramped.
The *Nature* journal uses superscript numbers for in-text citations<sup>1</sup> and then references them in the bibliography like so:
1. Hynek, B. M. Implications for hydrologic processes on Mars from extensive bedrock outcrops throughout Terra Meridiani. *Nature* **431**, 156–159 (2004).
# Answer
> 2 votes
If you are using LaTeX, you can refer to the following links for superscript citations:
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Tags: citations
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thread-5115 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5115 | Would it be okay to provide a template when asking reference? | 2012-11-02T12:35:55.897 | # Question
Title: Would it be okay to provide a template when asking reference?
I am applying for grad school this year and I am considering sending an email to ask a professor to write me a reference. He had previously agreed to write me a letter because I took one of his advanced courses.
I am not sure if it'd be okay for me to offer to provide a template to him for the letter. The reason I want to do this is I will be applying for a PhD in a different, though quite related, field, and I want to make sure that he knows what the advisory committee will be specifically looking for in his letter, and make sure that his letter corresponds well with my statement of purpose.
Is this an acceptable practice between professors and students? Or would they consider it offending since he is supposed to provide his independent opinion? And if it is okay, how can I offer it in an appropriate way?
# Answer
Personally, I would be somewhat offended if a student gave me a template for a letter, and I wouldn't use it. (Unless I had asked for one, which personally I would not.)
However, it is perfectly appropriate to say, "I believe that the committee will probably be interested in my ability to dangle participles and reticulate splines; it would help if your letter could address this." It is also fine to include a list or resume of your other activities that he may not be aware of, but leave it up to him how to use this list.
It's quite possible that your professor has written letters for students in this different field before and already knows what is expected. Also, for letters which are submitted online, the writer normally gets a message from the requesting institution explaining what issues should be addressed.
> 26 votes
# Answer
No and yes. I would talk to him and ask what he wants. If he wants a template, then you should provide one. If he wants a bulleted list, give him that. If he wants a draft letter, go with that. Giving him unsolicited information would be frowned upon.
> 9 votes
# Answer
Was the template expressly provided by the advisory committee? In this case, you should of course forward it to your prospective references.
Otherwise, if it is just something you thought up, chances are that an experienced reference writer will do a better job by himself (he is probably more aware of what the committee is looking for in an applicant.)
This should not stop you from sending him all the relevant info: detailed CV, statement of purpose, transcripts etc.
> 3 votes
# Answer
I will prefer to give template. For higher research oriented studies the reference letter must contain the related information, and each institution has its own taste, so to create more chances of getting admission you need to give the template to the one who is referencing.
> -1 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, recommendation-letter
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thread-14656 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14656 | References in Executive Summary? | 2013-12-10T13:31:54.643 | # Question
Title: References in Executive Summary?
When writing a Deliverable for the European Commission I'm commanded to include an Executive Summary at the top of the document. This Executive Summary includes the main outcomes of the research done for the Deliverable, including what I've read from others research.
Of course anything I've learnt is formally referenced, and by style decision I have to employ APA style. Should I put the cites and references in the Executive Summary as well?
**PROS**:
* If by any reason the executive summary is separated from the real document, it is stated clearly that I don't pretend to pass any others insights as mine.
**CONS**:
* The Executive Summary occupies nearly one and a half pages more (APA!)
* Extensive citing makes the reading slower, and more difficult if you're not used to read academic papers.
So I'm worried to make the Executive Summary unuseful by adding too much formalism. Any experiences on that?
# Answer
> 5 votes
My general answer would be: No. Summaries should summarize the work/report and anyone reading the summary will not need to go to references to check on sources since those are given in the report itself. I can see exceptions from this if one or two references are key to the report by for example, being ground-breaking or by being in conflict. Then it may be important to show from where the key aspects originate and to perhaps list the single r couple of references after the text. But, the persons reading the summary may not be familiar with referencing so make sure you know your intended audience and the style they are familiar with. It may still not be necessary to provide references but to reference the material by stating the author name(s) and the place of publication without reference details. Again, the report summarized in your Exec. Summary will have the details.
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Tags: publications, abstract, review-articles
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thread-8121 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8121 | How to write a white paper for a non-academic? | 2013-02-21T11:47:05.560 | # Question
Title: How to write a white paper for a non-academic?
I am an apprentice employed to do mechanical engineering but my real passion has always been computing.
I recently came up with IMHO a good idea to help mitigate DDoS attacks on web servers. I would like to do a write-up of my idea to help contribute to some personal portfolio perhaps so it would help me get into a career in computing if/when I decide to take that path.
I have no exposure to University resources etc but feel a white paper on this topic is probably the best way to present it. So how should I go about writing an academic paper as an outsider to academia?
# Answer
There are basically no restriction on *who* can write a paper, so, clearly you can. If you have no affiliation, it might be hard to go publish a "free" paper (e.g., a technical report or a pre-print on arxiv), but you can always consider submitting your idea to a workshop/conference. However, you might have to pay the conferences/travel fees (although some conferences might help you, if you can't afford it). You can also submit your idea to a journal, as many don't charge anything to publish. You can of course also just write a PDF and put it on your website, or even do a long blog post.
There is one thing you might need to be careful of, since you might not be used to write academic paper: a good paper is not just a good idea, this idea needs to be *validated*. In other words, you can't just write: "here is a cool idea I had", you also need to describe how it differs from existing approaches (perhaps your idea has been already published), and you need to describe *why* it's a good idea. There are many approaches to do so, for instance by presenting your idea in a formal setting and *prove* that you can mitigate DDoS attacks (probably under some assumptions). You can also run some experiments, and show that your approach mitigated x% more attacks than some known approaches.
If you're interested in eventually pursuing a career in academia, showing that you can explain and validate your work might be as important as having a good idea (because not only you have a good idea, but you can convince others that it's a good one!).
Note that another approach in your situation could be to implement your idea as an open-source software, and if it's adopted by the community, then it's another form of validation.
> 30 votes
# Answer
There's an alternative approach: **Speak to "an academic".** Don't be afraid of the weird people we are :)
Just one true story: There are two papers by the same two authors, one of them is a renowned professor and the other one works at a farm. The farmer had a very nice idea, wrote it to this professor, and they published it.
Joan Taylor lives, according to the address in the papers, in Tasmania, Australia. Professor Joshua Socolar is affiliated to Duke University, North Carolina, USA. Their two common papers are available: arXiv:1003.4279, arXiv:1009.1419. I personally witnessed the passion with which Joshua spoke about the details of this story on SubTile conference in January 2013.
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At any case, make sure that your ideas are clear, because academic people receive various weird stuff and you don't want your mail to just get trashed.
Of course, you might feel "unsafe" that someone "steals" your idea. In that case, a pre-publication of any form (arXiv, blog, free software as mentioned above, etc.) is enough to verify your attribution.
> 8 votes
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Tags: paper-submission
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thread-14654 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14654 | How should I write research description essay in my PhD application? | 2013-12-10T10:58:11.943 | # Question
Title: How should I write research description essay in my PhD application?
I am currently trying to apply for a PhD position in a university. For the completion of application I have to write two essays:
1. Statement of motivation
2. Description of research area (with vacant PhD position)
I have written my statement of motivation but I am unable to write a *description of research area*. In the application there are different research themes which have a vacant PhD position; we have to chose one research area from these themes. I am interested in one research area: its title is *catalytic study of X-material* . I have never worked in this research topic or material. So I am in a dilemma on what to write in my description of research area.
Should I write about the property of X-material, current research or should I make a research proposal for that research area (catalytic study of X-material)?
# Answer
> 3 votes
Normally, to be registered successfully for PhD project you have to write an abstract (10-20 pages) (and make a presentation). This should cover roughly and shortly:
* state of the art
* state of knowledge
* open questions
* the very specialized niche of your work and what the motivation is(better understanding, prototype, measurement accuracy improvement...)
* how you are going to achieve this (probably), i.e. a reasonable working and time plan
As you are still applying for a PhD position, it has to be much shorter, so show to the committee that you can identify above points analyzing literature and summarize them in 2-3 pages.
To make things more easy, google similar current published PhD thesis related to this topic and read the preface (above points will often be summarized there within 2-3 pages). Don't write an essay, if the committee asks you to write 3 pages of decription of research area, write exactly 3 pages ;)
PS: Oh forgot, why are you are motivated for this topic you don't know again? Maybe after writing the description of research you should polish up the statement of motivation also a bit based on that ;)
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, application, statement-of-purpose
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thread-14663 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14663 | Can both a grad. student & faculty member cosign a recommendation letter? | 2013-12-10T19:18:23.850 | # Question
Title: Can both a grad. student & faculty member cosign a recommendation letter?
Can two people, a professor and a graduate student, sign a recommendation letter? The concern here is that the professor knows little about the student and the graduate student knows all about the student.
My concern here is that if the professor is contacted, he will not be able to provide further information, where as if I was listed as the primary contact: I could.
# Answer
Like Noah, I had a situation where two advisors co-signed a letter of recommendation. I should mention that the people reviewing the letter found this an unusual situation—and had claimed that they had not seen that in twenty years of reading recommendation letters. So this is definitely not standard practice. I suspect it would be memorable, but I am not sure it would be actually useful.
However, the difference was that my two co-signers were equal in rank. Your situation has a professor with a graduate student providing most of the insights. I suspect you will need to have the professor adapt the graduate student's comments, and then sign the letter. In the case where feedback is needed, the professor would then need to get the relevant details from the graduate student.
> 7 votes
# Answer
You can have more than one person sign a recommendation letter. I had one letter signed by two people. But it is unusual. My understanding is that the usual approach in your situation would be for the graduate student to help write the letter, but only the professor to sign it.
> 6 votes
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Tags: recommendation-letter
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thread-14666 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14666 | Choosing Artificial Intelligence after MS in Theory | 2013-12-10T20:20:13.350 | # Question
Title: Choosing Artificial Intelligence after MS in Theory
Currently I am in an MS program with a research concentration in theoretical/formal computer science (mostly spatial and temporal knowledge representation and reasoning). However, I find myself getting more attracted towards artificial intelligence and robotics. When applying for a PhD do you think my MS research is a good concentration for a PhD research in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics? (I have taken courses that cover both artificial intelligence and robotics during the MS)
# Answer
> 1 votes
As always, it's going to come down to your application and your history.
From the sounds of it, you'll be a very strong candidate based on your theory background -- You just need to find the right school / supervisor that will see how to help you pursue those interests. Look for schools with good AI programs.
Knowing the research focuses at the CS Department in the University of Alberta, I think you'd have a good shot there with a number of supervisors, both in reinforcement learning and in machine learning.
Really though, it's going to come down to a demonstration that you can do the research, via your reference letters, CV, etc.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, research-process, graduate-school, computer-science, artificial-intelligence
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thread-14671 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14671 | Justifying a two year gap after Master's degree in Statement of Purpose | 2013-12-11T00:00:40.070 | # Question
Title: Justifying a two year gap after Master's degree in Statement of Purpose
There is a two year gap after finishing my Master's degree and I am applying to graduate schools in the same field. This time has spent on immigration and then unemployment, tutoring physics, and a job not directly related to my field. But I have been following new research on the topics that I was interested in, without being supervised or any serious research.
My questions is, what should I mostly emphasize on in order to explain the gap most effectively: My teaching experience (indicating interest in teaching the field), Having a job and paying for my family expenses (indicating maturity), or that I was following the current research on topics of interest (indicating persistence)?
# Answer
> 4 votes
I presume you are applying to PhD programs. If I were you, I would emphasize
> I was following the current research on topics of interest
since research will be the primary task for PhD students.
Teaching experience should be also mentioned so that they would know you can be a TA.
Other things are not directly related to SoP. You can mention them briefly in your CV in case they wonder what you have been doing.
Good Luck!
# Answer
> 5 votes
You can mention all three. The trick is to make these parts of your CV look like "features," not "bugs." It sounds like you have an idea of what to do there. I don't think it would hurt to mention that this slight detour, while being slightly off the path to graduate school, has only convinced you that graduate school was the right place for you.
Of course, no one ever got into a good program by saying "I really want to be there!" I was in a similar situation when applying to PhD programs -- I was teaching high school, which was good, but my background was not directly inline with what some PhD programs were looking for. I emailed some faculty about what to do to bolster my application, and one suggestion was to go ahead and do some academic writing on my own and use that as part of my application. I'm not sure if that's possible for you, but it's something to consider. If that work is high quality, shows that you are up-to-date on the state of your field, and actively thinking about workable research topics, that will surely impress admissions committees.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, statement-of-purpose
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thread-14651 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14651 | How to withdraw my submitted paper before it has passed screen? | 2013-12-10T07:48:13.370 | # Question
Title: How to withdraw my submitted paper before it has passed screen?
I submitted my paper to a reputed journal two days ago. I got a mail from the editor saying that I need to complete other forms (copyright etc) after he finishes screening. However,I hadn't received my supervisor's approval when I submitted the paper. Now my supervisor has got back to me saying that I should withdraw my paper. Currently the status is "Not Assigned." Do I need to send a withdrawal letter? Or I can wait for the screening result? If I don't pass screen, do I still need to send a withdrawal letter?
# Answer
Yes, you need to withdraw the paper from formal consideration. This is the only way to stop the process once it's begun. This also actually helps you with later submissions. If the paper is submitted and rejected, then you may have to specify this to other journals that ask about the previous history of the manuscript.
> 5 votes
# Answer
It depends on whether your supervisor is one of the authors/co-authors or not.
If your supervisor is one of the authors of the paper, submitting the paper without all the authors' consent is unethical. You should send the editor a letter to withdraw it.
If you wait until the paper passes the screen process, you are wasting the editor's precious time. If you withdraw it now, he can then proceed to other papers on his desk.
If you are the only author of the paper, I am not sure why you need your supervisor's approval to submit the paper. It would be up to you to withdraw or not.
> 3 votes
# Answer
You need to withdraw ASAP. Submitting papers without a co-authors consent is considered scientific misconduct. It can have SERIOUS consequences for your career!
> 0 votes
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Tags: paper-submission, withdraw
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thread-5010 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5010 | From blog posts to research papers; successful cases? | 2012-10-27T09:54:06.333 | # Question
Title: From blog posts to research papers; successful cases?
I am subscribed to many interesting blogs. Some of them are related to my research field, while others not. Sometimes I am really impressed that some of the posts are in fact real pieces of scientific work (or sociological work, depending on the field), that although they do not follow strictly the scheme of a scientific paper, could be easily converted to a research paper. Therefore I am intrigued why these people do not convert sometime their most relevant and accessed blog post to research paper, do you know why? Besides, do you know successful cases where people have converted them to papers?
# Answer
First, it totally depends how you define the term “research paper”. Some people uses a blog in such a way that (some or all) blog entries are actually akin to minimal-size “research papers”, albeit with a nonconventional publication mean and possibly nonconventional format.
Secondly, it also depends where you draw the line between *“turning X into Y”* and *“writing X based on Y”*. Obviously, many journals would object to publishing material that has already been published somewhere else, including on a personal blog. Moreover, publishing identical content in two very different media probably means that it is not fully adapted to one of the two (or both): to give only one example, you don't typically have the same language level on a blog as in an academic paper.
Finally, an example: scientific writer Philip Ball has a blog on the topic of *Water in Biology*, and he also regularly publishes “News & Views” articles for *Nature* (one example there). In both cases, he writes critical reviews the recent literature on the same topic: there is wide overlap, but he does not publish his papers by directly converting blog posts.
> 8 votes
# Answer
This not an exact answer, however PolyMath is an interesting example of a result which was obtain using social tools (not exactly blog, but related...)
> 6 votes
# Answer
Here is an example from ecology. I think this is an excellent example of how an initial blog post/idea was developed with the help of comments from readers of the blog, and then turned into a paper. There was a follow-up discussion of the paper on the blog, also with an invited response from authors that disagreed with the conclusions in the paper (they also published a response paper).
**Initial blog posts** (with a very active comments section):
**Paper:**
**Follow-ups:**
> 4 votes
# Answer
**Why there are publishable blog posts that never become research papers?<br>** Writing a research paper takes a considerable amount of time and effort. Also, publishing is a tedious process. So, some people prefer to write research results in a more informal way, i.e., blog post, to focus on the research results rather than focusing on writing \[and publishing\] the results.
In CS and related fields it is not rare to start with a blog post that eventually will become a published research paper.
Bertrand Meyer, famous for *Object-oriented software* and the programming language Eiffel, has an article on the CACM blog titled The Waves of Publication. This article suggests starting publishing research results in a blog, then convert it to a technical report, then present it in a workshop, then in a conference and finally publish it in a journal.
> 3 votes
# Answer
I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but the Daedalus Project was a long-running survey of MMO players. It had a blog that summarized recent results, which were then included in scientific papers.
> 1 votes
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Tags: research-process, publications, blog
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thread-14646 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14646 | Is it acceptable to apply for two different postdoc positions in the same institution at the same time | 2013-12-10T03:09:11.863 | # Question
Title: Is it acceptable to apply for two different postdoc positions in the same institution at the same time
It is discussed here that it is generally okay to apply for multiple jobs in different ranks at the same university, but I want to know is it acceptable to apply two different postdoc positions in the same institution at the same time. I think I remembered seeing somewhere that you are not advised to do so because these two professors may talk to each other and find that you apply to both of them. Suppose I have sent an application to Prof. A but did not hear back, is it okay to send another application to Prof. B even if they are in the same institution or should I wait for a definite yes/no from Prof. A before moving on?
# Answer
It is entirely reasonable to apply for multiple postions at any one time, even at the same institution, provided you do it appropriately. There are a number of considerations to digest, but pretty well most of what is discussed in your linked question is relevant.
The most important thing to consider is that the application you make is tailored for the position you are applying for. You need to be able to highlight what amazing skills and abilities you will be bringing to this partnership, and how it will benefit the project. You need to avoid a cold call approach, otherwise your applications will sound like spam. This means you need to change your cover letter a lot. It is likely, though, that the skills you bring to any project will be very similar. You are, after all, a product of your previous experiences. If you were to apply for two different positions, highlighting two very different sets of skills and abilities, I believe this could be to your detriment if this information was shared between prospective employers.
You need to weigh up the relative value of each position. If they are both about equal, then I would apply to both simultaneously. If, however, one was far more cherished than the other - one was your dream position with a triple Nobel Laureate with access to the best research facilities and guaranteed ongoing funding opportunities and endless publications and the other was with an also-ran professor (do they exist?) who publishes once in a blue moon, I'd probably hold back on the application for the latter, just in case.
However, if there are two positions being offered in the same institution that you are qualified and suitable for, I believe you'd be crazy to let the opportunity slip.
There is an added consideration in that if your two professors discuss your applications, they may realise the potential to be able to share your expertise. And let's face it - professors do discuss applicants.
No professor/academic/employer is going to be that precious to believe that they are the only person in the world that you are willing to work for. No, I take that back - I've met a couple who are like that, but you wouldn't want to work for them!
> 6 votes
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Tags: application, job-search, postdocs
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thread-14660 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14660 | When to submit as a "Brief communication", when as an article? | 2013-12-10T16:19:33.257 | # Question
Title: When to submit as a "Brief communication", when as an article?
Many journals, especially in the life sciences, offer the possibility to submit results as as a brief communication.
I'm wondering when to choose this way of publishing. If I don't have enough results for a large paper because it used to be a "hobby project" that should be put to an end, but the results are interesting and I want to publish them, should I opt for a brief communication?
**How do I choose between this form of publication and an article?**
This includes the question of how small a "real" article can be.
# Answer
> 6 votes
The answer is often that you submit an article, and the journal says "We might accept this if you can make it a brief communication, which means 1 table, and X words". (Where X is a relatively small number.
Write the article and see if it naturally fits into their criterion for brief communication. If it does, submit it as such, if not, submit it as an article. The length of a 'real' article depends on the journal, but I've had a lot of papers rejected and this only happened once because the article was too short.
# Answer
> 3 votes
The Journal of Neuroscience has this web page Brief Communications
It does explicitly say,
> Brief Communications are short research articles intended to present **exciting** findings that will have a **major impact** in neuroscience. Brief Communications are limited to **4,500 words**. **. . .** may include **no more than 4** figures, tables, multimedia, and/or 3D models, **. . .**
Please ask the editors of that journal for more details.
Also, the Wiki page for that journal says,
> some issues of the journal contain articles in the following sections: Brief Communications **. . .**
I guess it means not every issue publishes brief communications.
*Disclaimer: My research area is not life science and I am not affiliated with Journal of Neuroscience.*
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Tags: publications
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thread-14693 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14693 | How to deal with "too descriptive" comment in dissertation proposal feedback? | 2013-12-11T12:39:51.707 | # Question
Title: How to deal with "too descriptive" comment in dissertation proposal feedback?
I am writing a University Dissertation proposal on Big Data. I have recently received my feedback and while there are good, constructive points one of the main issues in the marking is it is "too descriptive". I do not understand what this means really, when we are talking about a literature review how can it not be descriptive - you are talking about what has already been found.
The exact feedback is:
> Your literature review is overwhelmingly descriptive in character and its needs more of a critical edge, evaluating the main contributions to the literature. Having a critical edge is essential, if you want to achieve a high mark in the final dissertation.
So the question is: What is descriptive writing and what is critical writing, preferably with examples?
# Answer
> 44 votes
The difference between descriptive writing and critical writing is much like the difference between a newspaper report and an opinion column.
*Descriptive* writing is the act of reporting on what's in the literature:
> Smith found that when X occurred Y and Z also happened.
*Critical* writing analyzes what has been done, and takes note of trends, as well as possibly offering feedback on the overall quality of the research:
> Smith found X occurred in the presence of Y and Z, as did Jones. However, Doe has demonstrated that Y and Z normally occur in conjunction with one another, so it is not clear if X actually influences Y and Z, or if it is an independent effect.
What you can see from the above is that critical writing does require some descriptive writing, but it goes well beyond it in terms of the depth of analysis.
# Answer
> 12 votes
To extend aeismail's comment slightly, a good critical analysis will not only summarize and critique findings, but also extrapolate conclusions from multiple studies to support/disprove current theories. Each individual paper provides evidence to some small piece of the overall puzzle; a good review will tie together many related (and some unrelated) papers to build an argument towards a general conclusion, using the individual research findings as support for their argument.
Note that the individual results are almost expected to contradict each other. You can frequently have a batch of papers supporting theory A, and a second set of papers supporting theory B. This should be noted and identified as well; these are the current trends in your field of research.
# Answer
> 7 votes
I would like to tackle this question from another angle for you.
You have done *a literature review* for the **dissertation proposal**. You report your findings from those literature after you study them, so you have descriptive writings in the proposal.
But, **what do you propose to research**? Have you discovered anything? Have you challenged the existing literature? What do you want to research? Why do you want to research that topic? What are your arguments? What would be your own approaches? Why would your approach work? Etc.
Those are the things they are looking for. They want you to have *critical edge* in the proposal.
I found a link from University of Leicester about What is critical writing very helpful, at least to me. It contains several sections, What is critical writing? What is descriptive writing? The difference between descriptive writing and critical writing, examples and other useful information.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Echoing what others have said, while reviewing the literature, you need not only summarize findings. That's what "Descriptive" means in this context - not that your writing shouldn't describe current findings, but that your writing *only* describes current findings, without any analysis, criticism or synthesis.
For example, I once wrote a review on the reasons why a particular disease follows a particular seasonal pattern. A purely descriptive review would have described the various theories as to why this phenomena exists, and stopped there. Instead, I evaluated the extended evidence for each (i.e. for X to be true, Y must also be true. We have no evidence that Y is true, which puts X on shakey ground), identified which were mutually incompatible, and suggested which might actually be describing the same mechanism in two different forms.
What your evaluators are looking for, in all likelihood, is not merely a listing of the current thought in the field, but work that shows you are *interacting* with that work. That you think someone might be wrong - or are at least critically evaluating what is currently being written. That you can extend where the field is going in unique directions based on what's been done before, etc.
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Tags: thesis, writing, feedback
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thread-14586 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14586 | How much work experience should be included in Statement of Purpose for Master program? | 2013-12-07T06:32:37.007 | # Question
Title: How much work experience should be included in Statement of Purpose for Master program?
I'm wondering how I should put my internship experiences in my Statement of Purpose for Master program. The internship experiences (mainly building java web applications) are not quite related to my research interests like distributed systems, real-time computing, etc.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Well It really doesn't matter much whether your research subjects are related to what you have done internships in!
To make it more clear. Internships depicts that you are inclined and willing to work along with your regular curriculum. **I would suggest you to relate your internship with research subjects.** As we all know that all subjects in Computer Science are inter- related so try to find out any open source concept that you can relate to or willing to work for it. This much is enough. No doubt Research is most important aspect for admissions but you should know to combine it with your life. Give small Instances (backed with Proofs) where you can prove your point. Speaking about Number of years to show for experience is all depends on your profile, show max possible and make sure that you have salary slips.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Any relevant experience is valid subject matter for an application for a program of study.
In your case, your internship experiences are well within the same field of endeavour and I would include them, if space allows.
A researcher who has a particular interest in developing a java web application to interface with a real-time computing solution, might therefore be very interested in your particular skill set.
# Answer
> 1 votes
While I think that any relevant work experience should definitely be included in your resume or cv, I am not sure if its place is in the statement of purpose.
If your internship in some way inspired you to get your master's degree or to pursue a certain area of interest, then I would include it; however, mentioning it for the sake of mentioning it doesn't make sense to me.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, statement-of-purpose
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thread-13093 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/13093 | Is it possible to become a research assistant just after b.tech? | 2013-09-30T12:58:26.197 | # Question
Title: Is it possible to become a research assistant just after b.tech?
I am a recent bachelor of technology graduate from India and want to become a research assistant just after b.tech at any abroad university (USA,CANADA,UK, etc). If it is possible then what kind of qualifications, GPA, academics are required? Also for becoming an RA at these universities is the GRE exam necessary?
# Answer
> 2 votes
**Yes.**
First be admitted to graduate school.
Then convince a professor to hire you.
# Answer
> 1 votes
In my field is it quite common to hire recent graduates for a year or two as a research assistant. Typical duties of an RA include scheduling participants, collecting data, and doing preliminary data analysis. Depending on previous expertise and experience gained on the job RAs can also design and implement/program experiments. There is also a fair amount of house keeping work (e.g., sending equipment off to be calibrated and making sure the supply cupboard is stocked).
Most people hiring for these types of positions look at GPA and classes taken as well as practical skills. I have never heard of anyone requiring or looking at the GRE. As far as qualifications are concerned you will need to have whatever paperwork is required to allow you to work in that country. I don't know anyone who would go out of the way to get a work permit type visa for an RA.
# Answer
> 1 votes
**Yes it is possible to become a research assistant just after completing B-Tech.** Qualifications needed for it could be categorized as:-
* Good Academics
* Research Papers published in International Conference that are indexed IEEE (required)
* GPA of 3.6/4
**Also for becoming an RA at these universities is the GRE exam necessary?** The answer to this is **Yes** for some universities and **NO** for other universities. This is mainly because **Not all the universities require GRE EXAM.** It all depends upon university requirements. You need to check out their website for the details. **Even they have Cut-off score for GRE and TOEFL Exam.**
**Advantages of becoming RA**
* Tuition Fee waiver
* Increases chances for off-campus placement.
* Exposure to Subject in depth.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Unfortunately there's some ambiguity in language here that I think is causing a wide variety of different answers.
"Research Assistant" means many different things to many different people. Most commonly in the U.S., this invokes the idea of a funding mechanism for a graduate student that doesn't involve teaching. If this is what you mean, then the answers about getting into graduate school apply. And then yes, in that case, it is possible to get admitted to graduate school straight out of undergrad, and work for a professor doing research - the requirements of that will vary depending on the type of school, department, etc. you're looking at.
If you just mean "Someone who works on research projects", then I'm going to suggest another title - in the "wet lab" sciences I'd say "Lab Tech", and unfortunately most of the computational researchers I know come from a biological heritage, so use "Lab Tech" even when referring to programmers and the like.
If this is what you mean, then you're talking about being a research employee of the university, paid for likely by grant money and working for a particular professor. It's certainly possible to do this - a former group I worked for regularly hired people out of undergrad to work on programming projects that made like easier for other people in the department, and we've got a researcher now who came straight out of undergrad. As for what's required? Likely not a GRE, but your academics should be fairly strong, and you should have some evidence of the quality of your work. That can be publications and independent research, or it could be a portfolio of things you've done for other people - after all, the job is "Can you do things well for other people".
It's likely a particular professor you'll have to contact, and be warned - if you're looking to come in from another country, you have to be worth more than the visa and immigration hassle, and it's going to be an uphill climb when there's likely undergraduates at their own university who probably wouldn't mind a job after graduation either.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, professorship, career-path
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thread-14722 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14722 | Ex supervisor published last month a photo from my PhD (5 years ago) with other co authors | 2013-12-12T21:02:33.570 | # Question
Title: Ex supervisor published last month a photo from my PhD (5 years ago) with other co authors
Can anyone of the members of the committee of a PhD thesis use data of the former doctoral student’ PhD thesis without attribution to the PhD thesis?
An ex-supervisor used data at a conference with some co-authors. Unfortunately this data has been already presented in another conference as a poster 6 years ago by myself with different co-authors. This data was derived from my PhD thesis 5 years ago.
When I asked her, she told me that she had the right to. In my PhD thesis, I wrote that I retain the intellectual property rights. However in my PhD program, the university policy is that results from a PhD thesis can be used by both the student and its supervisor.
# Answer
It's hard to say for sure without knowing all the details and both sides, but typically, whenever an academic paper uses material that's been previously published (and a PhD thesis would count), academic ethics require that it be cited.
> 21 votes
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Tags: publications, citations, ethics
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thread-14529 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14529 | How high should I rate a good student for PhD admission? | 2013-12-04T23:53:23.683 | # Question
Title: How high should I rate a good student for PhD admission?
I am a relatively young faculty member. I was asked to provide a reference for a student of mine so he is admitted in a PhD program in Sciences in UK. The student is probably one of the best students I had in a couple of years in terms of academic potential. I firmly believe he will do well as he is bright and hard-working.
I have to fill in an online form rating him. My problem is that the form's scaling is very strong. How can I honestly say that someone was `outstanding` (3%) and not `exceptional` (1%)? Even the third most positive option is `unusually good` (rated at 10%) which I feel as a characterization in itself should be *strong enough* for someone to be at least considered for a PhD.
My classes are never above 40 to 45 students and I believe that simply "lumping" all the students from my past couple of years in one sample is ineffective and unreasonable. I would probably be unable to single out one of my students as the single best student I've ever had so that I can place him in the top 1% interval with certainty and not top 3%.
As I said, I want to support him and I worry that simply putting him down as `outstanding` would harm him as other referees might be tempted to "max out" everything. On the other hand simply rating him as `exceptional` in almost all aspects would be just grade-inflation.
Could someone provide me with some advice on the matter and what they would do? The scaling I have come across before topped at 5% which I found reasonable but here this not the case.
# Answer
> 17 votes
The question of gauging inflation in these situations is both serious and important. It affects peoples' lives!
The difficult task of the letter writer is to visualize what other letter-writers will say, their degree of effusiveness. "Being brutally honest" is obviously stupid and naive to the point of destructiveness.
The operational issue is about achieving the desired effect. And, in particular, if your recommendee is fairly exceptional, it would be a grievous error to praise them "modestly". Yes, the problem is to discriminate between "fairly exceptional" and "exceptional" and "truly exceptional". And these are not things that can be rationally discussed about young people by committees...
Thus, consider the noise in the system into which you put your information...
# Answer
> 6 votes
Suppose I am in your position,
I have a student and I have to rate him. The rating in my mind is top **2**%. I need to make a choice between top 1% and top 3% when I fill in the rating form.
I would choose top 1% for the following reasons,
> There is really no significant difference between 1% and 2% or between 2% and 3%. I only know his past performance well. I can only firmly believe his future will be bright (I am not a superman. I cannot predict the future.). **I want to give him top 1% rating because I want to let him have a better chance to succeed.** I know top 1% is a little bit grade inflation. But, this is not my fault - there is no place for my real rating, that is, top 2%. I would not feel guity for the inflation. I would not know what others will do. I am just performing my duty as his professor.
# Answer
> 2 votes
First, find out, independently of course, what percentile, 1 2 5, this "science" committee requires for admission into their hallowed PhD programme, and give them what they want. Of *course* your students are in the top k% -- why would be recommending them otherwise?
Second, and this is very important for the future of our planet, you need to convince the world that this "science" committee is made up of complete idiots, hypocrates, clowns, and fools who are doing all they can to help aggravate the UK's STEM crisis.
(OK, I'm being a wee bit cynical, but I provide this as a separate answer because I fear the other folks, while sympathetic to your plight, just have not come down hard enough on the ridiculously high "standards" that are being set.)
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Tags: phd, ethics, recommendation-letter
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thread-14721 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14721 | review paper and authorship of ex supervisor | 2013-12-12T20:50:46.357 | # Question
Title: review paper and authorship of ex supervisor
I am now in another lab now, different from my PhD studies, as a post doc.
We had a review paper in which we included a figure from my thesis, without analyzed or even concentrate the paper to this figure, since it is very common. This figure was included in one of the 10+ topics discussed in this review. Should the authors include the supervisor of my ex-laboratory, as author or could just declare the laboratory and the name of my ex- supervisor to the acknowledgments, where they could thank him personally, as well as his laboratory? (my ex supervisor has not contributed in writing of the review).
# Answer
> 4 votes
I would say that only citing him would be enough. My field is cognitive neuroscience, yours might have different rules. I was in the opposite situation, a figure from one of my papers was included in a review where my supervisor was one of the authors. When they described the figure they cited my paper. A citation is quite a nice thing to have, especially in a review.
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Tags: publications
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thread-2872 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2872 | E-mail address to use in publications | 2012-08-17T09:00:37.067 | # Question
Title: E-mail address to use in publications
It is customary to use one's academic e-mail address as contact address in publications; I have seen once or twice an `@gmail.com` address being used instead, but it simply looked unprofessional.
However, I already experienced personally twice that system administrators love to deactivate e-mail addresses when people leave the institution. In a time when serving 1 GB of data costs one cent, apparently it is too demanding to set up forwarding for a few old users.
This leads to "e-mail rot" in many published papers, also for addresses that are explicitly designated as contact addresses. If one happens to have a popular name, it might become difficult to identify them using a search engine after the e-mail address becomes invalid.
What is your proposed solution to this problem? Should we (well, the ones of us that have tenure and power) put pressure on system administrator to change this practice? Should we use in our publications a different, more stable e-mail address than the academic one? Should we maybe get rid of the e-mail and contact address in papers overall? Should we insist that the journal publishers set up an alternative contact system (good luck with that)?
Related question: Changing mailing and e-mail addresses as corresponding author--which to include?
# Answer
Since Piotr's answer and the discussion following it states the most important points (while an academic email address may become invalid, a private one provides no means to verify the author's actual affiliation, or even suggest the author doesn't *identify* with it), here's my suggestion:
1. Create a PGP key<sup>+</sup> for your private email address
* optionally add your academic email address as another identity
2. Have your key signed, e.g. by
* colleagues
* your institution's sysadmin
* a key exclusively for your academic email adress
3. Publish the key, e.g. at http://pgp.mit.edu/
4. Ask the publisher to include your *public* key<sup>+</sup> or at least the footprint in the publication
* The online version should even link to the key entry to make verification easier
Now everyone can easily check your affiliation while you've made sure you can be contacted in the future - you can even add alternative email addresses to you key later on (the upload can be updated), and everyone will be able to deduce that should your original address not be reachable any more, you might be reachable via one of the other addresses associated with your public key.
As an additional benefit, now both you and your co-authors can sign the publication itself, adding another level of trust that this is truly authored (or sometimes rather endorsed, if you're so honest ;) by each of you. *And* since you now have PGP keys anyway, you can also sign and/or encrypt your emails, making electronic communication both more trustworthy *and* less prone to leaks. Also, it keeps the NSA out for a while.
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<sup>+</sup> In case you're not familiar with PGP:
You create a pair of keys consisting of a *secret* key (which you and *only* you shall ever possess) and a *public* key (which you are supposed to make as public as possible/required). The secret key can be used to put a signature on anything digital, like messages, files, protocols, papers or other people's public key, and anyone can use the matching public key to verify that this signature stems from that secret key, and thus (hopefully) from you. Reversely, anyone can encrypt data for you with your public key that only you can decrypt again with your secret key (messages can be encrypted for multiple recipients as well if required). Since everyone can sign anyone's key, you obtain the Web of trust, a network of keys that allows you to estimate how reliable the association of a key to an actual person is without having to exchange public keys in person. (The downside is, your email address is public and social engineering is possible, but we're responsible adults, right?)
A great open source implementation of the Open PGP standard is the GNU Privacy Guard
> 26 votes
# Answer
Personally, I think that (in academia) sticking to official e-mail addresses is an atavism.
Currently, one's personal e-mail (say, `...@gmail.com`) is better because:
* usually more efficient/stable/etc,
* lasts for longer than 1-4 years.
While names like `mad_theoretican_666@...` may sound ridiculous for professional communications (but it's rather a matter of taste than anything else), I don't see anything wrong with e-mails like `name.surname@` or `n.surname@`.
However, I heard quite a few times that non-institutional e-mails sounds less serious.
But honestly, if someone builds his/her value depending on how his/her e-mail sounds (and doing it against very practical reasons), it is the thing that is ridiculous.
> 49 votes
# Answer
The American Mathematical Society had a email forwarding service for its members, which gives them a stable @member.ams.org address that they can update as they move. However, this email forwarding service is no longer available. Still, something like this could be a good solution.
> 41 votes
# Answer
When I see a gmail address on a paper I think "this is an IT-savvy author who realises their current institutional email address will probably be gone in a few years and wants people to be able to contact them after that." It doesn't look at all unprofessional to me.
But if you're concerned about the appearance of such an address, one solution would be to register your own domain name and have an email address like `contact@yourownname.com`, which forwards to (for example) a gmail account. You can also put your own academic web site at this domain, meaning you can take that with you when you change institutions as well.
<sub>(Edit from years later: if you do this, make sure that you will be able to keep the domain name registered decades hence. I didn't receive emails from the registration company I used - ironically, because my email address changed - and consequently the domain now points to a spam site, and I can't get it back. So I'm kind of glad I stuck with gmail for my publications.) </sub>
> 25 votes
# Answer
I make a point of offering all of my papers for download from my website. So if readers discover me via a paper I've written, it should be easy for them to find my website (just google my name and the title of the paper). On my website I list my current email address.
> 19 votes
# Answer
> Should we (well, the ones of us that have tenure and power) put pressure on system administrator to change this practice?
Implementing a direct forward (i.e., your mailbox no longer exists, so no disk space problem) is not really hard, and I have currently two previous email addresses forwarded. The volume of emails decreases
> Should we use in our publications a different, more stable e-mail address than the academic one?
What makes you think that a gmail address is more stable than an academic one? What if gmail decides to switch to a different business model where you would have to pay for that address, would you necessarily keep it? Would you say that your yahoo email is stable? Maybe it was 3 years ago, but now, I wouldn't be so sure. Academic institutions tend to last longer.
In addition, as you said, personal addresses look unprofessional, because they cannot be trusted. It won't cause your paper to be rejected, but that's not going to be a plus side. And it won't change the fact that readers of your papers can contact you or not.
> Should we maybe get rid of the e-mail and contact address in papers overall? Should we insist that the journal publishers set up an alternative contact system (good luck with that)?
As other people mentioned, the important point for contact is actually that people can find you. An email is a unique ID, you can put it on your current page so as to be indexed by search engines.
> 10 votes
# Answer
**Should we use a stable email address?**
I agree that seeing @gmail.com, @hotmail.com, @yahoo.com in email addresses for academic papers is somewhat jarring. That it should be the case probably says more about our assumptions about the author than it should (why doesn't he/she have a *proper* email address?). The benefits of having a stable email account - for those of us still moving frequently from post to post - is undeniable, but we choose not to use it for these reasons. Will that attitude change? Not impossible, but don't count on it.
**Should we put pressure on sysadmins to maintain forwards on our old emails?**
I'm not a sysadmin but I doubt whether any sysadmin would look favourably on maintaining indefinitely forwards in this way. After two or three hops, your email chain starts getting long and vulnerable.
**Should we get rid of addresses altogether?**
Probably not. We need some way of being contactable.
**Should we insist that the journal publishers set up an alternative contact system**
I like this idea but appreciate that getting the publishers to do this would be difficult.
What if there was a third party site which stored up-to-date contact data and was linked to by the journals? A freely accessible, central repository of author contact data. The authors would be responsible for maintaining their contact information.
Users of the repository would themselves have to log in to prevent massive downloading of users' data by spammers.
> 8 votes
# Answer
Eventually, if ORCID (discussed also in this answer) takes momentum (and it seems it will, since it is backed by the most important publishers), it could solve this problem: the paper contains the ORCID number of the author, and points to an online profile which the researcher themselves can update.
> 8 votes
# Answer
In the age of search engines and relatively high mobility on the side of researchers, personally I see no reason to include an e-mail address on research papers. Whenever possible (i.e., the published/editor does not explicitly ask for it), I do not include it at all and if I must, I use the currently valid one. The reason is exactly that it becomes invalid quite quickly. The e-mail address is not useful even as a means for author identity disambiguation. For lucky guys bearing a name like "John Smith" in various languages (I am such a case as well), it's relatively common to encounter a guy with the same name, or initials working at the same university, or sharing part of academic history.
A complementary issue to the original question posed is this:
**How many times in the last ten years did you used an e-mail address stated in the paper as a means to contact the author(s) of the paper?**
I did so exactly zero times and know of nobody who did so more than that (and yes, I asked several colleagues about this in the course of the last few years).
> 7 votes
# Answer
While I like Tobias' approach I agree that it is overkill. However, I wonder whether it would just be a rather simple solution to give two email adresses of the corresponding author: the institutional and the stable personal one.
On the other hand, while I do sometimes contact authors using the contact email address, I consider this a convenience rather than a necessity.
* It is usually quite easy to track down the author even if he moved on. People at the old institute usually know where he went.
* If the author has been moving on so often that the old institute doesn't know any longer where to find him,
+ usually that means that he (or the institute) moved to a different field,
+ and this happens mostly for papers that were published quite a while ago (but if he has continued working in that field, you usually find newer work with newer contact address)
+ consequently, there's a high probability that he anyways doesn't remember the details I want to ask...
> 3 votes
# Answer
We should just use the email of our current academic institution, and academic institutions should provide user-controlled forwarding of some type (so people don't need to ask a sys admin if their forwarding address changes). Simple, effective.
> Should we (well, the ones of us that have tenure and power) put pressure on system administrator to change this practice?"
Yes. Unqualifiedly. In my opinion, any institution that fails to do that does a massive disservice to its students and non-tenured researchers (i.e., anyone who might leave during their career). Email forwarding is not hard, nor is it costly. If someone tells me their institution doesn't forward, I would suspect they have a mediocre administrative infrastructure for research. Research institutions are built on the successes of their professors and professor's successes are built (in part) on the success of their students and research staff. If you could improve your school's standing in the research community by one peg by adding email forwarding, wouldn't it look pretty stupid not to do it?
Disconnecting those researchers' emails entirely is a small but non-trivial obstacle that could impact their research careers, which trickles back to the institution (particularly with PhD recipients). They might miss out on invitations to collaborate, book chapters, and even a heads-up on job opportunities. To those who say "Well, I always Google anyway," you probably aren't emailing a couple dozen people to contribute to a book (or, for an encyclopedia, think 100+ contributors). If you did and a couple emails bounced, how much time will you spend trying to hunt down the new emails?
I've been affiliated with an institution that did provide email forwarding, by a mechanism that I thought was pretty flexible. At the end of your time there, they closed down your email account after a couple months (the storage, that is). You could request that your emails be forwarded to an alumni address. This alumni address was controlled by you, in terms of where it forwarded.
So then, you would do the following:
1. Create an alumni address
2. Set up your original email at the institution to forward to the alumni account
3. Set up the alumni address to forward to a stable account (e.g., Gmail)
4. Emails to either your original or alumni emails would forward to the permanent email
So long as your permanent email doesn't change, you only need to do this process once per institution. Even if you did change your permanent email, it would take only a small amount of time to re-route your forwarding (one re-route per past institution).
> 2 votes
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Tags: publications, authorship, email, correspondence
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thread-14735 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14735 | Tables or Stadium seating for a conference? | 2013-12-13T02:40:58.463 | # Question
Title: Tables or Stadium seating for a conference?
I'm organizing a conference and we have the option to set up the seating either around multiple tables ie a wedding arrangement or in the classroom style. There are benefits to either strategy but the way I see it, the tabular format allows people to put their stuff down and relax. On the other hand, the classroom style creates a much better learning environment for people to actually pay attention to a talk and creates a more cozy impression for the speaker.
I'm curious, what do people typically expect out of a conference and what is the ideal scenario for a one day conference? Does it make a difference if it's a bunch of students or a bunch of of professors?
# Answer
> 7 votes
Since it's a one-day conference, I'm assuming it's a little more relaxed than a powerhouse 3-day affair. But even then, I think the classroom format is a little more appropriate. Here's what happens with the table format:
* either people will have to move chairs around to see the speaker, in which case you've effectively created a classroom format with much less desk space.
* or people start talking to each other and ignoring the speaker. I've seen this happen in particular at business meetings, where arguably it's less important to listen closely, but the level of noise created is still annoying.
Either way, it's not serving its purpose. By all means use the table format for the coffee area or break spots. But I don't think it makes sense for the conference itself.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Different seating arrangements are best suited for different types of conferences. Auditorium style seating is best for listing to talks. For conferences that are built around breakout sessions then tables large enough for the size of the group are best. For conferences that are built around posters, small tables are the way to go. Ideally you decide how you want your conference to work and then find a venue that supports it, practically you find a venue that you can reserve and tailor the conference to fit the venue.
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Tags: conference
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thread-14743 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14743 | Using BibTeX when submitting an article | 2013-12-13T14:54:54.200 | # Question
Title: Using BibTeX when submitting an article
Some journals have their own bibliography styles (bst) for BibTeX.
> If a journal does not have its own bibliography style, am I supposed to include the content of the bbl-file into the tex-file I am sending? Or can I send the bib-file instead?
---
Many journals offer LaTeX-templates showing the style of the article. (This is almost always true if a journal recommends using its own document class.) In some case I have seen that this template contains BibTeX style (.bst file). But in other cases BibTeX was not used in the template, instead it was shown what the preferred formatting of references looks like.
I know that if I were the person who has to do the final typesetting from the sources submitted by an author to conform the style of the journal, I would prefer to have the BibTeX-file. (It is easier to simply change the formatting of references by changing the choice of BibTeX style than changing each separate entry manually.)
> If a journal does not explicitly mention the recommended BibTeX style, what would be preferable way to submit the paper? Should I send both, TeX source and BibTeX file, so that editor can change the references using BibTeX style of their choice, or should I simply send the TeX-file, where I include also the bibliography generated by BibTeX. (And, if necessary, I modify it manually to be in the style required by the journal.)
(So far I have done the latter, but I am not sure whether it was the correct choice.)
# Answer
I'd send the `.tex` and `.bib` file, which seems by far the most logical thing to do, to both you and me at least. On explicit request I'll grudgingly provide the `.bbl` file.
This should make things easier for them, as you correctly suggest. It is easy and fast to convert a `.bib` to a `.bbl`, but the other way round is impossible.
If the journal has a workflow that can't handle `.bib` files, that seems their problem and not mine. They are the professional publishers who charge for the "added value" of the professional typesetting and printing service, right?
> 10 votes
# Answer
Most journals do not have the resources (read time) to handle lots of auxiliary files in submissions. Unless the journal clearly specifies they want bibliographies provided as a `.bib`-file and has a fixed `.bst` style file, you should not provide LaTeX based manuscript that way. What you can do is to run your final version yourself and then manually include the resulting `.bbl` bibliography in your manuscript so that content and bibliography is included in the same file (see e.g., How can I insert by .bib file into my .tex file? on TeX.sx). The `.bbl` file contains all references in the common `\bibitem[]{}` format. Alternatively you can of course use the `\bibitem` form directly when you write the paper. If you do not have a bibliography style file for the specific journal, it would be simple to use one that yields a similar format and then manually correct the details that may differ in the `.bbl` file.
> 4 votes
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Tags: citations, paper-submission, latex, bibtex
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thread-14661 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14661 | Is it possible to obtain a PhD in Canada without having to attend courses for a master degree? | 2013-12-10T16:46:31.667 | # Question
Title: Is it possible to obtain a PhD in Canada without having to attend courses for a master degree?
I am used to European university system and I don't know much about how things are working overseas.
I already hold a Bachelor degree and a Master degree. I will soon be looking for a PhD. If I am not mistaken, in the USA, someone directly jumps from a Bachelor degree to graduates studies which include a Master degree + a PhD, is it correct? Is it also the way it works in Canada (Vancouver, UBC)? Is it possible to make a PhD in Canada without having to take time for the Master degree?
I read somewhere that a Canadian PhD last between 4 and 7 years. Does it include the Master degree? If yes, how much time does the PhD only represents?
# Answer
Canada is different from the USA, in that direct entry for a PhD after a bachelors degree is rare. The typical path is a bachelors, followed by two year masters, followed by four to five years for a PhD.
As far as I know, no typical Canadian PhD program also grants a masters, as in Canada, it's sort of implied that you already had one going into the PhD.
This is of course, based on my understanding of the sciences: Humanities and Engineering may vary.
**EDIT**: One note about courses: Course requirements vary dramatically from program to program, university to university. Some will require relatively few courses, others, many more.
> 8 votes
# Answer
I completed a PhD in Canada. I started in a MSc program, but after one year transferred into the PhD without completing the MSc. My total length of graduate studies was 5 years. This is not uncommon in biology at the schools I've been associated with. I'm not sure if you can technically apply directly to the PhD, but many students enter the MSc program with the expectation that they will transfer after one year, so it amounts to the same thing.
In my experience Canadian schools with a PhD program also grant MSc degrees in the same program. There are schools that only offer MSc without PhD though.
> 5 votes
# Answer
I started a Canadian PhD program after completing a European Master's program. This is the typical progression in Canada; the combined Master's-PhD programs are the exception, not the norm. PhD programs typically take between 3 and 5 years. The exact length depends mostly on how quickly your research progresses.
That said, there are significant differences between Canadian and European PhD programs:
* Most Canadian PhD programs require you to take some courses. In my case, I had to take 3 graduate classes in various disciplines.
* **You are not an employee** of the university. You do not get a salary from the university for being a PhD student, and instead have to pay quite hefty tuition fees. You should make sure that your funding is enough to cover the tuition and living expenses. This funding can include salary from TA (Teaching Assistant) or RA (Research Assistant) work for the university, scholarships, and money from your supervisor's grant.
> 0 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-school, canada
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thread-14749 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14749 | Different CV/Resume for US Universities | 2013-12-13T19:31:54.163 | # Question
Title: Different CV/Resume for US Universities
I want to submit my CV/Resume to universities for MS in CS. I have learnt web designing and development along with other programming languages learnt in undergraduation.
I used to prepare 2 resumes, one for web development companies and other for software companies and I would submit suitable one.
Now can I do something creative and submit a CV that looks something like this? http://www.smashingmagazine.com/images/design-cv-resume/sarah\_parmenter.pdf
Will the universities not consider if I do something like this? or do I need to submit normal 2 page resume?
# Answer
> 11 votes
Unless you're specifically applying for a MS in graphic design, your CV should, first and foremost, show off *your academic and research accomplishments*, not your graphic design skills.
Keep it simple. Creativity is fine; good typography is great; but **emphasize the content**. The *fourth* image on that page (with the blue dot) is much more suitable.
Good design is invisible. A bright yellow background is *not* invisible. Therefore....
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Tags: university, application, masters, cv, statement-of-purpose
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thread-14741 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14741 | Publishing large papers | 2013-12-13T10:55:51.197 | # Question
Title: Publishing large papers
I recently came across this query on a LinkedIn group. The exact query was: "Does anyone know if there are journals in image/signal processing, CV or related ares, which have no page limitation and have ok/reasonable reputation? I have a theoretical paper which has 50 page."
Online journals could theoretically have no page limits but they still end up having limits/bounds. Why is it so?
Are there any such journals which allow for publishing of large sized papers?
# Answer
For a long theory paper in image/signal processing, you could try IEEE Transactions on Information Theory. The papers typically run about 20 pages, but this classic runs 45 pages. Note that the two-column format can condense a one-column draft by 25% or more.
Trans IT is a very well-regarded journal in my field, with regular contributions from math-y engineers, statisticians, and engineer-y mathematicians. To quote the aims and scope (emphasis mine):
> The IEEE Transactions on Information Theory publishes papers concerned with the transmission, processing, and utilization of information. While the boundaries of acceptable subject matter are intentionally not sharply delimited, its scope currently includes Shannon theory, coding theory and techniques, data compression, sequences, **signal processing**, detection and estimation, pattern recognition, learning and inference, communications and communication networks, complexity and cryptography, and quantum information theory and coding. IEEE Transactions on Information Theory papers **normally contain a strong conceptual and/or analytical contribution.**
The "strong conceptual and/or analytical contribution" means theorems and proofs; don't submit here if your paper doesn't have these. I couldn't find any stated page limit, but if your work is unnecessarily long for its contribution, the reviewers will definitely complain.
Another option is the SIAM Journal on Imaging Science. There is no hard-and-fast page limit there, but the policies do state that "papers exceeding 30 journal pages, excluding the supplementary material, will be reviewed more closely to ensure that the excess is fully justified."
For both of these journals, expect a very rigorous review cycle. I suspect that, unless the results are earth-shattering, you will still hear complaints about the length.
> 2 votes
# Answer
In biology there are some journals that allow very long papers. These journals are typically online-only.
One example of such a journal is Biology Direct: here is an example with 78 pages. I remember seeing a 200-page paper in Biology Direct, but can't find it right now.
I wonder what the motivation is for someone to publish such long papers in this manner.
> 1 votes
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Tags: publications, paper-submission
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thread-14754 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14754 | Benefit of publishing large articles/papers instead of books | 2013-12-14T04:21:58.480 | # Question
Title: Benefit of publishing large articles/papers instead of books
After reading this question, and specifically this answer, I find myself wondering why someone would publish an extremely long paper, for example 200 pages, instead of publishing as a book.
I was always under the impression that publishing a book was more prestigious than publishing articles so **why would someone write something with the quantity to be a book and prefer to publish it as a journal article?** Are there hidden benefits of publishing as an article over publishing as a book?
# Answer
As always, it depends. First of all,
> publishing a book was more prestigious than publishing articles
depends on the area. In parts of the humanities, writing a book is an almost-necessary condition for tenure, but in my area of CS, a book is viewed as best as a waste of time pre-tenure.
In terms of absolute prestige, books and articles serve different purposes. Even a 200 page article might be a technical exposition of a single result. Witness for example the ongoing series of articles on graph minors in mathematics. A book often tries to distill and put in perspective a body of work, and (sometimes) might have educational components like exercises/problems.
A well-written book gives you some cachet as an expert in an area, but a seminal journal article can do the same. It really depends on what purpose you expect the document to serve.
A final point. A book (even a technical one) may not be peer-reviewed in the same way as an article. Indeed, it's not common in my area to have brand new research appear first in a book (I'm excluding simple observations and recasting of results).
> 11 votes
# Answer
This depends on a number of factors (the field, the scope of the work, and the reputation of the publisher), but a book often summarizes the current state of a field, while an article adds something new to the state of the field.
So, one of these (the book) estabishes you as a subject matter expert, while the other (the article) establishes you as a subject matter pioneer. In institutions where research is highly valued, it wouldn't surprise me at all to find more prestige associated with article publication.
That said, there are exceptions, of course: A textbook that becomes recognized as a standard in the discipline might garner more prestige than an article in some lightweight publication. Unless the book happens to be based mostly on your own research, though, it's easy to see why a textbook might not gain you too much reputation in an environment striving to be known for their cutting-edge research. One is more forward-looking while the other is more backward-reaching.
> 6 votes
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thread-14764 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14764 | Is pregnancy a valid explanation of a weak academic performance? | 2013-12-14T13:18:08.667 | # Question
Title: Is pregnancy a valid explanation of a weak academic performance?
I am a foreign student and currently applying to several PhD programs in the US. My GPA in the 6th semester was a lot disappointing, and pulled down my overall GPA and ranking significantly. The reason is that I got pregnant, by accident. I want to explain this situation in my statement of purpose or address an email to the admission committee, so I want to know how Americans, especially professors, will normally react to this explanation? Will they regard it as understandable mistake or unforgivable sin?
# Answer
> 14 votes
I'm going to side-step this question by simply saying: in PhD admissions, grades are not nearly as important as one might think. Far more important are 1. your letters of recommendation and 2. tangible evidence that you are capable of being creative and productive in a research environment (e.g., class projects, publications if you have them, etc.). One semester of bad grades is not going to kill your application, especially if the rest of your grades are strong.
Some even broader advice is: draw attention to the good rather than the bad. Compare the two statements:
* **(A)** *"Despite my poor performance in area X, I believe that I am still a strong candidate for the program in (your field of study)."*
* **(B)** *"My strong performance in area Y demonstrates that I am well prepared for a research career in (your field of study)."*
Both statements communicate the same idea ("I am qualified"), but **(B)** draws attention to the good, whereas **(A)** draws attention to the bad. Don't draw attention to the bad. If people think something is bad, they'll think it's bad no matter what you say about it. Get them focused on the good stuff instead.
# Answer
> 12 votes
I fully agree with Dnuorg Spu's answer (emphasize strengths, not perceived weaknesses), but it could be worth a brief, vague mention of this issue somewhere in your application. For example, something along the lines of "You'll notice that my grades dipped briefly during my 6th semester before returning to normal. This was due to a personal issue that has been resolved." The idea is to reassure the admissions committee that it's not a sign of flakiness or ongoing difficulties. I'm not sure whether such a statement makes a real difference, but at least you would be stating on the record that your 6th semester was anomalous for a reason unlikely to be repeated. Hopefully your 7th semester grades will be available to the committee and will demonstrate that you are back to normal.
I would recommend against going into more detail than this, however. There's too much of a risk of distracting people, since the whole topic (young mothers raising children, adoption, abortion, etc.) is emotionally charged, especially in the U.S. You don't want this issue to be the most attention-getting or memorable part of your application. It would probably not hurt your chances, but what happened is none of the committee's business and the details are not relevant for whether you should be admitted, so it's safest to keep the discussion focused on academics.
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Tags: phd, application
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thread-14770 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14770 | Permited peer assistance in PhD and MSc thesis | 2013-12-14T15:36:51.290 | # Question
Title: Permited peer assistance in PhD and MSc thesis
Where I live, it's quite common for MSc students to seek help from "professionals" in this field. What they do varies from simple peer-review-like service and in the worst case they provide a full thesis with tuition i.e. spoon feeding.
It's amazing how many people teachers and teaching assistants are (unofficially) accused of getting this type of degrees. But this accusation in most of the time actually holds due to obvious lack of fundamental comprehension of the topics they are specialized in.
However:
* Peer review is quite common and a prerequisite for papers to get published in a respected journal.
* It's typical for a professor to have one or more teaching assistant to help him doing some part of the work for example some CS professors delegate the proof of concepts implementation to a teaching assistant.
Besides the two examples above what else is allowed and considered an acceptable academic activity by a peer:
1. Translation for thesis written in another language to English which is the required thesis language in that university.
2. Writing a proof of concept *off the record* i.e. without citing the PoC creator in the thesis officially.
3. Writing the (Related Work / Literature Review) given the student claims full knowledge of the papers but having no time for writing it.
4. Does the above changes when it's done as a service i.e. paid, instead free peer assistant?
**Note 1:** I do have my own view for this but I would like to hear yours. Also I will mention my view later in a answer for this question.
**Note 2:** I'm concerned with the STEM fields if that makes a difference.
# Answer
> 6 votes
In my opinion, none of your numbered items (1-4) is acceptable. As for the two bullet points above, they must be carefully circumscribed:
* You can of course get comments on your manuscript from your peers. This should not include solving your problems for you or writing parts of the work.
* Some technical work may be performed by someone else: chemical synthesis of a compound you are using, specialized analysis of some samples etc. Each instance should be clearly specified: in the text, in the legend of the figures obtained this way etc. The reader needs to see clearly the distinction between your effort and that of other parties.
All this is codified in the saying: "Credit where credit is due". However, this principle is applied slightly differently to a thesis and to a journal paper:
* A thesis demonstrates the ability of its author, who is assumed to have done all the work contained in it. That is why any external contribution should be indicated.
* A paper's main goal is to present a scientific result. It is therefore less crucial to know "who did what", although some journals (e.g. PNAS, PLOS One) do require it.
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Tags: peer-review, ethics, thesis
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thread-14779 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14779 | speed of problem solving in grad school in mathematics | 2013-12-14T18:48:26.980 | # Question
Title: speed of problem solving in grad school in mathematics
I wonder if anyone in graduate school in mathematics had managed to improve considerably his/her speed of problem solving. I had failed to get my PhD pass and obtained only Master Pass on my qualifiers. I have been trying to increase speed of solving problems but alas, achieved only slight improvement. I know that most problems on these exams are manageable and may be few are hard. Problems of similar level of difficulty would take me days or even weeks of solving. Any suggestions and especially real life examples of improving problem solving speed would be highly appreciated.
# Answer
> 10 votes
Success in well-designed qualifying exams in mathematics will depend very little on "problem-solving" speed or talent, but, rather, will depend on whether you've already done problems nearly identical to the problems which appear.
That is, as you observe, it would be prohibitively slow to "solve" many of those problems "in real time". Thus, that is not the expectation. Rather, the "test" is whether examinees have studied sufficiently broadly so as to have seen examples resembling the instances occurring in the given exam.
And, no, it's not about "memorization", either, which tends to be insufficiently flexible to allow easy adaptation to slightly changed situations.
So, really, it's not about "speeding up in problem-solving", but to be able to merely "remember" instead of "solving".
# Answer
> 2 votes
I don't think speed of problem solving is a criteria for graduate school in mathematics. You're doing research and inventing new mathematics, and that usually requires slowing down, not speeding up. If you're in a graduate program where not solving problems quickly leads to failure, I'd say you're not in the right program.
This is not to say that slower is better. If you're unable to solve problems relating to your subject area, that might point to deeper problems. But *speed* of problem solving should never be a goal (unless you're competing in a math competition like the Putnam)
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thread-14777 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14777 | does prestige of university where I will be getting my Master's degree matter? | 2013-12-14T18:32:03.897 | # Question
Title: does prestige of university where I will be getting my Master's degree matter?
I was recently admitted to few universities for my master's program and I narrowed the university of my choice down to two. The options are:
Option 1: A Mid-ranked public university in US (around #160 among the US National Universities,around #500 in World ranking ), where the potential supervisor is believed to be a good fit for me
Option 2: A top ranked university in US, here I am mostly going after the prestige, but supervisor is not as good as the university mentioned in Option 1.
If I am planning to get a job directly after my master's (i.e. without doing PhD, although I might go back to school for PhD after gaining some work experiences on my belt), which option would you take? I have very good GPA from my undergrad years (4.0), and my parents want me to take the second option, but the first option is considerably more affordable and plus I like the fact that the first university has a good potential supervisor...
any thoughts are welcome
:)
# Answer
> 10 votes
Go for option 2.
When it comes to an MSc the role of your supervisor is less important than that in a PhD. Yes, you have to do some research (not always) and working with a "great guy" if far better than working with an "OK guy", but remember you are doing an MSc and planning to go to industry. People will care more about your grades than your research potential (short-sighted but true in my experience).
In addition, being in a more prestigious institution opens you more avenues; it will be a better selling point 5 years down the line and the top-ranked US university will probably have a better alumni network than a mid-rank public university.
In general, MSc studies are a way to *buy* some credentials to use either in the job market or as stepping stone to move to a better institution for your PhD than the one you are already. Get the best possible.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I understand your point,
Now the question comes since the option 2 is a top ranked university there is a very slight chance the supervisor will be really bad because they have some minimum standards for their faculties etc.
Now since you are planning to directly go for a job I would suggest you to go with option 2 definitely, since companies will definitely give weight-age to the rank of the university.
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thread-14768 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14768 | As a new faculty member, how do I avoid the Peter Principle? | 2013-12-14T15:07:08.080 | # Question
Title: As a new faculty member, how do I avoid the Peter Principle?
Quoth the Wikipedia:
*"The Peter Principle is a proposition that states that the members of an organization where promotion is based on achievement, success, and merit will eventually be promoted beyond their level of ability. The principle is commonly phrased, 'Employees tend to rise to their level of incompetence.'"*
In academia, we have a tendency to promote brilliant and productive young researchers (e.g., grad students and postdocs) into positions with a large management component (i.e., assistant professors who must run a research group). God willing, I will get promoted. But during my PhD,
***I was not trained as a manager!***
The conventional wisdom is: it doesn't matter! No professor ever took management training, and, hey, everything "works out" in the end. The main problem I have with that statement are the quotes around "works out." I have seen friends suffer through horrible, painful, sad grad school experiences as a result of having advisors who are brilliant researchers and *terrible* managers. Likewise, the advisor suffers because she/he is investing time/energy/money in a student that doesn't produce anything. So my question is
**Q: How do I avoid becoming a terrible manager?**
In particular, what kinds of activities have you seen successful leaders of large-ish research groups engage in? Did they take training specifically targeted at managing groups? Read certain books? Talk about it a lot with senior colleagues? Make lots of posts on academia.stackexchange? Or did they really all just fly by the seat of their pants, and let natural selection take its course?
Thanks!
# Answer
> 27 votes
Based on my experience with faculty, if you care about managing well, and don't want to be a bad manager, you are already doing better than many people. Again, in my experience, the worst offenders along these lines are those who think they are God's gift to their graduate students and postdocs, and cannot bear to hear any criticism.
So, if you want to do a good job managing:
1. Keep caring about doing a good job and encourage constructive criticism/suggestions.
2. In particular, talk to the people you are managing, and find out what they think. Lots of junior people are scared to even give constructive advice to their seniors, because they don't know if it will adversely affect them. It is obvious to say that you can often learn a great deal from the people around you, but people sometimes forget that this is very much true of the junior people you work with as well.
This is only tangentially relevant, but this blog post by Matt Zimmerman is quite good.
# Answer
> 17 votes
Short answer: Know when to turn down a promotion offer.
In the meantime, seek out mentorship opportunities, and learn what you can. Does your institution have a faculty development office? See what kinds of workshops they offer. Not all of that is about teaching techniques. If the faculty development office doesn't plan to offer any kind of training on managing a research group, request that they do so. Faculty development offices are often underutilized on campus, and if the people running that office are worth their salt, they will go out of their way to give you the assistance you are requesting.
# Answer
> 7 votes
Since this is a site about academia, I believe it is worth pointing out that Management as we perceive it today, has no more than a 60-70 years history as a body of knowledge which is (attempted to) be systematically taught (it started out as in-house seminars in General Electric corporation), and even less history as an academic, research discipline. Of course texts about leadership are scattered throughout human history -but they are more of a deontological nature, focusing on how a leader "should be" rather than on how they can help the reader be that leader.
This does not mean that being trained as a manager is worthless -there *are* general conclusions about Management that seem to stand the test of time, of activity field, and even the test of culture.
From my 20-years experience as a manager, I have two pieces of advice for someone inexperienced like you say you are:
a) Be available
b) Criticize the act and not the (professional or personal) character.
# Answer
> 7 votes
It's a great question and one that is not asked often enough, inside or outside of academia.
In my experience, all first time managers suck at it. Likely you will too. Don't be disheartened, just understand that proper management technique has a large artistic component and you just have to learn by doing (and usually by making mistakes).
I do not think this is a good excuse to turn down the job. If you take a management job later you will still likely start off as a poor manager. That said, starting too young will make it more difficult (on you and on those you manage) simply because of less life-experience.
The key is to be open minded and, as teachers always tell students, read more. In your case, read as much as you can. There are so many great management books out there from very well respected writers (Drucker, Covey, etc.). Read, experience, reflect. As you learn you will be more competent and that is, in the end, how you avoid the Peter Principle.
Another key I had always thought relevant to avoiding the Peter Principle was that you should never accept a job that you cannot already do 50% of. The same is true when recruiting - never offer a position to someone unless they can already do at least 50% of the job.
# Answer
> 5 votes
Let me add a few scattered points to the answers that are already here.
* First of all, I'm not sure your question is about Peter Principle. As I understand it, the Peter Principle is about ending up with a position that you cannot and *will never be able to* cope with. I think this is very different from not being a good manager because you're just at the stage to start learning management skills.
From that point of view, there's nothing wrong with trying to learn management. If you are afraid that management isn't your thing, make sure you have a way out at least every once in a while. This also means that you need to stay at the top of your 'primary' profession (I consider full-time management a different profession!).
* Find yourself a good mentor. Personally, I'm lucky: in one of my former positions I had an exceptionally good leader. We're still on good terms, and I know where I can ask for advise on leading. I do so, too.
Of course it helps if the mentor is from academia, too. But this is not necessary. Look around not only with colleagues but also with friends, acquaintances etc.
* Maybe your partner or a good friend is in a similar situation, and you could discuss and reflect every once in a while what you've encountered.
* Side note: There's a saying that on average a human needs to exercise a profession 10 to 15 years to arrive at the top of the personal performance in that profession. I think this also applies to management, though there are counter-examples. All in all, it means that your first students will suffer from your lack of experience.
* However, I try to be open with students about the fact that I'm learning these skills, and also when I don't know how to teach them something. As others have already said, being aware of the potential problem is probably already more than half of the solution: It is one of those points where those who are concerned would not need to be concerned, and those who aren't probably should be.
If you are open about learning your part, it is easier for students to give you the feedback you need. It is your step to *mutual* openness.
In my culture (German) it is up to the senior (position) to offer the Du. Likewise, I think the supervisor should make the first step in being open about the soft skills. If this is about criticizing your leadership, you'll normally have to repeat this several times until a mutual level of trust is established that allows students to give you feedback.
=\> Look around you what is going on. Try to find out what goes well and why, and what went wrong and why.
* A bad enemy of learning these skills is being assigned too many students, and being assigned students where you did not participate at all in the application/selection process (I'm in a close-to-academia institution, but with us, students have to apply for research topics.) IMHO this can lead to serious trouble between the supervisor and the students, and backfires already in the mid-future (some improved skills pay off very quickly I think).
I'd like to encourage you: keep fighting that your needs (time, space, ...) for improving these skills will be met somehow.
Of course, one also needs to learn how to cope with the more difficult situations...
* Last but not least, probably you did have *some* training on this:
+ Likely, you have been looking already after undergrad/practicum students.
+ Possibly, you have (unofficially?) supervised Bachelor's / Master's theses already. Or at least helped with the supervision.
+ Likely, you have been attending meetings already.
Possibly, you have already been leading meetings.
+ Possibly, you have been in charge already. For sure, for your thesis. Maybe also for other projects.
+ Also, you probably have by now some experience in managing the managers. ;-)
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Disclaimer: I'm not in a management position. Though I try to learn it while working in my primary profession. I actually think switching over to management too early too much is a waste of all the training and learning. Personally, I want to see some fruits of the highly productive phase that I think I've reached now after some 10 years in my profession -- I like that far too much to leave it completely for management. But I see that it is basically impossible to be a good group leader and do substantial amounts of scientific work yourself. So I try to slow down the changing sides to management. On the other hand, I've done quite a bit of leading students behind the scenes. And I've been responsible for several projects on a volunteering basis.
# Answer
> 4 votes
If you are worried that you aren't trained to manage the humans under your direction go to Human Resources and ask them what "early management development" support they offer. These are the type of afternoon or day long seminars on things like employment guidelines, university policies about being the supervisor for a bunch of people. You would be surprised how useful it can be to understand how departments like Accounts Payable work (reimbursements come much faster when the paperwork is done the first time). There should also be opportunities for them to help you develop the kind of workplace leadership skills that you may feel need sharpening because they aren't the same as research leadership skills.
One thing though, most of the development opportunities will be focused mainly on staff, not faculty. But once you start talking about managing employees much of it carries over. Of course, simply talking with other folks who have run large groups before. But always press them for specifics of what they wish they had not done.
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thread-14792 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14792 | What is done about academics who do not do research anymore, or who teach badly? | 2013-12-15T08:16:43.587 | # Question
Title: What is done about academics who do not do research anymore, or who teach badly?
There are two loosely related questions here:
1. What is done about academics who do not do any research anymore?
2. What is done about academics who teach badly enough that it shows up?
I insist that I am asking what **is** done, in your department or institution (or in your country if it is uniform). I'll ask a separate question about what **should** be done. I would also like to distinguish between status (e.g. if you are talking about tenured faculty, please say so), and I am mostly but not only interested in tenured faculty.
**Added:** implicit in the question, as was mentioned in an answer, is the way an institution measures the research and teaching activities. Answers are welcome to describe the way these are measured to decide whether to take action, but please stick to what *is* actually done.
To give a little context, from 2009 there are recurring discussions about the teaching duty of academics in France, and whether it should be adapted to their achievements. I would like to have a broader view of the various answers actually given around the world to this issue.
# Answer
> 9 votes
Before quibbling with some of the implicit hypotheses of the question: In my observation in the U.S. at top-20 places over the last 30+ years, official steps are rarely taken against post-tenure faculty on grounds that their "research" is in decline, much less that their "teaching/mentoring" may be in decline (if it ever was good).
In a few cases, teaching loads have been informally increased, or service loads informally increased, but often the dynamic that led to decline in research or teaching causes people to be unable to take up other responsibilities reliably.
In principle, in many places in the U.S. now there is "post-tenure review", pushed onto faculty by administration. But this is viewed by faculty as unsavory and contrary to the spirit of things. In particular, short of gross malfeasance, an excellent research and teaching record for some decades is viewed as earning a spot until one chooses to retire, rather than being forced out either unofficially or officially.
This does partly return me to questioning some implicit hypotheses of the question, namely, the short-term measurability of "research" and/or "teaching", and even the desirability of taking short-term samples. For that matter, foolishly idealistic though it may be, isn't the idea of "tenure" that one has indeed earned a spot, and one now has license to exercise one's own judgement, rather than be constantly and indefinitely concerned about external critiques?
Nevertheless, of course, administrations do tend to create ever-greater pressure to do more with fewer resources, thus indirectly pressuring faculty to "do something about" the (relatively few) faculty who are "not helpful". But I think most of us recognize that this is a potentially dangerously subjective question...
In the U.S., again, even faculty acknowledged to be "unhelpful" are not railroaded out, somewhat on the same grounds that we think of "free speech" as including, as a matter of principle, speech that we disagree with, etc.
# Answer
> 10 votes
The answer to both your questions will, from my perspective, be "not much". So this answer describes the view from my local point.
As a basis, university positions in my realm are teaching positions, 70% teaching and 30% for admin, personal development and research. The 30% is very quickly consumed by everything but research. On top of that one can "buy" oneself out of teaching so that the research time essentially is based on soft money. If you do not do research well, then no money comes in and your teaching load increases towards the 70%. So as long as you do your job in some way there is no mechanism for "correcting" a lack of research. On the other hand senior academics often get involved in higher and higher level administrative work at university, governmental, etc. level so a lack of research as such may be replaced by benefits gained in other ways. But, basically, a lack of research simply means teaching more.
If your teaching is very poor there is not much that can be done. Employment laws are very strong. The only way to sack a person would be if they, for example, drink at work, or blatantly refuse to accept orders from the "boss" (head of department etc.). It is also possible to remove someone if it can be shown that there is no need for whatever profile the person was employed under. I really cannot provide a detailed description of employment laws here but they make sacking people a difficult way out. Persons failing with teaching will most likely first be placed to do other duties. I have experience with one such person and it is hard to find tasks where this person can function and contribute.
So the "not much" is largely explained by employment laws in "my" case. The problem cases, which do not easily contribute in alternative ways, will cause lots of work for the department to find ways in which they can be made productive to the department. This will be successful in most cases but not so in the odd case.
# Answer
> 2 votes
It is true that it's very difficult to fire someone based on "bad" teaching or "bad scientific results". However, in some countries and institutions, an evaluation/audit by an external comitee is done on the level of institutes, departments, but for each person seperately as well. If this comittee concludes that a person is not worth the position, the head of the institute can fire him.
However, this applies only to a small number of places, and even then people don't get fired as much as they should, IMHO.
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thread-14807 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14807 | Is it possible for an individual's TOEFL score to decrease between exams? | 2013-12-16T03:10:59.867 | # Question
Title: Is it possible for an individual's TOEFL score to decrease between exams?
I heard that if you take TOEFL exam several time your score will never decrease. Is it correct?
It seems rational, if TOEFL is a standard test, its difficulty level should be equal in all exams. For example if in your first try you get 28 in reading and it shows your good skill in reading, it's not rational that ETS assign a lower score in successive exams.
I took exam for second time after ten days of my first attempt. I feel the reading section was harder than my previous exam. If TOEFL is a normalized exam, its evaluation of my skill in reading should not be decreased in such short period.
# Answer
> 13 votes
It is possible.
As an International student, I have taken TOEFL 4 times in one and a half year. Personally, I increased my score in every section at every exam.
However, it does not suggest you will always improve your score. The reason is simple. Assume you do not spend time on learning English regularly between two exams. In fact, your score is a random variable with constant mean and variance. You may have got 28 in reading last time and 26 next time.
If you spend a lot of time on improving English skills, you may still get a lower score in writing and speaking sections. For those secitons you can apply for rescoring service.
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Tags: exams, language-exams, toefl
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thread-14805 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14805 | Biostatistics vs Statistics | 2013-12-15T21:33:52.363 | # Question
Title: Biostatistics vs Statistics
I am thinking of pursuing a degree in Biostatistics (instead of just Statistics). I am wondering if such decision will limit my career prospect to the field of Biostatistics. Is it feasible to think that somebody with a Biostatistics degree can work as, say, a quantitative social researcher or a data miner? The reason why I am considering Biostatistics program is because I get to take an epidemiology course, which to me sounds interesting. However at the same time I don't want to limit my career prospect strictly to the field of biostatistics....
thank you :)
# Answer
There is no single right answer. There is value in specialisation, and value in generalisation.
To do statistics well, domain knowledge is crucial. So, if your work is to be in, say, health epidemiology, then the more knowledge you have of how health interventions are measured, and the causal patterns, the better a statistician you can be.
On the other hand, tools developed by health epidemiologists are now being used in other fields (for example, this energy epidemiology programme that I'm involved with), so the analytic skills are portable - but you will need to pick up knowledge in any domain you move into.
Maybe you need to base your decision on whether you want the first job or two after you finish the Masters to be in biostatistics. If you study biostatistics, then you'll have some domain knowledge, your analytic skills will be best directed to the right tools, and if it's designed well, the Masters will give you some opportunity to network with potential future employers: it will have guest lecturers from such institutions, and it will have a research component that you can do in partnership with one.
> 3 votes
# Answer
I'm assuming you have a math background? If so, I would say go with regular stats and see if you can gear your course of study more towards the medical side of things (by taking a course in epidemiology or other medically related courses, and doing a research project in the biomedical field). I think you will leave more doors open this way. I think that Biostats is generally geared more towards biomedical research. You collaborate with doctors and scientists. Taking statistics would allow you to go this route if you desire, but also leave doors open to the quantitative social research/data mining that you mentioned in your post. Then again, take what I say with a grain of salt. Do more research on each subject to find out what is best for you.
> 4 votes
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thread-14822 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14822 | Where to submit an article of applied maths for physics | 2013-12-16T13:36:11.183 | # Question
Title: Where to submit an article of applied maths for physics
Working in physics, I recently discovered a mathematical identity useful to solve a partial differential equation. I have generalized the idea and found several other identities but I do not know yet whether they apply or not to other PDEs. These identities have, though, a physical interpretation and feature interesting symmetries. As it is not my research topic, I did not spend too much time on this work but still think it deserves to be published. I have tried to submit it (to J. Phys. A and J. Math. Phys.) and it was rejected by the editors without review. I have no more idea where it could be submitted and I would appreciate any suggestion. A previous version of the paper is accessible at http://arxiv.org/abs/1311.3140.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Remember that *J. Phys. A* and *J. Math. Phys.* are quite top journals and they reject lots of reasonable papers not because they would be off-topic but because they are "not good enough for them" (whatever that means).
IMHO, if you feel that your identities are something completely new to the world of maths, you should find a reasonably good math journal, because they are likely interesting to math people as well. On the other hand, if you feel that the results are interesting only to (theoretical/mathematical) physicists, go for a journal in this branch.
I don't know any mathematical physics journals personally.
For math journals about identities/symmetries in PDEs, you can check the list of publications in MSC class `35B06`. For the mathematical physics journals, I suggest trying to find the proper MSC class in the MSC catalog, there you can see which journals would be suitable.
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Tags: research-process, publications, journals
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thread-14817 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14817 | How to grade a student software project? | 2013-12-16T08:59:50.767 | # Question
Title: How to grade a student software project?
**Situation**
Students have three weeks to write a little application (UI, some logic, event handling, persist data to a file). They are given one page with some requirements (input). They are supposed to hand in a compilable and running application (output). No software documentation required.
**Question**
How would you grade a software project? What criteria would you use? Can you give examples?
**Idea**
There are a few areas that seem important to me.
1. Are all the given requirements implemented?
2. Is error handling implemented or does the application crash when the user inputs invalid data?
3. Does the user interface look good, is it usable?
4. Is the code well structured?
* Each class in a separate file
* Small methods which do one single task
* Public methods are documented
5. Can I save the data, quit the application, restart it again, and all the data is reloaded?
Those criteria are very vague, I know. For each of the above criteria, I don't know when to give an A and when to give an F. Any suggestions to improve the criteria and any suggestions on how to grade it?
# Answer
> 6 votes
My policy, my 2 cents:
* Part of the grading corresponds to the expectation of the "customer". if this project is considered as an actual development project in industry, does it deserves that the customer is paying its full price. For instance, I will give 10 points (over 20) for that criteria. If the software fulfil all the requirements then the student is awarded the 10 points, otherwise he/she starts losing some of the points.
* Part of the grading is for the quality of the code (structure, naming of variable, algorithmic aspects, etc.). I give 5 points at max here.
* The rest is for the tasks around the code: modeling, UML stuff, reports, etc. The last 5 points can be found here.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Grading depends on the level of the students. The younger the student the more beneficial it is to be explicit in your grading policy. In an introductory class the grade is paramount for many people who may be taking that class to fulfill a requirement. In upper level undergraduate or graduate classes, grades seem like more of a curious administrative requirement.
For introductory classes one approach is to enumerate your requirements and give equal weight to all of them. The OP gives five domains. Give each 20 points. I assume that somewhere you specify what the "given requirements" are and what you mean by "error handling". (Are students expected to write custom error classes?)
If a domain has further divisions, such as #4, then divide that domain's points equally among the subdivisions. In this case 7,7,6.
This makes an explicit enough grading criteria that heads off undergraduate complaints about a biased system while giving the more motivated students something to do beyond writing code that checks off boxes.
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Tags: grading
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thread-14830 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14830 | Approaching researchers about collaboration? | 2013-12-16T17:16:04.327 | # Question
Title: Approaching researchers about collaboration?
This question is quite premature for the current state of my studies, but I already have a few people in mind to which this question applies.
In Academia, would it be considered normal to approach a researcher you respect (who's work has great personal value or interest to you) and suggest that you would be interested in assisting with their future research efforts? In this case, I'm speaking less about full collaboration/co-authorship, and more about being willing to assist with the 'grunt work' of a given research project, purely out of interest in the subject matter.
Would this be construed as insulting to the researcher?
Is this sort of offer commonplace?
Is there an expectation of credential equality in this situation? For example, would it be inappropriate for an Undergraduate student to make such an offer to a PhD?
# Answer
To show interest is never wrong so from that point, I think such an approach would be fair. What complicates the issue is the picture of prerequisites. When you approach someone, does not matter at what level, you need to show how you can be of interest. What that entails is showing you have the background (courses and scientific literature) that allows you to be efficient help. I think this is where the plan is most likely to fail because the recipient of the request will not likely be interested in taking on help that needs much coaching to function. If your request is within the department where you study, matters might be easier but if you contact someone in another university of perhaps even department the difficulties may arise.
So, I cannot see anyone being offended by a request such as this. The problem lies in seeing how you can fit in and be a contributor without to much costs (in terms of e.g. time) for the researcher or research group. However, a personal visit is far more likely to lead somewhere than a letter or E-mail.
Requests such as these are not uncommon but in my experience have most often been very uninteresting. Again, some have visited which has provided a very good possibility to assess the common interests and in what way a possible "collaboration" would work.
As for the last question, I cannot see a problem except that a PhD student may not be in a position to bring in an external person into a project that in essence is run by their advisor. A PhD student, on the other hand, may be a good way into a research group since they may be open to a meeting more readily than a busy project leader.
So, showing interest is good but you need to be able to show clearly what you bring to the table to wet the appetite of the person you target.
> 7 votes
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Tags: research-process, etiquette, research-undergraduate, collaboration
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thread-14834 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14834 | Should I Quit University? | 2013-12-16T23:16:11.917 | # Question
Title: Should I Quit University?
As a computer engineering student, I think this is the right place to ask for help about my career. Well I am in my sophomore year at one of the leading university in Turkey. I want to specialize in information security. However, I want to clarify something. "I have been - and always shall be" an average student. My student life has never been so bright but I have enough passion and resources to be an ethical hacker. Sometimes I think what they teach us in the university is waste of time. People can learn coding, operating systems, network, database etc. from the internet. So here is my question: Should I quit my university and stay behind the doors,do what I love, for a long time or waste two more years with the pressure of everything you do or don't will be graded?
# Answer
> 9 votes
You need to understand that a University degree (assuming it is a degree course you are enrolled in) does not attempt to teach you all the skills you need in order to be successful in your chosen career. What it does do is give a good grounding in your chosen area, but more importantly, provide evidence of your ability to apply yourself and achieve a widely recognized level of accreditation. If you are after courses that provide more specific vocational skills, and there are plenty of these in the computer science industry, it may be that you should search for a better suited program. These types of courses are usually shorter and more intensive than a degree course.
Whether your university degree will be useful to you will depend very much on what you intend to do with your career.
If you plan to design and develop your own software systems or products, and then fight to have your products recognized on the global market, and build your reputation from scratch, then a degree may not be much use to you. There are some examples of success stories of people who dropped out of, or never went to, university, so nobody can tell you it can't be done. But I think you will need to be extremely good, and lucky, to be able to do that. You may also need to have a back-up plan in the meantime in order to put food on the table.
***However***, if you ever plan to work for somebody, or a company that does not know of your reputation and amazing ability, then you will need to somehow demonstrate that. A degree is the first step towards demonstrating to those who are likely to employ you that you have been able to apply yourself in a recognized mainstream course of learning and been able to reach recognized benchmark standards. Once in your job, you will then be expected to learn the specifics of that position, and what better way to show that you are able to learn and apply knowledge than to have a piece of paper from a university to show that you can. It will be a nationally (and in many cases, and importantly not all cases, internationally) recognized accreditation. Once you have embarked on your career, it will be the references from previous employers that will vouch for your ability, and the degree will matter less.
What I would be asking myself as a prospective employer is whether someone who claims to have passion and ability to access resources, but lacks the application and commitment to successfully complete their degree is the right person to employ in my team.
# Answer
> 5 votes
It's always a very personal decision as to whether you're going to stay on with university education. I fear this question may be closed as opinion based, but I'll take a stab at giving some suggestions.
I think there's a number of factors you're going to have to keep in mind when you make these kinds of decisions:
1. It has to be acknowledged that large swathes of the computer science/engineering skillset can be self-taught or learned through MOOCs, and project contributions. However, one needs to keep in mind their own personality when considering self-learning. Historically I was a terrible autodidact, simply because my personality worked depth-first, which is a terrible way to get started in a new topic. University helped me a lot by forcing me to prune my search trees so I could actually learn the topics at hand!
2. Universities aren't always just what they teach. Faculty can be important resources for guiding one down productive paths and avoiding getting stuck on solved problems. Mentorship and the possibility for great guidance should be carefully evaluated when considering leaving. If you aren't seeing mentorship and guidance, consider how much of this is the environment, and how much is *you*. An alternative to dropping out entirely might be to transition into an institution that is better suited to your interests.
3. Credentials may not mean anything. However, sometimes they can open doors for you that might be closed, or subject to hurdles without the credentials. It's going to be highly specific depending on what kind of work you want to do in what field, but needs to be considered.
4. Ultimately, **you need to know where your desires lie**, and plan the best way to get them. It could be well that going indie is going to get you to your desired career faster --- or it could nuke the possibility of achieving them.
**ETA**: Oh and about pressure: If you think the pressure *in* university is a lot, you're going to be surprised about what it takes to succeed **outside** university.
# Answer
> 1 votes
You are wrong. You are so wrong you do not even understand it. Why? Some examples:
You need to write a fast app. You need to know the data structures for the right job (trees, lists, hash maps). You want to write a database app. You should know which fields to index and which not. You want to do some geospatial app. You need to know the correct indexing (R-tree). It is very hard to know these things on your own.
* What you can find in the internet: how to do a hash map in C++
* What you cannot find in the internet: why you need a hash map in the first place and so-on.
So, finish your studies and you will understand later why those studies were useful.
If you are so good you think you are at coding (which you probably are not unless you get paid for it and others agree), you still do not want to have a technical manager who knows less than you but has the degree (you do not have). So, you will need the degree anyway.
# Answer
> 0 votes
You sound like you're an independent worker, who dislikes and just is not suited for the structured learning style of University courses. Fair enough, there are many others like you. It doesn't mean you won't benefit from a University degree, it just makes it a little tougher to get there.
I'm like that too, yet now that I am doing research and am free of undergraduate classes I'm enjoying myself a lot more. But you still need that knowledge and those skills gained from those courses, even if you don't like it.
Being able to teach yourself is a fantastic ability, but a University degree will give you solid ground to stand on with regards to your employability. You will look a lot more desirable to an employer if you have a degree, *and* considerable personal achievements to back it up.
The only people who I would even consider advising to not go to University are those who:
* aren't bright enough,
* are passionate about something that doesn't benefit from a degree,
* or who genuinely cannot afford it.
You're neither. Not only will a degree give you a significant boost early in your career, but you'll probably gain more skills and knowledge than you think you will.
*Stick with it*.
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Tags: university, computer-science, undergraduate
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thread-14839 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14839 | Research experience not backed up by recommendation letter | 2013-12-17T00:59:28.320 | # Question
Title: Research experience not backed up by recommendation letter
I have done a three months independent research at a national lab in US with guidance from a scientist who was working there, but he is very busy and not much time is left to ask him to write a recommendation letter (RL) since the application deadline is coming. I want to include this experience in my SOP, and wonder, in general, how is the reaction of graduate admission committees to research experience which is not backed up by a RL?
# Answer
> 4 votes
I believe the research experience with a national lab would be very helpful to your graduate school application. You should do your best to ask that senior scientist to write the recommendation letter for you. And he should understand it's part of his job to write recommendation letters.
In the worst case he will never have time to write the letter, my suggestion is to ask the human resource department of the lab to write a letter to **certify that you had worked at that lab**. This is, of course, not the recommendation letter. But, at least the certification letter proves that you did work there. How the admission commitee will react is another story. You have no control over it. You just need to do your best!
# Answer
> 4 votes
One of the duties of a researcher who takes on a mentor role is to write letters of recommendation for his students. Your advisor will understand this responsibility. You may want to read the answers to this question regarding writing your own recommendation letter, as this may be relevant to your situation, but you should *always* be willing to ask for a letter.
# Answer
> 2 votes
You need a letter from the senior person under whom you did the work! If you don't have one, this is like getting a *bad* letter. People know that they have this responsibility to junior people, so, although, yes, it involves some work on their part, it would be irresponsible to shirk it. You need that letter, I think, or people will wonder...
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Tags: research-process, graduate-admissions, recommendation-letter
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thread-14813 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/14813 | Will it hurt me if my advisor's last name is before mine alphabetically? | 2013-12-16T05:54:17.623 | # Question
Title: Will it hurt me if my advisor's last name is before mine alphabetically?
I'm a graduate student in theoretical particle physics, where the standard is that all author lists are alphabetized. However, even in other disciplines of physics, it's quite common for author lists to be ordered by the amount of the contribution. At some point I will probably be judged by people who are not entirely familiar with the standards of particle theory, and even if they are they probably have subconscious biases towards earlier authors.
I also happen to have a last name that's around the middle of the alphabet. I can feasibly find an advisor whose name is after mine, but the most natural choices (including my current advisor) all happen to be before mine alphabetically. My current choice makes me a bit worried because most of his other students also have names before mine alphabetically. I'll probably have a number of publications with other people in the group, and it's not unlikely that I'll be the last author on most or all of these.
Is this something that I should be seriously worried about? (My heart tells me no, but my brain isn't sure.) Will I have much more trouble in the future than comparable candidates who are listed earlier? Or is it a fairly small effect which is much less significant than choosing a good advisor in the long term?
# Answer
> 24 votes
Yes, there is a subtle unconscious bias. Even in a field where author names are *always* alphabetical, papers will be cited in talks as *Author1 et al*, so if you happen to be Author1 your name will be slightly more disseminated.
Is it true? *Yes*. Is it fair? *No*, not entirely. Is it a big deal? *No*. Should you change your advisor as a workaround? **No**.
The best way to overcome this bias is going to conferences and getting your face and name known to other people in the field. So it won't matter if your name is Aardvark or Zwingli, because people will know you anyway and know that you did some respectable work.
Another thing you can do to reduce the impact of this bias on your CV is adding a statement on the lines of the following sentence that I put in mine:
> "As is common practice in mathematics, the author order is usually alphabetical and does not reflect a difference in contribution. "
(by the way, I can relate: I have been alphabetically last author on 86% of my joint papers).
# Answer
> 23 votes
I have no idea about its credibility, and I'm certainly not trying to discourage Zhang's or Zyskowski's out there. But you might find this article interesting:
L. Einav, L. Yariv. What's in a Surname? The Effects of Surname Initials on Academic Success. *Journal of Economic Perspectives*, **20** (2006), 175-187.
> We present evidence that a variety of proxies for success in the U.S. economics labor market (tenure at highly ranked schools, fellowship in the Econometric Society, and to a lesser extent, Nobel Prize and Clark Medal winnings) are correlated with surname initials, favoring economists with surname initials earlier in the alphabet. These patterns persist even when controlling for country of origin, ethnicity, and religion. We suspect that these effects are related to the existing norm in economics prescribing alphabetical ordering of authors’ credits. Indeed, there is no significant correlation between surname initials and tenure at departments of psychology, where authors are credited roughly according to their intellectual contribution. The economics market participants seem to react to this phenomenon. Analyzing publications in the top economics journals since 1980, we note two consistent patterns: authors participating in projects with more than three authors have significantly earlier surname initials, and authors writing papers in which the order of credits is non-alphabetical have significantly higher surname initials.
It's absurd and ludicrous to take this kind of bias into account when choosing your advisor, though...
# Answer
> 15 votes
Based on my own experience, even if your last name comes before your advisor's, your own research community will regard any joint work with your advisor to be primarily your advisor's work, despite your advisor's protests to the contrary, until you start publishing independently. The Matthew Effect is a *much* more significant than your position in the alphabet.
(My name comes before my advisor's, and I've advised students with names before mine and others after mine. I work in a field that orders authors alphabetically.)
# Answer
> 3 votes
I work in a field \[chemistry\] where historically (before academic search engines), the advisor's name was always first, since that was probably the person you had the best chance of identifying when you went to your local library and sat down with the print version of chemical abstracts.
The modern practice is to list authors by intellectual contribution (which usually puts the adviser last, but not always). To add to the confusion, some advisers still operate by the older method.
Many journals now want a statement of author contributions to appear in the text. This type of statement removes any ambiguity over who did what, and resolves both the author ordering problem and the sadly still recurring vanity author problem.
> For example: B.N.N. designed the synthesis and prepared key intermediate 1. J.V.V. prepared derivatives A and B. B.N.N. and J.J.V. characterized the compounds. H.G.T. and A.B.C. coded and compiled the computational models. B.N.N. and H.G.T. designed the study and wrote the manuscript.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Yes it will. The problem is not the alphabet, it's the advisor and others, the readers. I am not at my library so I can't link to the psychologic rules behind it.
*but*
as you asked 'Is this something that I should be seriously worried about?' the point is, you can't avoid the problem - live with your (his/her) name (hair color, size and, and, and), and think about doing the best ...
You can't avoid psychological problems, so better not to take care, if you can't change it.
I answer with a tautology: Take an advisor who is good.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Think about:
**Frank Wilczek, Edward Witten, Athony Zee, Bruno Zumino, Barton Zwiebach.** etc.
**Their last names initials are W or Z.**
(They are in HEP theoretical physics, particle physics, like you.)
They hardly get anything for the authorship sorting. But they are doing fantastic well outstanding. They are hired by TOP institutes. Keep their names in your mind. Keep it up.
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Tags: graduate-school, advisor, authorship
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