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thread-22068 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/22068 | Is it reasonable to not publish data from research for fear of undermining previous work? | 2014-06-07T06:36:03.597 | # Question
Title: Is it reasonable to not publish data from research for fear of undermining previous work?
I am a postdoc working in a lab where we are finishing a large project with multiple measures (psychological, behavioral, etc). Some of the measures didn't turn out to have significant results (primarily for methodological reasons I believe). I suggested to the Lead Investigator that we write up some of these as "we tried these measures and didn't get the results we expected for various reasons: here are some lessons we have learned". The reply was:
> My immediate response is not all that positive – especially if it undermined our published papers ... if you’ve published a result then further publications shouldn’t raise more limitations that should have been mentioned in the original publication.
I don't believe the results will undermine anything but, that aside, is his reasoning for not publishing results valid? Also, to be clear, we haven't yet published anything from this work.
I understand him to mean that he doesn't want the results published because they might go against previous work and completely object to such a thought. Have I possibly misinterpreted his words?
# Answer
The statement you quote sounds terrible. It points in a direction where things approach the unethical. Publication of negative results are less common that positive although, I suspect, negative results ARE more common than positive. Since I am in an experimental field, I have never obtained the perfect results and always end up describing what went wrong; and I am not alone. Anyway, I think your idea of writing up your experience is good. Naturally, I cannot judge the merits of the experiences in terms of publicability.
So I think your intention is very sound and the reaction of the lead investigator suspect (or at best narrow-minded).
To me " further publications shouldn’t raise more limitations that *should have* been mentioned in the original publication" (if verbatim from the lead investigator and with my emphasis) sounds as if limitations were not included on purpose in the original study. So, if that is true then I can understand the nervousness. It sounds almost fraudulent.
> 12 votes
# Answer
If I understand you correctly, what you want to publish doesn't "go against" the previous work. It's fully consistent with it, but what is being added is what are often called **negative results**: namely, the discovery that a certain plausible method or established theory *cannot* be used in a certain manner to solve a certain problem.
In every branch of academia I know of, it is -- unfortunately -- very difficult to publish negative results. In the abstract, most people agree that this is a shame: convincingly arguing that researchers should not go down a certain path is obviously a service to the community. However, in a competitive publication system negative results are somehow not very, um, competitive. So trying to publish these results may not be the best use of your time unless you package them carefully -- very crudely, you will probably need to bundle them with "positive results".
The above is a relatively benign interpretation of your Lead Investigator's comments. It is alas also possible that he is saying that you should not try to publish your negative results *because that information will reduce the prestige of your previously published paper*. I agree that this sounds ethically dubious, yes, but depending on the field it is not clear that you are ethically required to publish further work explaining the limitations of your previous results. Here I would make a distinct between *limitations* and *errors*: *errors* are things that you should have known better than to include in the original version, and in many fields it is appropriate to print a retraction, erratum or corrigendum when you learn about them. On the other hand, that a publication contains ideas that are not completely definitive and whose future value is the subject of informed speculation....well, that's how research works.
I would say that the ethical issues become more acute depending upon the reaction that your published paper has received. If your paper has been very influential to researchers and is causing them to spend a lot of time exploring what you know to be a blind alley, then formal publication or no, it seems ethical to relate this information to them. If your publication has present nonacademic ramifications -- e.g. if you are in some kind of bio-medical field and your publication has resulted in patient protocols that you know to be suboptimal -- then you should be thinking about how to get the word out ASAP.
Anyway, it sounds like you need to have a conversation with your Lead Investigator about this. Find out what he meant and why.
> 9 votes
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Tags: publications, ethics
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thread-22066 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/22066 | what is the usual time to start applying for jobs and other positions during a phd? | 2014-06-07T03:29:38.447 | # Question
Title: what is the usual time to start applying for jobs and other positions during a phd?
I have started writing my thesis ( just yesterday:) ). My advisor asked me to submit it in one or two months. Now am wondering should I start applying for jobs at this time period. I plan to talk about this with my advisor. But I thought of other opinions as well. Please share your experience also.
# Answer
> 7 votes
Yes, you should start applying for jobs. You should have started several months ago, since it can take time to find a job, and after you do it may still take some months before the job actually starts. This depends strongly on what kind of job it is.
Of course, if you are looking for an academic job in the US, the interviewing season is roughly November-March, so you want to time things around that. For industry jobs and academic jobs elsewhere, there is not usually a particular season to focus on.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I agree with @DavidKetcheson. You should be able to get some sense of the "lead time" on jobs of the sort you're interested in by browsing current adverts: what is the typical "start date"? For competitive academic positions, this might be as much as a year ahead.
However, there may be strategic reasons to delay, accepting the risk that you can't start working (and earning money!) as early as you wish. For example, you might feel you're likely to be able to secure a much better job if you publish a particular piece of work before going on the job market. There's also the issue that job-hunting can be a time-consuming business: plenty of people decide that they'd prefer to concentrate on completing their thesis first, and then focus on finding a job. I don't think this is an *a priori* unreasonable approach to take, particularly if you're in a system where there is some significant amount of "dead time" between submitting your thesis, and having the defence.
Regardless of the approach you take, you should certainly be looking at job adverts now, to get a sense of what might be available, and what people are offering/looking for.
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Tags: phd, job, independent-researcher
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thread-21965 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21965 | Is it appropriate to assign Mechanical Turk-type tasks as extra credit? | 2014-06-04T23:22:36.373 | # Question
Title: Is it appropriate to assign Mechanical Turk-type tasks as extra credit?
By the end of the term, I always end up with quite a number of D and F students who want to improve their grades. Meanwhile, I usually have lots of menial tasks on hand during the summer, e.g. data entry, translations, proofreading, photo tagging, etc.
* None of these tasks is work I am assigned or paid to do.
* All of the tasks relate to my courses in some way and the resulting efforts would benefit the next group of students who attend my courses in the subsequent terms.
* My school has no official "dead week", but naturally these tasks would occupy time that presumably the students would otherwise use for final exam preparations.
Is there any ethical or professional reason deeming it inappropriate to assign such tasks as optional extra credit, allowing students to move their 50 to a 60 or 60 to a 70 after ~10-15 hours of repetitive work?
# Answer
> 103 votes
As I see it, the grade in the class is supposed to measure a student's mastery of the material. Letting students improve their grade via unrelated menial work is not consistent with this standard and seems dangerously close to letting the students wash your car for extra credit.
# Answer
> 21 votes
My feeling is that it's sort of a sliding scale based on the amount of time they have to put in, the amount of credit they get, and the relevance of the task to understanding course material.
It's not uncommon for professors to allow (or even require) students to act as participants in a study (e.g., fill out a survey, be part of an experiment) for credit, on the theory that such participation helps them to "understand the research process". If the tasks they're doing have some relevance of that sort, I think you have an easier case. If it's totally mindless work with no connection to the class, it's more dubious. Also, at least at my school, every such opportunity *must* (by human-subjects rules) have an alternative credit opportunity that takes roughly equal time but doesn't require such participation (e.g., write a paper). This kind of alternative is designed to ensure that students aren't forced to work for the professor's benefit in order to improve their grade.
Also, assuming by "50", "60", "70", you're referring to their overall course percentages, that seems like a massive amount of credit to me. When I've given or received extra credit, it's usually been much less than that -- equivalent to maybe 2% or at most 5% of the overall grade. The intent is not to allow students with a flat D to move to a C, but to allow students who have a *high* D to move to a C. I think offering extra credit that allows students to raise their grade by an entire letter sets some dangerous precedents, especially when combined with the mindless-task aspect.
In the same vein, extra credit assignments usually were the work-time equivalent of say, one homework problem, or at most one homework assignment, expected to take the students maybe 3-5 hours tops, and often an hour or less. 10-15 hours of mindless work sounds like a pretty awful prospect to me. I think it's a bad idea to misuse the extra-credit leverage to have students slaving away for hours and hours.
So basically, I think it is possibly defensible, but more so if the tasks are not truly mindless but have some reasonable connection to the class. Also, I think the amounts of time and credit you suggest are a bit high, and especially so if the task is just grunt work.
Incidentally, as an example, I once was a TA for a class where the professor assigned homework in which the students had to take a spreadsheet and perform certain category-coding tasks on the data. I suspect (but do not know for sure) that the professor was using the coded data for his own research. However, the data was relevant to the class topic, and the coding task, although not exactly an intellectual challenge, was a realistic encounter with this sort of data, in that if students were to later write a paper using such data, they might well have to perform such a task as part of the project. Also, the amount of data coded was rather small (about 50 spreadsheet rows per student, as I recall). My own opinion was that, although such an assignment was perhaps not the best way to get students interested in the class, or enhance their understanding of the material, it wasn't unethical, because it was small in scale and legitimately (if uninspiringly) relevant to the topic of the class.
# Answer
> 12 votes
It is not ethical, you are **misleading** future possible employers about how capable the student is. A degree is a measure of how well someone can learn and how well they know their subject, not how well they can tag photos.
You are also devaluing the degree, so making it harder for other students at your university to get a job. A course that few people fail is of little value to the people that pass.
(Proofreading may be OK in a English degree)
# Answer
> 2 votes
It's funny to me that you mention Mechanical Turk in the question because it suggests where things might go if you were to implement something like this. You'd give students tasks. They'd post them to Mechanical Turk, offering a few cents in return. Your tasks would get done, and the students would get extra credit.
But it seems better to just post the tasks to Mechanical Turk yourself instead of inviting students to buy a passing grade in your class.
# Answer
> 0 votes
If you do it, make sure the kids who have B's have the same opportunities. They probably care more about their grades, and would more ambitiously take the opportunity to do something dumb for the A.
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Tags: ethics
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thread-22058 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/22058 | M.Sc. after long 16 years in industry | 2014-06-06T19:54:07.997 | # Question
Title: M.Sc. after long 16 years in industry
How hard is it to adapt to post-graduate studies after an academic pause of 16 years working in sort of relevant industry?
I graduated back in 1998 with B.Eng. in computer engineering, worked for 16 years in IT related jobs, and decided to go back to school this fall (2014).
Is it hard to be ready after such long academic pause? Any particular skills I should work on while waiting for the program to start?
# Answer
> 10 votes
I graduated back in 1984 with a BSc in Computer Science. Went back for a MSc by research 25 years later, in 2009. Finished that in 2011, and now I'm doing my PhD.
Will you be doing an MSc by research? If you're the sort of person who likes learning things on your own, I'm sure you'll find it easy enough to adjust. Reading scientific papers is a skill that takes a while to learn. (Writing them, even more so!) You can use Google Scholar to search for papers in the are you're interested in. (Many articles will be behind paywalls, so you probably can't access them until you start, but many articles will be freely available.) Expect it to be tough going at first, so don't get discouraged. Also, I hope you like (or at least don't mind) writing, because in many fields an MSc thesis involves a lot of writing.
If you're doing an MSc by coursework, I don't have too much advice to offer.
Your experience in industry will help you a lot. You'll probably have more resiliency than your fellow students, due to your life experience. This will help you deal with stress. You'll probably find that teachers and students are asking for your real-world perspective, which is great for your self-confidence. Also, you probably have a very clear idea of why you're doing an MSc, which will help you stay focused.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Former MSc by coursework student here but with a shorter gap between my BSc and MSc.
> How hard is it to adapt to post-graduate studies after an academic pause\[...\]?
It's not easy but it's perfectly doable. It is more dependent on you as an individual and your approach to the particular course you choose to do than anything else.
> Is it hard to be ready after such long academic pause?
Depends entirely on you and the course you choose. Did you do well back in school? That helps. Did you do well at University? That helps far more. Can you afford to do it (you'll likely be paying and not just in terms of money)? Are you doing something that you have always did poorly in and never learned to overcome (life will be hard)? Can you adapt to the academic style (reading, writing and interacting)?
(Life) experience helps but it's not a complete shortcut.
> Any particular skills I should work on while waiting for the program to start?
Not really (perhaps know how to get along with younger people?). So long as you have the right approach you'll do fine - most Universities want to give you what you need to pass given that you're paying them money :-)
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Tags: masters, computer-science, academic-life, preparation
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thread-22098 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/22098 | How much does topic and supervisor matter for honours in computer science when the aim is ultimately to do a PhD? | 2014-06-08T15:28:00.787 | # Question
Title: How much does topic and supervisor matter for honours in computer science when the aim is ultimately to do a PhD?
I am about to go in to my honours year in computer science.
If I intend to apply for a PhD at another university when I finish, how much does it matter who my honours supervisor is? Will this make any difference when being assessed for entry at another university?
And as a general rule am I better choosing a pure (mathematical) or applied (programming/engineering) topic?
# Answer
All things being equal, a well-known and respected individual in your field who can write an excellent letter of recommendation for you is better than a person who is not nearly so well known who can write a similar letter.
However, you should not choose a famous name just to have that person write you a letter of recommendation if you are not actively interested in that person's research. The obvious reason for this is that hunting for a letter of a recommendation is likely not to work as well as doing a project you're truly interested in, because the motivation to work on it won't be nearly as strong.
As for topic, if possible, I would recommend picking a topic in the *general* area you wish to pursue as a PhD student. Note that it doesn't need to be the *same* topic—but if you want to do, for instance, theoretical CS, it's probably better to do a theoretical CS project than something more applied.
> 11 votes
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Tags: advisor, computer-science
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thread-22054 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/22054 | Is it normal for math grad students to be required to take summer classes to work? | 2014-06-06T17:17:32.657 | # Question
Title: Is it normal for math grad students to be required to take summer classes to work?
My mathematics department apparently gets pressured by the university to have more people take courses during the summer. We are also encouraged to take on TA responsibilities to make extra cash during the summer which is great.... except that they have this rule that if we want to teach/grade (or do any paid work during the summer) we have to enroll in courses. The options are slim and so is the stipend; I'm a grad student currently trying to prepare for my final prelim exam and do some research during the summer; I'd like to make a little extra cash.... but I crunched the numbers and it looks like I'll net about $600 for an entire summer, not exactly a living wage.
I should also add that our department (mathematics) brings more funds (in course work and its associated tuition) than any other department (I'm sure biology/chemistry pulls more in research grants), .... so it seems very tawdry of them to "get money back" by forcing us to enroll in classes.
So my question is: **Is this normal?** I've spoken with some of my professors and they said it is not; but just curious what this community has to say and if this is ethical or are there any statistics on this sort of thing.
# Answer
Having observed several places in several different decades: summer funding is always weird and maybe non-existent or not-a-good-deal.
During the 9-month academic year, in the U.S., yes, indeed, people working as TAs/RAs have to be registered as students (because as other people said, these are student jobs), and this entails *fees*. Most often, tuition is included in the "benefits", but not invariably.
At every university I've been, grad students registered in the 9-month academic year did not have to explicitly register, nor pay tuition, in the summer, in order to work as summer TAs/RAs. This part is quite anomalous, and looks like a way for some layer of the institution to suck money out of people.
My experience indicates that there's never enough summer support to go around, which effectively creates a labor surplus, which, predictably, leads to certain abuses. For that matter, the usual double-time rate of summer classes is pretty nasty, and not fun to see. A bit taxing to teach, but almost uniformly near-disastrous for the students, who cannot simply "decide" to assimilate things twice as fast.
In some cases, the funding and flow of money for summer teaching/classes is different from the 9-month year, so it is not necessarily deliberately abusive, though possibly irresponsible or negligent, of your dept to not tell you your net pay. If it's really just 600 dollars, it's a ridiculous situation, yes.
But the net pay *should* be substantial, not next-to-nothing. *That* aspect strikes me as odd.
In summary, the situation you describe is unusual in that the net pay is so low. Having to sign up for courses and pay summer fees (or, worse, tuition) is unusual. The vagueness is less atypical, since sometimes control of summer classes is not in the hands of the department.
> 7 votes
# Answer
The policy of requiring you to take classes in order to work for the university is not normal, and I have not seen it anywhere else.
That said, the summer is a good opportunity for students to get outside jobs and/or internships. As you no doubt know, there are very few jobs in pure math, and the jobs that do exist are *extremely* competitive. In my opinion, It is best for a student like you to establish connections with possible post-graduate employers during the summer, rather than TAing a math course, unless the course you are TAing will directly help with your immediate educational needs (e.g. it is preparatory for your prelim or can help your eventual thesis).
Regarding the ethics of the university's behavior, there is very little you can do. Graduate students are in a very bad position of leverage vis-a-vis the university, and this is especially true in disciplines like mathematics where many departments bring in many more students than can ever graduate (much less get a job), in part because of undergraduate teaching needs.
> 5 votes
# Answer
This is completely normal: every place I have been (albeit 3 departments) require Graduate Student Assistant (Research Assistants, Teaching Assistants, and general Graduate Assistants) to be both students and registered at the level of full time graduate students while working on those assignments. The reason being: Those jobs are student jobs.
My masters institution requires me to be registered for 8 credits a semester while I TA/RA/GA, which I pay student fees of about 2k a year on.
My PhD institution requires me to be registered for 12 credits a quarter while I TA/RA/GA, which I will pay ~750 a year on student fees.
That doesn't mean you have to take traditional classes: About 40% of my classes have been thesis hours and independent studies. For summer classes, I usually work out some sort of independent study that is very tangential from my thesis, meaning I can use it in both my thesis defense and perhaps even publish it.
So yeah, it's normal.
I also think its wrong to charge graduate students who are also employees student fees, but it is the way the books are drawn. Your student fees, I doubt, are so large that you cannot find a way to live off the summer stipend. My master's institution has the highest student fees that doesn't include healthcare I have ever seen in the USA.
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, teaching, job, mathematics, funding
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thread-21736 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21736 | What to mention in your introduction to your research methodology chapter | 2014-05-31T14:16:05.400 | # Question
Title: What to mention in your introduction to your research methodology chapter
My supervisor told me that I should write paragraph in which I introduce the problem that will be addressed by this chapter (research methodology).
What are some of the key aspects I should focus on? I understand that it cannot be a too detailed description, as my supervisor recommends only a single paragraph but I also do not want to write too little.
# Answer
I don't know if it's possible to describe in any detail which aspects you should focus on without knowing something about *what* you're writing in the chapter, since as Sverre said, it's ultimately just the answer to one question.
An introduction is ultimately just a concise summary of the contents of a piece of writing, specifically a chapter; in this case, the points to focus on would be the basic components of a description of research methodology:
1. Reminder: We are researching...
2. The usual methodologies used in this field are...
3. X, Y and Z were considered for use.
4. X, while \[pros\], \[cons\], whereas Y \[pros\], but \[cons\], and Z \[pros\], but \[cons\].
5. Due to the importance of... ...in this study, we chose to use Y.
Then you can explain your full reasoning in the remainder of the chapter.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Answer this question in less than one minute, assuming that I have the basic knowledge of your area:
*What is your research about?*
Than add these in less than two minutes:
*Why did you do your research in that specific topic? What is your innovation?*
Lastly,
*How did you do it?*
Now, write your answers on a paper. And that would be the intro.
**Edit:** Commentors are right. Only the last part would be an intro for methodology.
> 3 votes
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Tags: advisor, methodology, introduction
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thread-22078 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/22078 | Is there a theoretical-physics masters program that accepts mathematics graduates? | 2014-06-07T13:47:13.817 | # Question
Title: Is there a theoretical-physics masters program that accepts mathematics graduates?
I plan to graduate with an honours (four year) degree in philosophy and a general (three year) degree in mathematics. Are there any physics graduate programs that might accept me if I were to apply?
For context: My plan-A is to work in academic philosophy. A physics education might not appear on the resume of most philosophy professors, but I suspect that knowing about physics could improve a philosopher's thinking about a number of questions. Accordingly, it seems worthwhile to study physics during either, a one or two year detour, several years of concurrent distance education, or the summer terms of my philosophy education. Self-study is an option, but I'd prefer to earn a credential in order to improve my future applications to graduate schools and to employers.
# Answer
People are accepted into a physics program because they prove that they can do well in physics graduate school through their past performance in courses, their personal statement, their letters of recommendation, test scores, undergraduate research experience, etc. If you have a strong mathematics background, you might be able to convince an admissions committee to accept you **if you demonstrate an understanding of undergraduate physics** outside of course work (like performing well on the physics GRE). If you have not, at least self studied undergraduate physics material (at the very least at a Sophomore/Junior level), then it is not likely that you would accepted into a physics graduate program (even a masters program). Now if you were exceptional at math (e.g. have published research in a peer reviewed math journal), perhaps its possible that a physics program would accept you, with a very good personal statement explaining why you want to study physics at the graduate level.
But why get a degree in physics? At least part of the answer should be that you enjoy doing physics and are (at least somewhat) good at doing physics. If you aren't 100% certain that you love physics, you shouldn't go to graduate school in physics. Instead, self study physics by reading a book, doing problems and watching online lectures. Once you can determine whether you enjoy doing physics, only then should you go to graduate school in the subject.
In addition you haven't explained why "knowing about physics could improve a philosopher's thinking about a number of questions". At least at the vaguest level, this could be said about nearly any discipline; it doesn't mean you should get a degree in those fields. You can take physics courses while studying philosophy at many universities. If you think you will derive deep satisfaction from this, you should seek out philosophy programs that allow flexibility in your course work so you can pursue an interest in physics.
> 1 votes
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Tags: masters, mathematics, physics
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thread-23107 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23107 | Masters Admissions and Academic Dishonesty | 2014-06-08T23:53:55.717 | # Question
Title: Masters Admissions and Academic Dishonesty
The summer before my last year of undergrad I committed academic dishonesty in one of my summer classes. I received a sanction of a course grade of 0 and a notation on my transcript until I graduate, which would be June of 2015. I decided to take a year off in light of my transgressions (I wasn't suspended but felt that if I could do something that heinous I needed to take a step back and reevaluate everything).
I'm a psych&stats major and I wanted to eventually work in research or some related field as I work as a RA at school and it's something I'm interested in. My overall goal was to find work after graduation and at some point when I have some career direction apply to a Master's program. However, in light of the academic dishonesty I'm not sure how it will affect my application, or if it's something that's redeemable?
Thanks for reading.
# Answer
> 1 votes
> However, in light of the academic dishonesty I'm not sure how it will affect my application, or if it's something that's redeemable?
From a graduate admissions point of view, relatively speaking, having a note on your transcript concerning your academic dishonesty violation is not as bad as being kicked out of undergraduate studies altogether (as noted in this answer here to the following question: Is it possible to do a Master's degree without obtaining a Bachelor's degree?).
So, your school is giving you another chance. It's up to you now to make the most of your remaining time in your undergraduate studies. In my view, here are some things you can do to improve your chances of admission at the graduate level:
* Do *really* well in your remaining coursework.
* Take up a research project (or two or three). You should do this anyway if you are serious about graduate studies.
* Build a professional network, such as professors for your courses or your research project advisor. In addition to helping you become a better student/researcher, these folks will come in handy when it comes time to submit letters of recommendation along with your graduate studies application materials.
You already took some time off from your studies to reflect on your actions, but it bears repeating: **Don't dwell on this indiscretion**. All you can do is move forward and utilize every bit of time you have left in your undergraduate studies to increase the odds in your favor of admission to a graduate program.
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Edit: OP mentioned that they are an RA, but my 2nd bullet point above is added for future users in a similar situation.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, masters
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thread-22075 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/22075 | Part time industrial work during a mathematics PhD | 2014-06-07T10:15:25.190 | # Question
Title: Part time industrial work during a mathematics PhD
I am in the second year of my PhD in mathematics and I have recently decided I want to go into industry after I'm finished. I feel like a lot of what I'm learning in the program does not have direct, real-world applications, and I'd like to remedy this problem by getting some work experience while I'm still in graduate school.
I have some programming background (but not as much as a CS grad) and a couple years experience doing simple data analysis programming. I also have a BS in physics. It seems like there should be a place in industry for me somewhere, but I don't know how to go about finding it.
I would like to work part-time, or as a consultant, so that the job won't greatly hinder my progress towards my degree. (Of course, some time will be lost that could have gone to my dissertation, but this is made up for by gaining marketable skills.) I'd like to work in science or in software. I am aware of internships, but it seems like most are either for undergraduate students or engineers.
> Can a math grad student work part-time in industry during his PhD? If so, how would one go about finding jobs?
# Answer
I think it would be very challenging and unusual to work part-time at a job *and* be taking graduate classes or doing thesis research.
But it's quite common for graduate students to work full-time (as interns) at government laboratories or in industry during the summer (or at another time of year) for perhaps 3 months. Mathematics students I have known have worked at
* Google
* Microsoft
* US Dept. of Energy labs (Sandia, Los Alamos, Livermore, Oak Ridge, Argonne, etc.)
* Oil companies (Schlumberger, Total)
* US NSA contractors (cryptography)
* US Geological Survey
* NOAA
and many other places that I've forgotten. Talk to your advisor and to other faculty in the program. Your university may also have someone who coordinates these things.
> 8 votes
# Answer
I can say that I am currently doing this and it works very well for me, but you *have* to discuss this with your supervisors. My consulting work is in optimisation/operations research (part mathematics, part computer science) and directly relevant to my PhD. I use these experiences to motivate my research and I'm convinced it makes me a better researcher.
I work for the company I worked for before starting my PhD, but part-time consultants can be valuable to smaller consulting companies if you have the flexibility to work when they have more jobs, and not work when they don't.
I will second the call to apply for internships: a couple of the interns I worked with at Google last summer were mathematicians who could code, and one or two of us were PhD students.
It should be noted that I'm doing my PhD in Australia, where PhDs nominally take 3 years and teaching/research assistant work is not a condition of any scholarship, so your mileage may vary in other countries.
> 1 votes
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Tags: phd, mathematics, industry
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thread-23110 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23110 | How to contact an Emeritus professor? | 2014-06-09T00:42:15.670 | # Question
Title: How to contact an Emeritus professor?
Question is in the title.
More specifically, do emeritus professors (generally) check the emails which are listed on their university websites? I have emailed a few professors lately, asking about points in papers that they wrote, and none of the emeritus have responded.
I am assuming that they do not check their emails often, if at all - in this case, would it be appropriate to contact the university, requesting contact information for the professor? Or should I leave them be in their retirement? :)
# Answer
> 8 votes
Chances are, if they are not answering their university mail address, they are either busy or can't be bothered. They are retired, so **both is completetly ok** (it is sort of the point of retirement that you do not have an obligation to react to work mail anymore). Trying to get in touch with them over different media is probably fruitless, and somewhat obnoxious. Besides, I would really hope that the university administration does not give out private addresses to the request of random people.
Edit: an almost completely unrelated side notice: emeritus profs can be **insanely** busy in some cases. There is a famous austrian physics emeritus who is now writing popular science books, breeding alpacas (!), touring Austria with a science-based stand-up comedy show (!!), producing and starring a TV programme, and waging an ever-lasting war against the catholic church (as head of Austria's atheist movement).
# Answer
> 6 votes
If you think that there is a good chance that this professor *doesn't* check email, *and* you genuinely believe that your message is important, contact the department secretary/similar and ask if they'd be prepared to pass a message to the person. You could also ask if they know whether email is likely to be read by that person.
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Tags: professorship, email, professor-emeritus
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thread-23133 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23133 | Dispute over precision with coauthor | 2014-06-09T13:27:04.930 | # Question
Title: Dispute over precision with coauthor
I am currently having a disagreement with a coauthor on a paper over the matter of significant figures.
He would like to specify (for example) that a certain organization has an environmental footprint of 7,622 gha. Environmental footprinting rests on a tonne of assumptions and is not a precise methodology, so I don't think we have anything like 4 significant figures of precision in our calculations - more like 2 at most. So I would like to publish that figure as 7,600 gha.
I have pointed out that doing otherwise implies a level of precision we don't have. Currently we are publishing an executive summary prior to peer reviewed journal paper, so I also said it would be embarrassing if the precision issues were picked up at peer review stage and we thus ended up publishing two different sets of figures. He responds that he has never had a problem with publishing more accurate figures in previous journal publications.
The coauthor does not have a quantitative background so has limited understanding this issue, however he is more senior.
So two questions
* does this issue even matter?
* what would you do about it?
UPDATE
It looks like you all agree with me that this matters. Good, I'm not insane :)
As we are currently writing an executive summary/press release for the general public, there is no place for scientific notation or estimates of error - they will make it harder to read and likely put off some people.
Can someone link me to a good, polite and authoritative rant on why this matters that I can show to my colleague? The trouble with almost all material I have seen on significant figures, is that it doesn't discuss rounding off digits left of the decimal point. i.e. it talks about turning 7.36654 into 7.4 but not 736654 into 740000. I suspect my colleague draws an arbitrary line in his head at the decimal point, being unaware that the position of the point is just a function of the units used. And I doubt they would be open to that sort of argument.
# Answer
Just to add to the answers with some academic citations, style guides for Tables often list this point. Although they often give examples of extraneous fractional digits (as these tend to be the most egregious examples of where they are illogical), the logic behind the rounding extends wherever the significant digits are location.
For instance, Feinberg & Wainer (2011) suggest that *at maximum* only 3 digits should be displayed in the table, as humans have a hard time making comparisons among any more digits (and they strongly suggest two or less). So here is advice extending beyond just decimals. (In Table 3 they give an example of rounding to the billions.)
They also appeal to the trivial amount of error introduced by such rounding. In your example the error would be `22/7622 ~ 0.003` \- I think 0.3 percent is alright for a wide variety of circumstances.
To justify reporting all 4 digits from a statistical perspective the standard error of the estimate would need to be *less than* `0.5`. If the error is more than `50` you really *shouldn't* report any more than the hundreds.
I provide more citations in my blog post for the stats site; *Some notes on making effective tables*, although not all are applicable to this question.
> 9 votes
# Answer
**Just because you have the additional digits, doesn't mean you should report them.**
Accuracy and precision are extremely important concepts in the reporting of scientific data. Excessive precision, as you suggest, implies too much reliability in the accuracy of scientific data. For instance, someone turned in a report to me saying that a particular parameter was known to be:
> *E* = 1.3405987423423 GPa
If this were to be published in a paper, it could be rejected out of hand for incompetence, because the parameter *E* is often known only to one or two decimal places, let alone four.
In general, you need to make your reporting consistent with the assumptions and the accuracy of the measurement techniques. One way to figure this out is to note the *accuracy* of your measurement—what is the expected error in the measurement? If the error in your measurement technique is, for instance, plus or minus 1 global hectare, then by all means report it to the nearest hectare. If it's plus or minus 1000, though, reporting to the nearest hectare will look quite silly.
**How do you deal with this?** (I've actually had to do something like this before. Similar argument, but not exactly the same.) In this particular instance, engaging in a little hyperbole might be useful. Instead of reporting it to four significant digits, show him a version of the text that lists the data to the full precision you have available—something clearly ridiculous that reports things down to six or seven decimal places, if possible. Then, when he argues that what you're doing doesn't make sense, you can argue "what's the harm in reporting extra digits?" That should be enough to have your coauthor "see the light."
> 21 votes
# Answer
Ideally you should give an indication of the uncertainty to go with your value e.g. 7600 ± 100 (or whatever) even if the uncertainty is only a rough estimate.
The problem is that your proposed solution doesn't really give any indication of your accuracy is 7600 the true value, have you rounded to 2s.f or 3? On the other hand the other solution suggests too great an accuracy which is also wrong.
If you do state an uncertainty the actual value you put matters slightly less. Ideally you should still give the answer to similar levels as that in your uncertainty, as you suggested, but my putting more your not actually creating any ambiguity.
As for whether it matters I suspect in lots of fields people don't really care about this sort of thing. But it does matter so they should care and so should you.
> 9 votes
# Answer
This will be an addition to aeismail's answer with which I agree. When reporting numbers like 7600 the trailing zeros are not significant but there is no way to know it. Therefore, writing the number as 7.6 kgha or 7.6 x 10^3 gha directly points to the significant numbers. A key point of publishing information is to provide the reader with an accurate picture for the results and providing quantitative information in its proper context is key. Using appropriate notation to present numbers is therefore important so rather than removing digits that are not deemed significant, it is better to present the data in a different notation by either using established SI-prefixes or scientific notation.
> 4 votes
# Answer
If you're specifically interested in the case of writing for a general audience, I think this problem can be usefully resolved by thinking about your choice of units. I have very little sense of what a global hectare actually is, or how to visualize it. So can you express these quantities in terms of units/objects that might be more accessible to your readers? See this and this for a discussion. Presumably, once you've moved to non-scientific units the arguments for precision fall away...
> 4 votes
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Tags: publications, authorship
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thread-9140 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9140 | Do teaching evaluations lead to lower standards in class? | 2013-04-04T21:21:54.923 | # Question
Title: Do teaching evaluations lead to lower standards in class?
In the somehow recent past, teaching evaluations have become obligatory in many universities/departments in Germany. I've also heard that sometimes these evaluations are used in formal ways to decide about salary raises or even hiring. For me it is pretty clear that a purely formal use of teaching evaluations is not a good idea, but my questions goes in a different direction. From time to time I read in newspapers and other kind of media that a side effect of these teaching evaluations is that
> "the solicitous professor who aims at good teaching evaluations usually lowers the level in class and gives good grades in general."
Myself I never did it like that and I have the feeling that giving an "easy" course where everyone is able to score good grades but does not learn very much will not be appreciated by the students.
My questions is:
> Do you know of any evidence for the claim that teaching evaluations encourage professors to lower standards and give better grades?
Note that I am not trying to deduce that the use of teaching evaluations in a formal way to decide about hiring or salary is a good thing; I am just not sure that "lowering standards and pampering students" is a major side effect of teaching evaluations.
# Answer
Jacob and Levitt have an article in the quarterly journal of economics that looks at teachers cheating in public schools due to compensation based on their class performance. They find that teachers will do things to help their students get higher grades if it affects their compensation.
Rotten Apples: An Investigation of the Prevalence and Predictors of Teacher Cheating. Quarterly Journal of Economics. 2003
An article by Nelson and Lynch look at the relationship between grade inflation and teaching evaluations suggesting professors buy better teacher evaluations with grades.
Grade Inflation, Real Income, Simultaneity, and Teaching Evaluations. The Journal of Economic Education. 1984.
> 31 votes
# Answer
It depends on what they are evaluating, and how.
I studied at a university in a mess of a country that was recovering from a period of war. The educational system was not just depressingly dated, it was also falling apart at the seams. Enthusiasts were trying to reform the system, and one of the bigger pushes in the right direction was achieved through course evaluations. This evaluation had questions such as these:
* How often does the lecturer show up for class?
* Does each lesson have a clear topic?
* Is it clear which parts of the printed course materials are covered in which lecture?
* Were all the exam questions linked to some printed course material?
* Does the lecturer answer students' questions?
* Is the lecturer available to students at any point outside the lectures?
* Does the lecturer use e-mail to correspond with students?
* Do you feel that the lecturer treated you unfairly at some point? How so?
* Do you feel that the lecturer engages in any problematic behaviors during class? Please describe.
* Did the lecturer ask you for any favors in return for a higher grade?
* What are, in your opinion, the good aspects of this course?
* What are the bad aspects?
...etc.
There were more questions - many were about lecturing style for example; these are just off the top of my head. Now, this evaluation made lecturers begin to come to class, made them finally pick textbooks, forced them to pick a topic for every lesson (rather than just rambling on), forced them to tell students which part of the book corresponds to which lecture so that students could read the materials in parallel. It also rapidly cut down on truly problematic behaviors such as smoking in class. Furthermore, it helped lecturers improve their performance through providing feedback on the strong and weak points of the course, at least as students saw them. Here, I think the evaluations very clearly helped improve standards in class, especially in truly problematic departments. The reason they helped was twofold: (1) there was a lot of room for improvement, and (2) the questions were well thought out, i.e. each question was linked to a particular goal in the educational reform.
I've also studied at a wonderful, well organized university where most of these questions would be completely ridiculous. There, the evaluations had questions such as:
* How many hours per week did you study for this course?
* How important would you say this course is for your overall academic development?
* Would you say this course was easy, just right, or difficult in terms of content?
* Do you think the lecturers evaluate students' knowledge fairly?
...etc.
I honestly have no clue what is gained by such an evaluation, and I hope nobody's salary depends on it. With the right (i.e. wrong) questions, I'm sure you could lower teaching standards by giving financial incentive to score well. The question, then, boils down to what the evaluation sheets look like. To the best of my knowledge, these are not standardized across universities, so the results may vary a lot.
> 23 votes
# Answer
Grade inflation has been an issue in the US since mid 1970s, so welcome to the club. See endgradeinflation.org. None of the attempts to curb it have been successful so far; the practice of student evaluations is deep-rooted in US colleges, and cannot be easily modified.
The uphill battle against grade inflation has been spearheaded by University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, one of top 5 large public US universities. They put a rather extensive research effort into figuring out the patterns of grade inflation. The cause, as you observed, is what economists call market failure, when the self-motivated actions of the players lead to outcomes that are worse for everybody. The employers of the graduates, and the grad programs they apply for, suffer the most, as they cannot distinguish good students from bad students. Organizations and student societies that rely solely on GPA (grade point average) discover great differences between disciplines: the humanities end of the spectrum have been hit the hardest by grade inflation, while engineering and sciences that have more specific assessment and evaluation criteria tend to produce lower grades. The opening page of this 2000 report provides a specific figure to answer your question: **about 15% increase in student evaluations associated with 1 standard deviation increase in the course average grade**. This standard deviation was 0.4 on the American scale that goes from 0 to 4; at the time of writing the report, the average GPA at UNC was 3.18.
In mid 2000s, UNC came up with an idea of an effective grade, called achievement index. In very simplistic terms, it essentially normalizes each class to have the same GPA. Each student is mapped onto a percentile implied by his grade in a given class, relative to the distribution of grades in this class; percentiles across all classes that a student took would be aggregated; and the ultimate student's achievement GPA would be reported based on the normative judgement of what the university wants to see as the average GPA and the range of grades. This idea is based on item-response theory, or can alternatively be explained using Bayesian methods (a maximum a posteriori estimate of student ability). As you can imagine, this literally caused a student unrest that UNC has not seen since the civil rights movement of the 1960s (o tempora o mores... how petty motives are these days), so the faculty chickened out and ruled against it.
Still, UNC has found a way to put the grades into the context by augmenting the transcript with the average GPA of other students who took this particular class, student's percentile in a given class, and the "schedule point average" = average GPA of all the students in the classes that a student took. The above link shows a clear picture of somebody who had a nominal GPA of 3.6, way up from the average GPA of classmates of 3.0, consistently performing above the median (7 grades above the median, 5 at the median, 0 below), vs. somebody who has only be able to achieve GPA of 2.5 in easier classes with average GPA of 3.2 (1 grade above the median, 3 at the median, 9 below).
The dramatic timeline (if you know how to read between the lines... I grew up in Soviet Union and have this unfortunate skill) of UNC attempts to deal with grade inflation is available here. Some other institutions are likely to use these or similar ideas, including another high-profile public school, Berkeley. (The administrator's claim that the university's computer system cannot handle the additional evaluation method is ridiculous; I could do these numbers on my laptop.)
> 15 votes
# Answer
I can offer only personal experience on this topic. However, I can say that I read the literature on course evaluations rather extensively in preparation for a past application for promotion. What I found was that there are passionate people on both sides of this debate. Some think course evaluations are the best thing since ice cream, while others believe they are responsible for grade inflation and overall lowering of standards. Based on my own experience, I tend to side with the latter group. I have been at the same institution for almost thirty years, and early in my career enjoyed very good course evaluations. After about ten to fifteen years, I notice that my evaluation scores began to erode. So, I started making things a bit easier for the students to get good grades, but nothing I felt uncomfortable with. My evaluation scores shot up noticably.
In recent years, the quality of our incoming students has slipped, and so have my evaluation scores once again. But this time, I do not feel I can make any more concessions to the students, at least if I want to retain the integrity of my course (and myself). At least at this point I have a good deal of job security, so I can hold my ground, even though students and administrators probably wish I wouldn't. Someone in a less secure position could face a serious moral or ethical dilemna in this situation. It is easy to see how grade inflation can happen.
In the U.S., we face the same problem with standardized testing. So much is at stake with these tests for high school students and teachers, that the whole process has devolved into teaching to the test as opposed to teaching for understanding. In my opinion, it will take a vocal effort by major public institution, and even private ones, to make any headway against teacher evaluations at the college level. That is not to say that professors and teachers are not to be held accountable for the conduct of their courses. Evaluation is necessary. The devil is in the details of finding the best way to do the evaluation. I don't think the current way is the right way.
According to some writers, peer evaluations are an even worse tool than student evaluations. StasK has written a great answer. Pay particular attention to the remark that administrators don't believe the univeersity computing system could handle the load. Administrators are quick to cite some technical limitation as to why they cannot do something. They seem to forget that they are talking to an audience that contains experts who know that their arguments don't hold water.
> 8 votes
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Tags: teaching, evaluation-criteria, course-evaluation
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thread-23130 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23130 | What should I ask my potential Ph.D advisor in advance, before actually signing a contract? | 2014-06-09T11:58:21.570 | # Question
Title: What should I ask my potential Ph.D advisor in advance, before actually signing a contract?
I'm currently applying for a Ph.D in Germany. Next week I'm sitting down with my potential Ph.D advisor to have a talk about the program.
Currently I'm collecting questions about things like
* teaching duties included?
* working hours
* what's the salary?
* vacation?
* budget for conferences?
I think I'm missing some important stuff.
My real question is: **What should I ask my potential Ph.D advisor in advance, before actually signing a contract / starting?**
(The question What questions should one ask to the former/current students of a professor before deciding whether to do PhD under him/her? is related, but I feel it doesn't fit my situation)
# Answer
I would add:
* What the average time-to-PhD is, and how many percent roughly drop out (although this is a question that is much better asked to other PhD students, as you may easily hear somewhat "tuned" numbers here)
* Paper authorship policy (via mhwombat's comment) - however, note that theory and practice may diverge quite strongly in this topic. This is again something better asked the colleagues.
* Grant / project duties - if you are e.g., paid by an FP7 or H2020 project, your project work may cost you *much more* time than teaching duties
* Administrative duties
* How free you will be in choosing whom to collaborate with, and what topics to collaborate on
* Whether you will be required to work on other projects on the side (e.g., consulting work, paid research, etc.)
* Whether you will be expected to help with writing grant proposals (time sink number one if yes)
* Whether there is a culture for working from home
* What office / lab space you will get, how many other students you share it with
* Whether it will be possible for you to do an internship, e.g., over the summer.
There may be more. I will extend the list once I remember more important things.
> 23 votes
# Answer
In addition to xLeitix's list, here are a few more considerations:
* With whom in the group will you be directly interacting?
* How often can you expect to be able to meet with the institute leader, as well as your direct supervisor?
* What are the expectations for you to be able to graduate (paper output, etc.)
To directly answer two of your questions:
* Vacation time is regulated by German law. You should expect to be able to take between 5 and 6 weeks of vacation per year, with the amount of time escalating with age. This should be in addition to the official holidays. How your advisor expects you to take the time, however, may be a suitable subject for discussion.
* Salary depends on your funding source and field. If you are funded as a standard *Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter* (academic employee), then your salary and benefits are calculated according to Group E13 of the TV-L scheme. Your salary will be some percentage of this—typically 50% or 100%, depending on field. Presuming you have not been employed full-time for at least a year somewhere prior to beginning your position, you will probably start at TV-L 13/1. (Note, however, that this determination is largely made by the HR staff at the university; a professor can recommend a higher starting position with a valid reason.)
> 18 votes
# Answer
If you are interviewing for a Ph.D. position in Germany, the supervisor will probably already know what you will be working on, since he will have gotten a grant on some particular topic, and you will be the warm body to actually do the work. So, in addition to everything else already mentioned:
* What is the specific project that will pay your salary? Can the supervisor send you a copy of the successful grant proposal? Read that proposal carefully, especially concerning any timetables and financial information.
* How much leeway will you have in actually implementing the grant proposal?
* Presumably, the grant proposal builds on previous work by the supervisor's working group. Can you talk to current Ph.D. students working on the topic? What are the specific challenges in this topic? Would it be possible to get any additional information, like manuscripts? Will you have to take over existing stuff, like experiments that are already running, or legacy code (which pretty much nobody wants)?
The goal would be to get a feeling for the topic you will be working on for the next couple of years. Will this be something you can get sufficiently excited about?
And of course there are additional questions. In no particular order:
* What kind of supporting infrastructure is in place? Is there a full-time sysadmin, or will you keep your IT running by yourself? Is there a statistician to help you with data analysis? Somebody technical to keep the apparatuses running? Someone to feed the lab rats? Or will all this be your responsibility?
* If you are interested in this kind of thing: is there a possibility for you to work in a different lab for a few months, perhaps abroad? This kind of thing can be enormously valuable for your network.
@aeismail already mentioned asking how often you will meet with your supervisor, and I think this is one of the most important questions. If your supervisor tells you that he meets with each and every Ph.D. student once a week for half an hour, great. If you only meet once a semester when you give a seminar talk... not so great.
> 8 votes
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Tags: phd, advisor
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thread-23147 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23147 | How to interest a researcher in a topic (social science)? | 2014-06-09T20:15:04.167 | # Question
Title: How to interest a researcher in a topic (social science)?
I have created a thesis related to the objective utility and evaluation of art. It is based on many years of personal experience in the arts, as well as many years of study into the philosophy of aesthetics.
I believe this thesis could be tested quantitatively by a trained social scientist, and that the results would hold both scientific and commercial interest.
Is there any possibility an academic researcher (either a grad student or a professor) might take on research on a thesis he or she didn't originate? If so, what would be the best route to connect with that person, and how would the idea need to be presented (and/or what preliminary work would need to be completed first)?
# Answer
It would be a fairly difficult process.
Firstly, you would need to convince someone that you aren't a crank and are worth listening to. Once they listen to you, you'll have to convince them that your work is of such import that they should stop working on their current projects—you can assume that everyone is at full capacity already, and that adding your project to their task will decrease their involvement elsewhere—to research on your topic. Most academics are academically motivated by the love of their field, the possibility of getting one or more respected publications, and the prospect of getting a grant, not necessarily in that order. You can only appeal to the first two, and likely only the first one. That's not a very strong argument.
You also stated in your opening question "I believe this thesis could be tested quantitatively by a **trained social scientist**...". The implication here is that you are not such an individual. (I'm not speaking of degrees, I'm simply speaking in terms of experience in performing academic-level research and analytics.) In that case, are you certain your research thus far is valid? Your entire thesis could be based on faulty statistics, poor sampling, a misunderstanding of some fundamental concept, etc.
Long story short, you have an uphill battle ahead of you.
> 3 votes
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Tags: research-process, social-science
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thread-21953 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21953 | Can you do research in same field as your diploma and another field at the same time? | 2014-06-04T19:31:36.237 | # Question
Title: Can you do research in same field as your diploma and another field at the same time?
How liberal are institutions with regard to doing research in a different (unrelated) field than the person's diploma?
For example, if a person with a diploma in pure mathematics wants also to do research and programming in IT (specifically in XML), can he do it in his work time?
Does it makes sense to obtain a second diploma (Is Bachelor enough?) in order to be able to refresh the brain by switching between two different jobs during work time?
# Answer
I'm doing my diploma as an electrical engineer and I will start a phd in operations research. So that's possible.
I think it is a lot about what skills you bring. At first, which skills can be useful for the institution where you gonna start. Also the question is, if your skills are enough for your special phd topic...
If you are a pure mathematican with no skills whatsoever in XML that would be hard. But if you attained some skills in XML on your "pure mathematics" path, it may be possible.
> 3 votes
# Answer
> How liberal are institutions with regard to doing research in a different (unrelated) field than the person's diploma?
You can do research in whatever field you are qualified to do research in, regardless of what it says on your diploma.
Certainly it may be more difficult to convince someone to hire you in a field other than the one your degree is in; but it is possible, if you can show that you are qualified to do research in that field.
> For example, if a person with diploma in pure mathematics wants also to do research and programming in IT (specifically in XML), can he do it in his work time?
You are not necessarily restricted to research jobs in the same department as your diploma.
However, research jobs are typically offered for a single area (which may be a multidisciplinary area, but won't be two completely unrelated areas).
You could theoretically (if you are qualified to work in both areas) have a part-time research position in a mathematics department and a part-time research position in an IT department. (Though I would not necessarily advise this.) You cannot, however, have a full-time job doing mathematics research, but do mathematics research part-time and IT research part-time.
> Does it makes sense to obtain a second diploma (Is Bachelor enough?) in order to be able to refresh the brain by switching between two different jobs during work time?
Splitting your time between unrelated areas means that you are spending half as much time on research as others in your field (for each field). This makes it more difficult to develop deep expertise/experience in either field.
You can "refresh the brain" by switching between different kinds of tasks within one job - e.g., between creative research, writing research results, dealing with administrative stuff, reading papers, etc. - or by working on multiple projects in the same field.
However, if you are sure you want two different jobs, and you are not qualified to work in the second field without a diploma in that field, then go ahead and get one. The idea of having two unrelated research jobs makes no sense to me, though.
> 3 votes
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Tags: research-process, career-path, multidisciplinary
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thread-23119 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23119 | Is there a university that has only graduate programs? | 2014-06-09T07:47:52.807 | # Question
Title: Is there a university that has only graduate programs?
Is there any university in the United States (or Europe) fully committed to graduate programs (master and PhD)?
Why this is not a common scheme? Why research universities are not interested in this model? Without huge number of undergraduate students, a university can save money on campus expenses, and heavily uses its resources for research.
# Answer
> 18 votes
There *are* some universities that offer primarily postgraduate degrees; Wikipedia has a list. Some notable examples on this list are Rockefeller University (US) and the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel).
However, this doesn't necessarily save money; undergraduates in the United States typically pay tuition, after all. Other sources of income for universities in the United States (such as federal Pell grants) also apply only to undergraduate students. Furthermore, having a local population of undergraduate students allows budding academics (PhD students) to get teaching experience.
# Answer
> 8 votes
I don't think it's a common scheme, but such places do exist (e.g., the Austrian Institute of Technology).
In Europe, the main reason why there are not more of these places is that it is damn hard to get public funding for them (and most universities around here are funded almost exclusively by the state). Simply put, the main incentive for the government to fund universities is **undergraduate teaching**, hence getting them to pay for a university without any of those is a tough sell. We tended to half-jokingly mention that teaching undergraduates is our day job, which we do to support our breadless research.
The above-mentioned AIT is a special case, in the sense that it is pretty young and mostly the result of a political process. That is, it was not a "scientific decision" to get the AIT started, but a political reaction to divert public attention away from the ever-sinking buget for the regular universities.
# Answer
> 6 votes
Behold the Claremont Graduate University and the Keck Graduate Institute.
It's a little of a cheat, though; both are part of the Claremont Colleges consortium whose other five members are undergraduate-only institutions.
# Answer
> 5 votes
University of California at San Francisco offers only graduate degrees. From the aforelinked web page:
> UCSF is unique in that it only offers graduate degrees (meaning it does not have an undergraduate student population).
# Answer
> 2 votes
What you call is a research institute, not a university.
For example, my institute ICFO - The Institute of Photonic Sciences does not have undergraduate students (except for some visitors/interns). Some Master's and mostly - PhD students.
And at least in Europe such institutes are common (or at least - not uncommon).
> a university can save money on campus expenses
Undergrads are the ones bringing money, if anything. ;)
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Tags: research-process, graduate-school, university, united-states, united-kingdom
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thread-21766 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21766 | How to cite a lab manual? | 2014-06-01T07:16:59.647 | # Question
Title: How to cite a lab manual?
While looking for information on how to perform a particular basic lab technique, I found the lab manual from another university's undergraduate lab course. This lab manual illustrates the technique very well, with concise description, useful tips on fine points of the procedure and nice, helpful pictures of how the procedure should be performed.
In my research notes, I try to cite relevant material in a format resembling usual citation styles of well-known journals, both to build a habit and because it happens to be a good way to keep track of precisely what information I based my decisions on.
However, this lab manual does not have a DOI or ISBN and the PDF itself does not provide enough information to uniquely identify it in a traditional fashion. By looking at the URL it was posted under, I can deduce a fair bit regarding exactly what course this document pertains to (in my particular case, it seems to be the 2013/2014 version of the lab manual of the Bi204 course at Boston University, hosted here). What is the best way to cite it, to ensure that future readers of my notebook will be able to follow the citation without being hopelessly confused about which document I am talking about?
* In theory, I can keep searching for other, more "formal" texts such as journal publications, then cite those. However, I don't want to do this. Firstly, I would be doing extra work to find what I already have discovered. Second, the manual is exceptionally well written and it will be hard to find other sources which provide the same information just as clearly. Third, I would like to give credit to the person who was actually the most helpful to me in my own reasoning.
* I could just cite the reference given by the lab manual, but many of the issues I raise for the previous point apply.
* I could cite the URL, but what if a year later the web page changes drastically, and the version of the notebook I used disappears?
I would like to, to the extent that is reasonably possible, provide the means for locating this lab manual to anyone reading my notes in the far future, even if the original author removes the manual from the web page I found it at. And I would like to provide this information in a style that conforms to established citation practices of scientific writing. How can I do this?
# Answer
> 7 votes
BibTeX knows how to deal with this, using the entry type `@manual`:
```
@manual{abc,
organization = {University of Neverland},
author = {John Doe},
title = {Manual for ABC123},
year = {2012},
}
```
If you don't know the author because it is not listed in the document, you can omit the field. The name of the university will be used instead.
# Answer
> 5 votes
In principle, this should be cited as if it were a book. Remember that ISBN's and URL's aren't a normal part of bibliographic references, so the fact that it did not go through a "standard" publishing process doesn't really matter:
> Author, T. *Laboratory Manual for Course X*. City: University, Year.
or whatever the comparable formatting for your style guide is. (Note, write the name of the university, rather than indicating a "university press.")
# Answer
> 2 votes
Although this does not address the question of how to cite a lab manual, I did find out how to cite *this particular lab manual*. The author has informed me that there is in fact an ISBN, `978-0-7380-6200-6` (though I don't think it is listed in all the major databases), and the correct way to cite it would be:
> O'Connor, Clare M. (2013) *Investigations in Molecular Cell Biology*. Hayden-McNeill Publishing Co., Plymouth MI.
I suppose the moral of the story is that asking the author can indeed be productive for questions about how to attribute a source.
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Tags: citations, note-taking
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thread-23152 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23152 | How can I find a PhD position to work on a highly specific idea of my own? | 2014-06-09T21:30:54.943 | # Question
Title: How can I find a PhD position to work on a highly specific idea of my own?
I know exactly what I would like to research within my field, however, the ideas are too specific and indeed one of my feedbacks for the reject of one of my PhD applications based on my personal statement was that the university did not have the staff researching my interests.
My friend told me that being too specific, I limit my opportunities. On the other hand, being more general I would risk that I would have to research what the supervisors tell me to and therefore postpone solving the question I am interested in.
What are general strategies for finding appropriate places for studying PhD for someone who has a specific research problem one would like to solve? I am afraid that I may face a similar problem later when searching for a postdoc or an academic place in some research group.
# Answer
You should look for faculty working in the field that you are interested in researching, and then pitch your research idea directly to them.
Make sure that you do a good job with a preliminary review of the literature for your idea and understand the professor's specific research interests, so that your letter does not sound like any of the hundreds of mail-merge messages that professors get every week.
If your idea is really worthwhile and you do a good targeted job of pitching it, changes are that someone will agree to work with you on it. However, the reality is that most students come into a PhD without a really good sense of existing literature or the feasibility of their ideas. It is for this reason that there is great value in being open-minded about your PhD thesis.
Many students make the mistake of thinking that the PhD should be the pinnacle of their career, solving some grand problem in human existence. This might happen for a few figures in history, but, more typically, the PhD is the *start* of a research career and not the *end* of it.
> 11 votes
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Tags: phd, research-process, graduate-admissions
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thread-23138 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23138 | Is it legal to use tourist visa waiver for academic visits? | 2014-06-09T14:22:55.270 | # Question
Title: Is it legal to use tourist visa waiver for academic visits?
All countries have visa waiver for certain nationals, but it is only for touristic purpose. People use this scheme for attending scientific meetings (isn't it some kind of business trip?).
Anyway, academic visits, in which the guest is paid, is definitely a business trip. For example, when an academic organize a paid two-week course in the host university, or when visiting for a join project in which he is paid.
For example, a German academic traveling to the United States for two weeks for working on a NSF-funded project in which he is paid.
1. Is it theoretically illegal to travel without Business Visa for such academic visits?
2. If yes, how often it happens in practice?
# Answer
> 27 votes
Each country might have different rules, but in the example you're considering, you can benefit from the US Visa Waiver program for business purposes if you would qualify for a Business Visitor Visa (B-1):
> **Lecturer or speaker**: No salary or income from a U.S. based company/entity, other than expenses incidental to the visit. If honorarium will be received, activities can last no longer than nine days at any single institution or organization; payment must be offered by an institution or organization described in INA 212(q); honorarium is for services conducted for the benefit of the institution or entity; and visa applicant will not have accepted such payment or expenses from more than five institutions or organizations over the last six months.
>
> **Researcher**: Independent research, no salary/income from a U.S. based source, or benefit to U.S. institution.
Researchers who receive US payment should apply for a Temporary Worker (H-1B) Visa or Exchange Visitor (J) Visa. So, to answer your first question: **if the guest is paid** (other than an honorarium, and in addition to have his/her expenses covered), then **travelling on the visa waiver program is theoretically illegal**. Otherwise, if could be legal. Check with the legal team at the US institution.
About whether it happens in practice, I doubt you'll find plenty of people who are happy to claim they are doing something illegal.
# Answer
> 14 votes
The visa waiver program of some countries allow for business trips.
For the USA
> You are eligible to apply for admission under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) if you:
>
> * Intend to enter the United States for 90 days or less for business, pleasure or transit
> * Have a valid passport lawfully issued to you by a Visa Waiver Program country
For US passport holders to the UK
> You don’t need a visa if you’re coming to the UK for activities allowed under the following visas:
>
> * a business visitor
# Answer
> 7 votes
One answer is that what people commonly call “tourist visas” really aren't. The distinctions are more complex than business vs. tourism.
For example, short-stay Schengen visas are valid for many different purposes (you do need to declare what you intend to do on the application form and if you are going to work you also need a separate authorization but they are by no means restricted to tourism). The US B1/B2 visa also covers various purposes.
Similarly, visa waiver programs or their equivalent also cover many purposes. So if your citizenship allows you to visit the Schengen area without a visa, you can certainly do it to participate in an academic conference or meet colleagues for a joint project.
At the same time, as others already wrote, working usually follows other rules and it seems your scenario would fall under this category in many countries. In the US, even a “business visa” is not enough in that case. In the Schengen area, you would use the same visa than for a conference (or no visa at all, if your citizenship allows it) but you would also need a separate authorization to get the visa. You wouldn't get the visa without either lying about the purpose of the trip or presenting that document.
# Answer
> 5 votes
To clarify the comments on the original question, there is a huge difference between attending a conference, speaking (uncompensated) at the conference, and being a headline item at the conference.
If you are simply attending a conference / meeting you can typically use a visitor visa. These are short-term, no-money-to-you events that happen daily, immigration has a standard process.
If you are doing something and getting paid **by your home country / primary employer** for it, most places will consider it to be the same. A company in their country hired a company in your country to do something, you are the something. Technicians, trainers etc. are similar.
If you are doing something and getting paid **in the other country** then you do not fall into the (slightly expanded) Tourist/Short term visitor category. A featured speaker would be considered "working" no matter how the money is handled. Another way to think about the distinction is "Can another person do the job just as well?" In the case of a technician, the answer is usually "yes".
Also note that immigration in many places (UK, AU, CA, US etc) interpret "compensation" rather broadly. If you received anything of value in exchange for your services, you are working. If the local contact is charging money for you specifically, you are working. Plenty of people have been bounced because their plans were building a deck in exchange for accommodation & entertainment (items that normally have value).
Notable examples you can find on YouTube:
A puppeteer was refused by the UK because he was intending to do a weekend seminar that charged participants. No work visa.
A chef was refused by AU because she had "tools of the trade" (kitchen knives) in her baggage. Knives are not a problem, but when you are a chef and also have 30 resumes in your bags......
A very large (all muscle), tattooed German man was going to AU to supervise work his company in Germany had been contracted to do. Immigration had no problem with the work - it fell under the technician principle. They refused him because of several criminal convictions and a decent amount of jail time, all of which he noted on his documents. And he probably scared them (although he was actually very pleasant and polite, that could probably change very quickly). They also said that if he applies for a formal visa through the embassy he will likely be accepted.
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Tags: funding, travel, visa
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thread-23150 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23150 | Who should pursue a Ph.D degree? | 2014-06-09T20:55:56.190 | # Question
Title: Who should pursue a Ph.D degree?
I am asking myself the question "Should I do PhD or should I leave academia and go for an industrial career?"
My life-goal is being a professor. And I love to do research.
PhD is surely a bite that not everyone can chew. But I wonder *who* can chew it?
I never was good at tests and exams. My BSc. GPA was 2.84/4.00 but finished my MSc. with 3.50/4.00
However, currently I am working on a conference paper and I feel like even that is too much for me. It has been nearly 3 months and still, the paper draft is to be improved (not the wording but the content).
I am surely a hard-worker but not always. Sometimes, I let go of my work and absorbed in other stuff (composing, amateur radio etc). If this period is too wide, I have to spend double effort to warm-up and remember where I left.
I don't know how things work in PhD. It usually is 5-6 years. It is the one of two most-challenging milestones in academic career (the other is getting the title Assoc. Prof).
Should I completely be a "nerd" and work on my thesis systematically (something I could never make in my entire life) or working periodically but with extra effort is still sufficient?
So, here's my question: If I say "I'm considering to do PhD" and ask your advice, what would you ask me? What kind of skills/characteristics do you look for a potential academician?
I know it is way too late for me to ask this kind of question, as a person who almost finished his master's degree. But better lose the saddle than the horse.
# Answer
> So, here's my question: If I say "I'm considering to do PhD" and ask your advice, what would you ask me? What kind of skills/characteristics do you look for a potential academician?
The first questions I would ask is: are you really interested in the subject? Can you imagine spending the next 5+ years thinking about pretty much nothing else? Why do you want to do a PhD in the first place?
> However, currently I am working on a conference paper and I feel like even that is too much for me. It has been nearly 3 months and still, the paper draft is to be improved (not the wording but the content).
Now imagine the same thing but replace 3 month with 3 years.
> Sometimes, I let go of my work and absorbed in other stuff.
This is also not very helpful for pursuing a PhD.
I think in most fields (that might be different for some fields of science) getting a PhD is only for people who want to do research. Apart from that it is only a waste of time and money. So the question you should ask yourself is not: Am I able to get a PhD? But rather: Do I want to get a PhD?
However, if you decided that you really want to give it a try: talk to someone from your university about it, maybe the supervisor of your thesis. Grades are not always a good indicator of the quality as a researcher.
---
EDIT:
> My life-goal is being a professor. And I love to do research.
That answers most of the questions.
> But I don't know if I'm capable of doing a Ph.D.
No one here can answer this question. You should try to talk to a professor at your university, the supervisor of your Master's Thesis, or someone who is doing research you are interested in. However, do not let your grades disencourage you, I know many students who had pretty bad grades but are great as PhD students and many excellent students who struggle with their research.
> 13 votes
# Answer
Among the people who should pursue a PhD degree are the ones who can write:
> My life-goal is being a professor. And I love to do research.
This is the number one reason to get into grad school. However, it's not clear at this point that you have an accurate idea of what it means, on a daily basis, to work in research.
Sure there are fun times fiddling with the knobs of expensive equipment, drawing equations on napkins until late in the night, traveling to exotic conference locations like Baltimore, etc. There are also these brief moments when you feel like an undergrad actually learned something from you, and those where you share inside jokes that you can tell for sure only your advisor and yourself can understand. I recall a quote from a senior researcher in my field saying "Can you believe that they pay us to do what we love?".
But there are other aspects that are less glamorous. Administrative work, data bookkeeping, *actual* bookkeeping, wondering what you will do with your life, filing grant applications, etc. There is the anguish about funding, the frustration of aborted projects, the time and energy wasted in dealing with department politics.
And there is teaching which can be both a joy and a pain in the neck.
> My BSc. GPA was 2.84/4.00 but finished my MSc. with 3.50/4.00
I don't know what GPA is, nor how to interpret your grade, but the context tells me that you think they could be better. Passing exams and conducting research are different jobs, not being excellent at one does not mean you can't be good at the second one (a) although it often helps; b) the reverse is also true). It will make things harder for you when applying to grad school, but after that it becomes irrelevant. What matters more is *what you actually learned*, some people have ok grades but understood a great deal of the concepts.
> I let go of my work and absorbed in other stuff
That you will have to work on. There is an *infinite* number of things that you can do but work on your research. Nobody will force you to do it since pretty much the only one who will suffer from your procrastination will be you. The good news (sort of) is that you are not alone...
> What kind of skills/characteristics do you look for a potential academician?
There are many, and most of them overlap with what it needs to achieve a successful career in the industry. But I don't know any successful researcher who is not *thorough*. Being creative sure is necessary, but it's the easiest part. What will make you stand out is when you can discipline yourself into rigorously testing them.
It also help if you know how to sell your ideas. Researchers hate to admit it but a significant factor in their success relates to how well they can convey a message. (Note that bad communication is an indicator of bad science, but it gives a lot of false positive).
> 11 votes
# Answer
You sound a lot like me when I was thinking about doing a PhD, albeit you aim to be a professor, and while I like the idea I'm not so fussed about the administrative side of being in a university.
If you have a tendency to concentrate on whatever is the most interesting thing in front of you, then I would very strongly advise proceeding if and only if you find a good, hands-on supervisor. Ask their previous doctoral students how often they met with them in the first few years - some supervisors will see you once a month or so, others I have heard meet their students individually or collectively several times a week.
In the UK, PhDs are usually 3 years. And the rough schedule is that for the first year you look at one or more problems, trying to understand how you might make some progress. In the second year, you make some small advance on one project and try in vain to develop the project into a more concrete thesis. In the third year you accept that your small advance was all you are going to get, and write it up. The slow pace of progress in the second year commonly causes distress or apathy.
In order to complete such a project, you either need to be personally very disciplined or be part of a team (you, your supervisor, perhaps some peers) that can keep you honest - remember that rubber-ducking is a vital part of academic work; most academics in the UK will congregate in the department kitchen once or twice a day just to talk to other academics, because often just explaining yourself gets you closer to a solution. Similarly, you need people to ask you where you've got to so that you don't just disappear off for a month because you're faced with something annoying and your symphony suddenly seems fascinating.
I struggled with this; my supervisor was hands-off, my peers were in very different fields (I was a theorist among experimentalists for a start) and I didn't really understand my own character enough to see what was happening.
One of my peers had a supervisor who used to take students through rigorous textbooks, and expect them to grasp whole chapters to be quizzed on - the sound of it terrified me, but in retrospect the foundations are well worth laying. Instead I often disappeared down dead-ends because I was unaware of entire fields of research, and just didn't have the terminology or context to find them.
So, in sum, you have some well-placed concerns, but the answer is not just whether you are capable of a PhD but whether you are in the context of your supervisor, peers and department.
> 7 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-school, career-path
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thread-23170 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23170 | My department is not concerned with publishing, is this a valid reason to move to a different one? | 2014-06-10T09:21:54.090 | # Question
Title: My department is not concerned with publishing, is this a valid reason to move to a different one?
I received a scholarship from a funding organization to do my PhD. I chose a department within a reputable research center to do my PhD at, and I did start working there 2 months ago.
My career ambitions are to proceed in the academic career path, eventually becoming a professor in my field.
As far as I know, your experience as an academic (or as a researcher) is defined based on your h-index, citations count and publications count. The more strong papers I publish during and after my PhD, the better position I can get in the future. Please correct me if I am wrong about this.
Now in the place I started working at, turned out to be more of an engineering department. They are not concerned with publishing as much as they are concerned with applications to show off to the industry. Most of the PhD students working here intend to work in the industry (factories or companies). Absolutely no PhD student here is intending to work in Academia.
I am very concerned that I might be at the wrong place. I was hoping the place where I do my PhD at would encourage publishing, and involve me in their publications. I still need to learn how to do proper evaluations in our field, I thought that's how I learn it, by getting involved in papers they submit at top venues (not necessarily being a co-author, but just to learn by observing). They are not concerned with submitting papers to top venues because they think their work is more of applications than the research such venues would expect. Moreover, from their perspective it is not worth the effort, because it won't give them better chances in the industry.
Nevertheless, they understand my situation and they will support me financially and by providing resources if I decide to publish at top conferences. But I just feel now there's no hope I can learn to write a high quality paper given these conditions.
As I mentioned at the beginning, my funding comes from a third-party organization. Technically I can switch to a different department, and there is a department I have in mind that belongs to another branch of that same research center, located in a nearby city, they are more research-oriented and they work in the same field. It will not be easy to do that and I will have wasted a lot of time by the time I move out, but it is still doable.
So.. is it worth the hassle?
P.S. These events are taking place in Europe, where in most of the cases you spend your entire period as a PhD student working on your thesis, unlike the courses-then-thesis style in USA.
# Answer
> I did start working there 2 months ago.
and
> It will not be easy to do that and I will have wasted a lot of time by the time I move out
don't fit well together. If you're worried about the 2 months you've spent, I'd say that's insignificant. If you're worried that it might take (with application processing etc) upto a year, I'd say the same thing. Think of a 30-40 year long research career. A year (or 2 months) is not a long time.
It sounds like you've done your homework and have a plan for what you want to do, and you're just worried about taking the leap. Take it ! You only get one career, and taking action to further it is always "worth the hassle".
> 22 votes
# Answer
Not all choices are binary. This may be one of those situations where this applies.
Is there a way for you to "transition over" from one group to the other? If the group you're currently working with is supportive (and this seems to be the case), would they be OK with you starting a collaborative project with the new group while you complete the paperwork process? That way you can get started on research before everything is formalized, and perhaps your old group can find some new collaborators for future projects.
> 9 votes
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Tags: phd, research-process, publications, conference
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thread-23176 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23176 | I discovered a mistake in my own published workshop paper, how do I handle errata? | 2014-06-10T10:21:08.800 | # Question
Title: I discovered a mistake in my own published workshop paper, how do I handle errata?
I am PhD student and the main author of a research-in-progress report in computer science. The paper is already published at a *workshop* (in the proceedings, this is not a journal paper) and was presented there a few months ago.
While continuing to work on the topic of the paper, I discovered a mistake I did in the already published workshop paper. A value that is referred to twice in the paper is wrong; it is still unusually high but lower than reported. The value is also mentioned in the summary of the paper. First I told my coauthors who sit in the next room in the same institute.
Now I want to publish an Erratum on my academic website.
My first idea is to publish a text file next to the download like that is labeled "erratum" (it is a single mistake). As an example for this "text file", I looked at the following webpage.
My second idea is to change the author version of my workshop paper that is downloadable as PDF file from my website. My current idea is to solve this via a footnote in the PDF version of the paper. So how would I handle that? Do I correct the value and add a footnote saying that the original published value was wrong and explain the mistake? The other option that I think is unsuitable is the following: to leave the wrong value in the paper and add a footnote that explains that this value was a mistake and give the correct value in the footnote?
Also, are there websites on how to handle errata for conference/workshop papers in technical fields like computer science? Please note also that in my field conference papers are quite important (e.g., the POPL conference) while in some other fields only journal papers count (sort of).
# Answer
Mistakes happen. I would say that since it's a conference proceedings, therefore often the presented work is short of proofs, it's work in progress and it's very quickly baked, mistakes happen.
It is probably impossible to post errata to the paper. I would suggest the following steps:
* If you put it on arXiv, upload a new corrected version.
* If you put it on your personal webpage, add the errata there.
* Make sure that once you sumbit it for journal publication, the mistake is correted.
> 8 votes
# Answer
A published paper is a published paper so if your paper has a unique identifier (e.g. doi) and is considered an official publication, I do not think it is a good idea to make versions of the paper with differing information. That would just cause confusion since the reference would still be the same (you cannot publish the same paper twice with only a number changed).
If you publish with a regular journal, it would not be problematic to publish an errata in the same journal explaining the error. It is also possible to publish a correspondence where the error is discussed and hopefully convincingly shown not to alter the conclusions made in the original paper. Which way is applicable in each case can be discussed with the editor of the journal and also the best way to proceed. So contacting the journal and editor is a good first step to find out the best way forward.
You are of course entitled to provide this information on your own web site but the problem may be that it will be lost to most people reading your paper that way. Hence trying to get a published correction is the best way forward. A journal should be able to link the errata to the original article so that anyone interested in the paper will find the correction at the same time.
How this relates to a conference is unclear to me and is something you need to research for your specific case.
> 6 votes
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Tags: publications, conference, computer-science, errors-erratum
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thread-23109 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23109 | Is the signature track on coursera useful for MS admissions? | 2014-06-09T00:40:17.150 | # Question
Title: Is the signature track on coursera useful for MS admissions?
I read through the forum and the opinion seems to be that doing a MOOC is equivalent of reading a book on that subject. This is largely because of that you can cheat through a MOOC.
So what if I join a signature track on a MOOC such as the one of Coursera ? I haven't ever tried a signature track out, but they capture your photo and recognize the way you write to ascertain if you have genuinely gone through the work or not.
Even american council of education is acknowledging this ....
How is this a duplicate of that question :|
# Answer
At best, MOOC's are going to be viewed just like any other course on your transcript—they're not going to make it or break it anymore than any other course that you can take. However, as many people have pointed out, MOOC's are also viewed with substantial suspicion, in part because of their low completion rate and because of the difficulties with quality assurance.
So I would ultimately say that a MOOC probably has little or no advantage over a comparable course offered at your university. If it's something that is both highly relevant and not available at your university, that's another story—but then that should be clearly stated in your application as well!
> 2 votes
# Answer
It is unlikely that listing the completion of a MOOC on your CV will have any meaningful contribution to admission into a graduate program. The weight of this type of educational experience does not parallel that of credit-based coursework. However, in your narrative, you can describe a MOOC experience as evidence of your motivation and independence in learning / work.
> 0 votes
# Answer
I am not in any admissions committee, so I am more or less guessing here.
A MOOC shows you have interest in the subject, and that you have a basic knowledge (you are familiar with the topics and some vocabulary). This knowledge is very easy to test in an interview by a few basic questions, so having a signed track will not add much to it.
Nevertheless, the skills learned during the course can be a good point if they are a good complement for your degree. For example, if you are a physicist wanting to get into experimental data analysis, knowing machine learning is very useful; but most Physics programs do not include this as subject. On the other hand, taking a programming course for a CS adds next to nothing.
An advantage of MOOCs is that you can take them for free, and you can just sign up for several of them just to see if the topic interests you, so they have a very low cost of opportunity. If you sign up for a university class, you have to pay for it (depending on the country) and/or actually see it to completion. Even if you find the topic too hard, too easy, completely irrelevant, or poorly taught.
> 0 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, mooc
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thread-23187 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23187 | Still waiting for comments on my draft - what to do? | 2014-06-10T14:01:22.270 | # Question
Title: Still waiting for comments on my draft - what to do?
Some weeks ago I completed the first draft a paper. I then decided to approach one of the experts in the field, who is working at the same school as I. She seemed interested and were willing to read the draft. However I sent her the draft ~ 5 weeks ago, and I have not heard from her since then.
I am now wondering if this is normal? Can I send her an e-mail and ask if she has looked at it yet (or is that considered inappropriate?).
I am getting quite stressed about this, the reason being that my advisor expects a draft of a new paper soon, and it would be valuable to have her comments before I talk to my own supervisor (who knows less about the subject I am writing my paper about).
# Answer
> 10 votes
After 5 weeks, I think you can safely assume that she has forgotten about it. You can either accept that you will not hear back from her, or send a polite reminder.
Most people do not mind a **friendly** reminder about tasks that they have committed to but forgotten about. It is definitely not inappropriate. However, it is of course possible that she simply has no time after all, but then the right thing for her to do is to just tell you.
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Tags: writing
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thread-23160 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23160 | What does "DeWitt W. Buchanan, Jr." in a professor's title mean? | 2014-06-10T02:29:59.763 | # Question
Title: What does "DeWitt W. Buchanan, Jr." in a professor's title mean?
I've got to cite the author of a text and her full title is
> Jeanne Brett, DeWitt W. Buchanan, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Dispute Resolution and Organizations; Director of the Dispute Resolution Research Center
I'm at a loss, her name is Jeanne Brett so why is this person's name in her title? When I google "dewitt w. buchanan" all I get is entries for `DeWitt W. Buchanan` or this professor. What does it mean in academia terms, is this a prize, the name of an institute, an honorific title, is it important to cite it when talking about the professor?
I could have posted it to ELU, but it seems something very idiomatic to academia. So...help ?
# Answer
You would list the "DeWitt W. Buchanan, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Dispute Resolution and Organizations" if you were, for instance, issuing a press release about Prof. Brett's accomplishments, or writing very formal correspondence. You might also mention it if you were introducing Prof. Brett in a seminar.
Under most normal circumstances, however, such information is not needed, and could come across as being almost pretentious.
As for what the "Dewitt W. Buchanan, Jr., Distinguished Professor" represents, it's what's known as an *endowed chair* or *named chair*. Mr. Buchanan was the person honored by the chair—either because he gave the money to establish the chair himself, or others gave the money on his behalf or in his honor.
> 26 votes
# Answer
It looks like the professorship she holds was named in honor of Mr. Buchanan. You shouldn't need to include it when you cite her.
> 14 votes
# Answer
This is a so-called "chair" professorship, where the "chair" was endowed by a wealthy man named DeWitt W. Buchanan Jr.
That means that the donation given by Mr. Buchanan Jr. was large enough to pay the holder of the "chair" over her probable tenure, so he gets to have his name attached to the work of that one professor.
> 3 votes
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Tags: professorship, titles
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thread-23164 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23164 | Must a PI who collected data but did not contribute to its final analysis be one of the authors in the paper? | 2014-06-10T03:04:22.437 | # Question
Title: Must a PI who collected data but did not contribute to its final analysis be one of the authors in the paper?
A PI started a study and collected some data. The study was originally meant to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment. After a year or so of collecting data, the PI decided to do some analyses. When I looked at the design of the study, I informed the PI that this design will not be able to provide any meaningful evaluation of effectiveness.
Some time later, I came across a novel method to analyse this data and tried it out. The results were quite interesting and with the PI's agreement, I decide to try and publish it.
My question is this: Since the PI was not involved at all in the conceptualisation of this novel method and did not contribute in the interpretation of the results, should he be granted authorship? According to ICMJE guidelines, the answer should be no but I am unsure.
Addendum: I would like to add, while thinking about this problem, I thought of big studies like the Framingham Heart Study, the Global Burden of Disease study. The PI of these studies are not automatically authors on every paper that came out of the data they collected. Would this be any different from my situation?
# Answer
> 27 votes
This doesn't seem to be related much to the fact that the other person is a PI. According to the question, someone collected data, and you have analyzed it.
Unless the data was published elsewhere, you cannot cite it. So you will need to include the person who collected it as an author in order to have a source for the data. It's hard to expect otherwise, if you want to use unpublished data as the source for a paper.
The ICMJE guidelines agree; one of their criteria for authorship is:
> Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
The other person has met this point through acquisition of the data.
The most gracious thing to do would be to offer the other person a co-authorship, which will then allow them to meet the other three bullet points in the ICMJE guidelines.
The other person can then decide whether to accept the co-authorship, or whether to take a smaller form of acknowledgment for the data collection.
# Answer
> 26 votes
Let me get this straight:
* Your PI (who is on a different institution than you) made a study and collected some data
* He gave his data to you
* He proposed some ways to process the data which did not work out
* You made a better method and you plan to publish without him.
From what I understand, this is not the way collaboration works. Even the fact that he proposed some methodology to process the data (even if it did not work out) it still proves that this work is a joint work and he did not simply handed the data, in the notion that you can do what you want with it.
After all, those simple facts remain:
* If you were in his shoes, would you ever collaborate again with a guy who takes your data and does not give you co-authorship, even if you were part of the entire process? The answer is a big NO, because there is nothing to gain from such a collaboration.
* What do you have to lose by sharing co-authorship? You will be first author, he takes credit and he will willingly share his data again if needed. Then he will be a reference for you which in the long run, means more papers for you.
* What if your paper gets rejected and he finds out? You got nothing and you just burned a bridge with this man.
* Imagine the other case. Even, if the other guy was an undergraduate student and he collected the data under your supervision, would not it be unethical not to include this student as a co-author?
Do not be short-sighted. Share co-authorship
# Answer
> 1 votes
I remember seeing a paper or Letter to the Editor discussing the requirements to be an author on the paper. They came up with the 5 types of contributions towards a paper, as I remember they were:
1. Initial Idea
2. Data Acquisition
3. Data Analysis
4. Write the paper
5. Revising the paper
As long as someone made a significant contribution toward two of these items they should be an author on the paper.
It completely depends on conventions in your particular area. For example in my field the supervisor is always the last author. I know some fields might have them as first author.
But, what it comes down to is what many others have said... don't burn your bridges. You need collaborations!
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Tags: research-process, authorship
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thread-23203 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23203 | How to get an advisor to finish their part of a publication when they have not done anything on it for over a year? | 2014-06-10T19:16:38.670 | # Question
Title: How to get an advisor to finish their part of a publication when they have not done anything on it for over a year?
I graduated from a reputed North American university with a master's degree in 2013. Due to severe personal problems (deaths/illness in the family, war-torn homeland, divorce, financial issues, and so on), it would be fair to say that I did not perform well. My thesis had a critical error which was duly pointed out during my defense by my examiner. My advisor had not noticed it before. I managed to pass but with major corrections to the thesis.
While I was waiting for the situation in my home country to settle down, we improved the results significantly. We wrote much of a paper with the agreement that we would correspond over email when I go back home to finish it and send it for publication.
This was a year and a half ago. I am back home and I have been trying to get her to finish writing her part but to no avail. Once every couple of months she responds with "I need more time" but that's about it. It would be a huge help in my career to have a paper published. But I am paranoid about being rude to her and keep nagging her because I need her reference if and when I decide to apply for a PhD later. Also I believe she's a genuinely a nice person! So my questions are,
1. Is a year and a half a normal amount of time to write on a paper in which the research is finished?
2. How do I politely convince her to hurry up?
# Answer
> Is a year and a half a normal amount of time to write on a paper in which the research is finished?
**No**, this paper should've been finished a year ago.
The research is done, so you are not waiting for something else to fall into place for your paper. You already tried writing your former advisor's portion of the manuscript to no avail. Your former advisor did not even catch a critical flaw in your thesis. I hate to say it, but it sounds like your former advisor is quite a bozo.
> How do I politely convince her to hurry up?
If you've not already done so, send your former advisor your "final" draft of the manuscript (including the parts you wrote for her). Give her a timeline for returning suggestions/modifications to you. If that doesn't work, you might have to get on the phone and talk to her about how important it is for you to submit this paper. If this fails, you may need to move on, and hope that at some point in the next year or two that she finally matures enough to help you out.
> 20 votes
# Answer
I guess your advisor is not really "procrastinating", just not working *on your paper* for one reason or another. She may very well be working on other things.
Now, of course the interesting question is *why* she is ignoring the work on your paper. Some potential reasons that come to mind:
* She simply is swamped with teaching or administrative matters
* The paper is outside of her research interest
* The paper is still too much work
* She thinks that the results of the paper are not very strong, and she honestly does not give the paper good chances of acceptance / impact
You say she is a "genuinely nice" person. In my experience, all too often this also implies some avoidance of confrontation (I am certainly guilty of that), which makes the third and the fourth reason more likely. Yes, in theory she should simply tell you when she thinks that material is too weak or the current draft too bad, but for her the "easier" out might be to ignore the paper, especially since you are far away.
**Edit:** the fact that your advisor apparently did not even read / check your thesis carefully (and missed a critical flaw) rather indicates the second reason.
As for what you should do I agree with user11192 - after such a long time, it is time to essentially give up on getting her to do "her part". Write it for her, and send it to her only for review. Since it has become abundantly clear that the paper is not a priority for her right now (for whatever reason), you can either do it alone or not do it at all. You have no leverage over your old advisor to get her to do her part, *especially* if you are afraid of burning any bridges.
> 18 votes
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Tags: advisor, procrastination
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thread-23219 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23219 | What to do when paper is deemed in scope for the conference but not for the proceedings? | 2014-06-10T22:59:52.897 | # Question
Title: What to do when paper is deemed in scope for the conference but not for the proceedings?
I submitted a paper to a conference. I wasn't quite sure if my paper was within the scope of that conference (it seemed a judgement call), but it was accepted. I went to the conference, and after attending several of the talks, I felt my paper was actually a good fit after all. My presentation of the paper went well; lots of people were interested in the topic and asked good questions. I was reasonably confident that my paper would be accepted for publication in the proceedings.
All student papers received an extra round of feedback before the formal submission for publication in the proceedings. I just received my feedback; the reviewer was very complimentary, but said that the topic was not within the scope of the conference.
So now I'm not sure what to do. Making the paper fit the scope better won't really be practical; I already did the best I could in that direction. The formal submission is due in about a month. I believe it's a good paper, so I could probably find a home for it elsewhere. I have two questions.
1. Should I formally submit the paper as-is. Would it be better to simply try to find a more appropriate place to publish? Or should I just consider it a lesson learned, forget about this paper, and move on to the next one.
2. Is there something I could have done up front to establish whether the paper was in scope or not? Perhaps in future it would be better to only submit to conferences where it's very clear that the paper is a good fit. This issue is likely to arise again for me, because my research is sort of at the boundary of two fields.
# Answer
> 12 votes
> Should I formally submit the paper as-is. Would it be better to simply try to find a more appropriate place to publish? Or should I just consider it a lesson learned, forget about this paper, and move on to the next one.
In academia, you have to fight for papers you believe. Reviewers can vary wildly in their assessments, and their assessments can be wrong. Ultimately, if you feel that this is an appropriate place to publish, I think it's worth submitting it anyway and rolling the dice. I have two caveats:
* If possible, ask a third party in your field whom you respect about their opinion of the paper.
* Think hard about why you think the paper belongs in the proceedings and, if possible, add a clear motivation to the text.
> Is there something I could have done up front to establish whether the paper was in scope or not? Perhaps in future it would be better to only submit to conferences where it's very clear that the paper is a good fit. This issue is likely to arise again for me, because my research is sort of at the boundary of two fields.
In general, you can write to people on the technical program committee of the conference (or the chair of that committee) with a brief explanation of your work and a request for an assessment of suitability. It is important *not* to get discouraged from rejections ... they are common, sometimes for good reasons and other times for utterly stupid reasons. The key is to learn what you can from the reviews, improve the paper, and resubmit where appropriate.
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Tags: conference, peer-review
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thread-23192 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23192 | Postdoc position: should I stay for one year or two years? | 2014-06-10T15:30:23.207 | # Question
Title: Postdoc position: should I stay for one year or two years?
I am currently a PhD student who will graduate in July. I am currently applying for academic postdocs, with the goal of taking a tenure-track job at the end of my postdoc position. In my field (operations research), most of the postdoc positions are for one year with a possibility of extension to two and sometimes three years.
If I am given the choice, should I spend one year as a postdoc, or two? Would I be able to make a significant contribution to a research project if I were to only work as a postdoc for a year?
Currently, I am leaning towards a two year postdoc. If I were to only spend one year as a postdoc, I feel that it is a rather short period of time in which to start and finish a research project. If I spend two years as a postdoc, then I would be applying for tenure-track jobs one year later, and I am also hopeful that at that point, I would have done some research which I could submit in my job application in addition to my existing PhD work.
What advice would you have for me?
### Edited in response to question in comments
As David Z mentioned, in my field, a postdoc appointment is for a fixed term (typically one or two years, or one year with a possibility of extention).
# Answer
> 25 votes
## Two.
In the United States, at least in computer science, most postdocs are synchronized with the academic calendar. A typical postdoc starts in August, and faculty application deadlines start in November. So for purposes of applying for faculty positions, **a one-year postdoc is really only three months long**. A two-year postdoc gives you **five times** as much time to strengthen your faculty application!
# Answer
> 25 votes
One year is not very long. You will lose some time at the start while you settle in and get 'set up' for doing research; you will lose more time at the end as you make preparations to move on. You also need to factor in time spent on securing your 'next job'. I would therefore strongly encourage you to take a two-year position rather than a one-year position, all else being equal.
Remember, it's generally much easier to resign a position *before* the money runs out than it is to secure an extension!
# Answer
> 11 votes
As this question may receive more attention over time - and it deserves that - I'd like to add a more wider scope to it.
There are reasons why one year is fine for a post-doc. For example, if you are going to work in a very similar area as you did your PhD in and since then it may take only little time to familiarise yourself with the research. If you are staying in the same country, settling in will be minimal. It might also be that you are working on a very concise subject and a year would completely suffice. You might also think about doing another post-doc somewhere else, then you probably want to consider a shorter period, as it allows you intensify your professional network.
You should always also keep in mind, that a post-doc might not work out as you expected it. Going for only one year is a safe bet then. In most cases however, since you are a professional, there will be workaround for this problem.
There are probably many more reasons to choose the longer period. Most of them were already mentioned by avid. Sometimes doing a post-doc is leaving the comfort zone, i.e. you are working much more freely than during a PhD and probably working on something completely new. Settling in is probably the biggest worry you will have. You may be wasting a lot of time in that procedure - very much depending on where you go, there might be a lot of paperwork involved. If you are planning on going abroad, this may take ages. When I started my post-doc I had about a month before I actually could start with my research. It might also take time to get yourself acquainted with the local infrastructure and/ or command structure.
When you finally started your research there might occur other problems along the line. Distractions you cannot plan, for example you might have more responsibility in many more related fields. Most likely PhD students and undergraduates of your new research group will ask your advice often. If you are the only post-doc, you *are* the go to guy, when your advisor is not around.
Another point to consider is cooperations with other groups, writing manuscripts, attending conferences, developing new research proposals, maybe write a grant application, prepare for your future plans. But apart from this all, a key role in the beginning will also be socialising, become part of the group, member of the faculty/ institute. (I underestimated that a lot when I started - there was a lot of "shake-hands" involved.)
During a post-doc, you should be able to develop yourself, your methods, your profiles. You are already a contributing member of the science community, keeping that up is a lot of work. That all only works if you are comfortable with your surroundings and make the best time you can possibly have. One year might have flown by, without you realising that.
# Answer
> 8 votes
Your goal is to get a faculty position somewhere, assumably :-)
Given that, at least the field I work in, you need publications and a good record of academic research. This might be slightly different in other fields. If you can get a few papers out and prove yourself then 1 year might be sufficient. If the PI is good then stay a second year to make yourself even better.
Again, I think it comes down to what it will take to get a faculty position.
Your best bet might be to talk to some current post-docs in your research area as they might have the best advice as it will likely depend on your specific research area and conventions there.
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Tags: career-path, postdocs
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thread-23231 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23231 | Is it appropriate to acknowledge StackExchange in my MSc thesis? | 2014-06-11T12:06:47.850 | # Question
Title: Is it appropriate to acknowledge StackExchange in my MSc thesis?
So, I'm just now finishing my master's thesis. When thinking about who helped me aside from my official supervisors some of the StackExchange fora (especially Stack Overflow and TeX) came into my mind. I asked some questions in these fora but most of the time I was just looking for information in older posts (and finding it most of the time). Now one the one hand it feels weird to me to acknowledge a site I browsed to, e.g., find out a certain programming command (like I would not really think about acknowledging Wikipedia). But on the other hand I am really grateful for some of the quick and professional answers I got from StackExchange users.
So what do you think, should I acknowledge StackExchange in my thesis?
# Answer
> 35 votes
Your acknowledgement is a place where you are free to thank anyone or anything (I have seen dogs being thanked) you think deserve mentioning. To acknowledge StackExchange is highly appropriate since it is a community driven open site where help can be obtained to solve problems from many different perspectives.
In my PhD thesis, I, perhaps a bit over-ambitiously, thanked Donald Knuth for creating TeX. Had StackExchange been in existence back then, some of the terror of writing my thesis in plain TeX would have been eased and it would have been placed along-side Knuth in the acknowledgement.
# Answer
> 7 votes
Think of it not as acknowledging the site but of the community that contributes and curates the content. (From the way you asked the question, I think this is what you have in mind as well.) I'm sure a correspondingly worded acknowledgment would be appropriate (and appreciated -- in particular the TeX.SE community is by a wide margin one of the most helpful and welcoming I have ever seen on the internet, and they deserve the recognition).
Also, keep in mind that some future student might read your thesis when preparing her own; if she reads your acknowledgment and learns of the value of StackExchange, you are doing her a service.
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Tags: thesis, acknowledgement
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thread-23212 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23212 | I believe my classmates plan to hand in a plagiarized project, how should I handle this? | 2014-06-10T20:07:23.420 | # Question
Title: I believe my classmates plan to hand in a plagiarized project, how should I handle this?
In my class, we have project groups of 4 or 5 students. This period has everything to do with game development. The project is to build a XNA game for children at primary school.
Now, there is one group of students in my class, who snitched a game from the internet and are going to hand that in. I saw a Facebook post from one of the students about "their" game, and a fellow student found almost the exact same game on a Dutch game site.
What is according to you the right way of handling this -in my eyes, plagiarism? Should I inform the project teacher, to have them exposed to the exam committee?
# Answer
> 55 votes
> Should I inform the project teacher, to have them exposed to the exam committee?
Yes. Tell the teacher exactly what you know: that there is a game that seems very similar to your classmates' project.
As a student, it's not your responsibility to decide what is and isn't plagiarism, or to decide who should be punished for dishonesty and who shouldn't, or to start a "movement" to let the cheaters know you're onto them. If you believe you have evidence of misconduct, report it and let the administration handle it from there.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Teachers have the resources to check for plagiarism and would be able to check for such things. I would recommend checking the project through one of these resources and let them know if you could spot it, so can your teacher. Then, you protect your reputation and put the responsibility back on them. So that once your teacher spots it, you will have proof you let them know in advance how you felt about the submission.
# Answer
> 2 votes
College is competitive enough without having to compete against cheaters lazy enough to represent an entire work that is freely available online as their own. Grading is often quite subjective, and your work should not be compared to work of those working outside your class's structure.
You don't need to give the information to the instructor with your name on it. You can leave an anonymous note to the professor (and give a copy to the department chair if you want to ensure they will at least investigate, because the temptation is to sweep it under the rug).
You need to be careful not to overstate your case. Just state that you believe they *may* be passing off that particular work as their own, point to the evidence, and let that stand and do not pursue the matter (<sub>unless you have hard evidence, the instructor and the department sweep it under the rug, and you feel the need to act further, but be careful because you may quickly become a target for political retribution yourself.</sub>)
# Answer
> -6 votes
Mind your own business - it's not your problem.
If someone working in *your* group suggests or does plagiarism, or someone tries to plagiarize your work, or does something which could affect *your* mark or *your* academic record, go ahead and report them.
But you shouldn't get involved with this. It's not your job to police other students behaviour. It doesn't prevent you from learning, nor does it prevent you from getting the grade you deserve.
You are laying yourself open to unpleasantness and ill-feeling between you and your classmates. Other students who are honest, might resent you or feel that you will be surveilling them in future. You might end up with your own behavior being closely watched by classmates who are trying to get you in trouble. It is also possible that the information you have is wrong or that you have misinterpreted it. For someone who is innocent of cheating or who has been co-erced to be disciplined for plagiarism is a serious thing to have on your conscience. In some (rare) situations various forms of cheating are tacitly being tolerated by the teacher, and you will be seen by them as 'rocking the boat'.
In short, you have a lot to lose and very little to gain by reporting them.
# Answer
> -9 votes
I agree with jwg. I don't intend to be rude, but I would call this squealing. It shouldn't be your stuff as it doesn't hold you from achieving what you want to achieve. Actually after the grading took place, if you detect that your grade has been dimished because of the 'exceptional' work of the other group, well then it is another situation. In this case you could still think about reporting the issue.
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Tags: ethics, plagiarism, cheating, projects
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thread-23248 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23248 | Reusing figures from other articles in one's thesis | 2014-06-11T18:19:47.193 | # Question
Title: Reusing figures from other articles in one's thesis
I obtained the rights to reuse some figures from other journal articles on my thesis from the publishing company. Is it sill a good idea to email the authors of the figures, do I need their OK before I include it in my thesis ?
# Answer
In the US, you are legally in the clear if you have permission from the copyright holder, which is likely the journal. That being said, it would be polite to ask the authors, too.
Both of those being said, you probably have a fair use right in the US to reproduce the images verbatim in your thesis for the purposes of commentary, critique, criticism, or the like. However, fair use is a defense to copyright infringement, so if you don't want to run the risk of getting sued and having to defend yourself, getting written (including email) permission to use the image from the copyright holder is the best strategy.
> 5 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, thesis, writing
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thread-23260 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23260 | Writing an open-source software and publishing it, for the sake of getting cited | 2014-06-11T20:13:01.433 | # Question
Title: Writing an open-source software and publishing it, for the sake of getting cited
I have some specific knowledge in a software widely used in experimental condensed matter physics. Currently, different groups implement their different programs using this software. I plan to write a "universal" program that might be used with little to no modifications by researchers worldwide. I plan for it to be free and open source, but I would like to publish the work in a journal for the sake of getting citations.
Question: since writing such a program requires time and effort, I think it makes sense to request researchers who would use the program to cite my paper. Right?
Note: I know that many people do this, but I would like to hear different viewpoints.
# Answer
The preceding software are all open-source research software, each referenced by dozens, sometimes hundreds of research papers. It is *expected* that an open-source package developed by a research team will have an accompanying paper or set of papers, and that the users will cite those papers when using the package. You should make this very clear on the package website. (You *do* have a website for the software, right?)
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To expand on this a bit, it is assumed that any research-level software package will have *at least* one accompanying paper, typically more, describing both the software, the functionality, and the algorithms. If you don't have that, people simply won't trust it. From my experience, most packages come from researchers with a good deal of experience/publications under their belt, who have decided to make their own scripts and techniques available for the general community. Given that it is quite difficult to obtain funding for this sort of thing until the software—and, by extension, you—is already very popular, you're essentially going to do most of the development on your "free time", which makes this a highly thankless task.
That all said, if software is your thing, go for it! If your software makes analysis easier, you can have an outsized impact on your field.
> 5 votes
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Tags: publications
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thread-23240 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23240 | How can I signal that I don't intend to follow up the items in my "Future Work" section? | 2014-06-11T15:28:52.057 | # Question
Title: How can I signal that I don't intend to follow up the items in my "Future Work" section?
I'm currently writing a paper that is based on work that I won't be following up on, as I'm changing career directions. I believe that the work raises a number of questions and ideas for future work, and my program solves a number of the boring problems without getting into the interesting applications. However, I've previously been told that raising an idea in a "Future Work" section effectively 'reserves' that work for me, and it would be considered rude for readers to begin research on those areas.
How can I signal (without flat out saying that I don't care) that I hope others will pick up and run with the ideas I'm presenting?
If it's of any importance, it's a Computer Science paper.
# Answer
> 33 votes
I've never heard this about "Future Work". Items that you put in this section are simply things that you are currently considering, and someone else who does them should at least cite your original work. However, anyone who beats you to actually doing the work should be able to publish it.
If you want to make it absolutely clear that you do not intend to work on this material (and, you never know, you might end up going back to it later anyway!), simply call the section "Further discussion" or just "Discussion".
# Answer
> 24 votes
"While there is no further research planned by the author, there are several avenues that..."
# Answer
> 7 votes
Maybe it is just a matter of wording and rather than word it that *you* are going to do this "Future Work", maybe word it as *anyone* could do this future work. That way it shows you are thinking ahead (good thing) even though you may not want to do it.
To me, the Future Work would show that someone is thinking and would convince me that this work you have done is beneficial to the field and opens doors to other work.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I have been told that you should not put your best, novel idea for future research in 'Future Work', you don't give away your state-of-the-art research ideas for free right? Experience teaches me that researchers often put stuff like 'investigate in new industry/product/setting' 'investigate longitudinal' 'go out of the lab and test with secondary data' 'add obvious moderator' 'control for variable Z that we did not account for' in this section.
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Tags: publications, computer-science
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thread-23196 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23196 | Keys to a successful postdoc in mathematics | 2014-06-10T16:53:32.147 | # Question
Title: Keys to a successful postdoc in mathematics
I just finished a PhD in mathematics and am about to start a postdoc in the fall. My question is pretty straightforward (although the answer might not be), namely:
> What should one do to have a successful mathematics postdoc (apart from perhaps doing as much math as humanly possible, or more)?
I expect this will be different depending on one's goals post-postdoc, such as staying in academia vs leaving, research vs teaching focused jobs, etc.
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Some possibly related questions:
What is expected of a postdoc?
Transitioning: PhD to Postdoc and Productivity
# Answer
> 32 votes
Aru,
Your question is phrased in rather general terms. There are different kinds of postdoctoral positions in mathematics, and two mathematical postdocs hired side-by-side in the same department may have different career goals. So advice which is guaranteed to be applicable must be rather general. Here goes:
1. **What is the point of a postdoc in mathematics?** I think it is this: the position of "tenure-track assistant professor" at a US math department is really much different from what it used to be. It used to be an extended apprenticeship combined with an audition for a permanent job. Now the job market is so competitive that institutions at all levels tenure the vast majority of the assistant professors they hire: I could easily name hundreds of people who have gotten tenure over the last ten years; I'm not sure I could name ten who were denied tenure. The "apprenticeship" that used to take place at the beginning of these positions is now somewhere between immensely abbreviated and completely absent: in my own department (UGA) we have "graduate faculty" status, which must be conferred separately, but every tenure-track hire in last eight years has been given that status immediately upon arrival. In my department you cannot tell the assistant professors from the associate professors (and from some of the full professors) without your scorecard: the job is really identical, including supervision of PhD students.
Even most brilliantly talented and competent PhDs need time to perform the laundering process from student to faculty. In particular, 99% of the time it just doesn't work for your PhD advisor to have just gotten her own PhD a couple of years ago. This laundering process is what the postdoc is for.
2. **How does a postdoc work towards the goal of tenure-track readiness and marketability?** In what follows I will assume that the desired tenure track job has substantial research expectations (keeping in mind that "substantial research expectations" is still a continuum).
To attain your goal of a tenure-track position, you need to concentrate on two things:
2a) **Research**.
* Put out product -- accepted papers. Both quality and quantity matters.
Many people get a PhD in mathematics before having a single accepted paper (I did), and if they have an eminent advisor who goes to bat for them, having no papers need not be much of a strike against them in the postdoctoral market. Things change tremendously when you apply for tenure-track jobs: you need to show conversion of your research promise into research success. With multiplicity. Publication standards vary significantly among mathematical disciplines (topologists and algebraic geometers publish fewer papers; combinatorialists and applied mathematicians publish more) but I think that at least one publication per year is a reasonable lower bound for almost everyone.
Most math postdocs have not published all the work that appears in their thesis before graduation (my understanding is that this is almost the complete reverse of what happens in most other STEM fields). There are good reasons for this: mathematics is such a technical, specialized field that you spend 90% of your time as a PhD student attaining mastery of one specific subfield, and the PhD is awarded within a very short time period of that attained mastery (in some cases, it is awarded when the advisor feels confident that such mastery lies in the student's near future). So many if not most math postdocs spend the majority of their research time in their first year working on the papers that come from their PhD research. Why does it take so long given that the thesis has already been written? One reason is that they are usually not just transcribing the work but also significantly *improving* it: again, this goes in hand with the observation that as soon as you know what you're doing you're out the door with a PhD. If you compare a PhD thesis and the paper that it results in, you often see stronger results, simpler and better proofs, and so forth.
Spending time in your postdoc working on publishing your thesis can be tricky: you are in a new environment with new distractions, and after you give a talk or two about your thesis work, many of your research conversations will be about the research interests of those around you, who will probably at least want to involve you in seminars and may in fact want to collaborate with you on further projects. And it's good to do that...but not at the expense of getting your thesis work done. There is even a bit of a trap here, since as a PhD student you get so much care and attention on every aspect of your work, including someone whose job it is at times to tell you to slow down and be more careful: that you haven't yet fully nailed down what you thought you had. Most postdoctoral advisors don't work as closely with their postdocs as thesis advisors do with their students, and when they do it is probably not on the topic of their thesis (they may not even have enough expertise on that to work as closely as the thesis advisor did). So the first priority of any postdoc is to make sure that they actually write up for publication all the work that was "promised" in their thesis, and the second priority is to figure out how to continue this thesis work in a meaningful way.
* Acquire a research program -- distinct from your thesis advisor's program.
I think this is really the hardest part. It is a well-known fact that the most common number of MathSciNet publications for any given author is one. In some cases this just means that some bright young person passed through mathematics on the way to something else -- e.g. this one-hit wonder turned out fine -- but it is distressingly common to see one strong, cutting-edge publication followed by dead silence. What this means is that the work was -- in some suitably high-level sense, at least -- really that of the advisor rather than the student. A lot of postdocs follow the previous bullet point -- i.e., they get their thesis written up -- and then they just can't see their way to a continuing research *program*. In some cases this means that they still publish some papers, but they have just switched from being one person's apprentice to a different person's apprentice. This is still not good enough for a research-intensive academic job nor, increasingly, a job at a nationally reputable liberal arts college.
It is here that I must disagree with another answer to this question, which says:
> In my opinion, you are best looking for a postdoc in an area that is as far removed from your PhD areas as you are willing to tolerate.
That really doesn't sound right to me. It is a relatively easy path to give up on what you've already done and start fresh on something unrelated, for which you can get local supervision. As above, this is not good enough. You want your research program to be considerably deeper at the end of your postdoc than it was when you got your PhD. Sometimes that involves a significant course correction, yes: in my case I spent less than 1/3 of my time as a postdoc working on the subject of my PhD thesis, but the other material that I worked on was material that I had already been interested in and even started writing up for publication as a student. Moreover the two areas were related because I was interested in both of them, and that allowed me to work towards closer relations. Finally, by the time I gave job talks I was able to talk about Hasse principle violations for Shimura curves (my thesis was on Shimura curves) alongside Hasse principle violations for torsors under abelian varieties (which is what I spent most of my postdoc working on). Moving to something "as far removed from your PhD areas as you are willing to tolerate" would have moved me several orders of magnitude farther away, just as I was experiencing a rapid improvement in my understanding of the part of arithmetic geometry in which I did my thesis work. (Eleven years after my thesis, I am now *also* exploring parts of mathematics that are considerably farther away but I still do some work on things closely related to my thesis.)
A research program has some breadth to it as well as depth. But the ideal way to develop breadth is to expand outwards from your current position, not give up and move to a new position chosen for its substantial distance from your current one.
* It is good to have done more than one thing, or at least to know more than one trick.
I want to reaffirm that *after* establishing depth, the next thing hirers look for in a research program is indeed breadth. If you're working on what looks to all outsiders like *exactly* the same thing now as you were three years ago, that's less than exciting, and it creates concerns about your future trajectory: mathematics does move on, and long-term colleagues grow together in their research interests and expertise. However, if you're working in a hot, technical area and doing well with it, then you probably don't want to diversify out of that area as a postdoc, but you do want to take steps to show that the potential for diversity is there. Often digging deeper in exactly the same spot requires learning new tools, even basic things that early career graduate students in other fields learn. I think it's important to continue that kind of learning as a postdoc (and beyond) and show that you're doing it: for instance, in any job talk you should showcase the variety of knowledge and techniques that go into your results, especially if the results themselves look narrow and specialized.
2b) **Teaching** Teaching is challenging for a postdoc because for a certain range of intended careers it is less important than research...but it is still important, and in fact increasingly so. You have to crank up a different kind of professional vibe to be a successful teacher as a postdoc: whereas for research you are trying to burn the midnight oil to make the transition from excellent to outstanding, what a disaster it would be for you to vow to be the best calculus teacher ever and devote all your time and energy to that. (Part of the disaster is that vowing to be the best calculus teacher ever and putting three times as much time in as your office-mate will not necessarily result in teaching evaluations that are any better than hers: unfortunately they might even be worse.) Rather you need to set a more temperate teaching mark and learn to hit it while leaving plenty of time for your research.
Your specific teaching goals will depend upon what kind of tenure-track job you have. On the other hand, you may be hoping for a job at an elite research institution but may have to settle for a job with higher teaching requirements. A good all-around plan is to showcase at least competent teaching across a fairly broad range of levels, including: calculus courses / service courses for non-majors; courses for undergraduate math majors; and graduate-level courses. If you can cover those bases by teaching fewer courses, that is probably better. In three years of postdoctoral work I taught five semester courses: this was close to ideal, but if I magically had control of my own teaching load, I would have cut it down to four. Because your overall teaching responsibilities are relatively limited, it is good to start thinking about where your teaching letter(s) will come from right away. If you feel that a course is going especially well, by all means invite some faculty in to watch you teach it. That together with good evaluations is sufficient for a strong teaching letter in many cases.
3. **You've written a lot, but actually everything you've said is fully consistent with "doing as much math \[including math teaching\] as humanly possible". So I still suspect that doing a tremendous amount of work -- of the right kind -- in a relatively short period is the key to a successful math postdoc. Am I mistaken??**
No, you're quite right. Being a math postdoc should not stop you from having a satisfying personal life, but professionally speaking it is one of the most intense, work-intensive points of a mathematical career. There's no secret remedy for that.
One could give a lot more advice for math postdocs, and this has been done. The Young Mathematicians Network has lots of information on this. Google searching reveals that several mathematicians have math-specific postdoctoral advice on their webpages, including Sara Billey and Terry Tao. I tend to think that it is better to talk to people -- lots of people -- and get advice rather than just read about very generalized advice (including this answer, of course). A lot of times you don't even need to explicitly ask for advice: look for young, successful mathematicians (that includes most people who have recently gotten tenure-track jobs nowadays) and talk to them about their experiences. By comparing the backgrounds of multiple role-models you can get a sense of what the "market wants".
# Answer
> -1 votes
I'm not sure that your parenthetical comment ("doing as much math as humanly possible") is necessarily correct. In my opinion, you are best looking for a postdoc in an area that is as far removed from your PhD areas as you are willing to tolerate. Unless you are an unassailed leader in the field (in which case, skip the postdoc and just get an academic position directly), your postdoc is a good time to:
* diversify your interests
* set up connections between disparate fields
* and, in the words of the great Arnold Ross, "think deeply of simple things"
Believe it or not, after your postdoc it will be a long time before you can actually devote a similar amount of uninterrupted thought to academic interests (possibly not until retirement).
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Tags: mathematics, postdocs
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thread-23242 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23242 | Why do admissions committees consider the Statement of Purpose to be important? | 2014-06-11T15:57:55.423 | # Question
Title: Why do admissions committees consider the Statement of Purpose to be important?
Why do admissions committees consider the Statement of Purpose to be important? Anyone with a command of English should be able to write a Statement of Purpose, in principle, so it seems a poor way to compare applicants' research potential. If I were to judge an applicant (obviously I've never been in this position), I would much sooner at grades than at their Statement of Purpose, simply because grades cannot (in general) be 'faked'.
# Answer
> 13 votes
> Why do admissions committees consider the Statement of Purpose to be important?
This question assumes they do consider it important, but how it's actually viewed varies enormously between departments. In mine, it's not considered particularly important for most applicants. If your statement is pretty good, then that's good enough (nobody was ever admitted by writing a great personal statement). However, it can matter in special cases:
1. It gives you a chance to address anything non-standard or potentially worrisome about your application. It can be really valuable for you to make a case for why these things are not in fact a problem.
2. It gives you a chance to shoot yourself in the foot. For example, applicants occasionally sound like arrogant jerks, demonstrate that they like to talk about mathematics they don't understand at all (without admitting their lack of knowledge), or reveal that they have no idea how graduate school works. The first two are major problems, and the third is worrisome.
It can also be helpful to learn things like the intended specialization or advisor, but we ask for that elsewhere on the application as well.
If you apply to a department that takes this approach, then you shouldn't stress out too much about the statement of purpose. But of course other departments may do things differently, so you can't relax entirely.
# Answer
> 10 votes
One excellent reason for requiring a statement of purpose is to make sure that applicants have "done their homework." Have they taken into account who works in the department, and what can be done there? Can they formulate ideas for projects they'd be interested in working on? Furthermore, writing ability is a very critical factor for success as a researcher; someone who writes a very poor statement of purpose is likely to have a very difficult PhD candidacy.
Grades are somewhat objective, but they're also subject to a lot of external factors ("grade inflation," "scaling," sample size, and so on). But that doesn't mean they're not also considered. *All* parts of an application are usually considered, although the weights given to the various factors may differ greatly between departments.
# Answer
> 6 votes
It may be simple for some to write good English but to actually write something valuable is a lot harder. There are of course no perfect single tools to evaluate applications so having a multi-pronged approach provides some improvements in the weeding process. Grades provide insights into some aspects, particularly someone's ability to perform on exams. Such ability is not necessarily equated with ability to, for example, think critically or creatively (we do of course not know of the assessment methods underpinning the grades). A Statement of Purpose provides insights into the person's own insights into a research problem or field. Hence combining these two aspects with CV, letters of recommendations or whatever else is required, forms a more complex picture of the applicant than what each and every part of the application does on its own. The Statement will perhaps be the part that most closely reflects on the persons ability.
# Answer
> 6 votes
As a complement to other useful answers, I'd say that it is *not* possible to "fake" a good personal statement (unless one enlists already-successful mathematicians, and, even then, it's not clear...). The issue of grammatical correctness is non-trivial, but minor. The tone, the affect (all the more subtle in written language), speaks reams. The implied/assumed context? Etc, etc, ... And, indeed, all the better that most applicants do not effectively see how to "game" the personal statement. That's what I look at first, for graduate admissions. :)
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Tags: graduate-admissions, statement-of-purpose, evaluation-criteria
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thread-20178 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20178 | Where might I find a collection of before and after proofread articles? | 2014-05-02T22:03:55.333 | # Question
Title: Where might I find a collection of before and after proofread articles?
Completely unrelated to my field (I do not work in languages) but I have written a small piece of software that proof reads my work for grammar and syntax. I'm interested in finding a few documents (ideally from a range of academic disciplines) that I can use to check my proof reading software.
# Answer
> 2 votes
If you perform a search for "examples of bad student papers" or "examples of bad writing" you should find many examples. As an added bonus, many of the examples are then analyzed to provide suggestions for improvements.
# Answer
> 0 votes
I am unclear how this would differ from the grammar and spell check in a word processing software such as Microsoft Word; but presume it must differ or you wouldn't have created it! Perhaps as an initial trial for proof of concept, you could compare how yours competes with Word or other similar programs. This would provide some preliminary data with something most researchers are familiar with so can relate to it. If it compares well, it would also allow you to begin telling the story of your tool in that context, which is valuable in gathering support, and even funding if there are grants out there for this you may want to seek. Next, (possibly the beta stage for the new grant!) you could design a study using professional human (teachers, scientists, etc.) reviewers to compare against. The student papers suggested in another post may provide material for this.
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Tags: reference-request, proofreading
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thread-23259 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23259 | Advice on: Quitting your PhD because you dislike the place and the associated project? | 2014-06-11T20:05:18.443 | # Question
Title: Advice on: Quitting your PhD because you dislike the place and the associated project?
I'm a year into my PhD (electrical engineering). I loved my topic from the beginning, and the direction in which my research is going. My advisor is also a really understanding and experienced Prof.. However, I am an international student here (Netherlands) and I don't like living here. I cannot necessarily point out one particular aspect of it, but life in general doesn't "feel happy" and is now getting to me. The place where I live is also kinda dull. I doubt I could go on like this for 3 more years. Normally, in times of stress elsewhere, the social aspects or something outside work always brought up my motivation, without really trying. That here is seriously lacking, at least from my perspective.
I find the university's attitude towards international students a bit indifferent. And, I dislike the graduate school. Its very disorganized. I would like to point out that I have lived in many places before (in and outside my home country) and this isn't the first time I got out of my house. I even have 3 years of work experience. I enjoyed studying in the US and made good friends easily. May be it was just accidental, I don't really know.
To make things worse, my phd is associated with a project, which is a highly disorganized, almost a bloody joke and would mostly get worse over time. I knew this earlier, but thought it would get better. It isn't. People in the project aren't thinking like engineers, sometimes ignoring physics, in short. This causes a lot of stress sometimes and could affect my research output itself. Having said that, my output for the past few months is not great either, due to stress, but I see that as a temporary thing.
I am contemplating quitting the PhD but continue to work on the research, from my home country, without a job/salary, to do justice to the topic. I haven't communicated this to my prof. yet, but he knows I have second thoughts. I came here only for the love of science, to improve my skills and not to escape my country (may be the general mentality in my country towards research, however, its not good here either). Having said that, I'm open to new cultures, people, etc. There are limits though. Reports of rising xenophobia in Europe also bother me at times, worrying about how it would escalate in the future.
In short, I feel the cons are outweighing the pros (funded phd, awesome topic, good prof.) and the cons might invoke lot more stress in the long run. I have no issues with the stress of learning and discovery itself. I understand that this is the essential stress. What I find difficult (and made me quit jobs) is the stress caused by bad policies/ attitude, peers, society, etc. And I find putting up with these things a waste of time and mental energy.
I would appreciate your opinion or recommendation on quitting in such a situation. Thanks for reading
# Answer
> 9 votes
I am not international, but understand what you're going through. In fact, when I was in undergraduate, I had an Italian friend in your exact position who left after a year to go to graduate school in Europe...so it certainly does happen. A couple pieces of advice:
1) have a plan for where you are going before you leave. I'm not sure about the Netherlands, but the economy in the US is not completely back to normal and it can take time to find (good work)...even for well educated folks. As you said, having a funded PhDs is a pro, so don't waste it! At the very least, use this time to study all of your interests, not just your dissertation topic. For example, if you want to become a computer programmer, master some languages, contribute to some projects and document your work on (e.g.) GitHub. This can help out A LOT if you decide to leave.
2) having a good advisor and topic are the most important pros. I live in a great place (nyc area) with great friends...but my advisor and I have communication issues (I chose poorly) and my topic is not so interesting. For me, these cons (sort of) cancel out the pros as they make life miserable more often than not. On the other hand, if you live in the middle of nowhere...I can understand why you'd want to leave...but you may not find such a great advisor and topic elsewhere!
At the end of the day, of course, you have to choose for yourself. But I would say that if you are currently doing what you want to do and/or this is the kind of work you would like to do after leaving/graduating, then you should stay. At least until something comes along you know would be better for you. Plus, things could get better for you at school within the next year or so (graduate school is long) and the you would be leaving for no good reason!
Good luck!
# Answer
> 6 votes
I'll start with telling you in short about my analogous situation and how I cope with it, then I will suggest my ideas for you.
Situation:
In my country we have a much loathed system where everyone participates in mass exams and the top x people who chose a particular school in a particular university make it in. This has placed me 200km from my home, which in a country about 1000km across is considered a little far from home. I hate the place I stay in but will not move out because it's practically outside the university, in one year of studies I only found one great professor in my field, the other decent professors are into areas indifferent to me (I am into software, they teach hardware), or teach math and physics. As for classes with other professors, they are generally ridiculous and to pass them you have to rely on open courseware and books. Also the school is disorganized and this has cost me, semester exams are incoherent, while it's hard to find out about any papers you might need for a class, changes in the schedule and so on. In short, I can't wait to get out of here.
My approach:
What I do to compensate is work on my own on stuff, I am aiming to get Microsoft and Oracle certifications in summer, have participated in an international contest held by Microsoft (nothing achieved but they know my name at least, and gave some good comments), and am up-first in the list of new Microsoft student partners for October (the whole Microsoft thing is because it's the only company that opens doors to students in the area). I am more specifically headed for game programming and thus have started learning the systems of Unreal and Crytek, and am trying to write lots of tutorials on my webpage, which I see many others saying that is what earned them their job.
The result:
Essentially, I see this as defying the awful circumstances and trying to surpass the diploma of CS I will get in 4 years (I also have more personal reasons), because professors are indifferent, incompetent, or anything else, and I get to forget about where I am. It is also said that when one gets through something hard, the best chance he's got is getting devoted to work. Looking back at these 8-9 months, I realize that 85% or so of the progress was done in the last 4 months, and the rate with which I advance grows exponentially (though exams have brought it to a halt currently). It has been lots of fun, I now know a few people who are graduating next year and sooner or later will be in the industry, and I have stuff to write about in my CV.
Bringing it to your needs:
Talk to the professor and see if the system there will allow you to switch to another project or work on one you pick and start yourself, this way you have a clean project and make sure the team is reliable and serious about it. You can also see if you can reboot the Phd altogether. I will insist on starting your own side projects, and try to see what the world thinks of them, it is very rewarding. It will also prove your point to the professor that you are serious about your work and held back by the others. Even if you do quit, when interviewed for another PhD you can show your work and show them the exact same thing, that you are good in what you do but will require them to give you at least a neutral environment.
In any case, see if you can change the project or the team, or if you can reboot the PhD, if you decide it is insufferable and see no way out of it, make sure you have already started your own projects and work, and look for another PhD you are interested in, since you have started for a PhD, make sure you get one, whether it be there or elsewhere, otherwise you are taking a step backwards. Whatever you do though, I insist that you start a project of your own, that fascinates you, straight away, and as soon as you have something you can show, make sure one can verify that you are indeed doing it. I hope I helped in any way, I am in a similar situation psychologically so i thought I should share my experience.
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Tags: phd
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thread-23099 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23099 | Preventing leaking exam papers/cheating using phone cameras? | 2014-06-08T21:18:32.700 | # Question
Title: Preventing leaking exam papers/cheating using phone cameras?
I work at an educational institution where exam papers are considered protected. Leaking the exam question sheet and taking photocopies or camera shots is considered illegal and is strictly prohibited. I am not here to argue about this policy but to ask about the best ways to enforce it. Students have been taking pictures of exam papers during exam time, leaking them to subsequent sessions or posting them with solutions and often selling them to students of subsequent semesters. Though we don't use the same questions between semesters, they do exhibit some similarities at times for some courses.
Even with strict invigilation and requests not to bring cell phones to the exam room, there have been some incidents. Lockers are out of the question, as is collecting all cell phones before exam time. I would welcome any suggestions.
# Answer
I'm going to be a bit harsh and say that your cause is doomed to fail if you want to solve the problem just by policing students.
What happened is that some factors contributed to atmosphere where it is considered advantageous to have a copy of past exams and your students are motivated enough to risk getting a copy. The tradition of having a monetary incentive makes things even worse.
At my previous university, I had opportunity to witness the evolution of hi-tech copying systems. At first, nobody was checking for cell-phones because they had bad cameras and weren't as popular, then cell-phone copying became popular. Then cell-phone detectors of various levels of sophistication came into use. After that, cheaters moved on to other devices.
Today, spy devices are cheap and commonly available and they are next logical step from cell-phone cameras. Are you going to start checking your student's watches next? How about buttons, glasses or even pens? What about say calculators (OK, that one in particular isn't the best example, but if there's demand, supply will come), whose use might even be allowed in some examinations? Are you going to have a spy-equipment expert on your staff to check what your students are using? What if they home-brew some equipment?
What if someone actually *steals* a physical copy of questions? That actually happened at my previous school. Guy (not a student at the school) came to a lecture hall where an examination was being conducted, waited for TAs to hand out the questions and then proceeded towards the exit with a question sheet, running over anyone who tried to stop him. There was even a recording from video-surveillance of him doing the deed and a wanted poster was placed at the school entrance, but it didn't do any good. That particular problem was solved by asking for IDs before handing out questions, but it shows the trend of escalation that can happen.
Next, what if a group of students organizes with the idea of memorizing questions in detail without any technological aids? There's literally no way of preventing that.
The more you press the anti-technological/anti-cheating offensive without taking away the incentive to cheat, the greater is the risk that you'll instead form a core of semi-professional cheaters who will have connections to the sources of appropriate cheating equipment and serve as a cadre which will train future generations and make problem even worse. For example, in my hometown, a sure way to detect presence of a higher education institution is the high concentration of flyers advertising rent and sales of spy equipment.
The only sure way (that I at least can think of) to solve the problem is to cut it at its source and take away the incentive to have the pictures of past exams. Try to take time to analyze all factors that could lead to such behavior and see if you can actually affect any of them in a meaningful way. Although questions aren't repeated, it's obvious from the response of students that seeing past exams is beneficial in some way. It's normal for questions to be similar, since there are probably some underlying concepts that students should learn and that knowledge needs to be tested. If the students are already aware of what they're going to find at the exam, then there isn't much need to see how exactly the sheet with questions looks like. If the exams is supposed to be a surprise, then you should reconsider if you're actually preparing your students properly for the exam.
If going in-depth when solving a problem such as this isn't real motive, then it would be best to take advice from Moriarty's answer. You'll be doing something "direct" and you probably won't challenge existing policies too much.
> 89 votes
# Answer
This is not the answer you want but I have to get it out of my chest. (My background is engineering).
The best, most effective and easiest way to completely avoid students taking pictures of exams, selling them and making a profit out of that is:
Publish online *all* previous exams as an exercise book.
The questions in an exam and the exercises done before the exam should not be more different than an exam and a previous exam, actually old exams make for perfect exercises and practice.
The point is that studying the courses and making a few exams/exercises to practice should be easier and lead to greater success than checking the *whole compilation* of past exams, which should anyway lead to a good knowledge of the contents of the course (in a more tedious way than reading the theory and checking this with *a few* exams).
Personal story: When I was in high-school the homework would be much harder than the exams, anyone making the homework (optional) would get good qualifications and the qualifications would reflect actual good knowledge about the subject. In the university there were exercises, but they were explanatory and very basic, the questions in the exam were much harder. This made the exercises useless, students needed exams from previous years just to practice in answering the questions, and I hated that.
> 93 votes
# Answer
When designing the exam paper, place fewer items per page. To reduce paper waste, this can be achieved by using A5-size exam papers, created by putting two exam papers on a single sheet, then cutting the pages in half. This will not prevent students from taking photographs, but it will mean that each photo they take will be obtaining less information about your exam. The student will need to take their camera out more often to get the whole exam, increasing the chances that your proctors, who should be watching the room carefully, will catch them.
> 13 votes
# Answer
> Make the punishment for being caught well-known. Make every effort possible to track down the perpetrators, and make the offence and punishment publicly known.
You could set up one or two cheap cameras to take high-resolution photographs at set intervals, say every 15 seconds (making sure it's all kosher legally, and warning the students). I know that Canon compact cameras "hacked" with the CHDK software can do this. Don't use an SLR, they have noisy shutters. If you find out an exam has been leaked, you should be able to comb the archive and catch the perpetrator. Yes, it's an extreme solution -- but also a scare tactic.
Cell phone detectors are another possibility to catch offenders in the act, though by no means foolproof. Turning on airplane mode would render them useless.
> Make offending harder by confiscating cell phones at the start of the exam. This won't stop pre-meditated offending, though -- you can't do pat-downs!
Yes, you claim this is out of the question. But I am truly surprised that this is not an institutional policy to collect all cell phones before an exam. Put this back into the question. My undergraduate institution also had a substantial fine (NZD $70, IIRC) for the owner of a cell phone that rang during the exam. It should go without saying that phones must be turned off.
> Place a subtle random symbol somewhere on each exam paper, that is unique to each individual.
Your average none-too-bright cheater might not take much notice of a "⎋" symbol in the corner of a page. But, it would be a pain to implement for a large class and will only work until someone catches on.
> 12 votes
# Answer
I had a professor that solved this problem nicely when I was in college. This is all based on what he did.
1. Before the Final, tell the all the periods that everyone is getting the same test. And that all the grades will be scaled across all periods. If the second period class does better than the first period class, it will suck to be in the first period when the mean will be substantially higher.
2. Repeat this warning on the day of the test.
3. Hand out a substantially different test to the 2nd period students.
Yes, he lied to all the students, but he had watched the 2nd period Antennas class consistently score higher than the 1st period.
I've met people that had that second class, they studied our test exclusively and more than one of them lost 2 letter grades in their final class grade over it. Studying the other test exclusively wasn't a problem for this teacher after that.
His tests were deep in theory and derivation of where the equations come from, and Antennas is a very complicated subject. Might not work with all classes, but when word of this kind of apocalypse gets out, it will live in the history of the folklore for many years.
> 11 votes
# Answer
To prevent questions being copied from one test period to another is relatively "simple"—just make sure that classes taking the same test take it at the same time. (This requires some central planning of course, but should be something the university would in principle approve of.)
As for the use of cell phones, we take care of that by making sure that students can't access them during the exam. Because our protocols require a "gap row" between students taking the exam, that gives us an extra row of desks. We ask the students to put their extra materials in the gap rows. That way it's immediately obvious if students start reaching for the materials, because they have to stand up or visibly get out of their seat to access them.
In addition, it is announced that cell phones are **not** allowed material, and that any violation of the exam regulations results in an automatic failing grade. (Thus, any use of a cell phone gets you in trouble.)
> 9 votes
# Answer
Exam questions can be shuffled, or reparameterized (being careful to make both versions equally difficult) to obtain at least 2 versions of the same exam.
But **don't** mark them version A/B. Let the cheater try to figure that out.
Start playing this game early. Do it on quizzes and midterms.
This doesn't eliminate cheating, but may make it not worth the trouble.
If you think there might be spies within your department who are leaking the exams, give one version of the exam to the assistants to photocopy, and say nothing about an alternate version. Photocopy the alternate exam version yourself, and substitute at time of test. You won't be questioned about wasting trees, but if you are, say you thought there was an error in the test or that it didn't cover things with the correct weight, and you wanted to correct that.
It is a bit of work, but it is not 2x or 3x the work and if it seems like it is, rethink what to change. A side benefit is a larger pool of example questions is generated as time goes by.
**Alternative:** Make the exam open book, no time limit (i.e. this should take about 3 hours but you have all weekend if you need it), and the questions impossible, like what you would expect at Caltech or MIT. **Contraindications:** Requires working honor system; honor.
> 8 votes
# Answer
Do you have the option of conducting the exams centrally? At my institution, all final exams and major mid-semester exams were conducted at the same time for all students, under the supervision of external monitors.
Any person who was seen using a phone or unauthorised notes would be guilty of serious misconduct, and likely get zero for the exam at the very least. Similarly, no person was permitted to leave the room until all papers had been collected, so it wasn't possible for the question sheets to go walkabout.
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Unfortunately, that will be difficult if there's not institutional support for it. (Although I'm constantly amazed to find out that it's not the norm elsewhere.)
What I have seen work in the past, though, is to use subtly different question sheets for different students. On numerical exams it's easy enough to change a few numbers, but people who intend to copy answers out probably won't notice the difference.
Of course, that won't help if there's later sessions of the same exam, but honestly that's not something that should be happening at university level anyway. No technical solution is going to be able to stop students from talking.
> 7 votes
# Answer
> I am not here to argue about this policy but to ask about the best ways to enforce it.
Like some of the other excellent answers, I am going to argue about this policy as I do not see a good way to enforce it.
Like many other institutions (entertainment industry, telegraph ) you are clinging to an old model in the face of overwhelming technology and a client base (students) that simply don't care about your rules (copying exams is not illegal: your institution is not the government and cannot enact laws).
Focusing on cellphones will accomplish nothing. I have a high-res camera in my laptop that is smaller than a shirt button. While I personally cannot hide it under my hairline, many 20 year olds can. See other answers (or amazon.com) for more places to hide a camera.
Your end goal seems to be to reduce cheating, meaning knowing the answer to question 17 before going into the test. You reduce cheating by making the contents of question 17 irrelevant because everyone gets a different question 17.
Any decent-size institution will have a large question bank built up over the years. Digitize it if you haven't done so already, and get the IT department to make a system that prints out 200 different tests with questions drawn at random from the database. Randomize the order. If you want to be really fancy, have the system randomize values if that is appropriate. This is not a complex process, I would probably quote you delivery within a week excluding the questions themselves.
Administration will probably whine about running costs, but there are none. Printing used to cost more than copying but today it's exactly the same machine.
So, 200 students each getting a different set of 50 questions drawn from 1000 in a random order with random values -\> copying any particular test is of no value to others and the problem largely goes away.
> 7 votes
# Answer
In many jurisdictions student's answers are his/her intellectual property and he/she is legally entitled to copy and reproduce them. You need to consult with local lawyer ASAP, because your institution may actually be asking you to prevent students from exercising their rights.
(I do understand that students transfers some of their rights to the institution. But depending on local laws, some rights cannot be transferred nor relinquished, like the right to make a copy for personal use. There is also a possibility that university might have no rights at all to student's work - until he/she submits it.)
> 3 votes
# Answer
If a student submits the same essay for two courses they get into **big** trouble.
Therefore why are you allowing your staff to cheat the system and not do the work they are **paid** to do by using the same exam for more than one presentation of the course?
**The solution is to remove any member of your staff that are too lazy to do the job they are paid to do.**
And then publish all past exams, as is done for every exam I have taken in the UK, for some reason the UK does not allow the same lazy and cheating by it’s university staff.
> 3 votes
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Tags: exams, cheating
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thread-23290 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23290 | Transferring from MS to PhD Program | 2014-06-12T13:22:09.930 | # Question
Title: Transferring from MS to PhD Program
I am starting a MS program next fall (in statistics). At the time, I had a personal circumstance that limited the schools to which I could apply, and this was the outcome. Those circumstances however no longer exist now and I am entertaining the possibility of applying to a PhD program this fall. I am an older, returning, student so another year I didn't have to spend advancing my career is something I would rather not do.
The problem is that I would not finish my MS program and I am wondering how departments feel about that. I know that I am investment to them and they would have to approve renewal of my gta next year,so I am wondering if applying to a PhD program this fall would be a wise idea.
I am wondering if anyone can give me advice based on their own experiences relevant to my situation.
# Answer
> 3 votes
In departments I've been involved with, you need a masters in order to apply for a PhD. You'd need to complete your masters first, or find an equivalent. Thus, you cannot really transfer from Masters to PhD, as they are not on the same level.
On the other hand, in countries like the UK and Australia, an undergraduate honours degree that is enough to gain entry into a PhD program, at least, in those countries.
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Tags: graduate-school, career-path
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thread-23296 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23296 | Referencing equations in/from appendix | 2014-06-12T14:14:18.893 | # Question
Title: Referencing equations in/from appendix
I am currently writing a thesis in which a lot of derivations are moved to the appendix. To make these derivations readable, I sometimes write sentences like "As we saw in equation X...", where equation X is present both in the main text as well as in the appendix.
My question: should I, while writing the appendix, reference the instance of the equation in the main text, or the one in the appendix?
# Answer
> 5 votes
In general, it is always easier if your cross-reference is relatively nearby—flipping between multiple parts of a text makes the whole thing harder to understand.
So I'd lean towards referencing the version in the appendix, all other things being equal. However, if you are referencing a whole series of equations in the main text, including one duplicated in the Appendix, then it would be OK to preserve the main-text reference.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I would reference the appendix number in the appendix so as not to break the flow, but you might also footnote a cross-reference to the place where it appeared in the main text if it helps remind the reader.
# Answer
> 1 votes
My approach is usually to write something like
> "... and we arrive at
>
> (A3) E=mc^2
>
> as in equation (42) of the main text. Now, substituting for m in (A3) we obtain..."
etc.
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Tags: citations, cross-referencing
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thread-23256 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23256 | Can we first claim and then find the evidence when we write the literature review (i.e., using confirmatory technique)? | 2014-06-11T19:27:45.287 | # Question
Title: Can we first claim and then find the evidence when we write the literature review (i.e., using confirmatory technique)?
I have a question regarding a researcher’s practice in writing.
Let me give you some background about this issue. Here’s what this researcher does when writing introductions and literature reviews. He makes certain speculations first and then proceeds to making claims based on those initial speculations. It is worth noting that the claims he makes are sometimes too specific. Following that, he starts looking for evidence to support his claims.
I have tried many times to convince him and have told him that this is not the right way to write a research paper. It’s more like writing a composition rather than an academic piece of writing which aims at making contributions to the world of education.
Here’s part of what he recently wrote in an email in response to me:
“I disagree that making claims and looking for evidence supporting them is "not academic". Maybe I am wrong but this approach is less exploratory than the method you have in mind. For example, \[Michael\] Kane's framework is based on this method: Claim --\> evidence. Kane specifically stresses the importance of opinions/judgments etc. I personally do not prefer to tie my mind merely to the literature --I do not find it much academic in the sense it does not engage me in critical thinking. My method is: "The theory I wish to develop does not exist out there; I develop and support it"”
I would like to have your opinion regarding this issue. Is what the researcher claims really right? If not, can you introduce some published sources which have attacked this practice?
# Answer
> 7 votes
Claim -\> evidence is a perfectly valid approach. It is just that evidence is not the same as only looking for supporting information, it means critically scrutinizing all aspects that speaks for or against the claim and then drawing an educated conclusion on whether the claim is good or not. In the end the "evidence" is the net outcome of positive and negative support to the claim. So to me the claim that one should come up for an idea an then look for support is either poorly phrased, leading to misunderstanding, or plainly bad.
# Answer
> 7 votes
## You'll find some evidence for pretty much anything
It is okay to make assumptions and verify them afterwards. However, there is a problem with "looking for evidence to ***support*** his claims" - verifying claims requires looking both for evidence that supports the claim, and also for evidence that would disprove the claim.
Doing only one half of that will be a failure since if the claim is contested, then you'll find only what you're looking for even if the 'other side' has overwhelming support. There are many proven false things that have also some published supporting evidence.
## You don't know if the claim is contradictory
There are many cases when seemingly obvious things aren't actually true. If a seemingly obvious issue is a core of your argument, you should make sure that it's true - and that includes looking also for contradictory evidence; and you know that it's not contradictory only after checking it. If it turns out false, you'd want to say "There wasn't any published data about the falseness", not "Well, it was on the first page of google but I didn't bother to look for it".
# Answer
> 2 votes
Another way to frame this matter is in the context of the "confirmation bias." This is the tendency to favor evidence to support one's stance, while ignoring contrary evidence. The social psychology literature has produced an abundance of research to show this is a very common (and unintentional) bias. I think it is perfectly acceptable to make a claim (or hypothesis) that is informed by good theory, and then seek out the relevant evidence that can help refine the claim (or hypothesis).
The problem is not in the process of making the claim and then reviewing evidence -- rather, the problem occurs during the actual review of the evidence. If your colleague isn't aware of the possibility of a confirmation bias, it is likely that she or he will look only at the evidence that aligns with the claim. One way of minimizing the confirmation bias is to begin the search process with more of an open question that allows one to capture the full range of evidence, as opposed to just one of many possible sides.
I highly recommend the book "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman, which does an excellent job of describing many decision making processes and where people can go wrong.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Honestly, I suspect that a lot of research is done this way. Read a *couple* of papers, get an idea, collect data and then write the paper. During the paper writing one has to do a reasonable literature review (at least in my field) to give context to your work and why it is better. This isn't the best way of doing it.
I believe this really separates researchers from great researchers. The great researchers have a strong knowledge of all the background papers and understand how they relate to their topic.
As someone who has done research for 20+ years, I would really encourage any newer researcher to get a good grasp of the background papers and create an understanding of how they fit together and how your work fits into theirs.
We all build on the shoulders of the past, it is rare to create a new research topic that is not based on past research.
The person you mention, I think, is not creating objective work, it seems a little more subjective (though it is hard to distance yourself from your own ideas :-) ). My feeling is that *you* need to do the right thing and realize that what they are doing is not a great model (which I think you have realized already).
I think there is a difference between assumptions and hypothesis. Assumptions, to me, seem to be unsubstantiated ideas. Hypotheses, to me, are substantiated ideas. A hypothesis typically comes from a strong knowledge of the background literature and a few good ideas you have come up with.
Just my 2 cents.
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Tags: writing, ethics, literature, methodology
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thread-23253 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23253 | I found out that I have plagiarism in my published journal papers, what should I do now? | 2014-06-11T18:48:38.333 | # Question
Title: I found out that I have plagiarism in my published journal papers, what should I do now?
I published some research papers in an ISI Journal during the past years. But due to the lack of precise knowledge of the correct referencing, and particularly due to attending an “unintentional plagiarism class” in my university, perhaps in some places of my papers, referencing rules unintentionally do not meet correctly and exactly. It seems that I have to modify some parts of my papers if possible. Also in some parts of my papers I commit an intentional plagiarism. Now what should I do? Should I contact the editor of the journal? Do they reject or retract my papers? I am a PhD student and if my papers are rejected or retracted I could not defend my PhD thesis.
Please guide me. I'm afraid of expulsion from the university and loss of honor.
# Answer
> 15 votes
The journals need to be contacted, but I would not do it directly. Hopefully your university has someone, ideally a committee, who deals with academic misconduct. I would approach this panel with a detailed list of the occurrences in the papers where you now believe you have plagiarised. Explain to the committee how you were unaware of the norms of good academic research practice until your recent class on the topic. Have in place a plan that will help you continue your training and demonstrate to them that it will not happen again. While they may expel you, I think most academic misconduct panels would look favourably on a student who comes forth on there own with a plan in place. The committee should then be obliged to bring he matter forward with the presses and will negotiate a settlement.
As for loss of honor, it sounds like you plagiarised because you did not understand the norms. While some people will hold this against you, more will look favourably on your ability to admit a mistake.
# Answer
> 10 votes
As it stands it is impossible to say what can happen. Plagiarism is a serious thing but there are places where copied text is less detrimental and there are places where it is definitely so. If your self-plagiarized parts are in, for example methods descriptions where you are describing similar or in fact the same procedure or method, the issue may not be critical, not good either. So you need to assess, or perhaps better, let someone else assess the case. Why don't you contact the person(s) running the class you mention and ask them for advise with your papers at hand?
As for retraction, I am not sure the journal will necessarily retract your papers. Retraction is usually reserve for very serious cases of fraud. I suggest you carefully look at some of the cases written up on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). COPE is for editors and publishers but their cases may give you an idea of how your cases stands *vis-à-vis* their published cases.
So, try to get some more experienced people to look at your material and provide feedback. This will provide you with a better perspective than what can be achieved through this site since any answer here will be speculation or hypothetical since we have not seen the publications. Once you have a better perspective from your peers, and your case seem to lean towards there being a serious issue, you can consider contacting editors to hear their view. It is of course not impossible to contact them right away but right now it is not possible to evaluate if this is necessary.
# Answer
> 2 votes
StrongBad's answer is a good one though I would also suggest that when you approach anyone about it: have completed revisions of the papers with proper references on hand.
Going to them with "I just realized I made a mistake, these are the fixed versions I'd like to replace my old papers with" is probably better than just "I made a mistake".
Mistakes happen all the time in all fields but I'd be more concerned about the "intentional plagiarism" in their shoes, intentional dishonesty is much more serious than unintentional mistakes.
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Tags: publications, journals, plagiarism
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thread-21189 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21189 | What is the socio-economic argument or historical basis for university tuition fees? | 2014-05-20T09:07:38.193 | # Question
Title: What is the socio-economic argument or historical basis for university tuition fees?
One of the major differences between Europe (here I am mainly referring to Scandinavia) and Northern America, from an academic viewpoint, is the perspective towards higher education. In Scandinavia there it is generally accepted that anyone despite their financial status should be able to pursue higher education. Elsewhere in Europe I know of systems were the state subsidises a majority of the cost and only a minor portion of education costs are reflected on to the students.
The quality of education and research, and all the top *X* ratings aside, I personally never really understood the "American" way of looking at education, namely that it is a practically a business. I have noticed this other question on reasons for increasing tuition fees but little to no information behind why they exist.
I came across this comic recently, which seems to be gaining some popularity on the web, where the artist takes up some of the aspects and consequences of the north american perspective towards higher education; subjects that are mentioned are student loan debt, tuition fees and federal spending on education vs military or prisons.
Please note that I the language s/he chooses might be offensive to some and it is **not at all** my intention to insult anyone or incite a subjective discussion. Based on the culture and traditions in Scandinavia, many find it really hard to understand *why* it would be useful to have tuition fees, and thus put practically everyone who studies in serious debt by the time they are done with education. Thus, I would like to know:
**Is there any reasonable ground (thorough studies on cost to society, overall well-being of people etc) or any indisputable historical origins behind why tuition fees were introduced for higher education?**
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PS: I realise that the question is on the gray zone on being on-topic or not here on Ac.SE but given good, constructive and factual answers, it would be a good resource to people outside North American system.
# Answer
> 38 votes
## What do you mean, "introduced"?
Someone has to pay for the teaching in any case. Students paying for their education has been the default option since at least Bologna in 1088, when the studies happened because enough people wanted to pay for such an education. It has continued to be the case throughout history, except for some prestigious universities that got sponsored by wealthy rulers or religious studies that got sponsored by the church estates. It must be noted that this sponsorship shouldn't be considered "public education" but is rather analogous to various current stipends/grants/etc, since these were meant for a very small number of individuals, not as education for masses.
It's not that USA has "introduced tuition fees" - instead, some countries, like the Scandinavian countries mentioned, have comparably recently (historically speaking) introduced free higher education for everyone, but USA hasn't (yet?) introduced that.
## Who are the actors here?
As for most questions about society, you can't really talk about "*THE* motivation for X" without being explicit about *WHO* has that motivation.
The core actor here is the people who actually decide on exact amounts of tuition, i.e., the people who **manage** the (often private) universities, not their students, faculty, parents or politicians. **For them,** there are at least four valid reasons for having tuition fees:
1. That's income that they can use for whatever needs, so tuition is better than no tuition in that sense; even if they have other funding as well, most education institutions would prefer a larger budget;
2. It filters out people based on their motivation - in any university setting, you don't want students who are "just visiting", as they disrupt the motivation and learning of others. Recent data from MOOCs with no barriers of entry show that this creates a large class of people who join just to try it out, since no real commitment of resources is required; that's okay for a MOOC, but disruptive in the 'classic' university environment, where you need to limit the number of students to whatever number you can afford do service properly.
3. It filters out people based on their ability to pay - that's generally considered an inappropriate/illegal/evil goal nowadays, but back when the system was implemented, maintaining the separation of classes was an intentional goal (e.g. Numerus Clausus policies even in 20th century), not just a random byproduct of policies; your school and degree would have a better reputation if low-class "undesirables" would be kept out of the classrooms. A currently relevant argument is that diplomas are in some sense a Veblen good, where being affordable means less demand as you're believed to be cheap, thus automagically worse.
4. They can't handle any sudden drops in income. Much of university expenses are fixed - building maintenance and tenured faculty won't become cheaper if you suddenly lose 20% of your income; so any cost reductions must be accompanied by a large influx of money (from whom?) or be a slow process of reducing volume - either teaching much less students, or doing much less to teach them.
\[edit\]
## There's no market pressure to reduce tuition
In a reasonable market there are downward pressures on price and demand - customer ability to pay and customer price sensitivity. Recent changes in USA and some other education markets have greatly reduced those pressures.
The wide availability of student loans has resulted in a situation where people are buying education that they can't really afford - paying large amount of money (that they're borrowing) for even those education programs that won't actually have a "return on investment", while not having the spare resources to pay for it as a "hobby expense" for improving themselves. The impact of this is yet into the future, as student loans are maturing and the related bankruptcy cases are (and will be) rising.
And, more relevant to this question, student loans remove the visible difference between cheap and expensive university programs. **Universities don't compete on price, since people don't choose them based on price.** Some people do, but the majority of students don't think in a manner "oh, I can't afford a $40k tuition in a better university, so I'll apply only to $20k ones" in the same way as they would when purchasing, say, cars for the same amount; since the loans mask the direct impact on their daily budget. This means that universities have little motivation to lower their prices, as being cheaper won't gain them much, and being expensive doesn't restrict them from getting the good students they want, since the good students will get loans/stipends anyway.
# Answer
> 19 votes
I agree with some of the other people answering this question that there isn't a single, definitive reason for this approach, but here are some factors that play a role. Note that I'm not defending or endorsing these factors, just describing them.
1. People in the U.S. are very attached to private universities, in a way that is not true in many countries, and these universities differ from each other dramatically. For example, you can attend universities with all sorts of non-mainstream religious affiliations, as well other philosophical or practical approaches. (You can decide you'd like to study alongside hippies, or that you'd like to attend a 24-student college in which all-male students run a farm in addition to studying.) There's a widespread belief in the U.S. that this diversity provides benefits that would be difficult to achieve through public universities. If you want lots of universities not run by the government or even primarily dependent on government funding, then that biases things towards a tuition-based model.
2. It's sometimes felt that heavily subsidized higher education is not in fact egalitarian, since the students being subsidized are already relatively well off on average. Instead, the model used by some wealthy universities like Harvard is to charge the rich a fortune, charge the middle class a moderate amount, and let the poor attend for free. That model has some serious drawbacks (for example, there's a lot of haggling over personal circumstances and what people can really be expected to pay), but it's not crazy. Of course public universities can follow a similar policy, or the government could handle it more abstractly via progressive taxes. However, this often doesn't fly in a U.S. context, since there's widespread opposition to taxes or redistribution, while private institutions are allowed to do whatever they like (nobody is required to attend Harvard).
3. Public universities in the U.S. are organized at the state level, rather than by the federal government (with just a handful of exceptions, such as the military academies). This works pretty well in terms of local control over educational policy and spending: if Michigan wants an amazing public university and New Hampshire is only willing to pay for an average one, then New Hampshire can't vote against the University of Michigan's budget. However, there's a major problem, namely that it is very easy to move between U.S. states (since there are no language barriers and few cultural barriers). This leads to two fears: that people will live in low-tax states but move to states with cheap but excellent universities for college, and that students will move to other states after college (taking the economic benefits of their subsidized education with them). These fears can be addressed in various ways, such as residency requirements, but there's no absolute solution that's not draconian. The fear of being taken advantage of plays a depressingly large role in some discussions of funding public education.
# Answer
> 12 votes
It should be noted that in the US, universities evolved in a very different manner than in Europe. The first universities were not sponsored by the state—inasmuch as there was no formal government (Harvard was established in 1636. well before much of the formal mechanisms of government were imported from Great Britain). As a result of this, most of the early colleges in the US were **private** schools, which needed to support themselves based primarily on external financing, as no government funding was readily available (or, in some cases, even possible).
Of course, given that private schools were charging tuition fees, it was of course reasonable for public schools to also charge some sort of tuition fee when *they* opened.
# Answer
> 11 votes
The history of tuition fees in the UK is well documented. Up until 1998 there were no tuition fees. The Teaching and Higher Education Act in 1998 instituted a £1000 tuition fee based on the Dearing Report. The Higher Education Act in 2004 introduced a variable tuition fees up to £3000. This was largely panned as politically motivated and I don't know if the decision was based on any type of formal review. In 2010, in response to the Browne REport the government allowed universities to increased tuition fees up to a maximum of £9000 in exceptional circumstances. Most universities chose to set their tuition fees at £9000. In all cases there has been both substantial criticism and support for the changes to the tuition fees.
# Answer
> 5 votes
One aspect that is not touched upon in the comic you link to is that the student is the one who captures most of the benefit of higher education, starting at better job prospects and a higher expected salary, but also covering exposure to new ideas, the possibility of a better life in the ancient philosophical sense, and four years of partying for the less philosophically inclined.
People who, for lack of interest, lack of ability or anything else, do not partake of higher education will only profit from higher ed by having better-educated neighbors (and the rather nebulous promise of "a strong, stable state, ready for the future"), which seems like a lot less than what those neighbors themselves get.
That said, it seems like the burden of proof for why the community at large should pay for the benefit of those that actually do go to college through higher taxes should be on those that argue for a socialization of these costs.
Frankly, this seems like a rather obvious point, whether you agree with it or not. That the comic you link to does not even make a token effort to address it is... disappointing.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Hopefully we can all agree that higher education must be funded somehow. There are two main ways of doing this. Government spending (taxes) or tuition fees (students pay). There are many possible reasons to prefer one system over the other and I suspect the decision is largely political/ideological.
I think the main reason the US system has high tuition fees is a social/political one. The US is generally more politically conservative than Europe and favours small government and low taxes. If you accept this approach it necessarily prevents spending large amounts on higher education. In this respect you could equally ask why the US does not have free healthcare and lower levels of social security than many places in Europe.
The main criticism of tuition fees is that they are unfair as they disadvantage poorer students and place people under a heavy burden of debt. However systems can be setup where this is not necessary the case, at least to a significant extent. For example in the UK student loans are only repaid after earning £XXXX (~£20,000) per year and are written off if not paid after 30 years. In this case the debt could be view more like a tax. This system is not perfect as it puts lots of the burden (for written off debt) back onto government and the current UK system is possibly unsustainable.
The argument for tuition fees is that the state paying is not really fair either. Many people do not go to higher education, either due to academic grades or more vocational interests. Is it really fair that their taxes pay for higher education they will never use. I realise this is the case for many things taxes pay for but in most other cases such as healthcare or unemployment benefits the main beneficiaries are the less well off. For higher education the beneficiaries are likely to have higher than average earnings over their lifetime and so should pay for that out of their pockets.
# Answer
> 2 votes
European and American university fee structures arose out of two different sets of historical circumstances.
In medieval Europe, university graduates generally went into the service of either the "State," (government) or Church, both of which were major sponsors of universities. In essence, the State and Church subsidized the education of people who would end up working for one or the other (plus a few that wouldn't). Because of this "tradition," university education in Europe is largely state-subsidized even though people often don't go to work for the state nowadays.
In America, university education was more of a private transaction, and people would either put themselves, or more likely, their children through college, without obligations to potential employers such as the state of church mentioned above. In time, the Federal government saw the value of an educated populace and made available loan programs for students. A few branches of the government (e.g. the armed forces) will pay for the education of students who would serve several years with them.
# Answer
> 2 votes
One aspect that is not covered in the responses here is that there's a considerable difference between the "sticker price" of private universities and what actual students pay. For example, at Harvard, families making less than $60,000 will actually pay *no* tuition. Yale and Stanford offer similar programs.
Most private colleges offer some form of tuition reduction based on financial need so it ends up that only a select few (international students and the very rich, mostly) pay full price.
Much of this is possible by the tremendous growth in private college endowments. At last reckoning, Harvard's endowment was $32 billion dollars.
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Tags: united-states, education, tuition
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thread-17992 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17992 | How can an undergrad from a country with little 'international' research improve his chances of being a "good fit" for a top PhD program? | 2014-03-10T05:25:45.280 | # Question
Title: How can an undergrad from a country with little 'international' research improve his chances of being a "good fit" for a top PhD program?
I am in my senior year of studying electrical engineering in an african university. I intend to apply to grad schools(Ph.D) a year after graduation, possibly to the top EE programs in the US (MIT, Berkeley, Stanford...) Despite the fact that ground-breaking/stellar research is virtually impossible to come by for undergraduates in my country, I have sort of gathered some. I have an accepted poster presentation(based on independent research) at the major national conference in my field, and my present senior year thesis/project may yield three-five papers at IEEE conferences around Africa. I should also be able to get two publications(also independent research) in a continental journal which is popular only among African Engineers in my field and not much outside.
My degree is a five year bachelors programme interspersed with three internships/co-op experience. One was a summer spent in a local R&D electronics lab/company in which we completed several design projects although all were adaptations/imitation of existing projects to solve problems facing developing societies like ours. Another one was a long internship (~8mths) in the EE division of a world-renowned company with huge presence in my country during which I worked on a major design project which required a lot of technical knowledge and was evaluated. I have also done some remote/virtual research for a foreign, not well-known, research institute in my field and I have completed a technical report (no peer review) of my research(not particularly breath-taking) which they publish in their report series.
My gpa though not near-perfect is on a 'first-class' (we use the british system) and so I am a high-ranking student in my university. We do not use the four point system and as much as I would not like to compare apples with oranges, if I convert my cgpa to the 4.0 scale it is just over 3.6 although our scale is much larger and high-end grades are more difficult to attain than what is obtainable in the US system. I am also a recipient of several national awards/recognition for academic merit.
Given the aforesaid and also assuming that I ace the GRE (math especially since I'm in engineering), my questions are these:
How do you think I can improve my chances of being a good fit for top U.S. graduate schools noting the difficulty/impossibility in doing any ground-breaking research especially as an undergraduate here?
# Answer
Ok, good question, but let's eliminate the phrase, "noting the difficulty/impossibility in doing any ground-breaking research especially as an undergraduate here?" This actually applies to almost the entirety of the undergraduate population. Very few undergraduates work on ground-breaking research projects -- and, if they do, their role on the actual project is unlikely to be the intellectual driver. They might have done some lower-level work under the supervision of the principal investigator (PI).
So, your question is really about how to improve your chances of acceptance in general. That really depends on the discipline, and it really depends on the program to which you are applying. Every program has a unique admissions committee that will review applications and assign different levels / weights to factors they consider important in making admissions decisions. Thus, certain programs may place a lot more emphasis on GRE than other programs. Some programs might consider letters of recommendations to be very important, which other programs may consider letters of recommendation to be of little importance (since most letters of recommendations are cherry picked from the possible letter writers).
That said, your task is to tailor every application to the programs where you are submitting an application. A general snowball approach where you submit the same application everywhere is an alternative strategy, but one that I advise against. Learn what those programs value most in their admissions decisions, and tailor the application accordingly. Of course, it is hard to figure out what they value, so you have to do a lot of researching -- e.g., any published data on the current and previous cohorts?
Good luck!
> 6 votes
# Answer
I'm going to assume that you are "qualifed," that is, you have good grades from your university program, and decent marks on standardized tests such as the GRE.
You ought to understand that in your situation, your "research" potential is probably viewed differently from, say, an American's. You probably won't be evaluated for your abilities in "pure" research (adding to the existing body of (Western) knowledge, as for your ability in "applied" research; that is taking the knowledge you will be taught in the United States, and sending it back to your home country.
I'm going to assume that the U.S. admissions committee at a top university would likely see you as an "average" student, rather than a "top" student (relative to other top university students). In this case, their question will be, would we rather train another "average" student for e.g. Silicon valley, or a similar student for an African country. The answer is likely to be in favor of the latter, because even top U.S. universities have limited points of entry into most African countries.
The hottest ticket in American universities right now is a degree from Kuwait, Qatar, or one of the other Gulf countries, with Africa not far behind. In this regard, your coops and internships with a national conference will be very helpful, because they suggest that you will rise high in your government's scientific hierarchy. American universities will be evaluating you as a potential Transportation Minister or head of the National Scientific Institute.
In this regard, your competition is not with "western" students, but similarly connected and educated African students (perhaps others from your homeland). You seem to have the advantage in this group. Good luck.
> 5 votes
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Tags: phd, publications, graduate-admissions, research-undergraduate, engineering
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thread-23306 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23306 | Applied to two MS programs, but one wants a decision before the other has made a decision | 2014-06-12T16:56:43.847 | # Question
Title: Applied to two MS programs, but one wants a decision before the other has made a decision
I applied to two graduate schools (both for an MS). "University A" gave me an admissions decision already. Upon reading their admissions letter, I have to make a decision within one week (it's currently mid-June). Unfortunately, I still have not heard back from "University B". They will be making their decision by July 31st.
I'm not entirely sure what to do here. My preference would be to go to University B, but if I don't get in there, then obviously I'd like to go to University A.
Would it be wrong to accept the offer to University A, and then withdraw later? Or, would it reflect poorly on me if I asked for an extension to make a decision? I find it strange that University A wants a decision so quickly, seeing as how you can apply for admission for the fall quarter up through mid-August.
# Answer
> Would it be wrong to accept the offer to University A, and then withdraw later?
Ethically, I think this would be wrong unless you *expressly* told University A of your consideration when you make the decision. When you accept an admission offer you are taking up limited resources and potentially depriving someone else of admission to the university.
> Or, would it reflect poorly on me if I asked for an extension to make a decision?
Not at all - just tell them that you are very interested in A but also have other possibilities and would like to make a fully informed decision. The worst thing that will happen is that A says "no".
> I find it strange that University A wants a decision so quickly, seeing as how you can apply for admission for the fall quarter up through mid-August.
Presumably, University A has a limited number of slots that they can fill, and, if you say "no", they would like to extend the slot to someone else before decisions are made. I'm a bit surprised that these universities are making fall MS decisions in June - these decisions are typically done by mid-April.
> 3 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, masters, graduate-admissions
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thread-23315 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23315 | Ph.D or not Ph.D? | 2014-06-12T21:15:13.500 | # Question
Title: Ph.D or not Ph.D?
On october I get a master degrees of computer science. The thesis period is very full but I love it, because I learn every day new knowledge.
Now my fear is to finish and get a boring job. Yes, the world is full of opportunities, but in Italy I know a lot of people that have a repetitive job. I don't want to be offensive, and even arrogant, but I really love the university and the idea of do research.
This is the point, i want to do a Ph.d in computer science, but there is a problem: all people say me that in Italy is not required, and after Ph.D I risk to beacame a 30 years old jobless. Yes I can go in other country after Ph.D, but if I can't ? if i don't find opportunity with my Ph.D?
Even my professor tell me that in Italy there is not Job opportunity for Ph.D, there is no possibility to work in university after. Should I give up? suggestions?
# Answer
I would suggest to give the job a chance.. I was thinking exactly like you when I finished my master in optical technologies. Maybe you are afraid of the new live (I mean as a worker). The job position has also many advantages. You will experience the feeling of deploying your knowledge it is really nice feeling. However, if you don't feel ok with job, you can apply for a Ph.D program carrying your experience in industry
> 0 votes
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Tags: phd, university, workplace
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thread-23313 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23313 | Can anyone provide insight on a Master's student struggling with research? | 2014-06-12T20:43:13.547 | # Question
Title: Can anyone provide insight on a Master's student struggling with research?
I just finished my first year of my Master's program in Atmospheric Sciences, and during this time I was a teaching assistant. Now that the summer has arrived, I'm starting as a research assistant with my advisor at the university I'm enrolled at, as well as a research assistant with a government organization. I'm currently working at this government organization, but I'm still getting paid equally between my two advisors.
Getting to the point, my research is a bit ambiguous at the moment. My advisor from my university doesn't have a clear project for me to work on, and my other advisor has provided some insight into what I can work on, but it isn't much better. I'm worried that the summer will be unproductive, and my chances of graduating on time (2 years total for me degree) will be put into jeopardy. Can anyone offer advice/insight into this? It would be greatly appreciated.
# Answer
I would say this is your opportunity to explore and find a (hopefully small) gap in the literature that you can fill. Reading literature reviews is the best way to start. I had a similar experience a little earlier in my degree (masters), and I was able to pick a topic that I loved, and it kept me going; I am almost finished, and it has been, IMO, a successful endeavor.
If you are applying to a PhD program after, you will have experience exploring a little on your own. Your advisor will be able to say in their recommendation letter that you took initiative in your research.
The difficult part will be carving out something meaningful that you can do in 7-9 months (1 month to research and decide & 2-4 months for thesis writing and defense at the end). Your advisor should be able to help you to narrow the scope to something manageable.
> 3 votes
# Answer
You need to press your advisors for more guidance. Although it is appropriate (and valuable) to give a PhD student room to develop his/her own research ideas, a Masters student typically needs guidance, at least a promising direction that the advisor can see resulting in a thesis.
> 2 votes
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Tags: research-process, masters, thesis
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thread-23316 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23316 | How to announce a new web-page? | 2014-06-12T21:22:11.953 | # Question
Title: How to announce a new web-page?
Our lab has recently developed a new webpage; we are thinking of ways to announce it's creation via social media and email:
* Is there an etiquette for making such announcements?
* Perhaps there are example announcements you could share?
# Answer
> 8 votes
If there's a reason for someone to visit your lab's site other than it's new and should be visited, then you could write up a short announcement and post it to a relevant mailing list for your particular discipline or sub-discipline.
Otherwise, the best and most persistent advertising you and your groupmates can do would be to include it as a signature block in your email. People who want to know more about your group can then click on the link. Other methods to generate traffic without purpose will likely tick off more people than inspire them to visit your page.
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Tags: etiquette, online-resource, networking, website
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thread-23272 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23272 | Message board for finding private grants | 2014-06-12T00:13:13.123 | # Question
Title: Message board for finding private grants
I am a PhD student studying in the US and I am interested in finding research-grants relevant to the research area to which I have recently switched to, viz. computational geometry problems in robotics.
As of now, I don't want to apply for a grant, but I want to get an overview for what kinds of problems do public and private research grants get offered to researchers in my field.
While googling I stumbled upon grants.gov on which different government agencies post funding opportunities relevant to their interests, and that this database is searchable by keyword.
The NSF website is also very useful. However their grant solicitations like this one seem quite open-ended and are not more specific on what kinds of problems need to be solved, (but please correct me if I am wrong, I am still exploring this website! :-D )
**QUESTION:**
Are there similar "messaging-boards" where **private** companies, interested in funding university research for a relevant problem post their funding opportunities? If not, how do you efficiently find such grants ?
I am interested in this because I feel private companies will be more specific on what kinds of problems they encounter and would like to be solved.
# Answer
> 2 votes
In the US, students generally do not apply for grants (except for specific fellowships for graduate students - NSF, DoD, Hertz, and the like); it is the advisor's job to find funding for the student.
If you want to get a general sense of the funding picture in computational geometry, I suggest you look at recently funded proposals on nsf.gov (their abstracts should be publicly visible) and follow up directly (and with due preparation) with the principal investigator of the corresponding grant.
Your best bet is to attract the attention of a well-known researcher in the field, and, given the current academic pressures, they are very likely to have some funding for students.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I suggest that you avoid the message board approach to locating funding and learn about the major funders in your particular area of study. You can do this by looking at the CV's of leading researchers (in your area) and see where they have received their funding. Some areas are pretty clear -- for example, most of the allied health disciplines receive funding from the National Institutes of Health. Other areas might be supported by the National Science Foundation, whereas others might be funded by private foundation with very specific interests. So, learn the entities that are interested in your area of study, as they all do not post to the same message boards.
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Tags: research-process, funding, online-resource
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thread-23304 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23304 | Expelled from undergrad university for poor academic performance, can I go back there (years later) for Masters? | 2014-06-12T16:26:23.063 | # Question
Title: Expelled from undergrad university for poor academic performance, can I go back there (years later) for Masters?
I want to obtain a masters degree at a certain top university (in Canada).
However, I was kicked out of the department due to my bad performance. Repeated attempts at getting back in were unsuccessful.
I have since then fixed my lack of discipline, achieved top grades at a "lesser" university, graduated with a bachelor's degree, and have worked (in a relevant field) for 7 years.
I was wondering how, or if I should even consider applying to my original university.
The reason is purely for my self confidence and, I guess, my ego. I got into that top university with excellent grades, but I was not ready to become an independent adult; computer games dominated my life until my final semester when I finally couldn't hang on anymore.
Graduating with top grades at another university showed that I picked myself up, but I want to prove to my family, the university, and mostly to myself, that I have the abilities to achieve what I could not 7 years ago.
The university is the *top* university at the field I study, in Canada. US have a couple comparable or better ones, but I cannot afford to go to those...
I know I can apply to another university, but I really want to find a way back in to my old university, and only apply elsewhere if no other options are available...
Any advice is fully appreciated.
**Update**: Clarification - I am asking this because that university has my status listed as "may not continue in Faculty"
# Answer
Keep trying! I was on academic probation (at a Canadian university :-) ) after my first year of undergrad (2.88 gpa). Thankfully I did not get kicked out. I persevered and now have an MSc and PhD and have been doing medical research for many years. Don't take this as gloating, just trying to say anything is possible :-).
Now, it will depend a lot on the university or department, but if you can convince a faculty member in the department that you want to do research and that you have completely changed your attitude, maybe they will have some sway (at least with the department). In my field, it is primarily a matter of convincing a faculty member (assuming the grades in the "lesser" university were good). Again, this will depend on the department.
Alternatively, maybe you can make an appointment with the admissions department and make a case to them why you should be allowed back in to the university. I suspect many would take your 7 years of experience as a growth experience.
Good luck!
> 6 votes
# Answer
Usually, in Canada there's a limit for that kind of status. For example if you drop a Master program from Concordia (like I did)there's a five terms period before reapplying. Here's an extract from the regulation that applies:
> Re-Admission of Withdrawn Students
>
> Students who have been withdrawn from a graduate program for academic reasons (e.g. **low GPA, C or F grades)** may wish to be considered for re-admission into the program. Normally, students must have been withdrawn from the program for a minimum of five terms in order to be reconsidered. A request for re-admission is considered to be a new application. Students who wish to be considered for re-admission must submit an on-line application, along with the required application fee. Documentation (e.g. CV, transcripts) **showing professional or educational accomplishments since the student was withdrawn must be submitted** along with a recommendation for re-admission by the degree program.
At McGill (in the top 20 of univerties in North-America) it's two years for medicine
> If an individual has not registered for a period of more than two years, their student file will be closed. **These individuals and those who have formally withdrawn** may be considered for admission. Applicants' admission applications will be considered as part of the current admission cycle, in competition with other people applying during that cycle and in accordance with current graduate admission procedures and policies.
Also for Graduate studies in Canada there's a lot of exceptions made, whatever regulation says. Try to contact the head of the department you're interested in.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I don't know what conditions are like at a Canadian University, but I graduated from a top American university and am basing my answer on this background.
Most universities, graduate faculties included, will base their decisions on an applicant's more recent experience. If you have top grades from a "lesser" university, that should be good enough (provided of course, that your target university routinely admits students from the other university). The seven years of work experience further separate you from your unfortunate undergraduate experience. College faculties are aware of "youthful indiscretions" with drinking, partying, etc. and are looking for signs that you have progressed beyond that point.
When I was admitted to a graduate school, I was told, "you only have to prove yourself once." That is, you will be admitted (or not), based on your "high water mark;" your highest level of achievement. They're not looking to disqualify you for things that happened maybe ten years ago; they're looking to see if your highest level of demonstrated aptitude meets their requirements. Good luck.
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, graduate-school, university, application
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thread-23287 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23287 | Do I need to change my CV when a former school changes affiliations? | 2014-06-12T13:02:48.877 | # Question
Title: Do I need to change my CV when a former school changes affiliations?
Some years ago, I studied in a small training center that had a "cooperative arrangement" with a larger university. I earned a graduate certificate bearing the name of the university along with graduate credits and a transcript from the university, but attended courses in the training center. I put these details on my CV:
```
2005 Graduate Certificate in X <location>, University of X
```
Recently, the training center and university ended their cooperative arrangement and the training center has a new partnership with another university. Do I need to adjust my CV to reflect the change?
# Answer
> 10 votes
I think the best approach is to keep the original CV entry, as this represents the *actual* qualification that you received. However, you might choose to add a note explaining the history, if you think this is likely to be helpful to prospective readers.
I agree that in the case described by @brechmos, where a university has changed its name, providing this information is likely to be useful. It's less clear to me that this is true in the OP's case: it seems (essentially) that the qualification he has used to be accredited by University X, and is now accredited by University Y. It's not clear to me why this would be useful information to someone reading the CV. I guess it might be relevant if the training centre has a high enough profile that people now naturally associate it with University Y, and would think that something listed with University X must be a different centre. Otherwise, I suspect noting the change is more likely to confuse people than help them...
# Answer
> 5 votes
Funny, this just happened to me!
On my CV/resume I now have the title of the section as":
*Masters of Science, University of XXXXX (now called XXXX University)*
My degree *is* from "University of XXXX" and so I feel that should go first. BUT, it would be a good idea to acknowledge the name change, as people will get confused, and so I added it as a parenthetical comment.
# Answer
> 1 votes
To use the example provided by brechmos.
> Master of Science, XXXX University (formerly University of XXXXX)
Have used this alternative in my cv.
# Answer
> 0 votes
```
2005 Graduate Certificate in X <location>, at that time affiliated with University of Y
```
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Tags: cv, credentials
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thread-23340 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23340 | Am I allowed to use a figure drawn by co-author in another paper? | 2014-06-13T05:05:22.863 | # Question
Title: Am I allowed to use a figure drawn by co-author in another paper?
I published paper 1 with a co-author A, who drew a very good illustrative figure in the introduction.
I want to submit paper 2 which addresses the same problem (but uses a completely different approach), so the introduction of the problem is pretty much the same. Do I need to ask A for permission to include the figure in paper 2?
# Answer
> 4 votes
I was at the "receiving end" of such a case once. One of my collaborators has used a figure I have drawn for another paper that I was not a co-author of without asking me first. I did not consider this intellectual dishonesty (the figure was neither particularly brilliant nor a lot of work), but I do admit that it stung a little bit to see my own work (however tiny this "work" was) being used without telling. If the collaborator had just dropped a brief email before, I would have certainly not minded.
Bottom line:
> Do I need to ask A for permission to include the figure in paper 2?
Strictly speaking probably not, but you really *should* tell A.
# Answer
> 4 votes
You need to first check the copyright information (you have probably signed) from the journal/publisher where the figure is published. This will determine where the copyright for the typeset article lies. The figure is art and as such should be covered by an intellectual property, which then clearly belongs to your colleague. This issue seems to be overlooked by many copyright notices. As you probably know many publishers allow authors to post submitted (unedited) manuscripts to be posted on web-sites and repositories, but not the final typeset version. This is because the journal really does not own the intellectual thoughts in a paper but the right to publish and distribute the final version.
To me this becomes quite confused and it is not clear if all publishers have considered the true ownership of figures. It would be useful to survey the copyrights to see how these issues are dealt with and if, for example, country specific rules apply.
Anyway, to answer your question: tell your colleague of your intention. It is good etiquette regardless of whether or not it is necessary. When it comes to copyright of a journal: better safe than sorry; get permission. You of course need to reference your other publication and any permission that is needed. You should add your colleague's name to the acknowledgement as the originator of the figure; again etiquette.
# Answer
> 2 votes
When you published the original article the publisher may have required the copyright on the text and all figures to be transfer to them or for them to be granted exclusive rights. Presumably based on this question, you believe that the publisher does not have exclusive rights.
In the sciences figures are often not that valuable, but in the arts, figures can be very valuable. If someone takes a valuable photograph and grants you permission to publish that photo in a single article, then you clearly do not have the right to reproduce that photo in other articles. It is not uncommon for the artist who took the photo to be a coauthor on papers involving their photos. This doesn't change the "ownership" of the photo. The person who produces a photo/figure the figure is generally the copyright holder unless they sign the rights away.
You must ask the copyright holder for permission to use the figure again. The copyright holder is likely either the person who created the figure or the publisher of the original article.
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Tags: publications, etiquette, copyright, intellectual-property
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thread-23339 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23339 | Applying to graduate school in an unrelated field after a year working in unrelated job? | 2014-06-13T03:53:24.377 | # Question
Title: Applying to graduate school in an unrelated field after a year working in unrelated job?
I'm in a predicament.
I majored in Computer Science as an undergraduate at a top university, and landed a job straight out of college at a web development firm. After a year of working at said company, I am itching to get back to school pursue a study of a topic in college that I found fascinating, which is East Asian Studies.
My problem is that the only experience I have with EAS is the minor in it that I acquired during my undergraduate career. The list ends there. I fear that I won't be able to get 3 recommendation letters from the professors that used to teach me (it's been a year, my study was only a minor, the school I went to didn't have the strongest faculty supporting the focus in East Asian Studies I wanted to pursue, etc), and that there isn't a strong enough background of experience, research, or published works to make up for it.
Is a graduate program still something I can think about pursuing? I am more than willing to spend a few months patching up my resume and my background to not only better my application but also actually get involved in this topic of research, but I am not sure where to start...
Any thoughts?
# Answer
In terms of "logistics," I would try to get one recommendation from a Computer Science professor, one from a language professor, and maybe one from an East Asian Studies professor (if not, then find the closest equivalent).
You are in a stronger position than you may think. Most applicants in East Asian (or similar studies), are stronger than you on the topic, but weak on "tools" that they need to pursue the degree. Two of those "tools" happen to be computer science (they call it quantitative methods) and languages, in which you are strong.
As a person that may be weak on the topic but strong on "tools," you are actually a rare commodity. Most faculties in soft sciences and social studies fear that their graduate students will be unemployable outside the field. You are the exception to the rule, and therefore represent a "lower risk."
My father, a retired engineering professor, used to say that it was easier for a good math and computer science person to take a graduate degree in Economics than for someone with an undergraduate Economics degree (and not the others).
Your minor in East Asian studies is enough to demonstrate your interest in the topic. The strength of your "tools" probably gives you an advantage over others.
> 6 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, changing-fields, time-off
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thread-23354 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23354 | A manuscript I refereed gave me an idea for a paper, not sure how to proceed | 2014-06-13T12:49:04.423 | # Question
Title: A manuscript I refereed gave me an idea for a paper, not sure how to proceed
So, last week I refereed a paper for a journal. The paper in question is a reply to a previous paper by a different author: it points out a serious problem in the original paper and then proposes a solution. The evaluation I sent back to the editors is that, while the problem is real (to the extent that a different researcher has independently identified it), there are a number of reasons why the proposed solution is not going to work.
Over the weekend, I started thinking about the paper in question again and suddenly realized that I know how to solve the problem (in a nutshell: you need to use a technique originally developed to solve a mildly related class of problems, but which nobody had yet thought of applying to this particular domain). Right now, I have a bunch of handwritten notebook pages with everything I need to write a paper, and all I have left to do is to find a couple of hours to sit in front of my computer and type it up properly.
The question is, how should I proceed now? On the one hand, given that I've developed my own solution, I'm not plagiarizing the paper I refereed (in fact, I intend to give it proper credit for discovering the problem). On the other hand, if I hadn't been asked to referee this paper, I wouldn't have put enough thought into it to come up with my own solution. More generally, to what extent is it acceptable to write a paper that directly builds on a paper you've been asked to referee?
# Answer
> 75 votes
I think there are two questions that need to be answered first.
* Is it important to you (e.g. for career reasons) to publish solo, or would you consider publishing with the other author? Keep in mind that publishing jointly may have extra benefits: the two of you together might come up with an even better solution, or it may lead to future collaborations on other projects. Or do you perhaps not care about getting credit at all?
* Is the manuscript public? Has it been posted as a preprint on arXiv or a similar server, or on the author's website, etc?
Depending on the answers, there are a few cases:
1. **You don't care about getting credit.** Write your report on the paper: "The approach to agrobaric frobotzim via PDQ analysis is unworkable because of foo, bar and baz. However, this could be fixed by using QPM analysis instead. \[Sketch your idea here.\] Pending this fix \[and any other suggested revisions\], I recommend the paper for publication." Expect that when the paper is published, there will be an acknowledgement: "We thank the anonymous referee for suggesting the approach used in Section 5."
2. **You want to publish jointly.** Contact the editor: "The author's approach to agrobaric frobotzim via PDQ analysis is unworkable, and as such I cannot recommend the paper for publication as it stands. However, I have some ideas about how to resolve the problem, and I would be interested in collaborating with the author to work them out. Would you be willing to put me in touch with her?"
1. **The editor says yes.** Great!
2. **The editor says no, and the manuscript is public.** Submit your report pointing out the flaws and recommending rejection. After a decent interval contact the author: "I saw your preprint, and had an idea to improve the results using QPM analysis. Would you be interested in working together on this?" Opinions vary on whether you should reveal that you were the referee; it is possible the author will guess anyway.
3. **The editor says no, and the manuscript is not public, but you know who the author is.** Submit your report pointing out the flaws and recommending rejection. The next step is a bit controversial. Some would say you should wait until it is public, so as not to break the anonymity of the reviewing process. Others think it is fine to reveal yourself and contact the author directly to suggest collaboration. I am not sure what to say here.
4. **The editor says no, and the manuscript is not public, and you do not know who the author is (double-blind reviewing).** You have no choice but to wait until the manuscript is made public (maybe until it is published somewhere else), since that's the only way to find the author and suggest collaboration. If you think you should give up on finding the author and publish solo instead, see below.
3. **You want to publish solo**. Write and submit your report. Now, is the manuscript public?
1. **The manuscript is public.** You may write your paper, citing the other author's preprint and giving her due credit for noticing the problem. This is ethical, but if you meet the author at a conference, don't expect her to buy you a beer: she was hoping to solve this problem but you beat her to it.
2. **The manuscript is not public.** You may not proceed. As a reviewer, you received the manuscript in confidence, and to write a solo paper based on it would be to take unfair advantage of that access. You must wait until the preprint appears publicly. (This might be when it is published in another journal, or maybe never.) It's possible that in the meantime, the author will discover your solution independently; those are the breaks. This would be a great time to reconsider seeking joint authorship.
In case 2, if your field has a notion of "first authorship", that would be something you'd need to negotiate with the other author, based on your field's norms. (Mine uses alphabetical ordering almost exclusively, so this issue wouldn't arise.)
# Answer
> 6 votes
Co author.... all the way. But don't ask if he wants to coauthor after you've completed the paper 100% because then you're not really asking, your telling him. Which is generous true... but in a sort of superior way.
# Answer
> 4 votes
You really do have three options: 1) don't write a paper (ok, not an option), 2) write it by yourself (I don't think a great option), or 3) write it with the other person as a co-author. It depends a little on how your field assigns authorship.
Here is what I think I would suggest. Write the paper and when it is basically complete, email the author of the paper you reviewed and let them know you came up with a solution and have written a paper on it. Offer them an authorship on your paper and then send them your paper with a timeline of when to get back to you.
This way you are not burning bridges and you are collegial. Then they can decide if they want to be on the paper or not.
It is a tough position to be in but given their paper got you thinking it is probably best to ask if they would like to be an author.
BTW, if you are a student, discuss with your supervisor. :-)
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Tags: publications, ethics, peer-review
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thread-23353 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23353 | Should I list talks I invited myself to give on my CV? | 2014-06-13T12:24:20.507 | # Question
Title: Should I list talks I invited myself to give on my CV?
I'm traveling a lot this summer, and I invited myself to visit and give talks at a couple of universities in other countries.
Do I list these talks on my CV? If so, under what heading? They're not exactly "Invited Talks." I don't have a general "Talks" section on my CV because I want to exclude conference presentations (which are already represented as publications, and which nobody lists in my field). I could have a "Seminars and Colloquia" heading, but people might assume these were invited.
# Answer
## Yes.
If you discover that a friend in a distant city is having a birthday party, and you ask "Hey, can I come?" and they say "Sure!", you've been invited to the party.
Same thing goes for talks. When the host institution agreed to let you talk, that was your invitation, which makes it an invited talk.
That said, you may want to distinguish plenary talks at conferences and formally organized departmental colloquia from random seminars run by individual faculty.
> 16 votes
# Answer
What you list on a CV depends on the purpose of the CV. The idea that you have a single CV isn't really accurate. For example, using an NIH CV/biosketch for a job application would not be a good strategy. I believe that a "long" CV should have everything on it. I add things to my long CV as I do them which makes creating shorter CVs tailored for a particular purpose much easier since deleting is much easier than adding.
There are many things for which there is a benefit of listing talks that you have given at other departments/labs on the CV, the issue is really what "heading" they come under. The most critical thing when divining things up is that each item on your CV can only be listed once. You cannot list a conference you attended, gave a talk at, had an abstract published for, and a paper published for four times. It can only go on the CV once.
I try and only divide things into sections based on "concrete" criteria. It is clear when you are giving an invited talk at a conference, but it is not clear whether a departmental talk is invited or not. Similarly, it is not always clear whether a departmental seminar is a job talk or not.
The relevant sections on my CV are (a) Conference Papers, (b) Conference Abstracts, and (c) Research Presentations. Each "presentation" only goes under one category. I limit the "abstract" category to conferences that produce archival abstract books that people have a fighting chance of finding. Talks and poster presentations at conferences that don't have archival abstract, departmental seminars, talks to research groups, and job talks, go under "research presentations". I have a separate teaching presentations section for teaching based job talks.
I split the papers and abstracts sections into posters/talks and invited/submitted (someday hopefully I will add key note). The presentations I split into internal and external. I like to keep track of my internal presentations for annual review CV since it lets me demonstrate departmental citizenship. I tend not to split the presentations into posters/talks or invited/submitted since as I mention before, it is too difficult.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Younger faculty (with smaller vitas) tend to include less prestigious colloquium talks on their vitas. More established faculty, who have longer lists of more prestigious talks, may just have one line saying "colloquia and seminar talks at many universities." (That's a real example from a senior professor.) I tend to agree: if you have done *something*, you don't want your vita to suggest you've done *nothing*.
The main thing I tell my students is that a vita has to pass the "straight face test". If someone asks you in person whether some line "truly" deserves to be on your vita, you need to be able to justify it with a straight face. This is also how you know whether to include e.g. prizes that you won as an undergraduate: when you can no longer justify them with a straight face, it's time to remove them.
As long as you can do that, it's unlikely anyone will press you too hard on it. Other people in your field will understand how things work, so the main goal of the vita is to present yourself clearly to them. They can make their own judgement about the value of each activity. Unless you can't include something with a straight face, you can only hurt yourself by leaving out "minor" activities.
> 4 votes
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Tags: cv, presentation
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thread-21888 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21888 | Is it bad for one's future career prospects if the PhD thesis topic is broad? | 2014-06-03T18:44:10.227 | # Question
Title: Is it bad for one's future career prospects if the PhD thesis topic is broad?
As a graduate student in the PhD program (I will be graduating in about 2 months), my research has covered a wide range of topics rather than nailing down one specific topic (super-specialized). In fact, my thesis is broad enough that my current working title is something along the lines of "Toward the Application of Electronic Structure Theory to Solve Relevant Chemical Problems." (Can it get any more general?) There is nothing informative from that title as it completely leaves out details. The problem is, each paper I've published is its own research focus without any connection to the next outside of the fact that computational chemistry was used for each.
I've read in other places that a thesis topic is critical because it is the basis on which you launch your career. Is it bad to look like a 'jack-of-all-trades' person? There must be a better way to handle this.
# Answer
short answer: **I think the title is not suitable as it is**, and thus may harm your career: currently it doesn't look like a jack-of-all-trades, but the title looks like jack-of-no-trade. However, it may not be a problem if you are already comparably well known for your work (i.e. people know jack has his trade(s)).
But I think it would be good to put in some effort to **make it more precise about your contribution to the field.**
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long answer:
Disclaimer: I'm chemist. Not theoretical chemist, but chemometrician which means that I also do calculations (though of a different kind) in order to solve application problems.
I believe my situation is similar to the OPs in that we both work at problems where in order to solve application questions some method needs to be developed further. I call these 2 aspects of my work the "theory" and "application parts of the work.
In my experience you can easily end up with the title of all or most papers emphasizing the application, and thus looking very diverse while the common topic (the theory) is de-emphasized. Several reasons can cause/contribute to this:
* the application problem may be understandable and important to a much wider audience than the small field of experts on the theory you use and advance to solve the application question.
* therefore, the pubications are targeted to journals the application audience reads
* and you do not want to frighten them away by heavy theory terms in the title.
* Also, in my field it is much easier to get funding for working towards the solution of *some medical application* (and doing the necessary data analysis theory development under that hood) than to get funding for *developing data analysis theory* (and demonstrating this with the medical application).
And this of course may bleed through to the paper and thesis titles.
In the end, the theory development - thus the common topic of the papers - is mainly to be seen inside the papers. Of course in this situation it would be good to have also a theory paper out that brings together the theory developments and just touches the applications as examples. However, this may look like one more disjoint topic on the first glance.
For example, my publication list has a whole lot of medical application (though I always try to sneak in the theory developments also into the title of the application papers), and a few papers which focus on data analysis methodology - while the common points of all these papers exists: chemometric data analysis and vibrational spectroscopy.
Two more points to consider:
* The very general title you give sounds like a typical working title to be put into the forms at the beginning of the PhD before the specific line of the thesis is known. I don't see anything unusual in a situation where at the end of the work this working title is updated by a specific title.
To me, this seems to be the underlying question here.
* If you are in a theory group or are *the one* in your group who does theory development, the fact that you actually do theory development may be so obvious that you didn't think of stating it. But the fact and preferrably also the specific type of theory development should be in the title.
So my questions to the OP are:
* Does this description of application vs. theory aspects reflect your publication situation?
* In particular: by unrelated topics, do you mean something like the application question/chemical problems you solve are unrelated? Or do you mean that neither the chemical problems nor the methods you used to solve them are related?
My recommendation without knowing more specifics is:
* Explain to your non-chemist grandma what you've been doing. Make a list of the points.
* Fill in the sentence: My papers tackle application problems about ...., but what I've really been doing is ....
* Don't be afraid of a long title. My guess is that the working title you posted is shortened too much: as you say it is not informative any more as the specifics have been cut out. Put them in.
> 13 votes
# Answer
Coming from a somewhat different field (mathematics), I have seen some theses that were essentially bundles of not-strongly-related papers, each good enough to get published, and considered (by the advisor and the department) good enough to earn a PhD. Ok.
But this is indeed different from "getting a job". From what I have seen, job applicants don't succeed so much with "broad appeal" alone, but also must have *strong* appeal to a particular research group/interest. Thus, a too-diffuse body of work, *especially* if *described* in a fashion that makes it appear diffuse \_and\_unfocused\_, will not get up to the thresh-hold of having a good chance at job opportunities.
To my mind, the point is how one *portrays* such work. If (in contrast to the situation of the question) the papers really are completely disjoint and unrelated, it is not easy to describe them as fitting together into a coherent research program. If, indeed, as apparently is the case in the questioner's situation, there *is* a coherence to the body of work, it is *very* important to re-describe things to emphasized that. "Novel computational methods whose potential is illustrated by making progress in several important problems"? That sort of thing?
After all, presumably/often the author of several papers *does* have some underlying theme/principle/concept/whatever that is merely *manifest* in various way ... that may superficially appear very different.
So, in summary, the *description* of the body of work would best emphasize the common thread(s) underlying the several instances. Although often labels are simplistic, hiring committees do use them, so figuring out how to position oneself among those labels is probably smart. (In effect denying the relevance of admittedly simplistic labels and categorizations is most likely just self-sabotage.)
One's advisor's approval of the body of work as meriting the PhD is a different issue from getting the advisor's recommendations about an appealing coherent description of the *whole* of the work.
> 17 votes
# Answer
The answer to your question is field specific. You should show some specialization in your PhD and in many fields (probably the vast majority) this will be delving deep into one very specialized topic. However, this does not mean other types of dissertations are necessarily bad for your career. I have heard anecdotally the following: If you are a theoretician in an experimental field, often a diverse set of interests is a good thing. Why? In some fields, especially particular branches of biology, the vast majority of people on the hiring committee will know very little math/theory, so there often isn't that one person fighting for you. However, if you applied your methods/theory to solve a wide variety of questions, you might peak the interests of many people on the hiring committee as a future collaborator. Sometimes the set of methods or theory is the unifying/specialized aspect of the dissertation even if the applications are seemingly unrelated.
That being said, this is the type of question that is best answered by your advisor, and ideally in your first year of a PhD program. If your advisor is good, as you say he is, and he knows your goals, he wouldn't allow you to go down the wrong path with your thesis subject, so hopefully, you specifically are fine. However, you should spend some considerable time thinking about how your thesis chapters are related, as such deep thought will greatly help you write a research statement, and perform well in job interviews, regardless of your field's general view on the structure of the thesis.
> 9 votes
# Answer
Working in the field of computational chemistry, it is not unusual, that one focusses on many different topics. The field itself is as broad as chemistry itself as it may be applied to any experimentally raised question. It may be considered as one of the most advanced tools up to date in chemistry.
Its applications may range from simple things as the elucidation of the molecular structure, developing accurate bonding models, or deriving physical and chemical properties. It may also be used to derive complicated reaction mechanisms, characteristic reactions of compounds, classification of novel compound classes and prediction of yet unobserved molecules. Taking this as a basis it may be used in the development of more effective catalysts, it is used in drug design, deriving kinetics and many more.
All of the above is connected via electronic structure theory or more general the approximate solution of Schrödinger's equation. The field of computational chemistry focusses on applying approximations derived by theoretical and/or quantum chemistry to real life questions.
Working in many of these fields is neither uncommon nor unwelcome. Sometimes one particular subject of the starting hypotheses evolves into a huge complex, that may be carried on for years to come, while some other projects are helping in a shorter timescale. Both of them are equally important.
> The problem is, each paper I've published is its own research focus without any connection to the next outside of the fact that computational chemistry was used for each.
In this you state, that you already published papers about your subjects. I am guessing these publications were peer reviewed, so they are already proven to be valuable to the scientific community.
Applying quantum chemical calculations to various problems proves, that you are fit in the field. You know how to tackle different questions, you are versatile and your knowledge about the field you are working in is as broad as necessary. It may also show that you are not narrow minded and thinking out-of-the-box.
If the content of your thesis is already published in peer reviewed journals, you will have quite a good chance, that your thesis will remain unread by your peers. Scientific articles tend to be of much higher importance, than the actual thesis.
If your career options include doing a postdoc, than you will still have enough time to specialise yourself. If you want to become a professor yourself you should use that time to develop a specialised, yet versatile and broad research field.
If you plan on working in the chemical industry, the employers are probably more interested in you as a person, your ability to adjust to certain problems, and working according to their standards. Having a broad thesis should not be a hindrance in that case.
However, the title you are currently using may not be very well chosen, since "Relevant Chemical Problems" is a very fuzzy term. On the contrary to some other opinions offered in this thread, I would be very scared of using a long title. Make it as short as possible, while keeping it as precise as necessary.
In conclusion, I do not expect that the title of your thesis will harm your career in any way once you have published in peer reviewed journals.
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**Addendum**
I know LordStryker from chem.se and therefore I know at least one publication he suggested I read, upon a request of mine. (I will not disclose this source here, because this is up to him.) I am certainly no expert in this particular field of computational chemistry and my understanding might be incomplete. However, I do see the significance of this particular work not only to our community but also to tangenting fields.
I found two other publications, one appeared in a top level journal of our field, the other I cannot judge. From what I understood the presented work is thoroughly, concise and well prepared. I could also see that connecting all these samples is very difficult from a concise topical point of view. However, these all are applications of quantum chemistry, so they all emerged from the same field.
Not receiving a degree for this work is absolutely out of the question.
On a personal note, I would like to state, that it was my own personal decision to get involved in this "discussion" - I was never approached by LordStryker, nor do I have any affiliations with him. Our communication is solely through the se network.
> 6 votes
# Answer
The answer is completely dependent on what the next step of your career is. If you a seeking a post-doc position, then what matters is if people with money are hiring researchers with your skill set. If so, you are set for now and you can build more expertise as a postdoc. If you are seeking a faculty position at a research university, then your research needs to have a direction that excites people -- are you able to address important problems that other people cannot (or have not)?
Since other people are commenting on whether your research constitutes a "real PhD", I'll give my two cents: what matters is that you have applied your creativity to solve a difficult problem. If you have simply learned techniques that others have developed and applied them in a mindless manner, then you are a technician, not a scientist. If your thesis has demonstrated creative problem solving, then you should be fine (see first paragraph)
> 5 votes
# Answer
Overly broad topics usually make for unsatisfactory thesis subjects, because it becomes substantially harder to make a significant intellectual contribution in a larger field than in a narrower one. More importantly, it can take much longer to build a "does-it-all" solution.
However, that doesn't mean that your research can't *evolve* in such a direction—some topics broaden significantly once means of "generalizing" it are discovered and applications to different systems and cases can be developed. But it's not normally a good idea to *start* with such a broad topic.
> 4 votes
# Answer
I am someone who dropped out of a PhD program, so I am answering on the basis of others in the program that I knew.
One student was pleased that his thesis was "broad" because he planned to carve several papers out of it. (From what I understand, he did.) Your situation reminded me of his model.
Another focused his thesis and research efforts around a narrow area so they would "all point in the same direction."
These were two of the best regarded students in a class some years ahead of mine.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Finding something is harder when you search for something specific than when you simply search for "something".
> Is it bad to look like a 'jack-of-all-trades' person?
That depends, for all trades individually, yes, it's bad. If you research on topics A to Z and people focus on only one of them, then for any job related with one single trade you will be at a disadvantage.
There are several good things, though. First one is diversification. It is much more likely that there will be some position in any topic from A to Z than in one particular topic from A to Z. It is also more likely that one of those positions is hard to cover because there are no good candidates, or for what matters you, there are no better candidates than you. So you get it.
Q: Are those topics with fewer candidates the not-hot boring and bad topics?
A: They are to the standards when people started their PhDs, but things may be different now. Starting a PhD is an act of speculation (to some extent) you have diversified your time investment, this has pros and cons.
The second good thing is the broadness of your knowledge. Who would you pick to be the head of the department in computational chemistry? Someone who knows a lot about one particular topic in computational chemistry or someone who has a reasonably vast knowledge in the whole area? Probably someone with management and political skills, but assuming no differences wrt in the candidates, then the second one with a broader knowledge.
In short, a broad or a deep knowledge about something is not a good or a bad thing, both have pros and cons. The objective is setting some goals that make the best use of the pros of your assets and in which the cons don't really matter so much. This last statement is so broad that it can be applied to almost everything (e.g. on Saturday night in a club) but that doesn't make it worse, that makes it better, maybe not an universal law, but I'd like to think it's somewhat close.
> 2 votes
# Answer
The working title "Toward the Application of Electronic Structure Theory to Solve Relevant Chemical Problems" produces a bit of yawn factor for me. Regarding your career, a bad thesis and an unread thesis might have similar outcomes on reputation. "Electronic Structure Theory relevant to chemical problems which exhibit at least property P, but seemingly not when Q is present" would be better, even if you've only managed to notice and characterise the matter, and have yet to account for why it is so despite ruling out the obvious questions by systematic research.
'Towards the application of' (vague) and 'solve relevant' (hedge) are signals that I am not likely to find anything interesting to read in the thesis. I will most likely find a summary of some research that was done. Probably I already read the papers documenting such research when they were published, and I'm not really wanting to read about the same research again. Rather, I want to hear a definitive statement that hasn't been heard before, which has the potential to shed light on my own pursuits for the truth. If the title doesn't come right out and make some concrete statement, it seems unlikely that the rest of the text is going to get any better. At the very least, I want the title to hint at *which* chemical problems are relevant and why.
What your peers require of you is some (falsifiable, useful, bold) statement which hasn't been made before in your field, and your best effort to put that statement above reproach. Most likely, you'll reference your own research as part of trying to make your case - but really, aside from the fact that your head has necessarily been places the research has forced it to be, it would be stupid to assume that the thesis must therefore rely mainly or exclusively on that research which you were personally involved in. The thesis-statement comes as a consequence of research (by you and countless others), but the mere result of your research (already documented in other papers) is not itself the thesis-statement that you will be making.
If you've got multiple statements to make which are not related in an interesting way, write multiple theses. Why not?
In well-established fields, all the existing ground has been staked out, and your role is maybe to just do some (entirely necessary) chipping away at the edges - adding some qualifications to previous statements made in your field, or (more interestingly) attempting to account for why previous statements with good pedigrees yet still differ. In this case, your thesis statement will *necessarily* be quite specific (not merely to conform to expectations).
Now if application of Electronic Structure Theory has not previously been applied to chemical problems before (which would seem odd, but I'm outside that field), and your thesis is proposing the terms on which this may in fact be done (thus birthing a whole new sub-field) then your 'apply(x,relevant-y)' title might fly. I'd not expect it from you on your first serious paper though. In this case, I'd still want some clue as to how it's done, which problems are relevant, and a little more ... enthusiasm .
Maybe you're not quite at the point where you have a candidate thesis-like statement to make, or unfortunately, still have some systematic research to do, because your research to date, while good and useful in its own right, isn't useful as a systematic exploration supporting *your* thesis statement.
> -4 votes
# Answer
A PhD thesis is all about focus and depth, more than any other degree I know of. It is the antithesis of the jack-of-all-trades.
You say that you are two months from completion.
But you do not have a specific research question.
Nor do you have a very focused thesis, just unrelated papers in the same field: your words were: *"each paper I've published is its own research focus without any connection to the next outside of the fact that computational chemistry was used for each".*
It will depend on the institution, but at the institution I work, you would not be two months from completion. You'd be two years from completion.
If your supervisors are happy with your work as it is, then they've either completely screwed up, or your institution is happy to offer PhDs for theses which do not meet the standard that I and others expect: that they study a very specific question, deeper than anyone else has. I think you need to work out which of those two is the case, before you submit.
Not that there's anything wrong with being a jack-of-all-trades. But that really is the polar opposite to a PhD, which should be providing novelty, rigour and depth.
This does look bad for your future career, because it looks like you've spent several years being a jack-of-all-trades across a field, when you should have been very focused on a specific research question: at many institutions, that would mean that you simply would not be getting your doctorate; and having spent the time, and coming away at best with an MPhil, will look like a fail.
> -6 votes
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Tags: phd, thesis, career-path
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thread-206 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/206 | Are master's degrees in the US mostly meant to prepare you for a Ph.D? | 2012-02-17T03:03:25.633 | # Question
Title: Are master's degrees in the US mostly meant to prepare you for a Ph.D?
I am a Canadian undergraduate student intending to get a master's degree, but not intending to get a Ph.D.
A Canadian graduate student told me that master's degree in the US are really only designed for people desiring to get a Ph.D.
Is there any truth to this statement? Do masters degrees in the US put significantly more emphasis on preparation for a Ph.D than in other countries?
# Answer
> 14 votes
This is a partial representation of the truth. On the one hand, departments are always looking to retain masters students as PhD students; it's better for the department (better numbers), it's better for the professors (more research from PhD relative to masters), and it's better for the university. On the other hand, simply looking at the numbers you'll see that most masters students do not go on to become a PhD student \[1\]. I think it's safe to say that most students who go through masters programs enter with a goal in mind (academia or industry) and finish with that same goal in mind.
I don't know how it works in other countries, so I can't compare that. Also, regarding whether they put more emphasis on PhD *preparation* than in other countries, I don't know how to quantify that.
# Answer
> 15 votes
There are two very different kinds of computer science master's degrees:
* Professional master programs involve taking lots of classes, but have no research requirement. These are almost universally considered (academically) terminal degrees. The actual degree is usually *not* "M.S.", but something similar like "M.Eng." (Cornell) or "M.C.S." (UIUC).
* Research masters programs require at least a modicum of original research, usually leading to a thesis. These are generally (but *not* universally) considered preparation for a PhD program, because of the research component. The actual degree is usually "M.S." In some departments, the MS program is equivalent to MCS + thesis; in other programs, the MS program has different (usually smaller but more advanced) course requirements.
It is **very important** to know which type of master's program you are applying to.
# Answer
> 12 votes
Also keep in mind that this is *very* field-dependent as well as program dependent. There are no hard-and-fast rules.
In a lot of fields in the natural sciences, an M.S. is the standard working degree, and so in many fields people traditionally do a stand-alone M.S. regardless of whether they plan on going on to a PhD.
As an example, in geoscience, M.S. degrees are one of two types:
1. Those handed out automatically en route to a PhD (usually after passing quals/prelims).
2. Those that consist of a stand-alone project/degree.
The big difference with other fields is that the stand-alone, industry-oriented M.S. is the one that requires a thesis. The other is rather meaningless unless you get a PhD from the same program as well.
Both are common precursors to a PhD (it's very common in geoscience to do an M.S. on a fairly different project than your PhD). However, the first type isn't seen as its own degree, and is often looked down upon (e.g. "he/she dropped out with an M.S." vs. "he/she got their M.S. at XYZ").
# Answer
> 10 votes
Its extremely field and program dependent. For example, in my field, Epidemiology, there are (I'd argue) actually three types of Masters degrees. Annoyingly, they're not named consistently, so you have to read a program's description to figure out which is which:
* Preparation for PhD degrees (MSPH, MPH): These degrees are intended to be stepping stones towards a PhD in the field. Emphasis is on advanced classwork and research, they may actually be joint admissions (get your MSPH and then your PhD), etc.
* Post-doctoral terminal degrees (usually MPH): So you already *have* a doctorate degree of some sort. PhD, MD, JD...and find yourself doing public health work, and in need of a somewhat more formalized treatment of the subject. These are *very* classwork heavy, often with classes that don't entirely overlap with the PhD-type classes, depending on the audience. They often don't have as heavy a research component to them.
* Masters-as-Final-Degree (MSPH, MPH): *Tons* of public health work doesn't need a doctorate, and everyone knows it. Data manager or statistical analyst for the government, industry or academia? That's a Master's level position. Most local/state public health work can and is done by people with Master's degrees as well. These often emphasize more practical experiences - internships, practicums, etc.
So many master's degree programs are oriented toward the PhD track, but there's a considerable number in some fields that are designed for people who don't want to head into academia, but need an advanced degree for one reason or another - going into industry, government service, etc.
# Answer
> 7 votes
If you look at the description for Cornell M.Eng program in computer science, you'd find it describes itself as:
> The M.Eng. program in Computer Science is a one-year (two semester) professional development program designed to enhance professional skills in practical computer science. **The program is particularly suited to students seeking advanced credentials for employment in industry**
So, I would have said it depends from program to program, but I won't - most MS programs in computer science in US have the same (unstated) goals, and while candidates entering the PhD program find it convenient to have already had a MS degree (reduces course credit requirements), the majority of the graduates take up jobs in the industry. Some MS programs have a *thesis* option, wherein it takes an extra semester to graduate but provides a platform for tasting research - if you opt for that, then you may consider this as a preparatory semester for a doctoral program.
# Answer
> 3 votes
There are many kinds of masters programs.
* Often students intending on going into industry in a technical field will get a masters degree. Many schools have masters programs specifically designed for such a student; they are usually focused on coursework rather than research.
* There are degrees like the MBA (Master of Business Administration) that are designed for business people who have no interest in academic careers, and do not lead to a doctorate.
* In some fields the masters degree is terminal, and doctoral degrees are rare or nonexistent. For instance, in the fine and performing arts, the masters (MFA) is the highest degree offered by most institutions.
* A masters degree is typically the minimum requirement for faculty at two-year community colleges; some students in masters programs are headed for such a career.
* In many states, high school teachers are encouraged to have a masters degree in their subject. Some universities have masters programs in fields such as mathematics, history, or English, that are specifically designed for prospective or working teachers in these areas, and are not preparation for a Ph.D.
# Answer
> 1 votes
It's the other way around. That's because America is a nation of "doers" at least compared to Europeans.
MANY U.S. Master's degrees are terminal degrees. Think of a Master's as a "two year graduate" degree, just like an associates degree is a "two year college" degree.
Americans don't like to spend more time on education than necessary. There are Master's programs that lead to PhDs. But something like 40 percent of students in "non-terminal" degrees are foreign, not American, born.
You seem to fit the "American" mold.
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Tags: phd, graduate-school, masters, united-states, degree
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thread-23373 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23373 | What are opportunities for academic math outside of academia itself? | 2014-06-13T19:34:55.540 | # Question
Title: What are opportunities for academic math outside of academia itself?
I finished my PhD program in pure math a few years ago and have been in industry since then. I would love to continue my academic career, but (long story short) I was treated badly by my program and left with the doctorate but without a postdoc or much in the way of a publication record or connections (thus making the doctorate close to pointless) I haven't had much trouble finding jobs in software engineering or government labs, but I haven't found the work there to be interesting or satisfying.
Like pretty much everyone who goes into math, I love math for its own sake, and I love research. Is there anything available outside of academia where I could undertake something close to pure math research? Ideally, I'd like to beef up my publication record and make some connections, but a tech company doesn't seem to be the right place to do that. Although the jobs are certainly there, coding and engineering really aren't my things, and I'd like something more strongly related to math and more academic and research-oriented in nature.
# Answer
My situation is different from yours, but analogous. I have observed a lot of academic discourse on MathOverflow, and even some on Math.stackexchange. I have registered for conferences online and participated, even without a current academic affiliation (industry affiliation is good but not required: check with conference organizers and your employer).
The real key is to find a group of people who will either a) work with you remotely (say by email) or locally (if you are lucky), or b) willing to critique and perhaps mentor you in some arrangement, or c) willing to spend a few minutes of time giving their opinion of what should happen, or d) willing to tolerate occasional communication and friendly interaction, on a fairly infrequent basis.
MathOverflow is a good way to start at d) and work your way up the chain. Answer a few questions, post some good (and I mean GOOD) questions, and you will more quickly find online presence to develop a relationship which may be useful in real life. You can show your technical chops, sometimes get the fast track on research, and get a lot out of it, even some socializing. However, follow the FAQ: MathOverflow is not for discussion, ill-formed questions, or solving homework, and they are not prone to giving hints to graduate exercises, especially if it smells like asking them to do the work for you. There are also some reasons to prefer math.SE over MathOverflow for submitting questions, but I think doing well at the latter will be more beneficial for you. My impression (but I could be wrong) is that your question above would not go over well at MathOverflow, since it deals more with "sociology of math" than with math itself.
It might be quicker to reach your goals by hanging out near a large Math department with free food, but I would bet cash money that the above is actually quicker. Good luck at MathOverflow. Once you get to b) or a), you will find out other opportunities outside academia to help you with research.
> 5 votes
# Answer
If you are a US citizen living in the USA, you can work for NSA (which, if I recall correctly, is known to be the largest employer of mathematicians in the country) provided you pass their background check and satisfy their other requirements. However, your research will likely be classified, so you will not be able to publish it in the regular math journals.
Should you happen to be in the UK, their counterpart of NSA is GCHQ. Many other countries also have similar organizations.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Microsoft Research might match your requirements. They have much going on in the way of academic math yet are outside of academia itself.
They have many groups around the world that might match your requirements, but the Theory group in Redmond, USA seems a good start:
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/groups/theory/
Apply directly at theoryap@microsoft.com
From the page:
> Description: We work on fundamental problems in mathematics and theoretical computer science, interact extensively with the academic community and collaborate with other researchers at MSR on challenging applied problems. Among our areas of expertise are probability theory, combinatorics, statistical physics, metric geometry, fractals, algorithms and optimization. We host an amazing array of researchers in these areas: see a full list here.
>
> Applying for Positions Applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher position for 2014 received by December 15, 2013 will receive full consideration. Apply here, and in addition, have your application material (including references) sent to theoryap@microsoft.com. Apply here for a summer internship and inform us that you have applied by emailing theoryap@microsoft.com.
> 1 votes
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Tags: job, job-search, industry
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thread-23387 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23387 | How much time is usually left for authors to return page proofs? What happens if I am late? | 2014-06-14T07:15:52.000 | # Question
Title: How much time is usually left for authors to return page proofs? What happens if I am late?
Recently I was handling submission of a paper to a journal. I was somewhat surprised that I was asked to return the corrections to galley proofs in 48 hours.
> To ensure fast publication of your paper please return your corrections within 48 hours. ... Note that may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.
**How usual is it, that only a short period is left for the authors to return page proofs? Do many journals allow similar time span? Or is a longer period customary?**
I can imagine situations in which I would not be able to respond in 48 hours.
**What would happen if I reacted only later, not within the time period required by publisher (48 hours in this case)?** Is it probable that they would still incorporate the corrections if I emailed a bit later? (Or if I emailed them that I am unable to complete this in 48 hours and explained the reasons.)
# Answer
> 13 votes
With Wiley, the journal I edit has a one-week period for returning proofs. This is set by Wiley and not by the journal. If proofs are not sent in, at some point within another week, the typesetter will typically ask for the proofs through a production editor. This is because the typesetter has the manuscript along with, I would guess, hundreds of other proofs lined up in a production line and at some point they do not want things lying around for very long. So in this case, not much happens if proofs are late and I have never seen any serious repercussions from the publisher's side affecting authors. In the worst case a paper that has been assigned to a specific issue may be moved to a later issue since the production of issues (physical printing) is not possible to adjust other than under exceptional conditions. In the end, it will the author's loss if the paper is not published as early as it could. Since for most papers, electronic publication occurs before printing, the delay just means the paper appears online later by the same amount of time or more; it can be bumped in the production line of the typesetter in favour of those that come in on time.
In my experience, it is not possible to get corrections done after returning the proof corrections. One can always try but if the paper has been corrected and published online, there is no other option than to live with the problem or if it is in some way critical, go through the journal editors to possibly publish an errata.
# Answer
> 11 votes
For journal articles 48 hours is not uncommon. I have never experienced less and I have never had considerably longer. If you let most journals know when you can return them, they will generally either allow you to submit them later, but this will often result in the article publication date being pushed back. In some cases the journal cannot comply (e.g., special issues) and then they may attempt to publish without you reviewing the page proofs.
The idea of page proofs is that you are checking to see if any copy edits they made are correct and that the proofs are an accurate representation of what you sent in. It shouldn't take very long to review the proofs (a couple of hours at most).
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Tags: publications, paper-submission, proofreading
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thread-23406 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23406 | Is a university that grants me a PhD for $1000 and a copy of my unpublished book fake? | 2014-06-14T19:23:13.200 | # Question
Title: Is a university that grants me a PhD for $1000 and a copy of my unpublished book fake?
I have paid $1000 for PhD in mathematics. And I have sent them my book to be considered as a PhD thesis.
Now I suspect that I have lost the money.
But as far as I know they are not accredited by the U.S. Department of Education.
So, is it possible that I will find a job requiring a degree, using this (fake?) PhD?
Now they have told me that the U.S. Department of Education will send my diploma to US foreign affairs department and then they will make some "stumps" on my diploma. Do these stamps mean anything? Are these stamps just a formal thing which mean nothing and don't make my degree "official" ("real")? Moreover, to send my diploma to the departments costs additional $1000-$1750 (dependent on whether I pay right now or later).
# Answer
> 96 votes
**You have lost the money whether or not the "university" gives you the degree.**
You have given your money to what is known as a *diploma mill.* A long time ago (nearly two decades!), I received an email offering degrees from "prestigious, non-accredited universities" based on life experience. This is a complete and total scam. *Even if* you have a diploma, it will be useless for professional purposes. Anybody responsible for hiring a PhD will see that there is no work resulting from your "graduate career," which will be a tipoff that the degree is worthless, and you will be unlikely to receive a job offer. Worse still, even if you were to get an offer, it could be rescinded when the truth is uncovered.
Disengage now, before you lose any further money on this situation.
*Addendum*: I should also mention that I am unaware of the US Department of Education doing *any* certification of diplomas and certificates on an *individual* basis.
# Answer
> 69 votes
In case there was any doubt, I have asked them. This is the conversation I had with them (some irrelevant parts omitted):
> **Albert:** Hello, I have written a book on Mathematics that I would like to turn into a PhD thesis
> **Albert:** what do I have to do?
> **Their Guy:** What is your highest level of education?
> **Albert:** I have a Masters degree in mathematics
> **Their Guy:** Ph.D degree will cost you $1100.00 (USD)
> **Their Guy:**
> • 1 Original Accredited Degree
> • 2 Original Transcripts
> • 1 Award of Excellence
> • 1 Certificate of Distinction
> • 1 Certificate of Membership
> • 4 Education Verification Letters
> **Albert:** how long will it take to complete it?
> **Albert:** I already have the thesis, it is a 300 pages book
> **Their Guy:** When are you planning to enroll?
> **Albert:** as soon as possible
> **Albert:** once the payment and the thesis are sent, how long will it take to have it accepted?
> **Senior Guy:** Alright you have been transferred to senior student counselor
> **Senior Guy:** Shipment Details :-
> **Senior Guy:** 2 set of documents we are going to send you in total in 2 separate shipments.
> -First set of degree documents will be sent in just 15 - 20 working days with all 10 degree documents without attestations.
> -Second set of documents will be sent in only 25 - 30 working days with complete and comprehensive attestations with all above mentioned authorities.
> **Senior Guy:** Total Fee Submission including all registrations would be $1700.00 USD ( $1100 + $600 )
> **Albert:** how long will it take you to review my thesis?
> **Senior Guy:** Well it will take us 24 Hours
> **Senior Guy:** Forward your resume & thesis on sguy@paymeuniversity.com
> **Albert:** thank you, you have been most enlightening
So, they are reviewing 300 pages in 24 h (where it should take like a year). They do no checking whatsoever on what I would be submitting.
I am sorry, but you have lost the money.
***Edit:***
I have found something funny. The faculty (only visiting faculty seems visible for our university) is the same as, including pictures and order, in another online university and another one and another and yet another one, ¡and even more! (and at least, 5 more, but you get the point); all of them looking equally suspicious.
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Tags: phd, university, degree, accreditation
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thread-21700 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21700 | How to find relevant and new open research topics? | 2014-05-30T13:22:56.537 | # Question
Title: How to find relevant and new open research topics?
How can one find relevant and new open research topics?
When working on my PhD thesis, I find it hard to find open questions in my very specific research area. Which approach do you take to find new and relevant topics?
# Answer
Try to find papers giving a state of the art review on your field. They'll be easy to find, they generally have a lot of citations and written by the experts in the field. Some of those review papers (ones I've read at least) provide suggestions to researchers as to what needs improvement in the field. Good luck.
> 13 votes
# Answer
Here is a good article on choosing the research topic aimed specifically at the grad students:
http://chronicle.com/article/Choosing-a-Research-Topic/45641
Some further advice of more general nature (and partly applicable only post Ph.D.) is gathered here:
http://aclinks.wordpress.com/2009/05/09/how-to-choose-a-research-topic/
> 5 votes
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Tags: research-process, thesis, research-topic
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thread-23409 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23409 | Comparing a career in medicine vs. medical research? | 2014-06-14T21:46:32.173 | # Question
Title: Comparing a career in medicine vs. medical research?
My friend recently graduated with a bachelor degree in biology. He is thinking that he can help more people by studying a biomedical engineering Ph.D., rather than becoming a medical doctor. He is wondering, however, about the differences between these two paths from a career perspective. What the advantages and disadvantages of an academic career vs. a medical career?
# Answer
> 10 votes
As a person who faced a similar dilemma a few years ago, I think there are major practical differences:
1. The working environment. Every doctor will spend his early career in a hospital, whether he plans on practising in the community later or not. A hospital environment is really different than the research one. In the former you are constantly on your feet, working long hours, nights, etc. However, you are constantly working with the people to whom you're helping. In a "lucky" week (depends on the POV), you might save a life every day.
2. Taking work home. While a M.D works long and hard hours at his/er practice, when she goes home - she can rest. Her patients doesn't follow her home. As a researcher I can tell you that I'm even dreaming on my research.
3. Independence. The medical environment is a very hierarchical one. Starting out as a M.D, you can't even sign off your own orders (in first world countries, at least :) ), contrary to a graduate student who might be given an independent project very early in his or her study course.
4. Goals. As a researcher, you end up working for the sake of science. You might find yourself pursuing a direction which might take decades before it translates into helping people. As a practitioner - you're working for the people in front of you.
5. Demand for your skills. In general - there are hardly any M.Ds who go unemployed. Most healthcare systems are understaffed and there is always a demand for M.Ds. I wish we could say the same about positions in the academy, and the industry is never as stable (and here it's field specific and I can't say much about the specific field in question).
# Answer
> 6 votes
One thing that comes to mind: for doctors, the move abroad is far more difficult than for the researchers in biomed, because the job market in healthcare is usually heavily protected against international workforce by licensing barriers, see e.g. http://immigrationimpact.com/2013/12/17/licensing-barriers-leave-immigrant-doctors-driving-cabs-instead-of-practicing-medicine/ for the US.
# Answer
> 0 votes
For medicine: "A doctor is a medical professional who examines the sick and tries to find a way to help them" \[1\]. For biomedical engineering: "This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine: It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to advance healthcare treatment" \[2\].
So if your friend want to help patients intimately he should be a doctor but if he wants to help the doctors and advance healthcare and thus indirectly helping the patients he should be a biomedical engineer.
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Tags: career-path, medicine, biology
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thread-23418 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23418 | Isn't the job prospect in theoretical/mathematical physics too bad to justify doing a PhD in it? | 2014-06-15T12:24:51.493 | # Question
Title: Isn't the job prospect in theoretical/mathematical physics too bad to justify doing a PhD in it?
Almost every theoretical physicist (string theorists) that I meet tells me that it makes no sense to try do a PhD. in these subjects since there are simply no jobs available and things are only going to get worse for those seeking faculty jobs 8-10 years from now.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Your question assumes that the only possible job destination for theoretical and mathematical physics is in faculty positions. This is not the case. There are many additional fields (finance, consulting, computer gaming, medical imaging, and so on) where the demand for PhD's with training in mathematical analysis is growing.
Now if your goal is a faculty position, that may be a different matter. But clearly the overall demand is still great enough that people continue to get doctorates in the discipline, which suggests that people are still finding employment.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I think aeismail made an important point, also when you didn't ask for jobs outside of faculty. I also started to study myself physics because of astro-/particle physics as many physicists do and did. But before choosing my master thesis, the question came up, how are the job perspectives in this field or other subfields of physics. Many students don't seem to think about this important question. I saw many of my old fellow students pursuing simply the field of their love and/or even doing a PhD in it, also the topic, or, even worse, the methods they learn are barely related to other fields in and outside of physics. Normally you don't have huge problems in finding a job nowadays with a PhD in physics, if your only criterion is finding a job at all.
Getting a faculty position or even professorship at a good university in Europe or US is an odyssey in this field of physics. You compete with very smart, very ambitious graduates from all over the world. If you are not very good, plan to have family life before 35, time for hobbies... I would not start a PhD in this field. Do a master thesis (in Germany you have to) in this field to see how good you are and what experts in this field think of your abilities. But after this really think about what you want to achieve/do the next 10 years in your life. If you want to work in physics research in any case, choose your PhD field and topic wisely. Average physics professor in Germany has around 20-40 PhD graduates during his professorship, so chances are 1:30 you achieve the same. I agree with Pete Clarks comment that most students pursuing a PhD and scientific career probably don't know this, but it's not so hard to find out. In US system, where many start PhD after bachelor degree, this is really a tricky decision so early in your scientific career.
Additionally, this is probably your actual question, the number of faculty jobs in this field is likely to decrease the next decades. Take this link as a start for google keywords.
Some of my friends did their PhD in astrophysics. Most now have well paid jobs in consulting and programming. Their knowledge of physics (higher math, programming languages, analytic thinking) helps them a lot to make career in their fields outside of physics research. For some it is great, some regret that they have only their spare time to read research articles still and cure their curiosity about nature, universe... You have to be honest, you cannot keep up to date in most physics research fields this way. This was the most important point for me to consider. I want to work my whole life in physics research and was sure I don't want to spend the time to try it and would never get a faculty position in astrophysics, so I did choose some other path. Fortunately there are so many interesting subfields in physics where one will have good options for scientific career and/or physics R&D later in industry that I don't regret my decision much.
This answer probably doesn't help you a lot, even if you have the will and abilities to pursue this odyssey, you need a lot of luck. But I know so many students that were talked into doing PhD in such risky and niche fields dreaming of a scientific career when the real chances are below 1:30 that I want to stress that this is a important, tricky, risky and life decision and that YOU should thoroughly think about it. Look at the CV's of some scholars with faculty position in this field and read the link above. Without a good plan B you stand behind I would not start or get talked into such an odyssey.
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Tags: graduate-school, job, physics
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thread-23429 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23429 | How to write a teaching statement without any classroom teaching experience? | 2014-06-15T15:57:40.237 | # Question
Title: How to write a teaching statement without any classroom teaching experience?
I have a friend who is applying for teaching positions in biochemistry with no teaching experience. She has a strong research background, with several publications as a grad student and post doc, but is interested in transitioning into teaching (partially to gain employment and solve a two body problem, but also out of genuine interest). The position she is applying for asks for a "Statement of teaching interest". While, I think I can give good advice for someone who has taught before, what should someone write about if they have never taught or TAed a class. She does have some background tutoring and showing faculty, grad students, and undergrads how to use various machines in the lab. But that is about it. So
(1) What is a "statement of teaching interest?" How does it differ from a "teaching philosophy" or a "teaching statement"?
and
(2) How does one write this statement without any classroom teaching experience?
# Answer
> 10 votes
About your first question, I don't really know if there is a difference, or if those are just different terms referring to the same document.
In context of a training program done at my university, one of our assignments was to write a personal teaching statement. We had several inputs to help us in doing this task, and one I found particularly useful was the following list of questions (credit to the Staff Development Unit of Newcastle University):
> 1. What Higher Education is for: what are students supposed to learn or how are they supposed to develop whilst studying?
> 2. How do you think students learn in your discipline, or in aspects of it? (You may of course be part of an inter-disciplinary area)
> 3. So, based on (1.) and (2.) what teaching methods do you use that reflect this position (with examples)?
> 4. What has informed your thinking here (experience, literature, colleagues, students)?
You can note that 1, 2 and 4 do not require strictly speaking to have teaching experience (although it's clearly helpful). For the point 3, you can replace the "*do you use*" by "*could you use*", and that should work.
Two aspects of this assignment that were really important for us were to use pedagogy literature (as Dave Clarke pointed out) and to be reflective. Of course, such an assignment is not necessarily evaluated as would be a teaching statement by a recruiting committee, but I think the point was that, as a young academic, you cannot really be expected to be an expert in teaching. But you are expected to learn how to become one, and to reflect on your past experiences, interactions, discussions, etc, in order to improve your practice.
# Answer
> 13 votes
> (1) What is a "statement of teaching interest?" How does it differ from a "teaching philosophy" or a "teaching statement"?
I would guess that all three quoted phrases mean the same thing. The "teaching statement" is not as formalized a genre as the sonnet: there is a range of reasonable responses, and to my ear all three things are asking for the same range.
Of course, if one is especially interested in a specific teaching position it would be better not to guess but to inquire what they mean. I don't see any reason to be shy about that: just ask politely.
> (2) How does one write this statement without any classroom teaching experience?
Others have given some advice on this. It is certainly possible to literally *write a teaching statement* without any teaching experience -- one talks about one's teaching philosophy, teaching goals, and so forth, while not mentioning the experiences that one hasn't had. It's not like they're asking for the secret masonic handshake: anyone who has gotten a PhD has certainly experienced enough teaching to be able to write about it intelligibly (let me assume that someone who has gotten a PhD has learned to write intelligibly on academic matters!).
However, isn't there another key question here? Namely:
> (3) What are the chances that someone who has *absolutely no teaching or TAing experience whatsoever* will be seriously considered for a faculty position with emphasis on teaching?
I can answer this question from the perspective of a math department at a research university: it is very likely that I would not seriously consider any such candidate. Let me explain. "Even" at a research university, teaching is a big part of the job -- roughly half, according to university directives -- and someone who is a truly unsatisfactory teacher is going to be an eternal liability and problem. Well, you say, what if they are a truly outstanding researcher -- can't they learn to teach? It doesn't really work for me. If by "truly outstanding researcher" you mean that they've proven the Weil Conjectures, then they deserve to be at a truly top place which can afford to have faculty who literally never teach, or who only teach graduate seminars to their own brilliant students. Any candidate like that is not going to come to my public research university, and if anything still less is she going to go to a teaching college. If someone is simply a strong enough researcher that I would otherwise be very pleased to hire her, then her complete lack of teaching experience creates an insurmountable fairness issue when one compares her to other candidates with similar or moderately worse research profiles but who have devoted a substantial amount of time and energy over the years to teaching. Even serious research mathematicians work hard to be competent teachers: it takes time and energy. Sometimes people have less than stellar teaching, and it really can ding them a bit even at a "serious research university". Someone with *no teaching* has to get a zero averaged in to her total grade, so to speak.
I explained how it goes for mathematics at a research university. The OP's candidate is changed twice: from mathematics to biochemistry, and from a research university to a teaching college. From what I've heard on this site, teaching experience is valued significantly less in the non-mathematical sciences than in mathematics. On the other hand, I happen to know that teaching experience and credentials are valued way more highly in teaching colleges than at research universities: though I think of myself as a "serious teaching guy", when I visit a colleague at such a place I feel like I am hiding in a foxhole doing math all day compared to them. Moreover smaller places are smaller, so the "ethos of the college" is something which is more strongly felt by all, whereas being a scientist at a research university is almost a different job from being a humanities professor at a research university. My best guess: **there is little chance that someone without any teaching experience will get any real consideration at a reputable teaching college**.
So I would say to the OP: if your friend wants this job, it's not about how to write the teaching statement, it's about how she can acquire some actual teaching experience. One semester of good evaluations in any reputable post high school academic institution would make a world of difference. If she's not willing to acquire that, is she *really* that serious about a teaching career? Compared to the other candidates, I mean?
Two final points:
I. I do not want to leave the impression that one should write a "teaching statement" that hides the fact that someone has no teaching experience. Although this should come out elsewhere in the application -- e.g. on the CV -- in my view it would be dishonest not to at least remark on this in the statement itself.
II. Others have counseled that a teaching statement should "\[l\]ook at what the professionals say about teaching" and "use pedagogy literature". This is good advice, but it can be misapplied. Namely, you need to have real understanding and ideally mastery of anything you talk about in these job applications. Most people know not to talk about locally ringed topoi in their research statements if they do not want to get asked what a locally ringed topos is in an interview. However, at least in my line of work, it is something of a cliche that young people "use pedagogy literature" to the extent of absorbing some trendy buzzwords, which they then misuse. If you talk about flipped classrooms, IBL and so forth and reveal that you don't fully understand what these terms mean, that is so much worse than not using them at all.
In fact at my research university (it is a bit different at teaching colleges, I happen to know) most of the faculty are *not* familiar with the pedagogy literature, and if I'm honest, some people pride themselves on the conjunction of that ignorance and their superior teaching. I don't think pedagogical literature is BS (or not all BS, anyway; every branch of academic literature has some BS), and I do believe that if you actually learn these ideas and articulate them properly and well it will be to your credit. But be careful. Also be aware that the trendy technique that one committee member might like might make another one roll her eyes. So a good teaching statement succeeds independently of its use of this kind of terminology and ideas.
# Answer
> 7 votes
Answering 2 (though perhaps this is more relevant for a *teaching philosophy* statement): there are a number of resources you could use, but the key challenge is writing something that feels right for you. I would do the following:
1) Write your own version of a teaching statement. What do you feel about teaching? How would you approach it? What does it mean to you? What teaching experiences (as a student, for instance) have really influenced you?
2) Find out what other teaching statements say. You can readily find teaching statements by googling. Lots of people looking for jobs have theirs online. Highlight phrases that appeal to you. (Avoid copying at all cost.)
3) Look what the professionals say about teaching. For example, a book like *Teaching for Quality Learning at University* by John Biggs and Catherine Tang gives one very modern view on how it should be done. The approach differed significantly from how my lecturers approached teaching. Perhaps even consult latest research. I always get surprised and get ideas when I read the teaching research literature.
4) Revisit the teaching statement you wrote in 1).
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Tags: teaching, job, job-search
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thread-22084 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/22084 | Are there any available studies on the effectiveness of "learning by teaching"? | 2014-06-07T23:48:52.560 | # Question
Title: Are there any available studies on the effectiveness of "learning by teaching"?
There is a study which claims that "learning by teaching" has a 90% retention rate. However, the study is no longer available and it is not clear what kind of research was actually done to support that claim. The legitimacy of that particular study is the subject of a related question on Skeptics.
Are there other studies that *are* available, proving or disproving that "learning by teaching" is more efficient than other learning methods?
# Answer
> 6 votes
According to one source, a man named Edgar Dale developed that retention rate pyramid. Edgar Dale had been both a teacher, and a school Superintendent.
The wikipedia article makes an interesting statement regarding this:
> However, Dale included no numbers and did not base his cone on scientific research, and he also warned readers not to take the cone too seriously. The numbers may have originated as early as the 1940s, when a scholar at the University of Texas at Austin created visual aids for the military.
Wikipedia points to another article written by a Dr. Thalheimer, whose PhD was in Human Learning and Cognition, which is possibly a better resource. He makes this statement in his introduction:
> People do NOT remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they see, 30% of what they hear, etc. That information, and similar pronouncements are fraudulent. Moreover, general statements on the effectiveness of learning methods are not credible---learning results depend on too many variables to enable such precision. Unfortunately, this bogus information has been floating around our field for decades, crafted by many different authors and presented in many different configurations, including bastardizations of Dale's Cone.
Dr. Thalheimer goes further:
> The bogus percentages were first published by an employee of Mobil Oil Company in 1967, writing in the magazine Film and Audio-Visual Communications. D. G. Treichler didn’t cite any research, but our field has unfortunately accepted his/her percentages ever since. NTL Institute still claims that they did the research that derived the numbers. See my response to NTL.
>
> Michael Molenda, a professor at Indiana University, is currently working to track down the origination of the bogus numbers. His efforts have uncovered some evidence that the numbers may have been developed as early as the 1940's by Paul John Phillips who worked at University of Texas at Austin and who developed training classes for the petroleum industry.
That's interesting... does marketing voodoo usually stick around in the public mind longer than original research? Anyways, he re-emphasizes the importance of listing citations and the importance of understanding where research originally comes from, up to and including context. There were two guilty parties, according Dr. Thalheimer; of course, the original people who generated the tables, but also the folks who disseminated the research without checking the citations.
Thalheimer goes on to suggest that the information floating around in his industry can not be trusted.
> It tells us that even our most reputable people and organizations may require the Wizard-of-Oz treatment---we may need to look behind the curtain to verify their claims.
So, how does one answer your question? Well, the US News rankings show Stanford as being the top University for psychology, at the moment. So, I'll take that at face value; because I don't have better information to go on, and assume that there are some decent researchers on cognition in Stanford. Out of the researchers who study cognition, which one's seems like they might be doing research on human learning? After I find one, I might be able to identify some of the journals in the field. They might even be some of the "top" journals in the field.
Part of the reason why this trick works, is that professors and fledgling professors usually keep a curriculum vitae, or CV. And often, listed on their CV is a set of references to papers that they have written in the past. Some are even so kind as to showcase some of the papers that they believe to be part of their best work to date. In some cases, this can act as a kind of roadmap to show you how to become a professor.
So this procedure pulls up a list of possible resources for journals that might have articles on that topic:
* Cognition
* Developmental Science
* Developmental Psychology
* Perspectives in Psychological Science
Here are two possible resources:
* Frank, M. C., Tenenbaum, J. B., & Gibson, E. (2013). Learning and long-term retention of large-scale artificial languages. *PLoS ONE*, 8, e52500.
* Shafto, P., Goodman, N., & Frank, M. C. (2012). Learning from others: The consequences of psychological reasoning for human learning. *Perspectives in Psychological Science*, 7, 341–351.
That might be enough of a seed to begin to answer your question. Let's begin by trying to read Shafto et al's paper in the journal *Perspectives in Psychological Science*. The official version is behind a paywall, but a version of the paper is freely available from Goodman's web page at Stanford.
In the abstract, Shafto et al says:
> From early childhood, human beings learn not only from collections of facts about the world, but also in social contexts: from observation of other people, from communication, and from explicit teaching.
Beyond the abstract, in the 'Learning from others: The consequences of psychological reasoning for human learning', Shafto et al states:
> Children are often compared to scientists, but even a perfect scientist, using experiments alone, would struggle to rediscover all of human knowledge in the span of one lifetime. How then are children able to acquire a good fraction of this knowledge in just a few years? The answer must be that children do not rediscover everything—they use their ability to reason intuitively about other people to learn what others already know.
Below figure 1, Shafto et al make the statement:
> Research on human learning paints a very different picture of how datapoints are selected. A wide variety of approaches have pointed to people and their intentions, as an important factor in learning, highlighting that data are chosen rather than random (Bruner, 1966; Vygotsky, 1978) and that observed data are often the consequence of goal-directed actions (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1961; Gergely & Csibra, 2003; Meltzoff & Moore, 1977) or intentional communication/teaching (Coady, 1992; Csibra & Gergely, 2009; Harris, 2002; Tomasello, 1999; Tomasello, Carpenter, Call, Behne, & Moll, 2005).
So what can we gather from this? Within the field of psychology/cognition, there is discussion in the literature to support the possibility that people do, in fact, attempt to describe the process of learning by teaching. But the focus of Shafto et al's paper is not on trying to find the learning retention rates for different types of learning. In fact, nowhere in the paper does it even mention the term 'retention'. The focus of their paper, as described in the abstract, is rather to develop a formal framework for how a learner might observe someone's actions and infer from those how much that person knows about the world.
The focus of this paper could potentially be useful in trying to develop a learning model for an artificial intelligence.
In the conclusion, the authors make an interesting statement:
> Our approach suggests that intuitive psychological reasoning potentially provides a very strong lever by which learners may capitalize on others’ knowledge to learn about the world (see also Coady, 1992; Csibra & Gergely, 2009; Harris, 2002; Tomasello et al., 2005). The key difference from previous formal approaches is how one views other people. If other people are viewed as random or even malicious in choosing their actions, then learning will likely be very difficult. However, if people are viewed as approximately rational, goal-directed agents, or as knowledgeable and helpful teachers, then the learning problem becomes much more tractable.
This statement appears to mean that the ability to learn by observing an observee's actions depends on the observer's assumed framework. If the observer assumes that the person whom they are observing is acting randomly, or perhaps that they are malicious in their actions; then it's more difficult to create a model to represent who they are observing. It is more difficult to learn. I'm not convinced that my interpretation of this statement is correct, given the context.
This paper also makes some references to studies done in the past. We could follow up by reading some of these as well. You may find this necessary, as this paper doesn't address your question directly.
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Tags: teaching, education, reference-request, learning
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thread-23447 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23447 | Maximum/reasonable number of authors for a (conference) paper | 2014-06-16T08:33:56.860 | # Question
Title: Maximum/reasonable number of authors for a (conference) paper
What is a reasonable number of authors a small conference paper should have?
In my case, this is an interdisciplinary research paper and several people are linked to this work in one way or another. Currently, there are 8 authors and I feel this may seem too high.
Is there any common-sense consensus regarding this limit?
In case there is a field-specific dependence, the main field is Computer Science.
**UPDATE**: my justification for this question is the increasing buzz around the very issue: *author inflation*.
# Answer
In my field (software engineering), having papers with 6+ authors is uncommon but not unheard-of. Most often I see papers coming out of larger international research projects having many authors, presumably simply because in a large project more hands tend to touch any given piece of research outcome. Further, in larger studies, you sometimes need more manpower to actually carry out the study. If you have a chance to do an interview study with a large group of people, just having one or two interviewers might simply be infeasible because it would take too long.
If you are worried that your large author list will be considered a negative during the review process, this *may* happen if it is not clear how the large author list is warranted. That is, if you were to publish work coming more less directly out of the PhD thesis of the first author with 7 co-authors, one may ask what the remaining 7 people actually added. In such cases, it is not uncommon to drop subtle hints into the paper about the role of each author. For instance, when you describe your research methodology, you could mention that the first three authors conducted the study, while the remaining three authors were mostly involved with analysis, and the last two authors provided domain feedback and validation of the achieved results (if interdisciplinary).
> 8 votes
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Tags: conference, authorship, paper-submission
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thread-23458 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23458 | Second PhD vs PostDoc - Math vs Theoretical Physics | 2014-06-16T14:51:48.750 | # Question
Title: Second PhD vs PostDoc - Math vs Theoretical Physics
I'm about to complete my PhD in mathematics. I've been working with Group theory (Representations). Besides the PhD I also did a master's in theoretical physics (I took much more courses than necessary to earn the degree and all of them were in advanced level, and did really well). The thing is: I would like to work in Theoretical Physics, and I'd like to use my Math background and apply it to theoretical physics. I love both subjects and I think they are like brothers in a sense. So my question is:
1) Should I apply for a second PhD (In physics)? For me it would be the worst option, since I'd have to spent a lot of time in things that I already know, and I don't see the point of writing another thesis. I heard that in Europe some universities "hire" PhD students as Research Assistants, so maybe this wouldn't be so bad. What you think?
2) Apply for a PostDoc position in theoretical physics? This is the best option in my opnion, but I don't know if physics departments welcomes mathematicians applying for PostDocs positions, Do they?
Observe that this question is not answered in another post, my question is specific to math/theoretical physics research. Besides I'm not thinking in getting a second PhD to "learn" physics, I am asking about what is more reasonable when considering to do research both in math and in physics.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Anyone will hire you provided you can convince them you are better than the other candidates. You already have a PhD in Maths, you have to show them you have the skills and knowledge to complement their baggage and help solve their problems.
In the Mathematical Physics department in my undergrad university (Spain), there is at least one postdoc that is mathematician with a PhD in Economy, and two physicist readerers that works in Applied Mathematics.
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Tags: phd, mathematics, postdocs, physics
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thread-23396 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23396 | Is it wrong to repeat yourself in the abstract, introduction and conclusions? | 2014-06-14T14:50:46.483 | # Question
Title: Is it wrong to repeat yourself in the abstract, introduction and conclusions?
I find that when I writing a paper, I use the same phrases and sometimes the same sentences in the abstract, introduction, and conclusions.
When I compare this to non-fiction writing (e.g. Malcolm Gladwell or Michael Pollan), my impression is that they do not repeat themselves in the prologue and epilogue.
However, I realize that they are writing non-fiction books/articles, whereas we are writing scientific articles, for a different audience and a different purpose. My questions are:
1. Does using the same phrases and sentences in the abstract, introduction and conclusions make my paper boring to read?
2. Or is it easier to read and understand a paper if it repeats itself?
# Answer
> 20 votes
The three things are doing pretty different jobs, and so should be pretty different in content.
The abstract is an *advert for your paper*. Someone might read a list of titles and abstracts (for example on arXiv) and decide on that basis whether it's worth their while downloading and reading the rest of the paper. The abstract has to be attractive, but not fraudulent ('truth in advertising'!). When you read an abstract, you're trying to find out: (i) is this paper in my area?, (ii) is it asking a question I care about? (iii) does the conclusion sound interesting? You don't have to summarise the whole paper, but you do have to answer those questions.
The introduction gives your reader *a map of the paper*. By the end of the introduction, your reader should have a pretty good idea of what they're in for, and where they're going to end up. They should know what sections they're probably going to skip, and which ones they look forward to disagreeing with. A paper is not a detective novel: you don't need cliffhangers or mysteries.
After that, the conclusion doesn't have a lot of work to do (at least in my experience). It might be the last thing the reader reads of your paper (that is, unless they care enough about its contents that they'll re-read it), so this is an opportunity for you to frame their memory of it. "We have shown that ..." is the sort of thing you'd find here.
Key points:
* Remember the reader is a human being, just like you – talk to them, as you'd like to be talked to (far far too many people bizarrely forget this).
* Make it easy for them to read the paper, and easy to agree with you (that's why the introduction has a map of the paper, to ease the reader's way through your golden prose).
* Your reader is asking themself "why am I reading this paper?" Make sure they have a good answer to that question by the end of the introduction. If you get a colleague to read your draft, get them to answer that question at that point. If they don't give the answer you want them to, it's *your* fault; so edit.
There will probably be some overlap in text in the three parts. That's OK, but it probably shouldn't be cut-and-paste.
# Answer
> 8 votes
There are many examples of papers where there is repetition in these part. While this is not wrong, it is not something one should adopt as a way of writing. It is important to write each part so that the text is adapted to be included seamlessly in that part.
The discussion should lead up to the conclusion(s) of the paper and from this perspective it is the origin of the content that will be repeated (in context) in the other parts. The conclusion should summarize the main findings of the discussion. Since the point is to provide the important points in a brief way, one should at least try to write it with the summarizing in mind. The abstract should summarize the entire paper and lead up to the main conclusion(s) of the paper. This is most often focussing on a subset of what is summarized in the conclusions.
Copy-pasting sentences from discussion to conclusions and to abstract means you build in sentence structures that may not be optimal for the different parts. I therefore suggest at least trying to rewrite the information for each part so that they become optimized in each case. If a sentence you have already written fits very well, then its use is fine but if you simply try to force sentences in the resulting text might not be as clear as it could be. So, in general, write everything as a new text based on the story you are trying to convey rather than inheriting structure from what you have written already stemming from a different context.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I'm not bothered by the repetition of sentences if they are isolated sentences, that serve as a link. However it is inelegant, you can always put a cross reference and reword what you say in some other place, for several reasons:
* Style in writing, you should show some knowledge about the language and the capability of paraphrasing.
* Fit better the contents to the context where they are.
* Writing the same thing in several different ways helps people to understand what is written there. English, as most (probably all) other languages has an inherent level of ambiguity, some sentences can have several meanings. If you rewrite some sentence with some different words by doing so you can make clear that the meaning of both sentences is in the intersection of the potential meanings of both sentences.
I find the third reason is the most important and other answers were missing this aspect, so I had to drop another...
Having said this, the repetition of a paragraph is unacceptable for me. If there is some paragraph in some part of the paper and you want to refer to this same piece of information you should summarize the contents of the paragraph in a sentence (sometimes in a term, e.g. when the paragraph is a definition).
This answer isn't very constructive and I feel obliged to provide constructive answers so...
Take the abstract as a reference. It will summarize the paper, as the introduction does and also the conclusions.
1. In the abstract you provide the shortest summary and describe what have you done.
2. In the introduction you extend that summary and describe the context of your work (some people include the motivation). It is different from the abstract because you don't say what you have done, but why it was missing, why you have done it and where in the paper you explain into more detail these aspects.
3. In the conclusions you evaluate what you have done, how it serves to fill the gap that you identified in the introduction and the gaps that remain (future work).
All these are similar but not equal.
BTW: related question: https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/181080/automate-the-description-of-the-paper I should get back to that...
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Tags: publications, writing
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thread-23459 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23459 | How should I ask for library services for literature review? | 2014-06-16T15:26:13.293 | # Question
Title: How should I ask for library services for literature review?
Early on the research planning process, I would like to make use of the services offered by public libraries. Including online library services, what is the best way they could help a student researcher who is currently preparing a research proposal for a specialization?
Would it be wise to send them an email or give them a phone call, so that they could come up with a list of possibly useful and related research papers at their disposal?
# Answer
If you mean "is it outrageous to ask a librarian to collect research papers for you," then no, it's not outrageous; **some** librarians do that, though rarely the librarians working in public libraries.
For most university students (at least in the US. You're in Indonesia so the system may vary,) they go to their school libraries because the collections are much closer to their fields of study. The librarians are also more proficient in handling academics-related questions. If you do have an affiliated university, I'll check with the librarians there first.
If you don't have one, then I'll next try to contact some librarians of state-funded or nationally funded universities (especially if you are a tax payer.) Most of these public schools open their libraries or provide limited consultation to the public. It would also be valuable to ask if they have any kind of borrower program or consortium you can join: later you may need to download a lot of journal articles and having an access to their server can save you a lot of money.
If both of these are no goes, then you can try the public libraries. However, the librarians may not be available to fetch articles for you. Instead, you may ask them for resources (pamphlet, booklet, website) on how to perform a literature search (I'm assuming literature, but they can also show you other curated forms such as microfilm, legal archive, etc.) Most public libraries do not subscribe highly professional/specialized journals due to the high price, so realize that your scope can be limited somewhat.
If all of these yield no results. I'd suggest at least pay a graduate students or instructor for 2-3 hours to give you a general rundown/tutorial.
As I have said, most librarians will not be able to do the search for you. And it's better for you, as the researcher, to have the first hand experience and control of the process. At the very least, try ask the librarians about database you should search, how to select keywords, how to export and keep results, what bibliography software is available, reference books on writing literature review etc.
Lastly, the quality of help you are going to get is proportional to the clarity of your vision about the work. The more concrete you can describe your work, the easier for them. Things you should consider are as follows:
* What is the topic?
* What is(are) the main question(s) you want to answer? -- in this part, be very explicit about time, location, and other important qualifier (think 5W1H)
* How far back in time do you need to go?
* What is the purpose of the document? E.g. For a blog, for a grant proposal, or for an assignment?
> 6 votes
# Answer
I don't believe that a public library would be a useful resource for an academic literature review. You are likely to be better supported by a university librarian. But, I am not sure why you would be relying on a librarian to assist with obtaining resources for a literature review. My recommendation is that you develop the skills and knowledge to efficiently and effectively conduct a search for relevant resources, as opposed to relying on somebody else. You presumably have more background and knowledge in your substantive area, and this is something you will be doing throughout your academic career. Even if a librarian or somebody else culled sources for you, the burden is still on you to ensure the review was comprehensive.
> 8 votes
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Tags: literature, literature-review, literature-search, library, soft-skills
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thread-19119 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19119 | What is the difference between academic and administrative department heads? | 2014-04-09T16:03:28.980 | # Question
Title: What is the difference between academic and administrative department heads?
In a comment, it was quoted that some universities have administrative or academic department head. I sensed this difference before (but do not remember specifically), but I always thought that the latter is the case: one of the faculty members of a department is appointed as the head or hiring a new faculty member to serve as the department head (or vice versa in some sense).
How and why are administrative and academic heads different?
# Answer
> 5 votes
An administrative head of department heads up the administration of the department, and will typically have little or no involvement in the direction or the content of the research or teaching.
An academic department head leads the academic direction of the department. This often include somes administrative duties. Well, they nominally lead the academic direction of the department. In theory, they guide the direction of the department's researchers and teaching. In practice, that's like herding cats.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I agree with EnergyNumbers. As another way to think about it, the administrative head deals more with the business functions -- e.g., grant management, hiring of staff, issues with the physical environment, communications, technology, etc. The academic head focuses on issues related to teaching, research, and service. Indeed, the functions may overlap, but this the general division of labor.
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Tags: professorship, university, administration
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thread-23420 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23420 | How to motivate students to complete low-point homework? | 2014-06-15T13:25:52.923 | # Question
Title: How to motivate students to complete low-point homework?
I teach a course consisting of about 50 assignments. These include readings, many short writing assignments, and group projects. Additionally, students complete 2 large projects as the mid-term and final, entirely covering all of the material.
I noticed many students skipped lots of homework. Some skipped 6 weeks of work completely. I assumed the workload was too high, but I surveyed those who did the work and nobody reported spending more than 2-3 hours per week. Some students had determined that each assignment had such a low value, they did not bother to complete the work. These students all did very poorly on the final.
My supervisor will not be happy to find that I am failing 25% of the students. For future terms, how can I motivate students to complete everything?
# Answer
> 32 votes
> Some students had determined that each assignment had such a low value, they did not bother to complete the work. These students all did very poorly on the final.
One important way to combat this attitude is to show the actual statistics from the course you just completed.
"Here is the distribution of homework completion across last semester's course. And here is the distribution of final course grades. Notice that every student who completed less than XXX% of the homework failed the course."
Repeat this exercise after every midterm, showing similar statistics for the *current* class. "See, here is the distribution of homework completion so far, and here is the distribution of midterm grades. Notice that every student who completed less than XXX% of the homework failed the midterm, which is completely consistent with last semester."
In other words: "I am not bluffing."
If you want to be even more direct, you can announce in your syllabus that anyone not completing XXX% of the homework *automatically* fails the course, regardless of their performance on the final exam. Be sure to read this sentence out loud in class on the first day.
Of course, you also need some carrots to go with the stick. The homework should not only be *useful*, but also interesting. The students should have access to any resources they need to master the homework material, including rapid and useful feedback. The homework should be realistically tuned to the skill and maturity levels of the students, and you should carefully discuss your expectations with instructors of any prerequisite courses.
> My supervisor will not be happy to find that I am failing 25% of the students.
I assume you mentioned the abysmal homework completion rate to your supervisor as soon as you noticed it, which was relatively early in the semester. Right? So how did your supervisor respond?
# Answer
> 7 votes
Taking
> Some students had determined that each assignment had such a low value, they did not bother to complete the work.
serious, it's tempting to suggest that you assign exactly the same work for exactly the same fraction of the course credit, but packaged into a smaller number of assignments so that each assignment looks more important to them.
But there are two issues:
* Frequent feedback is often alleged to be good for student learning, and your many small assignments support that while fewer large assignments do not.
* I'm also with the others: students who can't figure out that they have to do a large fraction of these assignments to pass are unlikely to be very successful *no matter* what you do for them.
So, perhaps you should just check progress at some early point in the course and lets the slackers know that they are on the road to poor grades if they don't shape up.
# Answer
> 6 votes
I typically make homework 40% of the course grade and divide the remaining points among midterm, final, and class participation. Then, on the first day, I tell students that they cannot pass the course without doing at least most of the homework.
I do not assign grades to reading assignments; instead, I make an assignment that can be assessed, but that cannot readily be completed without having done the assigned reading.
In a 16-week semester, I might have ten graded assignments, but each one will have multiple parts, so the students *do* perhaps 50 things, but they perceive that they have ten assignments, each worth perhaps four course points. I also require students to attempt every part of an assignment in order to receive any credit. In other words, half-done means not graded.
# Answer
> 5 votes
Sure, it is for their own good to do it. But frankly, college students are too immature to realize it, and even the ones who do realize it have to fight with very strong procrastination motivators. You can't expect them to deliver this kind of stuff based on internal motivation only, they don't have it.
If it is your goal to get them to pass, you have to give them external motivation here. The usual method is to make homework obligatory.
The idea behind it is simple. Anybody who gets less than 80% of the possible points on homework assignments is not allowed to take the final. If you want to be mild, or the homework is very tough, set a lower target in percent. If you want to include very interesting but very hard problems in the homework, mark them as "optional" and don't make them count towards the required points.
This also has the advantage (from a grader's perspective) that students who cannot muster the dilligence to achieve 80% correctness when working in a relaxed environment with little time pressure and with the help of their friends, their textbooks and the Internet, will not be present at the real written exam where they are only going to waste your time. But it also makes them learn for the homework, spaced over the semester, so the students who have the intelligence to beat the exam but procrastinate until the last two days to learn without deadlines are actually learning well and get their grade based on solid knowledge, instead of passing on bulimia learning or plainly failing.
You can alternatively declare a number of homework sheets which needs to be turned in. E.g. if there are 12 homework assignments for the semester, you can say that they need to turn in at least 10 to be allowed to take the exam. But this is more problematic - what do you do with students who turn in an empty sheet? The percentage system works, I have seen it employed by many departments at two different universities. I have been exposed to it on both sides, as a student and as a teaching assistant/grader. It is well accepted by students and staff alike, it is perceived as fair, and it works.
You will probably have some problems championing it, both from students and faculty, but once you get it established, everybody benefits.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Whether it's appropriate or inappropriate to fail 25% of your students depends on context. If this is a community college algebra course, then a 75% pass rate is insanely high, and would probably indicate that your standards are not high enough.
In general, it's not your job to motivate your students, nor is it your job to convince them to take a less immature attitude toward their own education. The fact that you assigned the homework put them on notice that you considered it necessary for them to do it in order to learn the material.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I tell the students that two exam questions will come from the homework: one exactly as it was on the homework, and one with only small changes. Doing all the homework is like getting one question on the midterm/final for free.
In class, I mention that usually the one that ends up on the exam with no changes is whichever one the fewest people turned in. Not always, but usually.
Added bonus: it seems to cut down on cheating, probably because if all you do is copy someone else's program, then you don't remember it well enough to reproduce it on the exam.
# Answer
> 2 votes
Make them worth more! You can do this by shifting more points onto them, or, maybe, by having less than 50 of them for what is presumably a 14 or 15 week semester.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I'm not an educator, but I have some experience on the matter of a course not engaging students enough to motivate them (I was one of those students).
I know I shouldn't place all the blame on the course material nor the instructor, but I cannot help but feel that if I failed sooner, I wouldn't have had to "suffer" as long as I did, hanging on to a diminishing sense of hope.
In my highschool, assignments were mandatory, you'd get punishment for not handing homework on time in addition to 0 marks, for disrespecting your teacher. However, the "freedom" I experienced immediately after entering university was too much for me to handle, and not handing in assignments was merely the first thing "to do" on my list of rebelliousness.
Different people handle situations differently, so I don't think having a blanket set of rules is good enough to handle all situations. I believe that each student should be treated according to their needs, but obviously that's a huge amount of resource needed, and is definitely not feasible... So I think there should at least be some sort of way to help groups of students with similar struggles, e.g. bored of class because they know it already, not knowing how to prioritise their work and ending up not finishing anything...etc.
Lastly regarding OP's question, my best advice right now is for the instructor to set aside some time to talk to their student's 1-to-1, at least once in a semester, before or after midterms (I'd say before is better, so they become more motivated for midterms). Student's who want to learn, will learn, but sometimes they just want to know that someone cares... a short chat (10min?) will let them feel that you care (whether you do or not... is another matter lol) And if that person didn't need a "pep talk", you can use it to learn from your students; yes, teachers should learn from their students as well, sometimes they have the brilliant ideas you could use.
# Answer
> 1 votes
First, I think it's important to note a difference between external motivation (carrot + stick) and intrinsic motivation (pride in the work + knowledge that it will help). External motivation can increase completion rates in your class, but has been shown to decrease intrinsic motivation so it may have negative aftereffects. Thus, I would try to avoid solutions such as competitions (which have also been shown to actually have a negative effect for girls)
I'm a strong advocate of fostering pride in the work itself. This can be done with 1 on 1 chats as mentioned by Populous, and if there is time, then I would recommend that in addition to the below advice.
As mentioned in dmckee's answer. Frequency of feedback can be an important factor in education, including motivation. When assignments are returned with comments and in a timely manner the students feel that the instructor or grader cares about their work. This support can foster intrinsic motivation. Conversely, when assignments are returned with no comments, returned late, or never returned at all, students can be strongly demotivated.
I know this both from personal teaching (and student) experience and literature on intrinsic motivation.
Also I'd like to make a few comments on jeffE's answer but don't have the reputation:
Statistics may be motivating for the students that understand them in some situations. However, often the simple statistics won't show what you'd like; the highest scoring students may have low homework completion rates because they already know the material and find the homework boring. I know, I personally didn't do a single homework assignment in Geometry, Algebra II, or Pre-Calc, but was the school winner for most of the math competitions in my High School. This is especially true in classes that aren't tracked where there can be a very large variation of abilities. Looking at the test grades vs. homework completion of an inner city public school Algebra 1 class shows a negative correlation. Trying to explain the confounding variables to a class that's not proficient in statistics is a futile exercise, and if they've made it to the point where they are proficient in statistics then odds are they've already learned to be self motivated.
# Answer
> 0 votes
The best way to motivate students in this regard is to create some form of competition.
Post the grades of the top 5 or 10 students after each assignment. If they choose, you don't have to publish their names but only their numbers.
Update the statistics after each assignment deadline and offer bonus points for finishing in certain positions (e.g. 1st places gets a bonus 10 points etc).
The atmosphere in the class will change quickly.
# Answer
> -3 votes
First of all, I'm disappointed that you used the word "fail," which is a reflexive verb, rather than "flunk," which is the correct word to use.
You didn't state what level (college, elementary, etc) you're teaching. For very young kids, I would simply send notes home saying something like "Your child didn't complete last nite/week's assignment. Please make sure he completes it by XX date." For high school and above, my view is that they can dang well sink or swim on their own. If they don't understand that the point of each assignment is to learn something (not to get a grade on it), then they're lost to the world. It shouldn't be your job to babysit them.
If you have concerns about your supervisor's opinion of your teaching methods, the appropriate thing to do is talk with him a month or so into the term, not after the finals.
And finally, a personal viewpoint, but bolstered with a lot of reports from teachers and observations from other parents: groups projects are crap. They've always been crap, and always will be crap. They invariably end up with a few strong players whose efforts are not properly rewarded because the overall project's quality suffers from the slackers or incompetents in the group. School is not military training camp (where it *might* be justifiable to grade the group on getting everyone safely thru the course).
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Tags: teaching, grades, motivation, homework
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thread-23442 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23442 | Constructing a Mathematics CV - what am I trying to portray to a graduate school admissions committee? | 2014-06-15T22:35:23.813 | # Question
Title: Constructing a Mathematics CV - what am I trying to portray to a graduate school admissions committee?
Bit about me: I recently graduated as an undergraduate in Statistics and would like to pursue graduate school. I will be working as an actuary starting this upcoming month and will be pursuing the GRE and Mathematics GRE Subject Test this September/October.
I'm struggling to write a CV for graduate school. It is not a requirement that I know of currently (I haven't looked at the application requirements yet at the places I plan on applying yet), but I know that I will need to have one ready in case I need it in the future. I have plenty of experience writing resumes for actuarial positions, but none whatsoever for grad school CVs.
I have **bolded** the questions that I would like answered.
Here's what I currently have so far (in chronological order):
Top: name, contact info
Body: Education, Academic Research, Teaching Experience, Volunteer Experience (**if I volunteered as a TA, should I throw this experience in teaching instead if I don't have any other volunteering experience?**), Work Experience (consists of an actuarial position + an assessment position), Leadership and Committee Experience, Actuarial Exams, Languages, Computer Skills, Research Interests
**Am I missing anything** that should be in a mathematics CV?
Also, **how much detail am I expected to put in for my experiences**? For example, on my research experience, I have the advisor's name, what I did, how I pursued the research, and in some cases, what the research led up to (e.g., one of my projects was used to supplement an already-published mathematics and music text). **Am I expected to talk about "excellent communication skills" or "teamwork" in any of my experiences, if applicable**? (For an actuarial resume, I would NEVER right anything like this, as it sounds like I'm just trying to fill up white space.)
Lastly, I realize that this isn't the most relevant pertaining to this website specifically, but **are there any online forums where I can get feedback on my CV (mathematics-specific would be extremely nice)**?
# Answer
> 6 votes
First let me say that I have a lot of experience with math department admissions, all of it in a department which is separate from the statistics department. The title question is "Constructing a mathematics CV": I'll answer that. I would not assume that it's the same for statistics.
For a math admission -- either master's or PhD, it doesn't matter -- the CV is just about the least important part of the application that I can think of. At many places, it is probably being asked for as much out of force of habit as anything else: in academia, CV's are ubiquitous. However, most information that is provided on your CV is also provided elsewhere on the application: grades, coursework, research experiences, relevant personal experiences all have other outlets. I can only remember reaching for a candidate's CV when something was missing from some other part of the application (possibly because of a clerical error on our part) and I wanted to quickly put my hands on it. I **absolutely** don't care how the CV looks, how it is formatted, or anything like that. In fact I don't care about that stuff for any level of academic job. And *in fact* I myself have one of the more unimpressively formatted CVs I've ever seen, almost to the point of being unintentionally "unbusinesslike".
So I would say the key is this: whenever you're wondering whether to put something on your CV, also ask yourself: "If I do put it on my CV, how do I highlight it *elsewhere* in my application?" Because your CV might not even be specifically read by some (or all) committee members.
To answer your specific questions:
> if I volunteered as a TA, should I throw this experience in teaching instead if I don't have any other volunteering experience?
You should certainly include all TA experience, volunteer or otherwise. (Whenever you do something as a volunteer that one might reasonably think you've been paid for, it is only honorable to clarify that you were a volunteer.) I find your concern that you don't have any other kind of volunteer experience misplaced: we're not looking for volunteer experience, and volunteer experience that is not math related is not clearly relevant at all and should probably only be included if it is truly notable or substantial. Honestly, we're not selecting for candidates who are unusually socially conscious or unusually well-rounded, so your volunteer work would have to be successful enough to show exceptional drive and/or administrative skill.
> Am I missing anything?
No, I don't think so. Your research experience -- if you have any -- is one of the more important things to go on a CV, and you mentioned it. But in keeping with what I said before, it is really *too important* to just hide in a CV: if you had any research experience at all you should certainly mention it in your personal statement (and if you haven't had any at all, it would be a good idea to address that, at least by saying how excited you are and how much you welcome the opportunity). If your research experiences resulted in actual product, then include the product itself: papers can be part of the application, and you can also include links to websites.
> how much detail am I expected to put in for my experiences? Am I expected to talk about "excellent communication skills" or "teamwork" in any of my experiences, if applicable?
At this point I wonder if you're confusing the CV and the personal statement. You don't "talk about" anything in a CV: it just displays information. There is not a single complete sentence in my (eight page: yours should probably be one or two) CV. Information about relevant experiences should go prominently in your personal statement *and* you should do what you can to ensure that these experiences are also discussed in your recommendation letters (along with your coursework, these are the most important part of the application). I have no desire to hear about excellent communication skills or teamwork from the candidate herself, no. In fact, writing a personal statement that is literate and moderately compelling is your big chance to show your communication skills. Openly boasting about skills is something that academia largely frowns upon. This can get tricky when in certain contexts -- grant applications, introductions to papers -- you really *need* to describe your achievements, but in a way which is factual and not openly self-promotional. In a grad school application I would strive to look competent, eager and (reasonably) humble.
> are there any online forums where I can get feedback on my CV (mathematics-specific would be extremely nice)?
You should ask your recommenders for feedback on your CV. They are natural candidates, because (i) they're reading it anyway and (ii) they have already shown an interest in your academic career. The right way to do this is to first give them a CV and make it really clear that you want critical comments and that you've saved plenty of time for it -- more than a month! -- and then after that you would like a recommendation letter.
# Answer
> 2 votes
For a PhD in statistics, the non-math and interdisciplinary experiences are very important. Definitely the fact that you'll have an actuarial internship is good.
Teaching experience: also important. Many departments will like to know if you can teach.
Communication skills are good, if you can substantiate them. Computer literacy (beyond html/MS office) is important.
Not directly answering your question, but when you ask for recommendation letters, make sure at least one addresses your teaching. And, if you can have one outlining your interdisciplinary prowess, that will be good, too.
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thread-19011 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19011 | PhD programs of medical school | 2014-04-07T07:18:17.003 | # Question
Title: PhD programs of medical school
I'm interested in stem cell, regenerative medicine, developmental biology, and genetics for reverse aging. Since these topics are dealt with in one or both of medical school and school of science, I'm confused about my grad school prep.
A PhD program of stem cell & regenerative medicine offered by Stanford's School of Medicine accepts both MCAT and GRE (as stated in the following webpage.) http://stemcellphd.stanford.edu/faqs.html Also, the PhD program of my interest offered by Harvard belongs to both Harvard Medical School and School of Arts and Sciences. Thus, the boundary of PhD programs between medical school and school of science doesn't seem to exist. So, I'm thinking if I can prepare for PhD programs of med school in the same way as I do for programs of school of science.
Would you tell me the difference of PhD programs between med school and school of science in terms of the following factors?
* standardized test (GRE & MCAT)
* admission standard (focus on research experience or focus on GPA & standardized test)
* competitiveness
* undergrad classes required/recommended to take
# Answer
In general, the biggest difference between PhD programs at med schools and those not at med schools is simply their research focus. Often they have differences in the administration and faculty associated with the program, but at least for Harvard (that's where I just finished my PhD), the difference between the med school programs and those not at the med school is probably smaller than the difference between Harvard's med school programs and Stanford's med school programs.
Each PhD program is different, and may have different requirements in terms of admission and selectivity, but for the top tier of graduate schools, the difference is probably not hugely noticeable. There are also likely to be differences between say the Immunology program at Harvard and the BBS program, even thought they're both at the med school.
I can't speak to Stanford, but at Harvard, your GPA and GRE's will have some influence, but your research experience and letters of recommendation will hold far more weight.
I'd say, apply to the programs you're most interested in, and then if you're invited to interview, make your decisions after you've visited the schools. You want to base your choice on the feeling you get from the students and faculty - different programs align more with different personalities. If you're choosing between Harvard and Stanford, you won't be choosing between different qualities of research (both institutions are phenomenal), you want to go where you'll be happiest because of culture etc.
Edit: Spelling
> 3 votes
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Tags: phd, gre, medicine
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thread-23477 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23477 | Is tenure also meant for becoming an assistant professor? | 2014-06-16T21:29:02.300 | # Question
Title: Is tenure also meant for becoming an assistant professor?
The announcement below from Japan sounds like one becomes an assistant professor at the end of the tenure process. I thought the tenure is always meant for becoming associate professor.
**Terms of Appointment:**
> Evaluated in the final year of the term, and if satisfactory, eligible to become a tenured assistant professor as of April 1, 2018.
# Answer
Japan's academic system is still closer to the continental system where there is only full Professor (教授） in a department and several assistant professors (助教授）and a mixture of adjunct and full-time readers/lecturers (講師）. The assistant professors can be tenured.
Some schools in Japan are moving to the American system where there can be several full professors in a department and there are now some colleges that are introducing the category of associate professor (准教授）).
Japanese labor laws tend to protect full-time faculty, so you can assume that you have lifetime employment if you pass the first employment review -- if and only if you haven't been hired as a part-time (非常勤) or otherwise term-contract employee (非正規雇用).
In this case, it sounds like they want to emphasize that you are NOT being hired as part-time or other non-tenure track (such as the new "jokyo" 助教 which is not the same as a tenure-track assistant professor 助教授).
> 12 votes
# Answer
Tenure is not always associated with the traditional assistant vs. associate/full distinction, especially not outside the United States. Even in the United States Associate does not always mean tenure nor does some other title necessarily imply untenured.
If you're applying for this specific position and it concerns you, you should probably just ask for clarification.
> 11 votes
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Tags: tenure-track, assistant-professor, japan
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thread-23469 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23469 | Indicating co-PI status on a paper | 2014-06-16T18:29:50.700 | # Question
Title: Indicating co-PI status on a paper
Authorship order in life sciences is intricate and has many problems. By convention, order is by the amount of contribution (decreasing). Also by convention, the PI/supervisor/"senior author" appears last. Things start getting complicated when you have many contributors.
I would like to focus on the end of the author list. When there are several PIs, they all appear at the end. However, if you consider the before-last author, a reader would not be able to know whether this is the author with the least contribution or alternatively a co-PI. I have seen different "solutions" to this problem (e.g. marking all senior authors as corresponding authors).
**I would like to know what kind of solutions you have seen for this problem, and whether these solutions are recognized by institutions and funding agencies.**
For those of you wondering why these intricacies matter - authorship order can play an important role in getting a faculty position, awards, grants and tenure. For example, for some fellowships you may only list publications for which you are the first author.
# Answer
Actually, I've never seen a paper where co-principal investigators (with respect to a grant) have been distinguished—and I was co-advised as a graduate student in exactly such a circumstance.
However, I don't think this is as big a problem as you think. If you were a co-PI, you would indicate the corresponding grant as part of your CV, as well as the resulting publications. So it shouldn't be too hard to figure out who contributed what.
Also, in my own circumstance, I am actively co-advising several students at the moment. In these collaborations, we assign the "senior author" position to the most "relevant" author for the publication. For instance, I'm in engineering and one of my collaborators is in CS. When we publish in a CS venue, he's the senior author; when we publish in an engineering venue, I'm the senior author.
If it's really important, though, to indicate the co-PI issue, you could mention this in the acknowledgments section, since that's where you'd list the grant support in any case. You could write something like
> F.O.O. and B.A.R. were co-principal investigators on grant XYZ from funding agency ABC.
or whatever comparable wording satisfies your needs as well as those of the funding agencies.
> 6 votes
# Answer
In some papers I've seen, in which there was apparently more than one PI, they were both (last and before last authors) correspondents on the paper. I guess this is a way to signal their equal status.
> 0 votes
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Tags: authorship
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thread-23480 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23480 | Getting a letter of recommendation from a new professor | 2014-06-16T22:10:48.520 | # Question
Title: Getting a letter of recommendation from a new professor
I've read in multiple places that it is important that your recommenders be known to the admission committee. If I were to have a letter of recommendation from a professor who is quite new (Assistant Prof), would their recommendation be discounted due to their lack of reputation or stature in the field?
# Answer
An unestablished professor that knows you well, and writes a fantastic letter, is far better as a letter writer than a famous professor that will just write a generic "he was 3rd out of 38 students in my class" kind of letter.
There are two types of letters that will really help you in general. (1) A great letter from a professor who knows you well, regardless of their stature. This is likely someone you did research with, and (2) A famous professor that will write you a decent letter, saying you did well in his her/class and you show real potential, ideally you should have done a class project for them, so they can say something beyond basic things like class rank. Letters of type (1) are the most important (if the professor is famous that is a bonus). But you need 3 letters usually, so you are not likely going to have 3 professors that know you well (if you do you are in great shape). Type (2) is another good option for filling out 3 letters. If all your letters are of type (1) and (2) that is a really good sign. Most people will have at least one lackluster letter from an unestablished professor.
The next best bet is an unestablished professor that you did a good class project for or knows you well from a class. Generic letters really do not help your cause.
> 7 votes
# Answer
As you said: Someone who is well-known is a good choice. If the new professor already has a good reputation in her field, it will most probably be a good decision to ask her. It's better to have a letter of recommendation from someone who knows you and who writes somethong personal, than a letter from someone just looking at your marks.
> 6 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, recommendation-letter
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thread-23445 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23445 | Do I need to define all forms of cheating in the syllabus? | 2014-06-16T04:06:01.130 | # Question
Title: Do I need to define all forms of cheating in the syllabus?
Every year, students seem to find new ways to "cheat" on the work. Every year, my course policies section grows longer and longer (a full page now) to match the newfound methods. I list all forms of plagiarism and exam rules and penalties. I additionally post similar rules on assignment instructions, particularly defining areas where I found students "cut corners" while still literally following the instructions. I teach many freshmen and foreign students who are not familiar with college expectations.
Do I need to define all forms of cheating on the syllabus? Is there some way to apply and enforce a blanket, "no other cheating permitted"?
Some examples include:
1. Copying and pasting text from Web sites.
2. Submitting classmate's returned assignment as late assignment with own name.
3. Foreign students using machine translation exclusively to write essays for writing courses.
4. Using TTS for speeches.
5. Peering at other papers during exams.
6. Copying from phone during exams.
7. Submitting work they made in other courses.
8. Adding names of extra non-contributors to group work.
9. Doing work for a classmate.
10. Pretending to be another student during an exam.
11. Attending different sections during exams to preview the exam or try different versions.
# Answer
> 45 votes
I think your problem *quite literally* is that you specify too much. If you provide a long list of things students are not allowed to do, it is natural that students assume that the list is comprehensive (that is, everything that is not on the list has to be legal). If you do what chubakueno proposes and have a single rule **Plagiarising == fail**, most people would be fully aware what that means.
**EDIT:** clearly, this does not mean that you should *never* go into more detail. Of course, if one has unusual or unexpected rules which other comparable lectures in the same university do not have, then of course they need to be explained. However, most of the examples given by Village are IMHO pretty obvious.
Frankly, many of the items on your list *cannot reasonably be assumed to be ok*, no matter the rules. For instance, did you really have a student tell you with a straight face he thought it was ok if he pretended to be somebody else to write the other guy's exam?
# Answer
> 20 votes
Does your school not have an academic code of conduct? Usually schools have very comprehensive (but succinct) definitions of "cheating" and "academic honesty" simply so nobody has to roll their own. Every syllabus I've ever had or used in any school I've ever been to found it sufficient to say "in addition to the syllabus of this course, you are also required to follow the school's code of academic honesty. Failure to abide by this code will result in immediate failure and referral to the appropriate administration."
This is even easier with the advent of web resources where you can explicitly link to the academic code of conduct in the syllabus (or some mirror of it if it's not online for whatever reason).
If not, I definitely agree with xLetix. Providing a comprehensive list of "bads" subtly implies that everything else is valid. Certain you can say "among other things...", but you should not have pages of examples. Certainly you can give one or two examples of blatant plagiarism, but otherwise give a succinct definition that's broad enough to allow you to catch all cases and leave it at that.
# Answer
> 11 votes
These basic ideas should be prominent:
1. Your work must be your own.
2. Your ideas must be your own - you must identify and give credit for any ideas which are not yours.
3. You must be honest and ethical in all behavior related to assessment.
You might want to provide some separate information about exams. For example, you are/are not allowed to have your book/notes in the exam. Suppose someone for instance has information on their phone (and they are not allowed to have notes or the book), but they claim that phones were not excluded. You can, when discussing it with them, ask them whether they think this was honest and ethical behavior.
Part of the point of this is that it is their responsibility to identify if work or ideas are not their own. If someone claims, for instance, that copying from a website does not mean that their work is not their own, you can ask them where and how they acknowledged the use of the ideas.
# Answer
> 6 votes
There are generic expectations that are widely understood, and you don't need to spell those out. For example, you don't need to explicitly tell your students that it's not OK to pretend to be someone else and take their exam.
On the other hand, I find that there are certain specific things that I want to make clear in my syllabus because they may differ from other teachers' expectations. For example, I teach physics labs, and my expectation is that collecting raw data is group work, but analysis, making graphs, and doing the writeup is individual work. There are other teachers at my school who have different expectations about lab work, so I need to make my own policies clear.
# Answer
> 6 votes
As suggested by a commenter, I am expanding my comment to that of an answer. Many colleges and universities have an 'academic integrity' policy or standards. For example, here is one such policy at the University of Michigan: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/academicintegrity/. You can find many other policies and standards regarding academic integrity.
I would include the exact language of any such policy in the syllabus. When you review your syllabus, you should draw explicit attention to this policy and indicate that all violations will be taken seriously and referred to any judiciary committee if necessary. You can also take it one step further by having students actually sign a statement that they have read and understood the policy. Once you have done this, students assume the burden of ensuring their academic behaviors are entirely consistent with the policy.
The other part of the process is actually following through on violations. I don't have problems with this issue in my class because students are very much aware of exactly what will happen if violations are observed. Of course, some students will claim that they "didn't know." Ignorance of violations of academic integrity are simply unacceptable among college / university students who should be treated like adults. You don't want to give the impression that you are lenient on any such policy.
# Answer
> 4 votes
The comments so far all seem to come from the perspective of the educator. Having recently made the transition from undergraduate completing exams and assessments, to postgraduate setting and marking them, I offer the following advice based on my experience.
My university requires every single student to complete an online "Plagiarism and Academic Honesty" course each year. This course takes the form of a few dozen slides detailing many complex rules and examples, attempting to cover every form of assessment in every academic department. No-one ever actually reads the content of this course; the old concept of "TL;DR" is true even when your academic or professional future is at stake. Based on this experience, *I rule out the "exhaustive restrictive list" approach*.
We also have the polar opposite as a University-wide policy: a very short, to-the-point statement about always behaving with complete academic honesty and integrity. This is always qualified, however, with a link to the full "legalese" policy. Again, no-one reads this. There are also numerous loopholes. For example, the policy states that you must not use another student's work without attribution. Copying an entire report and then scribbling "I copied all this from Dave" in the margin would therefore appear to be fine. This further leads me to the conclusion that *a restrictive list is not the way forward*.
So what do I see as the best option from both sides of the assessment process? Assume nothing of your students. They will have come from a wide variety of cultures where "academic honesty", "plagiarism", "cheating" and all related terms have very different definitions. Public exam processes used in schools also vary across the globe, so you cannot rely on "it's the same as it was before university". *I would therefore advocate a "permissive list" as the best policy*:
1. You are **only** permitted to take pens, calculators, and rulers into the examination room.
2. All work **must** consist solely of the thoughts, ideas and work of the named candidate (or group, where applicable).
3. Using the thoughts, ideas or work of others is permitted **only** where it is attributed and clearly marked as not your own.
4. All work **must** be original and created for the purpose of this assessment.
I believe those four rules cover everything in the eleven points above, plus other methods of cheating.
# Answer
> 2 votes
It seems like in your case, you might just list what *is* allowed.
> Imagine you have entered a room for the first time. You did not bring anything or anyone with you. This room has only a desk, a chair, a few blank sheets of paper, and a pencil. Anything that you would not be able to do in this room is not allowed in the exam.
Generally, you could just point out a few non-obvious things to adequately illustrate the spirit of the rule, and then say:
> This list is not comprehensive. I will punish anything that gives you an unfair advantage. Use your own judgement to decide what would be acceptable, and if in doubt, ask.
After all, you are not required to have every decision you make in class to have been written in exacting detail beforehand (at least in most schools). You can just say, "even though I didn't explicitly say copying from your friend is not allowed, it should have been obvious to you that I would consider it cheating". Also, some things on your list should not even be mentioned. Whatever excuse the student who tried to take an exam for someone else came up with, I guarantee that they knew full well they shouldn't have done it, and they knew you knew they knew. I don't see how
> No cooperating, no open book, no cheating
Doesn't cover everything except 7 and 8 on your list. Do your students honestly think that they're allowed to copy from a phone during an exam that isn't even open-book?
# Answer
> 2 votes
This is bound to be country specific, but like most people here from US institutions, I refer to the University code of conduct. However, I highlight gray areas. This means I don't list obvious things like (2) or (6) on your list. I would say something like this
"In this class you must follow the academic code of conduct \[link to code\], all violations will be reported to the judiciary committee. Note, in college academic dishonesty extends a bit further than you might be used to, so read the code carefully. For example the following things are not allowed \[insert a list of two or three non-obvious things - I include 1. not understanding something you write, 2. Turning in basically the same assignment as a collaborator, even when collaboration is permitted\].
Don't make it sound like you are giving an exhaustive list, but it is good to highlight some gray areas.
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thread-23509 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23509 | Real co-first authors? | 2014-06-17T14:07:39.387 | # Question
Title: Real co-first authors?
I notice that in the physics field, there are sometimes co-first authors, both names being followed by a footnote saying "These two authors contribute equally."
Even though explicitly labeled as so, one name still comes before the other. Also, as far as I know, the one believed to contribute a little bit more goes first. Hence, these are actually not real co-first authors.
Imagine in some journal with an author-title header on every page. The name of FirstAuthorB, the co-first author who comes after FirstAuthorA, will not be shown, as in
> FirstAuthorA et al.: Paper Title
So is there some other generally accepted ways to truly display two first authors as completely equal?
# Answer
> 4 votes
Within normal procedures the best way would be to list the two first authors in alphabetical order and then make a statement in the acknowledgement that the two have contributed equally. In this we assume that the way authorship is distributed in falling order. Many journals now also ask for a specification of contributorship of all authors to distinguish who has done what. One oddity I cam across was a paper by K & H (last name initials) where it was listed in the acknowledgement that both had contributed equally. In this case H was the PhD student of K and so K may have wanted the primary spot to get the full impact of the prestigious publication.
So the way to signal contributions by ordering authors is not without its problems. But, most of the problems come from the fact that first authorship is used without discretion to assign merit. So from this perspective it is a result of a flawed system. Attributing contributorship can even out the playing field to some extent but basically we will have to live with the systems. One should also remember that the most important aspect of the reference for most is the sourcing of information, not who did what. So an example of how a system built for one purpose has been adopted to solve another.
# Answer
> 4 votes
There are two distinct issues with "first" authors:
* Tenure committees and others doing a detailed review of an author's record may use the author order (in appropriate disciplines) to determine how much weight to give to each paper. In detailed review settings such as this, a published statement "these authors contributed equally" has value, because the tenure or review committee can see that the order of authors did not reflect relative contributions. Of course, in other fields the authors are alphabetical by convention, so the order is irrelevant.
* There is also an "accidental" benefit to being the first author, which a published statement on the contributions of each author does not help. Because citations are often abbreviated, many papers are cited by the name of their first author, and thus this author gains prestige. This happens even in fields where the citations are strictly alphabetical and do not reflect the relative contribution of each author! There is published research showing that there is a bias towards researchers whose last name starts with a letter early in the alphabet (i.e. among accomplished researchers there are more with early initials than would be expected by mere chance).
So a statement about the relative contributions of each author will only help in particular circumstances.
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Tags: publications, authorship
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thread-23515 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23515 | Tax write-off for research-related expenses in the US? | 2014-06-17T14:58:10.393 | # Question
Title: Tax write-off for research-related expenses in the US?
I am wondering if any research-related expenses can be applied toward a personal tax write-off (in the U.S.). For example, assume I traveled to a conference or meeting to present my research, and all the expenses were paid out-of-pocket. Or, assume that I purchase some equipment or supplies that is used for my research. Does a provision in the tax code exist that would allow the expenses to be considered a tax write off? If so, a link to the IRS rule would be greatly appreciated!
# Answer
I am not a lawyer and this is not legal/tax advice.
I believe you can deduct these as *unreimbursed employee expenses*. For 2013, this was Line 21 of Form 1040 Schedule A. Details can be found in IRS Pub. 529. It lists a number of examples of expenses that would be deductible on this line, including:
* Research expenses of a college professor
* Travel related to your work
* Tools and supplies used in your work
* Subscriptions to professional journals
* Dues to professional societies
There are a couple of major caveats:
* Roughly, you can only deduct the amount that exceeds 2% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). More specifically, you take the amount of your *unreimbursed employee expenses*, add the rest of your *miscellaneous itemized deductions* if any (see Pub. 529 for the list), and subtract 2% of your AGI; you can deduct the difference. So this may only apply if your research expenses are fairly substantial, or you have other significant *miscellaneous itemized deductions*. (Note that *miscellaneous itemized deductions* do not include the big itemized deductions like charitable donations, state taxes, or mortgage interest.)
* You have to itemize deductions to do this. If you don't have many other itemized deductions, you may be better off just taking the standard deduction.
* Of course, you cannot deduct expenses that were reimbursed.
Note that you might also get good answers on http://money.stackexchange.com.
> 7 votes
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Tags: united-states, travel, fees
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thread-23525 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23525 | Can I take credit for contributions to study materials on my CV? | 2014-06-17T16:10:05.993 | # Question
Title: Can I take credit for contributions to study materials on my CV?
I currently work for a well-known company that publishes study materials for a certain branch of mathematics. I have done quite a bit of work under them that has been published through their website (and is used to profit the company), however, no one's particular name is labeled on the materials (they just state the company's name).
Would I be able to include such work on a mathematics graduate school application CV other than mentioning it briefly in my work experience? If so, should I create a section "Publications" or with some other title? ("Publications" seems misleading to me, as it suggests a peer-reviewed journal or other scholarly text of some sort.)
# Answer
These are not academic publications that you can legitimately claim on your CV. At best, you might be able to describe this work experience in a different part of your CV, but keep your publication section clean. A publication is one that you claim authorship of the given product, whether it is a peer-reviewed article, book, book chapter, monograph, etc. Once you have a stock of publications, then you can create some logical categories.
> 4 votes
# Answer
If you did it, you can take credit for it on your CV.
To answer your second question, I think you should consider who will be reading the CV and what kind of employee they want. If it is a company that produces a similar product, I think "Publications" is okay. If you are applying for a faculty position, I might label it "Teaching Experience".
Update: For applying to graduate school, I would label it "Projects". But there are many options.
> 1 votes
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Tags: mathematics, cv
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thread-23496 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23496 | A question in the future research section - is it considered appropriate to write a paper on it? | 2014-06-17T09:56:42.373 | # Question
Title: A question in the future research section - is it considered appropriate to write a paper on it?
I recently read a paper, which posed some interesting questions in a section named further research.
They concluded the section by writing, "we leave all these questions for our future research".
I am really interested in one of the questions, is it considered inappropriate to write a paper handling one of those questions? The pronoun "our" indicates that the author wish to dig in to this question himself. However the paper was published in 2012, and by browsing the authors personal webpage I get no sign of a paper like that in progress.
In case I wish to write a paper on that particular topic, should I notify the author who posed the question? (Say, by asking, is question X still open?)
# Answer
> 22 votes
Just because an author puts forth a question doesn't mean that she or he owns that area of science. You are free to pursue any question that was posed in or inspired by an article. Even if the authors are actively pursuing the question, your research on the question will likely take a different form. It is unlikely that you will have exactly the same methodology, so the results will be different. And, even if the studies are exactly the same, the contribution you are making is important -- i.e., replication is essential to the advancement of science.
So, if you are inspired to pursue a given research question, full speed ahead!
# Answer
> 17 votes
The *reason* I put questions into my papers is to try to get other people to work on them.
Once someone publishes a question, or even mentions it in a talk, it's fair game for other people to work on it. This has a flip side for authors: it's bad practice to publish questions that you could already address with the methods of the paper, with a modest amount of additional work.
It's not a bad idea, if you are going to work on a question that was published a long time in the past, to ask the authors if it is still open. But, unless you are trying to collaborate with them, you should write the request in a fairly generic way. Don't tell them your ideas, or ask them if they have ideas, since that is how you would start a collaboration. Just ask whether they know of any progress since the paper was published.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Getting in touch with those authors might help you get to your answers quicker. They might have worked their questions without publishing. Estimated reason could be long term research is required to answer them. However, I am not aware of any rules that prevents you from addressing those questions (of your current interest) as long as the paper is published.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Go for it! As Brian P pointed out, nobody owns a question in science, and, as you observe, not everyone pursues the future research proposed in their papers. I usually include future research ideas in my papers, and I advise my students to also, but I can't think of a time the research has actually gotten done. I see it as a way of putting one's name on an idea without actually implementing it. (FWIW, my area is computer science.)
As to whether to contact the authors, that's optional. If it's a narrow problem with a straightforward solution, you might want to contact them to make sure you're not duplicating work that they've already started and are likely to complete before you can. You can also use it as a networking opportunity. Assuming you're not in a highly competitive field, I see no harm in writing that you were inspired by their paper to do the work they proposed and (optionally) would like to know if they are interested in collaborating. If you're a student or post-doc, collaborating with someone at another institution might help your career even more than being a sole author.
Your only responsibility is to cite the authors' paper(s) if you make use of their idea. Citations are the authors' reward. Send them a copy of your paper and a nice note (email). It will make them feel good, increases the chances of their citing your paper, and is good networking.
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Tags: research-process
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thread-23542 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23542 | Is it possible for reviewers to ignore papers? | 2014-06-17T20:22:18.130 | # Question
Title: Is it possible for reviewers to ignore papers?
Sometimes, when I get the comments of the reviewers of a submitted paper (mine or some else paper), I feel like the reviewers just ignore the paper. More precisely, I feel that reviewers did not read the whole paper. Even more, I feel like they do not even complete reading the abstract (it is a conclusion from their comments of course).
Is it possible that reviewers ignore papers? Maybe because the authors are not known or maybe they did not write the paper well?
My only argument is that authors believe that their paper is a breakthrough paper and it has a very good contribution. Imagine reviewers start reading a paper in a high journal rank and they found (just examples, do not take them as serious ones): "This paper shows that 1+1=3" or "This paper demonstrates that if the determinant of a matrix is 0, the matrix still has an inverse."
Although, I do not think that in a high quality journals, reviewers can do some kind of ignorance. How can one be sure that their paper is well treated? How to write papers that make the reviewers do not throw the paper away.
# Answer
Let me expand a bit on Thomas comment.
By its very nature, peer review is a guaranteed item of discussion in all academic discussions. Every author has stories to tell about unfair reviews, reviewers that missed the entire point of the article, reviewers that rejected a paper only to publish something similar themselves, and so on. What is much rarer talked about is that **the vast, vast majority of rejected papers are simply not good enough**! Indeed, this surely also includes a large percentage of those papers that the authors are sure were handled unfairly.
An important point is the following:
> My only argument is that authors believe that their paper is a breakthrough paper and it has a very good contribution.
Clearly, all (ethical) authors believe their paper has merit. *Otherwise, one would likely not submit it*. It has to be said that the author's own opinion is not a good indicator of the actual qualities of a paper.
> Is it possible that reviewers ignore papers? Maybe because the authors are not known or maybe they did not write the paper well?
Somewhere on this site, I have previously listed reasons why a paper can get rejected, but to be honest I think *"the authors are not well-known enough"* is very low on this list. The second reason (*"the paper is not well-written"*) is more common, but it should be noted that rejecting a badly-written paper is *not* unfair. It is the responsibility of the authors to make sure that their paper is graspable. However, again, I suspect the majority of papers are well-understood by the reviewers, and just rejected because the reviewers were of the opinion that the contribution was not substantial enough.
So why do papers sometimes get very short, high-level reviews, even if the reviewers read and understood the papers? One possible explanation is that many reviewers follow the golden rule *"spend your time on manuscripts that deserve your attention"*. In practice, a reviewer has finite time to invest into reviews. When receiving (say) 5 papers for review, two being borderline and three being clear-cut rejects, it is an understandable decision to spend more time scrutinising the papers that still have a chance, and only provide high-level feedback on the ones that the reviewer sees as clearly too weak.
Now on to your questions:
> How can one be sure that their paper is well treated?
The philosophy I try to communicate to my students is to *stop worrying about optimizing manuscripts for peer review and start doing the best research they can*. I am convinced that the best way to ensure that your papers are treated well is to write good research papers.
> How to write papers that make the reviewers do not throw the paper away.
Make sure that your papers (1) have a clear contribution, which is evident from the abstract and the introduction, (2) are written as clearly as you can, (3) are correct in terms of grammar and spelling (try to have a native-speaker spell-check your manuscripts), and (4) **have a compelling and relevant contribution**. If Your paper is technically sound but boring as watching grass grow, you *are not entitled to complaining that the reviewers did not read the manuscript carefully*.
> 12 votes
# Answer
I doubt that it is common for peers to disregard the content of a manuscript under review to that extent. However, it is quite usual for authors to understand more on their paper than the reviewers do. The following simple things may help:
1. accurate title, that really absorbs the content of a paper
2. very well written abstract, that says precisely what is done in a paper
3. well written introduction
4. a clear cover letter, explaining what is done and why this is important and new;
5. recommendation of at least a couple of referees for your paper who *should* understand it.
> 8 votes
# Answer
Your question is highlighting one of the major problems of the current peer-review process. Numerous studies have been conducted on various parts of peer review, and one of the most consistent findings across these studies is the absence of reliable reviews. That is, reviewers often disagree with each other, and editors often disagree with reviewers. At the same time, these findings are not at all surprising.
I do believe that there are very conscientious reviewers, and those numbers will vary considerably over time and by discipline. I believe there are many persons who are simply unqualified to review for journals. And, I believe that some reviews are not completely objective. Some people may be particularly critical on a given day -- perhaps their grande mocha latte arrived with no-whip when in fact they wanted whip. Or, they just had one of their own papers rejected, which makes them think that the system of reviews is becoming increasingly tighter, so the subsequent reviews are made under a more critical lens.
The bottom line is there are many places where there are faults in the peer review process, and this question certainly highlights one of them. Proposals for improving the system regularly enter the debate, but the current peer review system is not likely to change much over time.
If the review is particularly egregious, you can certainly talk with the editor. But, as a submitting author, you will always have less power and influence relative to the reviewer.
> 2 votes
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Tags: publications, peer-review
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thread-23553 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23553 | Should the glossary in my dissertation be minimalist or comprehensive? | 2014-06-17T22:35:59.900 | # Question
Title: Should the glossary in my dissertation be minimalist or comprehensive?
Context: I'm in an interdisciplinary field -- Computational Social Science -- and therefore my dissertation will be drawing on theory, empirical findings, and methods from at least four different disciplines. My dissertation topic is "Institutional Innovation Based on New Knowledge". Many terms have no settled meaning even within a single discipline, and many terms have definitions of my choosing, to suit the scope and purposes of my dissertation.
I'm using LaTex packages for glossary and hyperlinks so that all glossary terms get highlighted hyperlinks when they first appear in each chapter.
**My question:** should I aim for a *minimalist* glossary where only the most technical, obscure, central, or controversial terms get defined, or a *comprehensive* glossary that aims to define *all* important terms.
My aim is to make it easy for readers (mostly my committee), especially so that they won't waste time either trying to find my definitions or spend too much time reading/checking my definitions. Most of all I don't want them assuming that I'm misusing terms or that I haven't adequately defined them.
I'm not concerned about the extra workload of completing a comprehensive glossary. I'm good at this sort of task and it helps me as I write the body of each chapter -- I don't have to keep defining terms or reminding readers of my definition.
The downside of a comprehensive glossary is page count. I'll guess that it will add 20 or 25 pages. I don't want to "bloat" the dissertation any more than necessary.
# Answer
> 2 votes
If you think it will improve the usefulness of the thesis, and it isn't too much trouble for you, then I'd say by all means go for it.
I would not worry about page count. I don't think anyone cares how long the thesis is.
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Tags: phd, thesis
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thread-23528 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23528 | When do offer letters usually arrive? | 2014-06-17T16:34:09.897 | # Question
Title: When do offer letters usually arrive?
I contacted a professor about working on research with him. I met with him in person and he let me know he wanted to work with me, that he would be my research advisor, and if I applied to the department he would get funding for me. I applied to the university, got accepted into the program then filled out a TA application.
I was informed by my research advisor that I was selected as a TA and that I would receive my offer letter soon in the mail. It has been several months since I was told that and he checked on the delay and said that the TA offer letters were being held up in the provost's office for some reason. Classes start in August and I still haven't received my offer letter. Is this sort of thing common, or should I start to worry? My research advisor has guaranteed me I will be funded and I have nothing to worry about.
# Answer
> 2 votes
It is important to get as much as you can in writing (in case advisors/department chairs change, or finances change), but, ultimately, even that is not really a panacea, as most written documents have weasel clauses (e.g. guaranteeing TA while you are "demonstrating sufficient progress" or "subject to available funding". Even many faculty offers have an option to cancel before the first day of the semester.).
Ultimately, it's really all about your advisor and the reputation of the department. Any respectable department, should stand behind a reasonable interpretation of their oral guarantees no matter what happens (i.e. fund you as a TA even if there is some shift in finances or availability that was not expected). Word spreads, especially among graduate students, and disrespectful behavior will be known among the students of the department.
To sum up: \- Are you joining a respectable department? \- Talk to graduate students in the department about whether this is common. \- Have a backup plan just in case.
# Answer
> 2 votes
You are in a tough position because 'offers' cannot be guaranteed until you have an official letter in hand. And, when letters are sent is really specific to a department and university. For example, when I was accepted to graduate school, the acceptance letter and funding were part of the same letter.
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Tags: funding
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thread-23516 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23516 | Etiquette/social norms for a grad student toward a faculty going on sabbatical | 2014-06-17T15:08:34.430 | # Question
Title: Etiquette/social norms for a grad student toward a faculty going on sabbatical
I took a class with a professor and really liked his teaching. Since then, we've had several conversations and I've gone to him for advice once. While I don't work with him and I don't know if he'd necessarily consider me a friend, I do feel like we've had a number of positive interactions.
He's going on sabbatical within the next few months, and I'm (crossed fingers) on track to graduate this next May, which means that there's a fairly high probability that I will be gone before he returns.
It feels premature to be saying goodbye to him now, around a year before I'm (possibly) leaving. If I graduate on time and he isn't back, do I just shoot him an e-mail which seems a little impersonal? Leave a handwritten note in his mailbox? Or is that really weird?
Is there a standard way of saying goodbye when I know there's a decent chance that I won't get to do it in-person a year from now? Or is it just normal that professors don't expect/aren't surprised when students they know are gone when they come back?
# Answer
When a professor goes on sabbatical for a year they know full well that students will graduate in the meantime. They have seen this happen from both sides (they were students once and their professors took sabbaticals as well.) There is no standard way to say good-bye. A note, either electronic or physical, delivered before you leave is appropriate. So is asking the professor in question if they will be attending any of the graduation/end of year ceremonies that you will be having. Or you can simply say good-bye the last time you are going to see them before they leave since it may be the last time you see them.
General advice for keeping it from being "really weird" is to keep whatever you do short. Rambling will make it get uncomfortable for both of you. You have three basic things you might want to say: thank you, good-bye, best wishes for your sabbatical. You don't need a lot of words to get through those ideas.
> 13 votes
# Answer
Don't say goodbye until you graduate! Send a short note when you're done thanking the professor for the positive interactions ... that's usually more than enough.
> 0 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, etiquette, sabbatical
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thread-21840 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21840 | Mean life of Universities | 2014-06-02T22:15:08.813 | # Question
Title: Mean life of Universities
I was just thinking, universities (as a public institution) are one of the most long-lived institutions in a human society. The may survive changes of government and they evolutionate with the community they belong.
Is there any serious study that somehow correlates the duration of a university and a style of education with the society it belongs?
What are the most ancient universities that are still active?
# Answer
> 3 votes
Here is a book chapter on this topic:
Mazza, C., Riccaboni, A., & Quattrone, P. (2008). Found in translation: On the persistence of the university as institution. *European universities in transition: Issues, models and cases*. Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing.
These authors argue that the longevity of traditional universities is due to their socially legitimated role to "make ideas, people, and disciplines meet and cross-fertilize". For centuries, this role was manifested in such artifacts as great libraries (and later university presses) and degrees for the elites in government, religion, and (to a lesser extent) business. Of course, being self-sustaining financially (endowments) and physically (buildings and infrastructure) has been an important factor.
Historically, the university was the first institution in human history to systematically question itself as part of it's very constitution. From the start, the communities of scholars engaged in systematic inquiry and critical debate on the subjects of study, and even the way those subjects were investigated and taught.
Though far from perfect, this self-critical capability gave universities the capacity to take in and develop new knowledge and to let go of knowledge systems that no longer had intellectual support. For most of their histories, universities shaped the educational norms of the society around them -- at the national and international elite levels, at least -- rather than being shaped by those elites. The certainly weren't responding to the changing educational preferences or needs of the general public. Other institutions filled in this role (gap), including public universities, land-grant colleges, community colleges, polytechnic institutes, and so on.
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The oldest universities in continuous operation are:
* University of Bologna - 1088
* Oxford University - 1167
* Cambridge University - 1209
* University of Salamanca (Spain) - 1218
* University of Padua - 1220
* University of Naples Federico II - 1224 (first public university)
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Tags: university, education
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thread-18930 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18930 | How can I better deal with position papers? | 2014-04-04T17:04:52.110 | # Question
Title: How can I better deal with position papers?
Here is some context, I am currently a graduate student in education but I come from an art background. Needless to say, writing papers is not something I've done on a regular basis since high school.
Although I've gotten good grades on the two previous ones I wrote, I suspect they drained me a lot more than they should have had. I tend to be able to see the contradictions in everything, which I find is very helpful (as well as annoying) in my life in general but it makes writing position papers a living hell. I always feel like I am presented with a question that can not be answered and that I am forced to give a definite answer to it.
An example of question from a previous paper would be:
> Learner-centered approaches should replace teacher-centered approaches
Once I find an angle on how to go about it while feeling reasonably comfortable, things flow and it's not a problem but I always have this nagging doubt that it's not good because half the time I end up not really answering the question but dismissing it because nothing is this black or white. I tend to want to run everything by the teacher to get feedback because I'm never sure what we are really expected to do. I would fare much better if the question was in the likes of:
> What should one take into account when choosing between teacher-centered approaches and learner-centered approaches?
Don't get me wrong, I have opinions but I feel like they're not applicable in all scenarios. Sometimes I feel like those papers are only used to see how well we can write, how well you can form an argument and be convincing but I see little value in convincing just for sake of it. How can I get out of this rut?
# Answer
> 2 votes
Writing position papers does not require any special innate talent or disposition. You can develop these skills through the combination of systematic method and frequent practice.
First, you need to understand that a "position paper" (a.k.a. "analysis paper") is very different from a "survey paper" or an "essay". A position paper is somewhat similar to a legal argument for each side of the question. Your *only* goal is to communicate and evaluate the arguments for and against each alternative. You don't have to describe the whole issue, its history, its cultural setting or social significance, or many other issues. Deconstructing the question or alternatives is not in-scope for a position paper. Neither is your impressions, experience, or personal value judgments. Don't go "meta". (Those *are* in-scope for an essay.)
Here's the method, boiled down to its essence:
* Be clear about the scope of the question and alternatives. Make assumptions if you have to fill in blanks.
* Identify an ideal advocate for each alternative or position, even if you imagine a fictionalized advocate.
* For each alternative and idealized advocate, make an outline of the following:
+ Their strongest argument in favor of that alternative
+ Their strongest argument against the other alternatives
+ Their counter-arguments to the criticisms of the advocates of the other positions
* Once your outline is complete, rewrite it in sentence and paragraph form.
* Finally, add introduction paragraphs setting up the debate and conclusion paragraphs that evaluate the relative strengths of the various arguments.
From your professor's point of view, the most important paragraphs are the conclusions where you decide which of the arguments is most compelling and with the least number of unanswered flaws or voids.
In your example:
> Learner-centered approaches should replace teacher-centered approaches
Who best advocates learner-centered approaches? Who best advocates teacher-centered approaches? What arguments do they advance to support their positions? What criticisms do they level at the other?
In examining these arguments, the following questions might come to your mind to compare and contrast the positions: Do they both agree on the criteria are for "best" or "better"? Whose values and needs are most important? Do they both agree on what the implications are for "change" vs "status quo"?
What evidence does each advocate have to support their position? What credibility and relevance does the evidence have? What are the uncertainties and voids (lack of information) in each position. (No argument is perfect or free from some uncertainty.)
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The best way to learn this is to practice it frequently. The best way to practice it frequently is to start a blog and write a post every day or every other day on a topic area that is important to you. Aim for 'minimalist' position posts, which are probably four paragraphs.
After you do this for a couple of months, you will find that you are no longer seeking your professors' feedback regarding whether you are giving them what they expect to see. Your confidence and efficiency will rise.
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Tags: graduate-school, writing
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thread-18106 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18106 | Do students and faculty comprise any State University in the US? | 2014-03-13T15:57:14.533 | # Question
Title: Do students and faculty comprise any State University in the US?
Oxford University as a corporation grants membership to the matriculated students who are currently pursuing a degree. However, in the US there seems to be a tendency for University legal business to be handled by a corporation of University Trustees which is a legal entity separate from the University as such.
Sometimes the Trustees are said by statute to be "included" in the "body corporate" of a University, which seems to make two different bodies corporate, one being the Trustees acting in their special name, and the second being the University. However, it isn't made clear who else might be included in the University besides Trustees or for that matter whether the term "University" can also refer to the buildings or district under jurisdiction of the Trustees.
I would be interested to know if there is any State University which **makes its students or faculty members of the University**. Please cite the relevant laws.
# Answer
No, there's nothing like Oxford's or Cambridge's legal structure in the United States, where students and faculty are members of the University.
For historical interest, the first university -- University of Bologna - 1088 -- was a *universitas scholarium*, i.e. a "university of scholars (students)". It was a collective that had bargaining rights with the city and hired and paid their professors -- paying them *after* each lecture. (!)
> 1 votes
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Tags: university, administration
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thread-23478 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23478 | GRE exams for those seeking a Masters in Computer Science | 2014-06-16T21:48:42.923 | # Question
Title: GRE exams for those seeking a Masters in Computer Science
Since the Computer Science GRE exam was dropped, I have to take the normal GRE exam (*sighs*). I've looked at a few sample questions, and it's something I'm just not good at. I have a Bachelors in Computer Science with a 3.1 GPA (out of 4.0) I have two core questions:
1. How well do I have to do to get accepted into most decent universities for a Masters in Computer Science?
2. What is the best way to study and practice for GRE exams for a C.S. major?
**UPDATE (02/18/2015):**
I got my scores in for GRE. Verbal: 153, Quantitative: 160, Essays: 4.0. I'm not sure how *good* this is or not yet.
I studied for about 4 months. First 2 months it was little studying every week. The third month was studying every other everyday. The first 2 weeks of the 4th month studying everyday. The last 2 weeks were heavy studying.
# Answer
It's very good that you realize that the types of problems featured in the GRE are weaknesses for you. Now the challenge is how you deal with these weaknesses.
There are many GRE prep books and even software. There are teacher-guided courses. You should buy one or more and commit serious time over three months to prepare. Don't buy any that promise to give you "secrets to success" or "short cuts".
Most graduate schools publish the average GRE scores of their grad students. I think I found them in directories of grad schools, though some post them on their web sites, often under "FAQ" or "Prospective Students". If you are much below the average GRE, especially Math, then you should reconsider grad school or maybe apply to different schools.
But, most important, if you don't want to put the time and effort into improving your GRE, then it's probably a good sign that you aren't ready for grad school. If you want to get into a good grad school and do well there, you can't coast through without studying or working hard.
> 2 votes
# Answer
1. How well do you have to do on the GRE? That depends entirely on how much weight the admissions committee gives to GRE scores. Some universities may not really care. Others may use GRE's as part of the screening process. Universities have not adopted a universal policy as to how GRE scores should figure into admission decisions.
2. It doesn't matter if you are a CS major or any other major -- general principles of good study techniques for the GRE hold true for everybody. If you are an independent learning who is self-motivated and skilled at structuring your own study, then you can probably just get some good test prep books. If you need more structure, then you might benefit from paying for a course.
> 2 votes
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Tags: computer-science, gre
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thread-19382 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19382 | Does PNAS allow authors to request referees who have not co-authored with them but work at the same university? | 2014-04-15T18:36:43.687 | # Question
Title: Does PNAS allow authors to request referees who have not co-authored with them but work at the same university?
I'm looking to request an academic who works in an entirely different department and is an expert in the field, but he is in the same university and we have yet to co-author a paper together. Do you know if PNAS allows that? Is it too ethically ambiguous?
# Answer
> 5 votes
Though I have a letter published in PNAS, I don't know PNAS policy on recommending reviewers. I suggest the following:
* Recommend this professor/researcher, making clear that he/she is at your university *and* in a different department.
* Make clear that you've have not co-authored a paper together and have no other common interests (e.g. funding).
* Explicitly tell them that this is a potential conflict of interest in the reviewer role (bias in preference of the same university), and that you trust PNAS to make a judgment in this particular case.
* Make other recommendations for reviewers so that the PNAS editors have other choices if they aren't comfortable with the controversial recommendation.
The main principle in these cases is to be open, forthcoming, and transparent. Even if the PNAS editors do not take your recommendations, you shouldn't be hurt by making them.
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Tags: research-process, publications
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thread-19150 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19150 | Suggestions for a non-traditional interview? | 2014-04-10T03:49:31.053 | # Question
Title: Suggestions for a non-traditional interview?
I will have a post-doc interview in social sciences, warned to be a bit nontraditional in the sense that it will focus more on general logical capabilities and unique/creative thoughts instead of specific sets of skill or fit with a particular project. The reason is because this is a training grant I guess. Literally, they want to emphasize on "innovative" aspects of applicants, though I think that it's quite tempting and ambiguous.
So, I guess that I'd want to ask for questions you may have that can train the brain in this direction, some thing thought-intriguing like this:
* What is the most significant finding in your field in the last couple of years and how does that mean to your specific work?
Any comments are welcome :) Btw, if you happen to be in social sciences, how would you answer the above question?
# Answer
> 2 votes
Without more information, I would not assume that they will not ask you about your research, publications, and dissertation. Assume that they will. My impression is that they want to go beyond this "CV stuff".
I suggest that you should spend more time to understand the motivations of the organization sponsoring the post-doc and why this is funded as a training grant rather than as something else. Do they put special emphasis on making their research relevant to the real world (i.e. to policy makers, to the social groups being studied, to the general public)? Do they aim to develop social scientists that go into non-traditional careers or interdisciplinary work? What has this organization done in the past that they themselves call "innovative"? Do they aim to redefine the boundaries and methods of social science?
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Regarding how to prepare, there are plenty of books on creativity that have exercises that might stimulate this part of your brain. But I'd guess that spending time on these books won't provide a good payoff for you.
A better strategy would be to organize a debating group with some peers. They don't have to be at your university. You could do it on-line via Skype or Google Hangout. Arrange a meeting and specify an important+controversial topic in your field. Focus the debate on how this topic could be researched in a new and different way, such that breakthrough results might be achieved. For example:
* Could the problem be reframed, rescoped, or redefined?
* Could new methods be applied or existing methods be combined?
* What new methods/approaches have already been tried but have failed? Why?
* What methods or approaches from other disciplines might be adapted or applied to this topic?
* What if this topic was researched at a much larger scale? much smaller scale? Over a long time period? At a single moment in time but in great detail?
* How can research results become more compelling, rigorous, or widely applicable?
And so on.
Basically, your debating group will be exploring the space of possibilities just beyond what is being done today and assessing the prospects of improvement or innovation.
The value of doing this in a group rather than solo is that you will be engaging in the same modes of thinking and communication as the interview. You can and should challenge each other to clearly explain and justify your ideas, and to properly characterize them even if they are sketchy or "wacky".
You might find that this sort of preparation isn't for you. If so, then maybe you might have to admit to yourself that you aren't an "innovator". That's fine. There are many other good roles in social science that emphasize other traits and skills.
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Tags: postdocs, interview
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thread-18405 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18405 | How to find the most related publications for a batch? | 2014-03-21T22:04:42.063 | # Question
Title: How to find the most related publications for a batch?
On Google Scholar, I can explore the related articles or books individually - clicking on the "related articles" gives you the related articles for that specific publication.
How will I find the most related publications for a batch of articles/books?
# Answer
What you are asking for might be possible by writing your own program (e.g. in Python) to access the Google Scholar API. In fact it would make a good assignment for a Python programming / Text processing class. But unless you are a programmer with extra time on your hands, you shouldn't attempt it.
For what it's worth, I almost never use "related articles" feature of Google Scholar. The few times I did use it, there wasn't always such a close relationship, and it certainly didn't bring up the articles that *I* saw as most related.
I don't think there's any substitute for reading the papers, at least the important ones, to find the most salient related papers. I do this both through direct citations and also by finding key terms that I use for new Google Scholar searches.
> 3 votes
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Tags: literature-search
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thread-20554 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20554 | What guidelines exist for volume of evidence in an undergraduate business assignment? | 2014-05-09T09:33:07.390 | # Question
Title: What guidelines exist for volume of evidence in an undergraduate business assignment?
When teaching undergraduate students, I find freshmen students to be mostly unaware with the idea of including evidence to support the author's opinion. That is, they write something like:
> Leaders should be friendly and support those in lower positions in the organization. Being friendly makes others like you and that makes them work harder.
Where it should be more like:
> Goleman (2000) wrote about affiliative leadership in which the leader focuses on the emotional connection with the followers. In the ABC case, the leader is likely to be well served by using affiliative leadership due to the fact that workers who feel a strong emotional connection with their manager are known to push themselves harder in order to gain the approval of the manager (Jones, 2008). This implies that the leader should not only be affiliative but should also withhold compliments from the subordinates in order to maximize output.
I remember my teachers telling me the guidelines was 80/20. 80% of the writing should be from the student and 20% should be from external sources, which support the student's opinion.
Meanwhile, I have read quite a few papers from students where they basically have a citation for every sentence. This makes me wonder if they actually know much. After all, if 80% of the writing is from academic sources, it shows that the authors of *those* papers understand, not that the student understands. However, I also consider that the fact that the student knew which text to include should count for something.
Then I start thinking about plagiarism. If the student has simply quoted their way through a paper (with proper citations) then someone else could submit the same paper and it would not count as plagiarism because everything is cited.
Is there any generally accepted guideline on the percentage of writing in a student's written assignment which should be from the student and what percentage should be from other (hopefully academic) sources?
I realize that this might vary by field. My field is business management.
# Answer
Context: my Bachelors degree was in Management and Electrical Engineering (double major). Though it was several decades ago, I think I understand your field and setting. My current PhD field is Computational Social Science and it includes some Organization Science.
I agree with your general intuitions, and the 80/20 ratio seems reasonable but I would definitely not be presenting that as a rule or even as a guideline. Instead, I would say that the nature of the paper and the arguments should dictate the use of evidence and citations.
Papers that analyze foundational ideas might only have one or two citations -- the original seminal papers. But there might be so many ideas in those papers that the student should devote considerable space to examining them.
In contrast, papers that summarize or survey a sub-field will have a very high number of citations and quotes from the research literature. The students task is to present the survey as a cohesive whole (if it is one) and to show how the various lines of research tie together or diverge.
Rather than focus on citations, I think its better to focus students on the principles of argumentation -- with analogies to legal arguments and formal debates. Too often students will believe that their points are "obvious" and "common sense", or maybe "best practice", and thus requires no justification or support from evidence. Disabuse them of those notions through Socratic questioning: "How do you know that? Why do you believe that? How would you persuade someone who holds the opposite view?" and so on.
Once their argument has a structure, they can begin assembling evidence to support it and defend it from criticisms. That evidence might come from published research or other sources. But they shouldn't include any citations where they do not need support. They also need to consider the credibility and relevance of the evidence. No matter how authoritative a citation might be, it shouldn't be included if it is not highly relevant to the student's argument.
Here's a test that students can apply *after* they have written their paper, in a final edit pass:
* For each citation or piece of evidence, ask:
+ Would my argument be weakened if I removed this?
+ Can I replace this with stronger evidence?
* For each point in the argument or assertion, ask:
+ Is this adequately supported with evidence or citations from the literature?
+ Is the evidence and support both credible and relevant?
* Have I, as author, fulfilled *my role* in this paper, given the nature and goals of the assignment?
Hope this helps!
> 1 votes
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Tags: citations, writing, undergraduate
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thread-19237 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19237 | Help picking an appropriate citing style | 2014-04-11T21:33:32.620 | # Question
Title: Help picking an appropriate citing style
I wrote a paper about governance mechanisms at StackExchange in which I got a lot of informations out of questions (especially on meta). I have kept all my references.
My teacher is letting us pick which style we want to use for the paper as long as we apply it thoroughly. In my other courses, we use APA but if I start writing (StackExchange, 2014) everytime I use an info out of a question, my paper is going to be illegible. From what I've read, you're only supposed to cite things that you've paraphrased, ideas, not necessarily information that you've found or researched but I do want to give credit where it belongs and I would also like if my teacher would be able to retrace where I've found things but APA doesn't seem to include such a thing as a bibliography.
I would like to:
* have a bibliography at the end containing the documents I've consulted for my research
* be able to have my citations as footnotes
Which style should I go for in this case?
# Answer
> 3 votes
Though I'm not a fan of it in general, in your case the IEEE style could work very well. In the body of the paper, references are numbered in square brackets, like this: \[1\] and \[2,3\]. In the bibliography, you'd just have one entry per web page, with the URL. If you use LaTex, it's easy to make these all active hyper links, so that your professor can click on the "\[1\]" to go to the bibliography entry, and then click on the URL to go to the StackExchange web page. It's also possible to make the references hyperlinked in MS Word, but it might take some manual formatting steps to link each reference to each bibliography entry.
# Answer
> 1 votes
One citation style that may be appropriate could be The Chicago Manual of Style which has two documentation systems:
1. notes and bibliography and;
2. author-date
The notes and bibliography system which should suit as per your question is described on the website as such;
> The notes and bibliography style is preferred by many in the humanities, including those in literature, history, and the arts. This style presents bibliographic information in notes and, often, a bibliography. It accommodates a variety of sources, including esoteric ones less appropriate to the author-date system.
As a History student this is the style that I am using for my masters thesis.
The style uses the following example for a website as per your question.
> **Website**
>
> A citation to website content can often be limited to a mention in the text or in a note (“As of July 19, 2008, the McDonald’s Corporation listed on its website . . .”). If a more formal citation is desired, it may be styled as in the examples below. Because such content is subject to change, include an access date or, if available, a date that the site was last modified.
>
> 1. “Google Privacy Policy,” last modified March 11, 2009, http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacypolicy.html.
> 2. “McDonald’s Happy Meal Toy Safety Facts,” McDonald’s Corporation, accessed July 19, 2008, http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/about/factsheets.html.
> 3. “Google Privacy Policy.”
> 4. “Toy Safety Facts.”
>
> Google. “Google Privacy Policy.” Last modified March 11, 2009. http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacypolicy.html. McDonald’s Corporation.
>
> “McDonald’s Happy Meal Toy Safety Facts.” Accessed July 19, 2008. http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/about/factsheets.html.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I suggest APA. It does have citation styles and there are many wonderful automatic generators out there that are up to date and will create the bibliography for you by merely data scraping website URLs and by entering the ISBN# of whatever book you may have used.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ has a great article
http://www.bibme.org/ is a wonderful generator site I've used numerous times.
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Tags: citations, writing, citation-style
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thread-10857 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10857 | How to find the best journals or articles to read | 2013-06-30T13:29:46.517 | # Question
Title: How to find the best journals or articles to read
When someone is just starting out, they can be overwhelmed with the number of journal articles published each month. Reading everything published seems impossible due to time constraints.
After someone has enough experience, they naturally watch for articles which are impressive, see where these are published and where the articles it cites are published but when someone is just starting out, it's not clear where to begin.
How does one go about identifying the best journals to keep up on when they have no experience reading any particular journal?
# Answer
This depends on your field. In mathematics, physics, and a few related areas there is arXiv.org. From which you get rss feeds or e-mail announcements for individual research areas. This is particularly helpful because there are a huge amount a journals in mathematics and physics and you could never keep up with all of them.
The added benefit is that most of what you run across on arXiv hasn't made it to a journal yet so it is relatively new and free. Then after you find useful and interesting articles you can keep track of them and find out where they were eventually published.
Another set of tools that can be useful is a good indexing service that lets you trace backwards and forwards the references from a paper that you know is important. This lets you see not only what the important paper references but also who has referenced it and where they did so.
Because of the fact that my research field does not yet have a single journal dedicated to my field these are the tools that I use most to find new literature and see what is going on. Of course if you are still looking around for a research field to get into there are the big general topic journals in each area which are a good place to start if you want a big picture.
> 9 votes
# Answer
**Ask your peers and mentors**. There are plenty of low quality journals, and you would not benefit from reading from those journals especially when you are just entering the field. I currently subscribe to the table of contents of 4~6 top journals in my field via RSS or email. It took me years to identify and settle in this list. I got to appreciate those journals for their high impact in the community. Before I entered grad school, I often read random articles with cool titles that I would find via search engines, but they were not too helpful in the long run.
Also, reading one article carefully is often more valuable than skimming through five articles. You may feel that you are falling behind since there is a constant stream of "exciting" articles, but in the grand scheme of things, only a few will survive the sand of time. Alternatively to reading journals, another good way of keeping up with exciting research frontend is to go to academic conferences and talks (in person or virtually via e.g., videolectures.net).
> 8 votes
# Answer
I agree with Memming's excellent answer that you should leverage the informed opinions of your mentors and peers to decide what articles are of interest.
I would advise you to **attend talks/presentations at conferences or at your university.**
1. Attending a talk requires a relatively small time investment (20 minutes to an hour), so you get a quick overview of a research project without having to spend hours reading the article. If the speaker is any good, you should have gotten the main points from his/her talk.
2. During a talk, other researchers like to ask questions or even in some cases argue with the presenter. By hearing the types of questions that people raise in public, and talking to people in private to see how they assess other people's work, you understand better how other people perceive the research project.
Although each person has his/her own opinion about a research project, nevertheless, people in a particular scientific community tend to have opinions that fall within a particular spectrum. By interacting with people and asking them what they think of a particular project, you will learn how to calibrate your opinions with the opinions of other researchers in your field.
> 4 votes
# Answer
As has been mentioned in comments to other answers, one has to slog through things. A similar process is accumulating a list of restaurants (food vendors, grocery stores) from which you prefer to get food. You can stay within a comfort zone of, say, Mexican and Thai restaurants to make sure you always get something satisfying, but then you miss out on the possible delights found in fusion restaurants.
You can go by reviews of experienced critics, but their notion of best may not be yours. The only sense in which time is "wasted" is through your own judgment. Even if you get a bad experience from reading a particular article, you need such feedback in order to develop your sense of what is best. It is not always rewarding to copy other's idea of best and hope it works for you.
There are strategies for forming a list to try, but you still have to test the list. In particular, if you know a good starting point, search by author, subject, or title to find similar articles. If you know a bad starting point, do the same kind of search, but ignore (filter out) the corresponding author or subject or title.
For a list of potential starting points, check out articles that have received awards for exposition. They can be a guide to quality. In mathematics, two such prizes are the Steele and Polya prizes; search to see what is available in your field.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Although there are brilliant and highly respectable journals and articles in basically every field of study, I think the concept of "best articles to read" is not well defined. There are, in my opinion, three important questions to answer.
**Who** is reading the article. This refers both to your *position* (a MSc student, a PhD student, a senior researcher) and your current *role*, or *task* (to prepare an overview, to write down a solid intro for your own paper, to fill the Bibliography section in your theses, to serve as a referee, to discover new breakthrough ideas). In my opinion, one can rarely read articles just "for their own fun", unless they are at a very senior level.
Answer to the first question will help you to narrow down the search space. For example, new ideas -\> arXiv, classical results -\> textbooks, etc.
**What** are you going to get from the article. "To understand it all" is probably too generic answer, and in my experience, very rarely it is really necessary to get *all* details from the paper. Do you want to understand the role of this paper in a big study? (maybe it is sufficient to read through Intro and Conclusion). Do you want to understand if their method / approach is better than yours? (maybe you should focus on Discussion or Comparison sections).
Answer to this question can dramatically reduce the time spent on each paper, and ultimately increase the number of papers you can explore.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Great answers so far. I'll suggest another approach similar to "snowball sampling" in social science.
Basically, you let really good/important articles (and journals) lead you to other really good/important articles (and journals).
Start with a few articles that stand out to you (or your adviser or mentor). They might be survey articles that assess the state of research and future directions, or they might be seminal articles that spawned new lines of research.
Then look at the editorial policies and editorial boards for the journals that published these papers. Are there any patterns that seem to tie these particular journals to these particular articles?
Now look at the articles that are cited in these initial papers, especially those that are described as "seminal" or "pioneering", etc. Repeat the process of looking at the journal editorial policies and editorial boards for these articles.
Also, using Google Scholar, look at the articles that cite your original set. Which journals seemed to publish the most follow-up articles, and promote debate or contrary research? Were there Special Issues of journals devote to the ideas or methods in the original set?
Rinse and repeat :-).
Through this procedure, you will usually settle on a set of 2 to 5 journals in a field (or sub-field) that are considered "important" for the type of research you are most interested in.
The advantage of this method is that you will home in on the journals that are important for *your* interests and focus, not just what everyone else (worldwide) might think is important.
> 2 votes
# Answer
I find Google Scholar (GS) extremely useful for me. For example, if I start to learn "*model checking*", GS will show me this result, which shows a paper of KL McMillan with 4633 citations, and a book of EM Clark with 9438 citations. They are the first people I need to follow.
I then go to the homepages of the authors, to check which papers they published in which conference in the recent years? big names work on the main stream, and publish papers in top conferences.
Mircrosoft Academic Search (MAS) is also useful. For example, as model checking is a subfield of software engineering, I check the conference ranking in MAS, which tells me the top are ICSE, ITC, CAV... This confirms my guess, as both EM Clark and KL McMillan published \> 20 papers in CAV. So this conference is first in the list I need to follow.
Google Scholar also recommends papers for you based on your published papers.
> 1 votes
# Answer
The first thing is to identify the keywords/topics you are interested in. Then "google scholar" or "web of science" them. Find the top cited articles and identify which journals these articles were from. The other way to identify the top journals is checking the impact factors of these journals. Then find journals with higher impact factors. Go through the journals to identify the articles/topics you are interested in.
> 1 votes
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Tags: journals
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thread-23556 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23556 | Should I repeat experiment affected by external factors until achieving consistent result | 2014-06-17T23:02:59.333 | # Question
Title: Should I repeat experiment affected by external factors until achieving consistent result
I am doing an experiment assumed to be performed in ideal environment although it is not, e.g. resource is fully allocated from a resource pool shared between different organisations. As my experiment is affected by external factors (e.g. a shared pool may not fully allocate all requested resource) the result sometime is different from what I expect. However, since my model is proven to work in an ideal environment, I am sure that if I keep repeating the experiment, I will get a result which is consistent with my calculation, e.g. when a shared pool have enough resource to allocate to my request.
Notably, when I run an experiment, I do it few times to get the average result. Moreover, I'm aware that an environment is not ideal and planning to address it in my future research.
So, is it acceptable to keep repeating the experiment until I get the (average) result which is consistent with my calculation? Furthermore, should I mention in my paper how many times I perform my experiment to get the presented result or just mention briefly about the imperfect environment and a plan to handle it in future research?
**Update:** my research aims to use shared or volunteer resources to perform computation. It is in the early state when I calculate the required resource for a job prior to its execution. In other words, during an execution, I assume that there are enough resources for me, which doesn't always happen. As I said, I'm planning to investigate dynamic calculation in the future.
# Answer
When you run an experiment that is expected to have some variability (because it is not in a perfectly controlled environment) then you *must* run it a large number of times. Not "until you get the results that are consistent with what you expect" but "until you get results that are reasonably consistent *with one another*."
Then, when you describe the results, you must say something about how they were distributed (not just give the average). For example:
* "The average execution time of Protocol A was 4.72 ms, with a variance of 0.4 ms. The average execution time of Protocol B was 5.78 ms, with a variance of 0.3 ms."
* "The measured results were clustered in two groups, with 75% of runs falling between 1.3-1.9 ms and 25% of runs falling between 10.5-13.3 ms. We speculate that this is because of X, but we cannot measure or correct for X at this stage."
You get the idea. The point is that you present not just a single numerical value, but also some measure of how consistent the values were.
And yes, you must describe how many times you ran the experiment, whatever you know about the conditions under which the experiments ran, and how you calculated the summary statistics.
> 8 votes
# Answer
No, you shouldn't do the experiment until you get the desired result. This is poor science and borderline unethical. (I'm sure you had no ill intent and that you are trying to deal with real-world complications.)
An experiment is flawed if it is run *n* times but only the results from *n* \- 1 are used and reported. (Or anything less than *n*). See Peter Norvig's page under the section "Warning Sign I2: Ignoring Publication Bias".
Beyond this, I believe that your experimental design is flawed. You shouldn't run an experiment assuming an ideal environment when in fact the experimental environment is not ideal. Only in theoretical models do you have the liberty to idealize your environment. In laboratory experiments, you control the environment so you can idealize as much as possible. What you have is an experiment with confounding factors, which is not uncommon in real-world settings.
The best thing to do is to estimate the effects of the confounding factors through analysis of a theoretical model or a simulation. In your case, which sounds like a queuing theory problem, a statistical simulation should be relatively easy.
With this estimate, you should be able to restate your hypotheses, essentially reducing the expected effects by the "loss" associated with "the shared pool not fully allocating resources when requested".
> 8 votes
# Answer
As I understood, you are developing a parallel algorithm (or a computation strategy) that is supposed to work on a highly non-uniform computing environment (both in time and "space" of a CPU network). At a current stage of research, you are not yet ready to address the non-uniformness, and have to make a (significant) assumption that your computational network is in fact homogeneous.
What I would suggest - **do not repeat** the experiment many time, until the (non-uniform by nature) network will suddenly become homogeneous. It would not.
Instead, you could go do the computations on a proper parallel (cluster) station available in your Uni or through a shared subscription. Make sure that during the computations all used CPU's are fully allocated to your problem only, i.e. your (significant) assumption holds.
Do the experiment **once**, report your assumptions and results clearly, explain which adjustments for the algorithms are required to put it on a heterogeneous CPU network. Hopefully this would suffice.
> 0 votes
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Tags: research-process, experiment-design
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thread-23596 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23596 | Suggesting an alternative to referee/reviewer recommendation | 2014-06-18T10:26:22.867 | # Question
Title: Suggesting an alternative to referee/reviewer recommendation
The editor asks for substantial revisions, and sent me two reviews. One of the referees says that I should address issue X by means of approaches A and B.
In my revision, I plan to take on board this comment, but I think that approach C is a better way to address issue X. Therefore, I’ll do C instead of A and B.
In my reply to the referee, I will explain why I did C and why I think that approach C is better than A and B, and at the same time I want to add a sentence like this one:
“I am open to the possibility that the referee might still prefer approaches A and B. If that is the case, I will switch to these approaches in the eventuality of a further revision, should the referee request it.”
Is this correct? What is normally done in these situations?
# Answer
> 11 votes
> In my reply to the referee, I will explain why I did C and why I think that approach C is better than A and B
This is essentially all you need to do. You don't need to follow reviewers' recommendations slavishly, but if you do decide to deviate from their recommendations, you should explain why. Which you plan on doing. In the end, it comes down to the editor's decision, so you should always strive to make his life easy, by explaining what you do and why.
> "I am open to the possibility that the referee might still prefer approaches A and B. If that is the case, I will switch to these approaches in the eventuality of a further revision, should the referee request it."
This adds a nice touch, without appearing subservient. I'll keep this in mind for the next time *I* decide not to follow a reviewer's recommendations ;-)
Bottom line: I'd say you are doing exactly the right thing.
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EDIT: Bonus points if you can and do write something along these lines in your response to the reviewer:
> "In addition to C, which is described in the manuscript, I also did A and B, as suggested by the reviewer. The results, as measured by Y, are similar/inferior/whatever to the results of doing C, in the following way:..."
And I do see the point raised by @xLeitix in his comment. The "open to the possibility" should not come across as "I'll use an inferior approach just to get published", but rather as "if opinions about A/B vs. C can differ reasonably, I am open to..."
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Tags: publications, peer-review
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thread-23573 | https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23573 | How to write a letter to an editor for pointing out needed corrections in my submitted journal manuscript | 2014-06-18T04:26:59.803 | # Question
Title: How to write a letter to an editor for pointing out needed corrections in my submitted journal manuscript
Few days back I communicated a paper in a journal and some silly mistakes are there. While citing some other author's paper in my paper, instead of reference number it is showing a sign of question mark. I know that's a mistake while running the LaTeX code. I didn't check in hurry. Shall I inform the editor about my mistake? If yes, then how should I write a letter to convey this?
# Answer
Yes, you should inform the editor. Simply resend the corrected paper, and explain the error. There is no need to write an extensive letter or to make a grand apology. Something like this in an email will do fine:
"Dear Editor,
I am sending you a corrected copy of the paper titled '...', submitted on XX. There were errors on pages A, B, and C in the citations. They appeared as "?" instead of the correct citation, due to incorrect processing in LaTex. This version has the correct citation and I have proof read it for other errors.
Best regards,
Monalisa"
Also - give the file a different name than the original and a different time stamp so there is no confusion between the corrected version and the original.
> 17 votes
# Answer
In mathematics (and I suspect in many other areas), the paper review process usually goes like this:
1. Submit your original paper.
2. The referee's report comes back some time later, suggesting some changes
3. You make some changes and resubmit an updated version
4. items 2 and 3 repeat until the referee is satisfied
5. Now is the time to put the paper into the format required by the journal (e.g. using the journal's style file). Also make any final changes required by the referee
6. The journal will prepare the paper and send you page proofs showing the exact final version of the paper
7. You verify the page proofs (usually there is a short deadline to do this)
As you can see, there are several opportunities in the process when you can fix small typographical problems in the paper. And I have found typographical issues in almost every paper I have refereed, so it is expected that you will need to fix some.
One "trick" is not to put the paper into the style required by the journal (e.g. the journal's special LaTeX style) until the final revision. This guarantees that you have at least one shot to fix any typos, even if the referee miraculously does not recommend any changes.
Note that *significant* changes are something else entirely, and you should avoid them if possible once the paper is submitted. This includes things like rewriting the proof of a theorem or adding new results. But fixing a misspelled word or replacing a "??" with a citation number are fine.
> 2 votes
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Tags: publications, journals, etiquette, paper-submission
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