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thread-8506
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8506
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What are the benefits and drawbacks of a professor being interdisciplinary when they seek tenure?
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2013-03-10T19:23:34.883
|
# Question
Title: What are the benefits and drawbacks of a professor being interdisciplinary when they seek tenure?
Possible benefits: More grant money through other departments
Possible drawbacks: A significant fraction of their research might not be seen as research that benefits the department's standing in the area.
But what about others?
# Answer
> 8 votes
If you've been doing interdisciplinary research for five years, and now approach the tenure process without a clear idea of how to sell your case, consider it failed, and start looking for a job elsewhere, before you are under an immense pressure of finding a good job in a one-year grace period after the end of the world as you know it.
If you were hired specifically for interdisciplinary research, and your offer letter stated that, and your time was split "50% + 1 hour in computer science + 25% in department of Roman languages + 25% in agriculture", with a clear explanation as to how you are to be evaluated by each of the parties involved, then these explanations should have served as the guidelines to build your research program. If you were hired to do the theory of parallel computing, but later decided that it would be cool to do some extra work in Roman languages because you liked their research questions, and thought you could contribute with your data mining algorithms that would uncover nuances of how Latin and French are interconnected (and you did, by their standards); and you proposed some GIS tools for horticulturalists to use that have become the industry standard software -- that's all fun and fine, but if you did not discuss that with your CS chair, this was likely a waste of time, as in terms of parallel computing, this time was as good as playing squash. Your annual reviews in the main department should have indicated so, if your department would ever care to guide you (not all departments do, though).
Spending time in another discipline is very fruitful for finding interesting research problems (as typically most disciplines don't talk to one another, and there's a wealth of problems to be solved using other disciplines' tools), but it also means that you have had less time to spend in your home discipline, which nearly inevitably means a weaker CV: fewer grants, fewer publications, lower quality research. (That's essentially Suresh's last point).
# Answer
> 5 votes
I don't think either of the points mentioned above are relevant. If there's the potential for more grant money there should be evidence of it by tenure time. As for "benefit to the department" the real question is how good the work is, and if it's recognized in the larger communities.
From the tenure-seeker's perspective, one potential benefit is a much larger pool of letter writers. A downside is the "jack of all trades" problem, where each community can only comment on a portion of the work, and the work itself is not perceived as excellent in any individual community.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Interdisciplinarity can help or hurt, depending on how your work is perceived by the experts in each of the two (or more) fields. If you are seen by the experts in field A as doing excellent work in A, and if you're also seen by the experts in field B as doing excellent work in B, then this situation improves your chances for tenure. If, on the other hand, the experts in field A say something like "not so great in A, but it's impressive that (s)he also does B," while the experts in field B say something like "not so great in B, but it's impressive that (s)he also does A," then you're in trouble --- the people evaluating you for tenure will see "not so great" and ignore "impressive". So, if you can do excellent work in both areas, do so, but if you can't, then it's better to do excellent work in one field than mediocre work in two.
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Tags: professorship
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thread-23598
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23598
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Grant from private company - conflict of interest
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2014-06-18T10:38:45.687
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# Question
Title: Grant from private company - conflict of interest
If a private company provides a grant for some research to be carried out but is hoping for a particular outcome from the research in order to take certain business decisions, should this be described as a conflict of interest?
# Answer
> 15 votes
I don't see this as a conflict of interest, but the issue itself is deserving of careful attention from both a contracts perspective and a scientific perspective. I would advise against any such funding source that puts restrictions on the publication of findings. In particular, you state that the business is "hoping for a particular outcome." Are you still allowed to publish results that are contrary to their expectations -- or, does the contract specifically state they have authority over what can and cannot be published. You will want your grants management officers to carefully scrutinize the contract.
Science is really about answering questions through an open, replicable and systematic process. It is not about providing evidence for an expected outcome. I think this type of funding will be more problematic than helpful for a scientific career.
# Answer
> 9 votes
A company exists to make money. They fund a research in the hope that the outcome will be beneficial for them (as a student works on a project in the hope that there will be good results out of it). There is nothing intrinsically bad there.
The problem may be with the rest of the conditions. But it will be perfectly fine if: (a) They guarantee you are free to publish whatever you consider and (b) they don't force you to get "good results".
# Answer
> 6 votes
Yes, it is a clear conflict of interests:
> a situation occurring when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation.
It does not disqualify your research (as long you make it with full scrutiny, etc; see other answers), but for the sake of scientific honesty you need to mention it (as it can *possibly* alter your motivation, e.g. to get further grants from the same company or to condition probability of publishing on the outcome).
I saw such notes, e.g. that a given scientist works for a particular drug company.
# Answer
> 1 votes
The company should not impact your choice of research methodology, interpretation of results and the dissemination avenues. If the funding agreement is clear on that, then the "hopes" of a company are isolated from the research stream, and I do not see any evident conflict of interest.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Yours and their interests do conflict but this is not how we usually use the work "conflict of interest." Say if your company actually makes cat food, and then you later got recruited as a consultant on setting up a safe cat food policy, your decisions made in the policy task force can be potentially affected by your financial involvement with the company. In that case, you will need to declare to the policy task force that you have a conflict of interest. In most cases, conflict of interest requires more than two parties, or one of the parties having two or more roles.
In your case it sounds more like a threatening to academic freedom and scientific integrity. Some preventive measures should be done now before things turn ugly. Here are some things that I have been doing in various projects, you may consider following any of them.
1. Set up a "statement of understanding." It's a binding contract describing who should have the interpretive rights to the data, and how to safeguard everyone's interest. There isn't a template for that, you'll need to lay out items you cannot risk to lose (e.g. your reputation, your institute's reputation, etc.) and contrast with the company's intentions. Talk to your institute's PR or legal representatives for a consultation.
2. Highlight your value as the neutral middle man. In that sense, express to them firmly that you would like to explore the quality of the product without any prejudice. And explain to them that if their product is substandard, it's better to know now than later when found out by consumer interest group.
3. Agree upon ALL the protocols, big or small, prior to any analysis. The turmoil I got into mostly about reanalyzing data. Some people just don't give up... and if you look at the same thing for enough iterations, good findings can come out just due to chance. Follow the protocols strictly, and meet to agree again on any modification.
4. Keep all documents, e-mails, lab books, etc. and keep copies of them.
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Tags: research-process, paper-submission, conflict-of-interest
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thread-23616
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23616
|
Should I put job talks on my vita for positions I didn't get?
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2014-06-18T14:30:44.860
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# Question
Title: Should I put job talks on my vita for positions I didn't get?
I have been on the social science academic market for a couple years, and I have been invited to interview and put together presentations ("job talks). I thought in both cases, the presentations were interesting and thought provoking and I wonder if i should include them in my vita.I have an "invited lecture" section already, so my thought is just to add them, but is that unorthodox? I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
# Answer
Edit: From the perspective of applied social sciences (e.g., social welfare / social work)
No, a job talk is not the same thing as what is considered an invited presentation and should NOT be added to your CV. An invited presentation is connotes something much different -- that is, something that is akin to a keynote or a presentation at a formal conference / meeting. Keep your CV clean and don't reach for things that don't belong. I see lots of recently minted PhD's trying to work things into their CV to make it appear weightier than it really is. Don't water down your CV with activities or products that don't belong.
> 3 votes
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Tags: job, job-search, cv
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thread-10253
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10253
|
mailing list for local conferences
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2013-05-27T09:22:07.327
|
# Question
Title: mailing list for local conferences
Often I learn about conferences, even in my own country, when it is too late to submit papers. Is there a mailing list, or another way to get information about conferences in a specific location and domain?
EDIT: I am mainly interested in computer science and game theory.
# Answer
You can use http://www.conferencealerts.com/ to locate academic conferences in your desired country. These listings are sorted by a **topic or country** which you can select on the first page. Once chosen you will get a list of the various conferences **organized by month**. Moreover, you have the option of subscribing and thus receiving **email announcements** about those events.
> 4 votes
# Answer
There is a wiki devoted to call for papers (http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/).
Googling can help you find earlier editions of conferences and so forth. Make a list of the ones relevant for you and when they occur – each edition of a conference will occur at the same time of year. Keep this list on your wall, perhaps sorted by month of conference (or better, month of deadline). Google will help find the current edition.
> 7 votes
# Answer
You can also try www.tjdb.org/CFP
it will provide all upcoming events(journals, conference, seminars, workshop, sessions). subscribe to its rss feed with particular keyword. and you can also post new academic events.
> 1 votes
# Answer
I find it helpful to keep a spreadsheet of all the relevant conferences, with columns for the next submission deadline, conference URL, organisation, and organisation URL.
When I find out about a conference too late to submit, I still add it to my spreadsheet. I try to find out if the conference is annual, every two years, or what. I put down a rough guess for the next submission deadline based on the current deadline. That way I'm prepared for the following year.
Also, when I read a paper in my field, I always note where it was published (because the journal or conference might be suitable for my own work). If it's a conference, I add it to my spreadsheet with as much info as I can find.
This is in addition to looking for appropriate mailing lists, as the other answers have covered.
> 1 votes
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Tags: conference
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thread-23627
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23627
|
Can I do research at the university without acceptance to the university
|
2014-06-18T17:00:15.707
|
# Question
Title: Can I do research at the university without acceptance to the university
Is it possible to do research at the university without acceptance to the university? What I mean that if I have free time and desire to help with projects, can I join some reseach group.
The question is not a legal stuff (I suppose that's legal :) ), but what are the chances that some university lab accept me?
I do not want to search for work position as little afraid about strict timelines. At the end I hope to get few articles that will help me to get to grad school and nice spent time.
Desired field is robotics.
Thanks for ideas and opinions.
# Answer
I believe that this is usually up to the faculty member that is running the research project. A couple of my friends in grad school contributed to our research group prior to their actual grad-school application, so that the faculty would know them better when the application came around.
(My area of research is compilers, different specialty, but still in the Computer Science/Computer Engineering department.)
When/if you do contact faculty members, try to have some concrete ideas and thoughts (and mention that you are looking for experience only for future grad-school applications, not a paid position.) Professors get bombarded with emails about grad students wanting TA/grader/RA positions every day, so you won't get a second thought if you send something generic. If you're very new to robotics, then instead of a concrete research topic, you could say something concrete about your experience and send your resume.
Contributing to a project, especially if it leads to a paper (but even if it doesn't) will definitely improve your grad-school application. It's a good strategy!
> 8 votes
# Answer
It's not necessarily a problem that you're not enrolled in the university - it's possible for researchers to hire non-students in many cases.
However, it would be difficult to get someone to take you on when you don't want to make any commitment (e.g. get an official job). From their point of view: why should they invest time and effort training you and working with you, when you have no formal connection to them and can disappear at any time?
It may also be legally problematic (depending on the country) for them to allow you to work for free, when it's not part of an educational program for your benefit (like a formal internship program for students, or thesis research).
> 3 votes
# Answer
One way to effect this is to enroll as a "special student" taking one or two courses.
That way, you have not been "accepted" by the university for a degree. But it may allow you to "qualify" for an internship by being a student. Also, if you attend classes for even one or two courses, it makes it easier to make connections.
> 2 votes
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Tags: research-process
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thread-23641
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23641
|
What is the minimum time one should spend in a post-doc?
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2014-06-18T21:08:10.050
|
# Question
Title: What is the minimum time one should spend in a post-doc?
Suppose one has been hired for a three-year postdoc. Three years give sufficient opportunity to get some work done, without moving to a new country every year. Possibly, an opportunity might arise to move to something permanent before the three years are finished (either in academia, or in industry, or in government research labs, or somewhere on the edge of those). However, the postdoc supervisor, who has invested time and money in a postdoc in order to get a project done, might be disappointed if the postdoc leaves a job unfinished.
On one extreme, I know someone who has been a postdoc at the current place for 5½ years, *and they were a postdoc somewhere else before that*. I suppose spending 8 years in postdocs does not help when applying for permanent positions. On the other hand, I know someone who has been a postdoc for only seven months or so, and is already applying for a primarily teaching position at a somewhat lesser known university, possibly a position where major post-PhD results are not essential.
What is the minimum one should spend in a postdoc, before even starting to *consider* applying for possibly permanent positions? I mean this question broadly; an answer may either be expressed in time (*one year*) or in results (*one major and one minor first-author paper*). Of course, without any significant results, finding a faculty position at a major place will be hard if not impossible. But the question here is related to the *moral obligation* to complete some of the task one has been hired to do.
# Answer
> 11 votes
Postdocs are cheap labor. Furthermore, unlike grad students, they show up already fully trained and ready to do productive work. This is all a wonderful deal for the lab that the postdoc is working for.
If a postdoc is applies for a job after 7 months, they will probably still have been in the postdoc position for about a year before they actually leave. This is perfectly reasonable. Tenure-track jobs are so scarce and hard to get that any reasonable supervisor's reaction in this situation should be, "Wow, that's wonderful that you lined up a tenure-track job so quickly!"
In any case, this will presumably come up when the postdoc asks the supervisor for a recommendation for the job. If there needs to be a discussion of how long is long enough, the discussion will happen then.
> Three years give sufficient opportunity to get some work done, without moving to a new country every year.
My perception is that 2 years in a single postdoc used to be standard. It may now be common to do 2 or more postdocs, each of 3 years or more, but that's an expression of market conditions, not of any moral obligation that the postdoc owes to the supervisor.
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Tags: career-path, postdocs
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thread-23639
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23639
|
Is it ethical to approach a professor asking for a (unadvertised) postdoc position?
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2014-06-18T20:15:16.590
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# Question
Title: Is it ethical to approach a professor asking for a (unadvertised) postdoc position?
Some postdoc positions are formally advertised. Arguably, even more exist on a "gray market" - they are not advertised, and a person seeking a postdoc is supposed to contact a professor directly.
One ethical concern that I see here is that in some situations even when the agreement between the professor and prospective candidate is made, the position still has to be advertised (e.g. this may be a legal obligation in some countries). The advertisement will attract a number of applications, none of which has a chance to succeed, since the deal about this position has already been made behind the curtains.
My second concern is a bit harder to formalise. Is it true that when a candidate approaches a professor with a request like this, some serious ethical restrictions arise? Is it more difficult to turn the offer down, if you were the one asking for it? Is it more difficult to terminate the postdoc contract earlier than expected (and move to permanent position, for example), if you were the one asking for it?
Should I keep trying to apply only for a officially advertised positions, or should I give up and approach senior professors directly?
# Answer
> 11 votes
I have no special experience in applying for or managing postdocs, but this is just my take on the ethics.
As regards your first question, I would say it is the professor who is being unethical if he arranges backdoor deals for postdocs, while still openly soliciting applications which he has no intention of considering. I don't see anything unethical about approaching a faculty member to ask if they have or will have postdoc positions available. If they don't want to give you special treatment, they can easily and fairly say something like, "Yes, we will be accepting applications in November, I'll forward you the job ad when it's ready." If they tell you you are a lock and then mislead other applicants, that is their issue, not yours. As an applicant, I can't see that you can be held ethically responsible for how other applicants are (or aren't) considered, since you have no real control over that process.
As for your second question, I think those issues shade from an ethical level down to the level of personal courtesy. My impression is that everyone applying for every job tells the offerer that they are really interested in it, even if privately they view it as only a backup option. I agree this is somewhat distasteful in that it's not totally honest and straightforward, but I don't see any way around it and I think everyone expects it. Unless you were down on your knees begging for the postdoc, I don't think people would consider it a real ethical breach for you to reject it.
Plus, it's easy to avoid getting in too deep by making your inquiry diplomatically: instead of saying "Hey I really really want to do a postdoc with you have you got one?" you can say "I'm looking into postdoc opportunities and your work looks very interesting, will there be any postdoc opportunities in your department/lab soon?" By mentioning opportunities, plural, you make it clear that this is only one of many options you're exploring, and you can avoid appearing to make a commitment at an early stage. There may come a later stage where they ask you for a handshake agreement that you will accept the offer when it is officially made, and if you reject it after such a handshake, that could be considered unethical, but at the early stage you're describing I don't think it would be an issue.
In the end, I think the questions about rejecting the offer or leaving the position early come down to personal and professional courtesy and the desire to maintain good relationships with these people. As a nonacademic analogy, imagine you call up your friend and say, "Do you want to go to the movies?" and he says "Yes" and then you say "Okay, you can go by yourself, I don't actually want to go, I was just asking." You may not be cited by any ethics board for that, but you will be perceived as a jerk. Likewise, if you string people along making them think you want a postdoc offer, and then cavalierly drop it, even if it's not an actionable ethical breach, you may gain a reputation as a sneaky and underhanded negotiator, which will not help your professional career.
# Answer
> 29 votes
I think you are making a *much* bigger deal out of this than what it is. Ultimately, you seem to assume that this is something shady that should be avoided, as indicated by your word choices ("gray market", "should I give up and approach senior guys directly"). **This is not the case.** It is not more honorable to score a publicly announced job than to get one that has been offered to you personally and without lengthy official search.
Hence, the ethical implications over other postdocs are minimal to non-existant.
> One ethical concern that I see here is that in some situations even when the agreement between the professor and prospective candidate is made, the position still has to be advertised (e.g. this may be a legal obligation in some countries). The advertisement will attract a number of applications, none of which has a chance to succeed, since the deal about this position has already been bade behind the curtains.
This may or may not be true, but it is certainly not *your* ethical issue. This is a problem that the professor has to deal with.
> Is it true that when a candidate approaches a professor with a request like this, some serious ethical restrictions arise? Is it more difficult to turn the offer down, if you was the one who was asking for it?
I don't see why this would be the case. A postdoc is a postdoc is a postdoc. You do not bind your soul to this professor for eternity because he has offered you a job directly. Generally, turning down offers may cause some -unwarranted- hard feelings (everybody involved is just a human, after all), but the same is also true for any other job search.
> Is it more difficult to terminate the postdoc contract earlier than expected (and move to permanent position, for example).
No professor *should* fault you for terminating a postdoc early to move on to a faculty position. Of course some will, but, again, this has little to do with how you got the job in the first place.
**So if you have a network: go ahead and use it!**
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Tags: ethics, job-search, postdocs, tenure-track
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thread-23621
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23621
|
How do I encourage learning to an underprivileged group
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2014-06-18T15:16:48.163
|
# Question
Title: How do I encourage learning to an underprivileged group
Some faculty members are required to perform service to the community. Providing free education that improve societal value is one of the many ways to deliver the service. However, we recently are faced with a difficult situation in this channel, and I hope faculty here who had experience in teaching outside the school or social science researchers working in underprivileged groups will be able to point us to the right direction.
We are a small group of software developers and teachers who give free computer lessons to pretty much anyone who is interested. So far we have taught 32 students and they are all working as programmers in various places. However the dropout rate has been 8 to 1 so far. But lately the big problem is finding new students.
We don't charge money, there are no contracts to sign and we even provide required software and books free of charge. Sometimes we even supply the computers. The classes are online last about a hour a day. Still, even with sharing success stories and having former students themselves talk to new students, we are finding it hard to find new students who would be interested in taking the classes. I personally know people who would rather complain about the unfairness of life than take a job working as a paid intern somewhere.
My question is: What can we do to make free learning more appealing to people who are not in a school environment?
# Answer
> 7 votes
You have a program that sounds almost too good to be true (e.g., free classes, free software, free books, no contract). And your biggest challenge is that you cannot find new students, right? Well, two things come to mind. First, there is a "catch" -- that is, when it is too good to be true, it probably isn't true. Are there any hidden costs or problems with the program that you have not shared or identified? Second, what is the extent of the mismatch between the objectives of this program and the needs, values, and interest of your target group?
My recommendation would involve careful analysis of both questions. You are likely to find a lot of good information by following up with those who have dropped out. Ask them why they dropped out. Barriers to attendance? Then you need to figure out why more people aren't signing up. Consider surveying individuals who were provided the information but chose not to sign up.
# Answer
> 6 votes
I am a biology education researcher who has created and run free online preparation courses for students entering a college introductory biology course, so I've done a good bit of reading on this subject.
In March 2014, the Public Policy Institute of California published a report on student learning in online courses in California community colleges. http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R\_514HJR.pdf
They found that students do significantly worse in online courses compared to their own performance in face-to-face courses. Students who showed the biggest negative effect of online courses were:
* younger
* African American or Latino
* male
* those with low intent to transfer to 4-year college
* those with low high school GPA
If your target demographic is within this group, they will find an online course more difficult and unsupportive than a face-to-face course would be. As a researcher, I would like to see if a cohort of your students that meets together to watch videos and work on homework is more successful than a cohort that takes your online version.
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Tags: teaching, online-learning, learning
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thread-23652
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23652
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How to indicate when quotation marks are not used to quote someone in APA?
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2014-06-19T04:38:57.803
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# Question
Title: How to indicate when quotation marks are not used to quote someone in APA?
I am careful about placing attribution to quotes in assignments. Occasionally, in assignments, I must use quote marks for purposes other than quoting, but my instructor misinterprets this as a "quote missing a citation".
In the Wikipedia article on Quotation Marks, one can find a list of examples of other uses of quotation marks. Suppose I need to use quotation marks to "signal unusual usage" ("Quotation Marks", 2014) or show some "distinction" in "usage" ("Quotation Marks", 2014) or even scare quotes. Is there any way in which I can indicate this, in APA style?
# Answer
APA does not provide a distinction. It is assumed that all thinks enclosed in quotation makes are either quotes, and therefore attributed, or something "special". The hope is that your text clarifies the reason for the quotation mark. In most well written papers, the reason for the quotation marks is pretty obvious. Therefore APA style does not mandate a difference in usage.
As to why your instructor is flagging them up, it is possible your instructor is using some sort of automated system to find the missing citations or that your usage of quotation marks is excessive or improper. It is probably best to talk to the instructor to figure out what is going on.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Normally referencing styles (APA, Harvard, etc.) address the issue of referencing the work of others. The "example" you have given is not an issue of using someone else's work and, therefore, I do not believe it would be addressed in any referencing system.
Your instructor should certainly understand the idea that quotes are commonly used for many reasons, including indicating a turn of phrase which might not be obvious to some. For example, I would not badmouth my boss because I "know which side my bread is buttered on." Clearly this is not a quote but rather a turn of phase, a saying, or an "idiom."
All that said, I do see a lot of student who forget to cite direct quotes and, as an instructor, it is very frustrating to me.
If you are using idiomatic expressions, with which your instructor is unfamiliar, you might add a footnote explaining it to "lend a helping hand."
> 1 votes
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Tags: writing-style
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thread-23474
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23474
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Is it acceptable to drink alcohol in front of senior staff during semi-official occasions?
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2014-06-16T21:03:37.217
|
# Question
Title: Is it acceptable to drink alcohol in front of senior staff during semi-official occasions?
I am a graduate student, and because of the department's projects, partnerships with other institutions, and conferences, I am often out of office with the senior staff (supervisor, department head, other senior researchers and management, etc.).
After the work (e.g. meetings, presentations), it is often the case to attend social events (e.g. conference dinner or reception), or simply spend the free time with my colleagues (e.g. dinner in a hotel or somewhere out). During such events, which I consider also as partially work but not that official, people drink alcoholic beverages. Since I am often the only graduate student and the youngest person in the group (and usually the difference to the next person in age is \>15 years), I am worried that in my case it might not be acceptable to drink and that it may project a bad image about myself. So I am wondering whether to always abstain in such occasions.
Of course this is not about getting drunk, it is about a glass of wine or two along a meal.
This also includes flights. When flying I always have a beer or glass of wine to fall asleep easily and to mitigate my fear of flying, but sometimes I am seated close to my supervisor or colleague.
I am not sure about the customs in academia, so I am asking: is it acceptable to drink alcoholic beverages in front of senior staff? (Again, to a limited extent.)
I could have asked in the Workplace SE, but I think that academia has a different etiquette.
# Answer
There will be people with strong feelings about what is acceptable regarding drinking, and it is impossible to satisfy them all. (I have heard reports of senior faculty expressing disapproval of a postdocs choice to only have two beers.)
When it comes to more institutional acceptance, the situation will vary. For example, when I came to Cambridge,UK, as a PhD student, there was a Wine & Cheese event to get to know the faculty members of the college. So drinking in front of them was not merely tolerated, but actively encouraged.
> 41 votes
# Answer
Putting ice in good whiskey is universally unacceptable, but I think the answer may depend on which country you are in. If you are 20 in the USA, then no. Otherwise, you are an adult and you decide.
> 45 votes
# Answer
The safest rule is "do what others do." (But no more, and possibly less than, what they do.)
If everyone drinks, and you don't, that might be taken badly, as someone else pointed out. And if you drink and no one else does, that might be worse.
When I was younger, my rule was to drink if others did, but to have one or two less. If any one calls you on it, you can point to your "juniority." Otherwise, you're just "fitting in" without going overboard.
> 19 votes
# Answer
This depends not only on where you are, but what group you are in and what people in particular you are speaking about.
I have met both "senior staff" who get so drunk that they wouldn't remember whether you were even present, and I've known those who would probably disapprove of an undergrad having a glass of wine. The majority fall somewhere in between.
At the end of the day, it is quite hard to tell. For instance, a very religious person may be against alcohol consumption. Or a person from a culture where deference from juniors is expected may consider drinking when with a senior disrespectful. On the other hand, people who grew up in a culture where drinking is a frequent pastime will have no issue with it (and may even be surprised if you don't participate).
The division is not even a matter of what country the person is from, because even within a given country there is a spectrum of attitudes which varies by what social circle a person interacts with. With the diversity of backgrounds you get in academia, any specific answer you get here is likely to be incorrect.
As Tom Au suggests, your best bet is to do what others do. Especially convenient is if there is someone else of similar status to you, then you know whatever they do is very likely not improper for you.
If you are *really* unsure (or if you are the only junior member, or if you are new...), you can make a mental list of all the people present who you would not wish to embarrass yourself to. Keep an eye on how much they drink, and make sure to drink slightly less than whichever of these persons drinks the least. It's quite unlikely that they will disapprove of something they themselves do. Of course, if one of them happens to not drink anything at all, that means you shouldn't also, but on the flip side, in that case it's probably safer not to drink in the first place until you have a better idea of what everyone's attitude is.
Contrary to what others said, I doubt anyone will take issue if you drink too little. As I said, it is common to have people from very different backgrounds and cultures in academia, some of which do not drink at all. It is generally considered impolite to make assumptions on such things, so few would risk seeming insensitive by encouraging someone they don't know well to drink. The exception is if you know the other people well, or if you both come from very similar backgrounds so you know with certainty what your attitudes would be. But in that case, you can probably decide better yourself what is appropriate and what is not.
> 15 votes
# Answer
If the senior people are drinking too, there's no question that it's appropriate for you to. If you're at an event where drinks are provided, but the senior people aren't drinking then it should be fine for you to have a little to drink, unless you believe that they disapprove of drinking. And being on a plane is an event where drinks are provided, for the context of this answer. :-)
> 8 votes
# Answer
It is in situations like this where a shandy/rattler/spritzer comes into it's own. You're still having a drink, but it's a sociably acceptable way to water it down. It saves you from having to turn down a drink, and makes it *very* unlikely you'll get too drunk.
Mostly though, you seem to be feeling forced into one situation or another. I would wager that asserting your own opinion as to what is acceptable for yourself will get you more respect in the long term.
> 3 votes
# Answer
Isn't part of the point of working in Academia to forward the thinking of the age and challenge predetermined constructs? Whilst the question relates to being judged by others would it not also be appropriate to question the regard for those who would judge, and thus the value of regard for their judgement? To determine your own opinion to be higher than that of another is in my mind not a good methodology starting point unless you have an evidence base to back it up, and therefore should be challenged as a premise. To not question this leads to a lack of development in the area of society most in charge of development, with a hierarchy system of regard no better than that of the private corporation.
And if you can say all that without slurring any of it you've managed to avoid drinking too much!
In my mind it's a case of "do what you like". If what you like is to fit in, then fit in. Just don't be surprised if some people realise that this is what you did. I would however stress against the getting very drunk, or indeed being one of the heavier/faster drinkers, unless you don't mind the labelling that comes with this.
> 3 votes
# Answer
When people serve something and you turn it down, you make them feel bad. So unless your mood turns foul or you become aggressive when drinking beer or wine, you should join the fun. Also, Academic people get very buried in their work, and spare time and work hours blend together. If you can't relax and enjoy the good things in life with your fellows, you risk having a rocky road and face alienation from your fellows.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Look around you. Observe the 25%ile pace of drinking. Do that. If everybody is drinking the same thing, you as well. If there’s a mixture (some beer, some wine, some sherry, etc), drink something that isn’t conceptually far from the observed distribution.
You fit in, are part of the team, but not in any way inappropriate.
> 1 votes
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Tags: etiquette, drugs
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thread-23548
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23548
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How did authors prepare figures in their publications before the advent of computers?
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2014-06-17T21:45:01.703
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# Question
Title: How did authors prepare figures in their publications before the advent of computers?
I am often amazed at how neat figures in old scientific publications are. How did authors prepare those plots and diagrams, when there were no computers around? Did they draw them by hand? Were there any special methods and tools involved? Did the authors prepare the figures themselves?
# Answer
Ink on vellum. Depending on the work place the author may have made their figures themselves or in some cases professionals were involved who would take a sketch and draw an ink original. the techniques were basically the same as for any technical drawing using templates for creating text. A lot of techniques went into making nice figures, sometimes including adhesive rasters to create shading effects etc. A asic technique was also to produce originals is a larger size than final so that when reduced in size, small imperfections would basically dissappear in print.
> 17 votes
# Answer
I believe many of them did the drawing themselves with ink pen, for example. Graphs can be drawn using pins and a metal ruler: you put pins (or small nails) in a measured points of a graph, and then bend a ruler to pass through all nails. The ruler will eventually form a curve, known as a B-spline interpolant of a given set of points.
> 21 votes
# Answer
My grandfather wrote geography books. He had some sheets of plastic with wavy lines on them, used to fill in the seas in maps. The plastic was cut to shape and glued to the paper. I assume similar things existed for other regular fills.
> 7 votes
# Answer
Gosh, I feel ancient :)
I graduated just before the Windows became popular. We had 8-bit PCs with MS-DOS and some very basic text-processing software. All the official documents (including my master’s thesis and first research papers) were typed on mechanical (or if one was lucky – on electrical) typewriter. For corrections in the typed document we used a special white fluid (applied it with a little brush over the misspelled letters and once dry retyped the correct ones on top).
All the formulas and figures had to be drawn by hand (using a special ink pen, a ruler, a compass, sometimes a special curved ruler). A piece of grid paper could be glued to the document if necessary, or if the grid was big enough to occupy a whole A4 page, we would buy a ready-made grid page from the university bookshop and insert it where it belonged.
This was the required format for conference papers and all other materials we submitted to the print shop, where they used offset lithography and some other techniques to print conference proceedings, textbooks, etc.
There wasn’t PowerPoint, so the “slides” for presentations were drawn on a big cardboard sheets (A1 or A0), which were then hang/stack/pined to the wall/blackboard. Or, if there was an overhead projector, we did the drawings on transparent plastic sheets.
There was a technician in the department, whose job was to do technical drawings, but usually she was very busy, so I did most of the drawings myself. And, yes, I had studied technical drawing as a part of my engineering degree, it was a mandatory module.
> 7 votes
# Answer
A related subject: preparation of mathematical formulas and equations. These were things that simply couldn't be done (other than very crudely) on a Linotype or similar "hot type" machine. To do it anywhere near "right", skilled typesetters needed to build up the equations *by hand* from tiny pieces of type and lots of pieces of spacer lead and such. Needless to say, this was very slow and very expensive and prone to error. It went "offshore" to lower wage countries, but even then was still too expensive. Crude typesetting programs existed but produced such poor results that Donald Knuth was driven to produce something that would typeset math to his standards: TeX. TeX (and LaTeX and various permutations) are still the gold standard for setting text, equations, and even some graphs and other figures (such as chemical diagrams) generated on the fly.
> 0 votes
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Tags: publications, graphics, academic-history
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thread-23665
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23665
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How to stay active in research when my faculty job involves mostly teaching and administrative duties?
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2014-06-19T13:06:48.133
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# Question
Title: How to stay active in research when my faculty job involves mostly teaching and administrative duties?
I recently completed a PhD in a research university in U.S. and came back to my home country in South America. I have a position as a faculty member in a state college. However, the position focuses on teaching and academic administration duties. Without a lab and funding, it has been very difficult to continue the research or even to continue a reciprocal correspondence with my research collaborators.
I was wondering if I can ask for suggestions about how to continue pursuing my career path as scientist.
# Answer
> 5 votes
Where do you expect the funding to come from? In my experience, in UK and other European countries, the research funding comes from successful proposals to the relevant funding bodies. There are research centres that were established and keep going only because the staff there constantly submits project proposals (somebody told me that the success rate is 1 out of 5 or maybe even lower).
You are on your own, so your best bet is to find out what funding bodies can sponsor research in you location. Then you have to come with an idea about a project but keep in mind that most often than not the funding bodies have priorities, which change on regular basis, e.g. every year, and it is VITAL that your proposal fits their priorities.
Whether you personally will have time for research is another matter. If your college is not very interested in research, you might have a heavy teaching workload and would be able to spend time on research during the breaks between the academic terms. You might have enough funding for one or more PhD students, who would do the majority of the work while you supervise them.
There is another option, which might be not applicable in your research field as you mentioned you need a lab but maybe part of the research could be done this way – find undergrad students, who are enthusiastic about your research ideas and would be happy to do some work for free (or as a part of their assessment – coursework, final year project, etc.). That is how I started my research career many years ago (as a 2-nd year student) – one of our professors invited several bright students from the courses he was teaching to take part in a very innovative research. We had the first results after a couple of months, which allowed the professor to secure funding for several further projects. Then we could buy more equipment, attend conferences, there were several PhD grants as well.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Jessica, you are certainly in a tough position, because your current incentive structure gives most weight to teaching and administration. Thus, it will be difficult to maintain a strong program of research. The evidence on productivity among faculty shows that smaller more frequent blocks of time leads to more output than binge- or marathon-writing sessions. Try to make collaborations a priority, as this will help minimize your isolation.
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Tags: research-process, career-path, networking
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thread-13184
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/13184
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How important are physics and other non-math courses for admission into a math PhD?
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2013-10-04T14:55:54.213
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# Question
Title: How important are physics and other non-math courses for admission into a math PhD?
I am a second year math major, and I intend to do my PhD from a top math school. Until now, I haven't taken any university level physics course. Somewhere in this site, I saw someone writing that courses related to theoretical physics (heavily loaded with mathematics) are also very important besides the regular math courses. So, my question is: How important are the physics courses? Or any other courses?
# Answer
> 9 votes
Math grad programs do not look at physics courses on the transcript, or think in those terms.
The point is that higher-level (not formulaic) physics courses can be *beneficial* to math people by providing other inputs for intuition. A common obstacle is that the higher-level physics courses do speak in terms of the lower-level ones, which are often quite alien to/from any sensible mathematical world-view.
But if one skips over those "immediate" things, one can find that there are "physcial imperatives" mandating mathematical "facts"... which might not be obvious on "purely mathematical" grounds.
The grandest example is "Green's functions" ... about which volumes can be written... An immediate point is that the *idea* is wonderful, is necessary, even if one cannot justify it. Green got the idea pre-1850, and it was completely understood in "rigorous" terms by L. Schwartz in 1950. Not easy, ...
That is, understanding other (very serious) inputs to mathematics is obviously helpful.
# Answer
> 1 votes
A possible benefit of non-math course(s) in the resume of a PhD applicant in math, is the fact that it shows that he has a wide research perspective and is eager to study different areas. That is definitely a huge plus for a grad student as one of the major sources of creativity, is bringing in ideas from areas that are sometimes totally irrelevant to the area under study. There are a lot of instances of innovations in for example Agile software engineering that came from manufacturing.
Though, as others mentioned, most universities should not care much. But if you target top universities, then you must know that they do receive a lot of good applicants. And this might be something that make your application stand out!
just my 2 cents..
# Answer
> 0 votes
Make sure to have a decent overall GPA. Personally, even though physics uses a lot of mathematics, I would recommend that you take a more basic conceptual physics course, to understand the physics itself and learn it for its own sake. That way you will be better to appreciate the physics. If you are really passionate about math, then take math-related electives. That would show your commitment to the major. Maybe even do math-related research if that is your bent. Treat the physics courses as important, but do not worry if you are not doing as well in them as in your math courses. Because you are a math major, they will pay more attention to your major courses, but don't let yourself be discouraged.
# Answer
> 0 votes
In addition to "math" courses, a good math major should take courses in "related" areas; i.e. subjects that either use a lot of math, or contribute a lot of applications to math. Two of those subjects are physics and computer science.
Someone studying advanced calculus will do well to learn physics concepts such as gravity, charge and flux, as used in say, Newton's or Maxwell's equations. These offer the basis of gradients, divergences Gauss and Stoke's Theorems, and others. Likewise, a good computer science course might use mathematical topics such as recursion, graph theory, or various forms of logic. You might also consider Economics (specifically econometrics) courses that cover optimization and systems of equations as well as more advanced applications using partial differential equations.
Just avoid the kinds of courses sometimes referred to as "physics for poets" (algebraic applications only), or "programming for data processors" (elementary programming devoid of advanced mathematical concepts).
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Tags: phd, graduate-school, mathematics
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thread-10049
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10049
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Should an Editor in Chief publish in their own journal?
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2013-05-18T10:06:05.727
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# Question
Title: Should an Editor in Chief publish in their own journal?
An Editor in Chief of a journal ought to be proud of their journal and consider it a good place to publish their own work, so not publishing in the journal that they edit suggests a lack of confidence in the journal. On the other hand, is publishing regularly in your own journal ethical? Can we reasonably expect the Editor in Chief's papers to be handled with the same rigour as for anybody else? Wouldn't there be implicit pressure on the handling editor to accept a paper that might be rejected had it come from an external author? It seems to me that it would be better to be seen to be fair by publishing elsewhere (or at least only publishing occasionally in one's own journal), but I was wondering what the balance of opinion was on this.
# Answer
There are of course no laws against it but as Editor-in-Chief (EiC) myself I would never do it, or would at least think twice about doing it, particularly as first author. My reasoning behind this is that it could reflect badly on me, but particularly on the journal, and send signals that all is not necessarily well. I have to point out that in my case we are two and we have an agreement that we do not touch manuscripts from our own spheres of influence (basically departments). Nevertheless, what actually happens within a journal and how people perceive it are two different things and it is my opinion that as EiC one must safeguard the journal's reputation as objective. So if the community expresses some form of trust in the editor for publishing in their own journal, this could be perfectly fine.
So when an EiC publishes in "their" journal it is not wrong but potentially "dangerous" and can be perceived as poor judgement. They would jeopardize the journals reputation. So even if there are no legal problems, there are ethical problems. I doubt anyone would have second thoughts about the quality of a journal if the editor does not publish there: after all, if the editor has a solid reputation, associating with a bad journal would jeopardize that.
Can I see any exceptions? Well, co-authorship may be less serious but in the end even that should be avoided. I also think that if an editor publishes a single paper in a thematic issue of the journal (where someone else has suggested a theme) and this is the only paper by that editor in the journal for years, I would not think much about it. Obviously frequency of publications is also a factor.
So, in conclusion, I consider it unwise under most circumstances.
> 28 votes
# Answer
There have been only a few times in my career when I've run across an EIC who regularly published in his/her own journal, and in each case it looked like something was seriously wrong.
As a first constraint, it's absolutely unethical for editors to play any role whatsoever in evaluating their own papers. I.e., they should not suggest referees, solicit or have access to referee reports, participate in the decision making, or even discuss the decision with other editors. Furthermore, this lack of involvement should be made clear to the referees when the reports are solicited and to the public (for example, by including a paragraph in the journal's web site about how editorial submissions are handled).
Ideally, there should be strong safeguards. For example, one journal I'm associated with takes the following approach. If the editor in chief submits a paper, the journal's sponsoring organization appoints a few associate editors to evaluate the submission anonymously and make individual decisions. If any one of them recommends rejection, then the paper is rejected and the rest of the editorial board never finds out who rejected it. This avoids the danger of feeling pressure from the EIC, but it leaves open the possibility of favoritism or bias, perhaps even subconsciously.
Because it's difficult to avoid bias and impossible to avoid the appearance of bias, editors should rarely submit papers to their own journals, and EICs almost never. Aside from special cases such as issues in honor of someone, the only time I think it really looks good for an EIC to submit a paper is if the paper is amazing, far above the usual level of the journal, and it's clear that the EIC is trying to raise the journal's profile by sending a paper there that could easily have been published somewhere more prestigious. This is risky: it can come across as condescending or self-aggrandizing, it looks strange if done more than very rarely, and others may disagree on how amazing the paper is. However, if the paper is indeed great then it at least avoids controversy over whether acceptance was appropriate. The really dangerous scenario is borderline-appropriate papers, where reasonable people could disagree about acceptance and it's natural to wonder whether favoritism might have tipped the balance.
> 27 votes
# Answer
I'm going to chime in with a slightly dissenting answer - I think it's perfectly acceptable for an EiC to publish in their own journal, given some caveats.
I think they should be very careful in doing so, and the journal should have a mechanism for handling their submissions that doesn't involve their input in any way - one of the other answers mentions a panel of reviewers to evaluate whether or not the paper gets over the "editorial interest" hurdle, or possibly purely anonymous review. The reasons I think that being the EiC alone is not cause to not submit to your own journals are as follows:
* "Publish elsewhere" doesn't necessarily work - first, you've cut the number of journals by one, and for some specialty fields, that's a rather big deal. Additionally, the EiC of a journal is likely working in a field that is particular suited to that journal - "publish elsewhere" forces scholarship into potentially awkward fitting publications for the sake of avoiding the appearance of impropriety. I'd much rather any such risk be addressed head on.
* What about collaborators? For fields where papers often have one or two authors, perhaps this is more clear, but my field routinely has papers with a great many more authors than that. Is any study that recruits one of the finest minds in their field (presumably) then inevitably doomed not to be able to publish in the journal that might fit their work best? What about their graduate students?
* Many journals are society journals - you are effectively denying a scholarly society the easiest access to the work of one of their most prominent members (again, presumably). Yes, it could get published elsewhere. But there's no promise I *read* elsewhere.
In essence, drawing a hard line and saying "No" is counterproductive - I'd rather have a journal come out with a clear and open policy that says "This is how we handle submissions from our editors" - all of them, than to issue blanket bans.
> 11 votes
# Answer
According to page 5 of A Short Guide to Ethical Editing by New Editors by the Committee on Publication Ethics,
> ## Can editors publish in their own journal?
>
> Editors should not be denied the ability to publish in their own journal, but they must not exploit their position. The journal must have a procedure for handling submissions from the editor or members of the editorial board that ensures that peer review is handled independently of the author/editor. This process should be detailed once the paper is published (see: http://www.wame.org/wame-listserve-discussions/should-editors-publish-in-their-own-journal)
That said, in my experience, people tend to look down on editors who publish in their own journals. The implication is that they published their papers in their journals because other journals wouldn't publish them.
> 10 votes
# Answer
The conflict of interest between editor in chief and intelectual ( author ) in publish papers in self journals is evident. But, it is aggravated with share of the members of editorial board and editor in chief participate as authors in the same journals because it may be to establish an enormous bias in the choice of the papers with impairment of the others authors. Surely, the peer review of the papers of these authors might have be difficulties in withhold the paper.Though, this behaviour isn\`t considered illegal, it is ethically abominable, and detrimental for the concept of the journal.
> 0 votes
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Tags: journals, ethics, editors
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thread-23531
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23531
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How can a graduate student most efficiently become an expert at his research topic?
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2014-06-17T17:02:36.130
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# Question
Title: How can a graduate student most efficiently become an expert at his research topic?
Taught courses typically do not reach research level, so there is a significant gap in knowledge that has to be bridged by a graduate student in order to make meaningful contributions to their field. What is the most efficient way to bridge this gap? I could come up with the following possibilities:
1. Find advanced textbooks, prove all the theorems \[if maths\] and do all the exercises yourself.
2. Organize seminars with other graduate students with related interests
3. Go to conferences or talks given by staff about their research
Is this list exhaustive or is there anything I missed? Which methods of learning are recommended in which situations?
For definiteness, by 'expert' I mean the level necessary to understand current research articles and (in principle) independently reproduce the calculations/proofs.
# Answer
> 13 votes
For most disciplines, advanced textbooks still provide, albeit necessary, foundations. Conferences allows you to hear what is new and is as such a good way to know where fields are going. I am not sure what you mean by seminars but discussing new papers and topics is always a good way to advance knowledge. But, the major point is to read up on published papers and to focus on the topic of your thesis. The point of research is to advance knowledge and this means you will, or at least have a chance to, be an expert on the field you are researching. So in my view none of the activities 1-3, or combinations, make you an expert, only your own sweat over publications and own work will do so.
# Answer
> 2 votes
The answer to this one is fairly easy. You read, read, and read. And when you're done, you read some more.
My thesis was a study of two specific products/types of databases. Of course, the widely-known "Brewer's CAP Theorem" was a core focal point, so I read Dr. Brewer's paper "Harvest, Yield, and Scalable Tolerant Systems." I then read the paper that analyzed his paper, which (of course) led me to another. And another.
I went to Amazon.com and looked for books about the non-relational database I was focusing on, and found five. I bought (and read) all of them. I looked at the sources for those works, and read more and more.
I went to a conference in Chicago put on by the software company which created my non-relational database of focus. I talked with the people who created it, as well as with others who used it. I took lots of notes, looked through many Powerpoint projects, and followed the sources listed in those as well.
This went on for more than a year.
Fast-forward to now, I (successfully) defended my thesis 11 months ago. Since then, I have taken a new job (that I was recruited for) as a lead engineer, driving big data projects. I don't really consider myself an expert, but it is apparent that I understand that material (and database theory in general) better than anyone else in our company.
So again, read as much as you can find on your topic. Question it. If you have the means, run some of the experiments on your own. And after that, keep reading.
# Answer
> 2 votes
In addition to other informative comments and answers, there is a point that appears to me widely overlooked, namely, that it is hard to rush "maturity" or "experience". Yes, one can speed up "experience\_s\_", but only to a point, since too much so reduces comprehension of them.
In different words, in addition to accumulation, and assimilation, of many, many factoids and ideas, there are ... intangibles, "intuition", all those vague things.
That is, apart from having seen and remembered many facts, genuine experts have so-well assimilated them, have so-well changed themselves to adapt to a subtler viewpoint, that they have "sense" about otherwise-vague situations.
Yes, I am obviously noting that live mathematics is not formal. It is only that the contemporary writing style has various formal/logistic pretensions, not that the *practice* is that.
As a corollary, I think it is simply not feasible to "become an expert" in grad school, or soon, or... although one must be *wanting* that to exert sufficient energy to move in the right *direction*.
(And, as at other locales, I am not a fan of "routine exercises", unless one has nothing better to do. I think "memorization of proofs" is not nearly as good as "trying to see why the proof \_has\_to\_be\_this\_, but perhaps getting the thing into one's head by "memorization" is better than not having it in one's head at all.)
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Tags: graduate-school
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thread-23644
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23644
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transition from academia to industry
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2014-06-18T22:35:50.823
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# Question
Title: transition from academia to industry
I am currently doing a post-doc in pure Math \[teaching and research\] in the US. The academic year 2014-2015 will be my last postdoc year and I am currently considering my next employment possibilities.
For several reasons, I am considering a job outside academia in Europe \[I am an E.U. citizen\], for my next employment. As I know about nothing else except for my research in Pure Math and teaching of Math, I could use as much advice as possible regarding this potential transition from academia to a non-academia job. I have read through the many related questions and answers. But I still could not find answers to the following questions.
(1) How early in advance do you have to apply for a job outside academia? Let me provide a bit more details: I really need employment as soon as my current one ends, b/c I need the money to support my living expenses. So I cannot really afford to spend more than one or two months without employment. I am asking this, b/c for academia jobs one typically applies one year ahead of time, things are standard and clear. But not so clear to me are applications outside academia.
(2) Given that I know nothing about programming right now, what would my chances of getting a programming job be? In other words, would I get some sort of PAID training in programming?
(3) Any sort of comments/advice regarding working for a publishing house? \[such as: salary?\]
Thank you.
# Answer
1) You should start applying for jobs about 9 months before your current job ends. Most employers will want you to start immediately, or within a few months, and might favor candidates who can do so. Starting 9 months ahead is basically allowing time for the job search process, application processes, the interviewing processes, and employer decision-making processes. All of those can take much longer than you'd expect (and much longer than is necessary). You might be very efficient in your processes, but employers can be very slow in communicating with you, starting the interview process, and (worst of all) making hiring decision.
I say "about 9 months" because this is a very rough estimate. You might do well to start a year ahead and you might succeed by starting 6 months ahead. But don't start 3 or less months ahead. There are many factors you can't control and you are not in a position to go many months without income.
If you get lucky and get an interview 9 months before you are available, someone might ask why you are interviewing "now". Just tell them your job search plan and your priorities. If they can't hold the position open for 8 months, then move on.
2) I'd say that your chances of getting a programming job are *about zero* if you have no previous experience or training in programming. There are just too many other people who have it.
Your best chance is to apply for jobs that require PhD in Math and where you'd work in groups with programmers. For example, you might find work in the field of cryptography as a mathematician and then get training and experience in programming along the way. Same goes for jobs in Econo-physics (quant finance & trading).
If you have one year before you change jobs, I'd recommend taking one or two introductory programming courses -- Python and R are good choices.
You should also build social network relations with as many academic-to-industry mathematicians as you can, so you can learn who is hiring and how that maps back to your particular knowledge and skills.
3) I'm not familiar enough with (technical) publishing to know salaries. I was recently a technical editor on a book, but that was a contract position and the pay was low for the hours I put in.
> 6 votes
# Answer
A lot of this is obviously highly situation-specific. I'll mention a few points that I think are likely to apply to someone in your situation, but it's quite possible that there are reasons why this or that wouldn't apply in your case.
As a general note, finding a job far from where you are is difficult. Combining an international move with a career change will compound the difficulty. While a lot of companies will accept phone interviews, some will insist on an in-person interview, and the ones that don't are likely to select a candidate that they've seen personally all else being equal. Having some positive connection can often tip the balance towards you: “he comes with a recommendation from Prof. X, the last candidate who did was great” is a lot better than “he comes with a recommendation from Prof. X whom I've never heard of”.
Most companies have little long-term visibility. In France, most programming jobs have a 3 month latency (if I resign, I'm still supposed to work for the company for 3 months, and if I'm fired, the company still owes me 3 months (or more) of salary), so it's common to say “if you hire me I can come to work for you in 3 months plus 1 week”. Even 3 months is considered a long time: companies that are hiring usually want someone ASAP and ask if you could possibly come to work for them sooner. Anything beyond that would be unusual. Most companies have no idea who they'll want in 6 months.
I advise you to research teaching jobs in your desired locale. Even if you don't intend to stick in this job, plan to spend a year teaching as a bridge.
There are plenty of programmers on the market. Programmers, per se, are not in high demand. Good programmers or programmers with specific skills are in high demand. Your lack of programming experience is a definite minus, but the PhD in math can be a plus in the right place. Most employers will start with a certain stereotype of what a PhD in math with teaching experience would be: a quick study, autonomous, good at explaining things, but untested at teamwork and unlikely to have internalized the practical aspects of shipping code now rather than when it's working to perfection.
(Personal story time: I did a PhD in theoretical computer science, and then switched to a job in industry. I think I was hired for two reasons: my PhD advisor knew the person who recruited me (so his recommendation carried a lot of weight), and they basically told me “you know nothing about our business, but you have some background in the general domain, you can absorb new material quickly and write it up in terms that people can understand. We have a tech writer position.” After a few months I switched to a position that involved coding.)
With a PhD in math, you should look for domains where your math background will be useful, even if it's unrelated to the math you did in your PhD. Finance is a possibility; there are high-paying jobs there, and this is one of the few industries where you might start out applying your knowledge of differential equations and probability and learn coding on the job. A number of engineering jobs involve computer simulations based on mathematical models of physical phenomena. Arithmetic might lead you to cryptography, but that involves more specialist knowledge. The list of examples could go on: there are plenty of niches where a math PhD might fit in, and they tend to value their employees well because of the relatively rare skills they require; the flip side of the coin is that these are all small fields and there aren't openings every day.
> 6 votes
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Tags: career-path
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thread-23673
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23673
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Approximate time frame to switch to different research area
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2014-06-19T14:49:50.287
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# Question
Title: Approximate time frame to switch to different research area
I made a conscious decision some time back to pursue a career in academia and I got back into graduate school this year, working in an 'applied computing' area--educational technology. While I thoroughly enjoy what I am currently working on, in the near future, I intend to conduct research in more mainstream computer science areas. My question is, how long would it theoretically take for one to radically switch research areas? I know there is probably NO fixed time frame for this, but I am especially interested in hearing from individuals that did this or attempted to do this early on in their careers. I would also appreciate additional advice on how I could start working towards this at an early stage. Incidentally, I came across an interesting CACM article \[1\] that ascribes a 10-year 'once-in-a-career' shift, mostly as a result of evolving technology.
\[1\] http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2013/10/168170-trends-in-computer-science-research
# Answer
I've done it a couple of times in my career so far.
I think the 10,000-hour rule isn't far off the mark.
If you have no other commitments, and have the motivation, you can just about do that in three years, if you manage to avoid burning out. Most people will burn out attempting it: it's three years of work-eat-sleep.
If you think you'll only be working 35-hour weeks, and taking holidays, then reckon on six years.
If you're doing it part-time on top of a full-time job, then 12 years or more.
> 2 votes
# Answer
I'm not quite so sure the 10,000 hour rule applies very well here. There are a couple things that need to be considered -- i.e., substantive expertise and methodological expertise. Although I am not in the area of computer science, the transition from educational technology to mainstream computer science doesn't seem terribly far apart. It seems like you have the aptitude for computer science, so you should not have really significant problems acquiring the substantive expertise. I would be concerned if you were saying that the switch was from educational technology to psychiatry or aerospace.
The other issue is the extent to which your methodological expertise generalizes to this new area. Have you acquired research skills that are relevant to your proposed switch? Do you have the core research skills for your new area? How familiar are you with the research in this new area. And what is the litmus test that you have achieved "expertise" in the new area?
I guess the issue really comes down to how much your knowledge and skills in your current area of work generalizes to your new area. So, I'm not going to put a number on this issue -- I just don't think it is possible without more information.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Hmm, it sounds like you are going to a relatively similar field... In any case, you can probably become proficient enough to be a grad student (or maybe post-doc) in your new field relatively quickly.
I know someone who made the switch from theoretical physics to biology mid-grad-school. It added a year or so. I also am in the process of switching from chemistry (my undergrad degree) to biophysics (in which I'll be getting a PhD starting next week). I'm hoping to be caught up by the fall. Loads of people switch fields at the undergrad-grad, grad-post doc transitions. After that I think it can be harder, at least until you get tenure.
Research (at least in the short term) involves being intimately familiar with a very narrow field of information. On the other hand, qualifying exams (in grad school) would require you to have broad based knowledge of the entire field. So it depends exactly what you will need to do and when.
> 2 votes
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Tags: computer-science, career-path
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thread-23591
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23591
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Is it okay to send a paper to a journal as well as for conference
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2014-06-18T10:04:00.070
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# Question
Title: Is it okay to send a paper to a journal as well as for conference
Few months back I presented a paper in conference and sent the same for possible publication in the conference proceedings. I got no response for a long time and with the consent of my supervisor sent the same paper to a journal with some modifications in the paper. I want to know is it okay to send the same paper to both? As far as I feel, its not right, still I need opinions. Thanks in advance.
# Answer
Apparently conference has different meanings in different disciplines. In the fields with which I am familiar, conference publications are either limited to abstracts or are published in proceedings which are just as official as a journal In the former case there is of course no problem but in the latter sending the same paper off to a conference (for proceedings publication) and to a journal would not be correct. Therefore, you need to figure out what norms apply in your field, particularly whether the conference proceedings is a real publication.
> 7 votes
# Answer
You could start from reading the journal publication agreement. It usually is very explicit on whether it is permitted or not to re-publish the results which appear in conference proceedings. In my discipline it is typically not permitted unless **significant** changes to the text and content have been introduced. Therefore, you should decide for yourself how significant were the modifications you made.
If the new paper is "much more" than a conference one, you could keep both, but you should tell the journal editor that this work is based on a conference proceedings which are yet in review.
If the new paper is not significantly different from the conference, you should withdraw one of them before the reviews arrive.
> 3 votes
# Answer
In any field it is unacceptable to have a paper published twice. Therefore, you should look at
1. Which kind of publication conference has. If it is a formal one, with a known (or even less known) publisher, ISBN, indexing - then it counts like a publication and you cannot publish it as it is in a journal. If those are abstracts proceedings, or sth printed just for distribution to the conference/workshop participants - it should be safe to submit it somewhere else.
2. Journal/Conference requirements - in most cases it will be specified that they look for novel papers, not published and not under submission somewhere else.
3. Most conference publishers (but it is more complicated in your case, as you publish proceedings of best papers in journal, not in proceedings book) would allow you to submit significantly revised/extended paper to a journal.
In your case it is probably best to contact the conference organizers and check if any formal publication planned and if your paper is selected for this publication (if it is not clear from the conference website and reviews). And do not submit to a journal before you clarify all those things - as you can get your paper retracted as double submission, with your department being informed about this...
> 0 votes
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Tags: publications, journals, ethics, conference, paper-submission
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thread-23654
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23654
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Are masters degrees treated equivalently in academia on both sides of the Atlantic?
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2014-06-19T04:57:37.783
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# Question
Title: Are masters degrees treated equivalently in academia on both sides of the Atlantic?
This is just a general question regarding UK (and I suppose Western European) masters degrees vs. US masters degrees.
The reason for asking is that I have heard that US masters are considered at the same academic level as UK Bachelors with Honours degrees. This seems like pure hearsay but I'd like to understand if there is any thing concrete in this assertion.
And does equivalency tend to manifest itself in the same ways in commercial environments too?
# Answer
The UK and US have fairly substantial differences in their underlying educational philosophies. In my field, in the US Masters degree programs are generally one or two years long and include both course work and research in equal proportions. In the UK, Masters degree programs are a year long and have little to no research requirements. As for the level that the taught components of the programs are taught at, they are pretty similar across the two countries using similar textbooks and covering similar amounts of material in terms of both breadth and depth. The US and UK institutions I worked for accepted students from both countries and while international students often have more difficulties than home students, it is not obvious to me that going UK-US or US-UK is easier.
As for the difference between a US and a UK Bachelors degree. Final year classes taught in both countries again use similar textbooks and cover similar amounts of material in terms of both breadth and depth. In my experience, there does not seem to be a substantial difference between students coming out of US and UK institutions in regards to their preparation for graduate school. That said, there are substantial differences in these students. The US system provides much more breadth of education (e.g., foreign language requirements and general education requirements) that are absent from UK universities. I have never heard an admissions committee member in the sciences argue that student X is is more likely to succeed than student Y because student X is competent in a foreign language.
> 4 votes
# Answer
I've seen (several) hundreds of students get UK bachelour with honours degrees in 3 years. A master degree in the UK takes another 1 year.
Normally in the US a bachelor degree takes 4+ years and a masters takes another 2 - for a total of 6.
How can 6 years of education in the US be considered equivalent to 3 in the UK? If anything, you could consider a UK master degree similar to a US bachelor degree.
> 3 votes
# Answer
UK degrees tend to focus on the main degree subject from the beginning of the degree program and thus are more professionally oriented than the US liberal arts education, which requires each student to learn a broader curriculum.
Interesting comparison here: http://colematson.com/2012/01/05/oxford-vs-us-an-undergrad-degree-comparison-chart-glossary/
As for "If anything, you could consider a UK master degree similar to a US bachelor degree." It tends to be the other way around due to the UK degree being a more narrow focus towards the subject area opposed to the US degree having a more broad overview.
> 1 votes
# Answer
The value of a US Masters degree is very dependent on the institution and its requirements.
A number of US institutions mass-market their MS (or equivalent) degrees as a quick way to make money. These degrees (often marketed as 1-year degrees) are basically just a coursework requirement and can be equivalent to a bachelor's degree with some advanced courses.
Other institutions require a serious thesis or project as part of a masters, often requiring publishable results in a significant academic venue. This is similar in style to the "old-school" Masters and is a significant step above a bachelor's degree because it requires self-motivated research and often takes two years to complete.
> -1 votes
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Tags: masters, degree
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thread-23693
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23693
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What should I do if I have an idea but can't work on it immediately?
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2014-06-20T01:04:00.967
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# Question
Title: What should I do if I have an idea but can't work on it immediately?
I am a postdoc working on a research project, which is funded by a grant that runs for 3 years.
After my first year working on the project, I identified a problem which could potentially lead to a new research direction, but it is not directly related to my current project. I am required to work on the problems defined in my current project proposal.
What should I do in this case, given that I may need to wait for another 2 years before I can possibly work on the new problem?
# Answer
> 17 votes
Now you are a postdoc and not a graduate student anymore. As such, you will have many research ideas, that you will not have the time to implement yourself. So, it is time for you to start delegating this work to "less experienced" workforce than you. That means undergraduate, master or PHD students. So, you should discuss it with your advisor that you have a new idea and that you are planning to propose a new undergraduate or MSc thesis. Perhaps he might even propose, working with a graduate student who is a bit stuck at his current stage of his / her PHD, so working in your new idea might be beneficial to both of you.
In any of these cases, co-authorship issues should be discussed early and thorough. For undergraduate, MSc students usually the assumption is that they do most of the work (it is their thesis after all) but you write the paper and you get to be first author. For teaming with PHD students, things are a little bit trickier, so these issues should be discussed in detail, BEFORE the cooperation begins. Also, make sure that your PI is OK not to be included in the subsequent publication (since this is your idea after all). Of course, if you want to include your PI in your "additional" publication then by all means, go ahead (this will also help you bend his objections about the time you will spend on your new project). But if you do not, make sure you discuss it before doing it, so you will not get into hot water.
In this scheme, not only you can multiply the number of your publications more easily and faster but also you help other people, who might be your future collaborators. So, you really have nothing to lose.
# Answer
> 8 votes
Your research project doesn't own you ... it merely pays the bills. If you got an interesting idea related to your project, you have an ethical obligation to discuss this with your advisor. If your idea has nothing to do with your project, you have every right to spend your free time developing it, as long as you maintain appropriate time and effort on your project.
# Answer
> 6 votes
You might consider starting a journal to record your ideas. I'm guessing that your new idea is pretty good, but you will certainly have many, many more good ideas over your career. This might be a situation when it is best to spend your time thinking, refining, and planning -- as opposed to acting. Having ideas is certainly very good, but you can't pursue all of them. Since you are just starting out your career, I would focus on being as productive as possible with your current project and enhance your skills. You will find that one idea leads to another, and you will eventually have way more ideas than time and money. This is certainly much more desirable than newly minted PhD's who are struggling to come up with a project. Good luck!
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Tags: postdocs
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thread-23676
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23676
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Is research a viable business model?
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2014-06-19T15:59:46.690
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# Question
Title: Is research a viable business model?
I have had the suspicion that it may be for a while and apparently not all is a product of my mind. Let me quote from an answer:
> In my experience, in UK and other European countries, the research funding comes from successful proposals to the relevant funding bodies. There are research centres that were established and keep going only because the staff there constantly submits project proposals (somebody told me that the success rate is 1 out of 5 or maybe even lower).
There are **two questions** here.
1. Can a company feasibly focus on obtaining funds in publicly funded research (as a business model) successfully enough to "survive"?
2. Can such a company be started (nearly) from scratch?
In short, the company would be exactly like a research institute (or institution) except that it would be private.
**Reasons why question 1** may not be feasible:
1. I don't see any company doing this kind of thing, i.e. there may be some, but there are not many, which means that it may be hard. It's a bad sign.
2. Public funds seem to be assigned to public entities, while companies can benefit from the collaboration and synergy, but they are expected to get their funding from their work as companies (searching for customers, etc.) In this case the customers would be the partners in the projects and the society itself, but again, this seems to be an "innovative" (maybe naïve, or even plain stupid) idea.
3. Research is a means for something, not an end on itself, that's why the business model should be on something else (point two) and that's why such a company would raise eyebrows on the mere idea of its existence. It may even be against some kind of tacit rule or even written laws.
**Reasons why question 2** may not be feasible:
1. No previous history of success of the company, or products or anything means zero (or negative) trustworthiness and no projects assigned to the company.
2. No partners would like to associate with the company in a project for the reasons in point 1.
3. The most similar case I can think of are spin-off companies that are created from successful research labs, not from scratch.
4. OMG so much communism! Go to kickstarter you hippie!
As **an example**, a possible scenario that could be close to this: Someone writes a paper about a software system that does something not very novel in the state of the art but in a way that is very different from an architectural point of view, leading to good results in practical terms. In short: in theory nothing is new, in practice what was just a dream is now a reality. What is done remains the same in theory, but how it is done is completely different in practice (and now it works). Unfortunately only a proof of concept (PoC) can reasonably be implemented.
Would it be feasible to request funds to continue the development of this PoC (still very far from a commercial product) as a start-up or that simply doesn't make sense?
# Answer
In Europe, companies exist that primarily live from FP7 or, now, H2020 funding. They rarely contribute much to projects in terms of research, but often handle tangential issues, such as project management, dissemination, marketing, or association with standardization bodies. Their model works because (1) they do things that none of the research partners actually wants to do, and (2) because they are often SMEs, which is generally politically helpful to get your funding proposals accepted. Further, as writing grant proposals is their core business, they usually also have grant writing experts that have the time to actually keep up with the various changes that the european commission is constantly applying to its programmes and rules (something that many researchers struggle to find the time for).
Formally, these companies often camouflage as either consultancies or technology spinoffs. That is, you will not find it on their web page that their core business model is actually to milk grant programmes, as this is strictly against official funding rules (as a company, you can only apply for funding if you plan to commercialise the results, and you are not supposed to make a profit from the project itself). In practice, the project officers seem to tolerate these businesses - for now.
> Can such a company be started (nearly) from scratch?
You will need a reasonable amount of seed money, as the H2020 rules require proof that an organization applying for grants has enough financial stability to likely survive over the typically 3-year project duration. I know from one startup that wanted to participate in a project (for actual technology reasons) which was in fact struggling to cross this hurdle. However, if you have the required seed funding, I see no reason why you would not be able to start such a business. Whether it is a smart business idea is a different question, given that you are basically living off of a loophole in the current funding practices, and you can never tell how long this loophole will stay open.
**Edit:**
I just saw that I missed this question:
> Would it be feasible to request funds to continue the development of this PoC (still very far from a commercial product) as a start-up or that simply doesn't make sense?
Yes, at least in Europe there are funding sources for exactly this kind of case. You should inform yourself about the concept of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs, slide 4), and the different kinds of funding available for each TRL. If you look at this presentation and go to slide 32, there is an overview over different funding instruments in H2020 depending on the maturity of the idea.
> 10 votes
# Answer
Existence proofs in the US: RTI, SRI, Battelle, Lincoln Labs. Also, there have been many smaller firms that were funded completely from a large number of SBIR grants ($150K to $1M), though the government has cracked down on these "SBIR-mills".
> 7 votes
# Answer
From the perspective of the US, there are many research institutes that operate as a private business entity. These research institutes can apply for some federal funding in the same capacity as a research at an educational institution. I see it being possible to start a private company without a lot of capital, although you will need to have a very strong skill set that is in demand. Whether this is a sustainable model really seems to depend on the specialized skills that the business would offer and the infrastructure that would allow it to efficiently prepare grants. Research-I educational institutions in the US have an incredible infrastructure to prepare and apply for grants that would be difficult to replicate in the private sector.
> 3 votes
# Answer
It may be important to understand that grants for universities are often given to support them as teaching institutions, even if the grant itself is only about research. This means, even if grant seems focused exclusively on research, it is targeted to the educational institution of the supporting country and would not be given to the commercial company, or educational institutions of another country, event if these would be capable of delivering the comparable scientific results.
As a result, while it is not uncommon for a company to join a university on some shared grant, I have never seen a company that would make its major income on such grants. However there are many companies that make business on assisting in research (like sequencing DNA, building curated databases or the like). They major clients are other companies but some richer universities may also order such services.
> 1 votes
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Tags: career-path, funding, independent-researcher
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thread-23720
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23720
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Should I include 'future work' in a paper, when I don't intend to do that future work?
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2014-06-20T14:34:48.127
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# Question
Title: Should I include 'future work' in a paper, when I don't intend to do that future work?
I am in the process of writing a paper that I think introduces a novel concept. There are some related factors (perhaps even foundational factors) that should be worked out in order to perfect my idea. I plan on putting these ideas in a 'Future Work' section of the paper. However, I have no interest in actually doing anything I put there. After this paper, I want to move on to another topic.
Should I include those ideas in 'Future Work'? Should I state that I have no plan to work on them myself, so as not to leave anyone interested in the work 'hanging'?
# Answer
> 15 votes
It depends how you phrase it. Do not write *This will be shown in a subsequent paper*. Do write *This and this still needs to be done*.
I think it is very informative to inform the audience of the next steps that need to be taken in this research. For example, shows you are aware of shortcomings of work done so far, and it can be useful to refer to in funding applications. However, there can be *many* reasons why next steps are not actually carried out. It might be your personal interest, but more often than not, project-specific funding runs out, PhD students or postdocs finish and move to new institutes, etcetera.
This is particularly true for PhD theses. The final chapter may be full of future work, which, in many cases, is never carried out.
# Answer
> 1 votes
Instead of having a 'Future work' section, you could, under the 'Conclusion' section, discuss briefly in what ways you believe the current work can be improved. You do not have to state that you have no plan to work on the ideas yourself.
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Tags: publications
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thread-23710
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23710
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I found another proof of my theorem. Can I present two different proofs in the paper?
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2014-06-20T09:50:32.827
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# Question
Title: I found another proof of my theorem. Can I present two different proofs in the paper?
My area is mathematics. I have just found another proof of the main theorem in my paper. It is slightly more elegant than the previous proof that I wrote, but the idea is very different. When submitting this paper, can I include two proof in the paper, or must I select only one? Personally, I don’t want to delete either of them, but I don’t know how the editor will deal with this situation.
# Answer
If the two proofs are sufficiently different, then it's entirely reasonable to include both of them in your paper. You might, however, want to think first about whether the proofs might actually lead (easily) to different generalizations of your theorem. If they do, then you get two benefits: It's then clear that the two proofs are genuinely different. And you have some more general results.
> 34 votes
# Answer
There are three alternatives here:
1) Include the original proof only, perhaps with a remark that you later found a different proof.
2) Include the more recent proof only, perhaps with a remark that you had earlier found a different proof.
3) Include both proofs.
All three of these are certainly acceptable, and depending upon the circumstances any one of them may be best. There is a lot to say here about the nuances of various situations: here is an incomplete discussion.
When might 1) be best? Suppose you have already written the paper and that you have been planning to submit it at a certain near date (and perhaps you have received funding for this work). Suppose that both proofs are relatively long and that including both of them would make the paper close to twice as long. (In fact, the second proof uses material which is not yet present in the paper, including both could more than double the length of the paper.) Suppose that the second proof, although "slightly more elegant", does not have any other specific advantage to it, e.g. no further applications that you can see. Or suppose that it suggests to you a new possible approach or avenue, but you haven't developed it much and would like to spend more time on this than you can spare in delaying the submission of your paper.
Then it is plausible to just submit your paper as is, possibly with the remark about the second proof. Math papers have a temporality to them. By that I mean that although it might be intellectually more satisfying to work out every aspect of a single problem before you submit a paper on it, in practice this is almost never possible, because (i) mathematicians, like other professionals, need to show evidence of work done and put out product in a reasonably regular manner, and (ii) mathematics is potentially infinite: there may well *never* be a natural stopping point. Andrew Wiles settled for a special case of the Taniyma-Shimura Conjecture when he must have suspected that a few more years of work could yield the whole thing. Pierre Deligne wrote a paper solving the Weil Conjectures and then another solving them in a better way (though the first was good enough!) six years later. What chance do the rest of us have?
When might 2) be best? Suppose you've already written up the second proof and/or you know it would be acceptably easy and fast to do so. Suppose the second proof significantly shortens the length of the paper. Then, in confluence with the rest of the circumstances above, it is plausible to submit the paper with the second proof only (possibly with a remark...).
In general, space in strong math journals is at quite a premium. Journals like papers which have "no fat", and they especially like short papers which get in, prove a strong result, and get out. My best publication is five pages long (for the non-mathematicians: this is really short for a contemporary math paper) and it was accepted as is with absolutely no revisions requested or critical comments made. They often don't like papers which have "too much exposition" or "too little content for their length". I hope you can hear my eyes rolling as I type out these sentiments, but I'm just telling it like I think it is. If you write a paper which is "twice as long with the same content", then you risk a journal liking it less.
You can always try to publish the other proof later: one point in favor of withholding the better proof is that it will be easier to publish it later. It will be hard to publish a "less elegant proof that I found earlier" in a journal of the same stature as your original publication, but there are other venues for mathematical content. For instance you could put a longer version of the paper on your own website where you include both proofs -- or, if it seems preferable, a "supplement" to the paper containing the first proof. How important is this work to you and to the community? Maybe some day you will be teaching an advanced course and/or writing a book: that's a great place to include both proofs. Or maybe this work is just one stop for you on the road of mathematical research, and it happens that you were perceptive enough to find two proofs and don't feel the need to publicize both of them. (But please read the second bullet point.) There are quite a lot of "less elegant proofs" that the rest of us do not see.
When might 3) be best? If both proofs are relatively short, easy and fast to write up, and do not add substantially to the length of the paper. Especially, if the proofs really do look different from each other and/or when it seems like each may have its own applications. Or if the difference between the two proofs is itself interesting or is something you'd like to receive feedback on.
Let me end with two (relatively!) quick comments:
* I have recently been in a somewhat similar situation. About six weeks ago I submitted a paper -- relatively quickly after starting work in a certain subfield, for certain reasons that I needn't go into -- for publication. About three weeks ago I found a different proof of the main theorem, say A, of this paper, which all in all I like better: it leads relatively easily to a stronger result B. I am not completely decided on what to do -- certainly it depends on what happens with the submitted paper -- but I am leaning towards the first option. One reason for this is one I didn't mention above because it didn't seem to apply to the OP: there are coauthors involved, and that makes the prospect of slowing down / jeopardizing the acceptance of the paper less appealing. Another reason is that the second proof opens up the possibility of further improvements on Y: in fact, about two weeks ago, after doing some further reading suggested by one of my coauthors, I was able to get an improvement C. I am pretty confident that adding an extra ingredient (which I have not yet mastered) would lead to a further improvement D, and there are still *further* improvements E that I aspire to but do not yet know whether they are possible. Well, how many times should I rewrite one paper? I also freely admit that researchwise I do A and then B,C, probably D and possibly E, then I am thinking in terms of multiple publications rather than just one. And conversely: B and C are pretty good, but I would like to have the chance to see whether I can get to D and E before I publish B and C. These are not easy decisions: perhaps I'll change my mind.
* Publications aside, the experience of discovering a second proof of a theorem is a really important and positive one for a mathematician, more so than senior mathematicians seem to successfully communicate to our students and junior colleagues. I have been thinking recently about the "bipartite structure of theorems and proofs": roughly, proofs are viewed as being secondary objects to theorems, but I think that rather both are basic, and the incidence relation between them is a key one in the traversal of the mathematical landscape. If you two different proofs of a theorem, *try to figure out whether they are actually the same*. If they are, then you'll have made a new (to you, at least) connection between two things you already knew: again, this may not sound so sexy but I claim that it really is. Or if they aren't, then (well, it doesn't follow from graph theory, but I claim that's far more likely than not) you've actually proved at least one further theorem, which you should carefully write down and then look for alternate proofs of. And so forth! (Of course, now that you've heard my thoughts about this you know *how hard* my eyes roll when journals say that they are interested in new results, not "merely" new proofs.)
> 10 votes
# Answer
I very much understand your personal satisfaction here - it is a pleasure for a mathematician to "cross-proof" a result by two different methods. But what is best for your readers? Are both of the proofs equally aesthetically pleasing and easy to comprehend? Are the ideas behind them really significantly different?
I would recommend you to discuss your proofs with a supervisor or senior colleagues, probably on a local seminar in your group. Collect their opinions on which proof is better and why. Then think again and maybe it will be easier to see which one is preferable.
> 7 votes
# Answer
As another strategy, I suggest that first explain one of the proofs which has more consistency with other contents of your paper and then briefly outline your other proof (maybe in a remark after your theorem). In this way, the reader easily reads one proof and has the option to consider another proof too.
> 5 votes
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Tags: mathematics, paper-submission
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thread-23728
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23728
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Academic affiliation on papers written while between jobs
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2014-06-20T16:59:18.877
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# Question
Title: Academic affiliation on papers written while between jobs
There have been many questions in the past about choosing an affiliation to write on your papers. This one has a nuance that is a bit different from having two jobs.
I am currently between two jobs (PhD student and postdoc) and currently not academically affiliated to either. I am currently writing a paper and I am trying to figure out if I put my PhD affiliation or my postdoc affiliation.
The reason for the PhD affiliation is because a lot of the work was done there.
The reason for the postdoc affiliation is because then anyone could contact me for correspondence with respect to the paper.
I feel there must be a hard and fast rule to this, so I was hoping someone could enlighten me.
Thanks!
# Answer
> 8 votes
It should be possible to list both affiliations. While I have not worried about this myself, I do remember going to a seminar at UPenn in the summer between my PhD and my postdoc. My introduction included both affiliations. I was a little surprised (and pleased) by that and kept an ear out for it afterwards: it is a reasonably common thing to do.
Why do you list affiliations at all? Here are some reasons.
1) It gives readers a chance to contact you.
2) Some employers require or request that you mention them. If they are providing you with financial support, this seems reasonable. (Especially if you signed a contract saying you will!)
3) You give yourself a veneer of legitimacy/prestige that can (unfortunately) help your submission get taken more seriously. Often by doing this you telegraph to insiders who your famous thesis advisor is, which could (unfortunately) get you more alacrity and respect in the processing of your paper.
To address these: I think 1) is almost obsolete. If you are an untenured academic, you should have a webpage. Then anyone who reads one of your papers types "T....K.... math" into google, and presto, they can contact you. By the way, if you are transitioning from one temporary job to another, then neither affiliation is going to be very useful in the long term. I have papers which tell readers that they can reach me at "Montreal" and "MSRI": the latter might have been true for a month or two, but no longer.
2) is serious of course, but if you are between affiliations you are probably not being financially supported by either one. It may be though that you are just putting the finishing touches on work that you did at the first institution. That's a good reason to list the first institution. The fact that it doesn't make much sense to list an institution that you are no longer affiliated with *instead of* an institution that you are currently affiliated with is then a good reason to try to list the second institution as well.
3) Well, what's more prestigious than any one academic institution? The answer seems obvious...
---
Let me briefly respond to something written by @adipro:
> If you put your postdoc affiliation, it would give the wrong impression that the paper is a product of your postdoc, and your postdoc affiliation, rather than your PhD affiliation, wrongly gets the credit.
The OP is a mathematician, and math papers are not products of their institutions. Listing an institutional affiliation means exactly that: you have (or had, during part of the period when the work was done or the paper was written) an affiliation with that institution. (It doesn't even *necessarily* mean that you had financial support from them, although that is usually the case.) None of the institutions at which I was a postdoc can or do claim any ownership or credit for any of the papers I wrote while I was there. They get to record for all time that they had the good judgment to hire someone who went on to a tenure-track job, which one of them does.
# Answer
> 12 votes
I suggest using the postdoc affiliation (precisely for the reason you mention and also because you will probably still be there while the paper will be reviewed) and thanking for support the university where you did your Ph.D. in the acknowledgments.
# Answer
> 6 votes
I would say that the affiliation should be the place where you did most of the work that leads to the paper. When I read a paper, I immediately assume that the work presented in the paper was carried out when the author was affiliated with the affiliation listed there. In your case, it would be your PhD affiliation. If you put your postdoc affiliation, it would give the wrong impression that the paper is a product of your postdoc, and your postdoc affiliation, rather than your PhD affiliation, wrongly gets the credit.
Getting a paper published takes time. By the time it gets accepted, you might have started your postdoc. Then you should also include your postdoc affiliation for correspondence purposes.
---
See, for example, this guide to authors from *Nature Communications*, where it says,
> The primary affiliation for each author should be the institution where the majority of their work was done. If an author has subsequently moved, the current address may also be stated.
Also see this guide for authors from an *Elsevier* journal, which seems to be the standard across *Elsevier* journals, where it says,
> If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a 'Present address' (or 'Permanent address') may be indicated as a footnote to that author's name. The address at which the author actually did the work must be retained as the main, affiliation address.
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Tags: publications, affiliation
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thread-23721
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23721
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How to turn down a Postdoc scholarship offer after signing a contract
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2014-06-20T14:36:35.403
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# Question
Title: How to turn down a Postdoc scholarship offer after signing a contract
How you as professors would prefer to be informed in this case? That is, how to turn down a Postdoc fellowship offer that you have already signed a contract.
The reason in my case is I get an even better offer at another fellowship foundation. But the fact that I contacted the professor, we applied for the fellowship together, I got it and accepted it, make me feel quite awkward...
# Answer
> 27 votes
I upvoted both of the other answers, but in my heart I agree with xLeitix: academics live and die by their honor in a much more extreme way than is the norm in the contemporary Western world. I should admit that my views on this are more absolute than those of *some* of my colleagues (with whom I have had occasion to discuss issues of reneging on signed contracts). When I hear people say that it is okay to behave absolutely unethically -- even illegally, but counting on the fact that your former employer is not going to hunt you down and pursue a surely thankless legal action -- because they have to look out for themselves first, it really worries me. Such a person is baldly stating that ethics can be thrown out the window when the consequences are important...which is of course the time when ethical considerations matter most.
What stops a person who has reneged on a job from reneging on a future job? What stops them from engaging in unethical academic behavior in any of a hundred different ways? Beyond the student level, academia is almost entirely self-policing. In my field, if someone releases a preprint, and I respond by saying that I have independently proved the result but hadn't released it publicly yet, there will be some followup questions and discussion, but unless I give them an excellent reason not to, *people will believe me*. In science, every time you write a paper describing an experiment you did, you don't submit a videotape of yourself doing the experiment, you submit a written description of the experiment...*and people believe you unless they have an excellent reason not to*. Whenever you submit a paper, it gets sent to a referee, whom you trust not to try to steal the work. And so forth: only a small amount of "justified unethical behavior" brings this crashing down.
Once upon a time I was myself in the position of having accepted -- via an email correspondence, not via filling out a contract -- a postdoctoral position. Just a few days later I got offered another postdoctoral position. The first position was a great one, but it involved moving to Canada. The second position was probably even better: it was at a top 10 math department in the US. (Financially the second position was significantly better.) But the first position was one that I hadn't even applied for originally; rather, my thesis advisor had made some phone calls and the offer came quickly: people had taken some trouble on my behalf. What did I do? I told the people offering me the second job that I was grateful for their offer but had to turn it down because I had already committed to another. In retrospect, I still feel like the second offer might have been even better for me. But a tremendously eminent mathematician went on the line and offered me a job when -- for a few days -- no one else would. Anyone who knows me knows who this person is. I can be a prickly person at times -- I certainly felt like the "loud American" during my 2.5 years in Canada -- and I imagine that this guy and most of his colleagues know me as slightly eccentric but *professionally reliable*. Having people know you as professionally reliable is really priceless if you plan on staying in the profession: for instance, we later arranged for someone to transfer part of his NSF postdoc from this Canadian department to my own department.
What should you do in academia if you want to back out of an agreement? It's simple: you *immediately contact* the party you've made the agreement with, you explain why you want to back out of the agreement, and you see what they have to say about it. They're not going to be thrilled, but they can convey to you how much hardship they will actually incur by your backing out of the agreement. If it is only a moderate amount, they will probably give you their blessing and the agreement can be mutually dissolved. If however backing out of the agreement would turn out to really be a significant, tangible, medium or long-term loss for them, then you should honor it. The OP has done something in the comments which he surely does not realize sounds absolutely obnoxious to more senior personnel: he's made all kinds of assumptions that his reneging will not be so bad for his employer. And he's making them in the face of evidence that this employer actually did go to trouble: applying for a fellowship is certainly trouble! If this is an externally funded position then it cannot easily be filled with someone else, and the faculty supervisor may well already have made plans and committed resources for the OP's arrival. Or maybe not, of course. **Ask!**
Finally, the OP doesn't seem to understand why getting a tenure-track job offer might make a difference. The difference is that every postdoc wants to get a permanent job eventually, and every postdoctoral supervisor and institution wants that out of their postdocs. Therefore, if you **ask** to renege on a postdoctoral job because you'd like to take a tenure track job instead, it is much more likely that the response will be: "Bummer for us, but congratulations for you!" *or* "Well, can you come work here even for a very short time? That will inconvenience us minimally, you'll get some further training and experience, *and* we'll be able to say that we placed our postdoc in a tenure-track job. It's a win-win!" It is however still possible that reneging on a postdoc for a tenure-track job may be unacceptable to the employer. If they tell you that, then you go back to the tenure-track job and say "Look, I *really* want this job, but I have some prior commitments. I am the type of person who honors my prior commitments even when it conflicts with my short-term best interests. Surely we can work something out?" It is likely that the position can be held open for an extra semester or year.
# Answer
> 21 votes
*How to turn down a Postdoc scholarship offer that you already signed the contract for*?
**You don't.**
I am all but a hardliner when it comes to such topics, but signing a contract and then not taking the offer is a major breach of trust. This is not "close" to burning bridges. Unless the other side is the most understanding person in the world, this is going to go down **really badly** with the other side, and mark you forever as an utterly unreliable person, whose word cannot be trusted even after the paperwork is already filed. Frankly, if it is just about location and salary, I would strongly advise against changing your mind. The only time when this *could* be acceptable is when you get offered a faculty position instead of a postdoc.
**Some Edits:**
After some more discussion, reading Pete's answer, and a good night's sleep, here are some additional clarifications to my answer:
Steve Jossup: *"I wonder whether they're working on the assumption that in a typical contract the questioner has already contracted to work for the full duration of the scholarship without notice period"*
No, that's not my assumption at all. I think it is perfectly ok to quit a two-year scholarship after one year, because something better has come up. However, to me there is a world of a difference between quitting after a year and effectively handing in your notice before your job even started. I do remember that there is a question here somewhere about what the shortest acceptable timeframe for quitting a postdoc is, but I can't find it currently.
Also, the comparison between postdocs and professional contractors is in this context quite helpful. I have been an software engineering contractor for a short time, and I would have **never** signed all the legalese paperwork for a customer and then immediately backed out because a better-paying customer came around. As a contractor, like a postdoc, you are living off of reputation, and this kind of thing is *not* good for it.
*"Isn't there a chance that the other person would be ok with the OP cancelling the deal?"*
Of course there is. Maybe the OP's original postdoc advisor does not care so much about this position anyway. Maybe the original postdoc advisor is really just that happy for the OP that he found a better post. However, in all the discussion so far, the OP has to the best of my knowledge never indicated that he plans on *discussing* with the other person. This question is all about *telling* the other person that he has changed his mind. There's an important difference.
Stephan Tarasov: *"Why should it "could be acceptable is when you get offered a faculty position"?"*
This is really just an amendment of the previous point. Even if you get offered a faculty position, you should not just *tell* the other person that you're out after all. You explain your situation to them carefully, and maybe they will understand and you will be able to renege without burning any bridges. The probability of the other person being understanding is much higher if the other post is objectively much better than the original one, which would be the case if comparing a tenure-track position and a postdoc position. A better-paying postdoc does not qualify.
Stephan Tarasov: *"this should not hurt anyone!"*
I am not sure why you would say that. The other person thought she is going to have an additional postdoc for a specified time frame, and now she isn't. How is that not very bad for her?
Stephan Tarasov: *"Are you saying you keeping all of your promises all the time?"*
I would say I try to. Anyway, a **signed contract** is certainly more than just a promise.
Anyway, I feel like I have said all there is to say on this matter. Still, I have created a chat room for this question, and should the OP or anybody else want to discuss this issue further, I invite you to discuss it in the chat room. As the commenting escalated a bit last night (surely my fault as well), I will not be answering any comments here directly anymore.
# Answer
> 8 votes
I think the main thing is "as quickly as possible." You can either call or email, but don't wait any significant amount of time. It will be awkward, but too bad.
**EDIT:** I'll note that when I wrote this answer, I think the question didn't specify that an actual contract had been signed, so I assumed that the OP just meant an informal acceptance. Obviously, once the contract is signed, you're bound to follow its terms, and as Pete and xLeitix say, there are certainly ethical considerations beyond that. I would probably state things in somewhat less absolute terms; while I think Steven Jessop is missing some aspects of academic culture, I think the question of precisely where this obligation ends is a good one. Does signing the contract create a moral obligation to do the full term of the fellowship no matter what the contract says? I don't think that would be most people's position. xLeitix says it's OK to quit after a year but not immediately, (which I think is mostly a convention based on the fact that in the US jobs go on an annual cycle, so a year later an employer can position themselves better). What about after six months? The very fact that there isn't a precise answer shows that it is a judgement call, but you do need to exercise judgement in a way the OP seems not to be. You are, when considering a change like this, obligated to assess what kind of damage doing this switch would cause (for example, to the research of your prospective sponsor) and judge whether the benefit to you really outweighs this. It certainly hasn't yet sounded to me like it would. **END EDIT**
Rather than just bluntly specifying that you're backing out, you may want to lay out the situation with the first professor, and ask if there is a way to reconcile things (maybe you can spend some time in professor 1's lab with funding from the second fellowship?). I think it will "save face" if you can think of it as some kind of hybrid of the two positions rather than you simply dropping the first professor.
I would also think carefully about just how much better the other fellowship is. I'm not an absolutist about changing your mind after accepting a job, but it is a pretty major step and one only to be taken if the other possibility is **much** better. You run the risk of seriously burning bridges, especially if you don't have a compelling reason (say, strong personal considerations, or a permanent job vs. a temporary one). You don't indicate what the difference is, but if it's just a bit more money or slightly better location, then you should probably just suck it up and stick with your original commitment.
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Tags: postdocs, funding, contract
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thread-23725
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23725
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Do IEEE transactions allow for any "co-first authors"?
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2014-06-20T16:21:11.823
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# Question
Title: Do IEEE transactions allow for any "co-first authors"?
I, personally, have never see any authors in IEEE transactions listed as "co-first" authors, as such
```
John Smith†, Bill Lee†, and Boss James
...
† These two authors contribute equally to the work.
```
Is this allowed in IEEE transactions?
# Answer
> 11 votes
Yes, it is allowed. Google scholar is your friend in such cases.
I employed this query, which looks for publications with "IEEE Transactions" in them, the text "contributed equally to", and one in (text | paper | work | article).
The results show several papers published in IEEE Transactions, which specify multiple equal co-authorship. *The way this is specified seems to be non standardized*.
For example, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TNB.2006.875054 specifies that "The first two authors contributed equally to this work." in the space reserved for details such as when the manuscript was received and revised.
In http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TED.2009.2034804, the equal contribution is specified in the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT section of the paper.
Both ways look good to me. The first case is likely achieved by communicating the authors' contribution in the cover letter / space for staff communication. The second case is achieved by simply writing the contribution in the text body.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Some people use alphabetic sorting of authors.
Assuming that the first author contributed "most" is a very fragile and questionable approach.
This is *not even* consistent within a field.
It's largely the personal preference of the supervisor, usually.
# Answer
> -3 votes
I have never seen co-first authors either ... you can use alphabetic ordering to indicate more-or-less equal contributions, or you can use partial alphabetic ordering (the first group is alphabetically ordered and the last group is not), or non-alphabetic to indicate that the first author contributed the most.
Ultimately, the system only works when co-authors are honest to the public about their contribution. If you're worried that co-authors will cheat you out of credit, you probably should not be working with them.
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Tags: authorship, ieee
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thread-23699
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23699
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IRB (Institutional review board) : Do journals ever check? Does anyone ever check?
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2014-06-20T04:12:47.033
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# Question
Title: IRB (Institutional review board) : Do journals ever check? Does anyone ever check?
I've got a project underway that involves human subjects, and I got IRB (Wikipedia Link) approval. I'm thinking about my next project while working on this one. I'd like to collect some exploratory data for the next one, and potentially make use of it in any resultant publications. Nothing involves any real risks to respondents, so I feel that there are no ethical constraints binding me.
But as a practical matter, will anyone ever check that any findings were pre-approved by an IRB to be looked-for? What might the consequences of ignoring IRB be?
This is social science.
# Answer
I have never heard of a journal checking for IRB approval. However, as @xLeitix notes, your university may care very much, since doing studies on humans without IRB approval may get it into legal issues.
*And* I personally know of one case where departmental colleagues initiated a scientific audit of a professor, requiring her to dig up *all* documentation (filled-in questionnaiers, raw data, ... *and IRB approvals*) for some studies they were concerned about. Everything checked out all right, but if the IRB approvals had not been there, the PI would have been in very deep doo-doo.
So: get your IRB approval, and make sure it's safe and sound, with scans and electronic backup. Keep it for the requisite number of years, even after the study has ended and been published. Inquire of your university how long that is. Given today's cost of storage, I would keep the scan around indefinitely.
> 11 votes
# Answer
To add to Stephan's answer, most university IRB's have specific protocols for exploratory research which does not involve going through the full IRB panel. Such things are variously named (with various levels of fact-checking and paper work):
1. Exemption from IRB.
2. Expedited IRB.
Here is one relevant link to get your started. Moreover, you can always file for amendments or extensions to your existing approved IRB protocol which are usually granted pretty quickly.
One of my advisers always told me to have your IRB bases covered. You never know when or if you could be scientifically audited.
> 6 votes
# Answer
I submit to a biology education journal and they have just started requiring the IRB number or a letter from your IRB saying the project is exempt.
It's possible to get a backwards exemption if your institution is the forgiving type and your protocol is sensible... Getting signed consent and so on.
> 2 votes
# Answer
> Nothing involves any real risks to respondents
While potential risks count against approval, no risk doesn't imply no need for approval.
E.g., if I'd want to measure native blood cells (no treatment but immediately dilute with physiological NaCl, place under the microscope, measure, and destroy). As for the amount, a drop from the finger-tip is more than enough.
For this\*, the *safest* possible sample is my own: I cannot infect myself due to the contact with my own blood. Nevertheless, ethics approval does not distinguish *who* the human in question is, and I'm treated the same as any one else: I need approval.
There are even ethical guidelines that just plain forbid this:
> > 1.5 No one should work with his or her own blood.
Obviously, for all experiments on students & colleagues there is always the question how to ensure that there is no pressure for them to participate. As this pressure could come from superiors, it logically has to include oneself. IMHO this alone is sufficient to require ethical approval for such experiments.
* things would be *completely* different if the sample were cultured or transformations were involved, etc.: there risks would *increase* if working with own samples.
> 1 votes
# Answer
I agree with all the posted answers that emphasize adherence to all IRB issues. I disagree with anything that suggests it is not that important for social science researchers. Indeed, there are some forms of social science research that is exempt (e.g., use of de-identified and publicly available data sets), but a lot of it must go through the review process.
The part of your question that has not been answered is the **consequences** of ignoring IRB. Federal regulations exist with respect to IRB, so you can be sure that your institution will take it very seriously.
http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.html
At minimum, you can fully expect an IRB to shut down your program of research if you are in violation of IRB rules and regulations. This is a very serious issue, and you must adhere to all aspects of IRB throughout your research. Indeed, it can be very challenging, but the challenges will be far easier to manage than the consequences if you are in violation.
If you are in doubt about any IRB issue with your research, talk to your IRB directly. Do not assume your research is exempt.
> 0 votes
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Tags: research-process, ethics
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thread-23750
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23750
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homework testing method for schools - how to encourage good practices and design and reduce reliance on proofreading?
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2014-06-21T11:10:41.083
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# Question
Title: homework testing method for schools - how to encourage good practices and design and reduce reliance on proofreading?
I've looked a lot for this kind of question and couldn't find anything, I think the answers here could be helpful to schools.
My collage has problems with it's homework testing system and I'd like to offer them that i'll upgrade or rebuild their testing framework.
My collage testing method is totally black-box. Students write whatever they want as long as they pass the automated tests done on school server.
The teaching assistant then proofreads all students code commenting on faulty logic and bad practices. The problem is that it's not humanly possible to proofread all this code.
My question is this:
What do you think is the best homework testing method that'll encourage (or better, **force**) students to write good code, and secondly, as a result, will reduce the teaching assistant proofreading task to a minimum.
--We program in C++ on linux.
Thank you for you comments.
# Answer
> 2 votes
You are asking for a fully automated code review pipeline, also known as the Holy Grail.
By parts:
* **Faulty logic:** this can theoretically be caught by testing. But if it were so easy, software will be bug free. If the assignment is simple enough so that there is one and only one way to do it, you can predict the algorithms, and design corner cases to test for. If there is more than one way (and people, specially beginners *will* find another way, however convoluted), you would have to review them, see which algorithms they are using, and get mean on them.
* **Code style:** there are automated tools to check style and good practices, like cppcheck but they are quite stupid. Some settings are over zealous, and they are completely unable to see through the general structure, find too long functions, or enforce single responsibility. Plus, they are designed to give suggestions to the programmer, that he will evaluate if appropiate ("do I really need to document this 3 lines long auxiliar function with a perfectly clear name and signature?").
So, in general, no, that is not possible. The only way I can think is to make it easy to expand your testing and evaluation framework. When the TA finds a mistake in a program, a test shall be added, and all of them will go through the pipeline, and that becomes one less thing to check for.
To enforce good practices, the best I can think of is to make the application grow assignment after assignment. If it is poorly coded, expanding and maintaining it will be a major effort, and the benefit of good practices will become obvious. Building larger code bases is, in my opinion, the only way one can really understand and believe why patterns and conventions are useful and not just the product of some picky guys with OCD.
But you can cheat. For example, you can manually thoroughly check the submissions with lowest style scoring that pass all the tests (supposing they would be the ones more poorly coded), and find their corner cases where they would fail and add them to your battery of tests. This is unfair, though, as you are targeting your punishment to specific submissions.
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Tags: teaching, exams
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thread-23727
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23727
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Do evaluation / recruiting committees respect "co first authors"?
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2014-06-20T16:44:05.627
|
# Question
Title: Do evaluation / recruiting committees respect "co first authors"?
Inspired by this question and this question, I continue my ongoing quest of understanding the concept of **co first-authorship**.
My question are:
* In which fields does this notion even exist?
* If the notion exists in your field, do recruiting committees (e.g., faculty search committees) actually care about this?
The background of the second part of this question is that it seems to me that a little footnote in a paper should be easy to miss for a committee, and even if a committee becomes aware of the claimed dual first-authorship, I find it hard to believe that the paper will actually be counted as another "first-authored" paper.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I have seen co-first authors in the social sciences, but it is not very common. It is usually indicated in a very small footnote that the "authors contributed equally" or something to that extent. Given that this practice is the exception than the rule, it is hard to imagine that committees (in the social sciences) will give much attention to this in whatever decision that is being made. Thus, I am in complete agreement with you that a 'co first-author' paper will actually be counted as a 'first author' paper.
For me, co-first authorship doesn't really mean much to me (in the social sciences). It is hard for me to believe that the contributions of the co-first authors were equal. Did they really quantify the actual intellectual contribution? Did they really work equally as hard? Did they really write equally as much? It would be impossible to balance every aspect of the work, so every co-first authorship paper in the social sciences is based on different divisions of labor, so the title co-first authorship really doesn't mean much.
(BTW, I would be very interested in seeing a 'highly cited' paper in the social sciences that is co first-authored.)
# Answer
> 10 votes
In theoretical computer science and mathematics, authors are (almost) always listed alphabetically. There is simply no such thing as a "first author", except lexicographically. Equivalently, *all* authors are co-first authors.
In my experience, recruiting committees generally understand and respect this practice, but (at least in computer science, where order by contribution is more common) they do occasionally have to be reminded, especially for candidates whose last names start late in the alphabet. One sentence in the CV and/or in a recommendation letter usually suffices.
For non-theoretical CS, I have seen CVs that indicated equal contribution of co-authors. Again, one sentence in the CV ("Stars indicate co-authors who contributed equally") made the notation clear, and the recruiting committee understood and respected it.
As Ari and gefei say, having a local advocate is **much** more important that having another (co-)first-author paper. If nobody on the faculty is willing to pound on the table and *demand* that you get an interview, you won't.
# Answer
> 6 votes
I have not seen co first-authorship in engineering or computer science papers. That said:
* Any committee can find reasons to accept or reject a candidate. Ultimately, if you have an advocate, it will be his/her job to find out and explain your contribution to the work. It is much more important to develop a local advocate than it is to have high numbers.
* Authorship deals only with what happens *before* the paper is published. However, what you do after publication (e.g. give talks, produce extensions) is no less important in cementing your ultimate contribution to the field.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I work in a Psychology and order of authorship matters and co-first author papers are not unheard of. As for how search committee treat them, I think you might be missing how search committee work. There is no formula in terms of how papers are weighted in terms of authorship. We want to make sure a candidate has a strong publication record. Order of authorship doesn't really matter for this as much as being associated with strong papers. In some ways we don't care how hard you worked for the publication. The second thing we look for is wether you could continue to carry out the type of research in the papers. Co-first author papers raise more questions about this then single first author papers. Generally the rest of the publication history, CV, and research statement can clarify this. I would suggest making sure your research statement makes it clear what type of research you can do on your own.
# Answer
> 1 votes
As already said, the notion of fist author barely makes sense in mathematics. It is a common and important notion in (at least some part) of biology, with the additional and complicated provisio that I have heard of second-named-co-first-authors which where really not-as-first-author-than-the-first-author-but-more-than-the-third, even when the names are marked as a balanced co-first-authorship.
With respect to the second question, you should keep in mind that it is one's job to write one's CV in a way that stresses the important points. So, in addition to underlining one's name in the list of authors for each publication in one's CV (which seems common in the fields where author order matters), I would advise to make it very clear, at one glance, which papers in your publication record are first-authored or co-first-authored (so that they are shown on the same level).
Below are two easy ways to do that (to be adapted if you need to also highlight last-authored papers).
First, you can split your publication list in two, with in the top part all first-author and co-first-author papers, and in the bottom part all other papers. If you number publications, you can use a common numbering, e.g. first-authored papers are numbered 1, 2, 3 and the other papers are numbered 4, 5, 6, etc.
This makes it easy for a committee to count the number of first-authored papers and the total number of papers you have.
A second solution is to mark all first-authored and co-first-authored papers by a clear sign (e.g. bold star), with an explicit footnote explaining the meaning of the sign.
But you certainly should not expect committees to actually open your published papers to see if by any chance a little star somewhere credits you for co-first-authorship. They can do it if they want to check your claims, but you have to claim it clearly.
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Tags: publications, authorship, faculty-application
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thread-23759
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23759
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Showing interest / Applying for PhD position that has just opened, before finishing Master studies
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2014-06-21T17:12:06.647
|
# Question
Title: Showing interest / Applying for PhD position that has just opened, before finishing Master studies
Currently I am working towards Master in Computer Science degree, hoping to be done by the end of the year. Last month a new professor moved to our University and now there are open Phd positions in his research group. I decided to work on a Master thesis provided by this group, however before starting to work on the master thesis I want to finish my exams. Additionally, I am interested for the Phd positions as I like the area of research, but I believe that it is highly unlikely that the Phd positions will remain open until I am done with the thesis. Having in mind that I have the exams to finish first, it will be ca. 6-7 months from now until I am completely done. And I believe the positions will be filled by then.
I don't know how to proceed now. I think the best asset I have in hand at the moment is the fact that I am going to work my master thesis in the group of this new professor. But other than that, there are some downsides because he does not know me as a student as he just moved to our university. Also, I don't have any publications to impress him, and my grades got slightly worse lately.
What is the best thing to do now? There are multiple options:
1) Leave the exams aside; Start working on the thesis, after starting to work on the thesis express interest in the Phd position. Ensure that the work of the thesis is high quality so the Professor is impressed.
2) Express interest in the Phd position from now. Finish the exams, and then start working on the thesis. During the process improve the grades to impress the Professor.
The dilemma here is, if I wait long to finish everything, by then the places might be gone. On the other side, if I act as soon as possible, I think as if I don't have much in hand to impress the professor.
Please consider this question having in my the context of my exact situation and then from a general view point evaluate on what could happen in the typical case.
I am sure, here we have more experienced Professors and Graduate student that could provide insightful information and suggestions.
EDIT 1: Additionally, what is the typical time frame needed for a Phd position to be filled, I believe 6 months is more than enough, or?
EDIT 2: What if there is an application deadline? And the deadline is at least 6 months away before you get the Master degree? Is it worth applying? I believe no Professor would wait for a student to get his degree for 6 months and then give him a position? My basic instinct says "go for it" there is nothing you would loose at least you are not going to regret that you didn't do it, however when thinking rationally all the odds seem against
Thanks!
# Answer
If you are currently working on a master's thesis in the group of the professor with whom you'd like to a do a PhD, the best thing to do is **set up an appointment and talk to him.**
As an advisor, I don't need to have a published paper to see whether someone in my own group is a competent researcher or not. I can see this by interacting with the person, through reading their project updates and emails, and by talking with other the more senior members of the research group (who sometimes will work with the students more closely than I can).
Given that the goal of an advisor is to select people they believe will become excellent researchers rather than simply the "top students," someone who is an "internal" candidate is often a better option than taking a chance on someone whose work the faculty member hasn't been able to observe directly.
\[That said, however, I think there is also something to be said for considering going somewhere else for a PhD than the place where you did your bachelor's and master's degrees, when it makes sense to do so.\]
> 10 votes
# Answer
Talk to the new professor ASAP, since he will be the one to make the decision about admitting you.
When someone moves to a new school/job, they are "unsure" about how they will be accepted at the new place. The best thing you can do is to give him a "welcoming gift" in the form of a student who will do what it takes to get into his group. Assuming that your qualifications are halfway decent, being among the first to welcome him may be all it takes to get it.
The professor may well have preferences as to whether you should do your thesis or your exams first. If he expresses a preference, follow that preference in order to "qualify."
On the other hand, he may say, I'll hold a spot for you until you complete both your thesis and exams. Getting a commitment at this early stage is way different from waiting until you are ready, and applying then.
It's like the airlines; they have a bunch of "cheap seats" for people who buy tickets "early." If you wait until the day of the flight, you will have to pay "full price."
> 2 votes
# Answer
I think the answer depends strongly on where the money comes from. I third the advice to talk to the professor in question immediately.
In the US, for example, the answer will partially hinge on whether the money needs to be spent on a project that starts now or soon, say National Science Foundation grant money, or is coming from the professor's startup package and has a much longer or unlimited time horizon. If it's the latter, then they may not be too worried about when you might start, and therefore might be willing to make a commitment on you now for a position in a year.
> 1 votes
# Answer
People need to eat, so they need jobs. One does not need to wait until a time limited job is finished before searching for a new one.
There is nothing wrong with politely showing interest in doing a PhD in his research group. The fact that you are at the same institution means he can just go to your Master's advisor and informally ask if you are good for the position, and probably trust it more than a recommendation letter.
If he wants you on board, comes the starting date that the funding requires; but this is something only he can know, and will tell you upfront if he needs to fill the position before you finish. Even in this case, showing interest may put you on his list in case he gets another grant, or could forward you offers from other groups. If he *really* wants you, sometimes there are ways to get you in; for example, if the university does not require you to have a master to enrol on a PhD.
Regarding the timings, announced positions usually quote a deadline. You may want to wait to be closer to it so you have more time to build up your thesis, but on the other hand, the longer you wait, the bigger the chances your application will just join a big pile for review. In this case, probably the sooner the better, because it is unlikely your thesis will radically improve in a few of weeks (you will get progress, of course, but not a breakthrough that is not visible already).
Lastly, as aeismail said, I think is very important for a researcher to move around institutions, and when possible and makes sense, even countries. I did my undergraduate in Spain and a Master's in Sweden, and I can see they are very different systems; so they sort of complement each other's deficiencies. On the other hand, I know brilliant people that studied all the way to the PhD in the same university, and plan to become lecturers there some day. As such, they don't get "new input"; they have the same weak points and deficiencies as the people who taught them, and they will just perpetuate it.
> 0 votes
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Tags: phd, graduate-admissions, masters, application
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thread-23781
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23781
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Is it reasonable to use full word and abbreviation in parenthesis in a chapter title?
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2014-06-22T07:07:16.930
|
# Question
Title: Is it reasonable to use full word and abbreviation in parenthesis in a chapter title?
Can I use full word plus its abbreviation in parenthesis in a chapter title? here is my case:
Chapter 2 Human Immune System (HIS)
is it correct? Is there any differences if the the full word have appeared before in the previous chapter content.
# Answer
In general, the only abbreviations that should be used in "headlines" and titles are "standard" ones that are normally (or at least very frequently) written in their abbreviated form. So, something like *Escherichia coli* could obviously be written as *E. coli* in a title without problems. (Similarly, in my field, we have an algorithm entitled "particle–particle particle–mesh" which can be written as "PPPM" or "P3M" without detriment.)
However, any abbreviation that *you* have introduced in the course of writing should probably be avoided *unless* the alternative is too unwieldy. Moreover, you should not normally use both abbreviations and the expanded text unless you're using the title to define the abbreviation: for instance,
> *SAUCE*: Simplified Abbreviations for Unwieldy Complex Expressions
> 9 votes
# Answer
I can not say this is incorrect, but it is probably unorthodox. If there are no strong reason to put an abbreviation in the title, you may wish to introduce it in the first sentences of the chapter itself.
> 14 votes
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Tags: thesis, writing
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thread-23769
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23769
|
When to use inline versus displayed equations in a publication?
|
2014-06-21T21:38:07.143
|
# Question
Title: When to use inline versus displayed equations in a publication?
On a publication (thesis, paper, other), when should I write an equation *inline* and when should it be separated and numbered from the text?
I've seen publications containing both styles, but I don't know if there is a rule to choose among them. My field is applied computer science.
# Answer
> 20 votes
A numbered equation always takes a separate line, so there is no question here — if you need to refer to some equation later in the text, it deserves a separate line and it needs a number.
If your equation is as long as a line, or even longer, then again — it should always be placed out-of-text.
To answer the rest of your question, we should think a little how we (e.g. your readers) read inline equations, and how we read equations on separate lines. First of all, inline equations merge into the text, and provide some smoothness (it is just like you speak and draw on a whiteboard at the same time). In contrast, equations of a separate line break the text (just like you write a long equation on a whiteboard and take a big pause to let your audience reflect on it).
If there are no pauses in the text, it is hard to comprehend. Too many pauses raise similar problems, because it becomes difficult to focus on the most important pieces then. My advice is to think about the role of each equation and put only the most important equations in a spotlight of a separate line.
# Answer
> 4 votes
It's matter of style. But always think about the reader - what is the most convenient for her/him.
I agree with most of points raised by Dmitry. However, when reading publications I often see too many inline equations, which make it harder to comprehend. It often happens due to space restrictions.
My personal stance is that only very short and simple things should be put as inline equations (like $x \in {1,2,3}$ or $y=Ax$). That is, ones that at the same time are too technical to deserve a separate line and short and easy, so they can be read with the sentence without any pause.
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Tags: publications, thesis, mathematics, writing-style, formatting
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thread-23798
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23798
|
Why are external PhDs considered to take "decades"?
|
2014-06-22T15:49:06.563
|
# Question
Title: Why are external PhDs considered to take "decades"?
I have just finished my master degree (TU Vienna) and I am working 20 hours per week. I have talked to several professors in my field of interest and they said that the earliest position for a PhD would be in December, because of funding.
However, I think I could take the route as external researcher and do my PhD by working 20 hours per week and devoting the other 20 hours to my research.
By browsing some posts here I have read that a lot of you consider an external PhD as inefficient (it takes a *long* time, etc.). Why? What are the reasons for that? Can't such a PhD be done within 3 years?
> UPDATE
**PS.:** What are mostly the reason that it takes so long?
# Answer
This advice is based on Computer Science mostly, and it may or may not apply directly to you. As far as I understand your area is only marginally related to Computer Science through the fact that you're interested in Algorithmic Trading.
Everything depends on two factors: **your goals** and **the speed with which you are able to learn and create the things that you need to do in order to achieve your goals**. If your goal is to be a professor at TU Vienna, then you will obviously at some point need to submit a PhD thesis and later a Habilitation thesis. The PhD thesis can have 3 to 6 papers in good conferences and one - two papers in some journals, and your habilitation thesis will consist of a minimum of 5 articles in good journals (A-level journals). You will also have to submit some grant proposals and after you manage to get those grants to finish them successfully (typically the requirement is to have EU grants or ERC grants). So you will have to produce at least 15 conference articles, 8-10 journal articles, 2 thesis, and 2 grants in order to get to an Assistant Professor or Professor in Vienna. If you manage to get every paper accepted first time when you submit it (something unheard of), you will still need 6 - 15 years to get to Assistant Professorship or Professorships (counting from the first year of your PhD). Keep in mind that at TU, Assistant or Junior Professorships appear only once at two years or so (and just one position). Most of the people I know from Vienna (TU Vienna, WU, IST Austria, etc) were able to finish PhD thesis in 4-5 years (full time) or 7-8 years (part-time), so there is no reason to consider that it might take a decade.
The system also makes you quit really fast (after 1-2 years) if you do not want (or you are not able for some reason) to put in the effort that is required in order to create at least a decent thesis. The professor will stop talking to you if you don't make any progress for a number of months, for example, or if your papers are not accepted at top conferences. What you need to understand is that your supervisor is your guide, but you will eventually make the journey alone. The supervisor will just help you polish your articles or thesis.
These being said, before applying for a PhD, I would check the CVs, thesis and articles written by TU Professors (Thomas Eiter, Georg Gottlob, Radu Grosu, Silvia Micksh, Stefan Woltran, etc). It helps a lot, as their expectations are that you will produce some work that is at least partially connected to their last articles (so that your work will also fit into their various research projects). Also try to talk with some of their students (you can easily detect them by looking through their CVs - they might have a PhD students entry - or through DBLP or Scholar by looking at their latest publications and identifying collaborators that only published few papers in the last 2-3 years). Try to understand what a PhD means, what are the expectations, and what is the amount of work you need to put in order to get to good results.
I would also recommend you to check these interesting slides from one of the professors I just mentioned: http://www.ifs.tuwien.ac.at/~silvia/research-tips/.
The idea is to **try to estimate the expectations, the amount of work needed and the time you think you will need in order to fulfill this work**. The actual number of papers depends a lot on the domain in which you are working, but also on the quality of the outlets where you will publish (you might end up with a smaller number of papers if all of them are only in the top outlets for your field). Good luck!
Disclaimer: I do not directly work with any of the persons already mentioned, but I do work at a university from Vienna.
> 5 votes
# Answer
Being a PhD student is a **full-time job**.
True, "officially" you may be assigned to 20 hours of "study" and 20 hours of "work" by the university, but this is just a way to determine your salary, and does NOT reflect the amount of time you actually spend on research studies.
In the U.S., the nominal time for PhD is about five to six years average. This assumes the student is a full time student. While some people finish their PhD in three years or less, this is truly exceptional. The average is six. (This was the case at least in the school I attended, in the Computer Science department. Length may vary in other departments.) It also depends on what you aim for in your PhD: is graduating after publishing just one paper good enough for you?
Now let's do the math. If it takes about six years to finish a degree, assuming full time, then how much time would it take for a part-time student? Take into consideration also 20%-30% extension of time due to context-switching, but also reduce 15%-25% of the time due to being more efficient (it's easier to waste time when working full-time, in my opinion).
You arrive at 10+ years.
Then again, I know people that worked part-time and studied part-time, and were able to complete their PhD studies in four to six years. I also know people that took five to six years to finish their MSc degree (which nominally takes two years), due to having another full-time job.. It depends mostly on your abilities and aims from PHD (but also quite a bit on your luck).
> 28 votes
# Answer
And to add to what Ran G said, if you work at half the speed, it will take you longer to produce scientific results, duplicating the chances that you get scooped.
This said, it is common for medical doctors and some nurses with a full time job to do a PhD, but that is a whole different beast (and does take many years).
> 1 votes
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Tags: phd, research-process
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thread-23811
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23811
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Revamping Paper Authorship, *or* Should Papers Roll Credits
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2014-06-23T01:06:25.960
|
# Question
Title: Revamping Paper Authorship, *or* Should Papers Roll Credits
A junior researcher with no reputation (as we've dropped the facade of double-blind review, reputation counts) may benefit from coauthoring with a senior researcher of established reputation, and may accept such a co-authorship with no more than a nominal contribution.
Surely if a senior researcher comes up with the idea, sends the junior researcher off to get his data, provides fruitful advice on where to look, critiques the data gathering methods proposed and refines it if necessary, reviews early to late drafts of the write up, indisputably that senior researcher deserves recognition of coauthorship despite never having directly given voice to the document.
How much advice does a professor have to give before he becomes an coauthor? Isn't the below image's last author listing wrong? Isn't it academic dishonesty on the parts of all of the authors to take and give credit where it is not due? Isn't it misleading to the readers of these papers?
Further, are these semantically unordered? Maybe this indicates we can drop that facade as well, since order apparently does have meaning (unless explicitly ordered alphabetically).
If we really care about people rightfully getting credit, perhaps a paper should list credits in the same way that a movie does.
Perhaps something like:
```
The Prestigious Journal of Import Vol XLVI No 2, June 1992
A Paper We Wrote
Primary Author: Sap, P. S.
Primary Advisor: Oliveira, L.
Reviewers: Lee, E. F., Nichols, S. T.,
Figures: Michael, C.
Dept Chair: Smith, B. S.
Abstract
The time has come, to talk of many things, of shoes, of ships, of sealing
...
```
### Question:
Do we need to revamp how authorships are credited, do papers need to roll credits, a'la Hollywood? Or is all of this inferred by our list order, and it doesn't really matter who did what, all authors signed off on it, so current practice is equivalent to as if each of them contributed equally and in kind?
# Answer
There is movement towards contributorship as a concept to replace authorship. Journals like Science and Nature (and others) ask authors to provide a list of each contributors contribution. Add to that a definition of what constitutes contributorship (Vancouver Protocol; see ICMJE for the following example):
> * Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work;
>
> AND
>
> * Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
>
> AND
>
> * Final approval of the version to be published;
>
> AND
>
> * Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
In this case it is the publishers and editors who will have to implement the tools to provide the correct credit. As an author it is possible to volunteer the information in the acknowledgement. It is of course still possible to give false credit by faking entries for authors who have not contributed but I doubt any system will be perfect.
> 12 votes
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Tags: publications, authorship
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thread-23743
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23743
|
Advice wanted concerning students who have had run ins with the law.
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2014-06-20T23:15:26.363
|
# Question
Title: Advice wanted concerning students who have had run ins with the law.
I am a first year grad student with an expunged felony in the state of Arkansas. I am looking for advice on if and how I should communicate this with my adviser. The felony is due to a drug crime and took place ~decade ago. I ask this because through out my academic career I may need to go to conferences in other countries and this may affect my ability to get through customs and enter those countries hosting the conference.
I am looking for other students who were in the same boat, professors who have dealt with similar situations, and in general opinions from advisers on how they would like to be approached in situations such as this.
Thanks for the communities knowledge in advance.
# Answer
You don't need to explain the details. Here is the most I would do. If the situation comes up (e.g., your advisor suggests you attend a conference that would require international travel you are not comfortable with), tell your advisor how this will affect your professional work: e.g., you would prefer to publish in domestic conferences, you are not comfortable travelling internationally, or whatever the implication is. Your advisor doesn't need to know the details of why (e.g., that you had a felony).
Of course, you can always explain these details if you feel comfortable doing so. That will depend upon the nature of your relationship with your advisor. But you shouldn't feel like it is mandatory to explain this aspect of your personal history. This is a professional relationship, and in professional relationships, you only need to provide enough information to allow you to meet your professional obligations and goals.
Basically, think of it this way. Why does your advisor need to know? What will the implications be, in terms of how it will affect his advice to you? Then think about how to convey the implications without the unnecessary details, and whether there is even any need or value in conveying any information at all. That might help guide you figure out what to explain. You might find you never need to explain anything related to this to your advisor.
> 8 votes
# Answer
Three points:
**Don't tell them.** Whatever the reason you're thinking of telling them now, their primary interest in you is academic, and yours should be the same. The last thing you want to do is distract them into thinking about you in any other context than your field of study. As much as they're on your side, you would much prefer them to think about you doing research than drugs.
**Talk to a lawyer.** Just to be safe, because you're venturing into legal territory, and we're not a bunch of lawyers, for the most part.
**Your motivation is probably not valid** I think the impetus for even suggesting this is unnecessary. I don't know your field, but the likelihood of you *needing* to travel outside the US is probably not there. Unless your advisor has said something like: *"We always go to this convention in Zurich, and you'll be expected to go next year..."* in which case, see the prior advice point.
> 6 votes
# Answer
The downside of making it known is you open yourself up to potential discrimination. I think there are 4 categories of people. Those who could care less, those who are going to discriminate no matter what, those who won't spend the time to get to know you because of the issue, but if they already knew you would be fine, and hose who would be fine from the outset, but would be upset because you tried to hide it. I don't really believe you can hide the expunged felony from everyone without hurting personal relationships with your colleagues. Therefore you need to weigh the people who will not give you a chance against those who will be upset by the apparent deceit. To me it is a no brainer. Telling people know will mean a few missed opportunities, but probably not a big deal. If your PhD supervisor or post doc supervisor finds out later and becomes so against you they stop writing letters of reference, then that is a disaster.
I would suggest mentioning it in passing to your supervisor. Then follow it up a few days later more formally asking if he/she thinks it is going to be a problem.
> 4 votes
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Tags: conference, professorship, advisor, legal-issues
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thread-23847
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23847
|
Do schools/departments ever evaluate their own admissions process?
|
2014-06-23T12:43:46.830
|
# Question
Title: Do schools/departments ever evaluate their own admissions process?
I'm curious as to whether or not any departments ever attempt to evaluate their own admissions decisions. It seems quite plausible to do for any college or graduate program, but I've never heard of it done. I have in mind some kind of data analysis comparing student success in the program or beyond with variables from the application.
I understand some might not like the idea, but as noisy as admissions are, I was wondering if schools ever reflect on their own decisions and attempt to identify strengths and weaknesses?
# Answer
This practice is not frequent, and it is rarely systematic and rigorous. However, from a decision-making perspective, this has been given attention by Robyn Dawes, who was a very well-known psychologist at Carnegia Mellon. Here is one of his papers on the topic, which has been cited about 500 times (per Google Scholar). Some recent evaluations have been published, but relative to the total number of admissions committees that exist across all graduate schools, I can confidently say it is not many.
Dawes, R. M. (1971). A case study of graduate admissions: Application of three principles of human decision making. American Psychologist, 26(2), 180.
> 6 votes
# Answer
To me the best evaluation of an admissions process would be the success of students once through the system. I am not sure what would otherwise be evaluated? Perhaps that can be expanded upon in the question? In any case, I am sure many departments run tabs on where alumni go and I can only share the statistics from two departments my Alma Mater and my current workplace.
Figure 1. Statistics on post-graduate careers of students from the Geology department of University of Minnesota
Figure 2. Statistics on post-graduate careers of PhD students from the Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology department at Stockholm University
So from this perspective the admissions system is evaluated from the perspective of employability within the field.
To study the process itself one would need to set up some additional criteria against which to evaluate the process but I am not sure what those criteria would necessarily be. Some aspects such as gender and ethnicity bias are of course identified but it is unclear if there is a need to try to actively change the interest of applicants other than strive to reach under-represented groups. Such outreach activities are, however, not part of the admission process.
> 3 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, administration
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thread-23832
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23832
|
How do we properly include and cite a set of equations from another paper?
|
2014-06-23T10:23:54.723
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# Question
Title: How do we properly include and cite a set of equations from another paper?
When writing a paper which applies some known method to a new problem, for completeness we may need to summarize that method, probably as a section on its own.
In the paper where it was first proposed, the method was described in a set of equations. In my case, I need to include some of these equations, because I need to refer to them in the subsequent part of my paper.
Currently I write something like the following:
> We apply the X method \[citation\], which we shall summarize below, to describe ...
and then comes the equations, interspersed with some texts, which are paraphrased from the originals.
How do we give the proper attribution to the paper in which the method was first described, without giving the impression that some of the equations are our own? Is the above sufficient? Including \[citation\] before every equation seems awkward, since all of these equations are from a single paper.
# Answer
> 10 votes
It is generally sufficient to say explicitly that "in this section we will recall the method X from \[citation\]", and then simply do it. However, you may find it preferable not to quote equations and text from the original paper, but to adopt it according to the style, notation and message of your own manuscript.
# Answer
> 3 votes
I would suggest making it clear, that you also quote the equations, e.g.
> We apply the X method \[citation\], to describe ... The derivations and equations below are cited and summarized from \[citation\]:
And I would also include the major equations in your paper. Not every reader may have access to your sources, and if the equations are necessary to understand your data/approach they should be provided in your text.
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By *major equations* I mean final expressions but not the steps how they are derived. As author, ask yourself which equations are necessary to understand the methodology and not common lore in your field.
# Answer
> 2 votes
If the equations in your source are numbered, you can use the source's numbering, perhaps with a prefix. For example, if you quote equation (2.15) in the source, you could number it as (X.2.15). Then this prefix will serve to distinguish the quoted equations from your own. If you only quote a few equations, you could also follow them with something like "these equations appear as (2.15) and (2.19) in \[citation\]".
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Tags: citations, writing
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thread-23851
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23851
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Including many pages of serialization code and generated source code in Master's thesis?
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2014-06-23T13:34:56.780
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# Question
Title: Including many pages of serialization code and generated source code in Master's thesis?
I'm working on my Master's thesis in Computer Science. Shortly, I am "drawing" a diagram, which is then serialized and from the serialization I generate some source code. So, my question is not about the code of my application, but about the code generated by it. I think we can call it the result of my app.
I want to include an example of what output (source code, although I will also include the intermediary serialization) has my app for a certain input (a diagram). I mention that this would mean many pages, maybe a total of 7-10. Should I include this in the part related to the results or maybe in an appendix? Or is there a more suitable place? Or should I not include anything at all?
# Answer
> 8 votes
Short answer: **put your code in public repo, and cite the repo in your paper.**
**Long answer:** Any academic document you produce is supposed to be readable and useful to your readers. Try to put yourself in a reader's shoes and imagine how you feel reading through a 7-page long autogenerated code? Is is a pleasant or useful experience that you would like to repeat one day?
The modern technology allows us to use much more than just a text on the paper to present our research outputs. Although a short pieces of code may be extremely useful and appropriate in textbooks or some articles, the long code and auto-generated code really does not belong to the paper. It should be kept in a public repository, where it really belong, and used as a working example, which people can download, modify and execute, not just enjoy it aesthetically in a pdf file.
# Answer
> 1 votes
I assume you are publishing the code that you wrote by hand. Then, the interested reader can just run it and get the output.
Generated code is usually unreadable, so there is little point in going through tens of papers of near-garbage. What could be a good idea is to show some excerpts, no more than a paragraph. One option is perhaps some particularly clever parts, like the handling of a particular corner case; another would be a fairly general simple case, to see how readable it would be.
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Tags: masters, thesis, computer-science, writing-style, code
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thread-23855
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23855
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Is it possible to work full time in an industry position while on sabbatical?
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2014-06-23T14:27:01.860
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# Question
Title: Is it possible to work full time in an industry position while on sabbatical?
The standard situation in US research universities is for the university to pay one semester of salary for a year of sabbatical leave, and faculty typically take this sabbatical at another university or research lab, where there is a clear sense of how to fund the sabbatical.
I'm interested to know whether anyone has experience on how to (ethically) fund an industry sabbatical. Specifically:
* Is it possible to work full time in an industry position? If so, do you get half-pay? Half-hours?
* What (ethical) obligations do you have to ongoing grants (say from the National Science Foundation) during such a sabbatical year?
* What (ethical) obligations do you have towards the university that is paying a semester of salary?
# Answer
> 4 votes
Every university has a policy for addressing these matters, and it is best that you obtain the specific policy from your own institution -- a general survey of what goes on at other places will likely not be informative to your present situation. Federal funding sometimes can be used to cover the other part of your salary -- but, again, it depends on the funding source and the rules of your institution.
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Tags: ethics, university, professorship, funding, sabbatical
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thread-23858
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23858
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How can I find out when an Editor intends to publish my paper?
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2014-06-23T14:44:05.380
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# Question
Title: How can I find out when an Editor intends to publish my paper?
My manuscript was accepted in an ISI journal 6 months ago, but it is not published online yet. I found that the journal published online some manuscripts that were accepted after my acceptance date. Therefore, I sent several emails to the journal Editor but, I did not receive any answer.
How can I find when the journal aim to publish my manuscript?
# Answer
> 6 votes
Typically, a publisher uses an online system that allows authors to track the status of their paper. Double-check your inbox (particularly Spam folder) for a automatic email from such system (search the journal name for example).
If you are sure that you did not hear from the publisher and the journal editor within 6 months, I would say, it becomes worrying. The academic publishing was never a particularly fast process, but this situation probably oversteps the limits. Consider writing to the support team of your publisher and to Editor-in-Chief of your journal with inquiry. Also, consider sharing the name of the journal with your peers to prevent future misuse of anyone's precious time.
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Tags: publications
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thread-23829
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23829
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Is it problematic to use a Wikipedia article I wrote in my PhD thesis?
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2014-06-23T09:53:23.093
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# Question
Title: Is it problematic to use a Wikipedia article I wrote in my PhD thesis?
I'm working on a specific subject, and I thought that sharing my **bibliographical and synthesis work from peer-reviewed journals** on Wikipedia could be a good idea. Moreover, there is no Wikipedia entry on that subject.
But as I will use that work for my PhD thesis, is this problematic because someone might think that I have plagiarised the material from Wikipedia?
Note that this question could apply to any similar collaborative encyclopedia, not just to Wikipedia, and that the article I'm writing is subject to collaborative change.
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Edit : by synthesis work I **do not** mean :
> combine material from multiple sources to reach or imply a conclusion not explicitly stated by any of the sources
but
> reduce the information in lengthy sources to an encyclopedic length
More information on Wikipedias SYNTH policies and here
Also the question is related to sharing my bibliographical work on a collaborative platform, regardless to the platform policy (assuming I can), and potential problems re-using it afterwards, in a PhD thesis.
# Answer
> 47 votes
No, but make sure you cite it *and* mention it, to avoid being accused of copying and pasting from Wikipedia.
In any case, it is *great* that you have contributed to Wikipedia and I wish more people considered using pieces of their introductory chapters for Wikipedia. Just make sure that people know that you copied to, not from, Wikipedia. (I mean, the order is irrelevant, i.e. whether you first wrote text for Wikipedia or your thesis, but the authorship is.)
# Answer
> 24 votes
The other answers address the question of "once I post this on Wikipedia, can I include it in my thesis?" I would like to address another angle - I am not sure that you should be posting this on Wikipedia at all.
Wikipedia has a policy banning the inclusion of original research. This means "research that is not exclusively based on a summary, review or synthesis of earlier publications on the subject of research." (See English Wikipedia's policy on original research here)That is, basically anything that would be publishable as a thesis. This is because Wikipedia is an encyclopedia - that is, a tertiary source that aggregates information from secondary (and sometimes primary) sources - it cannot accept primary-source material like original research.
You say that you want to share your "bibliographical and synthesis work" on your subject. Bibliographical work may be useful for Wikipedia, but any synthesis you did to add your own ideas and/or discuss them may well be considered original research and be prohibited. The fact that no article exists on the topic leads me to think that it may be a theory or idea of your own and may be considered original research if posted.
That said, as Piotr Migdal said, it's great that you are thinking of contributing to Wikipedia. Wikipedia definitely needs more academics and people who are experts in various areas to contribute their knowledge - it just has to be knowledge that's already accepted in the field, rather than original, non-yet-peer-reviewed research.
# Answer
> 8 votes
I think you can do this safely, but you will want to take some precautions like Piotr mentioned. However, from a practical standpoint, I don't recommend anything that might create problems with your dissertation work. You haven't finished your PhD thesis, and your efforts on that project are far more important than writing a Wikipedia entry for a topic that isn't covered. Even if you cover all your bases, you still have a risk of somebody raising the issue of plagiarism. I suggest minimizing such distractions and side projects and focus exclusively on your thesis. You can then devote your time to these projects after it is defended.
# Answer
> 3 votes
And why not the other way around? First, obtain your PhD and finish your dissertation. Once this has been done, cite among the other bibliographical items in Wikipedia your dissertation.
In this way, there will be no problem. Since it will be the Wikipedia article based on your thesis and not the other way around.
# Answer
> -5 votes
Yes, it's problematic. Quoting wikipedia is, to some people, always dodgy, whatever the context. Just don't do it in an academic work.
And you can't reuse your own words, having broadcast them once in wikipedia, without explicitly stating that you're quoting wikipedia - that would be self-plagiarism, just as when if you'd quoted a previous paper you'd written, without explicitly identifying that it was a quote.
So don't do it.
If you've written your best stuff for wikipedia, and left yourself with a dead end for your academic work, then count it as a lesson learnt. But it's more likely that you've just put on wikipedia one first attempt at formulation. So now do a better one, completely rephrased, and use that in your thesis. Then you don't need to mention wikipedia in your thesis at all, except in the acknowledgements section if you wish.
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Tags: thesis, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, wikipedia
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thread-23869
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23869
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Is it safe to show my old advisor my new paper?
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2014-06-23T18:27:19.413
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# Question
Title: Is it safe to show my old advisor my new paper?
I've already graduated. I wrote a paper related to my Master's thesis. I am planning on sending it to my adviser to ask if I should ethically include his name as an author. He seems to be ethical as far as I can tell, but in general is something like this dangerous to do?
Edit: I am wondering if showing your paper to other people before it is published is dangerous, I am worried about things like theft, even though he seems to be reputable, now that I am no longer connected to him academically.
# Answer
If you work in the US or Europe, intend to complete the paper and submit it for review somewhere soon, and have records that show the development work that you've done on the paper, there's little harm in showing it to people that you trust. If you don't trust your former supervisor, then I'd wait until you've submitted it or even have an acceptance in hand.
That being said, I'm wondering why you don't already know whether they should be a co-author and haven't already discussed the fact that you're writing a paper on which they might need to contribute. You should at least discuss this with them if there's any contribution of theirs in what you're writing up.
> 3 votes
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Tags: publications
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thread-17012
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17012
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Would research internship experience lower my chance of getting a technical job?
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2014-02-16T11:12:54.423
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# Question
Title: Would research internship experience lower my chance of getting a technical job?
I am a CS/EEE person. A resident of India. I am hoping to apply for an internship in either BARC or TIFR. These are internships related to research. A senior told me that having a Research Internship in his CV counted against him for a technical job interview.
Is this true? Should I rather apply for a Technical Internship instead? The kind of job I am looking to do later is a technical one, not one related to research.
CS/EEE -- Computer Science / Electrical and Electronics Engineering
BARC -- Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
TIFR -- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
# Answer
I can answer this question from my undergrad experience and work ex in India.
**Short Answer**: No, having research experience doesn't hinder your chances of getting into a technical job.
**Long Answer:** Having a good research project/internship demonstrates your deep thinking abilities and capacity to do challenging work often with minimal guidance. Good companies often admire these skills. In addition to this, research internship along with good implementation part(CS specific), count heavily to your favour.
The advise of your college senior (without any offense) is directed primarily towards service sector companies and is misleading. The reason is not that your research internship would not give you proper skills for the job, but that your research experience may give them an indication that you would leave the job for higher studies. There are many other factors such companies consider for minimizing the attrition rate and maintaining high reserve manpower, and research experience is certainly not at the top of that list.
> 4 votes
# Answer
I don't think this would count against you. It could perhaps be beneficial to have both research and conventional internship experience, but I think the research experience could only help you.
Personally, I have not done any research (I am a Computer Science and Business student), but I do know some people who have had both research positions and conventional internships, and they said that interviewers often focused on talking about their research experience (and these people also got extremely good jobs with companies that a lot of CS students dream of working for).
> 2 votes
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Tags: internship
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thread-23885
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23885
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Do journals hold rejections against authors?
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2014-06-24T08:25:50.300
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# Question
Title: Do journals hold rejections against authors?
I am BSc student. When I was in the fourth semester (end of the second year), I did my course project and submitted it to my professor. His efforts in order to publish it really shocked me. It was just a course project and I already had a conference paper out of it. I know the article was so foolish and basic but he is insisting on publishing it. After two rejections he is submitting it to another journal. **Does this journal count this rejections as negative points for the authors?** If I am going to submit any paper to this journal in the future do they count this rejections?
# Answer
> 11 votes
Rejections are not necessarily a negative when submitting to a new journal. Of course, it means a careful editor will take an extra careful look at the manuscript before accepting it for review. They key point is, however, that when submitting a previously rejected manuscript it is necessary to, first, be upfront with the rejection and the reasons for it, and, second, to provide clear details on how the previous reviews have been used to improve the manuscript for the current submission. So, clearly, of one simply submit the same manuscript over and over again, yes, there is a chance someone may accept it in the end, but it is very poor work ethics to do so. A manuscript that has been rejected and significantly improved from comments received and additional work done, will have a pretty good chance of being published. As an editor you can then see indications of what may be key issues with the paper. This does not mean, as some seem to think, that submitting half-baked manuscripts and have reviewers beat them into order is the way to write good papers so there are fine lines of good conduct which have to be followed.
As for holding a rejection against you: No, not unless there are repeated sloppy submissions. But even then, every manuscript receives an independent check to see if it is of sufficient quality. A bad reputation just means you will raise flags with editors whenever you submit. And, *once* will not create a reputation.
# Answer
> 10 votes
I have never heard of a journal holding rejected manuscripts against the authors. Editors likely keep track informally of problem authors such that if an author is consistently submitting low quality work they may be more likely to desk reject the work than bother reviewers with it. That said, one or two low quality submissions would not be problematic.
The UK research councils have started to implement a waiting period for low quality grant submissions. Basically, if you submit two low quality grant applications in a row on sequential deadlines, you will be barred from submitting another application on the next deadline. Once the waiting period is over, the issue is forgotten. The penalty is pretty small since it is pretty hard, if not impossible, to rapidly come up with three good funding proposals. Having a mandated few month break is probably a good thing. This is relatively new and some day publishers may follow suit, but as of now, no publisher imposes such a model.
To summarise, if the PI thinks there is a reasonable chance of publication, then a few rejections (less than a dozen) will not hurt your reputation or future chance of publishing other material.
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Tags: publications, journals, paper-submission, editors, rejection
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thread-23874
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23874
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How do selection committees ensure that they won't steal an applicant's ideas as presented in his/her research statement?
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2014-06-23T21:44:22.603
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# Question
Title: How do selection committees ensure that they won't steal an applicant's ideas as presented in his/her research statement?
Academic job applications usually require the submission of a research statement, which describes not only the applicant's research experience, but also future direction of their work. As such, it may contain some novel ideas.
Considering that a research statement is not a publication, and therefore, can't be cited, how does a selection committee ensure that nothing in an applicant's research statement (especially those of unsuccessful applicants) will be stolen by anyone in the selection committee who reads it?
I mean, since the applicant's submitted documents are probably only known to the selection committee and the applicant him/herself, isn't it easy for anyone in the committee to copy those ideas without being found out?
A related question, if a member in the committee identifies an interesting and promising idea of an unsuccessful applicant, and is keen to pursue the idea, what should the committee member do? How do you give credit to the unsuccessful applicant when the research statement is the only document where the idea is described?
To be clear, my concern is more on the committee, not how I can prevent the committee from stealing my idea. One day I might be sitting as a selection committee member myself, and I'd like to know what I should do in this situation.
This question is related to Research statement ideas got used by interviewing committee, but looking from the perspective of the committee.
# Answer
Academics are presented with confidential material all the time. We review manuscripts and grants and we are expected to not steal those ideas. A research statement is very similar to a grant proposal. When we are given applications to review we are reminded that they are confidential and should not be circulated. This is the same as when reviewing a grant. While many funding agencies and publishers have clear statements that reviewers must agree to, departments generally do not produce such guidelines. That said, a department would likely come down very hard on an individual who did not respect the confidentiality of an applicant.
With that out of the way, it is often that a reviewer has similar ideas as an applicant. On the face of it, it may appear that the reviewer has stolen the idea from a proposal, when in fact it was an independent idea that the reviewer had already had. One question is should reviewers decline to review based on a conflict of interest when the proposed work is similar to their current/future work. In my opinion, they should not since they are in the best position to review the work and the similarity is likely the reason they have been asked to review. This then does leave the burden on the reviewers to be able to document that the research agenda is in fact their own and not stolen from the confidential proposal.
The final issue is to document anything that is unique to your proposal. Saying you want to study topic X does not make it yours. Saying you want to study topic X with method Y, isn't much better. If the proposal says I want to study topic X with novel method Y because of reason Z, then the linking of X, Y, and Z might be important. If you document this, then at least if someone studies X with Y, you can get the credit for coming up with the brilliant idea of using method Y on problem X. In some ways realising that problem X can be solved with method Y is more important than actually solving the problem.
> 10 votes
# Answer
Best way to prevent ideas from being stolen (IMHO): write them up and make them public. You don't need to publish them in a top journal or conference, simply write them up (as the research statement is probably already written) and put them on arxiv, figshare or whatever suits you (I think we need a list for these services). Short and simple.
I was told once that one difference between science and engineering is exactly that. The engineer will have an idea and protect it by not telling anybody and *patenting* it. The scientist will protect the idea (the authorship of the idea) by *publishing* it and telling everybody. I don't fully agree due to the characteristics of software engineering, open source and copyright, but I think it serves to illustrate the point.
Sure publishing on a journal or conference requires telling some people before that (the reviewers) and not all ideas are suitable to be published in such places (any reputed venue will reject most of the submissions, there are usually associated costs, etc.) There is the risk of reviewers stealing some ideas (not in a completely straightforward way, to abide the rules) and I think the main reason why there is arxiv is exactly that.
Publishing online is free and immediate. It won't give you much impact and it won't count for some metrics, but it will provide testimony that you had that idea at that time (even if more people could have had the same idea in an independent way, as @StrongBad pointed). Then you should find a venue that accepts what you already published in this manner, not all venues will do so and depending on your area most venues may reject such papers, but the fact that most people do something doesn't mean that thing is right.
Finally, the problem (IMHO) is that we are giving great value to something as intangible as ideas, because they are important and have great impact on the progress of society and the career of those who are responsible for those ideas. However, as a society, we are not really prepared to handle intangible things properly, there are attempts to improve that, but all of them are still falling short in some aspects.
> 5 votes
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Tags: application, plagiarism, research-statement
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thread-23881
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23881
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Paper with lots of Greek letters
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2014-06-24T07:02:41.943
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# Question
Title: Paper with lots of Greek letters
I developed a system, and wrote a paper about it. It includes formulas and pseudo-code. During the course of development I used Roman letters in the formulas. I eventually ran out of meaningful letters (letters that I could associate to some extent with what they represented), and started using Greek letters. The development went on until somehow I ended up having about 8 Greek letters and 2 Roman letters used in the final formulas and pseudo-code.
Now that the paper is written, I wonder if having all of these Greek letters is unusual. Would it be better to replace them with Roman letters? Would it be better to use Roman letters with subscripts, such as *t* for time, and *t\_scaled* for scaled time, instead of using Greek letters for that?
EDIT: To clear things up a little, my general question is: is it preferable to use Roman letters or Greek letters in a technical (engineering) publication, and is it acceptable or even preferable to use letters with word subscripts instead of entirely new symbols to label related variables or constants?
# Answer
This depends entirely on your field, and specifically, what the norm is in your field. In mathematical fields like statistics, economics, physics, and math itself, and to a slightly lesser extent in chemistry and computer science, using Greek letters as variables is *exceedingly* common - in fact, it's unusual to see a paper that *doesn't* use a few, and there are many quantities for which the well-established standard notation involves a Greek letter. In other fields, perhaps that's not the case.
If you're still not sure after examining the norms in your field, I'd just go ahead and do it. Given that mathematicians use Greek letters all the time, it stands to reason that when you are doing math in another field, you should be able to do so as well.
However, I would caution you about one thing: try to make your variable names *descriptive*. That is, it should be easy for the reader to make the association between the variable name and what it represents. So when there is a standard notation for some quantity, use that; when there isn't, subscripted symbols like "t\_scaled" are one good way to do it. They do take up more space on the page, though, and can make formulas look unwieldy, so you have to strike a balance between aesthetics and clarity of meaning.
> 23 votes
# Answer
> it preferable to use Roman letters of Greek letters in a technical (engineering) publication, and is it acceptable or even preferable to use letters with word subscripts instead of entirely new symbols to label related variable or constants?
In addition to the excellent answers that have already been given, I would like to stress the fact that your original question cannot be answered in the generality that you are apparently looking for. By and large, Greek letters are OK, as are Roman letters, as are either of those with sub- or superscripts. What is *preferable* depends entirely on context, the established conventions and notation in your field, and personal preferences.
When it comes to notation, the 3 golden rules are:
1. Make it intuitive. Don't use epsilon to mean *"a really large value"*. Don't use pi to refer to a constant value of 8.5. If you, for example, have instances and timestamps, don't use "t" to refer to the instances and "i" to refer to timestamps (real-life example I recently reviewed).
2. Make it consistent. Use the same notation in the entire paper. Use the same notation patterns throughout the paper (if you use capital Roman letters for a constant, use capital Roman letters for *all* constants, etc.).
3. Make it minimal. Never introduce notation that you are not actually using.
> 20 votes
# Answer
The writing style is really something very individual, and may vary a lot. There is nothing wrong with Greek letters *per se*, but it is slightly concerning that you use them because you ran out of meaningful Roman letters. That could indicate that you are using really a lot of notation in your paper, and from a point of reader it might be difficult to keep in mind what do these letters mean.
The use of semantics, i.e. notation like n\_cars or t\_scaled, may really help to reduce the number of "independent" symbols and improve readability. You may also wish to structure the use of variables, e.g. use Greeks as integers and Roman as everything else. It is very good idea to stick to some classical notation worked out in textbooks and major articles in your area of research. Ultimately, you may wish to present a table of all your letters with their meaning after the first section of your paper.
> 7 votes
# Answer
Greek letters are generally fine. In fact, some things are conventionally reffered to by greek letters e.g standard deviation is sigma.
xLetix's rules are excellent advice. I would just add to please put explainations of your variables close to where you use them. There are two things people do that annoy me in this respect.
* Putting a glossary at the beginning of the text and then don't explain there symbols. A glossary itself is fine but please put explainations in text as well as I don't want to have to flick back to the start to know what every symbol means.
* Similarly, people often put an explaination when they first use the symbol (often in the introduction) and then use it again several pages later with no explaination. This is fine if you have a few obvious symbols but when many with unclear names are used it is difficult to keep track of them. Just writing the name in words generally suffices.
> 6 votes
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Tags: publications
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thread-23887
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23887
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Is it necessary to specialize on a topic when writing publications?
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2014-06-24T09:01:09.323
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# Question
Title: Is it necessary to specialize on a topic when writing publications?
I have written a couple of papers on a certain topic in network communications. I would like to write my next paper on a different topic, for example something geared toward the electrical engineering side of communications. These topics are normally thought of as different fields of specialization.
One reason I would like to do this is to demonstrate a broad knowledge base on my resume. I am also interested in various topics. Is it at all harmful to write (and perhaps publish) in different tangentially related subjects?
# Answer
No, it's by no means necessary to specialise on one topic for all your papers, and many people don't.
You do make it harder for yourself when you don't, though. Going into a new topic requires familiarity with a new area of cutting-edge research, learning which publication(s) to target, and maybe learning new methods.
And one of things I find most time-consuming is that you have to collect a new set of references. Once you've published within one topic, it's like you've laid down foundations in your literature review that you can build on again and again. But when you move to a new topic, you have to lay down new foundations: instead of simply updating your last literature review, you have to start rebuilding the foundations from a much smaller base. So you do find the really prolific people, who churn out maybe a dozen papers a year or more, have often stuck to a very narrow topic, and can get closer to staying on top of all the relevant literature.
> 7 votes
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Tags: publications
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thread-23864
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23864
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Will you be expelled if you commit a crime as a student in the UK?
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2014-06-23T15:33:26.807
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# Question
Title: Will you be expelled if you commit a crime as a student in the UK?
I initially thought this was off-topic but StrongBad told me this is not, so thank you.
A friend of mine has been a victim of fraud by someone at an university. This was investigated by the police and will almost certainly lead to a conviction and probably a prison sentence. My question is do universities (automatically?) expel people for committing criminal offenses whilst a student?
The specific University in question here is Cambridge.
# Answer
I am aware of no University that automatically does anything. That said, most Universities, have policies in place to protect their reputation. At Cambridge, both Christ's College and Griton College have almost identical policies which makes me think there is an underlying university policy that I cannot easily find. To quote Griton's policy:
> Additionally, the University has a number of sanctions for behaviour impinging on the image of the University, while the most serious breaches, including all criminal behaviour, will be referred to the local police.
Basically, Universities should be reporting any criminal activity to the local authorities. They also have the right to follow their own policies, of which expulsion is a possibility. Universities like to protect their images (e.g., the recent sex offence scandals in the US). So what the University will do may depend on if the victim of the crime was another student and how vocal the sides are.
> 9 votes
# Answer
Short answer they definitely can expel you. Although they will generally have a process to follow. I suspect for most offences resulting in a jail sentence expulsion is highly likely.
Here are the rules for Imperial College http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/secretariat/collegegovernance/provisions/ordinances/e2 (I suspect most institutions have similar rules written somewhere).
Important points are:
* 6e: Misconduct of a nature which is likely to affect the good name and standing of the College is an offence. This likely covers any criminal activity.
* 10c: Summary punishment is available for minor offences for serious offences there are various boards/committees to deal with punishment. College Discipline Committee covers offences under 6e.
* 16-24: There are various proceducures covering how the committee must hear evidence and operate.
* 30f: Expulsion or suspension from college is a permitted punishment.
* 33: The committee shall take note of any external prosecutions.
> 3 votes
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Tags: university, united-kingdom
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thread-23901
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23901
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What does it mean that a conference is sponsored by ACM or IEEE?
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2014-06-24T13:01:33.670
|
# Question
Title: What does it mean that a conference is sponsored by ACM or IEEE?
Some conferences are established by IEEE and ACM, others by only one of them.
I thought at first that such organizations somehow maintain a certain degree of high quality in the affiliated conferences. But I've seen beginner conferences saying they they are sponsored by IEEE, some say "technically sponsored", while they accept poor quality papers.
So what should "having the ACM or IEEE logo on a conference's website" mean to me?
# Answer
In part it means that the conference organizers have access to the conference administration tools and resources that IEEE, ACM, or the like provide. Having been around some IEEE-sponsored conferences, that can mean things like payment processing and credit card handling; access to a journal special issue for proceedings; conference organization website for registration, submissions, and reviewing; and registration discounts for members of the society.
Access to these features doesn't come for free. The professional societies charge for their use and stand to make money on them. As such, while you have to propose the conference and get it approved, after that the oversight is less. The quality of a conference comes down to the Organizing Committee and it's technical/content/papers committee. If you've never heard of any of the members of these committees, or many of them appear to have low-quality papers, there's a good chance that the conference isn't all that great.
> 4 votes
# Answer
In practice, it means that they publish the conference proceedings and you may get a registration discount if you are a member. Nothing more than that.
"Sponsored by" statements do not reflect quality at all. Some quick Google search using keywords like "scam" or even better "random paper generator" will convince you.
N.B. That doesn't mean that all conferences of those organisations are bad, quite the opposite. The best conferences of many fields are endorsed by those orgs.
> 3 votes
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Tags: publications, conference, ieee, acm
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thread-23904
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23904
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How should a reviewer provide comments to a journal's special issue in a field he is not familiar with?
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2014-06-24T13:56:37.070
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# Question
Title: How should a reviewer provide comments to a journal's special issue in a field he is not familiar with?
As an editorial board member for a low impact journal, I've been approached to provide comments on whether I think a proposal for a special issue is acceptable or not. I'm quite inexperienced in this role, and it seems rather different from reviewing a paper or grant proposal. I have been provided a list of guest editors as well as a justification statement, however, the special issue is not directly in my field so I can only assume credibility from prior publications (if I can find them).
Have any others been in this situation, and if so, by what criteria did they make a decision on acceptability?
# Answer
> 7 votes
I have been receiving a lot of invitations lately to review proposals for special editions -- mostly open access. These proposals have been way outside of my area of study (and sometimes discipline). My guess is they scrape the web for potential reviewers and use a shotgun approach -- but that is just a guess.
I *ALWAYS* decline serving as a reviewer if I am not sufficiently expert on the substantive or methodological issues. I also try to highlight in my review where my expertise may fall short so the editor knows where to fill the gaps.
I suggest you decline any invitation if you are not qualified to review the topic.
# Answer
> 3 votes
It is difficult to say what would be the best way to deal with this since the way journals set up editorial boards and then use them differ. As a member of a board I would expect you have been chosen to provide expertise within your field. I assume the proposal you received was sent to you from an Chief Editor or equivalent? If you feel you do not have the insights then the simple reply is that you do not have the insights to properly evaluate the proposal.
If, on the other hand, the proposal came from the outside, the appropriate thing to do would be to pass it onto the Chief Editor for further consideration. Again, I am working under the assumption that there is one or a couple of persons in charge of the journal and that they have an editorial board associated with the journal to help the journal in different ways.
So contact the person(s) in charge and explain your standpoint.
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Tags: publications, journals, peer-review, editors, special-issue
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thread-23909
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23909
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Is it appropriate to put conference volunteering on a CV?
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2014-06-24T15:35:04.117
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# Question
Title: Is it appropriate to put conference volunteering on a CV?
From reading the many questions on here that relate to CVs it seems that some items are necessary on a CV and others are more appropriate at the persons difference stages within academia. As someone at the very early stage, masters student with no publications, is conference volunteering a plus or minus on a CV?
In my own situation I helped out at a 2 day conference that my department held. I assisted presenters with setting up their presentations and video recorded the conference for the university. As a smaller conference I was the only grad student that assisted.
# Answer
As a general rule: anything which is clearly academically related *can go on your CV*. As you say, there are certain things that are required or nearly required on your CV, but even these vary by discipline and sometimes people in the same discipline have divergent ideas. (For instance, every once in a while I find a CV which doesn't list the candidate's undergraduate institution, or lists it without indicating the years that they spent there. I would have thought that was strictly required. I guess I was wrong.)
What to fight in adding "academically related" information to your CV is clear: if you put in *too much* routine stuff, you'll get a bloated mess of a CV that few people will actually read. Drawbacks of a lengthy CV can be mitigated by very careful and clear organization. Nevertheless, you can compare CVs of two absolutely cognate people -- e.g. who attended undergrad and grad at exactly the same time and arrived at their current institution at the same time and with the same seniority -- and you'll find significant variations, including up to at least 1/3 in the total length. It's really your choice how much detail to put on your CV, and I would be skeptical of anyone who tells you too stridently what you must and must not do.
Having said that: yes, very early career academics (especially students) really struggle to have a CV that doesn't look unhelpfully skimpy. Conference work sounds like a great thing to put on a junior person's CV -- and in fact, even on a senior person's, although a more senior person might be more selective about the kind of conference work that goes on your CV.
One tip: "conference volunteering" might be an undersell. Most conference organizing is unpaid, hence is volunteer work. "Conference assistant" sounds like your work was really on the level of secretarial work / technical support. If that is an accurate description of what you did, great. If you do such things more than once or twice, you should think about asking to be let in on some of the more content-related aspects of the work. For instance, if you had a say -- however small -- in choosing or recruiting the speakers or attendees, then I would go for something like "co-organizer" rather than "assistant".
> 8 votes
# Answer
In general, it's a bad idea to put things in your CV that look like they are there exclusively to make it look longer. It gives the impression that you haven't done enough "real" stuff (teaching, publications, etc) and you are just digging for menial things to pad your CV up. The problem is that, as you pointed out, what counts as "menial" vs. "significant" depends to a certain extent on your career stage. If you are a grad student and your professor asks you to give a guest lecture in one of his/her undergrad classes, it's ok to include that in your CV, but if you are in a tenure-track job, you might want to only include courses for which you have full responsibility.
In the case at hand, I would say that it's ok to say that you helped at this particular conference, but keeping in mind that this line will have to disappear from your CV at some point in the future.
> 4 votes
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Tags: conference, cv
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thread-23827
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23827
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Doubt regarding uploading Tables and Figures for the accepted manuscript
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2014-06-23T09:43:30.840
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# Question
Title: Doubt regarding uploading Tables and Figures for the accepted manuscript
The instructions of the engineering journal I submitted to (IEEE transactions on wireless communications) says this regarding the final submission of figures and tables
> Please upload the Originals (masters) of the tables and figures (in separate files, one figure per file). All graphics material submitted for publication must be original drawn figures in .eps format, with each figure submitted as a separate file. Figures exported from other formats (e.g., PDF, PowerPoint) will not reproduce well in print. Appropriate fonts include: Symbol, Helvetica, Arial, Times New Roman.
What do they mean by "originals (masters) of the tables"? Does it mean that I should submit each table also as a separate file? If so, in which format?
# Answer
In my opinion, the guideline regarding tables is outdated, and one can safely ignore it. If you submit your manuscript in LaTeX, put your tables in the main text. This is a current mainstream in (STEM-related) journals, and it is good to delicately push IEEE towards it. In case if they insist on doing this the other way (which I seriously doubt), you can address the questions to their production team.
> 2 votes
# Answer
The guidelines aren't very precise, but this is what it means:
1. Submit your tables in separate files, one table per file, but only if the tables are floats (which virtually all tables should be anyway). The placement of these tables will depend on the journal's typesetting of the text in your document. They are very unlikely to end up where you put them in your text anyway, so it makes sense for the typesetters to insist they don't appear in the text in the first place. It's typically enough to put all tables at the end of the document, with one table per page. You can do this with the endfloat package in LaTeX. If the journal really insists that tables should be submitted in separate files, you can use the standalone package. I sincerely doubt that tables need to be submitted as `.eps` files. Tables are text, not graphics, and your guidelines only say that "graphics material" need to be submitted as `.eps`. Submitting them as `.pdf` should suffice. The typesetters will create your tables from scratch anyway.
2. Figures are another matter. The typesetters will not alter them at all, they will simply insert them into the document in the place deemed most appropriate. You need to create your figures as `.eps` files and submit them as separate files. If the software you made the figures in doesn't include `.eps` as a native format, use tools such as ps2eps (if your software includes `.ps` as a format) or pdftops (if your software includes `.pdf` as a format) to convert your figures to `.eps`.
> 0 votes
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Tags: publications, journals, peer-review, ieee
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thread-23686
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23686
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Does undergrad score matter very much when applying for a second Masters?
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2014-06-19T22:28:41.827
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# Question
Title: Does undergrad score matter very much when applying for a second Masters?
When applying for a second Masters, does one's undergrad score hold a lot of importance or does it get discounted in favor of better score in Master's?
Adding more information:
I have a BS in Mathematics from one of the good Indian university colleges. I spent a lot of time in my BS studying only my favorite subjects at the expense of others. I have a 66.67% in BS. Contrast this with the university topper who will be somewhere close to 90%.
I also have an MS in Economics from one of the good (in India) Economics grad schools. My MS score is decent (3.14 / 4.00). Though my batch topper scored 3.44, the typical top score from the school is close to 3.75.
I am considering applying for MS in Data Science (or CS with concentration in DS). I want to understand how much my bad score in BS will bring down my chances of getting a good school.
PS: I currently work as a Data Scientist for one of the leading analytics companies in India (will soon finish a year).
# Answer
In your situation, perhaps the most important thing that you have going for you is your work experience, since it is in the same field, data science, that you plan to study for.
Your Ms grades are decidedly better than your BS grades, but may or may not be strong enough to get you into the second Master's program (even if your BS grades weren't an issue). What is beginning to set you apart from other candidates is your work experience.
If you don't get in now, I'd apply again in TWO years, when you would be closing in on three years' work experience (the optimal amount). That's the time when you are most likely to be admitted.
> 2 votes
# Answer
Your question is difficult to answer confidently because you don't provide information about the program you're interested in or your prior studies. What did you study in the past? What do you want to study?
Did you do well in your undergraduate classes relating to your prospective masters area? Is your most recent masters in an area closely related to that of your second masters? Did you perform well in your first masters program?
To make things easier, you should perhaps call the admissions office of the program/department you're interested in joining. Be straightforward about your situation and they'll likely be helpful in guiding you.
> 3 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions
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thread-20146
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/20146
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Correct term to address the "academic publications"
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2014-05-02T11:57:27.460
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# Question
Title: Correct term to address the "academic publications"
I am trying to use/find the correct term for the *practice of publishing research results in academia*, mainly a reference to the practice of publishing research findings in a formal journal or conference.
The term has to have a clear contrast to the practice of *publishing full data-sets of research results (ex: in a repository)*, but which is also a sub-form of "publishing of research results"
I have started my work by using the term "Scholarly Communication" which was somehow influenced by one of my mentors. Although I was happy on the initial suggestion, I am finding myself not so keen on the use of it, as it seems cheaper in contrast to for example: *Academic Publishing* which seems broader to include more research ventures (done also by non-scholars, but still viable for academic recognition).
The problems with the term *Academic Publishing* are two for my perspective. 1) I have not been able to find a strong definition of it, and 2) it is so broad that can include the "publishing of research data-sets" which I need to reference separately.
Would appreciate a discussion for a creative term which coins the academic publishing as it has been referenced traditionally?
Update 1: Considering also *Academic Literature* referenced in a comment below by darthbith
# Answer
> 2 votes
I suggest "(modifier) dissemination" with (modifier) used to make things more specific. Usually I find the phrase "dissemination of (noun)", and it often refers to a formal release of information, where some semblance of validation of (noun) has occurred. You might find "result dissemination", "data dissemination", "report dissemination" useful. Of course, I'm already getting tired of seeing the word "dissemination" used many times in the same paragraph. I also suggest some synonyms to alleviate developing madness in the reader.
# Answer
> 1 votes
If a thing is publicly available, it is literally published, nevermind paywalls. It would be an unhelpful abuse of language to have "publication" mean exclusively "publication in a traditional, recognized, peer-refereed, journal". I propose (only partly facetiously) referring to the latter as "gatekeeper publications". :)
Srsly, there *is* an issue here. If the NSF or NIH require that we make our research public, but we can't get it through the gatekeepers, then what?
So, if you want to refer to publication in peer-reviewed journals, say "peer-reviewed journal publication". This might be in contrast to "internet publication". Adjectives.
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Tags: publications, terminology
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thread-23926
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23926
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Tips on dealing with difficult professors?
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2014-06-24T19:18:13.107
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# Question
Title: Tips on dealing with difficult professors?
I'm planning on going back to college (university for those folks across the pond) and I was wondering what are some things that you have done to deal with difficult professors. I had a C++ class when I was attending a couple years ago and the professor pretty much abandoned me and (I suspect) graded with bias against me. Sometime during the semester this professor came to the conclusion that I wasn't proper CS major material, so refused to answer any questions that I had about the coursework and flunked me on all my projects, blaming me for plagiarism (which is entirely untrue and unproven since the university uses a fairly comprehensive program to determine if students are plagiarizing). Needless to say, I finished the semester with under a 20% in that class and failed all but the first program (studying my A-- off for the whole semester). Now that I'm looking to go back, I don't want to have this happen again because tuition is expensive as heck and it's taken me two years just to save up for one year's tuition.
Just as a side note, I am an active participant in class, polite, and non-disruptive.
# Answer
> 7 votes
One thing you need to understand is that your perspective is different from that of the teacher. You see one teacher but the teacher sees hundreds of students.
**While you may think that your participation is class is helpful, it might not be.** I have had students who were very eager to participate in class but kept participating in wrong or inappropriate ways. Not extremely wrong but just enough to actually draw the class's attention away from the points I was trying to make. Yes, students should participate but make sure you are actually helping and not hindering the teacher's efforts.
If you see you are having a problem with one specific teacher and not others, then **schedule some time during office hours** and have a one-on-one talk with the teacher. You both have the same goal: For you to learn. So, find out what the problem is. I have not found many teachers who are simply unreasonable all the time. Talk with them and understand their reasoning.
One last point, which is connected to meeting the teacher, is to find out what extra material you should be studying and actually study it and discuss it with the teacher, in class or after class. **Show that you are a serious student and the teacher will usually respect you.**
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Tags: university, professorship, undergraduate
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thread-23927
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23927
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Is it plagiarism to closely mimic the structure of a table in a publication?
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2014-06-24T19:25:46.203
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# Question
Title: Is it plagiarism to closely mimic the structure of a table in a publication?
I am writing a paper on a topic closely related to previous literature (but in a different study population). As such, the statistical analysis is very similar to a previous publication and I really like the way the previous authors (which I have cited in the literature review) have structured a particular table.
Would essentially copying this structure, but putting in my own results, be a form of plagiarism?
# Answer
I doubt anyone would consider a table format as plagiarized when used to show new data. It would be akin to saying use of Tukey's box-and-whisker type plots would be plagiarism. The question is understandable, however, since someone could arguably claim some such structure as intellectual property. I think the key here lies in what is being copied. You are copying the structure but not the content. To protect the form would be quite pointless since no-one would buy the rights and it would be simple to make sufficient variations to argue it is not the same form. I am sure this could be discussed at length by lawyers.
Although, not within the scope of your question, most author's will be happy to see something they produce becoming reused and maybe even a standard. I had a figure in a paper that was picked up by IPCC and used to show something different than my original but still unequivocally based on my design.
So in the end, as suggested in comments to your question. you can pay homage to the original by acknowledging the idea of the table in your acknowledgement or by citing the paper and stating the table is based on their table. Which makes most sense, will depend on circumstances in your paper.
> 15 votes
# Answer
I think that we - myself included - tend to think of citations primarily as a defence against accusations of plagiarism, but don't they also provide the reader with an account of how the thinking behind the paper emerged? In which case citing here seems like an opportunity for a possibly quite valuable aside.
> 2 votes
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Tags: publications, plagiarism, tables
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thread-23949
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23949
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Is it a good idea to get involved with journals as an associate editor prior to getting tenure?
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2014-06-25T10:33:39.943
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# Question
Title: Is it a good idea to get involved with journals as an associate editor prior to getting tenure?
Is it a good idea to get involved with a relatively good journal (yes subjective -lets assume an impact factor +2 and good editors) as an associate editor prior to getting tenure?
Does it have a net positive effect on one's trajectory given the time lost due to extra work (administrative and else)? Or should one stick to minimum administrative work in faculty and outside and not think about these luxuries prior to getting the tenure. I have been given broad advise as to minimise my luxurious endeavours prior to tenure. I also remember reading similar advice in regards to writing books in technical fields (only do it after tenure, just stick to good publications before and try to minimise administrative work).
# Answer
> 23 votes
I think my first recommendation would be, do not see editorship primarily as a career move/booster (if it ever is). Become an editor if you enjoy that side of the publishing and you think you have something to contribute. I had some opportunities with editing conference proceedings and thematic issues which gave me the insight that I really enjoyed working on that side of publishing (along with my research, admin, students etc,).
Signing up to be an editor is a longer term commitment. You need to check with the journal if they have a "from now on" or fixed periods for editors. You should probably expect to be involved for, say, three years under most circumstances. You should also check the expected work load in terms of, say, papers per year (but expect the workload to vary significantly over shorter time periods).
Being an editor can be very fruitful since it may give you new impulses on scientific writing and thinking and other similar aspects that can help your own development. As an editor, you will perhaps also gain some reputation, your name will be seen in amongst hopefully respectable peers (the other editors). Not that this may be of direct importance in terms of tenure or so but it may develop your network of contacts. There are many positives that follow from serving as editor, in my opinion, and it will be up to you to take the opportunity to serve as a fair and sound editor. There are no doubt tricky issues concerning ethics that will pass your desk but solving such issues together with other editors is a good and useful learning experience.
So in the end, become an editor because you want to, the chore will take time from your other duties and you need to be prepared to provide that time on top of everything else over a longer period. As you become seasoned, the time you need to spend on each paper diminishes somewhat so initially, you may find the time consumption larger than expected.
EDIT: I guess my point is that the editorial work takes time and effort but is also rewarding on a personal level (how, is personal). How this spills over into your situation in terms of meriting is for you to assess. Does your workplace appreciate such efforts? If you really want to do it, will the opportunity arise again any time soon? Are you willing you sacrifice some spare time if need be, and over some longer term? Clearly it should not reduce your other activities that are meriting for your career (research, publishing, teaching supervising etc.) so you need to balance between your own interest and what you need to do. That is why assessing how much time will be required(on average) is a good starting point.
My personal view throughout my early career was to jump at opportunities that I felt strongly about and where I could see something good coming out at the other end. By good I mean both for myself or for my career. I figured, the only thing I had to invest was my time and I needed to invest it wisely to help me get a permanent position but also to do things I really liked. So on the whole, quite egotistical, but then I have not been much for spending much effort on stuff I did not like or saw a point in. Of course one cannot jump at everything without the risk of hitting the wall. So, in the end, I think it is your interest and time keeping that decides. What you engage in can be either directly rewarding or indirectly so, and as long as it provides a positive, I think it is worth considering.
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Tags: journals, career-path, tenure-track, editors
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thread-23955
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23955
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How can I best edit a paper to help get it published?
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2014-06-25T15:49:00.433
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# Question
Title: How can I best edit a paper to help get it published?
My friend wrote a fantastic paper in their scientific field. I believe it is truly ground-breaking but it calls a lot of existing theory into question. If he's correct it will force many accepted articles to have to be rewritten.
Perhaps because this paper is controversial, then, my friend has faced a very uphill battle to get it published. It deals with quite some difficult-to-grasp mathematical models and concepts. It's in a field of science and an area of that field where experiments to prove things are simply not feasible, and instead, hypotheses rely on models to explain observations of large-scale real-world processes.
I'm deliberately avoiding mentioning what area of science this paper is in because I do not want them to know it's about them, in case they see this. Because while I feel that while their paper is great, on the other hand the writing needs some love. If the writing is improved, this paper could make this person's career. I'm a published writer and I have been paid to edit many things, but not scientific writing. I want to help them.
I would like to know what the best approach is for preparing myself to be able to edit papers for submission to any given scientific journal in any given field. I would think one great approach would be to read lots of articles in such journals. Do you know of any good guides? Are there any online sites where people can publish papers prior to submitting them to journals in order to get public comments and feedback to hone their work? What are some novel steps that could be taken? I just want to help.
# Answer
> 12 votes
You've already talked about reading up journal articles in the field, so I'll skip that. On top of that, there are a few ways.
**Follow the journal's format guide**
Ask your friend which journal is the next target. Go to visit the journal website and look for the "instruction to authors." You can find format-related instruction there. A format compliant article is less likely to trigger an instant rejection/return.
**Read about scientific writing**
There are a few guides that I consider pretty useful:
1. The Craft of Scientific Writing by Alley is perhaps a classic for engineer-type of writing. It also provide a good collection of tips and gems for different sections.
2. Essentials of Writing Biomedical Research Paper by Zeiger is a wonderful desktop reference for biochemical type of writing. It also provides a lot of good vs. bad examples.
3. Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded by Schimel is a bit of a black sheep. It does not teach you how to write, but it gives an excellent account on how to chain up or arrange ideas for maximal impact, done in the levels of the whole paper, to section, paragraph, sentence, and syntax. It also draws heavily from techniques used in fiction writing, which is quite intuitive.
4. The Craft of Research by Booth et. al. does not purely focus on writing, but also discusses how to set up arguments, present concepts. It may be a bit more hands on for you, probably more suitable for your friend who is doing the writing.
5. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, Eighth Edition: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) by Turabian is an overall very useful desktop reference. It complements the Craft of Research.
**Talk to the specialists**
If the paper is really that controversial, I think you should talk to some people who have a good command in that particular field and get a gist of how to present or package the ideas with maximal chance of being considered.
**Hire a professional editor**
It's also prudent to know your limit. If you feel this is too much, then you should ask your friend to get help from the institute's English language support or hire a professional scientific editor. Editors can come with different specialties, some are experienced in medical writing, some are in science. Check their portfolio and try to match the article type as best as you can.
I said this because there is a problem in your question, if you feel that you're not capable of editing a scientific paper, how come you feel confident to evaluate his work with certainly such as: "*My friend wrote a **fantastic** paper in their scientific field. I **believe it is truly ground-breaking** but it calls a lot of existing theory into question. If he's correct it will force many accepted articles to have to be rewritten*?"
I don't mean to be insulting, just wish to point out that professional works sometimes are best left to professionals, especially when we don't have time to become one.
Best of luck, and I wish your friend a successful publishing process.
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**Disclaimer for everyone:**
When reading/evaluating my answer, please be mindful that in no way I am agreeing that the paper is ground-breaking or fantastic. I merely provide resources to the questioner to improve his/her ability to comprehend and edit a scientific paper.
Whether someone with limited experience or capability can do ground-breaking work is not in the scope of this answer, and I have no comment either way. I just want to point out that I have not read the paper so I can't comment.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I would like to offer a little bit of writing advice that should be pertinent to the situation, even though it does not answer the post directly.
I think it is important to keep the attitude of "how great this is! the world really needs this!" in writing: it helps you maintain the energy to carry out the effort. However, the attitude itself should be muted or very carefully treated in scientific writing. If anyone is going to read it, they are going to be excited by a careful summary that reveals the basic ideas and then more so by something that explains the ideas in an accessible fashion. (I have made it a policy to ignore any Internet links advising to help me by using a "weird tip"; I discourage using similar promotional language which might appeal to people who, erm, "think less", or maybe "think differently", than science, engineering, and other professionals.) Here is an example from Jorge Cham on Cosmic Inflation http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1691 that manages to convey the excitement and ideas without sounding cheesy. You may find it useful as well as inspiring.
I don't have any guides, but a suggestion for meta-guides: find examples of awards for good science and engineering writing and look at those. In combination with the guides mentioned in another answer, you as writer should be able to deconstruct the examples to find which characteristics you want to use in helping your friend.
Good luck.
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Tags: paper-submission
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thread-23948
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23948
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How to inform an adviser I am ceasing work with him?
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2014-06-25T09:16:24.727
|
# Question
Title: How to inform an adviser I am ceasing work with him?
There's a lot of text here, I do apologize. Many thanks to those who read it all and provide commentary.
Background: I have worked with my adviser for ~7 years now carrying out research with him in the field for many seasons, receiving my BS under his guidance, and TAing for him for several years until I decided to begin my MS with him. Early on, he had been having family issues and at a point near the beginning of my MS, he informed me he would be focusing less on work and more on his family due to his focus having destroyed his family. I took this as a passing phase as he had done before, but he has proven me wrong.
Overall Situation: My adviser currently has negative intentions to his students, the department, and the school. He does the bare minimum in courses- teaching ~1 class per quarter, showing up late, leaving early, is never in his office (I'm not exaggerating, he does not use his office. He arrives to campus, teaches, and leaves); has a very negative attitude with the department and school with never submitting forms or reports on time as well as not attending some department meetings (or commencement); and constantly sends emails to faculty and students informing them of how he is being screwed by the school (receiving reimbursements months later and having to deal with overdue bills and credit card charges). No students respect him within the department and his classes are the lowest rated to the point of being a joke. His reputation is so bad that when his next grad class is offered this coming winter, I feel it will be canceled because absolutely none of the students intend to enroll in it. Research-wise, he has been collecting data on a large project for ~15 years and has not published anything during that time. Currently the data and work sits and we are again in the middle of a summer when he intends to write something (this has been stated for each of the last 4 summers straight and it never happens).
My Situation: My thesis has gone no where. Meetings are constantly cancelled and put off by him, he has provided little to no literature (even then only broad background papers that he had me read for my BS), has shown no advancing interest in exploring ArcGIS with me to understand how to manipulate data. Some lunch meetings have taken place, over the past two years, but they end up being social and minor mentioning of work is as far as the conversation gets. The last two meetings I had with him were group meetings with 2 other students working with him (the other third already left for another project) and the meetings solely revolved around their projects and how I could help/guide them. Being roughly 6 months prior to graduation, I am currently assembling text and running analysis on data entirely on my own. Emails to meet and go over the process this week have gone unanswered.
Currently: Recent statements from other faculty and students are that in recent meetings my adviser has been using me as an example to state students need to submit 'final' drafts 6 months before defense. The department has a deadline of one month before defense for a completed 'first' draft. I am under the impression, given the past actions of my adviser, that he may be setting me up to make a point to the other faculty that 6 months beforehand is needed because he did not have proper time to read and review it. All of this would be fabricated from his own lack of meeting and involvement in my thesis writing. I am absolutely appalled at how he claim such expectations when he himself has put zero effort into the project whatsoever.
SO, with all that background, I sit here with ~20 pages of some spotty text and images and am very close to deciding, enough is enough, I would be better off dropping this project and ceasing work with him, and in turn picking up a project with another faculty member. I would rather spend a bit more time investing in a new project and doing that than finishing this and continuing to have to put up with his actions.
My question is, with what I have informed you of here, how do I do it? Also, along those lines, if I do decide to do this, would it be entirely unprofessional to inform the other grad student who just started up her project to drop it and go to another adviser? (She has already commented I have been more of an adviser to her providing background readings, information, and 100s of Mbs worth of unprocessed data for her project...)
Cheers
# Answer
> 24 votes
I am agreeing with @scaaahu on both parts of your question:
> How to inform an adviser I am ceasing work with him?
With what you are writing it sounds like your adviser already gave you an out ("he informed me he would be focusing less on work and more on his family due to his focus having destroyed his family"). In addition to that, he seems to care about nothing at the university any more. Therefore, I think it actually doesn't matter at all how you tell him, just that you tell him as soon as possible and more importantly: start looking for a new adviser right now. You do not want to waste any more time on the project.
I would just tell him that the project is not going as you wished, that you need more guidance, that you think he will not be able to give you that and that you are looking for a new adviser and project. If you can honestly say you are thankful for his guidance (maybe in your BS?) say so, otherwise just say nothing.
> Would it be entirely unprofessional to inform the other grad student who just started up her project to drop it and go to another adviser?
Yes, I think it would be unprofessional. Tell her that you are leaving and, if you know her well enough or if she asks, why you are leaving , tell her in the most objective way you can. Then she can decide for herself.
# Answer
> 14 votes
I am a faculty member and have seen similar situations in the past, both in my university and in others. In fact, a few years ago the son of a friend told me about a similar situation in his university (though less severe than yours). I have advised him to quit and switch to another adviser; he did that and he is just now finishing his Ph.D. and is doing extremely well. Similarly, I will advise you to switch adviser. And you should tell the younger student in the lab why you are leaving. Students should count on their peers for honest opinions.
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Tags: masters, thesis, advisor
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thread-23966
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23966
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Encourage student to participate without him helping too much
|
2014-06-26T04:01:30.077
|
# Question
Title: Encourage student to participate without him helping too much
I am teaching two students (X and Y) to program in python. X is a little bit quicker than the Y in grasping the concepts. He likes to help Y figure out what to do with his code, why it isn't working etc. He is very well meaning, but I would like Y to do the work himself. Y is definitely capable of doing it on his own and he will gain a lot more that way. On the other hand it is good to have some interaction between them since discussing issues makes things a lot clearer and more enjoyable. They are both 13 years old. Cheating is not an issue since it is at camp and is not graded.
How do I discourage X from helping Y without making him feel like he did something wrong, and without discouraging him from participating in the future?
# Answer
> 7 votes
You can have some tasks where they each do the same thing (as you've been doing), but also some tasks where they need to do different things. For example, have them write different functions that are both necessary in a larger program. If you choose the tasks carefully, X will be too busy with his own work to meddle with Y's.
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Tags: code, tutoring
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thread-23970
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23970
|
Using "my" in a publication
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2014-06-26T05:21:54.650
|
# Question
Title: Using "my" in a publication
In publications the wording often resembles the following: "We found that our results followed what we found in our previous research." I am now writing a publication alone, with no co-authors. Is it bad form to use "my" in place of "our" in such cases?
# Answer
In my field, it is not common to use first singular personal pronoun even when the paper has only one author. Using 'we' and 'our' in this case means that the author refers to the reader and him/herself.
> 1 votes
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Tags: publications
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thread-23973
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23973
|
Adding co-author for a revised manuscript
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2014-06-26T07:45:09.160
|
# Question
Title: Adding co-author for a revised manuscript
Is it possible to add a new co-author when requested for a second revision?
Another co-author would help improve the quality of the manuscript, but I am not sure if this is possible.
# Answer
> 10 votes
A revision to a manuscript is a chance to correct any issues raised in the original review. If you and your co-authors feel that adding a co-author would make the manuscript better, then it is of course acceptable to do so, absent **explicit** instructions to the contrary from the journal (although I am unaware of any journals with such rules).
However, you will also need to **clearly** explain in your cover letter to the editor why you added the co-author, and exactly what her contributions to the paper were.
# Answer
> 7 votes
This is quite common. Authors take in an additional author to help sort out a specific problem and add that author to the paper. It is of course customary to provide a detailed account of this change as well as any other revisions made for the review.
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Tags: publications, authorship, paper-submission
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thread-11984
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11984
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How can I increase my chances of being accepted to a top 20 MS CS program?
|
2013-08-20T03:21:58.100
|
# Question
Title: How can I increase my chances of being accepted to a top 20 MS CS program?
I just graduated from one of the older IITs (Indian Institute of Technology), majoring in EE and have a GPA of about 7.8 / 10. I want to pursue a masters degree in computer science from a top 20 university in the US. I have a paper published in an international conference on machine learning and have good test scores(GRE / TOEFL) but I'm worried that my grades could affect my chances. I have some experience in competitive programming, my team finished among the top 10 among 300+ teams in the ACM ICPC regionals and I have a decent Topcoder rating. Not sure if this matters though. I have also made contributions to open source projects and have open sourced some of my projects, some of which have been downloaded thousands of times.
I've seen people from unknown colleges with higher GPAs getting in to places like Stanford, UIUC, Cornell, CMU etc. Realistically, do I have any chance of getting admitted in a top 10 or 20 program. If not, what can I do to improve my chances within a year?
UPDATE: Well, I guess grades do matter, I didn't get into any of the good schools I applied to. I'll have to give up my hopes of grad school now.
# Answer
> 11 votes
> Realistically, do I have any chance of getting admitted in a top 10 or 20 program.
With a publication in an international conference? Definitely!
Of course, I'm assuming that you mean a **good** publication in an **internationally recognized** conference (not just a conference with papers from more than one country), ideally indexed in DBLP and available over the web. I'm also assuming that you will have strong recommendation letters describing your contributions to the paper, in specific, personal, and credible detail, as evidence of your research potential. Ideally, your letters will make direct comparisons with other IIT graduates who have succeeded in strong graduate programs.
I'm also assuming that you have a compelling statement describing your research experience and interests, written in flawless English, and that those interests are a good fit for the faculty at your target departments. Be sure to describe your ongoing open-source projects. (The contest stuff? Meh.) As Daniel suggests, focus on the **work** you want to do, not the ranking of the department.
And of course, I do mean you have a **chance**, not that you have a sure thing. Graduate admissions is a random process; you have some influence on the distribution, but someone else rolls the dice. Machine learning is a particularly competitive area, so if you want to continue in that direction, you should apply broadly. In particular, you should *not* limit yourself only to programs that appear at the top of some list in some stupid magazine. Rather, aim yourself at departments whose faculty and students have similar research interests to your own.
(I regularly serve on the CS grad admissions committee at UIUC.)
# Answer
> 4 votes
While your question is not a duplicate of Maximizing opportunities to be admitted in top schools or How do you get a bad transcript past Ph.D. admissions?, since in general MS admissions is different from PhD admissions, they may be helpful.
As I said in another answer, your approach is wrong and will be a hindrance in maximizing your chances for acceptance. No school wants to accept someone who only wants to go to their school because of its ranking. You need to tailor your application to demonstrate why you want to go to the particular school.
If the MS programs you are interested in have a research component, you need to identified some potential supervisors, ideally one of your recommendation writers can introduce you. You then need to build on that relationship. Talk to them about how your work fits in with their past and current work. As your relationship with the potential supervisors builds, figure out how they fit into the department. They will likely have the inside knowledge needed for writing a really good application.
For purely taught programs you need to identify what it is about the courses they offer that make the program unique and a good fit for you.
# Answer
> -1 votes
You don't have a chance of getting into a top 20 university because you don't have enough GPA for that. Top 20 universities are for students getting GPA of above 9.5. But in your case, excluding the GPA you have a great chance of being accepted to top 40 universities like University of Virginia but Cornell, Stanford and all ... You can't just dream of that. So please try for the university which you can afford mentally, academically and financialy.
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Tags: graduate-school, graduate-admissions, masters
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thread-23977
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23977
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PhD position interview: How specific should my idea of the topic be?
|
2014-06-26T08:49:18.987
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# Question
Title: PhD position interview: How specific should my idea of the topic be?
I just finished my master in Geophysics with some help from here ;). Now I applied for several PhD positions in Natural Sciences and just got an invitation for a personal interview for one of them.
The topic of the position is described in the call but over all it seems very general to me (I really have no experience if that is common for PhD positions).
During the interview I’m supposed to give a 10-15 min oral talk about "specific research questions and methodologies" I suggest to focus on and about "results of a first paper".
I have some experience in one of the methods mentioned in the call and could probably come up with a quite elaborated idea for a paper (though I would have no idea if everything or anything would work the way I propose it, never having worked on a paper)
My understanding is hat even older scientists need time and work in a topic to figure out what exactly there paper will be about. So probably I should just kind of suggest a focus topic within the broad framework of the topics covered in the call?
I guess my main question is: How specific should I really be? (because I should obviously try to avoid boring my interviewer by only repeating part oft he call)
I should probably also mention that I have only three days to prepare.
# Answer
> 3 votes
The way I interpret the topic you were asked to present on is that they want you to present on some work you have complete such as your first paper (or possibly a masters thesis if you have not published anything).
The idea of this is probably to get an idea of how you think/do research and provide a nice introduction into finding out what your interested in.
From your question it sounds like you think they are asking for something else. Now I could be entirely misunderstanding what is asked for (I just have your question), but if you are unsure I would suggest you send a polite email to clarify what the talk should cover.
For what you should say in the talk I would try and answer these questions:
* What was the motivation for the research (why is it interesting)?
* What did you do?
* What are your results/what do they show?
* Why are the results significant/interesting?
# Answer
> 1 votes
Although it suprises me that you are asked to give a presentation covering the project you apply for without having access to a grant proposal or other detailed project description, in comparable situations I experienced (as a third party) the presenter started broad and went into detail on very specific and single points (or directions), leaving aside other possible directions (but state that you saw them!).
By that, you show that you are able to immerse yourself into an unknown problem and on your own design a possible route to tackle a specific problem. Staying unspecific and broad throughout the whole talk would probably bore them more -because they often already heard of it quite some times- than going into detail.
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Tags: phd, research-process, job, interview, research-topic
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thread-23968
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23968
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Is it okay to digitize/modify figures "reproduced from reference" in a thesis?
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2014-06-26T05:12:00.593
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# Question
Title: Is it okay to digitize/modify figures "reproduced from reference" in a thesis?
I am a student starting preparations for a masters thesis in a **U.S.** research university (on a physics/materials science topic). I have seen digital versions of past MS theses and PhD dissertations from my university, and many use figures from textbooks and/or journal articles with a line **"reproduced from reference\[##\]"** and the reference given in their bibliography. I believe that they're counting on **"fair use"** rather than actually contacting the original copyright holders according to the ideas given from this MIT page and this Ac.SE page. When reproduced this way all the figures I have seen are copied exactly as from the original document (or as close to exactly as a print-screen button will get you), but pixelation issues (from enlarging raster images) as well as inconsistent plot styles can make this appear rather sloppy, hence my more specific question:
* **Would digitizing a figure rather than photocopying it still constitute "fair use"?**
+ By digitizing I mean converting a raster-image plot to x,y data and then using software to make a vector-image from that data.
+ Assume the data is being reproduced faithfully (i.e. data points are not being altered to sway the interpretation of the data one way or another.)
+ Assume the phrase "reproduced from reference\[##\]" is still used, or even a more descriptive phrase such as "reproduced from reference\[##\] and digitized for clarity".
I feel like this is still in the spirit of fair use, but still unsure whether the whole digitization process might change the legality beyond the scope of the "four-factor test" from the MIT link.
# Answer
Probably, but just recall that fair use is a defense in court against being sued not a blanket permission. It's always easier to ask the publisher for permission. I don't think that tracing over a scan of the figure changes the fair use analysis at all, but you should really ask your attorney. You should always reference the source of your images whether you are tracing over it or using the scan.
> 1 votes
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Tags: thesis, copyright
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thread-23917
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23917
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How do people who are not active in the academic community write papers? Is it possible?
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2014-06-24T17:39:57.377
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# Question
Title: How do people who are not active in the academic community write papers? Is it possible?
I've recently finished grad school. I've written two papers since that time, and I think that I have more good ideas. However, I find it difficult to write now for two reasons. First of all, I don't have access to the ACM / IEEE literature databases anymore (they were gratis from my university.) Second, I have no one to review or even proof-read my papers.
So, how do people who are not active in the academic community write papers? Is it possible?
# Answer
> 8 votes
It is possible. After years away from graduate school, I am working on several papers, covering both old and new topics. However, it is very hard to do it completely alone.
I have the benefit of some contacts acquired through one of the forums on StackExchange. They are willing to spend a limited amount of time (say half an hour a month, to within two orders of magnitude) in email correspondence with me, to receive drafts from me (but not necessarily referee: just skim for a few minutes and find more egregious aspects which they kindly point out), and most importantly, endorse me for posting on ArXiv. Before the endorsement, I spent some time convincing them I wouldn't be a drain, that I could help them out, and that I might hope for a favor regarding endorsement, literature search, and so on. Realize that from their perspective, I could be a potential crank or downside on their career, as I have given them almost no verifiable information on what little credentials I have. I consider their involvement as a gift, and treat it with care.
With their minimum involvement, I now can post results on the ArXiv, and use that as a stepping stone to loftier research goals. Since your express purpose is to produce research for others to read, you need three things: the research, the others, and a means to get the research to the others. Getting to know one or two of the "others" is key. Getting them by being helpful on this and other fora is one of the easiest routes I know for this step, but there are other methods. There may be other repositories besides the ArXiv which may help you more, but I don't know of them; ask the "others" for advice, and respect their time. The research part, that's your problem, again with which "others" might be able to help.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I don't know where you are, but in some countries public libraries have access to academic literature. You may have to deal with a large regional or a national library for this - for example, people in the UK can access almost anything through the British Library in London, but some journals are also available through the libraries in other cities.
# Answer
> -1 votes
I don't see a problem with either of your concerns if you have a good professional relationship with your former supervisor. Just contact them and ask if they would be interested to coauthor a research paper. Send them a draft paper or a description of your idea and a list of the ACM/IEEE publications you need for the research.
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Tags: publications
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thread-23981
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23981
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How are citations used to fairly compare researchers: fewer publications and fewer co-authors versus more publications with many co-authors
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2014-06-26T11:23:42.610
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# Question
Title: How are citations used to fairly compare researchers: fewer publications and fewer co-authors versus more publications with many co-authors
As a recently graduated researcher in the field of physics, I am in the early stages of establishing my scientific career, which involves being hired by senior researchers and professors. Much of the likelihood of being hired in a reputable group relies on my publication record and, for good or for bad, on my citation count.
I have always played a significant role in all the papers I have written or coauthored, which justified my inclusion in the list of authors. Thus I feel that I have earned the many or few citations to my papers.
In the context of a competitive mindset in which your quality is often (perhaps unfairly) measured by the number of citations your work has attracted, it has always bothered me how endless author lists from large collaborations boost the citation counts of those people. It is just a matter of common sense to assume that not all of them have *significantly* contributed to a paper. I am thinking especially about particle-physics collaborations, such as LHC at CERN. As an example, take this highly cited paper with a couple of hundred authors sharing authorship. The same or very similar author lists appear in several other highly cited articles. I am sure most of these are highly capable and competent researchers, some of which are leaders in their field. But did they all *really* contributed enough to be credited as authors? Another question: how much is enough?
How can one trust the citation count model (whether it’s fair or not) when there are these collaboration-enhanced players in the game?
How much do professors and PIs rely on citation counts in order to make a decision on hiring a researcher?
# Answer
> 9 votes
A general rule of bibliometrics is that they *shouldn't* be used to compare people (or projects, or papers, or research projects) across different fields, because publication culture can vary wildly even within disciplines and between closely allied fields. To begin with, the size of the field - the number of papers published per year, for example - has a direct impact on how many citations each paper gets.
Your quandary is an example of this. In certain fields such as high-energy physics, astronomy, or parts of biology, a lot of the science is concentrated in very large collaborations, which produce papers with many citations and many authors. It is indeed unfair to use citation counts to compare such a CV with, say, a mathematician's, since papers there tend to have few authors and, in many specialized fields, be read by very few people indeed, even for high-quality papers.
Whether such bibliometrics are used in practice by hiring committees - well, that obviously depends on the field, the institution, and the specific people involved. If all the applicants are from similar fields then this may not be a huge problem, but the numbers need to be treated with some distance to avoid the problem you point out. If a hiring or review process places a large emphasis on citation counts (or other bibliometrics) for applicants from different fields, then that is indeed a problem.
One final thing you should keep in mind is that applicants with a high-citation-count, large-collaboration paper in their CV are likely to get asked at interview questions like
> So, what was your role in this collaboration?
in any case, as part of the interview process.
# Answer
> 7 votes
In biology these papers have become extremely common. These papers are often results of high-throughput data generation projects (e.g. genome sequencing projects). Since they generate a lot of data, their data is often used thus generating many citations (this is why journals like these papers - they are impact factor boosters).
However, I think this is not such a big problem.
In many cases where it is important for people to understand your contribution, there tend to be means of doing this. For example, some funding agencies may ask you to specify verbally or numerically what your contribution to each paper was. If these are the only papers you have, the relevant people will want to know what your exact role in the project was. You will almost always be able to explain or emphasize your role in a cover letter.
When it is less important for people to understand your exact contribution, I find that people will usually give a very low weight to such papers. I guess this comes from an underlying assumption that without prior knowledge we can assume that the amount of contribution is the inverse of the number of authors (maximum entropy?). That said, in biology the first and last authors have special status and I think this is also the case in these papers.
So the main problem, I think, is not getting more recognition then you deserve but actually less if you are some author in the middle of the list. However, as I mentioned, you will usually have some other venue to explain your exact contribution. The only way I could see these papers being very useful for a CV is as an indicator that you can get collaborations and funding (these projects are typically well-funded).
# Answer
> 2 votes
Where I work at a academic computing center, when hiring at the postdoc and research associate (junior researcher) level, I never look at citation counts. We are *very* different from an academic department, and citation counts aren't all that useful to us. We are looking for a certain skill set which includes good publications, but it also includes lots of other things.
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Tags: citations, collaboration, bibliometrics, mega-collaborations
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thread-22085
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/22085
|
What relevance do law school grades have on admission to a Master's degree in economics?
|
2014-06-08T00:20:59.280
|
# Question
Title: What relevance do law school grades have on admission to a Master's degree in economics?
I am currently a rising 2L law student who passed up an opportunity to do a joint JD/MS in Economics. I didn't think I was adequately prepared to take on the Economics degree, though. (Not enough math background.) I am considering pursuing a master's degree part time after finishing law school, though, because it seems to be more interesting and more valuable in the job market than law.
What bearing will my law school grades have on admission to a master's program, and would that calculus change if I took the requisite math courses (Calculus I, II, and potentially III,), as well as a remedial stats course?
# Answer
> 2 votes
The effect of your law grades probably depends a lot on the program you are applying to. I guess (really just a guess here) the overall GPA might in most cases serve as a signal for being a good/bad student, so they probably matter.
I think it doesn't really matter what the courses are. Most law courses have nothing in common with economics courses even if they cover the same topics. And to be honest, people are lazy and probably are not try to figure out which of your courses are useful for an econ degree. That is of course different for a law/econ master or a specialized econ master.
However, most master programs require you to have a sufficient knowledge in math.
But, as I already said that depends on the university/department/program. So, my advice would be: ask the top 1-3 universities on your list what the necessary conditions are.
*A minor remark: I can't think of my econ MS being useful in a real job (i.e. not governmental or in academia) but maybe that is just me. Maybe don't pick a research master's degree.*
# Answer
> 0 votes
The most critical law school grades for you are those that have a bearing on economics. Contracts, come to mind, and maybe public policy. In your shoes, I would concentrate on doing well on these, as well as "corporate law" courses. In an application/cv, I would set the GPA in these courses apart from the rest of the law program in say criminal or civil procedure, torts, etc.
Math courses might have a similar impact on your application as "commercial" law.
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Tags: graduate-admissions, graduate-school, masters, economics, law
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thread-23991
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23991
|
Most efficient way of booking academic supervision appointments
|
2014-06-26T14:20:44.237
|
# Question
Title: Most efficient way of booking academic supervision appointments
I'm wondering if there's a more efficient method of booking an academic supervision appointment. The method I experienced was a schedule on the professor's door, first-come-first-serve.
How do we employ technology that is the most efficient (reduces scheduling time, permitting all students to view sign ups)?
# Answer
> 4 votes
Not sure what you need beyond standard calendaring software, such as Outlook or Google Calendar or whatever. Simply set up a recurring meeting and meet at that time.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I use Doodle a lot. It is possible to tie Doodle in with Google calendar (which also means I see it in my calendar on my Android smartphone). You can set up available time slots in Doodle that can only be filled by one person. Once it is filled it becomes unavailable to others. There may be similar tools but I have only used Doodle and find it extremely efficient. The only drawback are those who insist on having access at some other time but there will always be a few of those, and, it is easier to accommodate a few exceptions this way. I use the method for the 50 grad students in our department, with who I need to meet once a year. I schedule hours at the beginning of the term and ask them to book as soon as they can.
So using Doodle with Google calendar or some similar combination is a useful tool.
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Tags: academic-life
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thread-24005
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24005
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Discussing time limits in the limitations section?
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2014-06-26T17:21:27.380
|
# Question
Title: Discussing time limits in the limitations section?
Is it common to discuss the fact that one didn't have time to do more reading, or didn't have time to elaborate certain sections, in the "limitations" section of a thesis?
# Answer
> 10 votes
**No**. It not common, nor should you do it! As paul garrett pointed out, this type of excuse makes it seem as though you didn't care or couldn't be bothered to do a better job.
I would add also that no matter how much time and effort you have put into developing an idea and writing your paper, it is almost inevitable that there will be something that you missed or could have done better had you had/taken more time. Even the magnum opus on which you have spent your entire lifetime will be superseded by better or more complete thoughts; this is an inevitable reality of academic writing, and not one you should apologize for.
Perhaps especially as a student, one struggles to find the balance that represents maximum output for minimum time spent. Knowing when to 'let go' is a function of maturity and experience. When you've made that decision (or have had it made for you, due to time constraints outside your control), accept that this might be better, but don't apologize for the inevitable.
# Answer
> 9 votes
"No", for several reasons. First, even if literally true due to external constraints, it sounds too much like one really didn't care enough, or had other, more important things to do. Second, if it's a sort of excuse for not having a better paper, that's both unprofessional and will only make people mistrust you all the more. Third, although scientific and other scholarly literature has manifest limitations, to apparently concede huge limitations at the outset is pathetic.
Even if such remarks are a (misguided) attempt at some sort of modesty, don't do it. Your thesis is not "about you", but about its subject. Personal remarks should be limited to thank-yous and such in the acknowledgements.
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Tags: research-process, thesis
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thread-24014
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24014
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Good style for frequent references to some paper
|
2014-06-26T20:01:07.527
|
# Question
Title: Good style for frequent references to some paper
I have an document extending paper **\[A & B, 2000\]**
On my work, I make *many* references to **\[A & B, 2000\]**, some times several times on the same paragraphs as there is some need to compare both approaches.
How do I make reference to **\[A & B, 2000\]** without being redundant?
Example:
```
Our work compares with [A & B, 2000] on the following:
- The approach presented in [A & B, 2000] makes (x) assumption on (...)
- The (something) differ from those of [A & B, 2000] on (...)
- Performance of X was not reported by [A & B, 2000]
```
(there is quite more content in between the references on the actual document, but still look overwhelming)
# Answer
> 8 votes
Check your target journal's style guide or advice to authors, but my approach is to use the citation format the first time I mention it and then just mention the authors by name or pronoun when I refer to them later. E.g:
> Our work compares with **\[A & B, 2000\]** on the following: \- The approach presented by A & B makes (x) assumption on (...) \- The (something) differ from those of A & B on (...) \- Performance of X was not reported by A & B
Even that can get redundant. You might say say:
> Throughout the following section, we compare our work to \[A & B, 2000\]. In their work, they make assumptions about (X) ... Additionally, (Y) differs between A & B's method and our because ... They also do not present performance of (Z) in their work.
It depends a bit on your own style, but my approach is always a bit more conversational.
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Tags: publications, citations, writing-style
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thread-23997
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23997
|
Preparing for Quals in Math
|
2014-06-26T15:30:46.520
|
# Question
Title: Preparing for Quals in Math
I will be starting graduate school next semester in mathematics and I have no idea how I am going to fare. My goal for this summer and I am slowly making progress is to go over topics in real analysis, topology and algebra. I am also doing an individual study in multivariable calculus which also covers analysis and linear algebra as well. My big question, which is very broad is, how does one prepare for the quals?
# Answer
See if your department keeps copies of past exams (most do). If they do, then working the problems on the old exams is by far the best way to study.
You'll begin to notice the types of problems typically asked (there are some classic ones in each area that you should definitely know how to do), the average difficulty of problems, and most importantly help identify areas you need to brush up on.
> 4 votes
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Tags: graduate-school, mathematics
---
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thread-23946
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23946
|
If I have dropped out of a Masters can I then go on to do a PhD?
|
2014-06-25T08:58:58.580
|
# Question
Title: If I have dropped out of a Masters can I then go on to do a PhD?
I attended a masters program in IT and completed everything except for my capstone. Its been almost 7 years since I started and 5 years since I moved out of college.
I now want to apply for a Ph.D.
In these 5yrs I have had one really good research paper published, one patent filled, and worked for two fortune 500 companies. I am presently working as a manager in the same discipline as my masters in a top 5 tech company.
What are my chances to get into Ph.D program? Also can I use coursework from the masters for a Ph.D?
# Answer
> 1 votes
I assume you are applying for a Computer Science PhD. The following answer is based on my application process (Stanford, Berkeley, CMU, George Mason) in interdisciplinary departments that included CS. I had two interviews with Universities where I was not subsequently accepted, so I learned something about the decision criteria and process.
That you have Masters-level course work is a positive. That you didn't finish your Masters is probably neutral-to-slightly-negative. Your published paper is a positive, but your patent will be irrelevant unless it has relevance to research. Your industry experience is probably also irrelevant to being accepted into a PhD program in CS.
All of these are less important that other aspects of your application: 1) GRE scores (esp. Math), 2) your research goals and 3) recommendations (by one or more academics or researchers).
What I learned is that Math GRE score is a "hurtle" -- you have to have a score above some threshold level to be considered. They won't tell you what the threshold is, but you should assume that it is the *average* for their accepted PhD students.
Most important of all are your research goals (and your preparation to achieve those goals) and whether they are aligned with a *particular* professor in the department. Most PhD students are funded through Graduate Research Assistantships or Graduate Teaching Assistantships. In CS, it's mostly GRAs. Mostly, professors admit PhD students that they believe will be good "worker bees" to support them in their research projects. You may be the most wonderful, inspired, gifted, hard-working applicant in the World, but if your interests don't align with at least one professor who has research funding, then you won't get admitted.
Related to this is recommendations. Admission committees respond especially positively to recommendations from people who are important and relevant to the specific area of research. Glowing recommendations of your many personal and professional qualities will mean less than specific recommendations that substantiate your aspirations to do research in your proposed area from someone who is important and well-regarded in that field.
Finally, each University has it's own rules about whether they offer credit graduate-level course work. Mostly it's related to how long ago you got it and where you got it. Given that it's just 5-7 years ago, you should be fine. You can position this as: "My previous graduate course work will accelerate me through the PhD program, and allow me to focus time on courses that relate to my research focus."
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Tags: phd, masters, application
---
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thread-24031
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24031
|
What is a research student?
|
2014-06-27T07:49:06.857
|
# Question
Title: What is a research student?
I’ve red that some universities in Japan offer a non-degree program called *research student.* I want to know:
1. Why do students usually apply as a research student?
2. Do research students work on things that haven’t been done before? Or do they work on anything that interests them (of course) but that is not necessarily new?
3. How does a research student differ from a master student? What does a research student presents in his/her last year?
# Answer
> 16 votes
I've only encountered the term "research student" in Japan (研究生), most (all ?) graduate schools in Japan offer it (see for example the Graduate School of Information Sciences of Tohoku University). As I understand it
1. A student will apply as a research student if they wish to conduct research at the university under the supervision of a faculty member, but are not interested in taking classes or obtaining a degree. You could want to do this for example as a "gap year" between undergrad and Master's (or Master's and Ph.D.), this could be a way to get some research experience under your belt, and perhaps improve your application for Masters or Ph.D.
2. Anything goes, as long as it is agreed between the student and supervisor.
3. You are not required to present anything. Since there is no degree to be obtained, there are no requirements to be fulfilled.
4. is subjective.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Usually, students who go through a research program, aim for a research project or a project the output of which may be a research report or a scientific publication. As far as this program is only offered in a few number of universities or research centers; I just want to add some comment to the questions you asked.
In some universities, non-degree programs are offered as some students want to attend to the university not going through the official class-attending programs. I mean, in a non-degree program, the student may not have to attend all the courses offered in a degree leading program. The student has the opportunity to choose the courses he likes and the ones mostly near the field of research he likes to do. It may be noted that in a degree program, the student may have to pass a few number of courses which may be chosen by the group or department; but in a non-degree program, he has the opportunity to choose from a wide range of different courses which he likes more. I insist that that because these programs may not lead to a degree, each university may have its own regulations and the student may or may not have the opportunity to choose as many different courses as he wants. It is better to check the universities' websites.
The answer the your question about *why students apply for such programs* varies. Some students prefer to enjoy the freedom of the program, choosing a number of courses and pass them,while they do some research activity in the research institute. Some researchers prefer to apply for this programs as they have passed some courses before and they are coming with a good research background; so they apply for a non-degree program just to expand their researches and do some publications at the end of the research period. Some other students are the ones who work in industry and do not have enough time to attend a complete degree leading program and have a research topic in mind; so they apply for such program and do research in the field of their desire.
*When we are talking about research*, It means that we are looking for something new. When something is done before and the researchers looks for it; it is called research but the output may be a Review Paper not a Research Paper.
A non-degree program may differ as a matter of time. The research period may be three months, six month, one year or more. But as the research non-degree program student does research under supervision of a professor at the university; the output should be something like a publish paper, conference paper or a research report or book. If the person applies for a non-degree program and does not have any publication at the end of the research period, why does he attend the university?
The research student may *take most of the research period*, by talking to the other researchers and students at the university. Go to some courses and read as much as papers and reports as he can. Develop new ideas for his future projects and gain ideas to make his work better.
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Tags: graduate-school, research-undergraduate, terminology, japan
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thread-24066
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24066
|
Filling "Educational Status" in GRE subject test application form
|
2014-06-28T04:01:51.113
|
# Question
Title: Filling "Educational Status" in GRE subject test application form
I am going to apply for a GRE subject test (Mathematics). The application process is going to start in this July.
I want a suggestion regarding online filling of the application form.
One item in the form is "Educational status at the time you take the GRE test" and the options are :
Sophomore(second year),Junior(third year),Senior(fourth/final year),First-year Graduate student,Second-year Graduate student,Unenrolled(College Graduate),Unenrolled(Masters Degree),Other.
(Screenshot is given below)
Now I have completed 3 years Bachelor Degree and currently pursuing Masters(2 years). I am (and will remain at the time of taking the GRE test) in the final year of my Masters course.
So what option should I choose for the above item of the application form?
Please somebody help me. Thnx in advance.
# Answer
> 4 votes
If you've already completes a full year of study toward a master's degree, I'd lean towards "second-year graduate student." However, frankly I don't think schools pay a whole lot of attention to what label you use. They're much more interested in the recency and the results of the test.
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Tags: application, gre
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|
thread-24079
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24079
|
Is it acceptable to use MS Equation 3.0 for a journal paper?
|
2014-06-28T12:09:14.940
|
# Question
Title: Is it acceptable to use MS Equation 3.0 for a journal paper?
The title sums it up pretty well. I'm using MS Word to write a paper I intend to publish in a SCI journal. It will contain ~15 equations (non-trivial ones: integrals, sums, fractions, special characters, etc.). I'm fairly efficient in Word, but have absolutely no experience using LaTeX. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression that once a paper is accepted, it is edited to conform with the journals publishing style, as opposed to some conferences, I attended, which provide a pre-formatted Word document in which I have to place my work before applying to the conference. As the journal provides no such template (but accepts .doc format), I was wondering if there could emerge any issues regarding the equations.
PS: the field is computer science
# Answer
> 7 votes
If they accept .doc probably they also accept MS Equation. However, the best you can do is ask them directly.
Anecdote: A couple of years ago I prepared the proceedings for a major CS conference. We had about 120 accepted papers and only one of those was written in MS Word.
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Tags: journals, writing
---
|
thread-17240
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17240
|
Can I pursue an MA and MBA simultaneously?
|
2014-02-21T07:18:03.473
|
# Question
Title: Can I pursue an MA and MBA simultaneously?
I am pursuing a masters degree in Economics (correspondence). I also want to enroll in a MBA program (correspondence). Am I allowed to do that?
# Answer
It all depends on the education system of the country in which you are studying; besides to the universities you are going to apply.
Some countries do not allow the university students to study two majors during their higher education period. Despite the case that the student is top student or qualified as a student with outstanding academic activities. For instance, some students who are ranked first or second among similar majoring students, have the chance to study in two majors.
Even if there is no restriction, some universities do not allow their students to study two majors simultaneously because they afraid this affect their progress.
Despite the things mentioned about regulations, it may be allowed but be restricted and students may only have the chance to choose their second major very similar to the first one. I mean, the engineering student may not be allowed to choose law as his second major. Or the chemical Engineering student can only apply for a BSc in chemistry sciences.
Some universities encourage masters students to study in MBA alongside their own major; specially the engineering students as they become familiar with some non-engineering topics and be prepared to accept management roles in their future careers.
In your case, I have to say these things:
1. You need to ask the university in which you are studying in whether they allow you to study a second major simultaneously.
2. You need to asses your own ability if you are prepared enough to study a second masters or not. Because an MA in economics has its difficulties and this will get worth when you start your research and thesis. Sometimes, studying a second major will not either help you improve your knowledge and do a better research; or even because of lots of courses and lack of time; you may lose your way for the first major.
3. You may need to consult your supervisor if he allows you or encourages you to do so besides your masters research thesis.
4. If you have to pay for MBA, you also need to think about how to pay the fees or find a good fund or scholarship.
If you are not sure about those difficulties, I encourage you to finish your first MA, work for two or three years and then apply for a MBA. I know some good business schools that require the students some job experience before assessing their applications. This way, you may gain most of your academic studies.
> 1 votes
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Tags: masters, degree, distance-learning
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thread-24081
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24081
|
Do graduate schools have more courses & less of a student-teacher ratio than undergraduate?
|
2014-06-28T13:03:09.717
|
# Question
Title: Do graduate schools have more courses & less of a student-teacher ratio than undergraduate?
On average do grad schools offer more distinct courses than undergraduate schools?
If that is the case, then it must mean there are more professors teaching in graduate schools. And common sense tells me that there are less students in grad school than undergraduate.
Does that mean there a disparity in the student-teacher ratio in grad and undergrad schools?
# Answer
> 3 votes
I will limit my answer to American universities.
Do you mean more courses per semester, or more distinct courses that are listed in the course catalog and offered with some regularity?
If you mean the former: in any given semester, most departments offer many more undergraduate courses than graduate courses. This must be the case for the reason you suggest: the number of students taking undergraduate courses in that department is usually far in excess of the number of students taking graduate courses in that department.
But most departments offer largely the same undergraduate courses every year (or sometimes, on a two-year cycle). Many undergraduate courses at a large university have multiple sections running concurrently. The most popular courses -- e.g. freshman level courses for non-majors -- are in some departments run in ten, twenty or more sections each semester.
If you mean the latter: yes, many -- perhaps most? -- departments with large graduate programs offer a larger number of distinct graduate courses over the years than undergraduate courses. Each course is populated by a smaller number of graduate students, but graduate students stick around for at least as long as undergraduates and, unlike undergraduate students -- recall that I am talking about American universities -- take the vast majority or the entirety of their courses in a single department. Sometimes graduate students repeat courses or stop taking courses at a certain point, but in many PhD programs -- including the one at my university -- graduate students are required to take a minimum (positive!) number of courses every semester, some of which are unrepeatable.
In fact, most departments devote much more thought to which graduate courses they are going to offer in the next year or two years, both in order to make sure to offer enough courses for their students to take, and conversely to ensure that enough of their current students will want to take any given proposed course in order for that course "to make", i.e., to meet minimum enrollment requirements and be run.
# Answer
> 0 votes
For the UK and EU universities I am familiar with, your logic is a little off.
That is, I believe you are saying more courses require more teachers. However, graduate course and undergraduate courses are not the same at all.
An undergraduate course would typically include 4 to 6 hours per week for a single subject. This would continue for somewhere between 9 and 16 **weeks**.
A graduate course would typically include 3-4 hours per day, for 5-10 **days**.
So you can see, graduate courses are more compressed as far as contact hours, mainly because the students are expected to do significantly more independent study. Because a graduate module is compressed into 5-10 days, one teacher could teach more of those in the same time as one could teach a single undergraduate module (considering only classroom hours).
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Tags: graduate-school, university, undergraduate, education
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thread-24065
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24065
|
Mathematics teaching position in the UK
|
2014-06-28T01:03:08.780
|
# Question
Title: Mathematics teaching position in the UK
I hold a PhD in pure mathematics and am looking for mathematics teaching positions in the UK, preferably at University level.
1. What would be some websites where to find such ads?
2. What is the standard application procedure/requirements? When are the deadlines for applications? When are the offers typically made?
*A note on question#2:*
I would be interested in finding out whether there are any general comments one could make regarding the application/selection process by analogy to the US postdoc application system outlined in the next sentences. In the US, in order to apply for a postdoc position \[research and teaching\] one typically needs to submit 3 research recommendations, 1 teaching recommendation, a research statement, a teaching statement, cv, cover letter. Most deadlines are around November, December, January and I believe most offers are made in January - early February.
Thank you.
# Answer
> 5 votes
Academic jobs in the UK are usually advertised on jobs.ac.uk website, but there are of course many others. Typically, you will be asked to submit your application online, including application form, cv, supporting documents and details of your references. Answers to other questions are more specific to each position. You may wish to familiarize yourself with the positions currently advertised on the website, to get a sense of the job market at the moment.
# Answer
> 0 votes
Such jobs are also sometimes posted on the site of the European Mathematical Society and on the mathematics departments webpages of the universities.
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Tags: career-path, job, job-search
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thread-24085
|
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24085
|
University advocates for students facing academic misconduct charges
|
2014-06-28T14:14:24.983
|
# Question
Title: University advocates for students facing academic misconduct charges
I sit on my department's academic misconduct committee. When students are suspected of academic misconduct they are invited to a meeting with the academic misconduct committee. The university polices are pretty clear that students not only can, but should, have an advocate attend the meeting. The policy also states that the advocate cannot be a lawyer providing legal representation, but can be a friend/family member who happens to be a lawyer. The university student services provides an advocates if students request it. At our last meeting we had a case of suspect collusion by two students. Both students had been assigned the same university advocate.
These collusion type meetings tend to be messy and involve bringing one student in and hearing that side of the story, sending that student out and bringing the other student in and hearing the other side of the story, and then often iterating a number of times. We attempt to keep the students isolated so they do not hear each other's side of the story. In the case of the same advocate representing both students there is obviously a confidentiality issue.
Based on the evidence we had it was clear student A had copied/worked with student B and produced a "joint work product" and turned it as her own. This expressly prohibited and constitutes academic misconduct. We did not have evidence that student B had knowingly colluded with student A and therefore were going to let student B off.
We called student B and the advocate in for a final meeting and began explaining to the student that they had not done anything wrong and no penalty would be applied, when the advocate proverbially threw student B under the bus and said that student B had colluded with student A. The end result was that both student A and student B were penalized. It is not clear if we applied a lighter penalty to student A because of admission of wrong doing by student B. I walked away from the incident feeling dirty.
We have not referred the case to the central university committee because of "procedural irregularities" because the central committee is consistently harsher than us and we are confident the central committee would have penalized both students (even without the admission of student B) harsher than we did. Should that matter or should we just report it to the central committee?
This incident has raised a number of related questions for me. Should the advocate be reported? Do we need to convince the university to change its advocacy policies for claims of joint work? Is there a fundamental conflict of interest of the university advocate and should students be encouraged to get their own independent advocate?
# Answer
It seems to be that the overall process is working well. The problem is that Student B was denied the opportunity to have an advocate truly being a proper advocate.
In absence of any university regulations which require you to bump it up higher, I would recommend handling it locally if you can. There seems not benefit to engage higher ups if not needed.
I would, however, have someone examine the entire advocacy system used. The fact that two students were given the same advocate on a case where they are basically claimant and defendant comes off as wildly unfair. Of course, the advocate is not a lawyer but still, the system simply should never allow that to happen. When you saw it happened, it would have been better (if it is allowed) to stop the proceeding immediately and sort out the advocacy issue.
**In short, the problem is with the advocacy system, perhaps not with the advocate. Someone should dig into and fix that so that such problems never happen in the future.**
As for the current two students, if Student B (not the advocate) did admit, then it seems clear that blame should be shared (it was not theft but rather collusion).
> 29 votes
# Answer
This may be a bit over the top, but I think it's pretty unethical to have one advocate represent two students who may be in opposition to each other. US states, at the very least, have ethical rules for attorneys that are designed to prevent this sort of thing and are taken pretty seriously. The fact that your University has its own procedures for dealing with academic misconduct that attempt to mimic the legal system (a "trial", "advocates", etc) without some of those ethical safeguards is troubling.
Without discussing the case at hand, I would recommend raising the issue up through the chain of command or committees that sets the rules for these proceedings. The process clearly needs to change. If your school is a state entity in the US, it has left itself open to lawsuits claiming lack of due process. If it is a private school in the US, it may also open itself to legal claims of another nature.
> 25 votes
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Tags: ethics, conflict-of-interest
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thread-24023
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24023
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When can asking a question during lecture be offensive?
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2014-06-27T03:04:27.530
|
# Question
Title: When can asking a question during lecture be offensive?
During my masters, I used to ask a lot of questions in class and during the lecture. Whenever I had a doubt I used to ask questions. It was my habit which my undergraduate teachers inculcated in me and inspired us to do so. However, here, in my masters, I got the impression that this is probably a bad habit as professors tend to think that I am asking my questions to test them. Ultimately, it was proven to reflect badly on me.
I am about to go to another institution going for my PHD. Since then, I have changed my habit and I haven't asked a single question in the last several lectures. Instead, I wrote my questions down in my notebook and later read books or Googled them to search for answers.
Is this really the right way?
How can I ask a question such that the professors shall not think that I am somehow mocking them?
# Answer
Asking questions is a good thing, but you need to make sure that the questions you ask are appropriate. The best thing to do is judge for yourself whether or not a majority of the audience might be interested in your question.
An example might be that the lecturer has made a mistake, or has forgotten to define something in a mathematical derivation. In such cases, perhaps you could whisper to the person next to you for a quick second opinion.
If a concept has been neglected or poorly explained, then you should ask for expansion or clarification if you think that most of the class will be in the same boat.
These aren't always easy judgements to make. If you're uneasy, save the question for after class. You can also simply ask the lecturer if he or she minds you asking questions, or your classmates if they thought your question was a good one. *Good* questions enhance the learning experience for everyone.
The bottom line is that most good professors like to have some interaction with the class. Many students audience don't like to say anything, so it's often up to just a few students to ask any relevant questions. But more than one question every ten minutes or so can start to get tiresome for the lecturer, so unless it's a tutorial class you shouldn't turn it into a Q&A session.
> 38 votes
# Answer
From my experience in college as a student who *asks* questions (as opposed to those who stay silent even if they do not understand what they're listening to) you can divide the process into the student's part (asking) and the lecture's part (answering). The student's part is the one you have control over, and so there are at least two possibilities:
* The question is pertinent: it adds to the discussion, is useful to the general audience and it does not disrupt the lecture.
* The question is not pertinent: it is too deep (save it for later when you can meet the lecturer in a one-to-one basis), it is too shallow (you were not paying attention, or lack previous knowledge needed for the present course, etc.), or it is irrelevant (you're trying to correct or point out some insignificant mistake or make an appreciation that does not help anyone except your ego).
If your question is *not* pertinent then do a favor to everyone (including yourself) and don't ask it.
Now, if the question *is* pertinent it is up to your appreciation and experience in that class to figure out whether that particular lecturer will welcome it or not. Some lecturers will be happy to answer anything they think adds up to the discussion and to be corrected whenever they are wrong. Others will feel that their students are being intrusive towards their work and even get defensive if they're pointing out a mistake.
Examples:
* I once pointed out a mistake a lecturer had made on the board and he dismissed me implying I was clearly wrong without even giving a thought about what I was saying. Right after class I talked to him privately and he was happy to acknowledge I was right.
* I did the same with another lecturer and he immediately admitted his mistake and thanked me for pointing it out. Asking a tricky question to this same lecturer he admitted he didn't know the answer but came the next day with two sheets of paper where he had worked out the answer after class during his own time.
To sum up:
> It is your responsibility before asking to make sure yours is a *good* question. But it is also up to your judgement to decide whether asking that particular lecturer that particular question benefits you or not.
> 17 votes
# Answer
You should not always resort to Google. If the professor feels bad if you ask in front of the class, note down the question and either ask at the end of the class on one-on-one basis, or ask in a separate meeting during their office hours. Consider asking TAs too.
This is not the ideal solution though, as asking in the class provides others the opportunity to ponder on the question.
One litmus test that you might want to do before asking the question is, whats the point of the question, and whats the point of the current lecture. Are you asking a question that goes deep down some unnecessary details, or does it ask for a piece of information thats relevant and important?
Another way to test your questions is, what would I lose (or what would I be not able to do) if I don't know the answer to that question.
One more way can be that before asking the question, you verbally clarify what you understood, and then ask which bit you didnt understand. Similarly, verbally clarify what details you know, and then for which scenario, you need the additional information. That would not only justify it as a legitimate doubt, but also clear the context of question A LOT in your own mind.
> 11 votes
# Answer
if your question imply that maybe you hadn't learned the prerequisite classes well enough, then they could be taken as annoying to both professor and some other students. the prof wants to make sure he/she gets through a sufficiently prescribed amount of material (indicated on the syllabus) and spending a lot of time on remedial instruction might cost too much time to move ahead at the needed rate.
but, if it's relevant and at the correct level (like the level of the class learning this stuff), thoughtful questions **should** be appreciated by all.
> 6 votes
# Answer
Several answers have touched on asking the right type of questions. While this is important, *how* you ask a question can matter as well. (FWIW, these come from a US perspective.)
I find questions prefaced with "I know you covered x earlier, but I'm still not clear on..." get good results. It acknowledges that you were paying attention, that the professor covered some part of the topic, but it's asking for increased understanding. The same for questions like "You just said x, but the text seems to say y. Could you talk about the difference?"
Another factor is *who* asks the question. I'm usually the top student in the class, and the professors know it. So if I ask a question that starts with "I didn't understand how you went from step A to step B", they know it's because something was truly unclear -- I've already done the reading, and I've been following the lecture closely, so the professor is less likely to take offense. I often volunteer to ask this type of question for my classmates, because I know the professor will be more patient with the question if it comes from me.
> 5 votes
# Answer
A good talk from the auditory that professor likes (or, even if one does not, sees as "ok") is the one that **contributes to the lecture**, increasing its quality for all students, for instance:
* An answer to the question that the lecturer has just asked for the auditory, aiming to attract attention to important topic.
* Asking to comment on unmentioned yet widespread or very obviously looking alternative hypothesis, point of view or simply common misunderstanding, if still in the scope of the lecture.
* Asking to clarify something that was really covered too fast, leaving half of the auditory confused (a knowingly good student should ask).
* A typo in a formula on the blackboard that 50 students just wrote down (but double check first as false alerts are not welcome).
It is very difficult to ask such questions as they may require more knowledge from the student than it would be presented in the lecture. Indeed, one of the possible replies from the professor is "a good question, now please answer it for us" that may not already be difficult. If you managed to ask one such question per semester, this is already great and enough. If you keep trying but the questions are not so good, you may get one or another hint to interfere less.
If a question does not add much to the lecture, professor may see it as a waste of the precious time that could be used more efficiently. The amount of personal attention professor is capable of giving to each student is limited even after the lecture, and during the lecture you are also using time of many other students.
> 1 votes
# Answer
There are many ways to ask questions in seemingly appropriate ways and yet completely ruin the flow of class and earn some negative points with the lecturer/teacher. Here are some examples:
* Asking a question about something that was just explained in great detail (but during which the student who is asking the question was busy texting or browsing on their phone or was simply not focuses). This type of question adds nothing of value, but suggests that explanation was not good enough. I even see other students roll their eyes and some just laugh out loud at one such student who seems to have that special talent for asking really bad questions. For instance, right after stating a fact such as "The sky is blue" they would ask "Excuse me, I am just not sure - is the sky blue?"
* Asking a question that on the surface seems relevant, but in reality is about material which was not covered yet. For instance "Today we learn that at noon, the sky is mostly blue" and the student asks "What about the sky on Mars - is it also blue?". Students who do that do it for few reasons: they want to show that they are advanced (they usually use terminology that was not even explained yet almost like "name dropping"), and they like the attention they are getting. This is counter-productive and I just ask them to wait until we reach that point later. But the worst ones will keep asking such questions: "So, I just wanted to ask, if it is middle of the night, would the sky still be blue?"... and earn a bad grade as a result (since they are focusing on stuff that is not covered yet, they are not focusing on matters at hand, and that shows in their work).
* Asking trivial questions, to which they could simply find answers themselves if only they remembered what was covered in the past or even just tried before asking (I teach practical stuff that is done on computers, so they have their tools right in front of them). For instance "What would happen if I...?" to which I would say "try it, see what happens, and get back to us!". Or at other times "How do I (do something simple)?" - again just asking for attention. First it tells me they don't care to remember important details and cannot learn more advanced concepts which rely on previous knowledge, but more importantly, they show their laziness and disinterestedness as such simple tasks can be figured out within seconds. The question would be along lines of "How do I switch my mouse to left handed?" - they have not even tried to open options and see what is in there, and to make it all worse - both how to change options and how to "switch to left handed" was explained more than once. (and - no I don't teach such simple stuff, it is just an illustration)
* Even if questions are relatively OK, they can be asked in such a manner as to interrupt the flow of a good class. I expect my students to raise their hand when asking a question, but some of them will do so every few minutes. Some will ask a question by raising their hand, only to switch to not raising their hand when it matters the most - like when an important "A-HA" moment is about to happen in students' mind. Some complex concepts and ideas need a bit of a build-up to be understood, and that moment of understanding can be ruined by a question, asked aggressively. Or some others will raise their hand at the most inappropriate moment and try and get my attention with no regard for the explanation that is taking place. All they need to do is wait about 30 seconds and they can ask all they want then, but they are too eager to ruin the flow of lecture.
Basically, those who do this in a class are psychotic individuals who cannot live without being the center of attention for more than a few minutes. Unfortunately, they are also very skilled at ruining a class without doing much of what is clearly prohibited so they are hard to deal with (you can't tell them "Don't ask questions"). I just fail them or give them a really bad grade; usually their homework is not that great either, so failing them is easy.
> 1 votes
# Answer
Asking Question is a good thing but ask in a right way is cumpulsory and you can not find your answer as you need to know on google so asking your teacher is a good thing but is to be done in a right way.
> 0 votes
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Tags: teaching, coursework, answering-questions
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thread-257
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/257
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How do I not get impatient when other people ask me to describe my research?
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2012-02-19T16:55:51.940
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# Question
Title: How do I not get impatient when other people ask me to describe my research?
I mean, I really *should* be glad when they ask me this question. But inevitably, different people will ask me the same question many different times (over many different interviews), understandably so, and response fatigue does start to set in. I just wonder how other people can manage to be so patient when I ask them the same exact question (that they've probably answered hundreds of times by now).
I guess one of the things that has always driven me (despite an initially subpar educational background) was that I was always extremely averse to any form of redundant stimuli or repetitiveness. This helped carry me from a crappy middle school into UChicago/Brown. But I do need to get used to it a bit more as my role changes.
# Answer
Your job, as an academic, is twofold:
1. Do amazing research.
2. Write it up and convey your results to other people.
It sounds like you view (2) to apply only to others who are already in your field and are completely familiar with everything you've done. You will find that, in the entirety of your field, there are probably just a few dozen people who are intimately familiar with every details of your field, and only a few hundred who are really familiar with what you do. Everyone else — academic, layperson, village idiot — will require an explanation, and you should do them the favor of explaining it to them.
To more directly answer your question, you should always have two answers ready to the question "what do you do?":
1. An elevator pitch, as described elsewhere. This should take ~15-30 seconds to say and would give a very high-level overview of your work.
2. A more in-depth explanation, which would take about 3-5 minutes, which conveys what you do in more detail. Generally speaking, less time than that and you can't convey any useful information, more time than that and you're giving too many details. After your in-depth explanation, either the person will say, "oh", and move on, or they'll ask questions and you can have an intellectual discussion.
*(Note: the following point is somewhat debatable.)* I've found for myself that it helps to visualize the person you're talking to as paying your salary; if you're on a publicly-funded research grant (i.e., any governmental grant), their taxes are funding your research. It gives some perspective.
> 38 votes
# Answer
You **should** have an *elevator pitch* version of your research i.e. a description of your work that you can concisely explain to an incoming grad student within the time taken to ride a few floors in an elevator. I know that can be pretty hard to think up on the spot, which is why I'm suggesting you have the basic points at the top of your mind. With time, you can reel it off without even thinking for it!
As to why I emphasized on why you should do it, there can be enormous benefits of having such a version ready (say your adviser introduces you to someone with whom you'd like to work with in future in the hallway one morning, and he asks the same question out of courtesy - it might really look bad on both you and your adviser if you start hemming and hawing!) for when you really need it. Also, it would keep you grounded to what you started working on while deep inside the technicalities of a paper...
> 28 votes
# Answer
The previous answers are all good and I strongly recommend having something prepared in advance. However, I think some people are more prone to fatigue from repetition than others, and if you get tired easily from answering this question like me, you could challenge yourself to come up with something different to say every time.
It is definitely true that each person you talk to will have a different background, and in general how you inform somebody of your research should be not just a function of what you know about it, but also of their personality and their knowledge.
This is a good practice because it will make you more aware of the subtleties in communication, which is important especially when you are applying for a job. A fellow colleague won't react in the same way as a potential employer for instance. In other words, you should practice finding some common ground which will inspire your questioner, and in this case every time someone asks you what your research is about, you will always have something new to think about.
> 20 votes
# Answer
Well, if repetition does annoy you: I usually hear this question as "What kind of research did you do *recently*?" If you research evolves a bit, this will help to avoid too much repetition. Also it helps to keep you explanations fresh and if you like your recent results you may probably like to share your enthusiasm...
> 7 votes
# Answer
I have been in the same situation - having to explain the same thing over and over again, usually in interviews and such... The way I dealt with it was to explain it in a fresh way every time. So, on one occasion I may focus on the "fun" part of that work, while another time I may focus on the discovery part of it, while yet another time I may focus on the teamwork that was needed... The interviewer may give me a clue (body language, vernacular, etc) as to what type of answer may work best for their media/platform, so I tune into that. If it is a younger audience, I will try to make the answer more fun and attractive, while if it is for a serious, older audience, my answer will focus on serious matters more. Say a project I worked on was both famous and earned a lot of money - in a show for teens I may talk about fun part of it and perhaps someone famous I met, while in the other, serious show I may throw in figures and profits and such and perhaps even the whole industry a bit, to make it interesting for their audience. This also gives a benefit to the listener who may have seen/heard/read more than one of my interviews and would not be bored by repetition (although some repetition is to be expected).
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-school
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thread-18778
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18778
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Can I be admitted into a PhD program with non-thesis MS degree?
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2014-04-01T02:17:13.397
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# Question
Title: Can I be admitted into a PhD program with non-thesis MS degree?
If I do a non-thesis MS program in statistics, will I be eligible for an admission in to a PhD program in Statistics later in my life? The MS program I am looking into is a non-thesis program but I still have to complete a research project requirement (which involves oral presentation as well as some form of a written report) towards the end of the program...I am still not sure if it can lead to a PhD program though.
Thanks!
# Answer
It depends on the university. Some Ph.D. programs have extra requirements for students who did not complete a thesis (or they will not accept these students). Others are fine with a 'capstone/directed project' which has elements of a thesis. Others may simply ask that students who did not complete a thesis take the GRE for admission into the Ph.D. program while not requiring this for students who did complete a thesis (I attend an R1 university in the US and this is the case here).
So the answer is yes, but it depends on the university.
> 4 votes
# Answer
Applying for a PhD program depends on your curriculum vitae and the research work you have done during the years before your PhD. One may have completed a MSc with research and thesis but his research topic is not that much current and that is not so much alluring for the professor who is seeking for a PhD research student. On the other hand, someone (probably like you) may have attended a MSc program which did not include any thesis or research work, but, the student was that much active and interested in doing research that his resume is full of scientific publications, research assistantships and voluntary academic work that the professor prefers to supervise him.
So, if you are aiming a PhD in future, it may be better to do as much as research work and publication as you can. Then you need to meet the minimum requirements for a PhD student who wants to apply for a PhD program. Go and search the websites of the universities you want to apply and prepare the qualifications and requirements they have mentioned.
It may be a good idea to seek the research interests of the professors of the university you are interested in attending too. If you want to work with a professor, try to review his publications and if you want to do some researches; make some researches in the areas of their interest. For example, a professor the research interest of whom is numerical methods in engineering is not probable to accept and work with a person who's resume is full of laboratory activities.
Another thing is that you choose some courses (as your electives) that are of value for the research in PhD. I mean, choose some courses that prove that you are capable of understanding PhD courses. By this way, you prove that you are so interested in studying PhD courses, you are capable of understanding and analyzing PhD courses and you have chosen your elective courses by an insight to your research activity.
Not to forget that some universities and education systems have specific education regulations and it may be important for them that a student have completed a MSc by research.
By the way, I have seen some students who did not completed a thesis or research during their MSc, applied for PhD after graduation and started their PhD successfully.
> 3 votes
# Answer
It depends, in the US for example I do not think they acknowledge Masters from other countries, a couple of friends had master degrees themselves before doing their PhDs and both had to get an additional masters (more like it just happened somewhere in the middle)
Now, in Japan, you cannot get into a PhD if you do not have a Masters degree and a title to show for it. That is for all the Universities, not some of them. The only case when this is not the norm is in natural sciences. But in Japan, is like in the UK, PhD programs are 3 years long (usually) you have no classes (well, few, like 4), and you are expected to do research most of the time.
> 0 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions
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thread-21666
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/21666
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Is it proper to cite something when using it just as an example?
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2014-05-29T20:49:56.657
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# Question
Title: Is it proper to cite something when using it just as an example?
In academic writing, is it proper to cite something to provide it as an example of something else? For instance, we have lines like this in a number of our papers:
> Many research endeavors, including environmental and coastal hazard prediction \[1\], climate modeling \[2\], high-energy physics simulations \[3,4\], and genome mapping \[5\] generate large data volumes on a yearly basis.
Each citation is merely providing an example of a research project that generates large volumes of data (more often than not, it's not even a paper, just a URL), and content from the cited source is not otherwise used anywhere in the paper.
I suppose I tend to think of citations as references to work whose content contributes to a significant portion of content in the paper. A citation then indicates some kind of "weighty" relation between the paper and the thing being cited. In the example I provided, it seems to me that invoking the "weighty" power of citation simply to say "yes, such a data producing project of this type does in fact exist, in case you were wondering"--and doing so five times--is somewhat excessive and that it might serve better as a footmark.
To me it seems these should either be footnotes or just be left out. In any case, it seems they should not go in the bibliography.
# Answer
I am not sure about other disciplines, but this is certainly neither uncommon nor in any way frowned upon in my field (Computer Science).
> 21 votes
# Answer
I agree with the other answers. It is better to provide citations to good articles that back up or give examples of your statements. In the example you have shown, the use of the citation is allowing the reader to see for themselves what you mean without you having to provide painstaking details that may detract from the main point of your writing. I, myself, have written some articles that have been very heavy on citations, and were not criticized for it.
> 4 votes
# Answer
This is common practise as has already been established by other answers. In fields where the Harvard style is used it is common to add "e.g." (for example) to the references so that the example would read
> Many research endeavors, including environmental and coastal hazard prediction (e.g., Smith et al., 1989), climate modelling (e.g., Doe and Smith, 2007), high-energy physics simulations (e.g., Svensson, 2005; Fischer, 2006), and genome mapping (e.g., Iglesias, 2010) generate large data volumes on a yearly basis.
It is not uncommon to add more than one example although there is no "law" either way.
With the Harvard style it becomes easier to see that these are just examples, one of possibly many alternatives.
> 1 votes
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Tags: publications, citations
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thread-24096
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24096
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How to engage in discussion after a presentation on an unfamiliar topic?
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2014-06-28T15:49:38.730
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# Question
Title: How to engage in discussion after a presentation on an unfamiliar topic?
Sometimes I am in a conference presentation or seminar which there are only a handful of audiences, and after the presentation the atmosphere simply urges the audiences to ask questions or the presenter will be embarrassed. I do want to contribute to a meaningful discussion, but the problem is that I am unfamiliar with the topic, and after listening to the presentation, I can only understand the background briefly. I cannot formulate a good question after the presentation.
You may wonder why I attend a presentation which the topic I am unfamiliar with, and sometimes it is driven by curiosity, and sometimes it is compulsory (like invited speakers from my supervisor etc). I know it may be possible to formulate a good question by reading the publication of the speaker beforehand, I have tried it actually but the efforts to understand an unfamiliar topic seems too much, and it may not worth it especially I cannot come up with a good question afterwards.
I don't want to be looking stupid after a presentation, but also don't want to start a discussion which is not quite meaningful just because nobody raises a question. Is there any way to help one to start a good discussion for a topic which I am unfamiliar with after a presentation?
# Answer
> 7 votes
In general I agree to what @user46345 and the others said: If you do not have a good question (and no good reason to ask one anyway) it is better to be quiet.
However, sometimes it is important to ask a question. Two examples that come to my mind are:
* You are the discussant of the talk (and you had no opportunity to read the paper before the talk or the speaker already answered all your questions in his talk).
* You have a very shy audience that whats to ask questions but no one wants to be the first one to ask.
But there are probably others.
The best thing to do would be to read the paper first and think about a question related to it. If that is not possible there are still some other options to use:
* If you haven't understood something during the talk: ask about that. It is not your field of expertise, so no one expects you to know everything about it.
* In most fields a very common type of question is about applications. In economics this could be "What are the policy implications of your results?". @JeffE has the following examples for (theoretical) computer science "Does your algorithm work well in practice?" and for non-theoretical computer scientists "Does your technique have any theoretical guarantees?".
* "Sensitivity analysis type questions": Is the assumption A crucial? How would your result change if you change assumption B? They still require some knowledge of the subject but not as much.
These questions can be used as backup as long as you still have some knowledge about the topic of the talk and you have paid attention (asking something the speaker explained 10 minutes earlier makes you look really stupid). However, it is usually better to avoid asking questions than forcing you to ask one.
# Answer
> 4 votes
You don't need to feel pressured to participate in a discussion that you are not familiar with. If it is a subject that you feel strongly about and are familiar with, I am sure a question would come to you; if, OTOH, you are not familiar and were there just because you were invited, and had not time to get acquainted with the subject discussed prior to the presentation, it is best to stay quiet. Do not force it, as it will be obvious and you will end up looking not-very-smart. Leave questions to those who know what to ask, and if they ask nothing, it is not your duty to save the day.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it all depends on the type of presentation/discussion. If it is a less formal one, asking a personal, but interesting question will both engage the speaker and the audience. For instance "What was the hardest part of the project?" Again, it helps if you inform yourself prior to the presentation - do not just walk in there without knowing nothing about the subject discussed or the presenter, if you want to participate. Asking a question unprepared can even lead to some awkward situations, e.g. asking an actor how he feels about working with some actress who just happens to be his wife whom he is divorcing right now and she is suing him for millions...
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Tags: etiquette, presentation
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thread-24055
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24055
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I Plagiarised, what punishment can I expect?
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2014-06-27T20:07:44.030
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# Question
Title: I Plagiarised, what punishment can I expect?
I am a university student, doing a scientific bachelor study. I plagiarised multiple exercises from multiple homework sets for three different classes, all in all about 50% of all the homework for those three classes. I passed the final exams of those three classes. Realizing what I have done, I am considering turning myself in, unless the punishment would be too severe. What do you think?
Edit: I actually got caught once before for plagiarising on a single homework set.
Edit2: I calculated that redoing the courses would cost me *at least* $7000, this is also a consideration for me personally.
Edit3: I actually copied the homework of a friend who gave it to me because he trusted me. I broke this trust, and now he terminated our friendship. I asked him about it and turning myself in is the only way to earn back his respect.
I'd like to know from more people what kind of punishment I could expect. If I turn myself in, I would find it fair to only have to redo the three classes.
# Answer
> 36 votes
> I am considering turning myself in, unless the punishment would be too severe.
You are describing an *extremely* serious violation of most university's academic integrity policies. The most likely punishment is that your credit for those classes would be revoked, your grades would be changed to Fs on your transcript, and you would be suspended or expelled. (That would certainly be the most likely result at my university.)
Nevertheless, I believe you should turn yourself in.
Ari gives a good summary of the ethical argument, but there is also a selfish practical argument. Since you mention being caught once, there is good reason to believe that your work will face additional scrutiny. If you get caught before turning yourself in, the result is much more likely to be *permanent* expulsion. If you admit your plagiarism, the punishment will be slightly less severe; in particular, even if they decide on expulsion, the university will be much more likely to readmit you after 2-3 years.
Even if you decide not to turn yourself in, I recommend taking a short break from university, if you can afford it. The amount of cheating you describe indicates that something is very wrong — maybe you were overwhelmed, maybe you were scared, maybe you were lazy, maybe the homework were insultingly stupid, maybe you just didn't want to be there — but **something** was preventing you from engaging in those classes as a responsible student. You need to figure out what that something is and address it, or you'll just fall into the same pattern again.
# Answer
> 29 votes
As a student in the sciences, I see cheating all the time. My undergraduate institution had a strict honor code we had to sign; Many people cheated. I'm not sure how aware or unaware professors really are to the fact; I remember having one very strange conversation with one of the professors I'm closest too:
"There is good cheating and bad cheating"
is the exact phrase he said. He wasn't advocating to cheat, but what he said was that as long as the cheating didn't hurt anyone else directly (curved grades) or undermine the point of the class ( doing poorly on tests) then one could say that you cheated not because you weren't capable of doing the material, but moreover you cheated to save time. In undergrad, I think, many people get away this this type of cheating.
I would not turn myself in. I have never cheated, but I don't see why turning yourself in helps the university or yourself as long as you never cheat again. You obviously learned the material; make sure you try your best to be as honest with your work as possible from now on.
Not all lessons learned need to have punishment, having to learn is sometimes consequence enough.
Now, if your courses were curved, and you might have harmed someone else's grade, that is a totally different story.
# Answer
> 16 votes
You should talk to an ombudsperson at the university or an academic dean and tell them the whole story. They will likely punish you, but the punishment should be mitigated by the fact that you voluntarily provided the information even after "getting away with it".
If you keep this to yourself, it will either haunt your conscience for the rest of your life, or you will learn to be comfortable with wrong behavior. If that's the type of person you want to be, you don't need me to tell you otherwise. However, the fact that you've published this question suggests that you know that this needs to be rectified.
Either way, there is clearly an endemic problem at your university that the administration should know about.
# Answer
> 4 votes
I suggest you approach a guidance counselor at the school (or a school psychologist, or equivalent). I think they are in the best position to help you in this case. (You might want to check first if your conversations will be treated confidentially.) The punishment you will receive for confessing will greatly depend on what the school policy is and I think the school's guidance counselor would know how cases like yours were handled in the past.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Your university likely has rules about academic misconduct. At my university the rules and penalties about academic misconduct are pretty clear. The minimum penalty we can apply to second offenses is a zero on the piece of work and the maximum penalty is a zero for the year. For third offenses the penalty starts at a zero for the class.
I sit on our academic misconduct committee and in general we try and be forgiving, especially to students who admit guilt. Other committee might simply expel you.
For our committee, you admitting copying 50% of the course work would make it difficult to conclude anything other than that you committed an academic offense. We would then be left with trying to mitigate the damage within the rules. We would likely argue that all the copying is a single offense (i.e., nothing falls into the third offense category) and that all the pieces of work that have copying should get a zero. We might be so lenient as to only penalize the first piece of work. Then again we could be mean and argue for multiple offenses and expulsion.
I think if you turn yourself in, the penalties could range from rather light (a zero on one piece of work) to expulsion. Getting caught without turning yourself in would likely increase the minimal penalty, potentially to a zero on all pieces of affected work. It is not clear if this additional penalty would have an affect on your ability to graduate or make a substantial change to your transcript.
That said, I would talk to a lawyer and figure out your legal responsibilities and weigh those against your moral/ethical responsibilities. It is not clear that a university would be able to retroactively amend a degree for academic misconduct related to homework, especially if, if all the affected pieces of work were given a grade of zero and you would still pass.
# Answer
> -12 votes
For whatever your reasons may be, you choose to submit someone else's homework as your own and received credit for being able to do so. In the real world that is not any different than benefitting from work given to you by a volunteer or an employee. These things happen thousands of times day in the normal course of life.
The important thing here is that you passed your exams on your own demonstrating that you had a mastery of the material, which is the purpose of education, isn't it? Your exams reflect your own ability and since those were done without cheating, you should simply continue on with your life. If you've resolved not to continue this behavior and are done with it, I see no reason to submit yourself the school or any of its representatives. They have your money, You have the knowledge. The transaction is complete.
Einstein was a "poor student" yet revolutionized physics. Henry Ford, had no college degree yet revolutionized the fledging auto industry. What matters here is not what school, "a self appointed authority" thinks of you, but what you think of yourself. If you can resolve to work harder at your studies, or find something you're actually interested in and can change your behavior so as not to put yourself at risk, I suggest you are done and should quit punishing yourself for the past.
As much as they would like us to think otherwise, schools are a very poor place to learn most of the real knowledge you need to survive and prosper in real life. Let it go.
# Answer
> -12 votes
Honestly, no one cares. I plagiarised in all 3 of my degrees and I am a doctor. Do NOT turn yourself in. Everyone does it. The lecturers did it. Your children will do it. Uni is a process to get to where you need to. Your real learning starts in your career. Not on an exam paper or essay that is double spaced, size 12 arial narrow font and referenced in Vancouver style. Seriously, it will not affect any part of your life going forward. To everyone else who is getting cut at this, move on. Assignments are there to reduce the workload of the lecturers. Our thesis was 100,000 words. I copied at least 30% from other people and made up half of the references. My lecturer (after uni and over a couple of beers) told me he reads the intro, picks 10 pages, adds comments and reads the conclusion. Move on and enjoy your life.
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Tags: plagiarism
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thread-24095
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24095
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Where to find journals or other publications for my work?
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2014-06-28T15:49:24.993
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# Question
Title: Where to find journals or other publications for my work?
I have written papers on the topic of network security. Now I am trying to find a place to publish one of them. Is there a list of publications by topic, somewhere? If I come across such a list, how can I determine the reputation of the various publications?
# Answer
> 0 votes
Try Google Scholar Metrics. I guess the topic you are looking for would fall under Computer Security & Cryptography.
# Answer
> 6 votes
When you want to figure out where to publish something do the following:
1. Figure out what journals the articles you cite are published in. Try there.
2. If that doesn't work, look at the other outlets that the authors of those papers also publish in. Then try there.
# Answer
> 3 votes
On top of the other answers, which are valid, I can add the following.
First, ask your colleagues/supervisor/boss. Senior people know the field better than you.
Then, there are some tools to automatise the process of finding journals.
There is the plain old directory-based search offered by journalseek. With that tool, you look for your discipline and see what are the journals registered there.
There are also new fascinating tools, where you can input your paper title and/or keywords and/or abtract. The tools will look for similar papers in other journals and return the journal names for you (with a similarity index).
The most famous are the JournalGuide and a similar tool offered by ResearchGate.
Some publishers offer similar tools for their journals only. For example, Elsevier offers a journal finder, which works quite well. Springer offers a similar service, although it is hidden in its editing services.
I am by no way saying that those tools are the definitive way to find the perfect journal for your article. However, they enable the discovery of new journals, which is always good.
When you find a journal that seems to be suitable for you, read some of the published articles in order to grasp the quality of the journal.
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Tags: publications
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thread-23895
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23895
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Is it right to ask for a PhD position at a conference?
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2014-06-24T11:21:33.957
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# Question
Title: Is it right to ask for a PhD position at a conference?
I'll be at a conference next month to present my paper. I have a Master's degree in Computer Science and now I'm looking for a PhD with scholarship. Well, is it right, with a common sense and in a polite way, to ask a professor at conference about a PhD position?
# Answer
> 1 votes
I think it is OK but, before you attend that conference; try to identify the professors who come to the discussion panels and sessions. Their names are normally written in the conferences' websites. Then search their university homepage on the net and read some of their publications. This way you find two or three professors that their research interest is almost near yours. At the day of the conference, go to the sessions in which they present and politely after a short introduction about yourself; ask whether they accept any PhD student or plan to accept one or not.
I have seen that some MSc students go to the conferences and ask any professor they see without any previous search about their academic background. This behavior is so impolite.
Sometimes, in the professors' website, they have notifications about not accepting new PhD students. In this case, asking them for a PhD position is not acceptable and means that the person has never visited his website and probably he is not a good student at all. This way, they may not even listen what you are talking to about.
If in some cases, there are some positions available and notified on their website, then go to that professor, show them your curriculum vitae and ask them for a position; or talk to them about opportunities available for a PhD student.
If you are interested in working with a professor but there are not any positions available; then talk about doing some volunteer research under their supervision. However, it all depends on your research background and how much they find you suitable for working on a research topic. For instance, if you have a good programming background and they need a programmer in their research group, they may accept you to work on some parts of their research project; and after a few months, if any PhD position become available, you will have a higher chance to compete for that position, because the professor knows you better as you have previously worked with him.
Conferences are so valuable for the research students to become familiar with ongoing research projects and publications. In these conferences, you may talk to other researchers or PhD students and start a research project which is interesting for both of you. So, do not miss the chance to discuss and talk to the other people at the conference; and not just focus on the professors. Besides to these, some companies may need a person like you who has done a research in the field of your interest. So talk to them. There may be some funding or grants available which you can apply for.
I think that if you have your paper printed with your resume attached to it may help the professor to remember you and if any positions be available in future, he may contact you. Remember that not all the people have good memory to remember the others with detailed information about their resume and paper. People easily forget details about the past. If your resume be interesting for them and they forget you because they have no printed information about you, then you may miss a research position.
# Answer
> 13 votes
It is definitely OK. You should be more like @JeffE suggests "How do I apply?" rather than "Would you accept me for a PhD?".
Conference is a great opportunity to meet and discuss with your potential supervisor. You should try to judge, as much as possible, how easy would it be to work with that person for quite a few years. On the other hand, note that high profile academics are used to get approached by random people and you shouldn't be discouraged to formally apply even if they seem way too busy to have a long chat with you.
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Tags: phd, publications, funding
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thread-24142
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24142
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Is there a proper format to cite open source software?
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2014-06-29T15:11:33.873
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# Question
Title: Is there a proper format to cite open source software?
In my research I used a lot python libraries that I need to cite, I wonder if there is an accepted format for citing open-source software?
Do I just put them together with all other references? Do I create two separate references sections: "Article References", "Software References"? Or maybe there is another way to do it?
Just to be clear, I think I am good with the format of the citation itself, it is given here, but I am not sure where do I put those citations in a paper.
# Answer
> 4 votes
Every journal or venue may have its own recommendations, so check their style guides. However, I have never seen an article that has separate reference sections for software and articles. Just put them in one section together.
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Tags: research-process, citations, open-science
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thread-24111
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24111
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Can the word "subsubsection" be used in a thesis?
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2014-06-28T20:42:46.293
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# Question
Title: Can the word "subsubsection" be used in a thesis?
Can the word "subsubsection" be used in a thesis?
For example:
The next subsubsection discusses so and so.
It is not listed in English dictionaries.
What do you think?
Thank you
# Answer
> 18 votes
One very important point has yet to be touched on. Indeed, *subsubsection* is not a dictionary word -- and even if it were, it's awfully cumbersome. Saying *"section 1.2.3"* is neater and more informative, as it tells the reader exactly where to go.
The most important reason to use *numbered* references is if the order of your text changes. For example, if you move a particular subsection to another section or chapter, any references to it in the form of *"the next subsection"* will now be invalid. By using numbered references and attaching these to either the subsection header or a key sentence (as appropriate), the numbers will automatically update and your referencing will remain correct.
The above is applicable to references to anything. It is *very* dangerous to write such things as *"in the following..."*, *"in the previous section we introduced..."*, etc. Such phrases do not refer to an exact place, and they can easily became invalid as you add, remove, or change parts of the text. Proof-reading will also be more difficult.
# Answer
> 10 votes
It's better to avoid it if you can. Rephrase it with something like "Later we will...", "further in the text...", "in the following we will...", etc. You can also refer to it specifically as "in Sec. X.Y."
# Answer
> 6 votes
By definition, (although the word is not in the dictionary), **subsection** is a division of a section, hence, does not have a meaning of its own. **Section**, however, if isolated, has a meaning of its own. Each section can be read and understood without reading the other sections. If necessary, other sections can be referred.
> In this experiment, we validate the theorem presented in Section 4.
is a fine sentence. Whereas, a subsection might be entitled **Experiments with Abnormal Data**, such that one cannot understand before reading the definition of *abnormal data* (which is probably given at the beginning of the section).
Therefore, instead of
> The next subsection discusses the effects of abnormal data to our super-duper proposed solution
I'd prefer
> We examine the effects of abnormal data to our super-duper proposed solution in detail, in Section 4.3
# Answer
> 0 votes
I think the problem with "subsubsection" is that it leads to troublesome situations for the reader.
In your case, if you are in a section, then you will introduce a subsection.
If you are in a subsection, then you will introduce a subsubsection.
If you are in a subsubsection, then you will introduce a subsubsubsection.
And so on.
This is a situation you are going to get into if you want to be consistent in your thesis, and as it is not convenient, I suggest you to avoid it early. Use labels for referencing portions of your work. Just like Dimitry says in his answer.
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Tags: thesis, writing
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thread-24145
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24145
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How does a dual degree (Computer Science/Maths) compare to a degree in a single area?
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2014-06-29T15:28:57.417
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# Question
Title: How does a dual degree (Computer Science/Maths) compare to a degree in a single area?
I am considering applying for a degree (ideally, but not necessarily, MSc) in Computer Science and Maths, such as this one: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/computerscience/comscimathsmsci/#Programme-structure, or another one from a respected university. My father has shared his concerns that this may be a 'Jack of all trades and master of none' option, when compared with single subject degrees, and I wanted to find out if this is true.
Would a degree programme of this nature (CS and Maths) make me just as skilled as somebody with a degree in either Computer Science or Maths, or would I be left with a degree that leaves less competitive than somebody who has studied a single subject?
Would employers/universities (I am currently interested in academia and being able to enrol in a Ph.D programme is beneficial) respect this degree as much as a degree in one or the other?
If this is true, is this true for both MSc and BSc courses, or would the integrated Masters make me competitive against single subject students?
# Answer
Your choice depends on your purpose and your competitors. You should ask yourself: *who am I competing with*?
If you want to pursue a Ph.D. degree, and if the subject you want to study contains a lot of math, such that a standard syllabus of a M.Sc. is insufficient, then you should go for it.
If you don't want to work in academy, then this depends on the company's choice of employers.
But remember, it is not about taking a lot of courses. As far as I experienced, professors pick their Ph.D. students by their i) research skills ii) background knowledge about the subject. And those are listed by priority.
Assume that, there are two CS students, Alice and Bob. Both are seeking a Ph.D. position in area of Game Theory.
Game Theory is closely related to Economics. But also, Multi-Agent Systems is main subject that relates Game Theory to Computer Science.
Alice chose to enroll a double-program which is a hybrid of Economics and Computer Science. Whereas Bob enrolled a standard M.Sc. Computer Science program, and took more Computer Science related courses.
They both graduated at the same time, with the highest possible graduation grades.
## Scenario I
One of them wants to work at a company, and the other wants to join the research team of Professor Charlie. The result is, they are not competitors.
## Scenario II
Both want to join the research team of Professor Charlie. There are two vacancies. The result is, they are not competitors (assuming that they are the only ones who want to join).
## Scenario III
This time, there is only one vacancy. Now, you are Professor Charlie. Who would you pick? The right answer to this question is: *what is my research team doing?* Yes, it is indeed a question, but a necessary one in your situation. If professor Charlie's team is working on theories from field of Economics, then he will pick Alice. However, if his team is working on pure computer science and Multi-Agents, then he will pick Bob.
However, above all these, if there is a third student, Daniel, whose grade is not so high but published two top-conference papers and submitted one of his papers to a top journal, all in the area of Game Theory, it is most likely that Professor Charlie will pick him.
All in all,
> If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there. -- Lewis Carroll
> 7 votes
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Tags: masters, computer-science, mathematics, degree
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thread-24153
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24153
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Comparing results if there have been no similar studies
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2014-06-29T20:17:29.077
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# Question
Title: Comparing results if there have been no similar studies
I examined seven years of financial data for a given country. However, there have been no similar studies that have the same sample as mine and cover a seven-year period (most study just one year in my area in this country). Also, I used a new measurement of one of the variables, which makes the results difficult to compare.
> How can I compare the results of my study with existing results in such circumstances?
# Answer
> 7 votes
Only your advisor can give you advice on how to analyze your *particular* data set. In general, however, when looking at a new data set I start by asking the following questions:
* What is known about X from past studies? Is the new data consistent with this? If not, can you find out why?
* What is *not* known about X from past studies, that this new data can give insight into? (You must have some idea about what this data will offer, or you wouldn't have bothered with it, right?)
where X is whatever you're interested in studying.
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Tags: phd, publications, research-process, thesis
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thread-15279
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15279
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Washed out from first undergraduate school, doing OK at second, thinking of applying for masters in EU
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2014-01-01T21:15:55.740
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# Question
Title: Washed out from first undergraduate school, doing OK at second, thinking of applying for masters in EU
As written in the title, I'm thinking of applying for masters in Europe (I myself am from Serbia), but I made a mess of my undergraduate career, so I'm looking for advice how to present this in my CV and SOP.
**Here's my background:**
Back after finishing high school, I applied for a relatively well respected local electrical engineering school (University of Belgrade School of Electrical Engineering). Out of 500 students, I was 250ish. So far so good. My intent at the time was to study computer engineering.
Then came the first academic year. I passed a number of exams (mostly those I could pass with no studying at all, so as a result my grades were pretty bad, with my grade average being 7.0 out of 10, with 6 being passing grade), but I didn't have enough credits pass to the second year.
No big deal, I thought, since statistics show that the four year program there usually lasts around seven years, with first year being the most difficult. I took some exams from the second year and tried to pass first year exams again. At the end of the year, I passed none of the first year exams, but I did pass some of the second year exams. Third time's the charm I thought, got some more second year exams and tried to pass the first year again. At the end of the year, situation was the same as last time: I passed none of the problematic first year exams, but I did pass some of the second year exams.
By that time, I was pretty depressed, had gained quite a bit of weight, was having big problems with procrastination and was fed up with school politics.
At that point I decided that it was time to switch schools. I moved to a younger, less-respected school (Union University School of Computing) and got admitted (barely) into second year there due to exams I passed at my previous school. I moved to a telecommunications study program there.
In the second year, at my new school, I had around one and a half year worth of exams, but I managed to pass them. The downside was that my grades weren't all that good. They weren't bad, but nothing exceptional either. Third year went well for me. I passed all of the exams, raised my average grade to 8.0 out of 10 and became one of the best students in my (relatively small) class. In one particularly hard exam I was the only student that year to get a 9 with nobody getting a 10.
Right now, the exam season for the winter semester of my fourth year is approaching and I'm thinking of what I'm going to do next. I've spoken to few professors and they all believe that I should definitely continue my education. I wouldn't have any problems continuing my education at my current school, but I don't think that it's best equipped for the field in which I want to study further. The focus of my current school is computer science, while the telecommunications program seems to have taken a back seat.
I have read the question about getting a Ph.D. with bad transcript and fortunately for me course structure was such that just a few professors taught a large number of exams (for example six to eight hours every day for the whole semester with same professor and TA), so there are people who know me well and have a good opinion of me.
I don't think that I could do much to improve my average grade. Perhaps the best I could do would be around 8.3 out of 10.
I don't think that I would have any problems with IELTS exam and I do think that I could prepare GRE well enough. I do understand that good grades there won't help me much, but on the other hand I at least hope that they won't have a negative effect.
I'm thinking of applying for universities that aren't very highly ranked, for example some from the bottom of the top 200 from the Shanghai list, but I'm not sure if that's low enough. Also I'm thinking of applying for two-year masters, but I'm coming from a four-year undergraduate school, if that matters.
**Finally my question:**
What I really don't know is how to present me dropping out of my first school in my CV or SOP. I've been basically studying 6 years now, much longer than expected, with not that good grades and I really can't think of any way to present that in favorable light. I think that I matured in the meantime and my grades did improve, but on the other hand I moved a weaker school.
# Answer
Definitely get a letter from the professor who taught the course where you got 9/10 with no one else getting that grade or higher.
I am sorry to say it, but it sounds like you just chose not to study during your time in your first school, unless you forgot to mention some important piece of information. There is no way to sugarcoat the lack of effort, unless you did something else productive instead of studying for those exams.
It is true that excuses exist for *some* people with bad grades, but it is certainly not true that *everyone* with bad grades can make their applications look good for graduate school admissions -- if such sugarcoating methods existed, it wouldn't be fair for the students who studied hard throughout their undergraduate career.
The next best alternative is to ask yourself why you want to pursue a master's degree, when you haven't shown a lot of promise academically. If you have a good reason for wanting it, your next best bet might be to get in touch with a professor at an institution that you want to go to for your master's, and show him how good/dedicated/passionate you can be, and then have that person vouch for you in the admissions committee.
> 7 votes
# Answer
You appear to have two sets of choices: 1) Continue a graduate program in your current school, where you are well known and liked, and 2) Start a graduate program in an *equivalent* school.
I'm assuming that you will prefer the second choice. Find out which schools (e.g. on the list of 200) are equivalent of yours. Find out where the better students (the ones averaging 8.0) go to after they graduate. And last, find out which graduate schools your professors have the most clout with, especially the one who gave you the top grade.
Then apply to those schools. Use your current school as a back-up if the "equivalent" school plan doesn't work. Good luck.
> 3 votes
# Answer
I'm in the US, so take that into consideration.
If it were one of my classmates in a similar position, I would recommend searching for an internship or entry-level position with a top company in your field. With a year or two of work history, your application to an MSc would be evaluated in a totally different light, specifically there would be less focus on why you struggled initially and more on why you are returning (to continue to learn?)
In addition, this would let you gain some practical skills, perhaps save some money, and figure out whether you really enjoy working in comp sci.
> 2 votes
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Tags: graduate-admissions, statement-of-purpose
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thread-24078
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24078
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I have career gap after bachelors degree and irrelevant work experience. How do I write SOP for MS admission in US?
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2014-06-28T10:59:55.350
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# Question
Title: I have career gap after bachelors degree and irrelevant work experience. How do I write SOP for MS admission in US?
I pursued a Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Communication Engineering stream and I completed the course in 2010. I was jobless for more than a year so I did a 3 months course in Java. Im Sun certified. I still wasn't able to find a job. I got a job in a Business Process Outsourcing company as a customer support associate. I had to take the job, as I didn't have any choice. I worked from Aug 2012 to Nov 2013. Now I'm interested in doing an MS. I'm afraid I don't get admitted. I'm especially interested in University of Texas at Austin. I don't know how to project my negative points in the SOP. I don't know what points to include and what to not. I have no clue. Please help me.
# Answer
> 3 votes
Unlike employers in industry, I believe that graduate admissions committees don't care if there are gaps, irrelevant work experience, or changes of direction in your employment. Their sole concern are your credentials and capabilities to do academic work. You should focus all your attention on communicating your skills and capabilities to do Masters-level Computer Science work. This includes your course grades as an undergrad, your GRE scores, your computer experience in industry, your recommendation letters, and your engagement with professional and academic communities.
(Business schools are probably an exception to this. Work history is probably important to getting accepted in an MBA program.)
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Tags: graduate-admissions, statement-of-purpose
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thread-24174
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24174
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How can I include figures with non-English text (and a translation) in the appendix of a research paper?
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2014-06-30T10:33:10.547
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# Question
Title: How can I include figures with non-English text (and a translation) in the appendix of a research paper?
I'm writing a research paper in English, but my data is in another language. I want to include some pictures in an appendix, but they contain some writings in the foreign language.
How can you include translation in an appendix?
Is it a common practice to write the translation over the picture since it has the necessary space. I don't want to put the translation below the picture to avoid taking too much space.
# Answer
As the comments state, if the wording is of any significance to understanding your manuscript then a translation is in order. Depending on the type of figure you have several options
If your figure exists in editable digital form, you can see if actually changing the wording is possible. Even better if the format is a vctor graphics is to redraw the figure completely.
If your figure is a bit map, you could ad labels to the figure and provide translations in the text or figure caption (preferably).
Clearly the possibilities vary with the format of the original but it will be important to make the figure as understandable as possible for people not familiar with your native language.
> 1 votes
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Tags: publications, translations
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thread-24176
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24176
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Which term is correct for a work submitted for a master's degree: paper, thesis or dissertation?
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2014-06-30T11:13:31.667
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# Question
Title: Which term is correct for a work submitted for a master's degree: paper, thesis or dissertation?
What is the difference among the terms *paper*, *thesis* and *dissertation*? Which one should I use, for instance if I am completing a master's degree? Are they interchangeable ?
# Answer
> 5 votes
A paper usually refers to a published article but can also mean a shorter written essay, for example as in term-paper. The thesis and dissertation is basically equivalent, at least in its use. Originally a thesis is more than the written work, it is the thought or thinking coupled to the problem as the original meaning of the word indicates. From this perspective the word dissertation is used for the written work that comes out of your degree work.
So for a master degree, you will see masters thesis and masters dissertation used interchangeably. I would suggest checking what is used in your department or university and use whatever is customary.
# Answer
> 5 votes
If I get your question right:
* A paper usually refers to an article published either in a journal or presented at a conference. It is rather small in comparison to a thesis or dissertation.
* A thesis generally refers to the final written work that leads to an academical degree, like a bachelor or a master thesis.
* A dissertation is usually a general piece of written scientific work submitted for the requirements of a doctoral degree.
Depending on the language and on the user and on the context, the last two (thesis / dissertation) are sometimes interchangable. A paper is actually something distinct, although a dissertation can consist of published papers ("thesis by publication").
The "name" of the work for your master's degree usually is "master thesis".
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Tags: publications, thesis
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thread-24146
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24146
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Credit with helping to write a PhD thesis
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2014-06-29T16:00:04.313
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# Question
Title: Credit with helping to write a PhD thesis
I am an undergraduate student doing summer research and I am helping a PhD student to write a portion of her PhD thesis and with a bit of editing here and there. I am wondering how would credit be distributed since I don't think a PhD thesis can be co-authored. Also, when I apply to graduate school afterwards, how would I show the admission committee that I have done this work?
To clarify: I had two kinds of contributions to this thesis. There are parts describing research we collaborated on, but it was mainly me in that I collected the data and performed the analysis but she gave me advice. There are also parts that describe her research, that I helped to edit.
# Answer
> 16 votes
In some fields, almost all work is done as a collaboration. In these fields, it is not at all unusual for this collaborative work to end up in a student's thesis. However, the thesis text should clearly state "This chapter describes joint work with X" (e.g. in a footnote).
However, to really get credit for this joint research, you should prepare a manuscript and try to get it published, or at least release a preprint you can put online (if there isn't time to get it published before you apply to grad school).
For the editing assistance, the most you can get is a thanks in the acknowledgements, and help with editing is not likely to impress an admissions committee.
# Answer
> 8 votes
My answer is somewhat of an amalgam of previous answers, with a little softening.
As to the editing, there is no problem. It is fine (and encouraged) for PhD students to ask others to proofread or edit their writing. Out of courtesy, she should acknowledge your assistance in an appropriate part of the thesis (usually a special page near the beginning). But you should be doing this either as a personal favor to her, or in exchange for money; other than that, there is nothing in it for you. It isn't something that would likely interest an admissions committee (though you could certainly list that you did it, as it does give you a little extra exposure to professional writing).
As to the substantive research and writing contributions, there are possible ethical issues. You should talk to the PhD student and make sure that she has told her advisor and her committee about your contributions, and that they are okay with it. You should also ask about any special procedures that the university might have for including collaborative work. (For instance, at my PhD institution, they would need a signed letter from you confirming which parts were yours.) If you get *any* sense that she might not be following all the rules, or that she may be intending to pass off the work as her own, you should go to her advisor and explain everything. (Ideally, you have already been talking to her advisor, since he or she presumably is the ultimate supervisor of your research work.) The fact that some of the text was actually written by you will invite the most scrutiny, so be sure this is clear to everyone.
She should certainly describe your contributions, very specifically, in the acknowledgements. If the thesis work is going to be published in a paper, depending on the level of your contributions, you might be entitled to coauthorship on that paper. You should discuss these authorship issues with the student now (e.g. who will be first author, etc), but you might also want to talk with some other faculty member, since it sounds like you may not have enough experience to know what is reasonable or customary in your field.
In the short term, the way you would get "credit" for your work, for the purposes of graduate admissions, is to get a letter of recommendation from the student, as well as from her advisor or whichever other faculty member is supervising your research. They can tell the admission committee in detail about what you did, and how they think it reflects on your research potential; that's likely to be even more helpful than being able to point to a part of a paper or thesis as yours.
# Answer
> 7 votes
For my MSc Thesis, I put the people who proof read and helped edit my thesis in the acknowledgements.
I think the admissions committee would care if you did some of the research, and if the PhD student was your primary advisor for that research, it would be good to get some form of letter of recommendation from him/her. A few people I know submitted 4 letters instead of 3, because a lot of the research they did was a PhD student and they thought a 4 letter from that student would help them.
If you didn't do any research, you basically edited and made suggestions, I'm not really sure an adcomm would be interested. Great, your a friendly dude who helped his friend, now show me what you've done yourself.
But I'm not really sure how the adcomm will look at "editing" someone else's PhD thesis.
If you did some of the writing for the PhD thesis, I think thats weird; all of the writing should be done by the PhD student.
# Answer
> 6 votes
You write that you are "helping a PhD student to write a portion of her PhD thesis".
Clearly from your question and comments this isn't a stapler thesis: this isn't a case where you and the PhD candidate have co-authored papers, where your work would be in the thesis and explicitly attributed to you.
In your other comments, you make it clear that you have written passages that are in her thesis. That goes way beyond just doing collaborative research. If it's in the student's PhD thesis as her own writing and her own research, then she is falsely representing that she's done the research, and she's falsely representing that the thesis is all her own writing.
In any university that I knew of up til now, that would result in the thesis being failed.\**
I think you need to find out the rules of your university pretty quickly, because although the PhD candidate will get the worst of the enforcement, you could get hurt by this. This is now your responsibility to put right, for your own sake. That's because if it is against the rules, then you have unwittingly been complicit with the PhD student in what, upon submission of the thesis, would be the breaking of those rules. I think ignorance of the rules is unlikely to be taken as innocence in any ensuing disciplinary proceedings. At best you could make a case of being led astray by trusted colleagues, but that's going to damage your relationship with them. It is possible, as things stand, to extricate yourself from this situation without too much damage.
So don't go to the candidate or her supervisors to ask for their interpretation of the rules yet (if at all). Find and read the relevant rule yourself. They are almost certainly on your university intranet, if not the outward-facing website; failing that, ask in the university library.
Here, for example, is the rule for PhDs at University College London (UCL):
> The work in the thesis submitted by a student must be their own work and the submission of a thesis for examination will be regarded as a declaration of that fact.
The thesis may include collaborative work, but this should be stated as such, and must be written up by the PhD candidate, not the collaborator(s).
If, as I suspect, co-authorship of a PhD thesis at your university is not allowed, then you need to insist to the PhD student and her supervisors that the passages you've written be removed from the thesis. Do it gently, politely, in a collegiate spirit, but do it unambiguously. As you've done genuinely new research, you'll be submitting the words you've written to a journal, so tell them that - that should be enough for them to be sure to remove it from the thesis. Keep the paper trail of all of this (including the emails or other records of when you've sent your material to the PhD candidate in the past), to protect yourself.
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<sub>\** though through the comments below, I've learnt that the University of California in San Diego does allow some co-authoring, providing advance permission from the Dean of Graduate Studies has been obtained.</sub>
# Answer
> 5 votes
> I am helping a PhD student to write a portion of her PhD thesis.
Based on this statement, I assume that the thesis is a monograph. I think it is very weird for an undergrad to write parts of a PhD thesis. Although the work in a thesis can clearly be the result of collaborative work (in the form of co-authored papers or other publications), a thesis in essence must be an individual effort.
> ... and with a bit of editing here and there
The PhD student should describe in the acknowledgement section that you proof-read and/or edited parts of the thesis.
> Also, when I apply to graduate school afterwards, how would I show the admission committee that I have done this work?
If there is a scientific or research value to your contribution, some or all of it could end up in a publication, of which you can ask to be a co-author.
> I don't think a PhD thesis can be co-authored.
No, and again, I find it very strange that you are actively writing sections in the thesis. Furthermore, most academic institutions will ask PhD students to sign a document stating *"I am the sole author of this thesis"* when submitting their thesis.
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Tags: phd, thesis, authorship, research-undergraduate
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thread-24184
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24184
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How to credit Creative Commons icons in a Bachelor's Thesis?
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2014-06-30T12:28:20.900
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# Question
Title: How to credit Creative Commons icons in a Bachelor's Thesis?
I am currently working on my bachelor's thesis in computer science in Germany. I have created a few charts/graphs, making heavy use of icons downloaded from http://www.thenounproject.com/.
Most of the icons I did use are published under a *Creative Commons* license. I am not sure how to credit the authors of the icons. The website states the following for *books*:
> The attribution should be displayed either on the same page as the symbol, with the colophon, in the bibliography or Credits section.
The license text (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/) states the following for attribution:
> If supplied, you must provide the name of the creator and attribution parties, a copyright notice, a license notice, a disclaimer notice, and a link to the material.
I don't think it makes sense to credit the authors of the icons in the bibliography of the thesis though.
How is the usual procedure to give picture credit in theses? Is it considered appropriate to use these kinds of graphics for illustration in academic contexts?
# Answer
> 1 votes
Personally, I would go for the colophon option. This will be a natural place to look for anyone who has ever read a book, and it doesn't "interfere" with the scholarly work you are presenting.
Captions of figures are also fine, but if you use the icons in more than one figure, I would definitely prefer to place the credit in the colophon.
In the end it is primarily an aesthetic choice, but I agree with not putting them in the bibliography.
# Answer
> 2 votes
I would add the information to the figure caption. Something like "The icons are courtesy of ABC." If there are a lot of figures with difficult to attribute icons, I might refer readers to a footnote or even an appendix. I am not sure that the icons being released under creative commons really matters in terms of how you attribute them.
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Tags: thesis, bachelor, creative-commons
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thread-17360
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17360
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Which date should I include in personal statement?
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2014-02-24T15:50:34.910
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# Question
Title: Which date should I include in personal statement?
I have just finished writing personal statement and as far as formal etiquette concerns, there should be a date at the beginning. Is this a date I started writing the statement or the date I am sending it?
And is this the right format of the date: February 24, 2014?
# Answer
> 6 votes
If this is for an application for university, then you do not need to date your personal statement. That is because your application as a whole is dated and signed by you at the very end.
Otherwise, you can initialize and date it at the end of the document, e.g.:
KN 2014.06.30
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Tags: graduate-admissions, application-cover-letter, statement-of-purpose
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thread-24191
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https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24191
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Should I use lighter or heavier paper for my printed dissertation?
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2014-06-30T14:49:53.940
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# Question
Title: Should I use lighter or heavier paper for my printed dissertation?
My university requires one to submit a printed copy of the dissertation. The paper has to be 100% cotton, white, and 20- to 24 lb weight.
Since I have a choice in the weight of the paper, my question is if there are any advantages to one weight over the other.
# Answer
Lighter paper is usually slightly cheaper. And your finished book would be also lighter (pretty much by definition); this may or may not make a difference for when you carry it to the various offices/libraries as part of the process of finishing your degree.
Heavier paper has a better "feel" when you flip pages (think about the difference between a high quality hardcover book versus a cheap paper-back novel). It is a bit more resistant to wear and tear, and if you scan/photocopy pages it will be less likely to have the effect where the "next" page shows through.
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If the only publicly available copy of your dissertation would be the copy you submit, I would ask you to do would-be readers a favor and use heavier paper. But if you intend to publish your thesis (take chapters and publish them as journal articles, or just put the entire thesis online for the world to see), then the lighter paper will save you a little money, and perhaps be marginally better on the environment.
> 3 votes
# Answer
I don't think the weight of the paper is as important as the material from which it is made. So long as the paper is "archival quality," meaning no acids or other components which will allow it to degrade more easily over time, the choice is somewhat arbitrary. Willie Wong raises some valid points in his answer, though—the slightly thicker paper will help future readers more than the thinner paper, and the relative change in weight is probably not so large as to make the thesis cumbersome as a printed volume.
> 4 votes
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Tags: thesis
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