What is " companion proceedings" in a conference? “All Web Science track papers will be published in the companion proceedings of the WWW conference." (http://www.www2015.it/call-for-web-science-track/)
What does " companion proceedings" mean？ What are the differences of it with the main proceedings?

There's no major difference between "main" proceedings and "companion" proceedings. It just means that there will be a proceedings volume that collects the papers. Perhaps the only possible item might be that it's not a dedicated series—it might be a special journal issue that serves as a proceedings volume.


How does someone who holds two doctoral degrees sign their name? If just received second doctoral degree, how does one sign their name at the end of an email or other correspondence.  Would it just stay Dr. So and So or be Dr. Dr. So and So?

Depending on the country and local department customs, signing Dr. So and So would be already ridiculous enough. But I don't know of any situation where signing Dr. Dr. So and So wouldn't come out as a show off. I particularly would think very poorly of someone signing their name in this way.


Formatting of grants I am lucky (or potentially unlucky) enough that a grant applications that I am working on does not have any formatting specifications and instead just has a limit of 5000 words. There are some suggested sections, that will be be variable in terms of length (some will have 200 words and others over 1000), and it is likely that everyone will need to add additional sections. I am used to grant applications using poorly created MS Word forms with predefined sections that allow no formatting and are a single column with narrow margins/long line widths and single spacing.

I am looking for a style guide (or recommendations) about how to format the grant and the pros/cons of different formatting styles. I am both interested in the physical layout on the page, use of figures and tables, as well as advice on sectioning and the order of sections. I use LaTeX if that matters, but am happy for MS word advice also.

For example, do I go single column or double column and wide or narrow margins? The suggested sections do not include an obvious place for aim. Is it worth starting with an an overview that defines the problem and the outlines the proposed research or is 5000 words short enough that you do not need it?

I envy you the fact that it is only a word count that counts. I am in a system where everything has to fit a certain number of pages with 12pt Times-Roman and 2.5 cm margins.

With the word limit as your main limitation you have the possibility to illustrate your application more freely. If suitable, I strongly suggest you try to come up with conceptual graphics to strengthen the text and make difficult concepts  easier to grasp. This can be a huge advantage. Since your are not limited to pages you can afford complex and larger illustrations than otherwise possible.

As for typesetting, you use LaTeX (as do I) which produces excellent text. Trust the LaTeX settings for text width, line-spacing etc. to get a readable text. Too long or too short lines makes the text difficult to read. See the geometry package for details if you are not already using it. EDIT: I do not think two-column format is good for proposals. It is a way to put as much text into a small area and also involves using smalller type sizes, typically around 9 in order to get enough characters into a line to make it readable. Since the number of pages is not a limit, I would aim for something which is as easily read as possible, typically 11-12 pt single columns. the margin widths can be determined so as to get reasonable line lengths. I do not think wide or narrow margins make a difference but wider margins make the page more attractive than narrow (basically a typographical design issue).

EDIT: With one-column format you can add figures at full width and with the no-page-limit do not have to worry about the size of the graphics (in the sense of having to make it as small as possible so to not use up space. I think a straight-forward simple formatting is best. There is no need to be overly creative. What conveys the message without resistance is the best.

One of the more useful concepts in grant writing I have come across is given in the book Writing Successful Science Proposals by Andrew J. Friedland and Carol L. Folt which outlines a two-paragraph summary, akin to an abstract whith which you introduce your proposal. The point of this is to quickly and concisely convey the key points of the proposal to the reader. This involves starting from the big picture metion key gaps in knowledge, how to tackle them (methods), preliminary results (if existent) and expected results. I obviously cannot copy the book content here but the point is to make the reader of the proposal completely clear over what to expect in the proposal and so all details given is just putting substance to the known structure. I believe this is what you aim for in what you call an overview section.

EDIT: After having started your text with a brief introduction, you simply follow up by the usual type of structure:

background (to focus on the gap of knowledge to be targeted)
objectives
project outline
time table (milestones; can be a gantt plot)
if applicable: research group/resources
references
For references I would go for footnote type references since the harvard-style citations uses up many characters. It is also possible to abbreviate the reference list by omitting the paper title, similar to what is done in Nature and Science.


Is it even useful to report cheating anymore? I'm taking my 8th course since the Covid-19 shutdown of universities has forced everyone to come home. When looking up stuff, I have inevitably come across almost all the questions from psets, quizzes, tests, etc posted to Chegg, where I presume other students are cheating. I am 100% sure these are from the current term's class questions, as the questions are usually rewritten every term by the profs in my department and are posted as a picture, so sometimes one can even see the header for the current term (not to mention the picture is directly of the question paper). I think at this point it is a fair assumption to make that there is cheating going on.
In my first 7 courses, I reported this, to varying degrees of success. All the professors tried to address this, but some basically told me even they couldn't do much about it. Even after the "mass cleansing" that happened after each of these reports, almost every question I searched about could be found on Chegg.
My 8th course just started and I'm already seeing questions on Chegg. I understand the professor's predicament of them not being able to do anything and don't want to become the student constantly pointing out flaws in their enforcement of academic misconduct (as doing this would probably cause the prof to grow to resent me through misattribution of arousal). However, it's extremely frustrating to slog out a class and be working 16 hour days when others are cheating their way through a course (not to mention destroying the curve, making it even harder for me).
At this point, does it even make sense to report this to the prof?
I phrased the question title as such because I suspect many others are going through the same problem during Covid-19

In general it is useful to report cheating.  Some institutions require students to report it.
In this case, however, you do not know who cheated and faculty have already made reasonable efforts to make cheating harder.  The information you are providing is not doing anything to reduce cheating, so you can stop reporting it.


Who to cite for fundamental mathematical definitions? I am using first-order stochastic dominance and I am wondering if I need to cite a source.

More generally, how should one cite well-known mathematical definitions -- Is it okay to cite a somewhat recent source (like a book that covers the topic) or should one go to the effort to track down where it was first introduced?

The objectives of the citation, imho are:

To point to some material that will give more details on the subject
To give credit to the original author

In recent works, you don't have a choice, because there won't be a detailed explanation in anywhere but the original article, which covers the second point as well.

For well established developments (old stuff), the original article might be unreadable, considering current standards. The figures improved considerably in the last 10 years.

Personally, whenever is easy, I do both, cite the original work AND a current accessible textbook on the subject. If the original work is too obscure, just cite the text. In these cases, point 1 is more important than point 2.


Could the conference presentation be a part of my abstract？ I wrote the abstract according to my thesis but realized that it's too much for a conference presentation. Could I use a part of the abstract to present？

I am not quite sure I understand your question ... of course you can present your PhD(?) thesis at a conference and you are also allowed to shorten the abstract in order to fit the conference requirements.

But in general I would rather recommend to re-write the abstract completely because shortened texts tend to be sub-optimal and you might also run into the issue of self-plagiarism if you take (parts of) your abstract with copy&paste.

If by "Could I use a part of the abstract to present" you mean if you could use a part of your ideas/results etc to present then the answer is also yes. There is no rule that you have to present your whole work at once - often it is even better to present one (shorter) clear message at a conference than trying to get the whole thesis into a presentation.

---- EDIT ----

After clarification of the question ("Does it matter if the content of my conference presentation does not (fully) match the abstract that I have submitted?"):

No, it does not matter. Most people will not even realise it. If you like you can say a sentence or two in the beginning that you will focus on a specific sub-part of your abstract (and you are happy to discuss the other aspects during the coffee break etc). But it is up to you!


Is it appropriate to send a gift to a professor for an online course? I'm immensely grateful for the online courses on theoretical physics provided by the Perimeter Institute for free. A particular professor stands out for me, as the lectures were excellent, and the course was structured very well. Would it be appropriate or acceptable to send a small token of appreciation to the professor via (physical) mail?

I deliver a significant number of online courses, though not for university credit. I appreciate emails, tweets, and other expressions of gratitude from those who enjoyed them. I am not sure how I would feel if a gift basket or a box of chocolates arrived at my office. Sure, everyone likes gifts, but it might feel a little creepy to be honest.

I provide my courses to the organizations, and they're the ones who decide to make them free (Channel9 or MVA) or very cheap (Pluralsight), not me. So they are the ones who probably should be the target of the gratitude. Since PI wants donations, why not make one, then email the lecturer saying thank you and letting them know you've made a donation because of how helpful they were. (You could also repeat the statement in public such as tweeting it or writing it on the institute's wall, so that PI are aware of the lecturer's contribution to their coffers.) I would appreciate that more than chocolate, myself - and I like chocolate a lot :-)


How to make my Thesis supervisor aware of my Visa issues? I am finishing my Master in a foreign country on a student Visa. The Visa will expire in one and a half month, the exact time I was appointed to receive graduation, but my Thesis supervisor wants me to stay one additional month to "finish" the Thesis. Indeed, he says he won't accept it if I don't stay to include additional verification, rendering me unable to fulfil my graduation requirements.

I have asked for support at the International Office of my University, but it seems nothing can be done at this point to extend the Visa. I should have begun the process at the beginning of the semester if I needed an extension. Therefore, I am facing the imminence of being deported, not to mention that: 1. Without a valid student Visa the University can't award me my degree. 2. If I remain in the country, I will become homeless because my student's room contract will end at the same time that my Visa and, as a foreign student, I don't have enough money to rent a room on my own.

I had a tense relation with him after one month on my thesis. He wasn't particularly interested in my Thesis (poor communication, not interested in students benefit but on his project, disappeared for months and then reappeared totally disconnected, etc.), but I remained because of his prestige and fear of losing one complete year of preparation in the field. This is the worst moment in our relation. On his criteria, I have been lazy and put myself in this situation. Either way, I have to solve it now or lose two years of hard work and spent money.

How can I solve such situation? How can I make my a Professor aware that there is bureaucratic world beyond academia, that I don't have the same privileges as a national of his country? Maybe a foreign student had a similar problem and can give me advice or tell his/her experience...

Edit: I have to mention that my supervisor has a legal/financial obligation on the project I am part of henceforth comes his worry.

You ask the community for advice, but the only person who can accommodate you in completing the project is the professor in question. Since you have a prior working relationship with this person, you are entitled to tell him or her that your visa is expiring. A problem has arisen in the timely completion of your project, and you believe that it can still be resolved.

This problem can be phrased as a request for advice: what should you do now to finish this project responsibly, given the legal constraint? What resolution would your advisor like to see, and would he or she accept a compromise to continued physical presence, like scheduled meetings over Skype? Most people react positively to being given a choice, and if your advisor is an empathetic human, he or she may still give you a chance to submit your thesis. getting your work accepted isn't graduation itself, but since it is a prerequisite for graduation, it has to be addressed before the issue of the granting of the degree.


Why do so many publishing venues limit the length of paper submissions? I wonder why so many publishing venues limit the length of paper submissions. I understand that such page limits were first created when papers were published offline, but nowadays, what are the reasons? One important downside of page limits it that authors often crop useful details out, which hinders reproducibility and/or understanding.

Earlier this year, I attended an editor’s panel at a conference, which included some editors of letter journals, i.e., journals with a strong length limit and higher relevance threshold (e.g., PRL with a limit of 3500 words, if you have no figures). In their presentations and answers they implied the following benefits of a length limit for these letter journals:

It accelerates the peer-review process, as the reviewers need to read less.
It makes the papers more attractive for readers (and thus increases the impact), as they need less time to read them and focus on the central results.


How to reuse complete paper for my thesis? I am currently writing my PhD thesis, and I have published an article together with my supervisor. The third chapter of my PhD thesis (1/3 of my whole thesis) is basically the paper. I plan to include the 30 pages of the article of the content that I have produced almost unchanged, except that it fits to my thesis layout, and I will remake the images, remove the introduction and some other minor changes. I also will add some new content, but this is mostly 3-4 pages.

My first question is, how do you actually cite 30 pages? Do you add a sentence at the beginning of the chapter like that?

  The content of this chapter has been published before in ...

My second question is, should I ask the "author service" of the journal where my original article has been published if it is okay if I reuse most of the content from the article in my PhD thesis?

There is nothing regarding this issue in my PhD regulations.

[Edit]Some additional information: I am from Germany, I am doing my PhD in math, and I published the article in the journal Numerical Linear Algebra with Applications.

For the first question: When the chapter is really just your paper (reformatted), I would go with what you already suggested; begin the chapter with a small text saying "The content of this chapter has been published in ...".

If it is an extended version, then "The content of this chapter is an extended version of ...".

Regarding the second question: first read the copyright transfer that you signed. Often, it already gives permission for reusing the text and figures in your own thesis. If it does not explicitly state this, or is ambiguous, then it is best to contact the journal.


How can I provide proof that my paper has been proofread by a native speaker? I have submitted my manuscript to a journal. After several weeks the editor sent me the comments of two reviewers. The editor said that "the authors should provide proof that the paper has been proofread by a native English speaker".

So how can I provide the proof? Should I send the proofreading certificate which I recieved after using the service from a proofreading company?

And if I only ask a native speaker for proofreading without any certificates, how should i provide the proof?

This seems like an unreasonable request. Frankly, it does not matter if you paper has been proof-read by a native speaker or not. If, after revision, your English presentation is still bad, the editor won't accept it even if you include proof that it was read by a native speaker.

I would personally be prone to just ignore this request, make sure that the English language is as good as it can be, and resubmit the paper.


What is a 'Master's by Research'? Someone has stated that they have a 'Master's by research'.  Does this mean that their entire degree was awarded based on their thesis work?  Or does it mean that they took requisite courses, but also wrote a thesis?

In most institutes Masters by Research means they had to take the core courses usual Master students are offered but they also produce a compulsory Masters thesis in order to earn their degree. However, I have that seen in most cases that they have to take lesser number of electives so that they have more time for research.

Edit: Also see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Research


Why do undergraduates pay for their education, but postgraduates are paid? Per title. Undergraduate tuition often costs tens of thousands of dollars per year, but postgraduates are commonly paid a stipend. Not a lot of money, but still much better than having to pay for tuition too.
Why do undergraduates pay, but postgraduates are paid? A first guess is that postgraduates contribute to the "output" of the department so they deserve to be paid, but that doesn't seem like a complete explanation because the number of students taught is also an "output".

You're looking at it the wrong way. Both undergrads and grad students are charged tuition by the university. This tuition is used to pay faculty, administration, operating costs, etc. Some undergrads receive full or partial scholarships. You might say they are not "paying" for undergrad, but the university is still getting paid, just from a different source. The same occurs with grad students; many of them are given research assistantships, meaning that their advisor found external grant money and is using it to pay both tuition and a stipend to the grad student. Grad students without teaching or research assistantships, such as many MBA or law programs, still have to pay tuition out of their own pockets.
Teaching assistantships are not external money, but essentially a department is saying that they have to pay someone to provide instruction, so it's cheaper to pay grad students to assist a professor than to hire more faculty. The university is still getting the tuition paid by the department.


Should PhD students be goal or opportunity driven? PhD students usually go through a specific topic in depth for several years: understand it and contribute to its literature. Some topics are multidiscipline by nature. Thus, while studying, students may find nice contribution opportunities in not-directly related areas to their research problem.

is it better to be goal-driven (i.e focus on the thesis problem alone) or opportunity-driven (i.e spend your PhD in different problems you encounter in this topic)?

Although naturally the details of the landscape differ from subject to subject, here is my picture from mathematics:

In addition to the obvious point that one should "both" stay focused on a long-term project and be alert to incidental opportunities, I would claim that the best kind of thesis projects (and projects in general) are those that help create incidental opportunities along the way to a worthwhile large-scale goal.

(This in addition to "educational" benefits of well-conceived projects.)

The obvious hazard is to get distracted from a reliable, long-term project by too-speculative "cooler" possibilities one encounters along the way. The hazards here are like "... but don't quit your day job" as advice to aspiring rock stars, etc.


When the title of an article is printed differently in the front/back matter versus the first page, which should be used for citing the article? I wish to cite a research paper by B. L. van der Waerden from 1928 that is titled (very) slightly differently in the front/back matter of the journal versus the first page of the article: in the front/back matter the title is given as "Beweis einer Baudetschen Vermutung" and on the first page of the article it is given with an apostrophe as "Beweis einer Baudet'schen Vermutung".
My guess (since my German is very rudimentary) is that the apostrophe is a typo because the German language apparently does not use the possessive apostrophe. But, even if the title of a paper contains a typo I would prefer to cite it along with the typo as per the advice in this related post: How to refer to a source with typos in the title?.
However, in this case, I am not even sure which one is the official title of the article since there is a (slightly) different title in the front/back matter. What is the preferred method of citing the article in this scenario?
Admittedly, the difference is not so great that it will cause trouble for anyone looking up this article using either title, but I am interested also in the general case where the difference in the title between the first page and the front/back matter is more drastic than a deviant apostrophe.
Is there a standard practice regarding which one to consider as the "official" title to quote in a citation? If not, what is the preferred method to deal with articles having different titles in this manner?

Without sufficient reputation, I cannot post this as a comment; so here we go in an answer... I apologise!
'Beweis einer Baudetschen Vermutung' is orthographically incorrect, as 'Baudetschen' is an adjective and should therefore be written using a lowercase 'b' as 'baudetschen'. If this adjective, however, is derived from a name, it can be written as 'Baudet'schen' to emphasise it origin from the name 'Baudet'.
We can conclude that the title of the article itself is correct, whilst front and back matter are incorrect. The title of the book 'Nieuw Archief voor Wiskunde' does not look German to me (the cover lists Amsterdam and Groningen, two cities in the Netherlands), and indicates that is was not necessarily compiled by editors sufficiently proficient in German.
So this problem is actually not comparable to the potentially related question mentioned by OP and in the comments, as this book has a misspelling solely in its table of content, but not the article itself. Therefore I suggest to just quote the article by its correct title 'Beweis einer Baudet'schen Vermutung' and not to copy the editors' mistake 'Beweis einer Baudetschen Vermutung'.


In grading, professor takes into account submission time, performance compared to other students, and visibility of posters. Is it fair? I came across this site trying to see if the way my professor has graded certain assignments is fair, and if it's grounds to complain to someone higher up at my college (I'm not sure who I would go to - maybe the dean?). But any way, I have this professor who's been grading some assignments in what I, and other students in the class, realize is quite unfair. So, for example, we had to post a discussion post assignment online, along with responding to our classmates posts. When it was graded, I received a 17 out of 20 total points. Upon looking at the rubric, there was section for "initiative" - if you were one of the first 10 students to submit the assignment, you received the full 2 points. I submitted my assignment pretty close to the due, but, keep in mind, it was turned in completely on time! I know professors reserve the right to grade how they see is best, but come on... If the assignment is turned in on time, how can the professor be allowed to take points off for not doing it early?? Professors/teachers - does this seem like a fair and legitimate way to grade students? Should I look into reporting this to someone higher up at the university?

Here are some other examples that I believe are not fair to students. She often said how she grades off the "best" students work. Like for written assignments, she would say that she had to look at all of them, decide whoever's assignment was best, and then grade everyone thereafter based on that student's work. Is it just me or is that crazy? Should I not be graded based off my own abilities, how I'm understanding the material/completing the work based off common expectations, and whether the work sufficiently meets common standards (like a rubric). My professor just made everything a huge competition which is very frustrating as even though I was putting in the effort and time, I knew it wouldn't matter because there are other students in the class who are smarter, may have more time to put in, and have a different educational background (like they may have taken classes that I haven't that aid with this course). In addition, we had a project that was presented (a case study poster) where other students and some professors were invited to come in and see them. She had observers put stickers on their "favorite" poster and those who received the most stickers  received extra credit. However, the people who came in didn't have to go look at every poster. So, many came into the room, looked at the first few posters that were set up right when you walk in, put stickers on those, and then left. Posters on the other side of the room didn't have an equal opportunity to be seen, because everyone who came in wasn't going to look at 16 posters.

All in all, this is just super frustrating and, if it seems reasonable, I want to send in a complaint.

To clarify, grading based on initiative was never stated in the syllabus. As for the rubric for first assignment I mentioned, we  were not give an initial rubric stating this. I came across the rubric used for grading on the online program where grades are posted (it was a link on the grade given to me).

In addition, all of my concerns were addressed in a course evaluation. So I guess that it would be best to leave it as that, as it seems that although some may believe this is not the best way to grade, it is not completely unheard of.

Why not ask your professor what she is trying to achieve with this grading before escalating? There is a clear discrepancy between how you expect to be graded (by common standards) and how your professor is actually doing that.

I understand your frustration, but I would like to add some nuances:

She is rewarding early submissions. She may be doing this to try to teach all of you better time management. It is debatable whether this is the best way of doing that. Given such a system I'd be a bit worried that a not-very-early submission could cause a failing grade.
She is grading off a standard as set by excellent students. In the US, it's very common to grade on a curve which inherently contains a comparison with fellow students. However, the details are typically different.
She is rewarding visibility/popularity. In industry and science, these are also commonly rewarded. One could even go so far as to say that securing a poster position close to the door is part of increasing visibility, although I think that's overly harsh.

All in all, I think your professor has some good ideas but her implementation leaves something to be desired. Also, all of this should be clearly stated in the syllabus. I'd have a conversation with her about this, possibly argue for a higher grade for yourself, but I'd very much consider how much time and effort you want to put into this after that.


Review time for IEEE transactions on image processing Apologies if this is not in keeping with ASE, but I wondered if anyone knows? I have a paper I submitted nearly 5 months ago that is still in peer review. I'm not sure if this is an appropriate time to email the editor. Many thanks!

LetPub.com states "about 8.1 months" as the average duration of peer review for IEEE Transactions on Image Processing 1.

They claim the "data is from authors," but I do not know how or if they obtain a representative sample.


Chances of getting accepted into a conference with conflicting reviews I submitted my paper for publication in a very good computer science conference. When I got feedback for rebuttal:

I had one review that said my work wasn't relavant to computer networking in any way, and that they couldn't understand some abbreviations in the abstract like RIPE.

Then I had another who said that my work is very useful to the research community and even asked for a copy of the library I wrote.

Last, I had a reviewer that just told me to make my images larger and to include a better literature review.

I tried to rebut as best as I could, especially against the first review, but knowing that this is a high profile conference, what are my chances of being accepted? It really didn't seem like the first reviwer understood much of my work.

It's important to understand that conference acceptance decisions are not just a matter of adding up review scores.

There will be a discussion amongst the program committee members to weigh up the points raised by the reviews. The goal is for the PC members to reach a consensus.

If the PC decide that the negative review is not good (e.g., it seems like the reviewer doesn't understand the paper, or it raises silly objections), then that will be ignored and the paper is likely to get in.

On the other hand, it may be that the negative review makes a compelling argument or identifies a flaw that the other reviews missed. In that situation, one negative review can sink a submission.

The key thing for a selective conference is that you need someone to champion the submission and make an argument for acceptance.

In short, it's hard to tell.


What should I do when images in a publication appear to have been faked? I just came across a paper published in a journal (IF < 2), which has used a couple of images without mentioning the source. This itself is not necessarily a problem. But they seem to be from a commercial software product I'm familiar with (they haven't mentioned even the name of the software, though it generated the image), and based on my experience with this software, the image looks to me like it has been tampered with.

Specifically, it is an image where the software predicts properties of a compound which is used to verify the result. Now, let's say some parameter have a cutoff at 0.5% and they are getting 10.3%. To conform to their result they removed the '1', and it become '0.3%'.

Emails to the corresponding author came back empty.

Should I report that to the journal or leave it as it is (may ruin someone's career)?

They have used the image to prove the result of the experiment.

Manual alteration of figures aimed at deceiving readers (by fabricating, obfuscating, 'cherry picking' results, etc.) is a serious matter. It surprises me that people still try because it's very often quite easy to spot (other types of data fabrication are harder to catch). But it's sadly not uncommon, even in highly regarded journals and from researchers from reputable institutions.

For life sciences, according to one of pubpeer's moderators in a comment: 'Most of the life science reports involve image manipulation - a good majority are gels, with a bunch of duplicated specimen images as well. […] we see sometimes on PubPeer […] things like doctored NMR spectra in chemistry.' The latest seems to be related to your observation, although it's outside my area of expertise.

You can get a sense of the type of things that are reported on PubPeer reading this thread among many others. As an example, a close examination of this figure shows the use of copy paste to fabricate data:

Or this one, initially published, not in your average pay-for-publish shady 'open access' journal, but in Nature, that has a rather obvious copy-pasted middle panel:

(both the articles where retracted).

In your position, your first reaction is totally appropriate. Here is what I think is the best course of action:

Contact the author(s) it is a good way of showing that you are concerned but not necessarily interested in public shaming. If the authors do not react, then:
Contact the publisher (mentioning that you already contacted the authors to no avail) as suggested by @alarge in a comment. If it's a reputable publisher, the issue will be taken very seriously.
If all fails, you are left with public reporting of the issue, anonymously or not, via social media or the website listed above. Note that you are always at risk of putting yourself in trouble when reporting misconduct, the same as in any other field, so weight this risk if you intend to associate your name with the complaint.

EDIT:

  Should I report that to the journal or leave it as it is (may ruin
  someone's career)?

I think that, as a scientist, you have a responsibility to report that sort of misconduct when you see it. What may ruin someone's career is their sloppy ethics, not your concern for integrity.


Is it worthwhile writing about previous experience with courses, which will be taught in masters program, in motivation letter? I am applying for a masters program. I have read about the courses, which will be taught at the program. In fact, I think that I have had a lot of such courses in my bachelors program. Does it help to specifically mention that I think that I will do great at the program, because I have taken similar courses before? Also, I have got Bs for some of the courses (actually, the most of my classmates have done similar or worse, the grading was really harsh).

Anecdotally: I did this when I applied for CSE masters programs coming from a background in engineering. I highlighted the graduate level and elective courses I had taken in numerical methods, optimization etc. to demonstrate that I had interest in, and aptitude for, the courses on offer in the masters program. I also chose the professors from these courses for my references.

I think it can be worthwhile to do this if it fits the narrative of your motivation letter as it shows that you have considered why you want to study these particular courses and why you would be a good fit for the program.


Can I apply for Postdoctoral Research Assistant as a fresh MSc graduate? I know it sounds stupid but I have applied for a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at a university in London and I have received an invitation for a Skype interview. However, I am a fresh MSc graduate having finished my masters two months ago. One of the job requirements says "PhD and/or equivalent professional experience" as essential skill, yet they invited me for a Skype interview.

Now I am wondering if this was a mistake or am I just shortlisted??

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

Unfortunately I expect this is a mistake on the university's part. Many people apply for postdocs in the final year of their PhD, so perhaps they misinterpreted your CV and thought you were in that category.

There is likely to be a requirement in the formal job description that candidates must have, or be near to completing a PhD, so even if you were to attend and do well at the interview, I highly doubt they would be able to make you a job offer anyway.

My advice is to send them an email thanking them for the invitation to interview but clearly state that you do not have a PhD nor are you a current PhD student. It is likely they will rescind the interview offer.


I'm afraid of chemicals. How do I handle my required uni biology class? I have a freshman requirement as a science student for at least 3 core science classes, and I picked physics as often as I could. However, I must choose either chem or bio as my third. I chose bio.

The thing is, I'm deathly afraid of chemicals. I don't know when it started, but I can hardly touch household cleaning products without obsessively washing my hands afterward. I broke down crying a few times in high school bio, to my embarrassment. Oh yeah, and I'm also pretty much a hypochondriac. It's not something I can control.

I'm afraid that my grades will be hurt because of my phobia. There are several hands-on labs in the course, though I am not sure if we are working with very hazardous chemicals. The exact course name is cell and molecular biology. How should I approach the course, and does anyone have any advice for avoiding chemicals in the lab? I wish I could opt out of a class due to fear, but alas.

What should I do? Thanks in advance.

To further echo one of the comments:

Seek professional help. This may be a trained psychologist, or even just a general medical practitioner, who may be able to direct you to another institution if necessary. You may have access to mental healthcare through your institution if you do not otherwise have access. Specific phobias are treatable. Formally addressing this will do two things for you:

It may or may not help you overcome your fear. This may not be necessary just because of a single bio class alone, but it sounds like your condition is limiting your life in other ways, and this just may be a good trigger for you to seek a treatment that may improve your life in general going forward.
However, even if the treatment is not successful, or takes too long to help you much with your class (treating phobias can be a long-term project, from my limited  understanding), your condition is now on record, which allows you to approach whatever office in your university is responsible for handling special needs students. They should be able to convince the teacher to find alternative ways for you to do the class without handling chemicals, but they will almost certainly not act unless you have documentation from a qualified medical professional.


Effects of financial burden on PhD research I am currently finishing up my 3rd semester in a very good (top 10-15 in US) PhD program in math. After this summer, I will have passed all my quals and will seriously have to think about my research. But I have been plagued with financial problems for the last two years and it is currently causing me following problems:

I work multiple part-time jobs outside of class and TA-ship, just to break even with my financial obligations. The fact that I am an international student makes it even harder to find such jobs; I usually end up working for late night jobs for low pay.
Getting tired from work, I rely on caffeiniated drinks to basically just survive and do my class works. It seems like forever since the last time I felt fresh and full of enthusiasm to do math. Going to seminars, attending reading groups etc all impossible because of it.I guess it has been working so far only because I am only in my 2nd year and only taking classes.

So my question is that how realistic it is for me to continue like this and expect to be at least moderately successful doing research? If there is anybody here who dealt with similar issues, I would be very glad to hear what your solution was.

P.S: Quitting the program and going back to my home country is not option an - I will have to stay in the program until I finish it or get a full-time, industry job in US, whichever comes first. Also, my adviser is sympathetic with my situation and helped me a lot by securing me a summer position, but that is the extent of what he can do to help me financially.

I had an almost identical situation. Due to financial commitments and the lack of grant, scholarship etc availability - I had to do close to fulltime work while completing my PhD (experimental physics).

I can assure you that I got through it, it was exhausting but very much worth it.

What I did:

As you are doing, keeping the advisor in the loop, informing them of what is required for work (time, energy etc), but at the same time, discussing and setting short and medium term goals.
Set yourself weekly goals, make these achievable and unambiguous.
Give yourself some evenings off to rest, and occasionally a weekend (I did this every 5 weeks).
Keep the sleeping, meal and exercise patterns - can not emphasise how important this is.

and possibly a weird one (but it worked):

keep a notepad or a small printed copy of a task in your pocket.

But, still seek the possibilities for grants, related jobs or scholarships.


Feasibility of obtaining an “individual doctorate” in Germany while working? I will be working in Munich, Germany for a relatively small engineering company.  I have always wanted to obtain an engineering PhD on a part-time basis.

I have been intrigued by the “individual doctorate” option in Germany, which seems to allow the flexibility to work full-time or part-time and thus continue to move forward in one’s career.

My questions are:

Is this option of an individual doctorate generally available to anyone who can find a professor/supervisor to work with them throughout the research agenda?
If one's current project at their job qualifies as original work and one can find a willing supervisor, can one simply proceed with their work at their current job and simultaneously earn a PhD?
Is it generally feasible to work full-time and obtain a PhD via the “individual doctorate” path?  If so, how common is this?

Um, I had to google "Individual Doctorate" since I wasn't sure what the German was supposed to be, but apparently this is just the default way to do a PhD in Germany? In which case:

Yes. When I was a PhD student in Germany, the only documents required by the university administration were the B.Sc. and M.Sc. transcripts/diplomas and a letter from my advisor stating "I am supervising this student". There was no selection, everyone who handed those in was enrolled.
Yes, but only if the company agrees. (As @Wolfgang Bangerth notes, many companies will not allow you to divulge details about the work, as they are basically their trade secrets.) Note that in Germany theses have to be officially published, so the "jury is under NDA" workaround that exists in other countries cannot be used.
It is feasible, but the success rate is much lower than for PhD students. I don't know anyone who worked at a private company, but we had close contact with a Fraunhofer institute group, and even for employees of a research institute who had that option explicitly planned for in their employment contact, many of them gave up along the way. The work required for an actual, useful product is very different from research (e.g. there is nothing novel about making sure I/O works correctly for a wide variety of formats, so you are likely to get scooped by some full-time PhD student who is just duct taping five scripts together and copy-pasted the input data into their source file).


How to reminded a Prof of a promised recommendation letter (2 years ago) I am an undergraduate student volunteered at a research lab 2 years ago, working under a phd student. At the end of the work term, the phd student arranged a meeting with the prof so that I presented my work to him. He was rather impressed and promised to provide reference (2 years ago).

Right now, I am applying graduate studies so I would need his recommendation letter. But the problem is that he might not remember me because I didn't work directly under him and I merely gave a presentation. What kind of approach should I take in order to remind him of this issue?

Write a letter, send an email.

Say,

  Hello, I am user3222184, and when I was an undergraduate, I
  volunteered at your research lab in 2013. I presented xyz work to you.

  I am pursuing graduate studies and would be honored if you can write
  recommendation letter for me.

  Thanking you, user3222184


Acceptable to do significant work on PhD before officially starting? This question concerns PhD programs that, unlike most U.S. programs, don't start with a 2 year coursework program. That is, programs where you're expected to do a 2 year master before the PhD and then finish your PhD in about 3 years consisting solely of research. Let's say this concerns a PhD program at Oxford or Cambridge, UK.

I came to this question after reflecting on the fact that some PhD students finish their PhD in significantly shorter amount of time than average. I thought: What if we carry this to the extreme:

Consider the following scenario: Let's say that after obtaining a master's degree, a student spends 3 years working independently on their own research, and produces papers that in amount and quality would be sufficient for obtaining a PhD. Would it be acceptable for this student to simply register for a PhD program, and immediately hand in this work?

In this way, the student is registered for the PhD program for only a very short time (the time required to hand in the work, and do the thesis defence). Therefore presumably the student has to pay tuition only for this short period rather than for 3 years.

This question is not about whether trying this is advisable, but solely about whether universities will accept this.

Your question is based on a false premise.

In many countries (virtually all?) where the nominal PhD duration is 3 years, students are actually paid during their PhD, through a scholarship or a salary, and there is no tuition at all or a minimal one.

It doesn't make any sense, thus, to spend 3 years working independently, with no support from the adviser and for free.

Whether that would be accepted is highly dependent on the country or on the specific university regulations, and we cannot give a general answer. It seems that in my country, Italy, it was once allowed, but now it is no longer possible, by law (I didn't check very carefully though).


What college education could help an experienced executive climb the ladder? I’m an executive in digital marketing for a Fortune 100. I have 14 years of experience. But I am a college drop out. To grow in my career I’m competing with highly educated people.

What are my options academically to add to my resume?

If you have 14 years experience, academic achievements are almost irrelevant.

Instead, look at professional certifications, experience managing teams or projects, business achievements etc. as these are what others will look at.

You could go for an MBA - that could be appropriate at the level you are at, but it may not be worth the time and money to go through it. I looked at an MBA 15 years ago and it didn't have anything then that I couldn't get from other avenues. I have revisited the decision now I am looking at some more Director roles, and while it is a bit more tempting, it doesn't give me much for the time and money, whereas my professional certifications and board roles are much higher value to me.


Is it ethical for a student to commit self-plagiarism from a non-academic source? There has been plenty of discussion on the basic issue of students self-plagiarizing from one course to another as well as academics self-plagiarizing prior but unpublished material in a later publication, but I was thinking of something slightly different that I haven't seen discussed.

Is it plagiarism for a student to submit material that was written prior to the course start date or otherwise outside of the supervision of the instructor as long as the material was written outside the aegis of academia? Most self-plagiarism policies that I've seen, such as Harvard's, mention that the prior work must have been submitted to another course for it to constitute self-plagiarism.

If doing something like that would be ethical, would any of the following further situations be ethical?

1) Submitting prior material that was prepared for a prior class but never submitted/turned in. This could be because the student withdrew from the course before submission, the student was expelled before submission, or the student decided to start over from scratch on the assignment. For example, a student writes a paper on Mary Shelley for his Survey of British Literature course, but then decides that he really would rather do a paper on Jane Austen and writes one on her and turns it in instead. Later, the student finds himself enrolled in Introduction to Science Fiction and finds himself without a lot of time. Is it ethical for him to patch up his never submitted Mary Shelley paper (e.g. with corresponding corrections to make it meet the expectations of the new course) and turn it in?

2) Submitting prior material that was completed and submitted for a course that the student took an an unaccredited university (or a university whose accreditation is not recognized by the student's current institution as legitimate). Since an unaccredited university is, for most intents and purposes in academia, academically equivalent to no university at all (degrees and credits are not recognized, etc.), this would seem to be ethically equivalent to submitting material completed under the supervision of a private tutor.

The best approach would be to discuss this with the instructor of the course to see whether it satisfies the requirements of the assignment.


What do postdoc advisors/hiring committee typically look for in a potential theoretical high energy physics postdoc candidate? I want to get a rough idea of how much post-doc advisors/hiring committee give weightage to the following factors in a potential postdoc hire. If I have missed out some factor(s), please mention them also.

Recommendations: Typically how many recommendations, does "the more the better" hold true here? Also does it matter if referees give okayish recommendations but are well recognised versus strong recommendations but not-so-well recognised?
Papers: Is there a threshold to the number of papers published, and typically how many? Also are preprints on ArXiv taken into consideration, if not published in a journal? Are few but mostly single-authored papers (1-3) given more preference than multiple-authored but many (>5), assuming the quality is same?
Statement of purpose: How important is demonstrating here that the candidate has a well defined career plan ahead? Any other relevant factors?

Apart from this, did I miss any other factors?

This is my first post here, please give feedback in case you think the question can be improved.

Typically how many recommendations, does "the more the better" hold true here?

The job advert will usually tell you how many references to provide. I'd be wary of exceeding the number they ask for -- you want to demonstrate basic competency by following the instructions about the application. The same goes for any formatting of CV, cover letter or research statement that they require.

  Also does it matter if referees give okayish recommendations but are well recognised versus strong recommendations but not-so-well recognised?

An okayish letter from a well-known researcher is a waste of a letter. You want (at least) three strong letters, ideally from people who have worked closely with you, and on different topics if possible.

  Is there a threshold to the number of papers published, and typically how many?

Individual people doing the hiring may have their own prejudices, but there is no community-agreed upon minimum number. One high quality first author paper trumps five weak papers where you're in the middle of the author list.

  Also are preprints on ArXiv taken into consideration, if not published in a journal?

If you've submitted the paper to a journal you're probably fine. I can't answer your question about single-authored papers as they are extremely rare in my field (cosmology).

  How important is demonstrating here that the candidate has a well defined career plan ahead?

Writing about your long-term career plans is less important than writing about the research you plan to do in the job you're applying for, and how working at that particular institute, with the particular person who's hiring will enable you to do that research better than if you went anywhere else. (This obviously depends a bit on the job being advertised; some postdoc positions already have a well-defined research plan laid out in the advert, in which case you need to emphasise how your skills and previous experience make you the ideal person to work on that project.)

You may be asked about your longer-term (2-5 year) career plans at interview. This is another opportunity to emphasise how doing this particular job will get you to where you want to be in that time frame.

  Any other relevant factors?

Above all, people want to hire strong researchers, who they know will get the job done. Your strengths are best demonstrated by your published research, but there are other skills which are important for academic success. These are things like verbal presentation skills, the quality of your written English, networking ability (particularly if you can build a network distinct from your PhD supervisor's), organisation and committee experience, teaching and supervision experience (this becomes far more important as you progress in your career)... the list goes on. You need to consider if you have evidence for each one of these points that you can highlight in the appropriate place (CV, research statement, cover letter or interview).

However, I reiterate my comment: talk to your supervisor. They are the person best placed to evaluate your application before you send it off and help you to improve it.


Undergraduate thesis credit is too expensive. Can I turn my thesis into 1-2 research papers & publish instead? I’m a highly competitive (currently undergrad) student with the end goal of getting a position in academia. I’m about to graduate undergrad this summer; afterwards, I will do a Fulbright research grant, and try to apply for the top graduate schools.
Now due to the difficulties of the semester, I couldn’t finish my thesis in Spring 2021 but instead moved it to Summer 2021. Normally my scholarship (fully paid, public university) would cover tuition fees. However, this scholarship has just ended for me and will not cover the summer fees. And I’ve realized that the summer tuition for this one thesis credit — in which I’m getting minimal guidance from my busy advisor and am taking no classes — is $1,750.
I do have enough money saved to cover this, but it’s really a stretch. I’m kind of pissed really, paying this much money for literally a thesis credit is insane!! However I see my education as an investment. I really wanna be super competitive, and if doing a thesis is part of that, I’ll go hungry to make it happen.
But at the same time, I’m really doubting whether a thesis will be so much better than  turning my topic into 1-2 research papers. Plus I’m about to do a year long Fulbright research project, which I think will overshadow my senior thesis anyway?
Can you guys help me sort this out? Any advice is helpful!!! I’m so angry my public university is so exploitative and not sure if I should buy into that.

If you can publish your thesis in a journal, you should aim to do so regardless, and in addition to a thesis (if you choose to write one). Papers in a good journal are more highly regarded than a thesis.
Writing an undergrad thesis might increase your chances of grad school admission. If you have papers accepted into good journals, I doubt an undergrad thesis adds much to your application. However, most undergrad theses are not good enough for a journal publication (although yours might be).
Your thesis advisor is probably willing to help you continue your thesis research and/or turn it into journal papers even if you are not enrolled as a student.


How many professors are children of professors? I am a professor. Anecdotally, about half the people I know in academia have at least one parent who was or is a professor. (I was not born to any professors, for the record.) And then you see families like this.

I'm curious to what extent my anecdotal impressions align with overall trends. Is there data out there about which percentage of professors are children of professors, how being the child of a professor might influence your chances of getting tenure, and how such trends within academia compare to those for other professions (e.g., how many doctors are the children of doctors? do they earn more? etc.).

I've noticed this too. There is a longstanding literature (mostly in sociology) about social mobility that looks at parents' and children's occupations. Beller and Hout (2006) report that father-to-son occupation correlation was about 0.30 to 0.40, and Piketty (2000) gives an overview of intergenerational mobility for a handbook chapter.

Getting closer to your question, Torche (2011) finds that in the U.S. there is a "U-shaped pattern" of occupational (and other status) similarity, when child education is on the x-axis. For those with just bachelor's degree, their outcomes are barely correlated with their parents', but people with advanced degrees or low education are much more likely to be similar to their parents.

Through Google Scholar, I did not quickly find related literature about whether academic careers stand out from this trend in some way. However, I believe academia would have even higher intergenerational replication, for the following reasons.

First, academic jobs require high levels of formal education, and education is one resource that is often transmitted across generations (cf. Roksa and Potter, 2011). (Professors could especially set up their kids for success while advising on what kind of college to attend, or whether a university offers good undergraduate research opportunities.)
Further, academia has more or less an apprenticeship model and has many unwritten rules to navigate; growing up with that as the "family business" should help one navigate that career path.
Finally, while there are lots of doctors and lawyers on TV, and those are professional careers many are familiar with, being a professor is a bit more of a niche career, and it may be harder for people from non-professor families to even think of it early on.


Asking faculty up for tenure about the tenure decision If I know a faculty member is up for tenure this year, is it appropriate to ask them for news about the tenure decision? If yes, are there norms around how to ask?

I'm a grad student and still figuring out professional norms. That being said, I hope this question can be a place to discuss the issue more generally than just grad student-faculty relations.

Getting tenure is a major life event for faculty. So the same rules apply that also apply for questions that revolve around "how is your unborn child doing", "how is your parents' health", "has your spouse recovered from that recent illness": these are kind questions to ask a human, and if the answer is positive, you get all of the credit. But if the answer is negative (tenure denied, parent died, child is born with a disability), it puts a rather serious damper on a conversation.

There is no good way to describe whether the question is appropriate. In the end, these are personal questions that relate to family and, in this case, career aspirations. Whether or not you are in a position to ask the question depends on how well you know the person, and whether you have a relationship good enough to have conversations about awkward and difficult topics.


Changing affiliation after getting a position in another university I am PhD student and I started working with my advisor a year ago. We wrote a paper and submitted it a couple of months ago to a good journal. In the meantime, my advisor told me that he got a better position in an other university and he will be leaving without having the intention to take me with him. So I found a new advisor and started my research from scratch. After a couple of months the reviewers' results came back and it was very satisfactory.however, my first advisor changed his affiliation to the new university and removed the acknowledgement part (he payed me from the seed grant)What is bothering me is that He has't left yet and will be here for another semester. The paper is published now so  I didn't want to do anything about it. But recently he asked me to write another paper for him and he also offered to pay me for that. I have a feeling that he is taking advantage of me to get tenured faster in the new university. I was thinking to bring up this issue to the Dean or whoever that is in charge of dealing with unethical practices. What do you think?

Alex, you may not realize this, but if your advisor indeed got a position at another university, it is quite likely that he is technically already considered a member of the faculty at the new university, even if he is still physically present at your old institution for another semester. If that is indeed the case, he has every right to represent himself as having an affiliation with the new university.

This situation is very common in the academic world: Professor X has a job at University Y, then is offered a new position at University Z. He accepts the offer but on the condition of being allowed to remain at University Y for another year (to finish up some projects, or for family reasons, or because he has a student he does not want to abandon). This type of request is almost always granted by the hiring institution. Professor X is then officially appointed to the faculty at University Z but put on unpaid leave status for a year. During that year, he is temporarily a member of two departments at two universities. It may sound strange but there is nothing untoward or improper about this.

So, based on the information you've provided so far, the scenario I described above seems to me like a perfectly innocent explanation for your advisor's behavior that does not involve any unethical behavior. If I'm off the mark here, please add more details about the situation and what you find wrong with the affiliation change.


Should I include large tables in paper? I am writing a computer science paper, and as part of what I did, I have a set of tests I used to evaluate my results against existing methods.
In terms of preliminary raw data, I have tables of hundreds of values of which I then take statistical parameters (e.g. mean and standard deviation).
From a scientific perspective I feel I should include the actual results that I got, such that if I forget something in my writeup, e.g. the mode, other researchers can look at my data and corroborate or criticize my results. Basically it seems good form to have all the data in the paper.
But if I do include the raw results I will get a good couple of pages that are nothing but numbers on a table. Which seems bloated for an article and I suspect reviewers won't like it I am not sure how I should handle this.

Talk to your editor. Their job is to help you disseminate supplemental information, while keeping paper to style and readable.
As Libor mentions in comments, modern journals accept wide range of supplemental materials, and either will host the files (CSV) or suggest the ways to deposit it


After PhD interview Guide I had a PhD interview and the professor invite me over for a visit. We had a very nice day tour and I was supposed to send my idea about the PhD topic to the professor in two weeks and I did so.

Meanwhile they did reimburse the costs of my travel.

However, I didn't receive anything from the professor.

I was upset because even if I was rejected, the least he could do was a rejection email.

Now after almost 2 month I checked my email and I realized that I send him the topic discussion email via my gmail account instead of the uni one.

I was in contact with him with the uni account and once with gmail account before.

I still would prefer to get a rejection letter rather than no answer.

What should I do? write him again? move on?

Unfortunately, academia is not always a model example when it comes to hiring practices. There are several reasons to it:

academics are often very busy. A senior faculty member can get hundred(s) emails in their inbox daily. The importance of these emails varies dramatically: most of them are general "academic spam", announcements, or something not really important. As such, most of the email is quickly trashed, including (sadly) potentially important emails from unknown address.
Academic positions are often very competitive. There can be hundred(s) of application for a single post, then reduced to a shortlist of 5 to 10 candidates. Sadly, not always HRs and academics have enough time (or motivation) to send a polite notice to unsuccessful candidates. Such a huge competition is mostly for faculty posts, rather than for PhD posts, but I imagine the attitude can be the same.
Formal procedures established by HRs can be very slow. Often academics can not make an offer of a post without HRs approval. Since HRs do not report to academic staff, a professor has a very limited possibility to speed them up. If some gears in HR department desperately need oiling, this can affect the whole university, but almost no-one except higher management can do anything about it.

There is one thing you definitely can try: email your professor again.

If this does not work, here is another one: telephone him (at work number in work hours).


Why pay a fee to have your article (in a subscription-based journal) made open access when you can just put the preprint on arXiv? Upon acceptance, some journals offer open access through an optional fee. This model differs from the usual open access model in which all authors pay a fee and all accepted papers are accessible without restriction. Addendum: the latter is referred to as simply open access, while the former is referred to as hybrid open access.

My question is as follows: I publish (most of) my papers on the arXiv, and as such, the preprints are picked up by search engines. When the corresponding camera-ready journal version appears, anyone with an internet connection can still access my arXiv paper, and hence I always opt not to pay the optional fees to make my paper open access.

In fact, most respected researchers in mathematics/computer science/physics/etc. also publish to the arXiv. As such, I am confused as to why this model of open access exists. What demand is it satisfying? Is there some advantage to paying these optional fees that I am not seeing?

P.S. -- The journal I have in mind currently is a SIAM journal. Their open access policies are listed here. Their open access fee is $2,500 USD (this is not an unusual number for publishers following this approach). This (at least to me) is a substantial amount of money per paper.

If you work in a field in which people use and trust the arXiv, then there's little reason to pay fees for hybrid open access.  One reason would be if your funding agency requires open access publication and does not consider the arXiv to be an acceptable substitute.  Another would be if you wish to encourage the journal to transition to fee-based open access publishing.  In your case, I doubt either of these reasons would be compelling.

From the publisher's perspective, it's a no brainer: why not offer authors this option?  It can't do any harm, since it pays for itself.  If few authors choose to pay the fee, then the publisher can use this as evidence that there is little demand to change their business model.  If many authors do, then it smoothens the transition to becoming a fully open-access journal.


How to request source code? During literature review for my research proposal, I have come across a professor who has published several papers in my field, some closely related to the topic of my own research. In a series of papers he uses a specific model, expanding on and extending it in each paper. In my work, I want to use the same kind of model (evolutionary) and I would love to see the source code, both to better understand and replicate the results and because it would tremendously help me in getting started. Unfortunately, I could not find it anywhere and it is not published with any of the papers.

I am wondering if and how I should ask for the code and have three related questions:

Is it common to just email and ask for the source code or would that be considered somehow inappropriate? I might well end up applying to the university that professor is teaching at, so I don't want to leave a bad impression.
Who is the appropriate person to contact? All of the papers on the model have been published by by the professor and the same two co-authors, some with additional co-authors. Should I email the professor himself, one of the co-authors, or all of them?
How much detail about my own research should I include in my email? Just what's sufficient to justify the request or more, possibly a draft of the proposal?

Whether common or not, it is acceptable to ask. Ask the main professor, who may pass on the request to a co-author.

I'd suggest that you only give a small amount of detail in the initial request but offer to say more if you like. But don't flood the professor in the initial request. Mention that you have a draft, but don't send it. And you can certainly mention that you are interested in applying to the university.

What happens next depends on the nature of the reply. Perhaps they will want to help you, but other outcomes are possible.


Can my Specialist degree be equalized to Bachelor degree? I have graduated from Russian university after 5 years of education and got a Specialist degree (Engineer in Computer Science). According to Wikipedia, Specialist is a four-tier degree and stands right above Master degree in some specialities. But despite graduation requirements and due to the duration, I suggest, it can only be put right above Bachelor degree. So the next step I should take is to continue my education to then get Master degree. Is my suggestion right? Or do I think about it wrong way?

If it helps or is necessary, I'm planning to continue education in Canadian university.

Since 1997, having a Russian (or rather "Soviet"-style) 5-year Specialist (специалист) degree is formally recognized as the equivalent of holding a Master's degree (cf. Mutual Recognition of Qualifications: the Russian Federation and the Other European Countries); Judging by the fact that, in Canada, one can typically directly enter a PhD program without e.g. doing a Master's degree course beforehand (as is typical in e.g. the USA), you should have no problems fulfilling the formal requirements to enter a PhD program there.


Can a rejection be appealed after reviewer says comments were addressed, but paper is not original enough for the journal? I received a rejection letter from an Editor after I revised and resubmitted my paper by addressing all comments from two reviewers.

The first reviewer has no feedback meaning that he accepted all the responses given.

The second reviewer say that he confirms that all his comments on the previous version of the paper have been addressed.  However he still feel that the paper does not contain an adequate level of originality for it to be published in a journal like "xxxxxxxxxxxx" with a very high impact factor. He did not utter any doubts regarding the originality during the first round

Is it still possible to write an appeal to the Editor-in-chief against the decision?

Is it still possible to write an appeal to the Editor-in-chief against the decision?

Sure, it's always possible to do that.  Whether the appeal will get you anywhere is a different question.  In this case, I feel like you think what you told us is grounds for an appeal which has a reasonable chance of being successful....but I didn't see anything in your post that would make me, if I were an editor of your journal [disclosure: I am not a journal editor; but I have dealt with journal editors regularly for some years now], reconsider the decision.

Basically they are saying that after addressing the comments they agree that your paper is solid and publishable, but is not worthy of publication in their journal.  More specific words like "originality", "difficulty", "novelty", "value", "depth" all amount to this same judgment.  Does a journal have the right to reject papers that they think are perfectly sound and publishable but not good enough for them?  Of course they do!!  The journal's right (and even obligation) to do just that is what allows the entire system -- in which some journals are more prestigious than others, and for which publication in the most prestigious journals (e.g. Nature and Annals of Mathematics) is a career-making accomplishment -- to function.

Unfortunately it is quite hard to successfully appeal this kind of verdict.  In the rare case that you happen to know that the editors lacked some specific, objective, important piece of information that would have impacted their decision -- the referee's report dramatically mischaracterizes your work, say by neglecting to mention that you solved an important and well-known problem -- you can bring that to their attention.  More often you suspect that they didn't properly appreciate your work, but your recourse is to resubmit to a journal of equal or greater prestige, and look forward to the (usually implicit!) "I-told-you-so" when your paper gets published there.

Maybe you thought that being asked to make revisions meant that the paper would be accepted conditionally on making those revisions in a way that satisfied the referees?  Well, if you were specifically told that, then: Yes, appeal.  You have a strong case. Otherwise: unfortunately, no, that need not be the case.  If a referee feels that even if you made the revisions she would still not recommend the paper for acceptance, then the ethical thing to do is to reject the paper and make clear that the suggested revisions are for a version of the paper to be submitted elsewhere.  However, even if the referees recommend the paper, then the decision to accept rests with the editors.  As a general rule, the better the journal the more likely it is that a paper which was satisfactory to all the referees will still not be published.  Some of these journals presumably don't even have the space to publish all the papers that their referees recommend them to publish, so they have to make hard choices.

There is one small word in your post which shouts to me: still.  This suggests that one of the referees mentioned in her original report that your paper did not have enough originality to be published in the journal you sent it to.  Is that right?  If so: well, then is it really true that you addressed all the comments of the referees?  In my experience, lines like this are often  hints that the referee is not going to want to publish your paper even if you make some revisions which in your mind measurably improve the paper.  Since "originality" is quite subjective, it is very hard to be confident that you are adding originality, and when you get a report like that it is often a good idea to check in with the editor to see whether s/he views that comment as a deal-breaker.  (I can think of one instance where I got a comment like that, was asked to revise, and wrote back to ask the editor whether he really wanted me to revise the paper under the circumstances.  He said yes and the paper was published.  However the journal, while solid, was very far from the top one in my field.)


Is it possible or common to receive a scholarship from home country for international students? I'm looking to pursue my PhD degree in a different country.
Currently I'm working on my Master's thesis.
It seems that the major challenge for me would be to receive a tuition fee waiver in the University I'm applying to, moreover, I know that some PostDoc students are sometimes able to receive a scholarship at their home country for the duration of their post doc.
Have anyone heard about similar cases with PhD ? is it a common thing ?

In my case my home country is Israel and the one I'm applying to is Australia

Some countries (most notably developing countries, such as Vietnam or Pakistan*) have such grants available. I am not convinced that the same will be true for Israel, but it can't hurt to ask. Your best contact point may be the grant office of the university in your home country. They should be able to point you in the right direction.

Note that such grants often have stringent rules about returning back to your home country after finishing your PhD (i.e., they are sometimes constructed as a "loan", which is only forgiven after you have worked back home for a certain number of years). This may not be what you want.

*These countries offer such grants mainly because they themselves lack internationally well-established research universities to train their own scientific next generation (it's essentially a bootstrap problem). The reason why we don't typically see similar grants in developed countries is because they don't need for their young scientists to be trained elsewhere - they can also just study in their home country to similar effect. Given that Israel has a number of strong universities of its own, I doubt that they provide such a mechanism.


Dean will not tell me what upcoming meeting is about. What do I do? I am a tenured professor and co-chair at a small teaching college. I received an email last Friday morning from the head of facilities requesting confirmation of my attendance at a meeting for this coming Thursday, with the subject line "Facilities storage needs and 'MY_DEPT' space." The email was also sent to my Dean, another professor (prof. X) in another department in the same building, and another member of facilities. The text of the email read, "new time suggested because prof. X can't make the original one." That was it- no other text.

I immediately 'replied all' with "This is the first I've heard of this meeting request. Can someone please tell me what this meeting is about so that I can better prepare for it?"

My Dean replied a few hours later with "We can fill you in next week, MY_NAME."

My first thought is that facilities wants to take away space from my small discipline in my small department for their 'storage needs'. In the past 6 years, we've lost two offices, a classroom, and three small storage spaces to facilities, so I may be paranoid. My second thought is that it is unprofessional for my Dean to refuse to answer a direct, rather innocuous question.

I'd appreciate any advice about how to interpret my Dean's behavior, and how to proceed from here.

Go talk to the Dean prior to the meeting, and resist the urge to "reply all" to any mail that might be even remotely contentious.  Email and text messages are good for exchanging facts, such as the time of the meeting.  They are much less good for dealing with disagreement or even potential disagreement.


Does job experience matter for graduate school admission? I was planning on applying to US colleges for masters and recently I got shortlisted for this job at an Indian startup (I don't think they have anything major out in the market). They are working on some Machine Learning (ML) product and I wish to pursue a masters in ML. Will this job experience help me with the admission process or should I just directly apply? My plan in life is to do a PhD and then join the industry.

While I cannot answer the question for your particular cases, job experience does indeed matter for some graduate school admissions programs. For example, many Masters programs in Public Health or Health Administration have started to require some job experience in their admissions.


Is "read the syllabus" a sufficient transfer of responsibility? In my experience, most instructors spend a large portion of the first period in a term talking about the syllabus. This seems to serve to pass responsibility onto students:

Students see the deadlines. No student can claim to not know about an assignment or deadline.
Students see the course rules. No student can claim they did not know they were breaking a rule.

In the past, some students have tried various methods, such as skipping lessons, then claiming to not know about requirements, in an attempt to get the support of the administrators to back their case of "I didn't know".

I have lots of material to cover within the term, so do not like to waste lots of time with talking about the course and would rather get started. Is "here is the syllabus, read it" sufficient for passing responsibilities onto students? If students do not read it (many won't) is the responsibility nevertheless still passed?

From the students' perspective, this is similar to giving them a textbook and asking them to show up for the final exam. There are three reasons I see the need to start with discussing the syllabus.

First, talking about the syllabus is an opportunity to introduce yourself and the course, learn more about the students you will be teaching, and set the stage for the semester. It is a beginning of your semester-long relationship with the class after all. Skipping the overview is like taking a road trip without looking at the map first.

Second, it takes more than one repetition of same material, and preferably in different forms, for the material to be absorbed and comprehended. Thus, when the responsibility is passed to the students, their understanding of the syllabus will not be as good, no matter how diligently they read it. How important is it to you that they understand the syllabus?

Lastly, the students are denied opportunity to ask questions and discuss the syllabus and the course progression, if that is not covered in the class. Sure, they can email you, or ask during the office hours, but the entire class will not be on the same page.


Teaching a very small class when the students have very uneven proficiency levels How should a teacher and student cope with a situation like this.

I've been studying spanish for about a year and enrolled in a successive course. However, the course starts really early and there is only one other student, who should probably be in a more advanced class. The other student has been studying spanish for probably twice as long as me and already knows most of the grammar to be covered during the trimester. Obviously, this puts some stress on me, as I don't feel good about interrupting each exercise asking for translations and slowing the class down. On the other hand, I would definitely be in the right if I did, but that isn't much help.

How can I and the teacher work together to make this situation acceptable for all parties? Honestly at this point I'm thinking about dropping from this trimester and taking the financial hit from tuition fee I will not get back.

Having been that "advanced student" in a similar situation, I'd like to point out that in such a small class environment, there is really no reason that this shouldn't be an ongoing discussion between all three participants, throughout the duration of the course. Everyone has their own pace. In truth, everyone has their own pace through individual topics.

With a little open communication you can likely resolve this in a manner that is appropriate to the particulars of your context. In my case, I had been worried about the student that I felt was falling behind. I not only didn't worry about going a bit slower in class, but I also invited him to a once-a-week study group between the two of us. I've found that teaching concepts is the best way to cement them myself. The entire experience was quite fulfilling, and I consider the course to be a complete success - even from a purely personal educational perspective.

Your situation will be different, obviously, but the I think the only real answer is consistent, open dialog.


Novel-like writing style often sacrifices clarity and accessibility, is it ok to use it in scientific texts? In writing, there are many things one can do to make the text better.
Some basic rules of thumb include avoiding repetitions, avoiding passive voice, breaking down long and complicated sentences, or letting the reader think for themselves.

Do such rules also apply to scientific texts, and if not, why?

I can think of a few reasons why they may not.
For example, avoiding repetition may create confusion — it might not be immediately clear if the alternative term is just a synonym, or if it is different and in what way.
Moreover, using more advanced devices (or,  for that matter, sophisticated vocabulary) could be problematic even for native speakers.

Surely we need to make the text as accessible and clear as possible, but it would be great if it were also enjoyable to read.
Where lies the right balance?

Keep in mind that the goals of a nice fictional book are not at all the same as of an academic paper or a thesis. The former is primarily about entertaining or stimulating the reader. The latter is about providing a certain information (the research result) in the clearest way possible.

The "many things one can do to make the text better" that you mention are geared towards making the text easier to read and less of a chore. While this is certainly also valuable for an academic text, being "easy to read" is ultimately a nice-to-have, while clarity and non-ambiguity are absolutely essential. If you keep in mind that clarity absolutely should not be compromised, you will get an impression why academic texts are written the way they are:

  avoiding repetitions

As you say yourself - if you strive for clearness, having multiple names for the same thing is not good at all.

  avoiding passive voice

Academic texts tend to prefer passive voice mostly because the "story" of an academic paper isn't about the writer, it is about the effect that is observed / described. Writing the paper like you are telling your mother what you did the lest 5 years would put the emphasis on you and your experiments, rather than the data and the observed effects.

  breaking down long and complicated sentences

Yes, do that. Even in academic texts. It's just not easy for those of us that don't have English as first language. In German, for instance, you are taught from very early age on that short sentences "sound stupid". This is hard to unlearn.

  letting the reader to think for themselves

You will never want to "let the reader think for himself" in a paper. It's not a piece of art. You want to present the facts and what derives from them as clearly as possible, not write your paper in a fluffy way so that every reader can come to the conclusions that are most suitable to her/him.


Second try for PhD after failing comprehensive exam Two years ago I failed my comprehensive exam at the US PhD program, although my advisor was happy with my results. Then, I started to work at one of the top companies, but, I have never ever given up my desire to finish a PhD.
I want to apply to PhD programs again. How should I address the issue of failing my comprehensive exams? Basically how to convince them that you are able to finish their program.

It certainly is possible; I too have anecdotal experience.
There's really two main items at question here.

Why did you fail your qualifying exams the first time?
What will you get out of completing a PhD?

My experiences are as follows -
First, I failed because I took them too early and was not professional about my studies as I should have been, plain and simple. At that point, I was locked into a rigid timeline for a retake which I attempted to negotiate with the department. They pushed back and I passed 2/3 retakes, but that was not enough. I did great research, my advisor totally had my back (and is still incredibly disappointed with the department and the handling of my situation), the only reason I didn't continue was because I did not pass the qualifiers.
Based on the fact that you are at a 'Big 4' consulting firm, you probably  have a good career ahead of you. I was in industry for a while before returning to academia after undergrad, so I totally understand that academia provides truly unique opportunities. For me, it allowed me to re-orient myself from a management career track to a technical career track. And in the process, I fell in love with the process of finding research problems and having the freedom to really dig in and become an expert. Academia is really the only way for me to pursue the topic that I want to pursue, and to continue to develop myself as an independent researcher.
You really need to think hard about both of these questions. I did, and I knew that I wanted to continue. I worked hard to develop a relationship with another PI. And honestly, I'm working on problems which are more interesting to me in a niche field that is on the cusp of some very interesting results at the intersection of theoretical results and application.
There was another member of my cohort who didn't pass the qualifiers in the same round. They already had a master's, and decided that getting a PhD just wasn't in the cards for them.

On the practical side of things, you're giving up 3-5 years of, I am guessing, a 6-figure salary with good retirement package. That's a LOT of money, not to mention bonuses, raises, etc.. On the other hand, the golden handcuffs are likely not too tight on you yet, so now would be the time to take them off without too much pain.
In the end, this all really falls on you and how much you want to get the PhD - at this point, I would say it's not just want, it's how much you need to get it, for personal or professional reasons. There's plenty of ways to work on interesting projects doing what you want to do without a PhD. My biggest recommendation: exhaust those options before jumping back in.


Referencing Android Documentation I would like to reference some material from Android documentation (such as Sensor Events and Sensors Overview) into my M.Sc thesis, talking about the details of sensor services in Android.

What is the appropriate way of referencing such material? Should I use endnotes or footnotes? If using endnotes, what's the standard style?

I am using LaTeX and BibTeX for citations.

Given that the documentation is online (and apparently exclusively online), I would cite the website in question.

  Google and Open Handset Alliance n.d. Android API Guide. http://developer.android.com/guide/index.html. Accessed May 19, 2015.

See also this other question.


What does "PI" mean in Australia? In the United States a "PI" is a principal investigator.  This is someone who leads grant applications.  What does "PI" mean in Australia?

In Australia, "PI" means partner investigator.  This is someone who is involved in a grant application but is not eligible for funding.  For example, they might be an international collaborator.

A grant applicant is a "Chief Investigator" or "CI."

Reference:  http://www.arc.gov.au/eligibility-matters


Use of QR codes in academic publications Modern academic publishing is based to a large extent on the use of the Internet, and many of us consult articles or even books mostly in PDF format rather than hard copy. URL links to both reference material, and data sets or complementary material the author makes available to the reader are becoming commonplace, and are easily accessed from within a document that is consulted in electronic form.

However, in some cases the document can only be accessed in paper, which makes following a URL awkward. Examples of this could be some editions of books available only in paper form, or CVs (as discussed in this question on SE: Is it advisable to have many hyperlinks in an academic CV?).

In similar circumstances, both the manufacturing industries and the marketing sector tend to use QR codes that are easily scannable from a mobile device, such as this one containing the URL of Academia on SE:

To date, I have personally never seen the use of QR codes in academia.

My question is therefore: what major factors make the use of this technology less likely to become commonplace in academic publishing - or more likely, as the case may be?

Edit: thanks to a comment below, my attention has been brought to some scientific books by Elsevier and O'Reilly that do contain QR-codes to enrich content with online material. In both cases, the field were Computer Science and Technology in Medicine.

I think this is a matter of convention and necessity.  As you already point out, most documents are online.  If something is online or in pdf form, having a QR code that is scanned with a phone is a waste of space, as the user can just click on the link instead.

In the case you are describing, I find it rare that any document would be only available in paper form, if it was made at any time since the invention of the QR codes existence (which it would need to be in order to have one).

The question also seems to be a rare situation.  You are saying a new document is published, but it is only available in paper, but it contains other information that needs to be seen online.  It is hard to imagine a document which is in paper, that contains some valuable data that needs to be viewed on an electronic system, in which the time saved from scanning a QR code on a phone and dealing with a phone screen outweighs the use of a tiny url or permalink typed into a computer.


What is the difference between "Green" and "Gold" Open Access? What is the difference between Green Open Access and Gold Open Access?  Are there other "flavors" of Open Access?

The term "Open Access" has been used in numerous ways (see How Open Is It?), but in this context, Gold stands for publications available directly from the publisher, where as Green means that a version is available somewhere else (e.g. on an author's institutional website, or in a repository), a practice commonly referred to as "self-archiving". Note that neither of these two terms imply anything about reuse rights or about who shoulders the costs of publishing.

That colour spectrum has been expanded a bit to include Platinum, Titanium, White and Copper as well as Diamond, but these terms are used neither widely nor consistently. For instance, both platinum and diamond have been used to describe models where OA is provided by the journal and neither readers nor authors have to pay.


Paying for page charges after a grant ends Often publications resulting from funded research are published after the grant ends. It seems nowadays more and more publishers are requiring fees (submission fees, page charges, and open access fees). How does one pay for these fees after a grant ends?

The way it works here in Japan, is that each professor has an amount of money called "discretionary spending", from there, they get money for these kinds of things. And is usual that if a professor has his name in the paper , he should use part of this money to pay for the submission.

That money does not comes form a grant, but the University's endowment, so I guess it depends on that.


Is it advisable (or even usual) to invite a foreign member of doctoral jury to give a lecture just after the defense? Or is it inappropriate? I will have my doctoral defense next month, in Italy. In my jury there's a foreign member, who comes on purpose from Belgium (I know him in person and I invited him to be member of the jury, through my supervisor).
I had two opposite advices.
Somebody told me that it is usual, in this situation, to invite the foreign member to give a lecture at my Department, after the defense (in the afternoon). They say that it is a great occasion, and that he would happy of doing it (or, even, he would be upset if not invited).
Somebody else told me that it is not polite, that he could feel forced and that, after the discussion, maybe he would like just to go around the city and relax.

I think it is appropriate to invite an academic to give a lecture on their work at any point, provided the invitation is politely conveyed.  Part of politely conveying an invitation is making the invitee feel comfortable declining it.

I can think of certain situations in which it is arguable that without further personal knowledge of the invitee, the invitation itself exerts an impolite pressure to accept: e.g. if you invite a job candidate to give an "extra lecture."  But I don't see why a foreign jury member would feel compelled to give an extra lecture in this situation.  Unless you know of some specific plausible reason why he would feel pressured to do so, I think it is absolutely permissible to invite him.  Since you are a bit concerned about this, I would mention in the invitation itself that the invitee can freely decline, in a way which suggests that he will not be committing any kind of social error by doing so.  Especially if you know this person, um, in person, I see no problem here.

General tip for dealing with human beings: when possible, try not to assume that they will want to do X or that they will not want to do X.  Develop enough social skills so that you can ask them which one it is.  Of course some exceptions apply...