How to organize repository of common research papers for lab members? The Problem
I am a graduate student in a research lab with several other students, and as such we're all pursuing research and dissertation topics that are at least generally related in nature. We sometimes find papers relevant to others' topics during lit reviews, and right now we're just pushing them into a shared Google Drive folder.

That works fine, but the problem is that we don't really have a way to notify the relevant students when a paper is put into a specific folder (it's a fair-size lab with several students, and we're already drowning in noise emails ... we're not thrilled about adding more and basically CCing everyone the article touches).

The Question
We're looking for a service that essentially pushes a once-daily changelog of the filenames of added papers and the directories they've been committed to, sending them to the email addresses of all students in the lab (so that everyone can look over the daily list and skim it for anything interesting).

Does anyone know if such a thing exists? Or do you perhaps have an idea to help us out of our management woes?

Thanks!

The simplest solution to this problem that I can think of is just to use Mendeley (or service with similar functionality) that allows people to form groups (public or private), based on their research interests. Then, all activity, such as adding relevant papers, etc., automatically appears on group members' news "wall", plus they can set up e-mail notifications and such. For more details, see corresponding Mendeley's pages: https://www.mendeley.com/features/collaborate and https://www.mendeley.com/groups.

Obviously, solutions for more complicated research workflows will require more specialized software tools: open source, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) or custom built.


What percentage of arXiv preprints fall under the CC BY or CC BY-SA licenses? I am interested in exporting and redistributing arXiv papers and will need the source on them. It looks like this is allowed so long as they fall under CC BY or CC BY-SA licenses. However, I'm not sure how viable it is, because I don't know how many papers are typically published with those licenses.

It says on their bulk data page that "A small fraction of submissions are made with other licenses and this information is available in the OAI-PMH metadata." So the data are available there, but I'm only not sure how to harvest these data from the OAI.

There are more than a million eprints at arXiv.
arXiv started in 1991 well before Creative Commons and Creative Commons licensing existed. The first generation of CC licenses were made public in December 2002.

Therefore, I think to answer this question, it is fair to take just a sample of the (massive!) total eprints, and a recent sample at that - little point in assessing eprints from 1991-2001.

I couldn't work out how to get this information myself from the various arXiv APIs so (full disclosure), I asked Erick Peirson on Twitter, who is currently lead software architect at arXiv, if he could get some data on this matter.
The rest of this answer is all his work tbh:

You can use the OAI-PMH endpoint provided by arXiv to query license information.

These are the totals for each submitting-author selected license that arXiv allows for eprints uploaded between 2015-01-01 through to 2018-07-30:

http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/: 406647,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/: 485,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/: 3187,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/: 857,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/: 766,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/: 6982,
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/: 192,
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/: 1451

For that period, only 3.42% of eprint uploads choose a license that is not the default arxiv-license 1.0. Of the 13,920 that did not choose the default arxiv-license, 55% (7748) chose either CC BY 3.0 or CC BY 4.0, and only 6.16% (857) used CC BY-SA 3.0.

So to answer you question exactly "What percentage of arXiv preprints fall under the CC BY or CC BY-SA licenses?", of recent eprints it is just over 2% (8605/420567) licensed under those specific licenses.

Thanks for asking such an interesting question. I learned a lot from it!


How to indicate deleted text in manuscript when using highlighted text as opposed to tracked changes I have the chance to submit a revised manuscript to a journal, and they have specifically asked to highlight the changes using highlighted text, as opposed to tracked changes. I am using Microsoft word.

I have always used tracked changes, so I am not sure of the normal procedure when using highlighted text to mark changes, specifically when deleting text. If there is a sentence to be deleted, how do you indicate this using highlighted text, as there is no text remaining. Should I just delete and then reference the line at which this happened in the response to editors and reviewers? Or should I highlight the 'space' where the line used to be?

Many thanks


How to mention possible mutual interests when applying for a job? Several advices for job application, recommend to mention faculty that have similar interests and can be future collaborators. What is the best way to do that?

I have worked on topic T and I would like collaborate with with Dr. A
I believe that my work can extend the work of Dr. A

And do making such connection is valid for all schools, or can have exceptions in small departments? My concern here, is that specifying some names, may have some negative effects. Since Dr. A, could be leading a research on specific topic or teaching course C, and is not willing to allow other new faculty to compete with him.

Imagine for a moment that Dr A doesn't want any help and would see you as competition. Would leaving off your knowledge of and interest in T help prevent Dr A from suggesting they hire someone else? I doubt it.

Now imagine that you include mention of topic T but don't mention Dr A. Perhaps they will think "this applicant doesn't even realize we have a world expert on T here already!"

Suggesting you can help Dr A may be a bit presumptive. But saying that you love topic T and are already working on it, and that the presence of Dr A in the department is one of the reasons you want to come to this group? That sounds very positive to me.

Is there a reason you aren't contacting these Dr As directly and saying "I'm thinking of applying to your department because I'm so excited about topic T; do you have any advice for me?" That seems like a good use of your time if the number of Dr As is reasonably small.


Submission changed to a different status, but with the same explanation as the previous status (this line is added later ) : The length of the paper is only 3 pages.
Soon After Submission

Article Status:  Reviewing
Your paper is being reviewed by the journal’s editors and you will be contacted as soon as we have news.

After a month changed to

Article Status:  Under Review
Your paper is being reviewed by the journal’s editors and you will be contacted as soon as we have news.

Initial answer: (This answer assumes a regular type of full-length paper submission in the standard journal workflow.) This is probably an error in their explanation of the current status. The explanation is not in line with the typical journal workflow, especially the highlighted part:

  Article Status: Under Review

  Your paper is being reviewed by the journal’s editors and you will be contacted as soon as we have news.

In the typical journal workflow, the review is performed by the invited reviewers, rather than by the journal's editors.

You may contact the journal to task for clarification, but it probably won't matter in the end, as the process doesn't depend on this (incorrect) explanation.

Updated answer: (This update takes into account that the submission only has three pages, and that the journal uses a decision-making step based on consensus between the editorial board members.)  In this case, it's plausible that they're wont be additional reviewers involved. I speculate that the first status refers to the assigned editor handling the paper, and the second status refers to the editorial board making the decision. In this case, the status would not have any implication for the decision, other than removing the possibility of a desk-reject.


Citation problems, in supporting general information, what kind of paper should I cite? A country implements the most stringent environmental regulations in a
  region.

For a general statement/common knowledge like this, I cited a peer-reviewed journal paper, which has a similar claim in their introduction. However, the problem is neither this claim is the main findings of the journal paper, nor the paper provides any secondary citation. So it is a general claim made by the authors.

Can I cite the paper? or must I cite all the related environmental standards of all the countries from the region? I really think it is unnecessary, however, there is no such review in this region and in this subject.

If you want to use a fact, either prove it yourself or cite a reliable source. If that paper does not provide a source for that fact then it’s not good enough in my opinion, but standards across fields vary.


How to refer to myself as a subject of study in a research paper? Okay so I have collected personal spending data of myself and significant other over a period of 6 months. I'm quite happy with the data and would like to present it and write it up as a research paper. I'm not going to be publishing it but would like to do it for fun (and a bit of practice can't hurt).

The dilemma I am facing at the moment is that I cannot figure out how to refer to myself or my significant other as participants in the study. I have been trying to figure this out for a few days now and google is really giving me a hard time. I cannot find a single thing relevant to what I am trying to do.

My first issue I have come to is that I am captioning a figure that reads similar to this. Figure 1: Average daily spending vs time for myself (solid line) and significant other (dotted line).

Is this the correct way to refer to myself and significant other? It feels much too informal for my liking. I have considered making a small statement that states that myself will be referred to as "participant A" and my significant other will be referred to as "participant B", but this might add unnecessary confusion.

Is there a standard on this? This has been driving me absolutely crazy over the past few days and would really appreciate any insight or suggestions.

Use the names "Participant 1" and "Participant 2" in figure captions and throughout the text. You can then, if you want, explain at one point, who these participants are (if it actually matters), but at least you don't have to repeatedly refer to yourself and your s.o..


Can I apply for a second PhD position in Germany? I had a scientific-assistant position from April 2012 till December 2016. I had two children in between and took the necessary time off, the extension of contract due to this break is also included in the time mentioned in the beginning. Now I am trying to finish the thesis, but I am not very happy with the quality of results and am finding it hard to defend.

Rather than finish, can I apply for another PhD position or not?

You may write another thesis, however, you will not be able to be employed on a limited-time contract in this capacity again due to the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz. So doing a second PhD means doing it without any financial support (unless you are able to get a scholarship, but all funding sources I know of require that it's your first time).

ETA: Based on comments and the other answer, you may actually be allowed to continue on a limited-time contract still for 4 years plus the length of your maternity leaves. In this case it seems possible to complete another PhD in this time if you can get another position.

However, if it's only the lack of time/distraction of children that lead to your current thesis not being where you want it to be yet, it would seem more worthwhile to invest the time to improve it. Unless you have significant issues with your current advisor/lab that you didn't mention, there's no reason to think your results would suddenly be so much nicer the second time around!


As an Australian student who wants to end up in academia, should I do a PhD or postdoc somewhere other than Australia? I'm a second year undergraduate psychology student in Australia. As a mature-age student, I have a very clear focus in that, I'd like to transition from my undergraduate degree to a PhD, post doc and into academia proper.

It is hard to pin professors down for "pathway" advice.

I am currently working in a lab as a research assistant where I am involved in the publication of a few articles and working with a PhD student and post doc on writing up a few experiments for submission. Whether the journal accepts it or not, the experience gained from submitting and receiving feedback will be invaluable (I hope!).

I am not sure whether to stay and complete my PhD in Australia or apply at another University overseas (UK or US). Alternatively, I could wait until the PhD is completed and then apply for post doc positions overseas (I have a dream of doing a PhD or post doc at Stanford (US) or Cambridge (UK)).

Is there a better place to do my PhD other than Australia? What about post doc?
In Australia being published or not isn't considered during application for PhD but is it necessary for the U.S. or UK?

My partner did undergrad and grad degrees in Europe, and formed the dream fairly early on to do some sort of study in the US at some point.  That did eventually happen, in the form of a post doc.  My observation has been that as a dream it was a positive life influence.

Dreams of this type are usually most constructive if they are left rather vague.

When thinking about where to apply for grad school, you must consider

funding
fit of school and department
fit of culture (place where school is located)
family considerations having to do with possible relocation

These are all things you can start thinking about now.  There are many strands, schools of thought, etc., within a field of study.  As you progress in your studies you will learn a lot about what intrigues you, and that will help you guide your choice of schools to apply to.

I can say that based on my own experience, I would not expect that your being a returning student would hinder you in the U.S.  I can't speak for other countries.


How should I handle titles of sources in foreign languages in APA? How should I handle titles of sources in foreign languages in APA?

For example, the title of the source is in Arabic.

Google yielded this:

Book/article titles and names written in Latin-based scripts (French, Spanish, German, etc.) can be cited with only minor adjustments.
Provide a translation of the title in square brackets. Do not translate names written in Latin-based scripts.
Titles and names written in non-Latin scripts (Chinese, Arabic, Russian, etc.) must be transliterated before translating and citing. If you are uncomfortable transliterating material yourself, don't guess -- get help!
Titles should be transliterated and translated into English.
Names should be transliterated (not translated) and arranged in "Western" order, e.g., ordered by surname in reference list.

(Follow the link to see examples)


Computer Related Discipline for Economist I've always wanted to study abroad simply because I believe knowledge expands a person's world view. However, I've not been able to find a program that I can fit into.

I had my undergraduate degree in Economics, which I really didn't find interesting, I enjoyed and can still recall after five year topics from my Psychology electives simply because they were more practical. Although I found Game theory quite interesting.

I've been programming for over a decade now and work full time as a software developer and despite living in a low wage country, am quite comfortable.

However, I would like to pursue an advanced degree. I tried reaching out to Computer Science departments in the US, Canada and Europe but most keep referring to my first degree. I would like to find out if there are fields that combine my interest.

The first thing that jumps to mind is something in data science, perhaps applied to analyzing big data sets in a field such as financial modeling, behaviorial economics, etc. Your software development background will leave little doubt that you could learn to implement data analysis algorithms in R or Python as needed, and your economics degree would be an asset if your were applying your data analysis skills toward problems in that field. Graduate data science programs in the US typically allow people to enter from a wide variety of undergraduate fields, provided that you have demonstrable ability in math and programming.


GRE: how important is it to get it in time? I am student at a UK institution and looking to apply for a PhD programme in the USA. The application deadlines are nearing and I haven't taken the GRE general test yet. It seems that if I take the test at the first available date, the scores will arrive after most deadlines.

How important is it to have the GRE tests scores when applying to graduate programmes in the USA? Will not having it automatically have my application rejected?

Three things:

the application deadlines for you are several weeks earlier than the dates that decisions on the applications are made, so even if the scores arrive after the deadlines, they may still arrive in time to be taken into consideration.
different U.S. disciplines (and to a lesser extent, different departments in the same discipline) have radically different views on how much the GRE is worth. So the answer to your question really depends on what subject you're intending to study, which you haven't told us.
bureaucracy at some institutions may prevent your application from being considered, even if the faculty thinks the GRE is unimportant.

The best thing to do is write the schools you are considering and ask. You may have taken the GRE in time for some of them, and I expect others will consider your application even without the GRE.


How different should my Statement of Purpose be from school to school? I'm preparing for my (second round of) grad school applications, and as such I am (re) writing my Personal Statements and Statements of Purpose. I am already tailoring them to the specific school I intend to send them to - in the sense that I make sure to reference the correct school, their location, professors therein, etc. What I am wondering is, how much of my statement should be specifically written with this school in mind?

Currently, a large part of my statements are quite similar - these are my academic qualifications, this is the research I have done, this is what I learned, this is how it's applicable to my graduate interests, etc. In a 10 paragraph statement, only the first paragraph and last two paragraphs directly reference the university I am intending the statement for. Is this sufficient? Or should I be creating each statement from scratch and linking every element in it to the university I am applying to? Something in between?

You may be making a mistake in writing about the past in your SoP. Your accomplishments are probably detailed elsewhere. Make the SoP forward looking, what you intend to do in the future, including beyond grad school. Mention your past work only so much as it directly supports your suitability for the degree and field you wish to pursue.

For a doctoral studies application, I don't think you need to tailor it too much unless there are specific working groups that you want to join. Then it is a good idea to mention them and also to mention professors that you (truly) know something about and might want to study with. And, of course, if you are applying to fundamentally different programs, such as in different fields, you need to tailor it to the specific case.

Later, for job applications, the SoP should be more closely tailored to the job as described in the call, but not so much for continuing studies.

Caveat. If there is nowhere else to mention your accomplishments then, of course, the SoP is the place for that. But don't just repeat what is easily available elsewhere.


Is job experience more valuable than taking more courses? So I've been offered a job at a company specializing in my field of study. However, one of the things they ask is that I take one less course, so that I can spend more time working for them. This makes me hesitate,  as I feel someone looking at my transcripts may take my less full schedule to be a product of laziness. In your experience (as I am sure my situation is not unique), does this come across the wrong way? It seems like academic institutions in general seem to prefer that you take as many classes as possible. Is real work experience more valuable (to admissions officers, in my case) than just taking more classes?

If the "job experience provider" would write a good recommendation for you afterwards (surely you must also deserve it), this may matter more.

Unless you skip some very basic course that your future company sees as very useful for your work. For example, if the future company focuses on C++ development, a course with good marks in C++ programming may matter more than work in some company that required HTML/CSS only.

I would say, take that job but think well which course deserves dropping most of all.


How to convince a journal editor that my paper is not a duplicate? Recently, I submitted two manuscripts in two different journals. The papers are related, but their contents and purposes are different; and they also made use of different data sets.  One of these manuscripts got accepted for publication, but one of the reviewers for the second manuscript informed the editor the paper was a duplicated paper that he or she recently reviewed.  Evidently, that the same reviewer has reviewed my both manuscripts. However, the editor has asked me to clarify and provide evidence that my paper is not a duplicate. So how should I respond to convince the editor and reviewer that this paper is a legitimately separate work?

Just enumerate in which ways the two papers actually differ. As you already do in your question above: they differ in (i) contents, (ii) purposes, (iii) data sets.

The reviewer may of course still think that these differences are not large enough to warrant a second paper. In that case, you need to reconsider whether you actually think that the second paper can stand alone. But your first step is articulating how you think the two papers are different.


Peer-reviewing for a prestigious journal as a Master's student I am currently a final year Master's student and have been asked to review for a very pretigious journal in my field, possibly the most prestigious one apart from Nature/Science. I have a fairly good research portfolio and have published a handful of papers in good journals as first author, but I've never been a reviewer.

While I have already accepted the request, I would like to know if I should have declined the request given that I am still a Master's student or if I should contact the editor to let him know that I am a Master's student.

If the fact that I am a Master's student is not an issue, I will be applying to a Ph.D. program soon (USA/Europe). How can/should I mention that I have reviewed for this specific journal and will it be viewed positively if I do?

P.S.: I do think I can offer an informed review to the authors of the manuscript I've been asked to review.

I don't think your status should play any role here. You've published a few papers yourself, and have a reputation of your own based on your work. It is off of that reputation that you've been asked to peer review, the same as most other peer reviewers. So, I wouldn't even mention it unless asked, in which case be truthful but don't show doubt. Editors are also usually pretty aware that you are junior, and often they select a mixture of reviewers, eg. one junior and one senior.

If the situation makes you feel a little insecure as to whether you're able to deliver as good a review as someone more senior, then you can also ask others for input, but this mustn't reveal the paper you are reviewing to outside parties. For instance you could ask your advisor "I'm reviewing a paper for journal X, the author wrote that ...., do you think it is appropriate for me to say that they should do this and that?" (it can be delicate to try not to reveal too much here, but it depends a little on how much trust there is between your advisor and you). It's also perfectly fine to query the editor in charge: when I reviewed my first paper I was unsure whether it was OK to bring up a specific issue and how to bring it up without sounding like I'm overly negative, so I emailed the editor and he gave me some good advice. Good thing is in that case you don't have to try and keep the paper under review a mystery. You can also ask the editor to have a look over your final draft of the review before handing it in, maybe mentioning that it was one of the first reviews you've done and if he thinks it could be improved before handing in the final thing.

In your PhD application this should go on your CV, under the Service heading. This can be task oriented, eg a sub point like this :

  Service

  Peer review: Journal X, Journal Y, JZ

  Committees: ...
  ...

Or it could be chronological:

  Service

  2017 - Reviewer for Journal X

  2016 - YZ Committee member
  ...

The point of these kinds of entries is twofold: they work as esteem indicators (they show that other people respect you enough to ask you to do certain things that require trust/ability), and they show that you're willing to pull your weight in the academic machine (something commonly known as "collecting cookie points" or "brownie points").


Can my choice of co-authors affect how often my article is cited? I am a post-graduate student in dentistry; planning to publish an article either in an Indian journal or an international one. How does having co-authors like our seniors or our professors affect number of citations for my published article?

First of all, let me make it clear that I'm addressing your question with the hope that you tacitly mean co-authors who made significant enough contributions to deserve authorship, and not talking about gifting co-authorship to people who haven't. Ethically, the latter is wrong, even when the person in question is the PhD supervisor, and hasn't contributed enough to deserve authorship. Thus, what I'm referring to below is the issue of publishing with or without co-authors who deserve to be co-authors.

In an ideal world, what should matter is only whether the content of article is scientifically sound, and not the brand value of the authors. What is wrong does not become right when stated by a bigshot. But in parallel, there is a question of credibility, and that is generally higher for people who are known to have done some good work in the past, as opposed to a newbie. But even with that, it is not that people do not read the works of newbies, just that in the real world, people are less likely to be as critical of a bigshot, as they would be of a newbie. That's just to say that we do not live in an ideal world. However, if the science in the newbie's work is accurate, it will fetch respect too. That's how eventually everyone grows in stature.

However, we should distinguish between exposure and citations. Even with my arguments above, being on the same wagon as a bigshot may ensure more exposure (i.e. more people look at it, even though it may not go any further than that), citations are not really entailed by a greater exposure, but are more reflective of the utility of the article. Thus, a useful work is going to get cited irrespective of who is on the author list, and exposure only increases the odds of the same.


Is it professionally viable to leave an American math PhD program for a Master's in Germany? Background

I'm an American who will be starting a pure math PhD at a relatively prestigious US public university later this month (I realize that it might seem pointless ask a question about a program I haven't yet begun; however, I think that my question is basically independent of these concerns.)

Moving to Europe is one of my goals in life (just to clarify, it has been since before 2016), and while applying to grad schools I seriously contemplated studying in Germany. However, friends and former professors, as well as professors from my current PhD program, with whom I spoke while visiting, advised me that it would likely be much easier to find a research job if I completed a PhD from an American university. Based on this advice, I accepted the offer from my current program.

It seems to me now, however, that this advice is likely false—while I have heard that German academia is considered to be quite closed to outsiders, it seems that there are quite a few mathematicians with PhDs from German universities who have acquired desirable research positions outside of Germany, and my impression is that a PhD from a well-regarded German university is quite competitive on the international and the European job market. Moreover, it seems questionable to me that a PhD from a moderately/relatively prestigious American university would give one an edge in the academic job market outside the US (perhaps I'm wrong, here, though).

Given this situation, I am considering applying to a Master's program at a certain German university which is quite strong in my area of interest, and
 which also seems to have some connections with my current program (in terms of research collaboration), with the intention of completing a PhD at the same university afterward. In terms of personal preference, I would (based on prior experience) much prefer to be residing in Germany, so continuing on at my current program doesn't seem appealing if it's not likely to be more advantageous in terms of finding a job in Europe after finishing my PhD.

Questions

Is it likely that leaving my PhD program for a Master's in Germany after a year would damage my career prospects?
In this or a similar set of circumstances, is it possible to leave one's PhD program without burning bridges completely?

Is it likely that leaving my PhD program for a Master's in Germany after a year would damage my career prospects?

Yes: A Master's degree in Germany is considered by many people
 (and pretty much everyone over 50 or so) to be baseline education: In other words, it's the bare minimum you can have and expect to get a job in a relevant field. Yes, the times, they are a-changin', especially in e.g. software development, but "only" having a Bachelor's is still something of an anomaly: The Bologna Process has changed the structure of German university education but has not (yet) changed German culture and expectations.

Therefore, you'd be going from a culture with relatively lower educational expectations (the US, where a Master's degree hold a lot of weight and a PhD even more so) to a country with higher expectations and you're going down one educational level.

Likewise, it's possible that a well-known PhD program will be acknowledged in Germany in relevant field(s), but there are fewer German universities that are so amazingly well-known that they're acknowledged in the US. After all, the US is about the size of all of Europe, so it makes a bit of sense that the US is more insular than Germany is.

  In this or a similar set of circumstances, is it possible to leave one's PhD program without burning bridges completely?

It isn't exactly the same as leaving to get a Master's somewhere else, but it is possible that you could work on building a relationship and rapport with groups in Germany which do work similar to what you do and then ask them if you could spend some time there as a visiting researcher. This way you'd not burn bridges at your current department while still allowing you to experience how it is to live and do research in Germany. Also, you'd end up with a PhD in the end rather than just a Master's, which would make it much easier to move to Germany after the program should you wish to do so.


Why are there limits on scholarship amounts for graduate students? I'll be starting my MSc next year, and just got informed that I won a Merit-based scholarship that covers tuition (although the school is in Israel, where tuition is heavily subsidized anyway), and also a generous monthly allowance.

I already have an advisor, (for whom I worked for the past year on a research project), and she told me she can fund an additional scholarship for me, on top of the first one. However it turns out that the amount I'll get in the first scholarship reaches the maximal amount the university allows MSc students, and exceptions need special permission.

I'm not greedy, but after 4 years of school I'm not in great financial shape, and that extra monthly sum would really help. But before I meet with whomever to get that special permission, I wanted to know what reason the university has to impose the restriction in the first place? It makes no sense to me.

It's likely not coming out of the PI's personal pocket but out of a grant they have.

The purpose of that grant is probably to advance some research project. Paying you double is probably not an efficient use of those funds when they could instead be used towards 1 more student. One of the things universities do is to administer grants and see that the funds are spent according to the goals of the university and granting organization.

Additionally, the merit scholarship you received is not coming out of nowhere. I don't know exactly where that money is coming from in your specific case, but in my experience these scholarships are often endowed from some donation to a university/professional organization/some other administering body. Those donations are typically to further some cause, such as education in a particular field. For example, a longtime politician and businessman just gave a large donation to my institution to fund graduate students researching public policy.

Giving these funds to someone who is already funded in another way doesn't really advance the educational goal of the donation intended to increase/support scholarship in some area. If I was a donor, I'd want to know that my donation was going to lead to more research.

In my experience these limits also apply to graduate student work (i.e., assistantships), not only to scholarships, for some of the same reasons. If a student is already funded by scholarships, and a teaching assistant position is available, the university likely prefers that the position is filled by a student who is without full funding rather than someone who already has a funded position.


Sources to understand dissertation process, methods? I am a first-year psychology doctoral student (PsyD) and am forming my dissertation topic. I am having trouble finding a really good book or article that outlines the guts of what makes a good dissertation. Really understanding the core purpose of this requirement for my degree is important to me (instead of just ping-ponging through the process until it's done) because I am creative and have some unorthodox ideas that I'd like to fit into the dissertation framework. So knowing the limits will help me be creative within them. The faculty in my program are great but I am a bit of an anomaly with my goals and need to gather all the resources I can.

FWIW, right now I am looking at an integral lit review between Murray Bowen's "emotional system" in Family Systems Theory and the core Buddhist teachings of Vipassana. The goal will be to show that they were "proposing" the same core construct of human functioning. Should be very challenging.

Thank you!

The goal will be to show that they were "proposing" the same core
  construct of human functioning.

You should consider starting with a question, rather than a preselected answer. For example, consider the goal of

  Analyze the similarities and differences between the constructs of
  human functioning proposed by Murray Bowen's "emotional system" in
  Family Systems Theory and the core Buddhist teachings of Vipassana.

The difference lies in how you will view anything that suggests differences. With your current goal you could be tempted to ignore or downplay differences. With a more open-minded goal you will be more able to give balanced treatment to everything you find out during your research.


Is there any way to extract keywords and keyterms of an academic field? I'm trying to do a personal research project on a field, e.g. "quantum physics" and wanted to analyse which keywords are the most important or have the most papers in a field. Is there any way to achieve this?

If you are looking for the last 5 years a good chance would be

a current textbook/PhD thesis (many are published on university servers and open access) on that field that has a glossary
browsing/downloading the most cited papers on journal websites (there are often tags, keywords for every paper added by the authors) and noting them down
doing text analytics/statistics on your own with such tools after converting PDF to text:

Matlab Text Analytics Toolbox
https://github.com/HamidMosalla/WordFrequencyCounter
http://www.writewords.org.uk/word_count.asp
http://neon.niederlandistik.fu-berlin.de/textstat/


Impact of Master's Degree on Physics PhD Admission in the United States: will I be held to a higher standard? I am an American undergraduate studying Engineering Physics. I am planning to stay at my current school for a sequential Master's program (in Electrical and Computer Engineering). I wonder if Physics PhD Admission boards would hold me to a higher standard or would hold me to the same standard as other undergraduate applications?
More specific to me, I have excessive amount of Transfer Credit (from classes taken during HS) so that my undergraduate degree only last 2 years, but I don't really want to stay another year or two as an undergraduate. Additionally, I am quite interested in Quantum Computing so I want to get some EE experience.
I am specifically asking about Physics PhD admission in the United States.

You'll be held to the same standard as everyone else - they are looking for people who are going to be successful graduate students.
You mention in a comment:

I want to stay in school longer to get more research experience

I think that's a great way to improve an application in that more research experience gives you more space to demonstrate you'll be a successful graduate student. The number or type of degree earned along the way will mean little compared to the total research and academic experience and proficiency you can demonstrate.


What is an academic's responsibility when a high-level administrator makes false statements to the media? In a recent media article on the quality of education and curricular changes at our university (elimination of remedial courses), a high-ranking administrator asserted that no changes to any credit-bearing courses would be made. However, I have an internal memo from this same administrator demanding that new, easier, credit-bearing courses be developed by our department and others, so as to facilitate graduation by the student population in question.

I'm at a large public university in the U.S. I do not yet have tenure. Should I respond to this, perhaps anyonymously?

no changes to any [current] credit-bearing courses

but

  new, easier, credit-bearing courses be developed by our department and others

is not precisely a contradiction. Though in the context of academic integrity, it's certainly misleading to the public.

You didn't ask, but your ethical duty is first to your own behavior. So long as you're not creating/teaching courses which don't merit their credits, you'll be OK on that front. I wanted to mention this because it's simple, and it provides a good contrast for the answer to your question:

Your ethical duty with respect to the administrator's misleading public statements are a responsibility shared by the entire group of university staff. Note the distinction between something that's your personal responsibility and something that's the responsibility of a group you belong to. Because this is a group responsibility, you need to try handle this as a group. If the group disagrees with you, and you feel the lie was significant enough, your only real option may be to leave the group or leak, but that should definitely be a last resort.

Things do first:

First talk to other professors (especially tenured ones) and see how they feel about it. Maybe you missed some things and they can point those out. Or maybe everyone agrees with you and you can approach this collectively which will help avoid costing you your job.

IFF you have a good enough relationship to do it effectively (and avoid getting yourself fired), it would also be best to talk to the administrator personally. Be sympathetic to their need to portray the university in a positive light both in words to the media and in graduation rates, but share your unease with the contradiction in message. Listen to their response, try to understand their viewpoint and how they rationalized their behavior as acceptable. It sounds like the best case would be for the administrator to change the internal behavior to match what was shared with the press. Persuasion is hard, but it really is the best option.

If other professors feel you're overreacting, but have no new information or can't convince you things are fine, and if you can't reach an understanding with the administrator in private, then you have to decide whether this is ethically compelling enough to require yourself to risk your career. There's no hard and fast answer for that. You have to weigh your ability to be successful against your need to not associate with people who aren't flawlessly honest/upright.

If you do decide you must risk your job, I would recommend roughly this order of operations:

Internally (but public to other professors), point out the contradiction as kindly as possible and ask the administrator for a solution. Don't threaten to leak or quit yet. Explain you want to understand and keep things internal.
If your concerns are dismissed, either resign quietly or leak the memo AND all internal communications about it to journalists you believe will be able to present the story well. And expect to be fired.

It's hard to predict what effect this may have on future employers, as that will mostly depend on the fallout and how well you're able to convince future employers both that it was the right choice and that nothing they do is likely to require you to do it again. Try to be as complete and fair to the other side as possible as that will help somewhat. Remember that the goal here isn't to expose a liar or shame the university, but to promote academic quality and accountability.

It sounds like a tough position to be in. Good luck.


Should I write a paper describing my comparisons and user guides for free tools? I have already done a project for an organization about android non-functional testing and now they've forced me to write a paper about that.

I have read many scientific papers but I've not written any yet. So I really don't know if I can publish my work as a paper.

This project was about non-functional testing tools in Android and my task was to find existing free tools (best tool for each test) and write a user manual for each of them. (I have done this for almost 8 non-functional tests)

Does this sort of comparison seem like it would be publishable in an academic journal? This work seems like it would be helpful for others, but doesn't seem like "real research."

The exploratory work that you have done in non-functional testing tools can be easily summarized in a kind of survey paper. You need to enumerate the tools that you have played with, describe the features and limitations (even with a summary table) and describe your tool selection process (free tools seems like a criteria that you did taken into account). Further, you can even detail the tests that you did with the different tools.

You can then make a extended critique over the existing tools, pointing out the most valuable features and, then, pointing out the lacks, limitations and suggesting further research directions that need to be done in that area (e.g. suggesting the implementation of missing features or other ways of testing).


Does one really have to consider having a co-author to avoid being considered as a nerd? I have just graduated in B.A.Sc. Within my undergraduate studies, I had been considerably active in research, such that I succeeded to publish a paper on my own at a well-known conference.

At the conference and after the presentation, a very experienced professor asked me to present him some more details about the applied methodology into the paper. His tendency to my research paper fully diminished, as hew saw the list of authors and realized that I am the sole author. He advised me that such of research might not be so noticeable and the community may take such authors as nerd people. Furthermore, he explained that such research reports would not consist of coherent enough accomplishments, due to the lack of any effect of the idea cooking that could be acquired by co-operation with the other researchers. The ironic stuff is that, before he found that the paper has just one author, his attitude regarding the paper and its content was gratifying, deservedly!

My questions are:

Is this viewpoint an overall and widespread idea among researchers?
If the ideas, simulations, manufacturing and the other stuff for a paper were done by a single person, should this person consider faking some co-authorship for the paper to avoid presenting themselves as a nerd to others?

There are reasons to be more careful about sole-author papers from young investigators, but pretty much none of them are the ones this professor told you.

I would be more cautious when considering a sole-author work from a young investigator simply because inexperience plus lack of supervision means there are more likely to be mistakes.  These might be in the technical work, the scoping of the problem, the design of the investigation, or the interpretation of results.  On the other hand, if your paper went through meaningful peer review, that's a pretty good initial filter for simple mistakes, and that means I'm likely to take the paper as seriously as any other that's made it through peer review (i.e., still with significant skepticism, but assuming basic sanity).

None of this, however, has anything to do with gratuitously insulting an undergraduate investigator.  I would consider the professor you describe to be both a fool and a bully. Perhaps this attitude is widespread in the community where you published, perhaps it is not; certainly, there are toxic scientific communities.

I would thus advise you, if you want to continue working in that area, to keep doing so and meeting more investigators.  If you find they are more constructive in their criticism, then ignore the first, nasty person that you interacted with.  If you find the first scientist was representative in their attitude, then find a better scientific community to participate in.


Requesting a copy of the PhD thesis from an author? I think that many unpublished theses are available in libraries etc and reading relevant theses is a normal part of research and does not involve asking the author's permission. But suppose a humanities PhD student has seen a thesis title (2008, so presumably in electronic format), that is relevant to their PhD subject and they want to read the thesis but unlike most theses it is not available in the student's libraries or online etc, probably due to the author's geographical location. The author is now a lecturer with a page on the university website. Should the student just email the author and say "Hello I am a PhD student in your field, can I please see your thesis?" Is this a big deal? Are there any do's or don'ts in making this request?

Thank you...

A PhD thesis is usually a published work, and is normally archived in a university's library. Almost all dissertations are available via reprints. So you could ask your own library how to order a copy of the thesis.

Alternatively, as you suggest, you can contact the author directly. As Anonymous Mathematician suggests in his comment, you can ask for a copy of the thesis, but you should definitely explain why you're interested in the thesis. However, it may be possible—and even more so for a humanities thesis—that the author is currently preparing it for publication, and may therefore be reluctant to share it via electronic means. However, it is just as likely that they're willing to share it.


Where can I easily find best-paper-award-paper of a conference? Recently I read an article on tips for PhD students to improve their scientific writing skills. There, one suggestion was to find and read the best-paper-award-papers in highly reputed conferences in your discipline and understand the writing style, the way of presenting information, flow, language etc.. I believe it is worthwhile to spend some time on this to improve my writing skills. However, I tried whether there is an option to find such papers in a typical database after filtering information (my discipline is Electrical Engineering, so I tried IEEE-Xplore) but could not find it over there. So I would really appreciate if someone can suggest me the easiest way to find such papers online?
Note: I am interested in finding such papers related to highly reputed IEEE and IFAC conferences.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of variety in how much effort different conferences invest into making the information on best papers visible and long-term available.

If you're lucky, the website of the conference lists previous best paper winners on their website. Sometimes this only applies to individual editions (years) of the conference.

In a majority of cases, this might not apply. In these cases, you might be able to retrieve individual award winners by googling for search strings like  (if the conference name is ICSE), "ICSE Best Paper" and "ICSE Distinguished Paper". Such search strings may lead to tweets and researcher websites of award winners.

Another option is to contact the steering committee of the conference and ask for the list of best papers. This might have the positive effect of raising awareness that there is interest in this information, which might at some point lead to more efforts into making the information available online.


How to cite an unpublished internal (academic) report In our graduate school, a Ph.D. student has to present has a research proposal in form of a confirmation report. It is an internal document but contains a lot of material that is well-researched. Currently, as I am writing my research paper, is there any method, I can cite this report (like uploading over arXiv etc. ?). Also,
is this method (of citing internal report) credible for reviewers of prestigious journals to accept such citations?

PS. This report is reviewed by our supervisors and a panel to judge our performance.

You did not mention who is the author of this report - you or someone else?

Option a): Someone else:
If you are using it, you should cite it - like e.g. a personal conversation or else which should be cited. But maybe it would be appropriate to write the paper together if your fields are so close. For the reviewers (and readers) it would be crucial to re-phrase all relevant content of the report because otherwise the text is worthless. (see Should you cite somebody's Transfer Report? (Confirmation Report)? for other thoughts on this topic)

Option b): Your text:
Since the proposal was written by you, there is no harm in using the material in any section of the journal. You are not violating any copyright and it is not self-plagiarism since it was not published before.

If you want to cite it just to save some space, then please refer to the remark about re-phrasing the content above - the journal paper must be self-contained and fully understandable / reproducible and just citing it will not help.


Which PhD field offers better job prospects: Math or Computer Science? I have completed my Master's in Mathematics.

I loved two subjects: Algebra (modules and non-commutative rings) and Cryptography (visual and algebraic).  I wanted to work on them in my PhD.  I scored good grades in both subjects.

Now when I am going to apply for a PhD program at different institutes.  I am getting two options PhD in mathematics and PhD in Computer Science where Algebra comes under Mathematics and Cryptography under CS.

Question:  Which PhD field offers better job opportunities in future: Math or Computer Science?

Assuming that you're interested in the private sector and holding all else equal, I'd guess that a Computer Science degree would tend to outperform a Math degree.  It's just such an incredibly useful field to have expertise in.

That said, if you're going for competitive research positions in overlapping fields, e.g. cryptography, then it may not matter that much so long as you have the appropriate background for that sub-field.  Then, you'll probably be evaluated against other applicants more heavily based on objective qualifications rather than the name that your degree has on it.


Is it disadvantageous to have recommendation letters from postdoctoral fellows rather than professors? I am a math PhD student in a US university and also a teaching assistant. This fall I’m expecting to apply for jobs. I’m looking for math lecturer/instructor jobs.

However, when I worked as a teaching assistant I did not actually teach a course. Instead, I did recitations, grading and assisting. So I cannot get teaching letters from the department. Hence, I’m thinking to get letters from the instructors that I did recitations, who are postdoctoral fellows.

Would it be disadvantageous to have recommendation letters from postdoctoral fellows rather than professors?

EDIT: I don’t consider my post to be a duplicate because that post doesn’t solve my issue. It has inconsistent answers. One answer says Professor is better, other says postdoctoral fellow is better.
Thank you.

You want the best letters you can get. A letter from a professor who doesn't know you well or your work will be worth very little as they can't honestly say much about you to boost your application. If a post-doc can, in fact, say positive things about you as a teacher, then that would be worth more. They are more experienced than you are and so will have some credibility.

This is especially the case if they had a role in evaluating your teaching.

For a more research oriented job the equation might work out differently, but for a specifically focused teaching job you probably would like one letter the can honestly and positively speak to that. The letter writer can include something about why it is they and not the prof who is writing.

But most of the letters should come from professors.


What’s the point of invited talks? Imagine a post-pandemic world where we can travel. You’re invited to give a talk at a university. You would present your research in front of room of faculty and grad students, have numerous one-on-one meetings, and go to lunch or dinner with some folks. Why should you go?

As the presenter, what are the goals of invited talks? How should I understand my objectives during these visits?

I’ve heard the saying that “Every talk is a job talk.” So I would treat these visits with a degree of seriousness and focus as if these folks were considering hiring me. But aside from that high bar for seriousness, what other reasons/attitudes do people approach invited talks with?

I see some possible reasons: Stay current on what people in my field are working on. Increase the visibility and impact of my research. Cultivate relationships with potential tenure letter writers. Brainstorm around potential research collaborations. What else? Why should one travel around to give talks at universities?

I’m a junior faculty member in the social sciences, and I recognize that some specifics vary by field and career stage, but I’m sure some lessons are broadly applicable.

As someone who has given a fair number of talks and has now had the "pleasure" of giving an online talk, I can say that the advantages of in-person talks include the following.

You can have informal chats with people from the audience. One of the main problems of online chatrooms is that there usually can be only one discussion at the same time. This precludes informal chats like this because no one wants to monopolize the only communication channel. Also there is a whole paraphernalia around talks, you go to lunch with interested people or whatever and can have more talks. If you're really treating them as job talks, then you want to talk about stuff other than research with people. Departments don't want to hire people who cannot integrate well; being someone that is pleasant to be around is a big plus, and you can't prove that if you just come, give your talk, and leave.
(In the same vein, giving a talk in person is the opportunity to visit the university/department and see if you'd enjoy working there.)
If it's a conference (i.e. >1 people come to talk) then you can meet the other presenters. It may be a nice way to meet people who have the same research interests as you. Also sometimes a good way to arrange meetings with existing collaborators who work far away.
You can meet people who don't come to your talk. Sometimes people are busy and aren't free at the precise time of your talk, but you can run across them in some corridor or something and talk with them. And somehow the busiest people are the ones you often want to meet, for obvious reasons. Maybe the department's big shot has ten meetings that day, but you can still catch her for ten minutes and leave a good impression.
Usually around the talk I would have long conversations with some people (usually the one who invites me) about our respective current research. Sometimes this can even lead to collaborations. It's hard to do online because this sort of discussion is "open ended" in some sense: you just talk about whatever goes through your head at that moment. I don't think anyone would consciously schedule an online conversation to do this, but it's extremely valuable.
People are apparently afraid to ask questions during talks. During a normal talk I usually have lots of questions during and after; at my online talk and the ones I've witnessed, much fewer questions are asked.
Giving an online talk is just awkward. Not many people enable their webcam, and nobody other than the presenter has their mic on. It's very difficult to know if your audience is reacting positively or negatively to what you're saying. It's very destabilizing.
There are also technical things. Having pre-prepared slides is good, but there is always some moment where you want to write something more on the board that you hadn't thought of, or some picture, or some motion you want to show off using your hands. It's difficult with an online talk.
Lastly, and some people may not want to openly admit this because it's a bit selfish, but if you enjoy traveling and visiting new cities, being invited to do it is always nice.

Of course a lot of this is a bit on you. I was once an insecure PhD student, and I tended to just stay hidden in my hotel room the night before, in the guest office if they had one the day of the talk, give my talk, not dare talk to anyone, and leave. Don't do that. Take advantage of the fact that you're there in person.

I would say that the only advantage of online talks is the ease of planning. As someone who also organizes a weekly research seminar, inviting someone is now as simple as shooting them an email. The other person just has to think about whether they want to give a talk that day or not. No travel to think about, no hotel no expense reimbursements, no administrative hurdles, no nothing.


What is the difference between a "electronic preprint server" and a "subject repository"? In the following licence to publish:

6.b) preprints (before referee) can be posted to electronic preprint servers

6.c) postprints (after referee) can be posted to subject repositories

Now I am wondering whether arxiv is an electronic preprint server (wiki says it is) a subject repository for math (wiki says it is) or neither or both.

As I could not find any useful distinction between these two terms online, it feels appropriate to ask the question here.

I do not know of any agreed-upon definition of these terms that would clearly distinguish one from the other.

It would be appropriate to ask the publisher to clarify.  You may wish to ask specifically about the sites where you would like to upload your work.


Filtering spam invitation emails Is there a readily compiled, contiunously updated list of email addresse and/or domain names used in spam messages from predatory journals or conferences, or phrases or keywords that could be used to safely filter out such spam messages in email clients (without removing non-spam emails)?

Definitively identifying spam is next-to-impossible because:

Spammers can change their email addresses with trivial effort.
Spammers work hard to mimic legitimate content.
Any spam detection method that becomes popular will be analysed and actively subverted by spammers.

All of the above are true of predatory journal spam. So I don't think there is anything like the resource you suggested (I did do a bit of searching).


How important are informal enquiries? I have finished my BSc and I am considering applying for a Msc. I have no idea about the etiquite of applying for grad school. Do I apply using the online form or should one send an email to the proffesors and doctors?

If they are important, what does one say!?

Thanks, and any advice you have is welcome!

Although referring the concerned institution guidelines for application should be self-sufficient, it wouldn't be wrong to ask a professor of the related department for any clarifications. But just make sure you go refer the guidelines first before you send a request-for-clarifications email.


Submitting future research plan when intending to leave I am a junior faculty member at a European university. Recently, I was requested to submit a research plan for the next few years, as is typically done with junior faculty members at this university, and I will be meeting with my department chair to discuss it.

However, I am planning to resign soon, to pursue a non-academic career. I have had a few job interviews in the last 2 weeks, and have more in the next couple of weeks. While some of the jobs that I interviewed for seem promising, I haven't received an official offer yet.

At this point, I wonder

if I should be upfront with my department chair about my intention to leave,
or if I should keep quiet, submit my research plan and discuss it with my chair, and put in my notice only when I receive an offer

My concern with Option 2 is that there is a 3 month notice period in my contract, and if I were to resign at a later time -- e.g., in the summer, the department might not have enough time to make backup plans for the next school year (e.g., finding someone to teach my classes)

Think about the worst case that can happen if you do/do not tell them. If you do tell them and none of your interviews results in a job offer, you're seen as someone who won't be around for long, in whom it is a waste of time and money to invest, etc. It's going to be detrimental to your continued career if you tell them that you're thinking of leaving unless you are certain that you will. On the other hand, if you don't tell them now and leave later, you're certainly going to annoy people in your current department and you may burn bridges, but by then these will be your former colleagues who will not be able to influence your career any more at that point.

So, if I were in your position, I would wait.


PhD application SOP - include several research ideas or just one? I'm an older PhD applicant (Business-Marketing) with 20+ years of industry experience. In my SOP, should I include the several research projects I have already started, or should I focus on just one idea?
Or should I reach out to a faculty member who might be interested in discussing my ideas first? I have no geographical ties, so I can go anywhere.

First, stop identifying yourself as an "older" PhD applicant. Instead, use some terms that come with more leverage like "mid-career." It implied that you're from an earlier cohort, and you also come with real world industrial experience.

Then, this statement:

  I have no geographical ties, so I can go anywhere.

does not help because while it may appear flexible it also sounds clueless. Since you come from the industry, do you really think your industry welcomes any one with a PhD from any country? I'd suggest try talk to your peers and get a sense of where they studied or what degrees and institutions seem to be well-respected by them. You can also browse some related academic or business journals for some ideas on hot topics and prominent institutes.

As for how PhD application works... it's as varying as everyone's favorite grandma's recipe. Some will give you scholarship based on merit, some will require a professor's endorsement to pay for you, some will only consider if you come with a research grant/fellowship... that's why devising application strategies now without a shortlist of schools is just going to waste a lot of time.

Compared to the number of research interests, it's more important to think about if they are relevant to the faculty, well-balanced between realistic and ambitious, insightful in the short- and long-term plans, and genuine/authentic. The magic number will rely on your stated reasons for doing a PhD at that particular institute. A very general recommendation I often give is to diversify into a main thematic interest, a sub-thematic interest, and a methodological interest. I like this layout because it shows the applicant is not a one-trick pony, and yet not spreading overly thin nor easily distracted, and the last methodological interest can emphasize the applicant's flexibility, strengthening the potential as a collaborator.

In any case, do the research. Decide on some schools from different tiers, and start knowing them. Website, brochures, information sessions, booths at business conferences, etc. are all very accessible resources.


What universities are recognized by USA universities? I just completed my bachelor of Electrical engineering with first class honors at The University of Western Sydney. I am now thinking of doing a phd in one of the good universities in the USA.

When I look at the minimum entry requirement for graduate admission in MIT, Stanford, UCB, ..., they all indicate that I should have a bachelor from a recognized university. How can I know the university that I completed my undergraduate degree, is recognized by these American institutions?

There is an official list of accredited US institutes of post-secondary education, the database of accredited post-secondary institutions and programmes, but according to that page, the Department of Education does not maintain a list of recognised institutions worldwide.  Instead, there is an educational NGO, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, that maintains a list of accrediting bodies that are recognised by its member organisations (which include Stanford and UC Berkeley, but not MIT), the Database of Institutions and Programs Accredited by Recognized United States Accrediting Organizations.  The institutions recognised by the member organisations are the institutions accredited by one of these bodies, which are national in scope.

As a state university, the University of Western Sydney is accredited.  For other institutions with less international visibility, rather than look up this information yourself, it is better to contact the HR department of the institutions to which you apply to get their direct judgement on whether that institution is recognised by them.


Formal pedagogical knowledge Considering that sooner or later I will, hopefully, be able to teach formally at a university level, I'm curious about the following. While I do have pretty decent (some people, even, say, very good [he is blushing]) informal pedagogical skills, especially in terms of explanatory power :-), I'm thinking about how best to improve my ability to teach (I have informal teaching experience via high school students tutoring, corporate IT classes teaching as well as informal advising online and offline).

With that in mind, I wanted to ask people's recommendations on what are the optimal strategy and useful approaches in terms of acquiring some additional formal knowledge on pedagogy, instructional design, learning theories and similar disciplines and areas of study. While currently I'm preparing my research (have an agenda) and teaching statements, this question is not concerned about that, but rather about establishing a solid foundation for the long-term teaching success. In addition to strategy and approaches, some advice on relevant resources, including MOOCs and books on the topic will be greatly appreciated. (This question is inspired by reading this and this.)

Many universities now recognise that tertiary academic teaching can be taught as a scholarly subject. There is a growing body of research on the subject.

Similarly, tertiary institutions recognise that there has generally not been a requirement for academics (usually research-focused) to demonstrate any ability in teaching, nor are they exposed to any opportunities for training.

For this reason, many institutions (in the UK and Commonwealth, at least) offer a post-graduate diploma or certificate in Academic Practice. In such a course -- usually attended by research academics with a teaching component to their work -- students are exposed to current pedagogical theories.

My institution offers such a PGCert, and I am working my way through it now, with the support of my HoD. It's been pretty good, so far. See if your institution offers such a degree.

Bear in mind, I've seen this strategy -- institutions offering PGCerts in academic practice -- done very badly. Namely, staff are required to take the course, and pass. In the worst case, the quality of the teaching was poor.

I am pleased to say, that at my present institution, the teaching on the PGCert has been very good, the readings helpful, the exercises relevant. Your mileage may vary.

With respect to resources, I am generating an annotated bibliography of the readings (journal articles, books, etc) that we have been recommended for this course. If you are interested in this, I can share the link with you.


Citing someone else's idea??? (but not published work) I will preface that this is in regards to a Christian devotional to study scriptures from the Bible. I was tasked to put together a 25 day devotional that will be published physically and online by my church. I was given a copy of a similar type of devotional from a friend who gave me permission to use however I would like. I basically used it as the bones of the devotional; however, I have rewritten a bit of the material with our particular "church language", as well as changed, added and removed a bit of the content and some of the ideas. All the original studied scriptures are the same. The problem is that I do not know exactly how to cite this person's work. They did indeed write the basis of what we will be publishing; albeit, I do not have a publish date from them, or even a title of their work. I just want to cite their work and ideas properly as a majority of the basic content is not my own. Thoughts please!

I just want to cite their work and ideas properly as a majority of the basic content is not my own.

Given that the majority of the content is not yours, you may want to make the person a co-author (or co-editor, etc.). That would appropriately recognize the work the other individual has made in the work that you have adapted.

Alternatively, if you feel most of your work has been editorial rather than creative, you could state:

  by X (arr. by Y),

where X is your friend.


Ethical reaction to fake academic degree claim. (Unfinished PhD) Let's assume a hypothetical context where someone figures out that a given businessperson's claims to have a PhD from a prestigious university are not true. The person in question was enrolled in a PhD program but they never finished and therefore no degree was awarded. The person is introduced in interviews and presentations as "Dr." and listed in the company's website as having a PhD in a scientific topic from a specific real university.

Provided the evidence is unequivocal, the questions are:

What is the ethical response to this? How to handle it?

Is it fraud?

What are the mechanisms available to denounce this, if pertinent?

(depending on answer to previous question)

I'm personally interested in the case for Europe and UK, but cases for other countries may be of general interest.

This is related to other question about Diploma mills, but my question is about real prestigious universities, real enrolment but no award.

This question does not relate to degrees pending imminent conferral, but to incomplete degrees, falsely advertised as completed.

Obligatory disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

In Germany, using a Dr. title without having earned it is illegal, and it is punished with imprisonment up to one year or with a monetary fine (this is a link to the relevant law in German).

The mechanism available to denounce this is to report the offending person to the police. Before doing this, I would suggest talking to a lawyer, as there might be consequences if the accusation turns out to be false. If the offending person is working as a medical doctor or some other regulated profession, the corresponding regulating association (for example, in the case of doctors, Bundesärztekammer or Medical Association of Germany) or other fair competition associations might sue the offender on the grounds of unfair competition (this has happened already several times).

The ethical thing to do depends on your particular sense of ethics. What you will do depends on what motivation you have to do it. The other person could sue you for false accusations, and going on a legal fight as a private person is very expensive, so there must be a good motivation. If the offender has been selected over you for some position and you feel that this is due to the fraudulent use of the title, you might as well just inform that particular employer of the situation. Going public is not recommended unless you have talked to a lawyer, as you could land in legal trouble if you make public accusations that turn out to be false.


How to respond to "unfair to write English" comments? I teach mathematics and computing, for example, our department's discrete mathematics course. As is customary for that course, it's used as the first foray into formal mathematics, including a heavy emphasis on reading and writing proofs throughout the semester (required for both our math & computing majors). In response to difficulties I've seen students wrestle with in prior semesters, on the first day of the course I have a slide with this quote:

Writing Proofs in English
“The best notation is no notation; whenever it is possible to avoid
the use of a complicated alphabetic apparatus, avoid it. A good
attitude to the preparation of written mathematical exposition is to
pretend that it is spoken. Pretend that you are explaining the subject
to a friend on a long walk in the woods, with no paper available; fall
back on symbolism only when it is really necessary.” – Paul Halmos,
How to Write Mathematics

Now, the last few semesters I've done this I find that I regularly get pushback on this. For example, this semester I had a student write in the live online chat, something like, "This seems unfair to students who have poor English skills". And I've been kind of stumped for a short, solid response to that.
Note that I'm at a community college in the U.S., which is part of a large urban university, and about half of our student population is foreign-born. We have a TOEFL requirement for enrollment, but some students indeed have very weak English skills (I've had a small number that apparently needed every course lecture translated by a friend, and couldn't communicate to me directly).
My initial instinct is something like, "You enrolled at a university where the instruction is in English, and has an English requirement for registration, so no one should be surprised at this." But (a) that seems wordy and byzantine, and (b) misses the underlying problem that people are led to believe that math work is entirely deterministic symbol-pushing, such that some people pursue it precisely because they think they won't need strong language skills (in fact, some of our advisors explicitly say this to students).
Obviously, replace "English" here with "natural language" at whatever institution and location you might consider.
What's the best, shortest response to student criticism that "It's unfair to expect writing in English"?
Related from SE Mathematics: Why there is no sign of logic symbols in mathematical texts?

For writing proofs, full knowledge of English is not necessary. Most proofs can be written using a single tense. It is sufficient (and often advisable) to keep the structure of sentences very simple; that is very similar to how logic statements are written using math notation. Arguably, this exercise requires students to use only a small and simple subset of English level. Most students are expected to have it by the admission requirements of the course they signed on.


What is the correct year to use in the reference list? I am wondering what would be the correct year to use for this book?:

http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/9195

On the page it says 2014, and on google scholar I see that other people have used 2014. But inside the book as can be seen here

link,

it says copyright 2015. What year should I put for it?

You can find this in books which are published at the end of a year. For instance, if books are published in November or December, publisher will state this year as publication year in their online catalogue. But the publisher has also assigned such a published book for the following year, because it will be mainly promoted and distributed to libraries, book stores etc in the next year.  Here is another example of 2 different years of publication of a book: publisher website states 2016 and google books shows in the book 2017  In case you have read the book and not the few pages on google books, I would say the year in the book is more reliable and would cite it as 2015.


Can a Ph.D. candidate at a US-style Ph.D.-only graduate school be admitted to a European doctoral course? While most European doctoral courses require its applicants to hold master's degree, many doctoral courses in US often do not.  In these graduate schools, by satisfying conditions set by the schools, students advance to candidacy, when the school may or may not grant them master's degree.

Suppose the school does not.  Then, can a Ph.D. candidate at the school be admitted to a European doctoral course, which usually require its applicants to have master's degree?

Although the term "PhD candidate" is used in both continents, a Ph.D program in the USA comprises of: Master (2 years) + Doctorate (3 years), meaning it takes at least 5 years, whereas in Europe comprises of just the latter: Doctorate (3 years). This means that yes, a Master's degree or something deemed equivalent or superior is required to enter the doctoral course in Europe. The fact that it's "not required" in the US is an illusion, it's just because the Master's is (sort of) included IN the Ph. D program. In the end you will get your Ph. D degree at around the same age than students in Europe.

If your University in the USA does not deliver a Master's degree per se, you will have to check with the prospective university in Europe to see whether they will count your research experience (preferably 1-2 years of lab research after your 4-year Bachelor's, which you could sum up in something that looks like a Master's thesis) as being equivalent or superior to a Master's degree. I believe it is case by case.

Also, please keep in mind that some countries like France require you to have a scholarship or to secure some kind of funding prior to admission to cover your living expenses for the entirety of the Doctorate (3 years) since Ph.D candidates have a status similar to paid staff.

The UK is probably one of the only countries in the world where it's OK to do just a Doctorate (3 years) right after your Bachelor's (=if you compare to other countries, you could say it means skipping the 2 years of Master's), however, I don't think this is highly valued on the international market, unless you managed to end up with the same amount of work and publications than the people who did Master (2 years) + Doctorate (3 years).

//Speaking for science majors//


Is it okay to keep a "Thank you" slide before references? I am preparing a presentation in LaTeX and got at least seven pages for references only.

In general, as far as I know, a "thank you" slide of a presentation is the termination slide of the presentation, i.e., it comes at the end after references.

Since my presentation part, which demands explanation, ends with a page before starting of references, and I got a long list of references, is it okay to keep my "thank you" slide before references?

Don't even think about going through seven slides of references. Put them in a separate handout or web link. Make the thank you slide the last (or next to last, if you are going to ask for questions).

If you want the references on slides so you have just one document, put them at the end and don't visit them.

Addition: Many commenters note that "thank you"  might not be the best way to end your presentation. Consider verbal thanks and just your conclusions on the final slide, perhaps with a request for questions.


Adding a faculty as a co-author I and two other student, did a course project and it has been accepted for publication in an international conference. I am confused now that whether I should add his name as a co-author or acknowledge him in acknowledgements ?
I would like to share that though, the entire implementation and writing the paper was done by us, we were student of his class and the work was produced as a part of course project.

My field is Computer Science.

Edit: As F'x suggests, that I should ask the instructor. What would be an appropriate way to do so given that his name was not added as co-author before acceptance.(We were confident about the work but were not sure about the acceptance. The conference management software was EDAS and it spams email of all co-authors which we wanted to avoid in his case)

Regarding “given that his name was not added as co-author before acceptance”: ask him ASAP. Be honest, be apologetic, explain clearly the situation and the reasons you did not want to add his name beforehand, but also be very clear that you realize now it was a mistake not to discuss it at the time, and that you made the mistake due to your lack of experience in academic publishing.


How did you or your advisor’s behavior change after obtaining tenure I am curious (if you are a professor) how you changed consciously or unconsciously after obtaining tenure and (if you are a student) how did your advisor change and did that affect you?

That is a hard question to answer as a lot of things have changed simultaneously. For one thing I have just grown older (that makes me sound very old), got married, became a dad. All of these things affect who I am and how I view and interact with other people. My time as a PhD student was for me the first time in and employment relationship. Since than I got experience with other work positions, other bosses, and been a boss myself. This again changes how I view my advisor, independent of having tenure or not. At the time my dissertation was very very very important to me and this has decreased over time as well. I suspect that these changes were a lot more important in how my view of my advisor changed than the type of my employment contract.


Should I hold back criticism in an anonymous survey for fear of identification by the professor? At my university, at the end of every course, professors have to submit an anonymous survey to the students. In this survey students can write the good and bad aspects of both the course's program and the professor's teaching skills.

Sometimes classes are of very few students (even under 20), so a problem arises: it is very easy to link a survey to a particular student, just by comparing his/her calligraphy in the exam with the surveys. So my question is: should a student mitigate his/her judgment in the survey for fear of a harsher revision of his exam?

Note, I'm not speaking about offensive and/or "off-topic" judgments (i.e. clothing habits), but of legitimate criticism.

First, a couple of remarks for those not familiar with the Italian educational system, to provide more context (the OP studies in Italy according to his user profile):

In Italy, there are really no final exams: exams are distributed along the year in 3-4 sessions, and students can decide to take an exam much later than the end of the course. Thus, professors always receive students' comments before the exams (there's no "after").
The kind of survey described by the OP was common in my university up to a few years ago (now, it's managed through a learning management system), and -- yes -- professors received handwritten forms (e.g. I read the You must die remark described here on a handwritten form). The survey should be typically handed back in class, so students can't hand it back after the exam as suggested in one of the comments. In the edit below I explain in more detail the mechanism.

  Should a student mitigate his/her judgment in the survey for fear of a harsher revision of his exam?

From my experience, I've never seen anyone wasting time in trying to pair the calligraphy of the remarks with that of the exam papers (I surely didn't), and I'd consider retribution extremely rare (though jerks exist). Therefore, I wouldn't bother mitigating your judgment, but be polite and keep it at a professional level.

Note: How evaluations used to work in my university before the introduction of a learning management system
(and how they still probably work in the OP's case)

Teaching evaluations are managed by a university office (not a departmental level). In the paper era, toward the end of the courses, a professor would receive two sets of forms: one contained a questionnaire prepared by the competent office; the other could be filled with free comments.

During one of the lectures, the professor would hand the forms to the students and would give a (20-30) min break to fill them in. At the end, a volunteer among the students would collect the two sets and put them in two different envelopes.  The envelope with the questionnaires would be closed, signed and delivered to the office by the volunteer; the other envelope with the free, handwritten comments would be handed to the professor in class.

So, the professor could read the comments before the end of the course and before any exam.

Nowadays, we can still read the comments before the exams (as I said in the first remark, there's no way out for this), but they are no longer handwritten.


What exactly happens when a department head is contacted about a specific instructor in a specific course? Related, but not what  I'm getting at

In one of my courses at a University, I overheard some of my classmates talking before a very difficult test (we knew it was going to be hard beforehand based upon the practice exam). The students were assuring each other that the department head "knows about the [stuff] going on [in this course]."

Apparently, several of them emailed or were planning to email the department head claiming, among other things, that the course material was too hard (grad level), the professor wasn't doing a good job, etc...

DISCLAIMER: I personally believe these claims are bunk. If any of these students actually attended the class on a regular basis, they may find themselves in a better position, IMHO.

My question is this: What, if anything, might the department head reasonably do? I ask because he's certainly getting a skewed, although loud, representation of the course. Our professor is new to the University, and I think is undeserving of such remarks.

EDIT:
Changed asking what the department head might reasonably do so that an answer doesn't have to read his mind. :) @thecomments

Expanding on my comment to make it an answer.

Department chairs deal with this all the time, and have to figure out which complaints are legit and which are students complaining as an excuse. I've seen several courses of action.

Do nothing. If the student's complaints don't seem reasonable or seem out of character for that instructor, it's a waste of time to worry about it.
Meet with the student to find out more information. I've seen this happen when a complaint is delivered by email, but at my university it's rare because most student feedback happens via anonymous surveys at the end of the semester.
If it's a one-time event, talk with the instructor involved. Students provide one side of the story; an instructor might provide a different side. I had this happen when a student complained about my grading of an assignment -- turns out they had received a mandatory 0 for plagiarism and were hoping a complaint would get them a better grade. If the complaint is that the material or exams are too hard, it would be appropriate for the chair to review the material (perhaps with a professor familiar with the subject). For example, my courses have a course co-ordinator who could impartially review any questions about my lectures, assignments, tests, or grading.
If it's a pattern of legitimate complaints, the chair can take either mentoring or disciplinary actions as allowed by the university. My university has a faculty mentoring program where other faculty members will sit in on classes and offer help with improving teaching styles. Non-tenured faculty can also be progressively disciplined in a number of ways -- tenured faculty are obviously harder to discipline. Ideally someone doesn't get tenure if they have obvious problems in the classroom, but we all know it does happen. I've seen department chairs "punish" tenured faculty by giving them less desirable teaching assignments, but it also doesn't seem really effective.

Ultimately, it's going to be a combination of how credible the complaint is, how many complaints there have been, how motivated the chair is, and what options are legally available to the chair.


Does in an Academic Environment freedom to create and search exist? Currently, I am working as a software engineering over 3 years. I also completed a master's degree programme and I aim for a PhD In Japan via Mext Scholarship.

Whilst working as software engineering I feel constrained on my creativity due to these limitations:

Face-to-face code reviews actually feels like an interogation having to answer continuously why you did this, why you did that. Whilst a review comment from the internet feels more friendly to me.
Having to show them the basics in a manner of seconds for an x-y technology that took me months to master it.
Sometimes lack of learning best practices usually in early years.

As a result I feel constrained in a team. Therefore, I look for a place that I can take my time and can be as creative as I want. What I am looking for is "Hey I had this x-y idea lets put them in the test to see whether it works" without having to think will it take me a whole life of 5 seconds to prove it.

Whilst in my Master's degree I felt unleashed, and I was awarded for working hard (getting good grades) so I could push more and more. So I am seriously thinking an academic career as my path of choice. Also, I felt like I achieved something once I managed to do a hard task alone eg. presenting a difficult paper I studied alone instead of forming a team and presenting all together.

So I wonder on a PhD and later on a postdoc position, does encourage and mentally/non-monetary awards hard work and freedom over creation?

There are of course many facets to both your question and any answer anyone could come up with. But yes, in general it is true that academia is not product-driven but curiosity-driven, and so you have more leeway in the directions you choose.

It is also true that academia is a place where by and large hard work and creativity is rewarded.

I do think it's worth also discussing two undercurrents I can read between the lines of your question. First, you seem to suggest that in industry/outside academia, creativity and hard work are not rewarded. I think that, as a rule, this is not correct. It may of course be that your current workplace does not encourage this, but in many large companies, being good at what you're doing and coming up with creative solutions is most definitely rewarded, both in terms of money as well as career steps. It is of course true that you are more constrained in the direction in which your creativity should be directed, simply because in a company you have a product that needs to get to the market. But if you're better at coming up with solutions to problems, people will eventually notice and it will be rewarded.

Second, you seem to suggest that you do not appreciate the aspect of peer evaluation in your current job. (You do say that it is, in particular, the face-to-face aspect, but I'll take the liberty to generalize.) I have three things to say about this: (i) Peer review works, it leads to better software/papers/etc. (ii) Academia is all about peer review: Every one of your publications will be peer reviewed, and you will have to learn to accept the judgment of others on your work. In many cases, this judgment will be anonymous, and it's not always gratifying to read reviews of your work. Moreover, your job evaluations (and potential for a new job or a promotion) are all predicated on getting positive peer evaluation feedback. You will have to get used to being judged in academia: We have a lot of freedom, but not to the point where you can do whatever you want without being judged. (iii) Empirically, the most successful people in any area are the ones who embrace peer feedback, take it to heart, and think critically about what they did wrong and how they could do better in the future. The ones who have difficulty accepting criticism are often the ones who stop growing and improving, and it will eventually show in your ability to do the next career step. As a consequence, I would recommend you find ways to make your code review sessions productive: If it's the personal style of the reviewer, then talk to them by saying that you are eager to get feedback, that you want to learn and get better, but that this-or-that about the interaction doesn't work for you.