Can a department disallow a student-advisor pairing in order to distribute PhD students evenly among faculty? When a department enrolls x number of students based on the capacity of the department and its professors, the ideal desire is fair distribution of PhD students among faculty members. However, students are attracted to attractive professors (by different factors such as fame, personality, etc), and there should be less or no request for some faculty members.

Assuming a student and advisor mutually agree that they would like to work together, but the department would rather have the student work with another faculty member who is short on PhD students. Can the department limit the number of students that may work with each faculty member, so that new PhD students will be distributed among faculty?

In a hypothetical situation, there are 10 PhD students, and 10 faculty members. Can the department set the limit of one PhD student per faculty to ideally distribute the students among faculty members?

Note: This question is not about the cases in which a candidate specifically apply for working under supervision of a specific professor (due to the admission system or funding source).

Questions like this show the importance of understanding the perspective of faculty members.

Can a department tell a student and advisor not to work together? Who knows. It will come down to the department.

But it is much more likely the other faculty would try (in private) to convince a "greedy" faculty member not to accept so many students. Faculty have a longer perspective than students - students graduate in a few years, but tenured faculty usually stay at their institution far longer, with the same colleagues. So there is usually more risk for a faculty member who harms their relationship with their colleagues, compared to just turning down possible students.  There will always be new PhD students next year... At the same time, if a faculty member really wants to work with a particular student, no other faculty member is likely to want to "steal" the student.

What about the hypothetical situation from the question?

It would be extremely unusual for a department with 10 PhD students and 10 faculty to tell the 10 faculty that they each have to find one student, and none of them can take 2 students.
It would also be unusual for one faculty member of the 10 to work with all 10 students.

What happens in most cases is that the students naturally gravitate towards faculty they like, and faculty who don't feel they have enough students will make more effort to be friendly and reach out to possible students. If a faculty member doesn't want to work with a student, or a student doesn't want to work with a faculty member, they don't work together. In the end, the students all find mentors, although it may take some students more than one attempt.

The situation is different, of course, when students are required to select an advisor while applying to the university, because then there is no doubt who each student will work with.


How long do I have to wait for my offer letter? It's been nearly two months (next week it'll be 2 months) since I got an email from the Doctoral School at a UK university telling me that I got the place and funding. After 4 weeks of waiting, I emailed them to ask when the letter would be sent out but they gave me no specific answer. Also by chance I learned that someone already received their letter nearly 4 weeks ago. I'm very worried and just wondering how long everyone had to wait to get their offer letters. And should I contact them again about it?

Pick up the telephone. Repeat several times to several people if first call does not get an answer.

Get this resolved within a week.  Have them send the letter express mail.  No more sitting and pining.  If you haven't resolved it by week end, you need to move on and look for a different gig.


Publish as undergraduate in Elsevier I am currently in the 3rd year,studying BSc in Economics. This period I finished a project which ended up with statistical significant results, covering a topic which was not mentioned in the literature. I found a journal of Elsevier that matches the Field of Research. My question is whether I could try publishing my work since I am an undergraduate student. By searching their webpage, I did not find anything with reference to reasearchers not pursuing a PhD or being Professors etc.

I think that this will be good practical experience for you, regardless of whether you're proceeding to further study.

A few things to note:

Discuss your plan and involve your supervisor in your preparation of the manuscript. The reason for the first is that statistically significant results and a potential research gap aren't sufficient in and of themselves in guaranteeing acceptance. The reason for the second is because there's more to submission of a paper than simply writing it. Your supervisor will be able to provide you with guidance.
Read and dissect some papers from the journal to which you plan to submit. This will orient you about the style of writing, formatting, referencing, etc. Certainly, read the instructions to authors, but also be guided by good samples from the same journal.
Prepare emotionally for the review process and the decision. First time authors are often surprised by the delays, unhelpfulness or viciousness inherent in the peer review system.

Good luck to you.


Transferring schools during PhD I just wanted to know if transferring schools during your PhD is frowned upon?

I have spent a semester at school X which specializes in a very specific field in my major. After many classes, seminars, and interactions with profs, I've realized that I just don't see myself doing research in this area. Instead I have found school Y which is much more inline with my interests that have been fostered over the last few months.

Realistically, would it leave a sour taste in the mouth of the people here if I transferred?

And upon notifying my administration of my intentions to transfer (I have received an offer already), would I probably be booted from the program immediately, or would they let me finish the last few months of the semester?

I plan on telling the administration before they recruit for next year's PhD classes so that they have an accurate idea of how many students they can take on-board, given funding and budget constraints.

There are many reasons to transfer and only a few of them have any ethical complications. If you have committed to complete experiments in some elaborate scientific field and others depend on you doing that, then you need to deal with those promises. But for the most part, you are free to go and your willingness to inform people early enough that the old institution can make a smooth transition is courteous if not ethically required.

But there is little in life worse than sticking with something that isn't right for you. You only get one run around the track, of course, so make it a good one.

People change as they learn. If they didn't, there would be little point in it. Other people understand that change occurs, so I expect that there will be very little "frowning", unless you are missed. People can be expected to wish you well and, generally, be happy for your growth. You are also early enough in your studies that there should be little impact (absent situations as described in the first paragraph here).

But yes, give people early warning so that your place can be filled. I think that any move to "expel" you early would be unethical and, I hope, illegal. There are a few exceptions, of course, if your studies put you in contact with especially sensitive or dangerous information. Those situations are rare, but in such situations, early warning may be especially needed.


How can I convince my department that I have the academic freedom to select textbooks and use multiple-choice tests in my courses? I am a professor of Mathematics at a Community College.  My department has adopted policies through a majority vote.  The two policies I have questions about are:

An instructor can only use textbooks that have been preapproved by the department.  Preapproval requires a majority vote from the department.
An instructor may not use multiple-choice tests for assessments in class.

I believe both policies have negatively affected my students.

For example, the majority of the instructors in my department want a single textbook to save the students money. However, I believe the textbook used is antiquated.  The technology used with the book is subpar and no animations which I believe are a vital component to a calculus course.  It seems ridiculous that 51% of the department vote can stifle innovation, especially considering once a teacher uses a book for awhile they are less likely to want to change as it requires more work.  It seems like an endless cycle.  If I am forced to use their textbook for half my career than I probably wouldn't want to switch in the latter half and would force newbies to use my antiquated textbook... and the cycle continues. In addition, at some point, OER textbooks will be all we can use if the majority of my department prioritizes cost over quality.

In regards to multiple-choice exams, I find that my students can be served better by assessing their ability to expressing answers in different forms.  Surprisingly they often don't know how to do this as free-response doesn't require this. Below is a basic example of how I could use multiple choice to aid in students learning:

1/2+1/3 is equivalent to

a.  3/4

b.  4/6

c.  20/24

Students are usually taught to get 5/6, but often don't realize that 20/24 is equivalent because they are simply following a process and not understanding their answer has equivalent forms.  I believe using multiple-choice in these scenarios is worthwhile sometimes.

It is my understanding that as a tenured instructor, I am able to teach the class in the pedagogical manner I believe is best for my class.  Wouldn't this include what textbook I use and the types of assessments I use?

Maybe I am wrong.  However, if I am correct, what sources can I site to my department to sway their understanding?  I want to makes sure I do not forward bad information.  Thank you.

As a current undergraduate student who recently attended a Community College I personally agree with at least requiring all professors to use the same textbook. It means that students from different sections are able to study together more easily than if the books and overall approach to course are different as I'm seeing in some courses at my current University. At least some Community Colleges allow you to change courses up to at least one week into the course with no extra fees, which means that if you find a professor doesn't suit your learning style you can change to another professor, but if you need to buy another text book that would become significantly more difficult for those students. This is especially important in a multi-course series like Calculus where its possible that you could purchase the textbook for the entire series for a fraction of the cost of purchasing the book for each course individually.

I know I'm probably in the minority regarding Ebooks as a large number of my fellow students in the time I spent at a Community College preferred them, but I always preferred a physical book as most Ebooks come with a subscription of some kind which requires renewal every semester for a significant portion of the cost of the book.

And as a final point regarding selection of teaching material, it seems that your department only requires you to use the textbook they decide is best and you are able to supplement your teaching materials with animations and MatLab objects as you see fit. This was a very successful scheme for my Calculus 3 professor as they were able to quickly show us what the concepts looked like as 3D objects in a way they would have been unable to on a blackboard.


Should definition of terms section be included in the introduction or the literature review chapter? I 'm writing a Master thesis. I have some terms that should be defined.
Where should I put this section? In the introduction or literature review chapter?
Thank you

Additional Information

I think there are always exceptions to the general rule of writing theses. That's, some may not have a supervisor, guidelines, etc. This is another story.
Concerning definitions of terms, they can be presented as a glossary or discussed in a separate section. Where this section should be put is my question. I have seen theses having it in the introduction while others in literature review chapter discussing each term in detail.

Example of a thesis discussing definitions in the literature review chapter: Contesting the Culture of the Doctoral Degree: Candidates’ Experiences of Three Doctoral Degrees in the School of Education, RMIT University. Link.
A handbook for writing Master thesis recommends discussing definitions in the introduction: Bui, Yvonne N. How to write a master's thesis. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, c2009.
You can have access to a summary of the book here.

So, what is the difference between discussing definition of terms in the introduction and doing it in the literature review chapter?
If the literature review chapter is about reviewing previous research on the topic, why should one allocate a whole section for example to defining a term or concept?

I've often encountered this type of problem in my own academic writing (and not only in theses). The problem is that it's often difficult to talk about something before you've defined what it is. But at the same time, it's awkward to write so much expository material before being able to talk about your own stuff. It's up to you to work out, for your document in particular, the best way to present these necessary definitions.

Given that you want to say what your work is about as soon as possible, you can't avoid mentioning at least a few of these technical terms before introducing them formally. For one thing, you may well have to put them in the title! Often, you can present just enough in the abstract and introduction to allow readers to get an idea of the technicalities, but not overwhelm them with detail. The trick is to make sure your presentation is accurate and useful. If you make it too vague ("the Riemann Hypothesis is a very hard problem") then nobody is helped.

A literature review chapter is often a natural place to put definitions. It's hard to say anything meaningful about the literature if you haven't introduced the terms that the literature talks about. Also, exploring the past contributions to your subject certainly includes identifying who came up with particular definitions, who disagreed, how they adapted the definitions, and so on. This is the case for the dissertation in your first link, which defines "research" in the literature review, in the context of conflicting definitions of what research actually is (p19). The author still talks about research in the preceding pages - but that is the point where she sets the scene for her own work, using that definition in particular.

Material which is more basic or less contested could be introduced earlier, if you like. If it is general background, which readers need to know in order to understand anything you've done, but which the thesis is not particularly "about", then the introduction is a fine place for it.

Equally, definitions could be in their own section - either towards the beginning, or as an appendix. I often see this in documents where the definitions are basic reference material. Some readers will know them already, and skip the chapter; others can read in more detail. Again, this option separates the definitions from the literature review, on the basis that the definitions are simply fundamental to the field.

Ultimately, the choice is yours, unless your institution tells you what to do. I hope these thoughts will be helpful as you consider which option is best for presenting your work.


Why is a professorship sometimes called a chair? Why is a professorship sometimes called a chair? Are chairs only the correct term when the professorship has been endowed? (I don't think so, because endowed professorships are rare in the UK, but people still speak about chairs).

What's the origin and correct usage of the term?

Edit: Thanks for the responses, I would like to slightly expand on the 'usage' part of the question by asking whether every professor at every university could correctly be said to hold a chair? If it varies, what determines who has a chair and who is just a professor? Perhaps the term is more common in the US because the term professor is used more widely than in the UK, for relatively junior faculty (who would be called lecturers in the UK).

etymonline.com:

chair (n.)
"a seat with a back, intended for one person," early 13c., chaere, from Old French chaiere "chair, seat, throne" ... from Latin cathedra "seat" (see cathedral).
Figurative sense of "seat of office or authority" c. 1300 originally was of bishops and professors. Meaning "office of a professor" (1816) is extended from the seat from which a professor lectures (mid-15c.). ...

The etymology is much more obvious in Romance languages: see e.g. the Spanish word catedrático.
Note that there's a specific type of chair which is also used figuratively to refer to the authority of the person who is entitled to sit in it: throne. Usage is probably parallel, although digging out examples to demonstrate this would be a non-trivial research project.

I see from comments that there are two opinions about what the question meant by asking about usage. To address the other opinion, in as much as it's not already answered by user2768: professor in British English is reserved to those who hold a chair, which may be an endowed or a personal chair. In American English it  is used far more widely. Cognate words in other languages may be used even more widely still: in Spanish, profesor is used for teachers from primary to tertiary education, although as mentioned above there's also a word catedrático which corresponds to the British professor. I would expect that most of the Commonwealth follows the British usage, with the possible exception of Canada, but I would not be surprised to be corrected on this in comments.


Does rejecting an undergraduate admission offer have any effect on my chances of postgraduate admission? I am currently an international undergraduate studying in the US. When I was in school, I applied to a few different universities, including some in the UK. Two universities in the UK accepted me and I ended up rejecting them both. I am a freshman but I am strongly considering applying to their graduate schools after I graduate here. I understand that GPA, recommendations etc are very important, but would the fact that I had previously applied and rejected an offer from their undergraduate schools have any effect, negative or positive, on my chances of admission to a postgraduate course? Have I burned any bridges?

I can post the names of the specific universities if it's relevant.

I have worked on admissions councils and I'm 99.9% certain the answer is no.  I doubt they'll even consider whether or not you had previously applied.  I'd be surprised if they even have a way of looking up that information.  The pile of applicants who reject is tossed away pretty quickly, time to move on.


What is a typical dress code for campus interviews on west coast state schools? The question says it all.

I am shortlisted for a campus interview at a state school in California. I was wondering about the dress code? Should I wear a suit or would it be too much?

EDIT: It's for CSU math position in Northern California.

I'm honestly just guessing here, but I'd think something along the lines of Business Casual or Smart Casual. Both of those are ambiguous, of course, but I think you'd stand out in a suit.

Of course San Francisco is more formal than LA or Berkeley, but academics in most fields are pretty laid back. If the interview will be long and includes evening events, you might want to have a suit available.


When to get rid of undergraduate stuff on CV I'm applying to PhD program. I'm my 4th year out of undergrad, I have a masters and am currently midway through my 3rd year at a research org. At this stage, can I get rid of stuff (like summer internships, clubs, etc.) from undergrad on my CV that I submit as part of my application? I guess I should keep the awards, but that might be it.

I was going back and forth about debating a (very mediocre) summer internship from my "relevant experiences" section. Is there any rule of thumb for this?

I do not think there can be a generalised answer to your question, however there are multiple factors to consider about what you might want to put on your CV.

As Solar Mike mentioned in the comments some programmes have certain requirements. These should obviously not be omitted.
Some programmes might have preferences about their applicants, e.g. valuing research experience, volunteer work, social engagement or experience abroad. Such preferences might become obvious from the descriptions on their website, advertisements or alumni interviews. You could try to tune your CV according to these.
You can also choose how you want to portray yourself. Maybe you want to show extra enthusiasm by including that besides coursework and research you have even spent summers doing internships? Or you want to focus on just the hard facts?
Which leads a potentially very important point: The length of your CV. If you think summer internships do not add anymore weight to your research experience and rather obstruct the reader from getting a quick overview of your education and work experience, then there is little point in keeping it on there.


Plagiarism of Research Proposal Idea by Potential Supervisors I really would like to know how to prevent a plagiarism of your idea or Research Proposal, when it is sent to several Universities and potential supervisors?  What can I do if one of the potential supervisors did not respond to me, nor did consider my research important, but later I notice that they are using my idea with other possible investigators?

What can I do in that case?

I am really frustrated and disappointed with that lack of ethics. I feel that this person stole my idea and my possible place in the University, and the possible fruits of my work and idea as well.

I really would appreciate your advice.
Thanks a lot for your wonderful website.

I understand and completely share your frustration here. It feels awful when your application is rejected but later the same idea is used by a person you put some of your trust in.

I don't have a universal answer which helps to avoid such things. Sometimes people suggest to be vague in your proposal, but I don't think this is really a good idea. After all, when you have an idea, and you think it is good, you don't want to sound like you don't know what you're talking about. So, I don't think you should somehow tweak your proposal to make it less easy to plagiarise.

Instead, I would suggest to maybe do better research of potential supervisors before you send them your detailed proposal. Perhaps, do a small polite exchange of emails and check if they are even interested to have another PhD/postdoc at this moment? Look at their history of publications, read a few papers - are they really working in the area you want to work in? Look at author's lists - is there evidence that a potential supervisor  was a guest/gift author in many papers? Are there cases when they re-claim someone else's idea as their own (by doing minor modifications and changing the name, etc.) If possible, get in touch with their current postdocs/PhDs and check what they think about the transparency and ethics of the research/publication process in their group. Or simply try to arrange a small chat with the potential supervisor - sometimes five minutes face-to-face tell you more about a person than a year of email exchanges.

Good luck.


What's a novel way to say "all errors are my own"? Typical disclaimer is now just common fodder for all papers and books. Any advice on a more original take to this generic statement would be appreciated!

Making the manuscript error-free is left as an exercise for the reader.


Do reviewers go over the calculations (i.e do the calculations themselves) when reviewing? The question is clear:

Do reviewers go over the calculations (i.e do the calculations themselves) in the paper? For example, it can be the derivation of an equation, or some numerical calculations.

Edit:

What I am trying to understand is that if I am reading a paper and seeing some derivations, should I assume that someone (possibly reviewers) other than the authors went through those derivations in detail.

Edit 2:

The question can be narrowed down to STEM fields only.

This depends on the field, the paper, and the reviewer. If the result of a calculation seems to be "expected" by an experienced reviewer they may feel no need to go over the calculation in detail. An exception would be when it is a core result on which other things depend. Another exception is if the result surprises them in any way.

And of course, some reviewers are much more meticulous than others and some fields require a lot of care because things can get subtle.

But the author should, on the one hand, assume that they do, so that they don't get caught in error during review, but also assume that they don't so that they don't get caught in error later. (Confusing, I know).

Ultimately it is the responsibility of the author to be correct and accurate and some errors do slip through review and don't get caught for a long time, if ever. People (authors and reviewers) do make mistakes, of course, but the combination of care from both tends to catch most errors.


Duke University Library Logo I am not sure if this question is within the scope of this community, but I am rather dumbfounded by the logo of Duke University Libraries, which can be found near the bottom left corner of its homepage.

To me, this looks like the profile of a much-despised Biblical figure, whom I doubt is subject the figure is really portraying. Who, or what, then, is the image portraying?

Duke University's sports mascot is the "Blue Devil"  The library's logo references this mascot.


Is it necessary to wear a white shirt inside the graduation gown for Masters degree graduation ceremony? I have my graduation ceremony coming soon. The graduation dress usually consists of the gown, the hood and the mortar board. however the hand sleeves of the gown are a bit short and hence a full shirt is to be worn inside the gown (gown is black in color). In most pictures I see a white shirt within. Is it necessary to have white shirt or I can go for a blue or black one too?

Faculty do not ask and students do not tell what they wearing under the robes.

Actually, I find that since graduations are in May, the robes are often swelteringly hot (especially PhD robes) in many parts of North America, so the lighter the clothes and the more sweat-resistant and breathable the better. Women can get away with wearing summer dresses. From what I can ascertain (remembering the Don't Ask/Don't Tell rule above), male students tend to wear khakis and comfortable dress shirts underneath. No need to wear long-sleeves if it's going to be hot.

Many students often change into other clothes for the receptions after graduation -- men into longer pants and a sport jacket, women don a light jacket or change into more formal attire. They often keep a change of clothes in their parent's car or in their advisor's office if the dorms are shut.

tl;dr: It's your graduation. No need to be uncomfortable.


What is the average waiting time for a paper deposited to an open archive such as HAL? I recently deposited a research article to the HAL open archive, and I am waiting for a PDF version of this article to be reviewed and made available online through this archive.

It seems as if papers which were deposited after my paper was deposited are now being uploaded, so I’m concerned that I might have somehow uploaded my article incorrectly.

So it is natural to ask: What is the average waiting time for a paper deposited to an open archive such as HAL? Also, when should I start to make inquiries to HAL concerning when my paper will be available online?

As commented by Davide Giraudo, the waiting time is typically one or two open days. I think submissions are manually checked by a team in France, so if you submit on Saturday Australian time, you'll have to wait at least until Tuesday. If the team is very  busy, it can take a few more days.

Not asked but maybe worth mentioning: to check whether you are allowed to upload your article to an open archive such as HAL, type your journal name on RoMEO to get something like:


Asking admission committee to confirm if they received my application and letters I'm applying to a PhD program and the application isn't centralized or anything. I don't upload the required documents to a server, I just send them as emails attachments. Is it kosher to ask them to confirm if they have correctly received my documents as well as the recommendation letters my references have sent them?

Yes, but you should ask whomever it is that you emailed the documents to. You can either ask them to respond in the email with the attachments, or follow up later asking if they received everything. A polite way of doing so might be something like:

  Hi Prof. Dexter,

  I wanted check that you received my transcript and personal statement which I sent on Feb 30. You should have also received three letters of recommendation for me from Profs Dyer, Ellery, and Freeborn. Please let me know if any of these have not arrived and if there are any other documents you needed from me. I'm very excited to be applying to Miskatonic U.

  Thank you for your time,

  Ululu


How novel should conference papers be? This is probably field specific. I'm mainly interested in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields and psychology/neuroscience.

So, like the title says, how novel should conference papers be? I'm early in my career and find it difficult to judge if my work is yet publishable or not.

Suppose my advisor says nothing about the work I have done, and I have to decide myself.

So, like the title says, how novel ideas should conference papers present? I'm early in my career, and find it difficult to judge is my work yet publishable or not.

This is extremely field specific and even specific to different conference venues. But conference venues, by offering (supposedly) quick turnaround of papers, do emphasise novelty of results.

Speaking as a reviewer, in judging novelty, I look at four main things:

Is novelty made clear: Have the authors clarified what methods have been presented in the literature and clearly argued how their work differs?
Does the novelty make sense: Oftentimes, authors strap things onto previous works or make unusual design choices (seemingly) just to be novel, and then they adapt their evaluation accordingly. If you say, for example, you have designed a new "hexagonal" wheel that's different from the round wheels in the literature and you show that it's less inclined to run away down hills, that's obviously problematic. (Though the analogy is a hyperbole, this case is quite common in my experience.)
Did I learn anything: If the results are new but are already quite obvious, or are trivially derived as a synthesis of existing results, novelty is poor. As a reviewer, I need to learn (or at least confirm with solid data) something non-trivial!
Could this lead to further research: It is certainly a boon for the paper's novelty if it could lead to a new line of research; i.e., if it's novelty warrants further investigation, and could lead to further publications, particularly by other authors.


Can I thank websites that host illegal book downloads in the acknowledgements section of my thesis? My stance is that these websites are a great boon to the research community and they were certainly extremely helpful for my research. I think they should be applauded rather than persecuted, and while they may be illegal now, I think a way to make them legal should be found (in the same way I can download articles legally through my university's subscription to all the major publishers and journals).

Can I thank them in the acknowledgements section of my thesis?

You can thank whomever you want in the acknowledgments of your thesis, but there may be consequences that you have to live with.

In my opinion it is a bad idea to admit to illegal activity in a formal document like this.  Once you write that, you cannot unwrite it: it will be archived for the rest of your career.  I don't really think you'd get in any trouble directly, but by doing so you're advertising the fact that you are willing to break rules that you don't like and do so entirely openly.  I think that a lot of potential employers prefer employees who when they break the rules for a good reason, do so more quietly.

I also don't really see what you're gaining by doing this.  A thesis acknowledgment is not a step toward legal free downloading of texts.  I happen to agree with you that "a way to make them legal should be found".  One way I work towards this is that I make all of my lecture notes -- some of which are very close to being textbooks -- freely available on the internet.  Whenever I have spoken with publishing companies, I mention at the first meeting my requirement that my material be made freely available on the internet.  To my surprise, they have not walked out of the room.  I also have largely stopped assigning expensive required texts.

In summary: an acknowledgment to the providers of illegal content is a microscopic flouting of the establishment, not a helpful act.  I recommend that you think a bit more carefully about what you can do to actually improve the situation.


Am I supposed to add the name of a surgeon who had no contribution? I'm need an urgent consultant regarding authorship rights.
Three years ago one of my professors asked me to write a surgical case report for one of his residents, later I found three similar cases and added to the article. I collected all data and followed all cases alone. The professor only gave the idea and neither the professor nor his resident made any contribution to writing the article or even reading what I've written. At last, they said this case in not worth publishing and we are not interested to publish your manuscript. They gave me permission to publish the article myself but the only document I have is a text message. Tonight, I got acceptance of my article and I want to make sure that I can publish that without the name of the surgeon. I have aknowledged their name.

My take from your description is that the surgeon gave you his clear permission to publish without his name attached -- in the form of a written text message. Assuming that the wording in the text message is unambiguous, there ought to be nothing for you to worry about: He's expressed his opinion, and you're free to proceed.


Would it be weird to give a github version of a paper to a reviewer? And, would there be an appropriate way to do this?

Basically, I have a paper in a mathematical field that has gone back and forth a few times with a reviewer.  Since the document is in TeX, it is extra hard to keep track of changes and make sure things are addressed.  I believe seeing something like a github history, with edits separated into a few meaningful commits, would help my reviewer check how their comments were addressed, as well as helping me keep track of the changes and preventing more mistakes from popping up.  Would it be strange to give a github link to the paper along with the pdf version when resubmitting it?

Edit note:. The paper itself is on the ArXiV already.

Weird? I don't know. Unusual? Certainly. I have never heard of this, and I would be rather unsettled if it happened to me as a reviewer.

Useful? There lies the rub.

First of all, this is only useful if the reviewer understands how revision control systems work. You can only be sure of that in very computer-centered fields, and even then, there's no absolute guarantee. Since you said "a mathematical field", I can assure you, based on my experience most people don't know or even care about RCSs. So you need to write an accompanying letter outlining the changes which can stand on its own. And if you do, there's little point in including a link to the github repo.
Second of all, I really doubt that seeing a diff of a source file written by someone else is really useful. Especially if it involves crazy diagrams or things like this. Reading a long source tex file from start to finish is not comfortable (ask yourself: when you reread your own papers, do you read the source or the PDF?). This introduces a high cognitive load of mentally parsing all the macros, either standard or your own, and turning it into math. It's definitely not something that you want to bother to do when you're doing volunteer work.
The diffs will also be polluted by fixing the inevitable typos, whitespace changes, and so on. If you do a big reorganization of the paper such as moving paragraphs, the diffs will also not really be useful.

Consider using other tools, such as latexdiff. And before you complain that the output of latexdiff is not good enough in some cases: in those cases, the git diff would not be good enough either.


Could lecturing from a textbook constitute copyright infringement? If a course instructor closely follows a textbook when delivering a lecture (e.g. even listing the subsection they're discussing) could they be in violation of copyright law? What if they upload the lecture to YouTube? I'm particularly interested in the context of the United States.

I can't imagine an existing legal regime in which teaching from a textbook and "publishing" the lectures would be considered wrong unless the instructor explicitly made images or snippets copied from the book open to view. Likewise reading from the text verbatim would possibly be wrong depending on how much was read (fair use principles are discussed below). For a sentence or two, there are likely no issues. For a section, beware.
Referring the students to certain page/section numbers in a text is completely innocuous. Putting up page images is problematic.
Paging through a book with the camera pointed at the pages would probably be infringement everywhere, unless the snippets were very small (fair use). But, such paging seems to be blatant misuse in any case. Note, also, that the fair use rules for educational purposes are (normally) a bit relaxed from the general rules, though this has been changing.
But the lecture "belongs" to the lecturer, not the author/publisher of the book.
In some fields the standard for claiming a violation is much higher. If I copy the definition of the derivative (Calculus) onto a whiteboard, I'm not violating copyright even if my lecture is widely available. But that is because of a (typical) exception that things that can be said only one (or a very few) ways can't be copyrighted in the first place. So the author of Rudin (i.e. Rudin) used this exception in writing the book in the first place. But if I copy an equivalent amount from, say, a philosophy or history book, then there might be a problem.
You are much more likely to get a takedown notice at YouTube if you have some music playing in the background as you lecture. But that is because of draconian laws put in place by media publishers, not just copyright.

One of the (typical) standards for fair use is whether the use reduces the market for the item copied. If it does, then there are issues, otherwise there are not likely to be. If you "teach from" the book in such a way that students don't need access to it, then you should reexamine what you are doing. But even that implies that the "teaching from" is extensive. For supplementary materials, it might not be necessary for students to have other access. But there would be a "quantity" assessment made by anyone wanting to claim infringement and any court judging it. Does your use reduce the market?
And note that the laws are different everywhere, hence my use of "typical" etc. in a few places here. Perhaps a king could copyright the alphabet and make all written text subject to rules. See the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury for an extreme example.

I'll also note that, done right, such a course could actually increase the market for a textbook.


Do master students stop getting funding after 2 years? I have started my master in September 2018, I am still working on my thesis to finish the writing of it so far I have one paper published and one other under review. I am completing an research internship related to my thesis. My research started from May 2019.
Since July 2020 I have not recieved any funding from my prof, do they cut funding after 2 years? What is the reason for this?

There is no general rule that graduate students get funding or that the funding has to stop after two years. This is university- and lab-specific.


Are end-of-term student evaluations taken seriously? My question is in the title, but I'm specifically curious about the case where all students give a professor a negative evaluation. In that instance, does the department/university stop giving him new courses? Does it have any effect whatsoever?

It depends on the university, the class dynamics, and the position of the professor/lecturer (i.e. are they ajuncts or casuals? Or are the tenured/continuing contracts? Are they solely there to teach, or is teaching a small component to their research expectations?)

Short answer: Generally not. Student evaluations are taken with a large cup of salt. This is because the anonymity of evaluations allow for students to provide unhelpful, derogatory and discriminatory comments without repercussions. If there is trouble with a class, the professor/lecturer may have already brought it up with the head of school/faculty prior to the course ending or evaluations coming through.

I would also be careful in claiming that ALL students will complain. You might find that some students are only agreeing with the loud voices who are disgruntled, but may not feel the same. Students also often tend to only provide bad evaluations, students who really enjoy the course do not always tend to indicate as such on student evaluations and this is taken into consideration. We are more likely to provide negative feedback when we are displeased, than we are when we are happy.

Women and individuals of colour/disabilities and so on are more likely to receive bad evaluations based on preconceived biases that students may not even be aware of. These are also taken into consideration when evaluations are received.

Student evaluations can be helpful regarding what the professor can do to improve the course (structure, content and so on) but they are not helpful in assessing the popularity or whether students like a professor. It's not a professor's job to be liked by the students nor is it a popularity contest.

The best teaching evaluations are those where students have carefully considered their responses and provided constructive feedback for improvement. Anything that reads as malicious or aggressive is ignored, and anything that says one thing which can be contradicted with evidence (i.e. a student claiming that a professor didn't spell out expectations, where in fact, there is hard evidence supporting that the professor did) will be ignored as well. If a professor received contradictory evaluations (i.e. one student saying really positive things, others who say exact opposite on the same topic) there is a general assumption that the student who says the negative things did poorly and is frustrated with their grade.


How to find a reputable open access journal? I found few open access journals that show quite good quality articles. However, I have been advised that open access journals may be predatory. When I searched websites, I was surprised that all lists are "possibly" predatory journals. I tried to figure out why these lists are "possibly" predatory. One of the answers is that the websites claiming predatory publishers attempt to avoid judicial consequences. On the other hand, I also found that editors from the conventional publishers could have conflict of interests with competing open access publishers. I am completely puzzled and do not know if these lists of "possibly" predatory journals are due to conflict of interests or due to commercial interest of the open access journals. I want to publish my research paper timely and do not know if I should choose an open access journal. And, if yes, then how to find a reputable open access journal? Please advise.

Use a journal that is indexed in the DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals).

The DOAJ has a certain quality check regarding the journals' trustworthiness, and it thoroughly reviews journals marked as 'questionable' by users (see, for instance, their FAQ).


Programming languages in computer science / applied math academic journals I am working on documenting a new algorithm to solve a discrete mathematics problem, hopefully to publish academically. In this article, I will need to provide code samples and attach or link to a full code listing.

In academic articles I read from late last century, it was customary to document algorithms in C (one example here 1). Counting problems that involved large numbers used double even if the precision was insufficient.

In today's academic journals, what language is used by leading discrete mathematics papers?

For completeness, following are the journals I would try to target. I don't have access to these anymore, otherwise I would just leaf through them all.

Journal of Combinatorial Theory
Discrete Mathematics
Discrete Applied Mathematics
Electronic Journal of Combinatorics
Advances in Applied Mathematics
Journal of the ACM
SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics
MAA Monthly
Computational Methods in Engineering
Computational Intelligence and Complexity
SIAM Journal on Optimization
SIAM Journal on Computing
Computational Intelligence and Complexity

1 Shirish Chinchalkar in "An Upper Bound for the Number of Reachable Positions", ICCA Journal, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 181-183, 1996

I don't know anything about Computational Methods in Engineering or Computational Intelligence and Complexity, but I can speak to the other journals.  Journal of the ACM publishes plenty of theoretical papers, and the others you list are all mathematics or theoretical CS journals (although note that the American Mathematical Monthly is not really a research journal).  Papers in these journals won't generally include code samples, and you can write a theory paper analyzing an algorithm without implementing it.  If you do implement it, any reasonable choice of programming language is fine, whichever you prefer.  A computer algebra system can be a good choice for a proof of concept, but it's really up to you.

Incidentally, you've listed a rather broad range of journals.  It would be a rare paper that could comfortably fit into all of them, so you'll eventually have to narrow the field.  Based on your comments about code samples and implementations, I also wonder whether less theoretical journals might be a better fit, but of course it's hard to tell without knowing more about the paper you're writing.


Are there formal studies analyzing available test time versus performance? Are there any studies showing that there is a direct connection (or a lack of a connection) between extending the time given for students to complete a written exam and their performance on the exam?

I think there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that would suggest that the more relaxed time constraints are helpful, but I would like to be able to point to "field studies" if possible, as that would make for a more convincing position with my colleagues.

Several studies have examined the impact of extended test-taking time on performance at all academic grade levels. Many of these studies focus on individuals with learning disabilities, but generally include students without learning disabilities as a control group. I have summarized some studies here, and provided a list of additional studies which may be of interest. The studies indicate that other individual factors (academic ability and skills, perception of time, and method of test administration) may impact test performance in concert with or in addition with extended time.

One study of learning disabled (LD) and non-learning disabled (NLD) college students being given a reading test that assessed vocabulary and comprehension assessed outcomes for those who received an extended test period of time and a half compared to the normal period (Ofiesh, 2000). Individuals with LD saw significant improvements in the extended time period compared to NLD students. Some NLD students did show improved scores in the extended period, but the difference was not significant. Similarly, in a study assessing the performance of elementary, middle, and high school students on the Stanford 10 achievement tests who received either the recommended amount of time or extra time, the authors concluded that NLD students exhibited no benefit or detriment with extended testing time (Brooks, Case, & Young, 2003). This did not vary whether they received a few minutes up to double the recommended time.

Another study of 6th grade students taking a standardized test found that NLD students did not see a significant increase in scores in an extended-time condition, but LD students did (Huesman & Frisbie, 2000). However, NLD scores also varied based on instructions. When NLD students were given extra time, and told to take their time, their scores improved; when given extra time but told to work “quickly” but to still do their best work, they did not significantly improve, possibly because they were placed into a mindset of being timed. Another study examined the impact of extended time (1.5) on both multiple choice and problem solving tests in three university courses, but found no improvements in performance (Armitage, 1999). However, in a study of prospective graduate students who took the GRE writing test, participants who were given 60 minutes performed better than those given only 40 minutes (Powers & Fowles, 1996).

A study of SAT performance for nearly 2,000 LD/ADHD or NLD high school students was examined for groups allowed standard time or 1.5 or 2 times the allotted time for verbal and math sections (Mandibach, Bridgeman, Cahalan-Laitusis, & Trapani, 2005).  They found that NLD medium- and high-ability students performed best in the 1.5 time condition, but low-ability examinees saw no benefit. Extra time affected math more than verbal performance. Strong conclusions about LD student performance were non-significant in part due to small sample sizes. The authors note that low-ability students may not benefit from extra time because they lack needed problem-solving skills, while medium-ability students may benefit because they are able to check their work. Less benefit was seen for high ability students who may not have needed the extra time. The authors also noted that for longer tests, breaking the material into sections and setting time limits per section seemed to benefit all students, rather than asking them to pace themselves across all material.

One study found no direct effect of extended time on written essay quality for college students, but did find that student who were allowed to use a word processor wrote more than students who provided handwritten answers, and that typed (but not hand written) essays demonstrated a link between length and quality (Lovett, Lewandowski, Berger, & Gathje, 2010). The authors propose it was not time that led to these improvements, but the flexibility to edit their answers when typed.

A review of the evaluation of written exams cites several other studies regarding the impact of time on writing quality (Cho, 2003) and may be of interest. A report by Tindal and Fuchs (2000, pgs 26 – 35) provides a concise summary of the literature of test extensions or untimed tests from kindergarten through post-secondary education, including specific summaries of each study found in their review. This might be a good place to start in terms of additional literature.  Although most of the examples I described here found few effects for non-learning disabled students receiving extended time on tests, I’ve also listed additional literature which may provide alternative results.

Referenced studies:

Armitage, C. (1999). Extended time limits on university examinations (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from: http://dspace.ucalgary.ca/bitstream/1880/24993/1/47990Armitage.pdf
Brooks, T. E., Case, B. J., and Young, M. J. Pearson assessment report. (2003). Timed versus untimed testing conditions and student performance. Pearson Education, Inc. Retrieved from: http://images.pearsonassessments.com/images/tmrs/tmrs_rg/TimedUntimed.pdf
Cho, Y. (2003). Assessing writing: Are we bound by only one method?. Assessing Writing, 8(3), 165-191. doi:10.1016/S1075-2935(03)00018-7
Huesman, R. L., Jr., & Frisbie, D. A. (2000, April). The validity of the ITBS Reading Comprehension test scores for learning disabled and non learning disabled students under extended-time conditions (ED 442 210). Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association, New Orleans LA. Retrieved from: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED442210.pdf
Lovett, B. J., Lewandowski, L. J., Berger, C., & Gathje, R. A. (2010). Effects of response mode and time allotment on college students’ writing. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 40(2), 64-79. Retrieved from: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ887306.pdf
Mandibach, E. B., Bridgeman, B., Cahalan-Laitusis, C., & Trapani, C. (2005). The impact of extended time on SAT test performance. College Board Research Report No. 2005-8 – 35 pages. The College Board; New York. ETS RR-05-20. Retrieved from: https://research.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/publications/2012/7/researchreport-2005-8-impact-extended-time-sat-test-performance.pdf
Ofiesh, N. S. (2000). Using processing speed tests to predict the benefit of extended test time for university students with learning disabilities. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 14(1), 39-56. Retrieved from: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ649045.pdf
Powers, D. E., & Fowles, M. E. (1996). Effects of applying different time limits to a proposed GRE writing test. Journal of Educational Measurement, 33(4), 433-452. doi:10.1111/j.1745-3984.1996.tb00500.x
Tindal, G., &. Fuchs, L. (2000). A summary of research on test changes: An empirical basis for defining accommodations (ED 442 245). Lexington, KY: Mid-South Regional Resource Center. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED442245.pdf

Additional studies:

Alster, E. H. (1997). The effects of extended time on algebra test scores for college students with and without learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30(2), 222-227. doi:10.1177/002221949703000210
Calahan-Laitusis, C. (2004). Accommodations on high-stakes writing tests for students with disabilities. Princeton, NJ: ETS. Retrieved from: http://144.81.87.152/Media/Research/pdf/RR-04-13.pdf
Cohen, A. S., Gregg, N., & Deng, M. (2005). The Role of Extended Time and Item Content on a High‐Stakes Mathematics Test. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 20(4), 225-233. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5826.2005.00138.x
Crawford, L., Helwig, R., & Tindal, G. (2004). Writing Performance Assessments How Important Is Extended Time?. Journal of learning disabilities, 37(2), 132-142. doi:10.1177/00222194040370020401
Knoch, U., & Elder, C. (2010). Validity and fairness implications of varying time conditions on a diagnostic test of academic English writing proficiency. System,38(1), 63-74. doi:10.1016/j.system.2009.12.006
Lewandowski, L. J., Lovett, B. J., Parolin, R., Gordon, M., & Codding, R. S. (2007). Extended time accommodations and the mathematics performance of students with and without ADHD. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment,25(1), 17-28. doi:10.1177/0734282906291961
Lewandowski, L. J., Lovett, B. J., & Rogers, C. L. (2008). Extended Time as a Testing Accommodation for Students With Reading Disabilities Does a Rising Tide Lift All Ships?. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 26(4), 315-324. doi:10.1177/0734282908315757
Munger, G. F., & Loyd, B. H. (1991). Effect of speededness on test performance of handicapped and nonhandicapped examinees. The Journal of Educational Research, 85(1), 53-57. doi:10.1080/00220671.1991.10702812
Runyan, M. K. (1991). The effect of extra time on reading comprehension scores for university students with and without learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 24(2), 104-108. doi:10.1177/002221949102400207


How does the community decide whether to name a model/theorem after an author? In this question I asked:

Assume that Jane Doe has published a paper in 2010 where she has developed a model or a theorem or a similar result, let's say for concreteness that it relates to "growth"
Now assume that Jane Doe is writing another paper in 2015, where she refers to the model/theorem from her paper in 2010.
Is it acceptable for Jane to write: "Doe's growth model (2010), implies that ..." or "Doe's growth theorem (2010) implies that ...", or even "The Doe growth model (2010) implies ..."?

The answer seems to generally be "no".
@jakebeal states:

"Newton's Laws" and "Hawking radiation" and "Rayleigh scattering" are retrospective judgements of significance by the community.

@user2768 states:

Writing "Doe's growth model" or "Doe's growth theorem" suggests that the community has agreed to name Doe's results this way.

This leaves me with the question: How does the community come to agree to call such a model "Doe's growth model"? By what process is this decided?

There is no concrete way that I know of to determine the name of a model or theorem. In the past the following methods seem to have applied:

The author calls it something to refer to it and then it gets famous and everyone else uses that name.
The author doesn't name it but just talks about the subject and the idea through multiple papers. The papers become famous, and people start referring to it as "The Auther's Blank."
The author comes up with an idea based on previous work, and in crediting the inspirational work, ends up calling it "Original Author's Special Idea" which then is how other people refer to it until said name becomes common.

While I personally believe that naming it after yourself is bordering extreme hubris a bit too much for my own comfort, I imagine that it's tough to refer to some nameless idea. My suggestion would be to give the specific model a name that doesn't use your name. This will emphasize the fact that it needs a name and that you're not some narcissist trying to name everything after yourself. Then, if the model proves useful, others also have a convenient name for it -- preferably something close to what you referred to it as in the original paper.

For example, if I were writing that, my reference to the model would be something like: "In the 2010 paper _______, Doe [and the other authors attributed fairly] put forth the model ____, termed  for brevity." Then I would describe the model and how it relates to the work.


Under what circumstances can the university council withhold Ph.D. degree? This a case 28 years ago where the defense committee approved the dissertation and recommended granting the degree. The department council and the college council both approved granting the Doctoral degree to the candidate. However, the university council did not approve awarding the degree and did not give formal reasons to the lower councils.

  What are the norms in north American universities? Under what circumstances can the university council withhold (or deny granting the Doctoral degree) Ph.D. degree to a candidate?

I am not allowed to disclose the university name. The university is in the Middle East.

The system you / they are operating under with multiple approvals needed is not normal in North America. The normal case is that the committee makes the decision, and there is no further consideration. Someone can lodge a complaint which may lead to an investigation by the relevant university-level governing body ("The Graduate School"), which could lead to overturning a committee approval, if it was found that there was something seriously wrong. The final "decision" is usually made by an even higher body, often called "The Trustees", but that is normally pro forma -- except, again, if there is something seriously wrong with the case. Of course there may be North American universities that are more than two sd's from the norm.

By "seriously wrong", I mean that there was proof of academic misconduct, or possibly a wanton abandonment of academic standards by the committee.


Are citations in PhD theses indexed by Google Scholar? I've recently seen a few PhD theses that cite work by our lab, but these citations don't seem to be included in Google Scholar despite the fact that the theses themselves are listed as a publication by the authors. Are these citations excluded? If so, why?

My own PhD thesis has been indexed, but the citations in it haven't, while the citations in other theses published at the same time have been indexed long ago.

I suspect the reason of this is the fancy cover page of my thesis, which doesn't match the document format expected by Google Scholar. For instance, the title should usually be the first line of text in the document.


Is it acceptable to submit manuscript to new journal if the first journal provides no response, is unreachable, and might be fake? I have submitted a paper to a journal. Having got no reply (after waiting for more than the period of acceptance) I tried to connect the editor via telephone numbers given on website. It said that the telephone number did not exist. So, I tried to open the website link, it did not open initially and later it connected me to a different site with the same name where it sold hardware parts. Hence I thought it was a fake website and applied to another journal and was accepted. Now it asks me to pay fee to publish paper. Is there any problem if I publish the paper in the second journal?

Based on what you describe, I would see it as exceedingly likely that the journal is indeed fake. I would formally retract the paper at the journal, and afterwards discontinue all dealings with them. They will likely not answer, but I would just assume that the entire submission is dead as soon as you have told them that you wish to retract. The will likely not publish the paper anyway, if you are not paying them a fee (which you will of course not do).

After you have retracted the submission to the first journal, there are no ethical issues with submitting the paper again, this time making sure that the journal is in fact "real". Some advise you to tell the second journal about the "history" of the paper, but I am honestly not convinced that this is ethically or practically necessary. As long as the paper is not under consideration elsewhere (and it is not, as you have retracted the original submission), the new journal does not need to know where you have tried before to get the same material published. For instance, one also does not typically indicate if a paper was rejected before at a different venue.


What does it mean a "writing sample of recent scholarship"? I am applying for an assistant professor position in Europe and they ask for "two writing samples of recent scholarship".
I also searched the term on Google but did not find anything useful. What does it really mean?

I believe that this is simply a request for two examples of your written works, say publications, book chapters, or any other relevant material (I know that for literature applications this can include, perhaps unsurprisingly, literary works).


What is the proper way to denote coauthorship in a presentation? I have attended many presentations where one person is presenting work that was completed by multiple people. In most of these presentations, the presenter listed the names of each coauthor in a different way. For instance, two common styles I have seen are:

presentation slide with presenter's name first and coauthors listed underneath

presentation slide with presenter's name listed in bold at the same level as coauthors' names

Is there a proper (or more polite, or generally accepted) way to list the names of coauthors in a presentation?

Both styles are widely in use, at least in my field (computational mathematics). A common variant is that the presenter's name is underlined rather than in bold.

I don't perceive a difference between the two --- it's not like one of them feels "more polite" than the other. Just choose one, and don't overthink it. :)


Is there a need to cite a general idea in the introduction which shall be later developed with a reference? Say like you state in your introduction the following:

    This part will examine the demographic reality and the cultural habits of X people in Y country.

In the body of your work, you elaborate with citations:

    X people are characterized by a habit of doing A, B and C (Smith 2010, p. 1). They are a population of 100000 (Smith 2010, p. 2), whatever.

Is it required to backup the introduction statement with the same citations? isn't it just a general statement? In case where the 'general statement' (which supposedly doesn't need citations) was inspired by the actual cited study, shouldn't I back it up even if written in a general form?

My question was inspired from this.

Citations are only needed when you make a statement that requires external justification.

Thus, if you say: "This paper will examine X people in Y country" there is no need for external justification, since it is a statement about the paper itself.

When you say "X people in Y country are characterized by a habit of doing A, B and C", however, that's a statement that requires justification, either by external citation or by data presented in the paper.


Pre-submission peer review services There are many websites offering pre-submission review services for a fee of several hunderd dollars, e.g., editage, editeon, enago and others.

In general this seems like a useful service - instead of waiting several months to get feedback from the journal referees (and probably a rejection), the author receives feedback after a week, and can then improve the paper and submit to the journal.

However, just like there are predatory journals, it is reasonable to fear that there are "predatory review services", that take your money and produce a worthless review.

So, my question is: what is a way to detect a good pre-submission peer-review service, and distinguish it from a predatory one?

The pre-submission peer review seems to cost about $250 USD for a one week turn around. That is not enough money to find an expert in the field to do the review. It is enough money to get someone familiar with the publishing process in a general field (e.g., biomedical research, engineering, humanities) who knows the core components of a paper (i.e., do you need to include statistics, do the methods seem reasonable, is there an introduction that at least pretends to make sense) and can follow a logical argument. Lots of papers get rejected for these reasons so such a review can be valuable. This is especially true if you do not have any colleagues you can pass the paper by. That said, you would be much better served developing a network of colleagues who you can pass a manuscript by prior to submission then to use one of these services.

Prior to using the service, I would ask to see a previous sample of their work. Unlike a predatory journal, which makes publishing somewhere else difficult, using one of these services only costs you money.


Which soft skills for research career? In a previous question we stated that soft skills are pretty important for admission decisions in universities, so I suppose that you'll agree with me if I said that they are very important not only during the admission phase, but throughout the whole career.

Which do you think are the most important ones?

Thanx!

I broadly agree with Davide's answer above, but I would move the list around somewhat:

Tier 1:

Self motivating
Communication, broadly-defined
Ability to stay focused on a single task for multiple months & years

Tier 2:

Work on a team
Creative, curious personality
Strong writing skills

Tier 3:

Learn from criticism
Personable

Tier 1 skills are, in my mind, absolutely required to be a researcher. The inability of any of those will preclude you from doing your work (i.e., unable to communicate means unable to publish; unable to stay focused for long periods of time means unable to complete research projects & grants.)  Tier 2 skills will turn a good researcher into a great researcher. Technically speaking, researchers don't need to be good team members, but having that skill will greatly improve your academic worth and potential. Tier 3 will improve your worth to yourself and others as a researcher. There are probably a bunch here that I missed and should have included.


Is it better to request a recommendation letter in person after class or by email? I am planning to apply for a PhD program and would like to request a letter of recommendation from a professor. However, I am quite hesitant about which way is better for me to make the initial request: asking the professor during the break of the class or just sending him an email?

My recommendation is definitely in person "after class". There are several reasons to do so. First, it is personal and you can iron out any details there and then. Second, the person you approach will have a face to go with any future e-mail conversations. Third, it is less likely a person will dismiss you in a direct approach than in an (impersonal) e-mail approach.

There are of course ways in which you can blow your hopes with a personal approach as well. Just be brief and to the point, try to be professional about it. If the person appears not to have time, ask if you can meet during an office hour or if an E-mail would be better. After all, you have just presented yourself and is now "a face".

There is of course nothing wrong with just sending an E-mail but I know from personal experience that I sometimes get mails from students who apparently have attended my classes but made no impression so I ask myself, who the ...  is this? Not a great basis for a letter of recommendation. I personally also think that a personal approach shows more initiative and drive. All this is of course from the perspective that you actually can meet with the person without engaging in long distance travelling etc.


How to Ask a Professor to be thesis referee I finished my thesis writing and my supervisor ask me to send it to another professor who he want to referee my thesis, I don't know this professor either he don't know me, The problem my supervisor refuse to talk with him first, just to tell him that he want him as a thesis referee.

I don't know what to say to him in the email when I send him my thesis.
Could you help me, please?

Hello Dr. Foo,

  My advisor, Dr. Bar, recommended that I should contact you to referee my thesis, "Underwater Basket Weaving." I was wondering if I could meet with you to provide you the thesis and answer any questions you may about it beforehand. Please let me know if you'd be interested and, if you are, the best time and location for me to meet you. Thank you for your time.

  Sincerely,

  Spongebob

Be polite, be clear, be accommodating. Your professor is unlikely to introduce you two because he probably doesn't want to appear as if he's using the potential referee as a resource rather than as a colleague. Furthermore, interacting with people you don't know through e-mail and real life is commonplace in academia, so it stands to reason your supervisor would want you to try it out.


Sharing MOOC forum data I have the forum data for several MOOCs. Can I legally share it with someone else without going through IRBs or some other administrative process?

The data contain timestamp, post title, post body, and username. Since all data was publicly available by browsing the forum as a MOOC user, I would tend to believe I can legally share it.

I am located in the United States, if that matters.

The answer may depend on the MOOC platform. Based on a quick read of the TOS for a couple of the more popular MOOC platforms, I would say:

Coursera: Probably not. Coursera allows you to share your own postings, but not anyone else's.
edX: No. The TOS specifically calls out User Postings as content that you are forbidden to download in bulk. However, like Coursera and Udemy, edX allows you to retain rights to your own postings.
Udemy: Probably not. Udemy and you can share your postings, but you cannot share someone else's postings.

Coursera's Terms of Service, to which you agree when you register and use their service, state:

All students participating in the class must agree to abide by the following code:

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Seeking TT position with criminal record (DUI) I am a few years away from being done my PhD in philosophy, and plan to seek work in the field. I have a DUI on my record from when I was 18 years old. Will anyone care?

Nobody will care.

A drug-related crime (of which a DUI is one example) from your teenage years is just not at all relevant to your professional qualifications and your ability to do your job.  If it were more recent, or if it were a more relevant crime (e.g., a violent offense), then it might be a different story.

As noted in the comments, though, don't try to hide it if somebody asks about it.  You don't need to bring it up, but if somebody else does, just tell the honest truth and you won't raise any red flags.

Oh, and in the future make sure you have some sympathy for the students who are making the same mistakes that you did.


What query language is most common for e-journal searches? I need to teach a quick lesson on e-journal searching, e.g. to search for one item, excluding certain terms, or another item.

What is the most common query language that students will most likely encounter?

Academic databases are built for people who have no idea what a 'query language' is. I agree that the world would be a much better place if everyone knew a little bit of SQL, but it's not like that.

The only exception that I know is Zentralblatt, an academic database specialized to mathematics which includes a sort of text-based query language.

Every other academic database that I have worked with uses custom-made input masks where you can select manually fields to search on and logical operators; they look like this example, again from Zentralblatt.


How do I cite one technical report from a project collection? My group are working individually on different aspects of the same research project. We will releasing our individual papers as technical reports.

It seems to be a common courtesy when publishing a paper to include your own citation. How do you cite a technical report so that it is clear that it is part of a collection (a single project)?

I was thinking of filling in the project name in the "journal" field so it would end up something like:

Surname, N. (2015) "My Paper" in Our Project, Article 4

But that seems to be abusing the semantics of the journal field. Is there a standard way to do this?

Some departments or institutes have their own technical report series that are published online much like a journal. If yours is like this, then you should be able to come up with a citation format that reflects it. How are your tech reports published and archived?


How to find grant opportunities for academic position? I am a senior Ph.D. student in software security in Germany. I am looking for some grants for my postdoc. I have a proposal ready, but I do not know good enough about the grant opportunities. So, I think that I need to submit my proposal to many places to increase the chance of obtaining a good grant? What do you think? Is any neat database for finding the grants?

Since you are in Europe, EURAXESS (which belongs to the European Commission) may be a suitable platform to you. National funders from the EU (and beyond) regularly list their calls there.
There may also be national databases of research grants (provided by official bodies). For instance, as regards Germany, the DAAD offers this Scholarship Database, while Austria offers a comprehensive and always up-to-date list at grants.at.
The analogy for the U.S. seems to be grants.gov.


Is using a different methodology enough for a master thesis? I am preparing my master thesis. After finishing the literature review I found that all the existing literature always uses one method, which is choice modelling. My thesis is about how to analyze the preference of individuals by studying and analyzing the importance of attributes.

I already know that I need to use Multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) in my thesis to analyze the importance of attributes. Can I say that the contribution of my thesis is using the different method? That is, using MCDM compared to the methods in the existing literature? I really can not compare these two methods as they are based on totally different assumption and technique.

Yes. The literature is full of papers whose primary contribution is using a different method - either something more advanced, or with a different set of assumptions, etc. to analyze a frequently examined question. There's no reason why that wouldn't be a perfectly acceptable Masters paper in my mind. However, a couple points to consider for yourself:

Why is everyone using the same technique (if indeed it is everyone). Is it really just because it's the standard analytical framework for looking at this type of question, or is there a stronger reason driving the choice of technique?
"i really can not compare these two methods as they are based on totally different assumption and technique." I don't think I've ever encountered a situation where two methods are utterly incomparable. While they might have different assumptions and techniques, surely they both give answers which can be compared? Even if they can't be compared quantitatively, surely there is a qualitative decision one might make based on the answers that could be compared (i.e. if I use Method A, X should be done, whereas if I use Method B, Y should be done...)?


Why shouldn't an unsolicited email asking for opinion include the links to the articles? I have a precursory research – that is, an article posted in my website to know what I want to pursue – and want to send to a professor to have his opinion. However, I was advised to ask him if he has time to read my ideas first before sending links to long blog posts.

I wonder why that is a case. I understand that this is to show that I respect his time – a professor has many duties – but I think in the end it depends on the interestingness of the content. If it is interesting enough, then no matter how long it is, it is still, well, interesting. And I think this factor is basically the relevance of my email to his work. As explained in this answer, as long as the email is relevant it can be answered.

In my case, it has raised some interests to others in tangient fields, and matches one of his research interests, so I don't think there should be a problem. What may be a problem is that he may be reluctant to click on an unsolicited link, or the articles are long. But I suppose this is a normal thing that researchers do all the time? All of the problems here – sending unsolicited email to ask for opinion, putting the article in a link or attachment to keep the email short, putting the ideas in blog when they are just initial observations – don't seem to be problem to me.

Think of the email like this very question: I ask you unsolicitously, you may have a lot of duties, and there are three links on it. If I don't need to worry whether I am wasting your time reading this question, then why should I worry I'm wasting his time?  The email is much shorter than this question. I don't see why there should be extra cautious.

So why does the person advise this? The full draft of the email can be read here.

Minor question: Should I put tracking links?

I don't think the issue is specifically the links, but that you seem to be asking a lot of the recipient in the initial mail, with, perhaps, too much information. The professor isn't likely to want to follow up on that before contacting you.

On the other hand, not making the information available at all would be an opposite mistake, requiring an additional email just to get access.

The first part of your mail is fine (taking students? interested in xyzzy). But then you could just put nearly all of the rest of it on the web site and provide a single link:

"My current interests are explained at ... Sincerely..."

So, more than nothing, but less than what you have would be, IMO, a better balance.


Do I even like doing research? Currently, I am a part-time research assistant in the field of physics. My supervisor is brilliant and very nice. He always encourages me and says that I have done a great job so far. I don't know why I feel like I did not do a good job and I am very bad at research. I got stuck on something for almost three months with no progress at all, which made me start to dislike doing research.

I was dreaming about doing an MSc. and a Ph.D., and because of those feelings, I am having doubts if I enjoy doing research. Is it that I did not learn well how to do research, or that it is not meant for me? Is it possible to like doing it again with time? I want help in answering these questions to know if a Ph.D. is the right path for me...

Two ideas that might help.

The first is that you are new at this. Like any skill it is likely to improve with practice and time. As you progress you get insights that lead to further insights. But those insights don't come at regular intervals, can't be scheduled, and are harder for beginners. Frustration is common.

Second is that if you are really doing research then you are exploring the unknown and it is, well, unknown. Three months on a problem without success is not very long really. It is hard to predict how hard any given problem is. It might take years to crack any given nut. But it is also true that it isn't helpful to become so obsessive about a given problem that you ignore the possibility of progress on other, related, problems. That other work can lead to the insight you need on the harder problem.

“If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?” ~~Albert Einstein


Dealing with loneliness as a professor How do professors deal with loneliness?  I feel that professors, specifically in the STEM fields, have to constantly project an image of seriousness to the public - an image that math and science are no. 1 in their lives.  Any projection of any other feelings is discouraged, e.g. feelings of romance.

Professors earn a special social status in society, for better or worse, and this means that they are more intensely scrutinized and they have to adhere to extra morally restrictive standards.  If one lands up in a small college town as a professor, there is virtually nobody that's a suitable dating partner or a suitable friend - other than one's colleagues.  The college town will comprise mostly of students.

Am I on point with my assessment of the life of a professor in the STEM fields?  If so, how does a professor deal with a relatively lonelier lifestyle than non-academics?  The acquired social status of being an academic and scientific leader seems to come with an enormous cost.

I’m afraid you are misinformed. Professors (including in STEM) are ordinary humans and are entitled to the same set of feelings, emotions and lifestyle choices as other people are accorded by the rest of society. They certainly might suffer from loneliness, and deal with it in the same way that any other person might.  But what you wrote about “Any projection of any other feelings is discouraged, e.g. feelings of romance”? Respectfullly, that notion is simply nonsense, and to the extent that it is a belief some people hold, it needs to die a swift, painless death.

As for the peculiarities of the situation a professor might end up in of being a professional, highly educated single person of a certain age range living in a small college town where there aren’t many other single people of the same age range and interests who may be suitable dating partners: well, again, that situation is by no means unique to college professors. Many people live in small towns with limited dating options. Somehow they manage, and for those who find this really intolerable, there’s always the option of trying to get a job in a bigger city or near one.


How much of a share should I have in a startup based on my PhD research? I am about to conclude my Ph.D. work. The research has led to a possible commercial product which I always pushed. So now, after four years of work, we've filed four patents with three already granted. A year and a half ago, the PI moved to another position, so now I communicate my progess once a month).

I developed the scientific product along with software, electronic hardware, web apps, and so on, not to mention journal papers on the way. The technology is promising and we have businesses interested and willing to invest.
Along the way we got a part-time master's business student, who supports us when we have to write proposals and do interview calls and meeting possible business leads. I always join those meetings and often take decision on what should be the way and what is achievable.

Now we are on the verge of legally founding the company and possibly soon begin sales.

My dilemma is finding out what share of the company is fair for me.

The partners in the business would be me, the business student, and my PI. (I think the PI should get a fair share; after all, it was research done in her lab, however I have seen opinions saying this should be no more than 10 percent.)

Of course, on the way, there were master's student with whom I worked and taught them the lab work and tricks and all that I could to have them their work done in timely manner, also I offered them opportunity to be part of startup but they were not interested.

I don't want it to be a quarrel but also don't want to feel exploited.
If I leave there is no one on the team who understands how the technology works, or how we can produce with alternative methods (I might be overestimating, but this stuff I did for my PhD and mostly it would be another PhD who could do it. It is countless hours of labwork.) I am a co-inventor along with PI on all the patents filed/granted.

Please help me out in figuring what share of the company I should expect.

TL,DR: You deserve a large majority.  I consider 90% for you and 10% for your professor fair.

I finished my Ph.D. and co-founded a company based on dissertation work. I continue to work as a funded tech entrepreneur.  I offer the following insights:

From your situation, it sounds like no one else is remotely close to your level of contribution. If you leave, there is no business.
Equity should be determined based on real contribution to the enterprise.  You aren't being cruel or disrespectful by placing a value on what people bring to the table. At this point of the business, value equals cash or know-how. Do not award equity to someone who's really eager and ready to "work like a dog" (chances are they will fade in six months) without tying their effort to a vesting period -- they don't receive their equity until after a period of satisfactory work, quantified and agreed-to in writing.
As co-author of the patents, your professor is entitled to proceeds from the use of the intellectual property, but not equity. In this case, you are choosing to give equity in exchange for permission to use the patent.  Your business operating agreement should state that.
You need to check the university guidelines regarding use of the patent. Most likely, the patent is controlled by the university and you'll have to work out a licensing agreement.

When all is said and done, you need to have enough cushion to absorb dilution (if you bring on investors or high-level staff), yet retain control or a profitable equity position. I think a 90%-10% split between you and your professor is about right at this point. If you bring on the business student (they may be a nice person, but aren't providing a lot of value), I propose a 85%-10%-5% split with a vesting period for the student.  Consider awarding more equity to the student later if they work hard.

Good luck and remember: you have the know-how if people decide to make things difficult.  Walk away if needed.


Why don't professors give talks at their own departments? Why don't professors give talks at seminars in their own departments?  They travel to other schools to give talks, while seminars at their home departments consists of talks given by visitors.  Is there a reason for this?

In most of the departments that I have known, the professors do indeed give seminars within their own departments. The few exceptions I have known are either fairly small or else have some sort of problem with their seminar culture.

Now, it is certainly true that most talks in any department will generally be given by outsiders---there's a lot of incentives to have visitors give talks (e.g., building collaborations, faculty candidates), and there's just plain lots more researchers outside the department than in it (see Joy's Law).

Still, there will be many possible occasions where an internal talk would be of interest, and I believe that healthy departments see it as a valuable way to keep people in the department connected to one another.


How can I find an expert to help review my PhD thesis? I need someone to peer review my thesis.  My supervisor does not have enough time to fix my thesis. In addition I am holding all things by myself.

I need someone who is expert in this field.
How can I find someone to help review my PhD thesis?

After your supervisor, your best bet is to ask people in your research lab/team if they can review your thesis. A PhD thesis usually talks about specific and sometimes complex scientific concepts. Therefore, even PhD students from other research groups won't have the necessary background to review it. Alternatively, you can ask someone you trust from outside your research lab/team who's research is closely matched to your own.

Note: I didn't include "asking other faculty" because that would be an irrational request (it is not their job and you already have an advisor) unless your current advisor formally suggests this approach.


Asking for a site visit as a master's applicant I'm currently an undergraduate, and I will finish my bachelors this coming spring. I've been looking at graduate programs, including one physical chemistry masters program in the Amsterdam. I found out that I'm visiting Amsterdam in less than a week, and I am now wondering if it would be appropriate for me to ask the program contact person if I can visit the campus and maybe talk to a professor or two about their research and the program.

I'm concerned because it is short notice, and I haven't started any application with the school. But, I would like to know if the school is a good fit. I don't live in Europe so this is my only opportunity to visit the campus in the foreseeable future.

Would it be appropriate for me to ask if I could visit the college/institute? Also, should I mention a few projects that caught my eye and ask to meet the professors in charge? If so, how would be the best way for me to phrase it?

Thank you for the input.

This is totally appropriate and a great idea.

Simply send an email to the contact person (who may have a title like "graduate coordinator" or "graduate chair").

  My name is Edna Farblefester and I'm a junior at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople.  I am interested in applying to your program next year.  I will be in Amsterdam next week and was wondering if I might be able to meet with you or some of your colleagues to learn more about the program and some of the faculty's research.

They should certainly say yes unless there are some extenuating circumstances.  Graduate programs are always eager to recruit students, especially in a case like this where it costs them nothing.  They probably do these sort of meetings all the time, so it should not be much of an inconvenience for them, even on short notice.

They may also offer to set up a campus tour, arrange a meeting with one or more current grad students (very useful), and provide some information about living in Amsterdam.

If there are one or two professors whose research particularly interests you, you could send similar emails to them directly.  (Mention that you are already getting in touch with the contact person, otherwise they will probably suggest that you do so.)

One final note: your phrasing "asking for a site visit" suggested at first that you were going to ask them to pay for the costs of your trip, which would be sort of an unreasonable request (it would be for them to offer if they wanted).  Of course, that isn't what you meant, but you might just want to check your phrasing when you write your email.


What are the pros and cons of being a volunteer editor for ACM XRDS? I am a senior undergraduate student, and I received a mail from ACM about the openings for ACM XRDS student volunteer editors. What do these editors do? And what are the pros and cons for how would it affect my career in research?

While I don't know ACM XRDS in particular, in general the pros and cons of service of this type as a student are:

Pros:

You will get to know the journal publication process well, which will help you with publishing your own work.
You will get to know your field more broadly, and likely pick up interesting networking connections.
You will get to affect (slightly) the scientific dialogue.
You will get a nice bullet-point on your CV.

Cons:

It might be a lot of work, and thus might detract from your efforts on classes, research, other projects, or having a life outside of research.
You might discover that you hate the work, and be faced with a decision of sticking it out or quitting.

The likelihood of the cons applying depends very strongly on the particular journal, so I would recommend emailing a couple of the current editors to ask how much work it is and how much they are enjoying it.