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[ "Can departments sanction students who do not take sufficient precautions to protect their work?", "One of my colleagues was teaching an introductory programming course this past spring. He discovered several students cheating by taking code from a public GitHub repository, which contained all the answers for this class. This repository already had an issue opened on it by a professor from another large school, who requested that it be taken down because his students were using it to cheat. No response.\n\nFortunately, the student left some identifying information in the comments, which we were able to use to determine that he attends our school, in our department. We attempted to contact him to request that he remove the offending code--unfortunately, emails to both his departmental email and his GitHub email went unanswered.\n\nThe department has a student code of conduct which states that students must take \"all reasonable precautions\" to prevent others from using their work. While this student is clearly in violation of that, we can't exactly fail him out of a course he passed over a year ago, and failing him out of course he's currently taking seems petty.\n\nWe've considered escalating this to the department, but we're not sure if the department can actually do anything about this. Can a department in the US punish a student for helping other students cheat even if the student is not taking the class where the cheating is occurring? If so, what should be done? If not, might there be anyone at the school that can do anything? This is a large, public state school." ]

[ "united-states", "cheating", "disciplinary-action" ]

[ "What is a \"graduate school\"?", "Specifically, why do some universities have a defined \"graduate school\" and associated \"graduate faculty,\" with separate appointment process, and some do not, even when they offer many graduate programs? What is the organizational and administrative thinking behind this?" ]

[ "graduate-school", "administration" ]

[ "My first authorship is being turned into co-first authorship, what can I do?", "I am currently submitting a paper for Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. I worked on this project for the last four years and was the only one working on this project. I had everything going very well. In order to get the crystallization, I gave the plasmid construct to another laboratory which has expertise in crystallization. Fortunately, they got the crystals.\nAfter the crystallization got successful, one researcher (say, A) from their lab came to my lab and my professor told me to teach him all the methods. I happily agreed to do so. After A went back to his lab, I got the draft of the paper from my professor, where, my name appeared as first co-author! I almost fainted. There were 20 figures in the paper. 13 were contributed by me, 4 by A and rest by 2 other people. The paper was mostly about my work. But in the contribution section, my prof and the prof of A mentioned that I and A had equal contribution. In fact it is mentioned that A was solely contributor of crystals and he equally contributed in all other results.\nI discussed this issue with my prof, but he tells that he is getting pressure from A's prof to make A the first author. And my prof does not want to estrange relationship with A's prof. I am heart-broken and I don't know what to do.\nPlease suggest me what to do.\nEdit 2021: It has been quite some time since I posted this question. I accepted the authorship as recommended by my advisor. Now I feel mature and realize that maintaining a cordial relationship with one's advisor and colleagues is more important than anything else. If one is capable enough, s/he will get more opportunities to prove their worth." ]

[ "ethics", "authorship" ]

[ "Does presenting your work at conferences cause your related publications to be cited more?", "Does presenting at conferences increase the number of citations to the work presented at the conference?\nI am limiting the scope of this question to disciplines where conference presentations are not publications and are not usually cited.\nStatistics or evidence of some kind would be appreciated." ]

[ "citations", "conference", "bibliometrics" ]

[ "How does a suspended student deal with an unprofessional university counselor?", "I am a suspended student and I have been getting counseling for three months. During those three months, I have noticed extremely unprofessional behavior from my counselor.\n\nWhen I started counseling, he was late each time. The first time he was late 10 minutes, the next 20 minutes and the third time 30 minutes.\n\nLast week I had a counseling appointment and I drove 35 minutes to get on campus only to find out that the counselor was absent. He didn't email me or tell me not to come, nothing.\n\nAfter my suspension period ends, the counselor has to decide whether I am fit to come back to the university or not, and many times I get literally threatened with not coming back - if for example I do this or that behavior. I literally get told \"then, you're not coming back to the university\".\n\nOften, I see the counselor is eating while with me and he has no respect for the appointments for other students as well. Phone calls aren't answered. Emails aren't often answered except some few after three or four days. \n\nThere was couple of times when our counseling session was about literally 5 minutes. I came in, he asked me what I did in the week, then he said \"Okay, I'll see you next time\". And, he went on to work on the computer. \n\nAdditional Information: My counseling session was in the morning around 9:00AM every Tuesday. Suddenly, once day, without even taking my opinion, he says that someone else took the appointment at 9:00AM. He switched my appointment till 5:00PM. I objected. He said he had an emergency and it was more important than me. He said he had no other time than this time, at 5:00PM. I found out later that the person who took my appoitment was a customer for him, who is not a student.\n\nWhat should I do? On one side, I can't ditch the counselor since that would jeopardize my coming to the university. On another side, I do not want a counselor to help me deal with another counselor.\n\nFor those who are asking, my suspension is behavioral suspension and not academic suspension, and the counselor stated that I suffer from depression based on tests that I took." ]

[ "academic-life" ]

[ "Whom is a diversity statement written for?", "This is related to the \"what to say in a diversity statement\" question, but I'm asking something slightly different:\n\n\n Who reads a Diversity Statement in a faculty application (exact sciences/CS/math) at an R1 institute?\n\n\nAnticipating answers like \"anyone on the department can read it\", let me be more specific: Who usually reads diversity statements and takes relevant decisions on their basis? Is it faculty members? Is it administrators? Are they generally used as a first screen, as an appendix to the teaching statement, or as a tiebreaker?" ]

[ "job-search", "faculty-application", "diversity" ]

[ "What all should be included in a motivation letter for PhD in Geology?", "What all should be added in a motivation letter for a PhD in Geology? \n\nShould I write about:\n\n\nMy M.Sc project?\nMy schooling?\nMy hobbies?\nHow I got interested in that particular topic?\n\n\nWhat can I do if I don't have enough experience in that particular project?" ]

[ "phd", "application" ]

[ "Is it ethical for a graduate student to provide juniors with paid graduate school application guidance?", "I have several friends, all graduate students at decent universities, who are providing paid graduate school application guidance services, where they help the future graduate applicants stand better chances to get admitted.\n\nOriginally, I regarded this as a 100% OK behavior, until I realize that they are very sneaky about their services, as if the services are something underhand. Some of them even provide the services anonymously.\n\nMy guess is that they may leak some information obtained from the admission committee to their clients. However, I feel that they can neither obtain any critical admission information nor make admission decisions, since after all, they are just graduate students. But why are they hiding?\n\nAre such services unethical? If so, how will the school deal with such cases?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions" ]

[ "What would you do if the author of a published CS article does not respond to code requests?", "Since reproducibility is a major principle or basic norm of scientific experiments, simulations, and computations, what would you do or what to do if the author of a published CS article does not respond to code requests?" ]

[ "ethics", "code", "reproducible-research" ]

[ "Pros and Cons of including less interesting results", "For the problem I am trying to solve,\nI considered 2 base algorithms and devised about 30 variations on each.\nI then threw about 2 CPU-years and ran a number of simulations to see how they went.\nWhen that completed I drew alot of graphs and came to some conclusions like:\n\nVariations of the form X do almost exactly as well as the control\nVariations of the Y family can be predicted to have unpredictable (and thus useless) results\nThe d[1,0*] variation is great under these conditions\nThe d[0*] variation is great under these other conditions\n\nI took the last 2 and made a new algorithm and then tested that and found further useful results.\nNow I am going to write my findings up into a paper.\nI have 3 kind of results above:\n\nPoints 3,4 (and the subsequent improvements) are interesting and will be the main focus of the paper.\nPoints 1, 2, are kind of nonresults. They are failures, they did not produce anything useful.\n\nFor most it isn't even surprising that they didn't.\nFor others they are a approach by taken on a similar problem in a paper that inspired me to try and solve this related problem.\n\n\n\nSo should I comment at all about algorithm variations that were tested and found to not be good?\nWhy/why not?\nPros I can see:\nThis would help prevent others, not spend time trying them. I have read that it is a problem that in many disciplines (including this one) "negative results are not published".\nCons I can see:\nTakes up space, may confuse reader as to which algorithm is the focus of the paper.\nIt feels abit weird that of the 2 CPU-years I spent testing these, and the considerable time I spent making the tests, I will only tell the rest of the world about 5% of my results." ]

[ "research-process", "writing" ]

[ "Properly citing an image from a website", "I'm using an image from https://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/eteu/agn/ on the Unified Model of AGNs, and I've captioned it\n\nThe AGN unified model, showing the BLR and NLR, as well as different types\nbased on the observational angle. Credit: Fermi and NASA: \nhttps://fermi.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/eteu/agn/\n\n\nAs far as I can see, the image is not from an original paper. Is this an appropriate way to cite the website? What's the best way to include a citation for an image from a website?" ]

[ "citations", "website" ]

[ "U.S.C. sex and drugs scandal: would attending such a graduate school hurt one's chances at an academic career?", "The University of Southern California (U.S.C.) medical school is currently rocked by a sex and drugs scandal involving the dean of the school -- and possibly other faculty and administrative leaders that worked to cover up the scandal.\n\nWould attending a graduate program rocked by scandals hurt one's chances of landing academic jobs afterwards?\n\nSources:\n\n[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/us/usc-scandal-carmen-puliafito.html\n\n[2] http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-usc-dean-pasadena-overdose-20170725-htmlstory.html" ]

[ "ethics", "academic-life", "sexual-misconduct", "drugs" ]

[ "What to do if your editor does not reply and there is no one else to contact?", "The situation is like this. I made a new submission to a journal via their website; I am under the impression that an author would automatically receive a copy of the generated PDF file for review and the acknowledgement of receipt, just like many journals more or less do. However, after one business day, there was still nothing about this matter that came into my inbox (used in a generic sense, including spam). I thus wrote to the editor in chief regarding this matter. The editor has not yet replied for a day (which is unusual according to the editor's known pattern in dealing with submissions). There is no email for the editorial assistant that I can find on their website, even if the position exists. \n\nNow the question is how then a safe next move would be like. I cannot just wait indefinitely; potential possibilities are fading. But it also seems that it is difficult to make the intention to ``set a deadline for response\" sound innocuous. I am asking if there is a relatively common practice our there or an all-considering well-rounded strategy regarding this matter that could serve as a signal for the editor to know my intention without tearing anyone's face." ]

[ "journals", "paper-submission", "editors" ]

[ "Waiting for an overdue review?", "I have submitted my paper on 12-Jan-2019. The journal uses ScholarOne Manuscripts for online submission. The status has been changed to Awaiting Reviewer Scores in the same week I created the submission. \n\nI've recently contacted the editor about the status of the manuscript on 8-Apr-2019 and he replied that he is waiting for an overdue review, the the reviewer wa chased on 5-Apr-2019.\n\nAt this point, I know I should wait. But it's interesting to know if I can send another reminder and when should I do that. Especially when the editor actually reported what is going on and didn't simply mention that the paper is \"Under Review\" and I should leave it like that until a decision is made." ]

[ "journals", "peer-review", "paper-submission", "journal-workflow" ]

[ "Should I be suspicious of a conference that invites me, a recently admitted graduate student, to be an invited speaker?", "I'm a recently-admitted student to graduate program, albeit possessing a considerable roster of research papers in known conferences and journals.\n\nI'd just, recently, received an email from the chairman of this conference to deliver a technical presentation, as an invited speaker in the target field.\n\nTypically, invited speakers are the well-known heroes in their field. I am, noticeably, ambitious enough to taste such experience, but this offer's made me suspicious about the credibility of the conference, to the bone.\n\nShould I accept the offer?!" ]

[ "conference", "presentation", "disreputable-publishers" ]

[ "Can an independent institution run experiments without IRB approval?", "Lets say a rich person has the funds to create a US-based research institution that does not receive any form of public or private funding with the exception of said persons bank account. Will this institution be able to run experiments on human subjects without IRB approval? Nothing extreme like giving people new medicine or trying out novel surgery techniques but rather something mundane like collecting surveys or conducting psychology experiments.\nAt which point does it become illegal to run an experiment with no oversight within US jurisdiction?" ]

[ "united-states", "irb" ]

[ "Mendeley iOS alternative 2021?", "I have been using Mendeley to mange and annotate articles for quite a few years, I have built up a big library which I use everyday. Unfortunately Elsevier has stopped support for the iOS app and it is not possible to read and annotate articles on a tablet anymore. Since this is my preference when reading, does anyone know of any mobile based alternatives for Mendeley or will I have to transfer my whole library to Zotero or Endnote to still be able to read on a mobile device? Thanks" ]

[ "citations", "journals" ]

[ "How much an elective course FZ grade impact for PhD application?", "My career only goal is to get involved in research (PhD). My previous education, working experience (teaching) and publications help me to get admission in a Master program at a Canadian high ranked university. However unfortunately I got a FZ grade in one of an elective course (I was extremely mentally upset on the final exam day due to family issue) though I took another elective course to meet the programme requirement. While coming to PhD application, my supervisor informed me that my chances of not being accepted in the PhD program at the university is high since I have a FZ grade in my transcript. He also told me that he will write recommendation for me if I try to another university.\nMy question: can anyone please explain me how much does this FZ grade (though I have replaced the credit with another elective course) will impact in my PhD application in future?" ]

[ "phd" ]

[ "Bringing an unprepared student into the lab", "I'm thinking of bringing a new student in the lab. His theory background is seriously lacking. He didn't take enough math and physics classes, and has insignificant programming experience. He has a permanent position as a technician at my institution and he wants to get a PhD. \n\nI'm in serious need of manpower (or woman power), as what I'm doing requires a lot of computer simulations. The question is what should I do to involve this student early enough in research and keep him motivated until he understands enough to become curious? I have the feeling he wants the PhD more as a way to improve his position within the institution.\n\nEdit: To clarify: I want the student to do all the PhD work that is required, i.e. learn the techniques, write papers, conduct independent research. I don't know how to get him over the steep learning curve at the beginning without losing him." ]

[ "phd", "mentoring" ]

[ "Writing homework essay anonymously to avoid controversy", "I am attending a course at a neighboring institute purely out of interest. Neither credits, nor grading of any kind are involved.\n\nAs part of the course, we are required to work in pairs (assigned, not chosen) and write an essay on a controversial/contentious topic. My partner and I find ourselves on opposite sides of the debate.\n\nOn account of the controversial nature of the topic, its connection with my academic work and my own contributions to the field, I am not comfortable diluting my stand. However, compromise is inevitable in pairs/groups, and I realise the point of this exercise might be to reinforce exactly that.\n\nNevertheless, I don't wish to sign off on something that I don't believe in 100%.\nI also don't wish to opt out of the assignment as my partner is being graded on it and it seems unethical to leave him hanging.\n\nSo I propose submitting the essay titled:\n(Title),(Partner name and affiliation), (Anonymous, independent).\n\nIs there any precedent to do this, or is there a strong reason not to? Do I use a pseudonym instead?\n\nAny advice on alternatives or other points of view would be appreciated." ]

[ "publications", "ethics", "authorship", "anonymity" ]

[ "Balancing (Re)building Foundations and Research", "I'm a third year postdoc in mathematics.\n\nI have been reasonably productive; however, I'm starting to feel some of my foundations in my subject slipping (especially since I specialized in my field fairly early into my PhD). The techniques I use in my research relate to a certain type of object, so the general knowledge in my field has slowly becoming lost. My work mixes a lot of fields, so I also have the enjoyment of knowing many fields shallowly instead of one specialization extremely deeply. I am now realizing that it would be useful to go back and learn some of the foundations in my field much more deeply as well as the foundations in related fields. \n\nThis realization is daunting, considering how much time I spent before in graduate school to get some understanding. I want to keep my research at about the same pace and then also do this.\n\nHave others had this experience? \n\nIf so, what kind of plan led them to have a firmer understanding of their field?" ]

[ "research-process", "mathematics", "productivity" ]

[ "Attending a conference with self funding and no publication", "I am a PhD student and got a workshop poster (only poster based on abstract, no paper, at one of the workshops co-located with the major CS conference) accepted at the top-most conference in my field (NIPS, Computer Science).\n\nSince I am not a full-time student, I am supposed to fund my own travel, accommodation and other expenses. The conference venue is in Canada while I am located in Asia, so the expenses are quite large. The deadline for student travel grants for the main conference has already passed and the funding for workshop student travel grant has not been yet announced.\n\nI have the following questions with regard to this:\n\n\nIs it worth it to attend such tier-1 conferences only to present a poster which won’t be published/indexed/not included in proceedings?\nI would need to attempt to publish in such conferences at least once during PhD and since I am self sponsored, expense for that too would be upon me. \nMy advisor says: “Go and have some exposure, meet and network with new people.” But he is aware that I am self-sponsored so he is not too pushy but has asked me to go. Does such networking really happens when I would be only an attendee for first five days of the conference and having a poster demo during the last day of the conference. \n\n\nIf my questions seems too vague, please let me know. I would try to be more clear and concise." ]

[ "conference", "networking" ]

[ "Is there a point of applying to a University if potential adviser rejected me", "I have recently contacted a professor in a reputable university in the hopes of discussing our common research interests and to apply for PhD under his supervision, and he just replied that he is not going to take anybody for the next year. What should I do now? Is there a reason why I should still apply to this university assuming there are no other professors who share my research interests?\n\nI adopted the suggestions in (How much detail to include in first email to potential PhD supervisor?) when I reached out to the potential adviser.\n\n\n\nMore info about the department:\nWhen I contacted the department's graduate office showing my interest part of their reply was:\n\n\n If there is a particular professor you wish to work with, you may wish\n to contact him/her prior to applying and discuss your application\n further with them." ]

[ "phd", "career-path", "advisor", "computer-science", "email" ]

[ "Maximum/reasonable number of authors for a (conference) paper", "What is a reasonable number of authors a small conference paper should have?\n\nIn my case, this is an interdisciplinary research paper and several people are linked to this work in one way or another. Currently, there are 8 authors and I feel this may seem too high. \n\nIs there any common-sense consensus regarding this limit?\n\nIn case there is a field-specific dependence, the main field is Computer Science.\n\nUPDATE: my justification for this question is the increasing buzz around the very issue: author inflation." ]

[ "conference", "authorship", "paper-submission" ]

[ "Is it good to work in a funded PhD project to complete it within time?", "I have enrolled my PhD in a German institute. The project is proposed by the institute and funding is by another agency. Based on my master work, I got selected for PhD. The proposed PhD work is not related to my M.Tech work. The application is different but the fundamentals are same. The project is funded for a limited period. The supervisor there has given me a research paper to follow.\n\nMay I know what is the probability to complete it within that time. Moreover, what sort of guidance I should expect expect from him.\n\nAny necessary and advice in this regard would be highly appreciated and acknowledged. \n\nKind regards,\nManish" ]

[ "phd", "research-process", "funding" ]

[ "Arxiv conflict with submitted papers", "I have submitted my paper to Proceedings of the AMS one month ago and we haven't gotten a response yet. Can I upload my paper to arxiv despite of this? Would there be any conflict? About accepted ones, they have written that there is no conflict and so: Can I deduce from this that there wouldn't be any conflict for submitted ones as well?\n\nThanks" ]

[ "publications", "arxiv", "online-publication", "preprint" ]

[ "Should I omit a citation if the authors ask me to?", "\"Program MARK: A gentle introduction\" by Evan Cooch and Gary White\n\n\nis a guide to using a particular piece of statistical software. It is available in print form as well as in a free, online version.\n\nThe foreword to the book contains the following paragraph:\n\n\n We’re occasionally asked how to properly cite this book. Easy answer –\n please don’t. This book is not a ‘technical reference’, but a\n ‘software manual’. The various ‘technical’ bits in the book (i.e.,\n suggestions on how to approach some sorts of analysis, guides to\n interpreting results...) are drawn from the primary literature, which\n should be cited in all cases.\n\n\nNow, I don't have any problem with the last sentence - the authors are quite right to recommend citing the primary literature. But I don't understand why they recommend NOT citing their own work. If I have found it useful (I have) then the usual arguments for citation seem to apply:\n\n\nCiting the guide may be helpful in pointing others towards this useful resource\nThe guide has performed an important function in my work, even if that function is \"just\" pointing me towards the primary literature, and that function should be acknowledged. It is in a small way dishonest if I imply that I researched the primary literature without any help.\nWhile any mistakes in my use of the software are of course my own, knowing the source of advice that I've used might help others to spot or trace those mistakes.\n\n\nAgainst this is the fact that the authors have politely asked me NOT to cite the work. I have no wish to be disrespectful to the authors who have created a valuable resource. But is it reasonable for them to ask me to break from academic good practice?\n\nShould I respect the authors' wishes and omit a citation?" ]

[ "citations" ]

[ "How much modification in a manuscript is recommended after a major revision?", "I've got three months to revise my manuscript I submitted to a journal a few months ago. I received two highly detailed reviews, from which it seems that the manuscript does not show the desired big picture of my work. Both reviewers pointed out similar deficiencies, and I must say, both of them are right.\n\nAccording to the questions, remarks and advices, I rethought the entire paper and started to rewrite it (being attentive to the reviews), however, I am not sure if it is acceptable to completely modify the whole manuscript. Obviously, the background, the results, the theories and everything concerning the main content would remain the same with slight modifications, but I think the restructuring of the content and even a completely rewritten introduction would be necessary.\n\nSo my question is:\n\nHow much modification is acceptable after a moderate/major revision and after the decision of rejected with the chance of resubmission?" ]

[ "peer-review", "paper-submission" ]

[ "Is it common to ask for reference letters from members of the MSc thesis committee when applying for PhD/Scholarships?", "In case it varies between countries, by thesis committee I mean 2-4 professors who examine you on your MSc research after you submit your thesis, so except for your advisor, they are usually not familiar with your work prior to submission. Some of them might belong to other universities/departments and not be familiar with the student at all.\n\nI am wondering whether such letters would be valuable. On the one hand, I feel they should be the next best thing after letters from people you've done research with, but on the other hand such letters can only refer to the quality of the outcome of your research and not your character.\n\nWhat about letters from professors who have read your papers/thesis but haven't met you in person and thus haven't held a conversation regarding your research with you?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "recommendation-letter", "thesis-committee" ]

[ "Ph.D. candidate vs Ph.D", "I have already submitted my Ph.D. thesis to my committee and plan to defend my thesis. I want to prepare an updated CV. \n\nIn my situation, what should I write in the CV:\n\n\n Ph.D. candidate\n\n\nor just \n\n\n Ph.D" ]

[ "phd", "cv" ]

[ "How disrupting is the use of blockchain for university resources?", "I came across an interesting concept. The use of blockchain technology to validate academic (and other) achievements. I could find that allegedly the office of the registrar's at Stanford is invested in this.\nHowever, to gauge the potential, one would need to find out how many human resources are invested in performing the services that blockchain is supposed to automatize. It was suggested by some authors that cost could be cut here; but how large ist this effect really? \n\nFor large and prestigeous universities, how many employees are busy all day long confirming to companies or other universities whether a student's transcript is actually legit?\n\nI cannot imagine this to be any more than a handful of people?" ]

[ "coursework", "grades", "software" ]

[ "Most common ways of cheating on exams?", "I've been thinking how I proctor and design exams, and I suspect (from things I hear) that there is much more cheating than I find evidence of. What are the most common ways university students cheat, say in a large lecture math or science class? For instance, some possible ways are:\n\n\nlooking at other students exams\nsneaking in a cheat sheet\nusing a phone/prohibited device in class\ngetting help on a bathroom break\nhaving someone else take the exam for you\ngetting a copy of the exam in advance\nmodifying an exam after grading and asking for points back\n\n\nBut I don't know if any of these happen often enough that I should do more than I currently do.\n\nIdeally, I'd like an answer with data from some studies on cheating, but I'd welcome extensive ancedotal evidence as well." ]

[ "teaching", "exams", "reference-request", "cheating" ]

[ "Changing current supervisor", "I am a first year graduate student in Physics at a US university. I am on a TAship as usual. For the summer 2016, I have just working for a professor. But I have not liked the project at all and the group environment as well. So I have decided NOT to continue working for the professor. Should I inform it to the professor as soon as possible or, should I wait until the summer ends? And also I would like to know how I should say that and whether there are any 'side-effects' of that or not." ]

[ "advisor" ]

[ "Publishing referee reports I have written - Yes or No and How?", "I remember reading somewhere about someone who started publishing referee reports they had written online, along with sending them to the journal (or after). Unfortunately I do not remember where I saw this and can't seem to find it now.\n\nI see strong arguments for this practice.\n\n\nA lot of time and effort is spent on report writing, so why not list them.\nTransparency for its own sake.\nTransparency for the sake of increasing quality.\n\n\nObviously there are issues:\n\n\nCopy right or other legal issues with journals prohibiting the publication of reports [has to be taken up with the editor]\nIf the paper itself is not published, publishing the report might be harmful to the authors [one could wait until the final version of the paper is published]\n\n\nMy question: Is this already common practice somewhere and do repositories exist where one can upload reports? Are there other strong counterarguments I am missing?" ]

[ "peer-review", "repository" ]

[ "How long should I wait before accepting a PhD admission offer in the US?", "I have been offered admission in a top-25 university, and a RA position in a lab that works on my area of interest. I am pretty happy with this offer and I would feel comfortable accepting it. However, I still have not heard back from some top-10 institutions.\n\nI am concerned that the professor might feel upset if I take too long to answer the offer. What should I do?\n\nI should mention that I am an international student applying to Engineering PhD's." ]

[ "phd", "graduate-admissions", "application" ]

[ "Is it considered unusual in the United States for a professor to run a class outside on the grass?", "An American professor lectured in our university about American higher education. He mentioned that the university environment is not limited to formal education (what is the case in Europe more or less). A university courtyard is like a park and students are always hanging around.\n\nHe also mentioned that it is not unusual for a professor to gather students and sit on the grass outside and run a class. This is something that I have never seen in Europe (at least Hungary where I study).\n\nMost universities I have seen (including new campuses built by EU funding) are just buildings, because people believe yards are waste of money. Things happens in buildings. In these universities, students go to the class, and after that, they quickly leave the university." ]

[ "united-states" ]

[ "Recommendation letter from alumni", "I am applying for graduate school and one of the professors that I am considering to write my letter is an alumni from the school that I am to. Would this letter carry more weight?" ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "recommendation-letter" ]

[ "Corresponding author published article without sending final proof to all authors, corrigendum", "My professor was the corresponding author of an article written by me as first author and one second co-author. Having the correspondence with the editor, the professor didn't give much information about the actual status of the article, allthough I asked several times for it.\n\nSome months later, I got the notice that the article is now published. I never got a final proof of the article from the professor/ corresponding author and when I read through the published version, I was in huge shock as I noticed some formatting issues. However, the worst and most severe thing is, that one sentence was \"corrected\", stating the contrary of what it was supposed to mean. Obviously there is now a mistake in the article. This mistake doesn't affect the measurements results, but it is contradictful within the overall statement of the article.\n\nI asked my professor about writing an erratum concerning this issue. The answer was, that he assumes this sentence not to be noticed and therefore, an erratum would be too much effort. I am feeling really bad being the first author of this paper, where I know about the mistake. Do you think I can ask the journal for an erratum without the consens of my professor?\n\nFurthermore, I want to publish one more article of the work I have done, but the professor still claims the corresponding authorship. As my professor answers my emails only within months and as I don't have much trust in his actions anymore, I really don't know what to do. Does anybody have experience with such a situation?\n\n--\n\nEDIT: thank you for your answers, they are very helpful to me. The paper is a non-open access paper and already published in a printed issue of the journal. Furthermore, it is about a subject what I am not researching anymore, so there are no follow-up papers planned in the same journal.\n\nI think my corresponding author will not be amused when I am writing the publisher as he already refused a corrigendum. You see this is a really tricky situation. What about writing a comment to the paper? I already saw remarks from third researchers concerning existing papers...maybe that could be a solution?" ]

[ "publications", "ethics", "errors-erratum", "correspondence" ]

[ "What can I do when a TA asks me to marry her so that she can obtain a green card?", "This pertains to an American university graduate program.\n\nA TA recently surprised me with a proposition to marry her (we've neither dated nor hooked up), so that she could obtain a green card to stay in the United States -- she wants to leave the STEM fields and go into the creative / artsy stuff (eg, dreams of having a creative career in Los Angeles), which means she likely won't earn a work visa to stay in the US. \n\nShe essentially offered a blank check from her family, so long as the amount is less than the investment green card amount of 500k dollars (something that I did not know even existed).\n\nMy question is: putting aside legal, personal and ethical questions, what are the academic implications of this situation? At what point could I get into trouble with the university; from having such discussions with her or later, if I actually did something? Could I be dismissed from the university or have my degree revoked later on? What about implications regarding any funding that I might have from the university or from the government (eg, grants, loans)?\n\nEdit: Thanks to those offering marriage strategies and interpretations of the law, but I had hoped to stay on-topic and focus on the academic implications. Currently, I am reduced to voting for an on-topic answer that I have some qualms about, since, as mentioned in Dan Romik's comments, the answerer focuses on reporting harassment, when I have not been harassed at all. Perhaps the community can vote to reopen the question to allow for more, on-topic answers." ]

[ "ethics" ]

[ "Research-methodology book in the form of a dialogue between professor and student", "I am looking for a research-methodology book, which is in the form of a dialogue between a professor and a student. Once I had this book and it is very helpful. Unfortunately, I lost it and do not remember its title, either. Does somebody know the name of this book?" ]

[ "reference-request", "methodology" ]

[ "What is the difference between doing a PhD in a small university versus a big reputed university in Germany?", "Take for example Brandenberg University of Technology versus Technical University of Darmstadt.\n\nDoes the size of a university play any role in someone's PhD research experience in Germany?\n\nWhat would be the impact on someone's post-PhD career if he chooses the smaller one versus the bigger one?" ]

[ "phd", "germany", "reputation" ]

[ "Is it commonplace for students to feel anxious about graduation?", "So, I am but a semester away from graduating from college as a Computer Programmer in Canada. All is well in the grades department - I've completed all assigned work and maintained a ~4.0 GPA throughout the course of my studies. However, I still feel anxious and have a sense that I'm entering the workforce without the base skill-set requisite for success.\n\nIs it commonplace for students to feel lost and/or potentially inadequate prior to graduation? Are these types of thoughts and feelings common among new graduates?" ]

[ "emotional-responses", "graduation" ]

[ "Applying for masters again, will the application be evaluated on the basis of undergraduate/Bachelors or the most recent postgraduate grades", "Applying for masters but have a previous uncompleted masters on my profile. Will that grades from that masters be factored in when the admission committee evaluates my application. What if i have very good GPA is Bachelors, but got bad grades in Masters due to some circumstances." ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "masters", "application", "undergraduate", "grades" ]

[ "Should I get a CS PhD if I'm only interested in industry research?", "I'm currently working on a masters in CS and working at a university as research faculty (my title is 'research engineer'). I'm in the branch that does mostly contract work with the government or private industry, so not academic research.\n\nMy employer offers an attractive proposition for getting a PhD. I would keep my current position and salary in exchange for doing a project relevant to the division. They also provide a year of PTO to work full-time on the dissertation and time during the day to go to class. My work is mainly robotics software so I think it would be feasible to find a sufficiently related topic of research. As a university employee I get an indefinite tuition waiver so I would not need to do any teaching or research outside of my normal work.\n\nMy goal for the PhD would be to work in industry research, along the lines of Waymo, OpenAI, along with lower-tier companies. My impression is that there are many more of these jobs than academic positions, so I have I more reasonable chance of success.\n\nGiven the appealing financial circumstances, is getting a PhD an obvious choice? Should I just finish with the MS and try to get industry research jobs right away? Is my impression of the state of industry research correct?" ]

[ "career-path", "industry", "early-career" ]

[ "Should I worry that my advisor will get sick of being a professor and move to industry?", "My advisor is a first year professor (in CS) and he seems really busy and stressed all the time. Before becoming a professor, he was in industry, where he probably had to do a lot less work and could spend more time with his family. Should I worry that he'll move back to industry in a year or two because he's decided being a professor is not for him?" ]

[ "advisor" ]

[ "Hours worked in research vs teaching professorships", "Are there any studies that have compared the number of hours worked by faculty members who are teaching-focused vs. those at research intensive institutions?\n\nI have the impression that faculty that balance teaching and research tend to work longer hours and on weekends more than faculty who do not have any research obligations. I don't know where I picked this idea up and I'm suspicious that it is biased and based more on opinion than fact.\n\nAny studies/surveys out there to support / refute this idea?\n\nI'm interested mainly in science departments in the USA." ]

[ "professors", "job", "work-life-balance", "survey-research" ]

[ "How long should an exposé be usually?", "There is this position advertised and among its requirements is an exposé of the research the applicant wants to undertake during the fellowship. But it doesn't say anything about the size of the exposé. Is there a usual size for an exposé? And should I think of expose as exactly the same as research proposal?\n\nThis is in the humanities." ]

[ "research-proposal", "humanities" ]

[ "Trade-off between content and style", "I am in the UK and I completed an undergraduate dissertation.\nIn my dissertation I went much higher than my level. All the content in my dissertation was at a masters level and everything was self-taught. \nHowever I sort of came undone in my viva, where I was told I kept jumping into stuff.\n\nI was wondering, when writing an undergraduate of a masters dissertation, is it better to go above and beyond your level and be ambitious or make sure the document is written very well and stay at the level you are currently at?" ]

[ "thesis", "writing", "time-management" ]

[ "Developing a subset of hypotheses based on anecdotal observations", "I am wondering what the opinion is on how to go about this.\nI have an area I want to investigate through a number of testable hypothesis. In the course of an introduction, I introduce the background for each question, laying the foundation for why I am testing this particular thing, but also this serves to explain why I think it may be observed and why I have directed my hypothesis in the way I have.\nFor example, in the paragraph section of my introduction (ignore the phrasing, just trying to get my point across):\n\nThe positive relationship between X on Y has been shown in some\nprevious work (Smith et al 2050, Jones and Jones 2060). We intend to\ntest this response at a landscape-scale to test if such an effect is\npredictable and observable when scaled-up.\nIn summary, I intend to test the following hypotheses:\n\nX will positively respond to Y\nX will produce more Z when Y is lower\n\n\nHow do I introduce Z if there is no background literature on this. For instance, if someone with a lot of hands-on experience in this field but no scientific background has observed this in the field and I wish to test it in a controlled experiment. Is it best to not even list it as a hypothesis and instead raise it as a novel result later in the study?" ]

[ "introduction" ]

[ "Are Identical Make-up Exams Fair?", "I recently took an exam, and our professor told us that we should submit our question sheets since 2 other students in our class are going to take a make-up exam. We were also told that we were not allowed to talk about our exam while the other 2 are around. I presume this means that their exams are going to be identical to ours (For the sake of argument, let us assume that this is the case, and it is not in fact a strategy or something of our professor).\n\nOur class is on weekdays (MWF for 1 section and TTh for another), but we had our exam on Saturday afternoon. Since we all have class on Saturday morning, it is okay to have an exam on Saturday afternoon since we would already be on campus. Apparently those doing the make-up exam have conflicts with their plans for Saturday afternoon which the professor accepts.\n\nEssentially, we can't tell them the contents of the exam. Our professor claims that this is so as to not compromise the integrity of the exam.\n\nSo here's my first question:\n\nIs it fair to the students taking the exam earlier that the make-up exams are identical to the original?\n\nWe are grad students of mathematical finance. \n\nExpansion: \n\nIt seems to me that the fact that it is too easy for the two others to find out the exam questions should be reason enough for our professor to give a different and possibly even harder exam and that doing otherwise is in itself compromising the integrity of the exam.\n\nIf it's not compromising the integrity of the exam, why not just have the same exam every year and collect the question sheet from students (which, cmiiw, actually doesn't really do anything since we can just copy the questions on a bond paper and bring the bond paper home)?\n\nSee possibly related question.\n\nSecond question:\n\nI seem to recall that department policy is that make-up exams are \"generally\" (exact word in undergrad syllabuses but not in our grad syllabuses which makes no mention of such) more difficult. If the answer to the first question above is yes, then does it follow that the \"generally\" should be removed?\n\nP.S. I truly cannot imagine how difficult it must be to a mathematician: research, teaching, consultation, conferences, etc. Thus, I am aware that it is no easy task for a teacher to just come up with a make-up exam, but nevertheless for the sake of maintaining the integrity (maintain is not compromise?) of exams, I believe this should be done." ]

[ "graduate-school", "exams" ]

[ "How to deal with students who lose their digital work?", "In my courses, students work on large, on-going projects, but submit some parts each week, showing their progress. All of the work is done on a computer or table.\n\nMid-semester, I always get reports from students of technical failures, e.g.:\n\n\nDeleted entire project folder.\nReformatted hard drive or upgraded system without backup.\nSent computer to be repaired, cannot work on project until it returns.\nUSB not unmounted, files broken.\nDevice containing project folder lost or stolen.\n\n\nI want to create a policy which is not so harsh as to turn all of these students away. At the same time, I worry if I am a little lenient, students will start claiming problems every time they forget to do their homework. What is a good policy that is not too harsh, recognizing that technical problems do happen, yet which cannot be too easily abused?" ]

[ "teaching", "homework" ]

[ "Whether to quit PhD in psychology: overbearing post-doc, lack of passion for topic, not wanting to enter academia, lack of statistical support", "I'm over half way into my PhD in psychology and neuroscience in the UK. I think that leaving the programme is the best decision but I'm unsure whether my reasons are good enough. I have gained some valuable experience: computer programming, applying basic mathematics, addressing software and hardware issues etc. \n\nI approached my supervisor and the director of research 4 months ago about quitting and I was encouraged to continue, but these 4 big issues with the project have persisted, which are sufficient to make me think quitting the programme is the right decision:\n\n1) Before starting, I was not aware how involved the post-doc would be in my project, who is overbearing and has been very difficult to work with from the very beginning. The post-doc is more concerned about being right and getting his own way than being helpful. This hinders my progress because I have to wrestle with what their idea of what my PhD should be. If I had known this, I would not have applied for this PhD. However, I think it's too late to point out this problem and my supervisor would probably think I'm using it as a scapegoat for my own problems. For now, I'm treating it as a 'training exercise' because you can never choose your colleagues in the real world - but this is a bad reason for staying on with a PhD.\n\n2) My passion for the subject is gone and I have no intention of carrying on in academia afterwards. I don't think my PhD has a use in the real world, so I will definitely be applying for jobs in in the real world. However, if I quit prospective employers will think I'm 'a quitter' and will be put off employing me, but carrying on comes at the expense of experience in the real world, which I think is more valuable.\n\n3) I have found the PhD experience very alienating and I find what I do for a living embarrassing. I'm reluctant to talk to new people because what you do for a living inevitably comes up and I like to avoid talking about it.\n\n4) There is a some mathematics that I have to teach myself (I'm ok with this in principle), with no support from the department, leading to uncertainty as to whether I'm doing it right or whether I'm qualified enough for my position. This combined with reason 1 is slowing down my progress and I'm afraid I won't get enough done and fail the programme.\n\nDo these reasons seem sufficient or should I bite the bullet and carry on?\n\nThanks." ]

[ "quitting" ]

[ "What are the restrictions placed by copyright laws on reuse of figures in dissertation defense?", "In some sense this question follows the question: Is it necessary to obtain permissions for copying figures from published articles in your proposal/dissertation?\n\nFollowing F'x's advice and my own university's very stringent requirements, I have applied for permissions for reuse of figures in my dissertation. I plan to drop the figures, the permission for reuse of which has not been provided freely by the respective holder.\n\nI hadn't given this much thought before, but what permissions are necessary for reuse of figures in a dissertation defense? I mean the powerpoint presentation slides. Of course, clear and prominent attribution is the minimum requirement, but is there a clear law on this? It's become reasonably convenient to obtain permissions from US publishers (copyright.com), but what if the publisher in question is based in Europe?" ]

[ "copyright", "graphics", "defense" ]

[ "Advisor walked in while I was complaining about her; How can I minimize the damage to our relationship?", "I work in a lab. This evening, thinking that my advisor had already left for the day, I started telling my peers in the lab that she has a bad attitude about a few things, and she was showing off a lot about her work last summer. Out of nowhere, she walked into the lab and was visibly upset, and I feared that she had heard what I said.\n\nI just finished my masters and had asked my advisor about pursuing a Ph.D. She kind of gave an OK and I am supposed to meet with her tomorrow morning to discuss about it. Although our relationship has been on and off at times, I feel bad because she helped me a lot in past and now she will feel I am an ungrateful jerk.\n\nWhat will be the best way to approach this issue so that I can minimize the damage to our relationship?" ]

[ "advisor", "etiquette", "interpersonal-issues" ]

[ "How to express an ongoing PhD degree in suffix", "Is it correct to express PhD in brackets \"(PhD)\" as suffix to express the ongoing degree?" ]

[ "phd" ]

[ "Stay or leave for PhD", "I'm a master student at a university in Korea and going to graduate next June. By now, I think about doing PhD and have to make a decision on "stay" or "leave".\nStay:\n\nMy professor is very nice and quite well known in my university. The\nworking conditions are good, PC, seats, no time restriction... (but everyone working like crazy).\n\nThe professor really nice to me (actually us - foreign student), I was found a good scholarship for the master course ($1300/month) while\nthe average is $700-600.\n\nI don't have to make much effort on searching for a PhD position (don't need to take English test like IELTS, toefl) and the salary is good in comparison with other universities in Korea.\n\nIt's not really face to face talking but I agree with my professor to continue PhD there before I go to the graduate university. (Which I\nam most afraid of).\n\nMy background is not good since we focus on publishing only very narrow field. I'm not very good at programming C/C++ as well, I use Matlab all the time.\n\n\nLeaves:\n\nI'm not quite sure about another place but in my University, they focus on\nresearch not the graduate course. My background is quite weak.\n\nMy professor is very very busy and not really good in my current topic.\nAlmost every member in my team have to find their own way (follow the topic of their project).\n\nI feel like this environment is not very good for the PhD. The communication between Professor and student is like a one way communication. We obey what ever we are told. Not really two way communication or discussions.\n\nI'm 25, single, and want to do something.\n\n\nShould I continue my PhD on the current Lab or looking for PhD position in some where else?\nPs: I'm looking for PhD position which related to signal processing and Compressive sensing. My current's topic is image/video compressive sensing.\nUpdates.\nMar. 2014: Thank for your advice, I decided to stay for my PhD but more for my personal issue. For my current PhD it is little disappointed.\n\nmy support is lower than what I discussed with the professor before starting PhD. We agreed on $1000 but later paid me $800/month due to lab situation (the other PhD salary is still the same $1000 or higher). After asking many times, I now have to do an internship 1 day/week as an solution with $250 salary more.\nThe professor is very busy, even for checking my conference paper before sending.\n\nJul. 2015 Now I'm a little doubtful what to do.\n\nThe professor has no time for us and even for my journal paper\nOne PhD student left without a word\n\nAdvice for someone considering study in Korea: Master is enough, go somewhere else for PhD!" ]

[ "phd", "research-process", "professors" ]

[ "How to deal with impatience when starting off in research?", "I am half way through the first year of my PhD (physics) and I find myself faced with the following problem related to research discipline and learning new techniques while doing a PhD. The problem is probably specific to my personality, but I am hoping that some people can relate and provide their experiences/advice.\n\nEssentially I find it hard to actually learn anything new, especially when it comes to techniques. Let me clarify by describing how I read a paper\n\n\nWhen reading a paper I usually read just enough to 'understand' it on a functional level. I.e. afterwards I know: a) What has been done b) How it fits with some other things I know c) If it is useful for the research my group is doing and the projects I am working on. When c) applies I read 'in more detail'. That usually just involves following the derivations on a functional level. I.e. afterwards I would know a), b), c) for every part of the derivation.\n\n\nThe problem is that I don't actually learn any techniques this way. I could not sit down and do what has been done in the paper, even though I could tell you exactly what has been done in the paper and (for the ones I read in detail) how it has been done.\n\nThat isn't too bad if you want to come up with new research ideas, I even found that you can solve some problems this way, but you can't actually write the solution down. The latter unfortunately is very necessary if you want to write a paper.\n\nI have a similar problem with textbooks that I was going to describe here, but for the sake of brevity1 I will spare you the details.\n\nTo me the situation is a bit worrisome, especially because that did not happen to me during my undergraduate. When doing supervision work and exercises I always felt like at the end I understood things on a level where I could do them again. When people asked me questions about it I could not only tell them how to do the question in principle, but also point out technically details that you encounter along the way. I am worried that I will never reach such a level of understanding in any new areas the way I am approaching it at the moment.\n\nI suspect that one of my problems is that I have become really impatient somewhere in between feeling the pressure of trying to produce valuable research and trying to learn things as quickly as possible. This creates the feeling that I am unable to 'sit down' and 'actually do something' 2 .\n\nSo, reading my question above again I don't feel like I have pinned the point down very well at all, but this is my 3rd try, so I'll go with it and see if people have some advice. The title question is going to be: How to deal with impatience when starting off in research?\n\n\n\n 1 Really not an appropriate description of this question anymore...\n\n 2 Don't get me wrong, I am not procrastinating. I am doing a lot of work and I also enjoy the work very much. It is just not very effective and when I think after each day what I have achieved, there is a lingering fear that I just wasted a lot of time." ]

[ "phd", "research-process", "motivation", "reading" ]

[ "Are college students forbidden from sharing their grades with other students?", "I am currently in an anatomy class and had an issue. I and three other students worked on an 18 page packet together. We had the same answers since we worked on it as a group. \n\nHowever, two of us received a 35/50, one of us had a 50/50 and the other had a 30/50. When we asked the teacher why we got different grades, we were scolded for sharing grades with each other and told we were not allowed to. \n\nI can't seem to find this anywhere in our welcome packet or any paperwork and I was wondering, are we really not allowed to tell other students our own grades?" ]

[ "united-states", "grades" ]

[ "Should I add a bibliography for this?", "While writing up my introduction for my transfer report (first year exam of the PhD in the UK) I want to give importance to the topic saying something like:\n\n\n It lead to huge research, being N amount of papers published between\n 2005-2015 in high-end publications.\n\n\nI will look at this in Nature database. Should I add a bibliography to this? In the affirmative case, what format should the bibliography item have? In the negative case, I shouldn't add a bibliography, but is it OK to put an statement like this one in a report/thesis? \n\nI am using bibtex but just the output format will do." ]

[ "citations", "thesis", "bibtex" ]

[ "Do newly hired professors have to take a drug test before they start?", "In U.S., Canadian and European universities do new professors have to pass a drug test before starting their career? Or is it only required when they are promoted to full-time tenure professors?" ]

[ "professors", "united-states", "tenure-track", "canada", "assistant-professor" ]

[ "Do the authors have to cite or make comparisons against works on domains such as arXiv?", "I'm reviewing a conference manuscript (computer science) and i found 2 other recent methods related to the same problem which were published on arXiv.\nSo, i think it is highly recommended to compare their method to those ones. The arXiv papers also claimed to beat the state-of-the-art, but on different datasets, so one cannot compare them based on the reported numerical results.\n\nSo, should/could i say that it is a weak point that the authors have not included/used those recent relevant works in their introduction or evaluation basis? \nOr they do not have such an obligation as those papers have not been yet published in any proceedings?" ]

[ "publications", "citations", "peer-review", "computer-science", "arxiv" ]

[ "Should I contact the EIC for additional information regarding his decision on my paper?", "I just received the feedback from the Editor-In-Chief that my paper has been rejected for publication in this high-ranking journal.\n\n\n There are several concerns raised by one of the reviewers. Therefore, it would not be possible to accept this paper for publication.\n\n\nBased on the reviewers' comments, two of them seem to be in favor, as they raise no \"substantial\" concerns (they raise 5 and 4 points, respectively), i.e. their findings are mostly of a cosmetic nature (rephrase that, elaborate this, color the figures differently, correct a spelling mistake), and their recapitulation of the work is more precise than that of the third reviewer.\n\nNow the third reviewer raises 6 points of concern. 4 of them are very valid remarks, however, they are not fundamental problems, at least, I don't perceive them as such, because they are easily amended (by at most 2 sentences each) and present no conceptual fallacies, i.e. as I see it, the particular parts are not clear to the reader and need additional explanations and more appropriate emphasis. The fifth concern addresses the structure of the paper, the reviewer proposes another ordering of the sections. The final point states the need for a discussion, which I indeed drafted, but chose not to include in the paper. It is not irrelevant, but it is not crucial for the problem, solution or background and could possibly distract the reader from the focus of the paper. In addition to space constrictions, this discussion was left out before submission.\n\nBetween submission and the decision, there was a change of the Editor-In-Chief at the journal. This might be the reason the review took longer than usual (10 instead of 6 weeks). Perhaps that could even influence the accepting policies...\n\nAfter the first review, I'm used to getting rather harsh comments, either rejecting the paper or proposing another review cycle, it doesn't matter. The important part is usually that I get meaningful feedback about my paper and improve it. In this case, however, the reviewers' comments resemble something I would expect after the second or third review cycle, i.e. something that I can alleviate in a morning. \n\nThe problem is that I don't understand the reason for rejection. Even when I address all the reviewers' suggestions, I would still feel that nothing crucial has changed. Furthermore, when rejected, I can't submit the same paper to the same journal. I obviously intend to submit the paper to another journal. However, before doing so, I consider emailing the Editor-In-Chief and asking for more information regarding his decision. As things are now, the reviewers' comments state neither fundamental fallacies which imply that the paper is of low scientific value nor point how I could realistically improve on it. Is this a good idea?" ]

[ "journals", "rejection" ]

[ "Why is it recommended to do a post-doc outside of the group you did your PhD in?", "If it's possible to do a post-doc in the group you did your PhD in, which I assume should not be too hard if you have a good relationship with your advisor, why do researchers often choose to do postdocs at other departments?\n\nIf one does a post-doc at another lab, one has to face the cost of adjusting to a new environments and labmates and take the risk of working with an advisor he/she doesn't have good chemistry with. These costs are further augmented in light of how short a post-doc normally is." ]

[ "postdocs" ]

[ "Colloquial forms (let's...) in articles", "I am writing an article for a peer reviewed journal in the field of literature, and I am wondering about the use of colloquial expressions like: \"Let's take a step back\", or \"Let's look at the data\", \"Let's look at the coxtext\" etc.\nWould you suggest avoid these forms? Could you maybe suggest me a subsitute formula to express the same idea?" ]

[ "publications", "writing-style", "literature" ]

[ "I'm confused and frustrated by my postdoc mentor's stubbornness and not caring for my future at all. What should I do?", "Background: I did PhD in pure math, then postdoc in medical imaging for 2 years. Because of funding running out, I started a postdoc in France in mesh processing since last 6 months. I'm somewhat proficient in Matlab, which is the only language I'm comfortable in so far. I want to work in R&D of the image processing/computer vision industry.\n\nFacts:\n1) It takes a solid 75 minutes each way from my house to my university, and initially we agreed on my showing up 3 times a week. However, sometimes I feel and am way more productive working from home. I tried to discuss this multiple times with my mentor, but he wouldn't listen: he says I've to come 3 times, since other team members might need me, which is NEVER the case, me being in my first year of mesh processing, even the PhD students probably know part of the subject better and I've never been asked a question.\n\n2) My postdoc advisor knows from me that I'm looking for the above type of jobs in industry. Now, for industry purposes, I want to (and indeed started to) learn NumPy and Scikit-learn to perform machine learning. However, he's not familiar with these libraries, and wants me to look at a certain Matlab package he sent me to perform ML, and got offended because I didn't yet. Now, from talking to industry people in imaging/vision, I know Matlab is rarely used compared to Python. I tried to discuss this so that I could use Python to solve his problems, and being better it at the same time. He said \"Learn Python on your own time. Since you're not very strong in coding, I can't give you couple of weeks to learn a new language\". \n\n3) My postdoc mentor has a specialty in mesh processing in computer graphics, and most of his papers are about mesh geometry. I get the feeling that he doesn't know machine learning(ML) very well. Now, for my future, and also for our project that involves ML, I want to learn certain algorithms from the scratch, so that it serves me the dual purpose of solving his problems and also strengthens my ML knowledge. He, on the other hand, wants to get fast results, and just wants me to use the above matlab package he sent me, because that's what HE is more comfortable in. \n\n4) My postdoc is initially for a year only. So basically, I've to either find a job by the end, or get results so that I can renew my postdoc. I did give him some partial results in the first 6 months that didn't involve ML. Now, learning more ML (I know some ML) is taking time, and he's angry about it, accusing me of not progressing fast enough. So in essence I want to learn the ML algorithms I use from the scratch, but it's not HIS interest, so he'd not just support that. He also said he'd not renew my funding if I don't give him significantly more result.\n\nMy mentor has a permanent position, where I don't. I thought postdoc mentors should somehow look after their mentees, but I feel he really doesn't care. Also his stubbornness of making me doing things his way really makes me helpless, and frustrated about my own future. He imposes his stubbornness, since he's not very good in Python, and that he doesn't know ML from scratch.\n\nI've tried to discuss these issues in person, but he literally blew me off. I'm confused what to do. I invite your opinion." ]

[ "computer-science", "postdocs", "industry", "supervision", "mentoring" ]

[ "Is choosing to study algebra during a math PhD riskier than studying analysis?", "I've noticed that some algebra / number theory / geometry students seem to come to a dead-end in mathematics and tell me, \"yea, no more math for me, no way, can't wait to be done with it\", while the ones who specialized in analysis and PDEs, who don't have a future in analysis or PDE theory, seem to fall back nicely on theoretical CS, data science, machine learning, optimization, and other numerics-type of mathematics.\n\nIs focusing on algebra during one's math PhD significantly riskier and generally not advisable?\n\nThanks," ]

[ "phd", "research-process", "mathematics", "career-path", "postdocs" ]

[ "Not getting along with Spanish professor. Professor is condescending, and picks favorites. I feel I have enough evidence to do something", "I am in a Spanish Translation class at a good public university. \n\nBackground: I am a white male and a Spanish/Chemistry double major. I plan to pursue a PhD in Chemistry or teach at the high school level, and Spanish is pure enjoyment. I am engaged in this class. I do every single reading, and try really hard to participate. I do not give her any \"sass\" (and if I did, that still doesn't justify taking points off in direct contradiction of her assigned readings). I have asked her already how to be more polite, and she tells me I am fine. \n\nEarly in the class, there were some strange vibes. Since then, there have been numerous instances, so for brevity I will only mention the ones that stick out most. \n\n1: She marks me off two points for using the word \"Filipina\" in a journalism translation, claiming it's not an english word. I find it in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as well as in hundreds of New York Times (reliable english journalism source). She awards me only one of two points back for this, and when I question it she says it is \"non-negotiable.\"\n\n2: One day, she asks our opinion about a \"translation tidbit\". I said I liked it and thought it was poetic, and she proceeds to laugh out loud assuming I'm joking. She then says in an incredibly exaggerated and melodramatic way \"I admire your courage for speaking up in class but that is incorrect.\" Some awkward silence passes and she says, again loudly to the whole class, \"Are you embarrassed?\" in an incredibly condescending manner.\n\n3: On a quiz, I translated the phrase \"Diagnosticar un niño es separar la familia\" or something similar as \"To diagnose a child is to separate the family.\" She marks me off two points, claiming she \"wanted the gerund\" and cited certain textbook pages. On these same pages, the book clearly reads \"the infinitive in Spanish can be translated as the gerund or as the infinitive in english.\" I present her with this direct evidence and again she says \"I wanted the gerund. Non-negotiable.\"\n\n4: During our most recent quiz, our task is to translate an idiom. She writes an idiom on the board, relating to January 6th which is apparently a holiday in the Spanish-speaking world. I very politely ask her for the meaning of this holiday, and she says condescendingly to the class \"I would expect an advanced to student to know what this cultural day is. I can't just give you the answer.\" Several other students raise their hands and admit to not knowing the cultural reference. She then tells us what it is, and angrily says \"You're welcome for the answer. Have a good spring break.\"\n\n5: While reassuring one of her favorites about a missed assignment, she talks about the \"class participation\" part of our grade (10%). She openly says \"this is where I can give my favorite students a little bit of a boost.\" She makes direct eye contact with me during this. That's what spurred me to write this.\n\nBeyond these instances, other students have commented to me that they also notice her favoritism and hostility toward me. She has a general air of condescension toward everyone, but it's worse with me. I don't know what to do. I am giving my all, and objectively earning A's according to her rubrics. I have an A in the class right now, but I can just sense that she's going to screw me with this \"Participation grade\", which is not valid because I participate more than almost everyone else in class. \n\nIs there anything I can do? I feel like I have decent evidence and can bring in a fellow classmate to vouch for me if need be. I have no doubts they would take my side.\n\nUpdate: She gave me no feedback on my final paper draft and then proceed to make 80 edits to my revision, and then gave me a lower grade on the revision. I decided this lack of feedback was sufficient enough to go over her head." ]

[ "professors", "undergraduate", "bachelor", "lecture-teaching-method" ]

[ "How to cite a work in a manuscript that is under review?", "I have two manuscripts that I am ready to submit in two different journals. \n\nIn the first manuscript, I have developed two models to be used for my research. Both of them are new and are an upgrade to the currently used models.\n\nIn the second manuscript, I have used one of the models developed in the first manuscript and have carried out an elaborate study. However, I am unsure on how to cite the first manuscript in the second. \n\nCan I cite a submitted manuscript as \"under review\" in another manuscript? What's the correct procedure for citing under review works?" ]

[ "publications", "citations", "paper-submission", "cross-referencing" ]

[ "How often do authors actually perform and publish the work they indicate as the future work they plan to undertake in a publication?", "Quite often authors indicate that they will carry out some more work to complete /extend the project in the future work / discussion section.\n\nE.g.:\n\n\n We need to automatically create new entities; this is work in\n progress.\n\n\nor:\n\n\n In the future, we plan to deploy more sophisticated copy detection\n mechanisms, such as those in [10].\n\n\nI have a high respect for the paper I used as an example, but I have first-hand witnessed other authors who write strong commitments like \"We will do X in a future work\" without any intent to do so.\n\nHence my question: Is there any research/study/survey that looked at how often authors actually perform and publish the work they indicate as the future work they plan to undertake in a publication?\n\nI am fully aware that some formulations seem to indicate a strong commitment, while some are more suggestive (\"some ideas thrown in the air\")." ]

[ "publications", "reference-request" ]

[ "Appropriate way to thank a professor towards the end of the semester", "Let me first say that the I am a first semester student studying in North America coming from a very different cultural background, so I get confused as to what would be okay in not just college but also this part of the world. I am reaching towards to the of my first semester one of my professors has really inspired me and I would like to appreciate them. However I am confused if I should just write an email or give little handwritten card/note. Some questions that come to my mind are:\n\n\nShould I give the note to the professor at the end of the last class (would my class mates judge me?) or give it during office hours?\nI am performing really well in the professors class do I need to wait till the grades are in or is it okay to give it before that?\nIs it okay to say “I hope I can take another class of yours in the future semesters” \n\n\nMy question might sound silly to ask this but I just don’t want to make the teacher uncomfortable especially since this is the first time for me in college and in such an environment." ]

[ "etiquette", "professors" ]

[ "Are there any implications about review paper acceptance if the proposal has been accepted?", "So I recently submitted a proposal to a prestigious review journal. To my excitement, the proposal was accepted, and the journal has invited us to write a full review. Now the official policy of the journal is that acceptance of the proposal doesn't guarantee acceptance of the manuscript.\n\nMy question, I suppose, is mostly regarding how happy I should be about my proposal being accepted. How often do review papers get rejected if the proposal to write them was accepted? Is there still a good chance that our review paper could be rejected? Or does that typically only happen when authors of accepted proposals deviate a lot from the paper that they proposed to write?\n\nThanks in advance" ]

[ "peer-review", "review-articles" ]

[ "Publishing Consumer Fraud", "I'm in the awkward position where I have been giving a data set from a company strongly indicating that consumer fraud occurs in a certain business sector (insurance). The data permits me to identify the corporations conducting the fraud.\n\nI come from a completely different scientific background than consumer law. Therefore, my questions regarding this matter:\n\n\nIs an academic peer-reviewed journal even a suitable channel for this kind uncovering?\nIf published in an academic journal, will I be able to name the companies conducting the fraud?\nWhat journals might be suitable for this?\nDo any similar cases come to mind which I could study?\n\n\nThanks" ]

[ "publications", "ethics" ]

[ "Are informal inquiries about postdoctoral positions liable to be perceived negatively?", "I will graduate in 6-8 months with a PhD in physics and am looking to contact potential postdoc advisers. I will be applying to positions without an advertisement or prior contact with the potential advisers. I have been told by my current PhD adviser that if I wait until I just a few months before graduation, he will make the initial contact for me. I am conflicted because I understand many postdoc positions are planned and filled up to a year in advance. \n\nI don't want to lose out on these positions, so I first want to make informal contact on my own. However, I don't want to jeopardize my chances of getting a position by sending out a poorly received informal email. I'm wondering specifically how informal emails are typically perceived in these situations. Are they liable to be perceived negatively by those professors expecting a more formal process?" ]

[ "job-search", "postdocs", "email" ]

[ "How do I know that I have truly lost interest in research and should drop out of a top CS PhD program?", "I am a second-year CS PhD pre-candidate in a top PhD program. During my first year, I published a first-author paper at the best conference in my area, which I know is a big accomplishment. My advisor is famous in his area and also very caring and supportive, and my labmates are great too.\n\nThe thing is my second project didn't go very well, which caused us to change the entire story right before the deadline. I worked more than 70 hours per week and gave all I could, but there was not enough time to get everything we need in a good shape, and my advisor was frustrated with the progress and pointed out problems that I hadn't seen everywhere. I continued to work, but found myself too frustrated and suddenly lost all interest in research, stopped caring about papers, did as best I could to avoid talking to anyone, and want to leave this place and never come back. I know most PhDs somehow have this feeling, but I notice that this time it's quite serious:\n\n\nForcing myself to work resulted in a breakdown every night with the feeling that all I did was nonsense and meaningless.\nMy first paper has now become a joke, laughing at me that I could never publish with my own efforts.\nI have no intention to participate in lab communication and truly don't want to talk to anyone. I can't even bear to hear others typing due to the feeling that I am the only one who doesn't make progress.\n\n\nHow can I know if I truly have lost my interest in research (and should drop my Ph.D.), or if this is something that I can overcome? After all, if this is the best I can do, why not go somewhere else and use my skills to actually contribute rather than wasting everybody's time? I am so tired of receiving new tasks at 4 am or 11 pm due the next day. I would highly appreciate your advice!" ]

[ "phd", "research-process", "quitting" ]

[ "What are the effects of not taking any humanities courses?", "I am in high school but soon I will be going to college. I already have a hard time dealing with the silliness of high school (on an intellectual level), and in particular I have 0 interest in humanities courses (frankly I think literature is pathetic thing to study). I am interested only in maths and science.\n\nWhen I get to college, I plan only to take maths and science courses and not attend any humanities courses even if they are required as part of the core curriculum. What are the potential ramifications of this assuming the college is one of the prestigious ones like Harvard/MIT. Will a bad grade in humanities course mean less opportunities later on?" ]

[ "undergraduate", "coursework", "note-taking", "humanities" ]

[ "Writing multiple areas of interest in SOP", "So first let me introduce myself. I am planning to apply for masters in mathematics in this year. I am student of bsc. 3rd year of Mathematics. Although my initial interest was to study about algebraic number theory, to know about algebraic number theory deeply, i think one should know about commutative algebra also. So I started a readership on commutative algebra under a professor. But as the time passed I also stared to grow liking for commutative algebra. And now I want to explore more commutative algebra before diving deep into algebric number theory, so here comes the problem. \n\nIn the Sop while applying to foreign is it okay to write about having multiple subject of interest as one is prerequisite of other. Or should I specify one of them. I really want to study algaebric number theory but I also want to know more about commutative algebra. \nAny help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance." ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "graduate-school", "masters", "statement-of-purpose" ]

[ "Why do universities require official confirmation of scores before admission?", "Why do American universities want official GRE/TOEFL scores before admission? It seems to be a waste of time and money for prospective applicants. They can easily use the scores claimed by students in first stages and ask them official scores after admission. \n\nOn the other hand ETS can send official scores directly to universities electrically via Internet without additional cost." ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "language-exams" ]

[ "How to deal with co-PhD student demanding too much time?", "Me and another PhD student have the same schedule. However, they are not pulling their weight and I feel as if I have to do far more than necessary to compensate -- I have to do research, read papers and explain them to them, give presentations, do their work, and have long meetings with them to discuss things that I already know. They read only papers that I specifically recommend, and so are bringing no knowledge/ideas/viewpoints I don't already have. They constantly interrupt me while working and act extremely entitled to (large amounts of) my time. We're at the same point in our PhDs.\n\nThey are rude and I don't wish to invest a significant amount of energy teaching them how to be a functioning member of the department. I have already tried teaching them how to find papers to read and research avenues to pursue independently, and how to manage their time so that I don't need to do the work of the 'group' entirely by myself every time. It hasn't worked. At best, they will go and ask someone else to explain whatever topic I've asked them to learn about, and then we're on the same level again. \n\nWe are involved in research projects together (without anyone else to notice this behaviour) and I do not wish to abandon the projects. We are also required to take classes together with the same goal (to prompt/produce research projects) next semester, and so I want to know how best to handle this before this repeats itself.\n\nWe have to work with one another closely for the next 2 years so I don't want to burn bridges, but I was wondering whether it'd be within reason to tell my supervisor, or whether I should just take action to avoid this person and not burden myself with them as 'co-researcher' or co-TA ever again? I close my office door and let the student know that this means don't interrupt, but this has not been respected. I definitely don't want to isolate myself from the rest of the group but at this point I don't really know what to do except work from home." ]

[ "graduate-school" ]

[ "Switching from Economics to Computer Science?", "I just graduated undergrad with a Bachelor in Science in Economics with a Minor in Business. I hope one day to get a Masters in Computer Science as throughout undergrad I self taught myself programming and got a job in finance at a very respected hedge fund where I'll be combining my finance and coding knowledge (essentially an analyst position where I'll be doing data analysis to support traders at the firm.)\n\nThe job will 100% pay for grad school after 1 year and I want to go for a program in Computer Science or Data Science. I'm wondering what I need to do to prepare for this and what programs are available to me given that my undergraduate degree is in a unrelated subject.\n\nI have an overall GPA of 3.3 due to a particularly poor performance freshman and sophomore year and doing especially poorly in Spanish but I received a GPA of 3.7-3.8 my Junior and Senior years while taking a more advanced and quantitative course load.\n\nI've taken 2 elective classes in computer science and received As in both of them although neither class is a core class for a comp sci curriculum. \n\nI also have around 4 years of self-taught coding experience both in my private life and through several internships that I participated in while at college. I'm proficient in several languages (Python, VBA, Java, and SAS).\n\nWhat type of programs can I expect to be accepted to and what can I do to increase my chances of success? I've heard that I should take ad-hoc core programming classes and study hard for the GRE but apart from that I'm lost." ]

[ "application", "computer-science", "economics" ]

[ "What is the average salary of assistant professor in New Zealand?", "What is the rough salary one should expect from a research university in New Zealand, say in mathematics or sciences areas, at the beginning assistant professor (called Lecturer in NZ) level professor?" ]

[ "professors", "salary", "lecturer", "assistant-professor", "new-zealand" ]

[ "Diagram of education in the Netherlands", "How would the dutch educational system be represented in a diagram? Or put differently, what are the different roads that lead to the academic world in the Netherlands?\n\nPS. This question (\"What are the different roads to get into academics in the Netherlands?\") came up in chat awhile ago, so I drew a diagram and it was suggested I share it as a self answered post as well, because it's a neat resource. Didn't do it back then as some parts lacked, but somebody asked me the same question more generally again so looked up the diagram, finished it and wanted to share it publicly now after all." ]

[ "netherlands" ]

[ "When is it appropriate to wrap text around an image in a scientific paper?", "I am working on a paper and the prescribed style dictates that we should use a single column of text; however, we have some relatively tall and thin images. If they are included in the paper in line they would take up the better part of a page with significant empty space to the sides of the image.\n\nI realize that there are several possibilities to circumvent this situation\n\n\nRotating the image is possible sometimes\nShrinking the image so it does not take up as much vertical space\nCreating graphics comprised of multiple images side by side to create a more favorable aspect ratio\n\n\nHowever, if none of these options are possible is it acceptable to wrap the text around the image? If so are there any examples? Would this be a convention that differs between disciplines?" ]

[ "publications", "writing", "graphics", "formatting" ]

[ "What does it mean that a conference is sponsored by ACM or IEEE?", "Some conferences are established by IEEE and ACM, others by only one of them.\n\nI thought at first that such organizations somehow maintain a certain degree of high quality in the affiliated conferences. But I've seen beginner conferences saying they they are sponsored by IEEE, some say \"technically sponsored\", while they accept poor quality papers. \n\nSo what should \"having the ACM or IEEE logo on a conference's website\" mean to me?" ]

[ "publications", "conference", "ieee", "acm" ]

[ "Does self-study leads to fast but shallow knowledge acquisition", "On another SE site i have read that\n\n\n Self-study often leads to rapid but shallow knowledge acquisition.\n\n\nI'm a software engineer and i spend a lot of time taking math and physics courses on different online platforms. And this sentence makes me worry. Is that true?" ]

[ "online-learning" ]

[ "What are appropriate questions for a closed-door (non-public) part of a PhD (or master's) defense?", "There is a related question about questions to expect for PhD defenses here: What questions to prepare for PhD defense?, but the question (and answers) are referring to the public oral defense.\nGenerally, at least in Biology in the U.S., there is a "closed-door" or "non-public" part of the defense where the committee "grills" the student about all types of things. I am wondering what types of things are appropriate. It seems that sometimes questions are not related to the thesis or dissertation specifically, but general questions in a large field / body of knowledge. If committee members do not provide you with reading material or potential questions, how would one even go about knowing what to expect? Is it appropriate to fail someone for not answering seemingly random questions - as if they are to have encyclopedic knowledge?" ]

[ "thesis-committee", "defense" ]

[ "How to make suggestions to professors on how to teach?", "This is my first time posting here and I apologize if this is not in the relevant forum or site. My question is: is it possible to approach professors to changing their teaching style? and if so, how would it be best to approach this topic?" ]

[ "teaching" ]

[ "Should a reviewer critique language and text copy-paste issues?", "While reviewing research papers, I often find that the author's English is not very good. Considering that English is not everyone's native language, I understand their difficulties, and I recognize that they struggle (using dictionaries and translators) to get their work published at all.\n\nThat being said, I sometimes find papers that have contain English that is frankly terrible, with a few select fragments in pristine, almost Shakespearean English, using words that sometimes I didn't even know existed. When this happens, a quick Google search will occasionally reveal that these fragments are copy-pasted fragments from textbooks.\n\nWhat should I do in these cases? I feel that being too harsh might come of as being mean, but I would really like to emphasize that the practice is very bad for the scientific community." ]

[ "peer-review" ]

[ "Is there research on the extent to which complexity of the proposed method(s) impacts the acceptance rate?", "I heard this speaker at IJCAI complained that his paper got rejected because the methods he used were too simple despite the results being highly competitive (twice the state of the art, at least according to one metric). The complain can be listened in this video at 29'30''. Excerpt:\n\n\n (Addressed to reviewers) Accept simple papers if they demonstrated what they were trying to\n show.\n\n\nIt wasn't the first time I heard such a complain, as simplifying existing solutions is arguably a contribution, yet sometime despised.\n\nIs there any research/study/survey that looked at the impact of the complexity of the method(s) proposed in a submitted paper on its acceptance rate?\n\nI am mostly interested in the field of computer science > machine learning / NLP / data mining, and English-speaking venues." ]

[ "publications", "peer-review", "rejection", "reference-request", "methodology" ]

[ "how to handle double affiliation in a research article?", "I would like to know how to handle the following situation:\n\n\nI was working previously as a part time lecturer, or lecturer paid by hours, in an X university. While working there I developed a lecturing system that helped the students to cope with a subject in computer programming.\nI moved for working in another university Y, in which they employed me for performing lecturing and research tasks. Actually university X did not pay for research, but only for lecturing tasks.\n\n\nI have made a research paper based on the lecturing system that I implemented and tested in university X, but the place that will be paying for its actual publication, if accepted; will be my current place of work. So the question that I have is how should I handle that situation?\n\nShould I put a double affiliation like:\n\nAuthor: Layla\nUniversity Y (the place that is actually paying for the research task)\nUniversity X (my former place of work where I developed that methodology in my free time)\n\n\nor should I only put University Y as my main affiliation?\n\nI was wondering if that is possible, because if I put only as my affiliation university X (in which I am not longer working) they would not pay for the research, leaving me with financial problems to publish the article.\n\nAny help?\n\nThanks" ]

[ "affiliation" ]

[ "Phd computer science", "I m glad to be here.\nI m planning to start a phd in computer science, but i cant find a computer science field to fit my needs.\nI am working on web applications and app applications over 7 years. I know php mysql jquery java javascript and asp. Furthermore i am working on setting up servers. \nMy supervisor want some proposals as regard my phd subject.\nI need a field that i can search new things and offer my services to the science.\nCan you help me?" ]

[ "thesis" ]

[ "Work for college affecting assignment", "For an assignment, I was paired up with a professor who also has an administrative role within my college. The assignment was unique to me, with a competitive process to be chosen for the assignment (or put on to a different one). The assignment was to produce some software for the college.\n\nThe assignment did not require me to completely finish the software. The assignment has now ended, and the professor has informed me that he expects me to receive a good grade.\n\nOutside of my studies, I make a living doing the same work that was required of the assignment (hence why I took it). The professor has asked to meet me to discuss completing the software to the college's specification. The professor is also the one currently marking the assignment. He has offered me an extremely modest sum of money for this - I would never work for this low rate under any circumstances in my job.\n\nI'm concerned that refusing to work for such a low rate will jeopardise my mark as there is a conflict of interest. I do not have any feelings either way for the college and do not feel that I am obligated to complete the software, other than to appease the professor, and the college is very wealthy and so could afford to pay me a reasonable rate. Furthermore, during the course of the work I will graduate and no longer be a student of the college. \n\nI am looking for advice on how to approach this. Would you suggest that I complete the work for, basically, free? Otherwise, how can I sensitively reject the work without affecting my grade?" ]

[ "undergraduate", "software" ]

[ "Are fear and concerns stemmed from being sexual assaulted generally understandable by grad schools? Would it be seen as a negative trait?", "I am a victim of sexual assault and I need to talk to the school (in the US) about it for accommodation reasons. I feel if I don't disclose enough I may not be able to get the accommodation, yet I don't feel comfortable of disclosing that much to the school. I am trying to decide what is safe to say. I am scared and nervous about saying something wrong or causing any consequences. For example, I don’t want to disclose the identity of the people who did it. I don’t want to bring them more back into my life. The people who did it are not related to the school.\nAre these concerns generally immediately understandable by grad schools?\nWould any of the above I mentioned be considered negative traits as a student? For example, sometimes I get nervous and clumsy when I talk about it.\nThank you!\nEdit: Thank you very much for all of your comments and answers. They are all very helpful informations to know. I am sorry if some aspects are not very clear in the questions because I am trying to avoid specific details but still ask questions. In reality it is a very complicated situation." ]

[ "graduate-admissions", "united-states", "communication", "sexual-misconduct" ]

[ "Is it reasonable for an anonymous reviewer to add the completion date to their report to show they completed the review in a timely manner?", "As a referee, I like to submit my reports in a timely fashion in order to avoid unnecessary delays in the publication (and also because I hate when referees spend months and months reviewing my papers). However, I have noticed that sometimes the journal does not make a decision on the paper until several months or weeks later. I have an example when I submitted my report in July and the decision was made in November. I was wondering if it would be correct/ethical to put the date on my report in order to show the authors that my report was submitted on time, even if I am an anonymous referee, and that other referees or the editors are to blame for any delays." ]

[ "peer-review" ]

[ "What can we do about being dissatisfied, morally and practically, by the business-like tactics shown by Universities (in the US and elsewhere)?", "I asked this question: Are universities run more and more like businesses? What are the consequences?\nA couple days ago. The title was edited by someone and I believe the conversation got a bit derailed. I think the title was edited because my original title implied that universities are run like businesses which might be seen as unfair to people but I am just guessing here.\nAnyway, although the responses on my original question were very interesting and I appreciate them, as a young academic myself who will go into the job market in the next 2 years (hopefully) what I am really asking is: Given that you believe the following:\n\nUniversities are run like businesses and put profit above quality\nTenure-track positions are declining while "abusive" positions like post-docs and adjuncts are increasing.\nMeanwhile super highly paid administrators are getting paid more and more.\n\nWhat can we, as academics, do to fight this trend or get out of it? Do any of you feel guilty for supporting what I feel like is straight up corruption? Or am I being dramatic?\nI never complained about the low pay I received as a graduate student because I felt very grateful to be paid at all to learn high-level mathematics. I didn't mind teaching and I love my research. However, I always believed I would do a post-doc or two and become a tenure-track professor if I worked hard enough and published good papers. However, after witnessing what our post-docs go through and seeing some numbers about how pay is distributed within the university, I can't help but thinking that these are not the kind of organizations I want to be a part of even if I do become one of the few successful ones who gets a decent job. So rather than gripe about it, what are some things that can be done? Or is there basically nothing that we can do? I mean, whatever happens, universities are useless without their professors right? Don't we have some kind of power?" ]

[ "academic-life" ]

[ "How to complete homework more efficiently?", "I spend way too much time on homework. I find that I eventually get the material, but this goes after perhaps 7-8 hours wasted daily. I tend to get bogged down by the details of readings, etc. \n\nWhat is a way to stay consistently on track, moving quickly, and finishing homework ruthlessly and efficiently? \n\nI know some people simply do not do homework that is not graded, and I don't see how it is possible to do well in a course if you don't keep up with the concepts presented in class and reinforced by the homework. Therefore, not doing it is not an option for me. \n\nAny suggestions?" ]

[ "homework" ]

[ "Trailing spouse postdoc", "My husband has accepted a postdoc position in a city in Australia with two great institutions where I think I'll have a good shot at securing a postdoc for myself. I have some great connections to researchers there through my advisor and committee members. I'm now doing the groundwork to get my foot in the door as I've not met any of these researchers in person. \n\nHow/should I get around mentioning that I'm moving there as a trailing spouse? It will be pretty obvious, correct? Why else would I be moving there? Should I just be upfront about it?" ]

[ "postdocs", "two-body-problem" ]

[ "PhD salary and teaching assistantships in German-speaking countries", "I am currently searching for a master and then a PhD in Finance/Quantitative Finance. Since I have a certificate in German Language, I could choose German-speaking countries (Switzerland, Germany, and Austria) since their master programms have low fees and PhD students get paied in contrast with other countries as UK,etc.\n\nMy question is about pursuing a PhD and whether I could enhance my income by providing teaching assistance in the University. In these countries, are classes based explicitly on German or English? \nMoreover, do these countries offer a salary for a PhD student, or is the cost of living prohibitive?" ]

[ "phd", "masters", "teaching", "germany", "switzerland" ]

[ "Should I cite the book and ancient text in my paper?", "I'm writing a paper for an undergraduate philosophy class and I am not sure how I should make the citation for the text. I will provide an example.\n\n\n However, we do read from the dialogue Apology, that Socrates had a friend named Chaerephon who visited the oracle at Delphi (Plato and Allen 83, 21a).\n\n\n1.) Should I include the page numbers and the DK numbers? The text I'm using is: Plato, and Reginald E. Allen. The Dialogues of Plato Volume 1. New Haven: Yale Uni. Press, 1984. Print. \n\n2.) Furthermore, how would I format the \"Ibid.\" citation?" ]

[ "citations", "philosophy" ]

[ "Should I tell my PhD supervisor that I am looking for an other position?", "I am not satisfied with my PhD and the research group and I was thinking of looking somewhere else. I would like to stay in Academia for now and I want to apply to other programs (in an other country and university). \n\nShould I tell my supervisor that I am looking for an other position? Or is it better to tell him once I have found something?\n\nThe problem is that I have to contact some professors and there is a minimal possibility that they know each other..." ]

[ "phd", "academic-life", "quitting" ]

[ "What are some of the task planning tools people use in academia?", "I have used simple excel-style Gantt Charts to create a high level plan of tasks for the academic semester, noted the end times depending on conference and grant deadlines, and then managed my time according to the deadline. I have also added details under each task as the semester proceeds. I am wondering if there are better task planning & management tools that people have used, especially when they are working on multiple projects with different deadlines?" ]

[ "productivity" ]