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Software to create repositories of students' software projects
I want to be able to store the software projects my students submit so I can catch plagiarism. Some students copy work from previous years and it would be really helpful if I could find a way to store all projects so I could compare.
My university currently uses moodle but I can't find a way to create a project repository to detect plagiarism. (We do have the JPlag detection system but that only works for projects submitted under one particular group (assignment)).
Any ideas?

I and my university have used Moss by Stanford (http://theory.stanford.edu/~aiken/moss/) - I'm not sure of its effectiveness to detect slight modifications, but it seems to be the standard of most university CS programs.

I've been trying to get registered with MOSS but i haven't received any replies.. Is there a group @Ryan that i could post to? Thank you.

Really? I was able to register with them a while ago before. Maybe do they have a support email?

@Ryan I used my official email and it worked, though they've said that moss is open for any email now.

I and my university have used MOSS (Measure of Software Similarity) by Stanford (theory.stanford.edu/~aiken/moss) - I'm not sure of its effectiveness to detect slight modifications, but it seems to be the standard of most university CS programs.

Have been using a Plagiarism plugin integrated on Moodle Server. This plugin integrates with assignment, forum and workshop activities in Moodle to check user-submitted content for plagiarism provided by UniCheck Course faculty can view the complete plagiarism report, including plagiarism within the class. Plagiarism score/Report can be also shown to students (Optional).

A software program can be coded in multiple ways, which renders plagiarism softwares impossible to detect similar projects/files. Students often change the variables, method names, comments, etc.
In case somebody simply copies a project without a single modification, It can be detected by jPlag. But in case of slight modifications, it is impossible for such softwares to detect plagiarism. Maybe in future AI can prove this whole thing possible.

My question really is about being able to build a repository for projects and then use that to check for plagiarism. What JPlag offers to the best of my knowledge is detecting plagiarism in one group. I'm looking for something like turnitin for source code where it checks against old work too and stores it.

You know nothing about how software works. Everything you've said in your answer is wrong: -1


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Dr. ‹First Name›: a good nickname or a "professional cancer"?
Is the informal Dr. ‹first name› something a starting academic should avoid?
As my father was Dr. ‹my last name›, I have, since receiving my PhD, cultivated Dr. ‹my first name›. A senior colleague recently advised me to stop: she called this unprofessional, and suggested that over time it would be a significant drain on my academic career. She went so far as to label this kind of informality a "professional cancer".
Context: I am an engineer and social scientist based in the USA, but I work with colleagues in Europe and Asia regularly.
While I feel that is hyperbole, I have discussed this with several trusted advisers. The responses have been polarized. Concerns raised include sacrificing respect, confusing personal branding (I have a memorable last name), and making more formal colleagues uncomfortable. Is this a real mistake I'm in the process of making? Is this a simple age division issue? Might the informal name actually be a benefit?

Which country? Which context? To me personally it seems extremely strange.

A country tag might be helpful as in many countries using the Dr prefix is very formal and most people just go by first names.

I tried to write up an answer, but I can not continue unless you explain to us why you want to be addressed as "Dr." at all (instead of just using your regular first or last name).

Let me echo and amplify the earlier comments: this is a purely cultural question.  As such it cannot be answered adequately without knowing more about in which part of academic culture you reside: please include information about your geographic area, subject area and kind of institution (e.g. liberal arts colleges in the US will be less formal than many research universities).

It's your name.  You get to choose but it can cause some confusion. I had professors and colleagues who went by Dr. [first-name] in casual settings but Dr. [last-name] in professional settings.  And I can't even remember one fellow's last name right now - fantastic guy, super smart - Dr. Lew (short for Lewis but again, I don't remember his last name.) In the end it's your work, your style, and your ethics that define you - not your name.

I've just got my PhD and I never heard "Dr. <last name>" in person. This is totally culture dependent.

Please include your area of study.  In my area of the US, it is extremely common for doctors who often (or exclusively) work with children to have Dr.  even embroidered on their white coat.

The only context in which I can imagine "Dr FirstName" being used in Poland without sounding weird would be in in the context of physicians (or dentists, or vets), not necessarily holdoing a doctoral title. For academics, it would seem really weird.

Dr. Firstname makes me think of The Simpsons character Dr. Nick, the world's least competent physician.  Wikipedia: Dr. Nick is an inept quack physician, and a satire of incompetent medical professionals.

It's your identity, you do you. If you own it, a unique choice can make you stand out. If you worry about what other people think, it's a potential weakness. It's more about how you perceive yourself and carry yourself than any cultural standard.

Just use your middle name initial, and that's it. Even a past US President did that (just a joke, of course)

Context now included above. That said, I'm very interested in the international differences...

Listen to your senior colleague, especially if she's on the promotion and tenure committee.

Context and community matter, as others have mentioned. The only time I've heard a doctor introduce themselves as "Dr. " is at the children's hospital where my daughter stayed. Even then, the doctors would use their last name with the parents, but their first name with the children.

Personally I quite like Dr. Firstname. It isn't just informal, but the jarring unexpectedness of it actually serves to actively make fun of pompousness and formality. In a settling like within your research group, it does this while subtly reminding people of your standing: you get to have it both ways. As people have said, in this way it works similarly to being Dr. LastInitial.
Couple of things to add though:

Nicknames are best when they are chosen by the others rather than somthing you christen yourself.
To follow on from that their is subtly in when a nick name should be used and when it shouldn't. People who work in my lab and use a nickname. People who are my colleagues within my department can use them, when talking to others of the same or similar rank. I wouldn't expect people to introduce me in a formal setting (e.g. introducing a seminar) to use it, unless they were very close friends and were making an intentional, but friendly, dig at me.
I feel comfortable dispensing with formality, because my gender, class , ethnicity and elite education mean that I've never found it difficult to get people to show me respect, whatever name is used. By asking others to be informal with you, you are making it hard for those that need the formal strictures to get people to acknowledge their achievements and respect their position. I am reminded of Susan Harlan's poem "My First Name". Where Dr. Firstname sits in the Firstname vs. Dr. Lastname discussion, I don't know.

Extra points for citing a good poem I had not previously read.

Going by "Dr. FirstName" is just confusing. If people aren't familiar with you, they will think it is your last name. If they do know you, it doesn't seem more casual, just odd.
It depends on the context and culture, but in the US it is standard to go by either "Dr. LastName" or just "FirstName." Like Solar Mike mentioned, a shortened form like "Dr. Initial" is sometimes used for students to refer to you.

My wife is a vet in the US, and the norm in that culture seems to be "Dr. ".  I've never heard any of her colleagues call her "Dr. " (though some of the owners do).

Culure is everything here: I once headed a team of bilingual German-English speakers. When the spoke to me in English I was invariably called "First Name" but if they were speaking to me in German they could not bring themselves to be so informal, it had to be "title surname".

As an engineer working in Japan in both Japanese and English I second @JeremyC's comment. This is entirely culture. The safe default may be what the OP is really looking for here -- that would be "Dr. [Last Name]", cross culturally, at least as pertains to professional address. Unless the OP's father was profoundly influential it doesn't matter; and if he was maybe the mixup is a useful lever anyway. Meh.

One of my friends chose to have students call him "Dr. R" (R was the initial of his first name) - he had a huge amount of respect from the students and his colleagues : personally, it's not the name that garners respect, but the attitude, character and spirit of the person.
Do what feels right for you - respect is earned and not necessarily based on a title alone - IMHO...
I have some colleagues whose family name is almost never pronounced correctly by many nationalities (with students from over 90 different countries this is normal for us...), then some easy form of Dr and first name or initial is very common with no detriment to respect.

I have such an unpronounceable last name. I choose to let them call me first name instead of Dr. first name. The reason is that there are clear rules here (Germany) on the correct use of the Dr. title, and Dr. first name is unequivocally incorrect. It would cause more confusion then it is worth. Once you use the title you enter a formal mode of communication, and then those formal rules are important. Unless absolutely necessary I just avoid the formal by using just my first name.

@MaartenBuis “Buis” is unpronounceable in Germany? Yikes.

@aeismail ui is one sound in Dutch is pronounced as /œy̯/ That sound does not exist in German. My wife tried quite hard, but when we married she chose not to take my name, with the argument that she would like to be able to pronounce her own name. I thought that that was a valid argument.

I have a doctorate. Well into our marriage right after my wife got hers our daughter happened to answer the telephone when a caller asked to speak to "Dr. Bolker". Without missing a beat she asked "which one?"  Now she and her brother are Drs. Bolker too and no one mixes us up.
Don't worry about sharing both the title and the name with your father.

My cousin and his wife live with my (now elderly) aunt.  Letters addressed to Dr J Bonner have obviously reached the correct house - but who should open it?

What is the point of the story about your daughter? I cannot find a connection to the question?

@user111388 I thought it tangentially related - two doctors in the family with the same name need not be a problem - and perhaps interesting to other readers here (some seem to think so).

In the middle east and some other parts of Asia, it is standard to address someone this way (title + first (given) name), including in academia.

Would that be in places where the first name is the family name?

@Clearer No, I really mean the given name.  I haven't lived in places where the first name is the family name, so I can't speak to that.

In the Middle East, many people don't properly have last names as understood by East Asians or Westerners. Their treatment of laqab is totally different and can't even be generalized over to their treatment of their own names in English.

Also, this only applies for some values of 'Middle East': Israelis, Turks, and Persians have last names and use them with the title 'Dr' in English.

There are multiple contexts in academia and what is suitable for one context doesn’t necessarily work for others.

For students, there’s great variation in what faculty prefer to be called - from first name only, to title only, to title and first name, to title and last name, etc. And this will differ between students in a large lecture class, in a seminar, grad students, lab students etc.
What faculty call each other in departmental faculty meetings may differ what faculty call each other in faculty senate meetings, etc
What faculty call each at academic meetings also varies greatly

If I were you, I’d feel free to ask students to call me Dr. Firstname as is your preference but to also keep this compartmentalized and go with the cultural norm in other settings.

I assume your Senior colleague is a member of your department. If so, you should follow this senior colleague’s advice. The norms of the department should supersede personal preferences, unless your personal preferences are strongly held. In this case, it seems like if you are ambivalent. Following the department norms will avoid confusion for students and others.

In my experience in the UK it feels odd to use the "Dr" in an academic setting at all. Nearly everybody has a doctorate, so rather than brag about it we just use names.

It works fine for Dr. Phil [McGraw]
and Dr. Laura [Schlesslinger]
Granted, these are media personalities, which fits a different generalized culture than traditional professional academic respect.  Still, this shows that such names can potentially work.
It seems that some people will reject the movement to support common usage of first names.  However, that will primarily be people of the currently older generation, so as they age out, the long term impact on your career will be lessened.  The proper polite thing to do in society is to call people by the name which they prefer.  You are welcome to determine your own preference.  But, you should then be prepared to stick with whatever you choose, especially for as long as you keep your current employer.  Even down the road, if you change the name you go by, worlds can collide and my experience (as I have gone by multiple names) indicates that this can cause a bit of occasional confusion.
Where I currently work, my department has multiple instructors, exactly half of them being older gentlemen, who just go by their first name, and a younger instructor who goes by a title and a last name.  The students just go by whatever they are told to go by, and are fine with it.

I would find it very weird to call myself "Dr. $FIRSTNAME". As the reason for your choice seems to be to avoid confusion with your father's name, how about using "Dr. I. $LASTNAME", where I. is the initial of your firstname. Over time, this would be your trademark of sorts; people who know the difference between you and your father will immediately know who is who; and people who don't know you or your father will at least guess with a high likelihood that you have done that due to a name clash, and not due to some (in)formal/casual issue.

I think we can agree that Dr. $FIRSTNAME is a nicer way to express the variable... ;)

As all answers here suggest, you're going against the generally accepted and more importantly, generally expected way of doing this kind of thing. I and many other would expect Dr. Bla to indicate that Bla is your last name. There is also a somewhat universal, culturally independent link to expected and shown respect between last and first name usage.
If you don't want to be confused with your father, well, append a "Jr.", although you will forever live in the shadow of "Sr."
As an alternative, add a middle initial and always use that. Of course this only realistically will be possible in written communication. When speaking in person it'll all just be Dr. Bla. You being confused with your father will only increase your networking potential (unless he's an idiot who you do not want to be confused with, which you do not seem to imply at all).

To me, personally, this sounds very weird, and probably unprofessional.
As many note, this may be very culturally affected. I am Belgian (although, I work now in Germany, which seems much more formal, when speaking German, but much less so when speaking English, which I mostly do at work).
For me, using the doctor title seems very formal. I would almost never introduce myself as Dr. [Whatever], unless perhaps in a professional setting when speaking with people I haven't met before, and even then rarely. The doctor title seems much more formal than just the last name. I would rather introduce me as Mr. [Lastname] than Dr. [Lastname].
So the combination of Dr. and the first name, seems like a very odd combination of very formal and informal. Which is why it is weird.
Edit: It seems weird because why would you want to use the doctor title if you want to be informal?
It seems also unprofessional (and possibly bad branding), because Dr. [Firstname] makes me think of the likes of Dr. Phil or others. Those who use their first name to seem casual and friendly to the public, but still want to assert their authority by using the doctor title. Typically using it to overstate their expertise for the benefit of making money by selling products or promoting unscientific claims they believe in.

Title FirstName is certainly more informal than Title LastName.  I don't know if it would be "professional cancer" for a doctor, though.  I would say stick with Title LastName.

Depends where. In Brazil, Dr. FirstName is completely normal (the norm, matter of fact...)

@Fábio Dias, oh yes, it was very confusing for me as a German :)

There is no reason why you need to be referred to in the same way in every context. Some are naturally more formal than others and your relationship with some people is more formal than with others. One of the highly respected people I know is "Uncle Bob". I was often Dr. B. But my department chair would naturally be more formal and I wouldn't write any papers with that moniker as author.
Informality can often be good with students. But even then, not in all cases. If you need to admonish students and are normally referred to informally, using your complete name and list of titles can put the student on notice that they need to pay attention.
Of course, if you are in a very formal academic culture, you need to be more formal. Israel, for example tends to be quite informal, but I assume not in all contexts. Their prime minister is known by a nickname, for example. Germany, historically, was the opposite.
I would suggest, however, that for a young academic, building a career, being a bit more formal in public is probably the better way.

source: Stack Exchange

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Accidentally addressed lecturer as Mrs instead of Ms
I accidentally addressed my lecturer as Mrs instead of Ms in an email.
Should I send a follow-up email explaining it was a typo or should I leave it be?

Since requested multiple times in comments: The lecturer does not hold a doctorate or any other academic titles. She also did not specify how she prefers to be addressed before.

I once adressed an important person as "Dead Mr. X" rather "Dear Mr. X"...

@peterh Did you correct it afterwards?

Yes, I wrote a mail on the spot. "Sorry I wanted to write DeaR!". I had luck, he laughed.

I've accidentally called teachers and professors mum/dad on various occasions. Although slightly different it only ended with some embarrassment my side and a laugh between both of us.

@TheLethalCoder I used "granma" several times. The look of astonishment on the teacher face was priceless, even tho I was too embarrassed to enjoy it :)

Most of the professors I've had as instructors and those I've worked with really wouldn't care that much, they are far more focused on their research and teaching.  If they do care, they'll say something and then you just own the mistake ("my mistake" should be enough) and move on.

Just for context, I think you need to tell us if this is a Professor of something like business or engineering, or one of the more shall we say 'progressive' fields like social work or education...

Well, at least you didn't call her "Madame" or "Dowager".

@FábioDias - when I was in the 6th grade I accidently called my teacher - who I really liked and she like me - "Grandma".  She slapped me!  We were both surprised!  (And she was quite upset she had slapped me too.)  Well, if this had been the 80s or later my parents would have sued her and the school for as much money as we could shake out of them.  But in the 60s, not knowing any better, we - and she - just laughed it off.

There are worse typos you could make.  Ever signed off an email with "kind retards"?

I had been emailing with an overseas employer. Both me and a friend were hired. There was one email that I sent in both our names, with the signed contracts. I had mistakenly ended that email with "Kind retards, MyName and FriendsName".

@DawoodibnKareem: I have made all kind of mistakes (calling a teacher "mom" or "dad" many times, etc.). The one you mention is priceless, people came into my office to check if I was fine when I was roaring with laughter. Now I need to add this to my spell checker...

I came here thinking that the OP had somehow sent their professor an email referring to said professor by the wrong gender. By comparison, the difference between mrs and ms seems almost inconsequential :D

We need more information. Where are you, and what field? Does the professor have a doctorate? Has she given any indication in the past on how she prefers to be addressed? Lacking this knowledge and based on my experience in US universities: unless she is unusually picky about such things, using "Mrs." once instead of "Ms." is probably not an issue. If she has a doctorate and you aren't on a first name basis, you should use "Dr. X" or "Prof. X"; "Mrs." instead of "Dr." could be taken as a slight.

I don't understand. Is this really something worth stressing over in academia specifically or is this really just a general thing .. and in that case is it even really a thing then?

I once replied to someone important asking "How are you?", with "fine than you" instead of "fine thank you"

@DawoodibnKareem Dammit, I had to shut my door after laughing too long and loud at that. We're a quiet floor, dang it!

the death penalty

In the Netherlands, the standard is not to distinguish between "Ms" and "Mrs". All adult women are addressed as "Mrs" (even when communicating in English)

Mrs??? omg triggered

I have heard from women (in mathematics departments, in the US) that they prefer not to be addressed as Ms or Mrs.
The issue is that some students address their male professors as "Dr." or "Professor" but their female professors as "Ms." or "Mrs." Perhaps you don't do this, but I would still recommend "Dr." or "Professor" unless your professor encourages otherwise.
Indeed, I know of one female professor who tells students that she is happy to be called "Dr. X" or "Professor X", and happier still to be addressed by her first name, but requests that her students avoid "Ms" or "Mrs".
It should also be added that this in the US, and cultural practices may be different elsewhere.
I don't think it's necessary to send a follow-up e-mail, but since you are worried about it, I think it would be perfectly polite to write something very brief like "p.s. How do you prefer to be addressed? Is Dr. X better?"

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.

Leave it be; just be certain to be exactly correct in future messages.  If she has a doctorate, she's "Dr. Familyname" in the U.S. and many other places.  If she has academic rank, she's "Professor Familyname."
In most universities in the U.S., the title "Professor" is acceptable even for those without doctorate or academic rank.

This. Also, if you have a habit of writing Mrs., add an auto-correct to fix it. It's antiquated and while there are some people who might be mildly offended by your omitting it or using something non-specific (e.g. Ms) in its place, the reverse mistake you made is a lot more offensive.

Regarding Mrs., please see my comment above.  (For whatever it's worth: I have never met a female academic who is offended, however mildly, at being called Ms. rather than Mrs.)

Agreed. In fact, the question is probably mistitled; it should read: Accidentally addressed professor as Mrs instead of Dr – especially on this Exchange.

Is it not weird to use "Dr." when addressing a professor? It seems about half as bad as using "Mr." to me -- making it a point that you don't recognize their professorship.

@Mehrdad Probably not. I think you can be excused for not checking somebody's exact academic position, whereas you normally assume people have a doctorate. Moreover, in the States, people use 'professor' even for people without doctorates, so  you might argue that using this fails to recognise a doctorate. Students used 'professor' to me when I was - and they knew I was - a graduate student. So did one copy shop after I told them not to use 'Dr' on the course reader because I wasn't - they used 'Professor' instead. Which wasn't what I'd had in mind.

@Mehrdad It depends on the school--at my alma mater, we said "Professor" but at my sister's they say "Dr" and we all mean the same respect.

Whisper words of wisdom!

I'm a little surprised at all these references to "firstname" and "lastname". In some cultures the family name comes first. It is clearer to refer to "given name" (the name your parents gave you) and "family name" (the name your parents share). See Personal Name - Wikipedia.

@NickGammon You are correct.  I'll change it.

Leave it be. Don't overthink it. Chances are that she didn't even notice. And if she did, it's highly unlikely that she'll hold a grudge if you correctly address her in future communication.
As others have pointed out, there is no consensus on what is the best way to address someone in professional communication. While many people prefer something as informal as "Hi {firstname}" (this includes people with a PhD or other academic title), others may be a lot more oldfashioned and consider that impolite. If you really feel insecure about how to address a person, it's therefore always better to ask him or her in person before you send your first mail.
Still, in my experience, there's a big discrepancy between how we're taught to communicate when we're young and how we end up communicating professionally once we're actually out there working 40+ hours a week in a real job that requires us to communicate with multiple people on different continents throughout the day. In the real world, people tend to be much less formal (and more focused on getting things done) than we're taught to be as youngsters. This includes professors and other academic staff. So as I said in the beginning : don't overthink it.
This cartoon captures it pretty well :

I have been seen academia in two countries: India and Netherlands.
In Netherlands, most professors are super busy and they really know that such a mistake was typo. In such cases, if you send an additional mail it just is one more mail for them to read. (They will still not be angry at you for doing so) Thus, you don't have to explain such a typo and correct yourself next time.
In India, almost most professors are busy. Above solution applies. But there are a few professors who take it personally and get offended if you do not address them 'Dr.'
(P.S: In both of the above countries, there is high probability that you might get to work with a professor whom you can address "Dear First_name,")

first name??? not last name?

Yes. My professor addresses me "Dear Ram" and address my email back as "Dear First name" and after a while emails become just chats without formal texts in it.

I can confirm that as a Dutch academic, I would be very confused if someone were to say Dear Jansen (as that combines informal and formal) as opposed to Dear Bas.

@BasJansen but Bas is your name

Even in the US, (in my experience with engineering departments at least), it's quite common to be on a first name basis with your advisor.

@SSimon My initial comment (above) was as an answer to your 'first name??? not last name?' statement, which to me suggested that you were surprised that someone would use the 'Dear First_name' option as this answer suggested.

yes,  I never know in EU is common to call a professor by name @BasJansen I always thought it is not polite.

@SSimon Not all of the EU, but some parts. Working in Scandinavian academia, I would also never dream of addressing a professor I know by their title and last name—they would think I was angry at them or something. Meanwhile, just south of the border in Germany, I’ve known students who would go out to a bar with their teachers and have beers with them and still call them “Dr. Last_name”.

@JanusBahsJacquet - My experience in Scandinavia and Germany match your description.

Don't worry about it. Most professors are both hardened in many senses by the stress in their everyday job and also have lots of duties so they can't let such silly things bother them. There is a fair chance he has not even seen your email if it did not have a course name in the subject line.

Upvoted for creative use of the word "he".

In Academia a professional title should be used as the primary form of address. Perhaps I am in the minority of people that had instructors without PhD. If your professor has PhD, then the mistake (according to etiquette of the majority) was not calling her "Doctor" or "Professor". For that, I personally would correct and apologize as it really can be received by the Professor as a significant lack of respect, and since that was not your intent then an apology is appropriate.
Likewise, non-PhD instructors should not be called "Professor" because that is a title one earns through their PhD completion and then progressing up the academic ranks, so is disrespecting of the Professors that have earned that title and rank.
Here is a list of academic ranks by country: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_academic_ranks
This has good info for addressing non-PhD instructors:
How to address an academic without a PhD
For non-PhD instructors, I'd follow general business etiquette such as this: https://www.thebalance.com/when-to-use-miss-mrs-or-ms-3514830
Unless of course the instructor has instructed or voiced another preference.
If a Professor has said it is acceptable to call by first name, I would only do that in private one-on-one. If the Professor has said it is permitted in a class setting, I would do so as long as there are no peers or superiors of the Professor present.

I think a professor is a professor and can be addressed as such regardless of whether they have a PhD. The title one earns through a PhD is Doctor.

non-PhD instructors should not be called "Professor" — This obviously varies by country and/or field.  In the US, it is definitely appropriate to address instructors as "professor", regardless of their formal academic rank or academic history.

It does depend on the country and local customs. In Australia the primary form of address is more likely to be their first name, even if you haven't met them before.

JeffE and @PatriciaShanahan, in the US yes, but not in central Europe. In my country a professor can be addressed as such only after being given the formal full professor title by the president of the republic after being approved by the university. And grammar school teachers, but that is a different kind of "professor", not aplicable to universities. And never first name, that is unthinkable (maybe some young TA).

At a US community college there can definitely be professors and even department chairs without PhDs.

Yes, things vary by country and culture. In the US, "Professor" is a fairly high rank in a University.

Further to @DavePhD's point, I sometimes volunteer with a community college robotics group. The professor in charge does not have a PhD, and will not answer to "Doctor X". He does answer to "Mr X", "Professor X" and his given name. Most students use "Professor X". As a community volunteer, I'm "Patricia" not "Dr. Shanahan".

Apologize briefly - next time.
Next time you have a reason to send her an email, add a sentence saying "I noticed that in my last email I mistyped 'Mr. X' instead of 'Mrs. X'; please accept my apology."
Also note that both honorifics may be wrong as @Anonymous suggests.

I cannot imagine she paid any attention to it, unless she should, by rights, be addressed as "Dr" or "Professor". I wouldn't bring it up. However, if it's really bothering you, or if she's already explicitly asked you (individually or as a group) to call her "Ms", you can briefly apologize the next time you see her. "Oh, by the way, I'm sorry I called you 'Mrs' in an email the other day. I know you prefer 'Ms' and I didn't realize until after I'd sent it."
Also, just as a data point, I prefer "Ms" even when using my husband's last name because I was raised according to some now-outdated social guidelines. One of those guidelines is that a woman is "Mrs [husband's first name] [husband's last name]", because "Mrs [woman's first name] [husband's last name]" is only used once he's dead.

As you say, referring to John Smith's wife Jane as "Mrs John Smith" rather than "Mrs Jane Smith" tends to come across as very old fashioned. Today, some women find it rather offensive and I wouldn't recommend people use it.

@ZeroTheHero "Ms" was a thing back in the 70s and 80s, taking the place of both "Miss" and "Mrs." It doesn't imply that the person is still a child, and is not pejorative; in fact, back in the 80s I was on more than one occasion aggressively corrected to "Ms" by women whom I had addressed as "Mrs." I don't know whether it's still being used much nowadays. But the issue it sought to correct I see as a valid one: there's no reason that women should be characterized as married or not married by their form of address, while the same doesn't hold for men.

@ZeroTheHero You are mistaken "Miss" (and technically "Master" for boys) is for children. That's what British Airways used to call them, when they still had their unaccompanied minors programme (until about 2 years ago). "Miss" for unmarried women is still in use the the UK, but NOT in academia. Just don't.

One advantage of a doctorate is that it avoids the whole Miss/Mrs/Ms issue.

@DavidRicherby, no doubt. I'd never hold anyone to it, nor would I ask them to observe it. But deep down, whenever I see my name written as "Mrs. [kmc] [Doe]", it gives me the tiniest sensation of the creeps, lol. Thanks, Mom.

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authors: Vladimir F Героям слава


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Questions about authorship rank and academic politics
Disclaimer! I am a first year CS/Applied math master student so I do understand very little in how academia works. I am trying to fix it before I go into PhD.

I have discovered a scientist who works in the field I am interested in. This scientists is very successful career-wise. The scientists finished a prestigious university and had stays in very good places. Now the scientists is an assistant prof in a high-ranking US university.
However, literally >90 %  of his papers were written in co-authorship (as a rule, not the first nor the last author) with other more experienced researcher who we recognized as leaders in the fields. In fact, the only solo paper the scientist has is ones thesis! All PhD students so far have been also co-advised.
I have very little research experience but it seems to me that coming up with a good idea one can further develop is the trickiest part. Implementation (or, sometimes, even writing down actual proofs) is a technical work. I guess that the coauthorship was earned for some implementation work. It seems to me that there are much more people capable of / actually doing these technical work both in academia and in industry who do not get such recognition as the aforementioned scientist.
I may be envy but I find very little proofs of that scientist actual skills. Instead I have a feeling that the scientist makes very wise political decisions or is good as self-advertising.
Also I did very limited empirical studies and found that researchers who have highly-cited solo papers tend to have higher (4K +) citation counts then those who have almost exclusively co-authored papers.
My question is many-fold:

is what I have described normal? Update. Is it normal to have almost exclusively co-authored papers?
what should I do to mimic that behavior. It does not seem to be noble at all but apparently this is how successful academia people work.
Are indeed funding and promotions based on citation counts? If this is not the case, how those researchers without solo papers are assessed?
Is it true that those researcher who has successful solo papers are much better supervisors?

Update. I am talking here about theoretical research in CS/Applied Math. I guess in other fields there are many more opportunities for equally valuable contributions of many sides.

Co-authorship is more common in many academic fields when compared to solo authorship.

IMO, ideas are cheap. Work long enough (and not even that long) on a problem / field, and you'll have dozens of idea to try every month. The hard part is going through the work of implementing them, see if they work, if not why not (and how long do I want to spend trying to figure it out, vs trying something else). There is no point in time when you have an idea and say "Ah, perfect, I solved the problem, now just need to code it up and I'm done".

I should point out one of the most famous of co-authors in math: Paul Erdős. Erdős never won a fields medal or even wrote a seminal paper as a solo author. What he did do was "wander" around to different universities and help people solve problems. He was an extremely prolific writer (over 1500 published manuscripts) and is considered one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century. The ultimate mathematical Renaissance man who could seemingly work on any problem.  I think you would have quite a bit of difficulty in arguing that because Erdős never wrote a classical mathematics paper as a solo author, he was not a tremendous mathematician. (Though to be fair, in the past decade, his paper "On Random Graphs" can now be considered a classical work of mathematics. It just took 50 years for the work to become highly applicable).
I relate this story because having lots of co-authors does not necessarily mean having bad skills. Now I am not saying your professor is the second coming of Paul Erdős (I can't think of anyone currently in academia who can claim that mantle) but they might have other skills you are not giving them their due credit for.
Never underestimate the power of being able to organize a group of smart people and get them to work together on the same problem.
To answer your questions specifically-

It's neither normal or not normal. Tenure positions are rare enough that there are certain metrics that are highly predicative (e.g. individuals who are ahead of the publication curve for their field tend to get hired in tenure positions) but there is no conclusive metric. Individually, there is enough variance within each position that you cannot really say.
Collaborate! Having only solo author publications is probably not wise (unless you are in a field that is big on monographs). Having a variety of publications where you are first author, second author, and a middling author show your ability to collaborate and be a team player.
Yes, clout does increase likelihood of getting accepted. Being a big wig with 10,000 citations at an elite university means you are more likely to get a grant than someone with a handful of publications from an R2. But to be fair, the qualities that led that person to be a big wig probably translate into their writing and research caliber as well.
I have never seen any research or evidence that suggests that.

+1 And to answer the question "how those researchers without solo papers are assessed?" — They are assessed crudely by counting their publications, and more effectively by actually reading their papers, just like  researchers with solo papers.

I don't think Erdos is a good example here. Yes, he famously had lots of collaborators, but he also wrote over 400 solo papers.

I think you are misinterpreting the data. What you seem to think of as "wise political decisions" is really just collaboration. Collaboration is a good thing in general. I'm not sure why you think that the leaders of the field would put up with someone just "hanging onto their coattails". I think they would probably resent that implication.
My suggestion is that you give up trying to "stand above everyone" and find some people who are as good as you are and start to share ideas and start some collaborations. If you wind up in a place that has a small faculty, then having already established a circle of collaborators will help your career greatly.
The person (maybe people) you open with have good positions because they were judged to have good potential. Their "citation counts" and all of that were just evidence of that potential. Their vast network of collaborators was likewise.
As you say, you are in a field in which insight is (all) important, but also rare. Sharing ideas can help. Hoarding doesn't.

Their "citation counts" and all of that were just evidence of that potential.

I see here a little bit of a "chicken or the egg problem".  If citations come exclusively from co-authred papers, how do we know about the potential?

Again, it may that I am biased and envy. However, imagine the following. There is a bright student who gets good grades. He gets a chance to do an internship in a good team under the supervision of the leader of the field. The student gets some work done say implements some algorithms or helps to write the paper. He becomes a co-author. Yet what was done is totally comparable with home assignments which do not even require being creative.

@GlossyRetirement Why don't you try working solo and see how far you get? (this is not meant sarcastically, it will really answer your question in by far most cases)

I've tried and find it super hard. In fact I had written several "papers" which are unpublished because the progress I had was meager. So I guess that the answer is that these people do collaborative research because it is easier?

Not "easier". Just more productive. Don't expect to be an expert at something having only just begun the journey. There are many steps to be taken.

I risk to go off tangent here. I am currently working with a prof. I disagree with him on the direction my internship should take. My attempt to gently change his mind has failed. Now I have to choices: either just carry on with his plan, "collaborating" and not spoiling my relations with him despite what I consider is the right thing to do. Or I can escalate the issue a little bit by making him actually have a discussion with me and thus risking not "being judged as having a good potential".

Now, obviously the prof is much more experienced than I am. Before I started the internship with him this prof had enormous authority in my eyes. Now I find him my less "cool". Citations counts were one of the reasons I though he was a very good researcher. But now I questions my prior because his cited papers were co-authored with people who are more "successful" (at least , if judged by the citation counts) then he is.

All collaboration requires compromise.  On the other hand, actual collaboration doesn't mean bowing to authority; if you have concerns, you absolutely should discuss them with your collaborator, openly, honestly, and respectfully. This will improve your relationship with him far more than either silent deference or open defiance. (But note well: ultimately deferring to experience after good-faith discussion is not the same thing as bowing to authority.)

I'm not sure what part of theoretical CS you're considering. In the parts I'm familiar with, co-authored papers are very much the norm, and author lists are alphabetical, so there's no significance in being first or last author. Other areas use other author-ordering criteria but co-authored papers still seem to be the most common case.
Citation counts differ dramatically between areas. For example, I have just finished a 50-page (co-authored) paper that cites about 25 other papers.  In contrast, a seminar announcement on our departmental mailing list linked to a 14-page paper in another area of CS that cited more than 80 papers (or, should I say a 9-page paper with a five-page bibliography?). If that paper is typical of its field, citation counts must be much higher there than in my area.  Perhaps your citations-vs-single author comparison is comparing a field where a typical paper has one author and cites a lot with a field where a typical paper has several authors and cites less.
There are plenty of universities where co-advisorship of PhD theses is common. Think of it as a sort of insurance policy in case the student doesn't get along with one of their advisors, coupled with two heads being better than one. It's not a reflection on either advisor's skills as an advisor.

I guess that the coauthorship was earned for some implementation work. [...]
  I may be envy but I find very little proofs of that scientist actual skills. Instead I have a feeling that the scientist makes very wise political decisions or is good as self-advertising.

Wow, you're spectacularly dismissive. From reading your question, I get the impression that you believe that scientific publication is primarily to prove how awesome the author is, that co-authorship must necessarily dilute that awesomeness, and that the only reason to bring on a co-author is to get them to do the boring parts. That's not how it works. Furthermore, unless you're reading papers that explicitly state what the contribution of each author was, your guesses of who did what are exactly that: guesses, and guesses based on almost no information. Don't condemn people based only on your baseless guesses.

c) Are indeed funding and promotions based on citation counts? If this is not the case, how those researchers without solo papers are assessed?

No. Not applicable.

d) Is it true that those researcher who has successful solo papers are much better supervisors?

Why would it be?  They seem completely unrelated concepts, to me.  If I had to guess, I'd guess that the researcher with many co-authors is better at working with other people, so is better at working with students. Doesn't that make more sense?

I am talking here about theoretical research in CS/Applied Math. I guess in other fields there are many more opportunities for equally valuable contributions of many sides.

Your guesses about theoretical CS aren't something that I, a theoretical computer scientist, recognize as a description of my field.

co-authored papers are very much the norm,
I am not questioning this. I am asking more about a researcher having only such papers.
Citation counts differ dramatically between areas
I am comparing counts in the same field. Moreover, I have seen the same authors listed in direct (X, Y) and in the reversed order (Y,X).
scientific publication is primarily to prove how awesome the author is,
sure, but isn't this part very important career-wise? If not that then what?
guesses, and guesses based on almost no information Agree.

@GlossyRetirement Can you find researchers in your field with single-author papers? What's the ratio between such researchers and those with no single-author papers?

@GlossyRetirement When co-authored papers are completely normal, having only co-authored papers is also pretty normal. I don't understand why you think there's something wrong with co-authored papers. Let me be absolutely clear: co-authoring is not an indication of any kind of inadequacy. Career-wise, doing high-quality research is what matters, and collaborative research is fine. You're not going to get somebody looks good who consistently contributes almost nothing to papers, because people will only work with them once, and it's hard to keep finding new collaborators.

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How do I pick good keywords for literature alerts?
F'x has made a very informative post here about staying up to date with current research.
My question concerns the "publication alert" part of it. To be clear: I am asking about setting up an online service, such NCBI PubMed, to send you a notification (for instance, email) whenever a paper matching certain search criteria is published.
The objective is to get a decent number of notifications, but not so many that you are swamped and unable to actually pay attention to them. Also, the notifications that you do get should be prioritized the most important papers.
The biggest problem I am having is coming up with effective keywords. If I try to make myself come up with general keywords (such as those that might be given in the article's own "keywords" section), it seems that I end up with keywords so general that I would get thousands of notifications every week.
Alternatively, I could try to come up with very specific keywords, but how do I select those? What if they are too specific, and an important paper gets published without using my particular obscure keyword?
Surely people are not born with a natural talent for thinking of good keywords. So how can I train this skill?
Furthermore, is there a systematic method to deduce good keywords given a body of "gold standard" relevant literature? (I mean things such as statistical analysis of the text)
I know that it can be worthwhile to focus on certain "big player" authors. But if in a field with thousands of authors (eg. cancer), how does a new researcher map out who is important and who is not? Furthermore, the biggest players are probably PIs of huge labs, who already publish a very large volume of papers, so we are again at odds with the "not too many notifications" problem.
Another possibility is looking at citation metrics to identify the most important papers, as Google Scholar does. But clearly, this is not effective for new papers - who will cite a paper published last week?

Google Scholar gives me automated updates, which it says are based on my citations profile. I wonder if you can sign up for automated updates based on, say, your search history, or of a set of papers you select.

Here is Google's page about Scholar Updates: http://googlescholar.blogspot.com/2012/08/scholar-updates-making-new-connections.html

You have quite a few questions here: (1) how to choose keywords effectively in Google Scholar, (2) how to deduce keywords given a corpus of literature, (3) how to map out important researchers in a field. This question is generally relevant, this one is relevant for (1).

One of the biggest problems is that there are, in fact, waaay to many relevant papers coming out; that's because there are lots of articles published each month in many different fields.
The approach I found most useful was threefold:

Set up author-specific alerts for the big names in your field. Read both those articles and the citations. They know the literature and will cite stuff you should be familiar with.
Set up alerts to see when someone cites a seminal paper. In my research, there were certain seminal papers that everyone participating in my tiny subfield would always quote. Find those and set up alerts when someone cites that.
Read the most popular article(s) of the month (most downloaded/shared/read in your journal of choice) to stay on top of interesting stuff that's going on.

+1 for "when someone cites a seminal paper" - very good idea I hadn't thought of.

@Superbest actually that's in the Fx post you were referring to.

@Bitwise - I didn't even realize that was there. Now I feel like I copied (albeit without knowing). Sorry, F'x...

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