text:
Post-publication "marketing". Is it necessary?
Upon publication, many of my peers share their articles on Facebook, Twitter or their personal blog. I do not have an account for such tools (because I simply do not need them for other purposes). One of my peers approached me telling me that I "waste a lot of potential" to distribute my articles. Would you agree on that? Is it necessary to "promote" articles post-publication?
Background: my field is medicine, I publish 80% of my work in open-access journals.
Balancing clinical work and research is tough, I fear that I have to spend a lot of additional time on such networks.

My Facebook friends sometimes post links to their articles. I do not read them because they are not remotely related to my field. Posting on Twitter or your blog may be more fruitful if (or when) you become a popular individual in your field

It depends on your goals.
If you are in the early stages of your career, then marketing your publications has real potential to improve your visibility with your colleagues and with that your career opportunities.
If your research has applications in the "real world", and you want your research to benefit people outside academia, then you need to reach policy makers, the general public, and/or businesses. In that case publishing even in open-access journals is nowhere near enough.
However, marketing your publications is less of a priority if you are happy with your current position and your research is mainly relevant to your discipline and others in your discipline take care of informing people outside academia.

Research and the subsequent writing of papers uses up a lot of time and resources.
If by promoting your research after publication you increase visibility, readership and impact of your paper, it means a more effective use of those resources.
But choosing the right channels is key: professional and academic sites like LinkedIn or ResearchGate are probably a better place to promote your research to peers than Facebook, where your paper announcement might get lost between cousin Joe's wedding announcement and an ad.

The "best" place is the one where your community meets and where you personally have a network. Whether that is LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, WeChat, or something else probably depends on the circumstances. I'm pretty sure it's never RG, though ;)

@xLeitix I know many people aren't the biggest fans of RG, but in my field it is a good place to find new research.

The way I read the OP's question is that it is primary about a trade-off. If time were free then marketing your papers will make it more effective. However, time is not free: a minute spent on marketing is a minute not spent on something else. If the minute spent on marketing would instead be spent on being a better clinician for her/his patients, or even relaxing so (s)he can better handle the stress of research and clinical work, then the trade-off becomes a lot more complex.

Thank you Marteen Buis, this is is exactly my question.

I had this question recently myself and ended up creating (separate) professional account for the simple reason that in the - non-representative - sample of peers I observed, those who had these accounts were more successful (in getting promoted, grants, etc.). I do not think this is because of their use of social media, I attribute it to their networking skills, which are obviously very important.
I spend about 5-10 minutes per week on this, so it is not too much time, and I have ran into several calls for papers, seminar flyers and other relevant information I may not have found in time otherwise.
I do recommend keeping your personal and professional life/accounts separate, though, if you have both (accounts, I mean).

It depends on your goals, but some sort of networking is pretty much needed, yes.
Most of the things published in journals are not some kind of scriptures to be etched in stone and left there for eternity. No, the entire point of publishing your results is communication. How "successful" you are by whatever metrics is not nearly as important as the fact you are not really advancing science if no one reads your research. Blogs can be questionable, too, but it still widens the outreach. Rubbing shoulders at conferences, giving interviews, just chatting with people helps your research to gain visibility and, ultimately, provide you with much-needed resources to continue and improve.
Doing full-scale public education about your work is even better, but can be incredibly taxing. And some people absolutely overdo self-promotion - as in, it starts being detestable from a fellow researcher perspective, but bureaucrats love it nevertheless. So all in all, it is not an easy task to balance it well, but you should try to find what works for you.
I would not necessarily say you are crippling yourself by not wearing a SMM hat in addition to all the other ones you have, but if your peers constantly find themselves ignorant about your research because you are absent from all the platforms they are getting their feed from, it is time to change it.


text:
Difference between "Accept" and "Final Decision Accept"
We have submitted a manuscript to a reputable BMC journal. A few days ago, we received a mail stating that our article was accepted. In the Editorial Manager software, it says " accept " under "current status". Our previously submitted manuscripts to that particular journal have the status "Final Decision Accept". May I ask whether there is any difference between "final decision accept" and "accept"? I am asking since the field "final deposition" is still empty for our recent article.

"Final Decision Accept" is a weirder way of saying "Accept". Congratulations.

I know my question may sound stupid but I heard that "accept" is something conditional whereas final decision accept is not?

@Dr.M This is going to depend on the specifics of how the individual journals administer themselves. Often when the editor clicks 'accept', the decision is not instantly communicated to the authors. Instead various internal processes happen first: some journals may send the decision to another editor (or the Chief Editor) for approval; in others there may be administrative processes that take place before the decision is sent out. Technically it's not final until it's final, but in the majority of cases the decision will not change.

Chances are "Accept" is when the editorial board member handling the paper recommends acceptance, and "Final decision: accept" is when the editor-in-chief formally accepts the paper.
Congrats!

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


text:
Should one wait with resubmitting revisions until the very last day?
A colleague of mine recently suggested to wait with the re-submission of a revised article until the very end (e.g. the deadline day). His rationale is that reviewers might be less inclined to dig in the matter again after a certain time has passed. Based on his experience, the chances of acceptance are therefore higher.
I doubt this believing that the revised version content is the only decisive factor.
May I ask whether you agree on said colleague's statement?

In my experience, both as author and reviewer, and looking also at my closest's colleague behaviour, your colleague's statement is unfounded.
I'd say that the willingness by the reviewers to dig in the matter again  depends mostly on the types of issues found at the time of the first submission, on the interest generated by the paper and on the journal's perceived quality.
Personally, I tend to resubmit as soon as I can find the time to do it, possibly within a few days, for two reasons. First, tasks always pile up and there's always the possibility that incoming urgencies make it difficult to complete certain tasks or easy to forget about them (oh, shoot, the deadline for the resubmission was yesterday!): so, my policy is to get rid of what's possible as soon as I can. Second, if among the coauthors there are PhD students or other young scientists, for them it's better to publish sooner than later because there might always be an application around the corner. In any case, I haven't perceived any difference in the reviewer's responses depending on the time of the resubmission, and I've never changed my reviewing's style depending on it.

And a delay might cause one's paper to miss a publication cycle.

Based on his experience, the chances of acceptance are therefore higher.

I don’t think that anybody can make robust empirical statements about this.
Journals can’t because revision time also correlates with actual effort put into the revision, and thus they would to have even more reviews to normalise for paper quality. Of course, your colleague knows whether he delayed a resubmission deliberately, but I doubt that he has sufficiently many samples to substantiate a claim¹.
Thus, all that remains are arguments.
¹ In fact, I have witnessed many scientists exhibit weird superstitions on what will appease reviewers or audiences, presumably based on one or two experiences, where something worked or a reviewer made a bizarre demand. How can I know that these are superstitions? Well, many are clearly contradictory, and they can’t all be right.

His rationale is that reviewers might be less inclined to dig in the matter again after a certain time has passed.

From my peer-reviewing experience, I think there are three main flaws with this argument:

Unless the revision comes very quickly (say, within a week), I have to dig into the topic again anyway, whether it has been three weeks or a year – and I have experienced both.

I am skeptical that “not digging into the paper” generally leads to more favourable reviews. Suppose my first recommendation on a manuscript has been “major revisions” or worse (otherwise you have little to worry about anyway).
Then this is the baseline with which I go into the second round of review: The manuscript and response have to convince me that the problems have now been fixed. This can only happen if I engage with the topic and the manuscript. Of course, there are reviewers whose lazy stance is benign, but I see no reason to assume that they predominate or you can predict whether you have such a reviewer.

If I don’t want to engage with a manuscript again (for whatever reason), there is a decent chance that I simply decline to review. This results in a considerable chance that the editor seeks the opinion of a fresh reviewer, who in turn is much more likely to have completely new issues with your manuscript.

I doubt this believing that the revised version content is the only decisive factor.

I find that a bit idealistic because peer-reviewers and editors are humans and come with all sorts of biases and similar. But yes, at least my rosy view of my own reviewing is that solving my major concerns is by far the best thing you can do in a revision, be it by amending your manuscript or arguing that my concerns are ill-conceived. There is an amazingly clear-cut difference between resubmissions who try and succeed and those who attempt to wiggle around this. All manuscripts I recommended to reject in a second round spectacularly failed at this hurdle.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
How should I cite the beta version of a book used for a talk?
I'm using the beta version of a book that was given to us as the course material by the author (the instructor of the course), for a presentation. How should I reference it? There are older versions of it already published, does it make sense to cite those and mention that I used the beta version of the soon-to-be-published edition?

The most important thing about referencing any source of information is that your audience can find the source, either now or (if the source hasn't been published yet) in the future. Lots of referencing questions become easier if you stick to this principle.
If there are specific standards in your field – for example if you are doing this presentation as part of the assessment for a taught course – then you should stick to those standards. Many referencing guides have sections on referencing 'forthcoming' or 'in press' material. For example, the US National Library of Medicine has detailed instructions for this. Similarly, the APA Style Blog has advice on citing material that is still being prepared, that has been submitted but not accepted for publication, or that has been accepted but not yet published.
If a search for 'forthcoming material' on the website of your preferred or mandated referencing style doesn't produce any useful results and the presentation is for credit, your university library will probably be able to provide advice. If they can't help you, simply asking your instructor will also probably produce a useful answer.
If there are no particular standards for you to follow (e.g. it's a conference presentation and the organisers don't mandate a particular style), you can stick to the principle of making sure your audience can find a source by simply choosing a referencing style and sticking to it. For example, one of the examples on the NLM instructions page is:

Posner MI, Rothbart MK. Educating the human brain. Washington: American Psychological Association. Forthcoming 2007.

As long as your audience can find the book, that's what matters most.


text:
Should I provide trademarks/real names in my scientific paper?
Let's assume I want to compare the nutrient content of selected beverages available on the market. The number of beverages is limited to about 10 items. The aim of this small project is to show that all beverages differ substantially with regard to a particular nutrient. I perform a descriptive comparison.
Should I provide trademarks (e.g. Cola, Pepsi, ... ) or should I call them "Item 1" , "Item 2", etc? I am asking because I am not affiliated to any company and this is not meant to be an advertisement. I received no money from any company and I have no conflicts of interest. I would like that to be clear for the reader.
Note: this is just an example. The real background is not about beverages but I selected that example for illustrative purposes. It is not meant to be a comparative study in a way of promoting a particular item but in a way of showing that differences exist and that the selection should be done wisely.

It is perfectly fine to use trademarks in publications.
I would argue that if you compare those, you should include their names or brands etc. This is important for the reproducibility of the study.
I would only make sure that you keep it very systematic and objective your assessments. You don't want that it seems that you have a bias.
If you are worried, you can always add a disclaimer that you are not affiliated in any way with any of those brands or projects.

Also in the name of reproducibility specify the location and/or source. This is common in biology (different sources of the same reagent may have different properties). For a more real-world example, the blend of certain worldwide brands of cigarettes is actually different in different countries.

@ Stefan Thank you so much for your insights. I am worried a little as I compare a specific kind of supplements. I heard that some journals in medicine suggest to use trademarks only when absolutely necessary.

@Dr.M I don't know medical journals. But, in engineering, it wouldn't be an issue. Also, have a look at the journal guidelines and ask your supervisor if you are unsure. In any case, the journals are peer-reviewed, so they will let you know if you need to make them anonymous.
One last thought: Make sure you pick a sufficiently large set of different products, with an objective selection: for instance, the top 10 products of the market (largest market shares, most expensive + least expensive, or something similar). Otherwise, you will get the question, why do you pick those?

In general, use whatever names are necessary to clearly present your results. Whatever you end up using, you should include all the details (brand name, manufacturer, lot number, etc...) in your methods.
More specifically, if the goal of your study is to investigate specific formulations of a common supplement (for example), you should use the brand names - that's what you're investigating. Abstracting your objects of interest to "item 1, item 2, item 3..." is clunky to write and difficult to read. No-one wants to repeatedly search through your paper to figure out which "item" is which.
The only exception might be a generic, lab grade control, which you could safely refer to as "control" and define in the methods.


text:
When is it useful to wait for the resubmission of a revised manuscript?
I recently attended a conference and witnessed an interesting discussion between a PhD and his supervisor. The supervisor recommended his student to "wait with the re-submission until the very last day". Context: they received a tough review report and may not address the raised concerns. The supervisor claimed that many reviewers would be unavailable during Christmas and that they might be lucky to be assigned a new reviewer. Does that make any sense? In my view, journals would just wait until he is back. Could you think of situations where it is advisable to wait with the re-submission of a revised manuscript ?

"they might be lucky to be assigned a new reviewer" What if they are unlucky to be assigned an even tougher reviewer ? (Some people are so bored during holidays)

Does "when the revised version isn't ready" count?

dear Nobody, this is not my personal opinion. I am just curious and used this scenario as a recent background for my question.

I know. I was talking about the supervisor's recommendation.

As Nobody writes, waiting in this particular situation can go either way. Maybe you get assigned new reviewers, who may be (a) even tougher than the old ones, or (b) are not necessarily tougher, but raise issues orthogonal to the original reviewers, which adds to your work in the next revision (and hopefully makes your paper even better). Maybe the original reviewers do have a lot of time over the Christmas holidays and can go over your revision with a fine-toothed comb. Maybe they are extra grumpy (time with family can do that).

Could you think of situations where it is advisable to wait with the re-submission of a revised manuscript?

Rarely. A very few examples:

You may be waiting for additional data, which is not strictly necessary for your revision, but "nice to have".

Similar to the supervisor's recommendation, but it's the editor whose term of office you know is coming to an end, and you have reason to assume that their successor will be easier to work with (e.g., if you have an explicit conflict with the editor).

if you have an explicit conflict with the editor Presumably in this case it's a better idea to request the editor recuse.

For most journals this would waste time for nothing, because they'll wait for the original reviewers, even if they have to wait months.
The exception is if you're dealing with an MDPI journal, which based on your question history is quite possible. In this case, if the reviewer is too busy (not a guarantee by any means) the most probable result is the journal asks the academic editor to check the revision. It's possible they'll be able to make a decision (if the comments you got were minor); it's also possible they'll decide to wait anyway in which case you get the same result as in the first paragraph.
You are very unlikely to get a new reviewer no matter which publisher is involved. A new reviewer means restarting the process from zero, and is very time-consuming.

@Roland it's rare in my experience that a reviewer isn't available for the revised manuscript - absent something dramatic (e.g. death), the reviewer will usually be available if you are willing to wait. It seems to me like your experience was unusual. Was it because the previous reviews are divergent, and you were effectively the arbitrator? An answer to a previous question of mine https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/115257/ also says "as a referee, I believe that I have never been shown another referee report", so it's surprising you can see the other reports.


text:
What is a reviewer integrity check in this particular context?
I recently submitted a manuscript to a well-known journal in my field. It is published by Wiley and Hindawi. I received a "major revision" decision based on two reviews. One of the reviewers uploaded the annotated manuscript (he made comments via the Word comment function) to give his comments. As such, I was able to see his name. I do not know this person but based on his scientific output he is big in a particular related sub-field. All comments were valid and easy to address. As such, I resubmitted a major revision within 3 days (working full-time).
Then suddenly I received the message below. Based on the submission system, they are now looking for new reviewers.
Could you help me decipher the meaning of the message? Is it because I know about his identity (the review is supposed to be single-blind)? Is it because I was so fast and now they suppose something "must be wrong"? Any comments will be highly appreciated!!
"
Dear Dr. X,
I am writing regarding your manuscript xxx , entitled xxx. It is taking us longer than expected to send you an editorial decision for your manuscript.
As standard practice, we perform rigorous peer review integrity checks as part of the editorial process. These checks can sometimes incur delays.
We wanted to inform you that we are still working to send you an editorial decision as soon as possible.
"

You did nothing wrong. Nothing prevents you to send your corrections in 3 days or ten minutes as long as you meet the deadline. Maybe the delay they mention its because of the reviewer, but you cannot know. Delays are usual. At least they tell you they are trying to respond as soon as possible. Also, you shouldn't worry about the integrity check. If something happens, they will let you know. But I cannot imagine a situation in which they reject your submission due to the issue you mentioned about the word comment function. You just have to wait.

Dear FeedbackLooper: Thank you for your great comment! It helps me a lot. I am rather concerned that they suppose that I contributed to a violation of the single blind peer review. On the other hand, I just opened the file and I could not no that the reviewer uses his full name there. It is the first time I publish in that particular sub-field, so it will be visible that I am not tied to a particular reviewer.

@FeedbackLooper That looks like an answer.

Given the information you provided, I think that the integrity check and the message itself does not have any connection to you discovery.
You say that it is a high-quality journal. Since you had a major revision to do, maybe they just want to get an extra reviewer now to be perfectly sure. That seems like the most obvious reason.
And finding a new referee usually takes some time. They probably just mean well and want to set clear expectations about the final decision date.

Hindawi and high quality haven't really gone together the past. My assumption (since they were relatively recently absorbed by Wiley) is that there is some effort to clean up the portfolio. It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. Maybe it was flagged because the reviewer's anonymity was compromised, or maybe they feel they need another reviewer for some other reason - you'd need to know the specific publisher and journal policies.
I would not worry about it. It sounds like they are trying to be transparent with their communication and thorough with their review.

@ sErISaNo Thank you for your comment. In my field, they have some pretty decent ranked journals but I know their reputation is overall not the best.


text:
What factors delay a final decision in the editorial process
After completion of peer review, the associate editor usually sends his recommendation to the editor-in-chief of a journal. The editor-in-chief is the one to take the final decision.
On this forum I frequently read that the editor-in-chief would usually not overrule / outvote his associate editors. Considering this, I would like to know what factors often delay the final decision on a manuscript. I witnessed it many times that the "decision in process" status did not change for weeks. Why is that? Office hours of the editor-in-chief? As for my understanding, many editors-in-chief are full-time professionals hired by the respective journals.

Why doesn't this answer your question? (likely duplicate): https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/55665/75368

@Buffy. I am familiar with the editorial process but would like to know from experience academics whether there are potential factors that I am not aware off, e.g. discussions between associate editor / editor-in-chief about the suitability of the manuscript, decisions only on particular time points instead of a continuous basis, etc...

In fact many editors are not full time professionals but rather do the editing at the side of many other things (I don't know about percentages though). Everybody always has far too much to do. That explains a lot in my view. Another thing is that status information is not always accurate.

There are too many possibilities to have a canonical answer here. For instance, sickness of one or more of the editors, editorial disagreements and need to get more opinions, huge backlog, vacation time, waiting a for face-to-face meeting of editorial board members.....

I feel like this is a bit of a "boat programming" question. The underlying ask is "what would make someone take longer on a task" - the fact that the someone is a journal editor isn't really that important to the answer.

@ Christian Henning - Thank you - I was thinking that the Editor-in-Chief position is automatically a full-time position, e.g. in the New England Journal of Medicine, etc.
Thank you for clarification - that helps!

As for my understanding, many editors-in-chief are full-time professionals hired by the respective journals.

This is the key misunderstanding. EiCs are not paid professionals employed by the publisher, but academics employed as such, typically full professors or people in comparable situations.
You become EiC either by being very senior, experienced and well connected and respected within your subdiscipline, or (more rarely) by founding your own journal. In either case, you will have a lot of other responsibilities, from doing your own research and writing your own papers, over teaching and advising students to committee and other assignments. And then it simply often takes a while for you to get around to process reviewer reports, typically in a batch when you have a block of time.

The most common reason is, as pointed out in the other answers, the editor or handling editor is busy and not available to look at the manuscript.
The next-most common reason is if the reviewers disagree. Some common results here are 1) involve another editor or 2) get another reviewer, both of which obviously add processing time.
A third possibility is that something went wrong with the original set of reviews. For example, maybe they sent the manuscript for revision when they shouldn't have (e.g. a reviewer got back to them saying their late reviewer will be arriving after all), or one of the reviewers they had invited is actually inappropriate (e.g. undisclosed conflict of interest).

Speaking as an editor for an Elsevier journal, the system says the review of a paper is complete if two reviewers have submitted their comments.  However, I may have invited more than two reviewers.  In this case, I'll have to wait for the other reviewers to submit their comments before I make a decision.  This happens because during the invitation process, I have no idea how many reviewers will say yes.  So I tend to invite more than two reviewers.  If all of them says yes, then I'll wait for all of them to submit a response.  However, if I have two reviews in hand, and one or more reviewers do not reply after their given deadline, then I can ignore them.  Until then, I wait.


text:
Is it appropriate to drop by another university's professor's lecture to talk about research afterwards?
There is a professor at a university different from the one I study in, who I like to do some research with. I emailed her and did not receive any answer even after sending a follow-up email (a week after the first email). I knew her class schedule, but not her office hours. I thought about going to where the class meets to talk to her after her lecture (introduce myself, try to remind her of the email and express my interest in working with her over and ask her to read my CV that I emailed to her, or arrange some time to meet me and discuss about possible opportunities) .
Since I am not a student at the institution where she works and given the nature of my inquiry and the fact that she didn't answer my emails, I thought this might not be appropriate. I wanted to ask your opinion on whether you think there is a way for me to go and talk to her without it being inappropriate. (I thought about emailing the TA of the class and asking about the office hours of the professor, but I doubt if that's any better.)

Yes, calling might be ok - but if you are not a student at the department, it is a bit too much.

How much time has passed since you wrote the first mail? Did you indicate a deadline until when you need a response?

@Darkwing It's been more than 2 weeks since the first email, and more than one week since the second one.
I use an email tracking tool, and I know the email has been opened, but only once. To my experience, when someone actually reads an email, they open it more than once (that has been the case about every other person I've received a response from), so I think that might have been just a "mark as read" thing.

@Roland Is calling more appropriate than going to her office? And do you mean calling her to just remind her to read my email, or to actually discuss the matter over the phone?

@nra For professors that is not a long time. Especially if you didn't clearly indicate urgency. They might have skimmed it and considered it as unimportant, thus delaying any response to a convenient time.

@Darkwing But is there any chance of them going back to that email and responding to it at a later time? I thought if I don't receive a response within a week, then I'm not going to hear back unless I send a reminder.

@nra Email tracking is unreliable. Because it can feed information to spammers, many companies/institutions and/or individuals disable tracking.

@nra There certainly is a chance. While not being a professor, I, like Morgan Rodgers, also often go multiple times over the mails in my inbox and answer them in different steps. High prio mails with deadlines first, unspecific requests without a particular deadline last - if at all. Mails that are too unspecific, feel misplaced, unrelated or where I don't have an idea what to answer might be forgotten or even been sorted out explicitly (or even considered spam). So, if you write again, be specific in what you ask (as outlined in the accepted answer) and provide some sort of deadline.

Appropriate should even be, effective less.
You stated you knew her class schedule, so if she is free after the lesson you may have success to speak with or, better, to ask her when she can dedicate you some minutes.
It can be appropriate if you will be polite, clear, specific and concise.

E.g. I need 5-10 minutes to speak about xxx. I read those
  papers of yours (a,b), I find interesting yyy and I would like to work on it maybe in the zzz development. I'm currently student/phd/whatever in the ttt university. Is there any way to arrive to work on this subject with your group? What can I do?

There are, by the way, other ways in which you can contact her.
Secretary of the group or of the department. Each professor belong to group(s) and/or department(s). Find which, and call the secretary. (Again concise). Ask how to contact that professor.
Conference or Talk.
If you have the time and the occasion it may be more effective if you find an open event in which to meet, e.g. if she takes part on a conference, or she has a talk accessible for you.
In those occasions people is usually more open, and has already reserved time to speak.
Professor of your university of the same field. If you can access to some professor actually enrolled in your university in the same field of the one you want to contact, you may ask him/her information about that professor and how to contact. If they personally know each other, you can ask to be introduced too, or at least to send her a mail.
Her Office. Knock the door and ask when she has some time to speak with you about xxx...
ps> She may have some time to dedicate to students... you may try to go in that time, but you will be after the needs of her students.

Is dropping by her office really better than going to her after her lecture?!
I thought the chance that I interrupt her mid some important business would be higher in that case.

I could not help but notice that a formerly quite common way of contacting someone - namely, writing a letter - is apparently not considered an usual means of personal professional communications anymore. ;-)

I cannot figure out what the header is supposed to mean, and this answerer hasn't been here in a year.

I would not appreciate that. I have a schedule, which means that after a lecture I may have a meeting, I may have an appointment with someone I am supervising, I may need to pick up my children from day-care, etc. etc. etc.
If you have emailed twice and not received an answer, then that is your answer... That is not very polite, but none of us are perfect.

Your statement "If you have emailed twice and not received an answer, then that is your answer..." might correctly describe the situation conditioned on when you are the professor. However, the statement is not true for a significant number of professors who are not like you. I have had many experiences in academia in which the lack of a response from a professor was not indicative of a decision at all, but merely an indication that the emails have fallen through some attention cracks. I wouldn't have my position today if I hadn't emailed a professor a third time!

Beware: if you email  me a third time you will end up in my spam filter. But yes, people are different. So the OP could try to find out what is going on by talking to people who know him/her. Also, trying to make an appointment through the secretary as suggested by Roland is a potential way forward. But I would not hold much hope.

if you are not replying to me why do i care about ending up in your spam filter

@naiad Is the double post an ironic statement? Or just a happy little accident...

@naiad if you want to work with me you may not want to annoy me.

@nalad Maybe, because otherwise you might get a response eventually, like a week later. For many professors time passes differently than for students.

No, that veers into stalker territory, don't do it. A lack of response is generally read as lack of interest. Even though she may just be busy or may not have seen your email, ignoring that convention, and going to these lengths to contact her, may ring alarm bells.

I think "stalker territory" is a massive overstatement. But I agree with the general point that tracking somebody down at their lecture is excessive. Why not just go to their office, for example?

@NajibIdrissi I completely agree that the asker shouldn't go the professor's lecture; I'm just disputing the use of the word "stalker" to describe that act. Show up repeatedly outside her lectures and you're absolutely a stalker, but that's not what the asker is proposing.

Reacting to one's attempts at communication being ignored by showing up at someone's workplace is a really common pattern in stalking. I'm not saying this one thing automatically makes you a stalker, I'm just saying this is a thing stalkers also do and you don't want to even raise the question in anyone's mind.

A lot of stalkers don't perceive themselves as stalkers because they have a 'perfectly reasonable' justification in their minds. It's really easy to set off alarm bells, because it's really important to nip stalkerish behavior in the bud immediately. If you figure out someone's schedule without their input, then show up out of the blue, regardless of justification, you're going to get marched away by security sooner or later.

I feel your pain! We have all been in similar situations in which we have to guess whether the lack of a reply means "not interested" or "I just forgot to reply". From my 20 years of experience in academia I would say there is a very good chance it's the latter, but it could also be the former. Hence your dilemma.
What not to do: I would advise against trying to corner the professor after their lecture. While it's not exactly stalking it can be quite awkward if the professor's schedule is tight and has to go straight to another lecture/meeting etc. and has to brush you off as a result. While you could do it, there's a chance it won't work in the sense of actually getting to talk to the professor. And it may not create good will if done crudely.
What to do: There is in fact a commonly used way to contact the professor in person. Go to their office and knock! Even without knowing their office hours that is entirely appropriate. If the professor can't talk to you, they will say so. If they can talk to you, be prepared to schedule a meeting time rather than discussing your actual inquiry right there on the spot. A similar alternative is to find out their phone number and call them. Depending on your personal preference you may choose one over the other.
If you feel awkward about knocking at their door unannounced, remind yourself that they have had the chance to avoid having to talk to you in person by replying to your email. Given that is common for professors to forget emailing undergraduates back, you cannot be reasonably expected to interpret a lack of reply as a no. Good luck!

I thought knocking her door unannounced would be worse than catching her after a lecture.
My reasoning was that she is waiting for a bunch of students to go and talk to her after her lecture, but when she is at her office, she might be doing something that requires intense focus and it might be rude to interrupt her in that situation.

@nra: When I am finished lecturing, I capture any stray thoughts or todos I didn't have time to write down during lecture, erase the board, pack up my stuff, and get the heck out of the classroom so that the next class can file in.  If I am also answering questions from current students, I am intensely focused on them.  So it's certainly not less intrusive to interrupt me in my office than after class.

Academics get this kind of question all the time. No response means "Sorry, I'm not interested. I have enough on my plate looking after my own students at my own university, without taking on somebody from outside whom I don't even know."
As for trying to find her in person, no. Certainly not by trying to buttonhole her outside her lecture, when she'll be trying to deal with student questions and trying to get to her next appointment (which may very well be fifteen minutes of quality time with her coffee mug). Certainly not at her office hours, which are devoted to the students she's responsible for teaching.

But from my experience with the professors at the department where I am a student, I can tell that quite often the professor just forgets to answer or just does a "mark all as read" a couple of times a day. It's happened to me that a professor kept forgetting to answer my emails for a month despite several reminders.
Since I don't know this professor, I can't tell what her email habits are.

But not knowing her email habits isn't a reason to turn up in person after a lecture. Try to arrange an appointment through her department.

Do not just show up at the end of an instructor's lecture.  Students tend to rush an instructor right after a lecture with lots of "one quick questions" so that's definitely not a time when she can pay attention to you.
Wait another two or three months and then send another email.  She might just have been in a very busy stretch and maybe if you wait a bit, you'll find her in a period when she has more time.  If you still get no response, you need to move on.

I completely disagree with the previous answers to this question. Pursuing this does not enter you into 'stalker territory' (@nengel) nor does lack of an answer suggest day care problems (@Maartin Buis--sorry). Profs get these kinds of emails frequently, and often times the writer is not willing to follow through, leaving little incentive particularly if you're at a different institution. If you're serious and passionate, pursue. You'll win her over eventually at some level. The fact you're at a different school entails all kinds of issues, but do not give up.

I did not suggest that not answering and email had anything to do with day care. My point was that if you approach me immediately after a lecture, I will in all likelihood have no time for you, because my schedule is full with other responsibilities (including day care). If I am not answering your email, that means that I am not interested in you. Those are two completely separate mechanisms. The question was should the OP approach the prof after a lecture, and my answer remains a very strong no because in all likelihood I have no time for you at that point.

It sounds to me like this professor is not interested in working with you.  She may be too busy to take on new projects, or she may feel she needs to prioritize working with students currently enrolled in her own university.  Either way, I think you have an answer to your inquiry.  I'm sorry it's not the one you were looking for.

To answer the actual question: it is completely inappropriate. You are not her student and many professors have tight schedules, you shouldn't waste either her time or your own.
However, you should email the academic advising or registrar of the professor's institution and explain that you are a student at a different institution and would like to get in contact with this professor. Don't take the neglection of your previous emails as a rejection. At my university many professors block emails from outside sources (i.e. you must use a @myuni.edu address), so in a case like that she may never have received your email.
If at this point you get some kind of rejection or no response, then you should drop the matter. It isn't worth it for yourself to keep pursuing it, and there will be other opportunities with other professors.

"At my university many professors block emails from outside sources" Er... *boggle* Must really suck when that acceptance email for the paper you submitted goes to "spam". Or when that foreign academic mails you from her @wherever.fr address. Or that guy whose university has a really crappy email server mails you from gmail. Or...

@DavidRicherby I attend a fairly small university, and not every professor is writing research papers and collaborating with other universities. Obviously I don't know the exact email policies that they use, but I have been told this by multiple different professors.

@JacobH, I think blocking all email from outside sources would be very impractical, unprofessional, and possibly contrary to university policy. That doesn't mean someone might not do it. What seems to me more likely is that this is the stated excuse for ignoring much email, rather than responding... and a surprisingly implausible excuse as it is! I'd wager that whoever said this is either not the sharpest tack in the box, or was so disdainful of the questioner that they didn't even bother to give a sensible excuse. Baffling, really.

Blocking outside emails would be insane. It is literally impossible to be a successful academic without communicating outside your university.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
Do I need to rephrase my conference abstract when submitting the corresponding journal paper?
I am submitting an abstract for a conference that, if accepted, will be published in its "book of abstracts". I know that wouldn't cause any issues for submitting the paper to a journal, but I'm wondering whether I can actually copy and paste the sentences that I'm using for the abstract in the journal draft, or I have to rephrase them. Is it self-plagiarism?
(The field is NOT CS, so the conference is worth very little, and probably after publication only the journal paper could receive some attention.)
I reviewed the answers to these three questions, but I couldn't find the answer to my question. Only this answer says "I'd avoid the same wording", but it's not clear whether that's just optional or could be as serious as avoiding plagiarism.
(Note: The conference's book of abstracts will be published quite a while before the journal paper, and probably even before submitting the journal paper.)

The best person to ask would be your advisor, you can go through the journal submission guidelines as well, and contact related persons regarding this. In CS, I've seen papers which are around 8 pages in length submitted to a conference, while an extended version of this paper is published in a journal. I'm not sure, but I guess it would be quite hard to rephrase the entire 8 pages worth of content.

I would rephrase it. Copy and paste conveys the idea of laziness. It is also possible that one has found just the perfect wording,of course. But at the end, you have wrote this question. Why not to try to improve your abstract? Why not to give to it a different cut having the paper and the journal in mind?

In my understanding this would be ok. But is it really appropriate? I write abstracts for conferences in a different style. The abstract for the paper will be visible "forever". Hence, I try to make them extremely clear, avoid jargon, be even a little dry. The goal here is to describe the content of the paper in a way that will be helpful and informative for people with very different background and even decades from now. For a conference I write abstracts in way that could motivate people to attend the talk. I use more informal language and maybe use some engaging phrases if they fit. The conference abstract will usually only be read during the conference and that's it.
My advice: Go and read your paper abstract once again. Then think about the content of the talk and imagine yourself standing in front of the audience giving the talk. Then go and write the abstract for the talk with this situation in mind. After that, recheck with the paper abstract and edit the conference abstract if necessary.


text:
Would you recommend internship, or more courses, for preparing for a PhD in Applied Math?
For a math student, does an industrial internship, where you use the applications of the mathematics you learned in courses, give a better preparation for a PhD in Applied Math, or taking more advanced courses? How about taking courses on other topics (not math), which are skill-based or otherwise practical with a lot of applications in applied math, such as high-performance computing, statistical learning, numerical modeling, etc.?

I would recommend getting some research experience rather than taking courses.

I think that the answer may vary accordingly with the country.

I could make strong arguments for all of the options that you've mentioned depending on your circumstances and the institutions that you're interested in applying to.  I've voted to close on the grounds that the answer depends too much on particular circumstances.

PhD applied math is not necessarily math you already learned in courses applied to various things. To see this, go to an 'applied math' department's page and look at their phd students. So, courses and research!

I would strongly recommend getting some research experience over taking more courses (except for courses with a significant research component) or an industrial internship (unless the internship has a significant research component).

Having been on the grad student selection committee of the departments I was in for the past 4 or 5 years, and having read hundreds of applications, here are the things that really make an application stick out (in roughly this order):

Having research experience
Doing well in senior-level and graduate-level courses in the area you
are applying for
Experience applying your knowledge outside an academic setting.

So, if you have the opportunity to do an industrial internship, then you're satisfying the last point and, if you get the internship in the right environment, then also the first point. If that means dropping one of 5 senior/graduate-level math courses (or a non-math course) you were going to take before applying for grad school, then that's a worthwhile trade off. On the other hand, if that means that you're not going to take any advanced courses, then that's not a worthwhile trade off.

First of all, you should narrow down which applied mathematics are you applying. I know people in that area that don't know how to code, and people that use high performance computing. The same applies to almost all non-basic math skills. Applied maths is way too wide to just ask for a general skill.
In my opinion, just general coding knowledge should be fine, you will have time to learn anything you need on the way, that's part of the Ph.D. and, if you follow academia, the rest of your life; you just need to be able to learn new things.
I just would discourage an industry internship if you can use that time for something better (with respect to applied maths).

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
Is it a good idea to email the admission committee after a suboptimal interview?
I didn't do well in a part of a technical interview for a master's program, which was a question in the field X.
The most important subfield of my major for that program is X and X is not particularly my strength, because I took more advanced courses in other subfields during the last two years of my undergrad. But that is exactly why I want to do that master's program. I've had the necessary elementary courses in the field X, but did not go deeper in those topics, simply because there is not enough time to take all the helpful and good courses as an undergrad. That's why I decided to take some other courses as an undergrad and leave advanced courses in X for my graduate degree. I also want to do a Ph.D. after my master's and the field I want to do my Ph.D. is quite directly related to the master's degree I was interviewed for and involves a great deal of X.
To me, it makes perfect sense to apply for a master's program in a field that I'm not strong in, because otherwise, I wouldn't need to take more courses in that field and I will learn whatever I need, quite easily, through self-study. Is it a good idea to email the admission committee (or the professor who interviewed me) and explain this to them now? (Please keep in mind that I could have mentioned this point in my SOP, but I didn't. Probably a bad decision...)

I think you are overthinking this. A polite email followup to an interview is always fine ("Thanks for the opportunity" "I was really impressed by ____" etc), but it shouldn't be used to make excuses or justify deficiencies in the interview.
It seems likely to me that one of two things are true:
A) You are not adequately prepared for the master's program. This is okay, it doesn't mean you are a bad person, but it means that other people may be selected instead of you, and it may mean that you would struggle in the program and are a better fit elsewhere.
or
B) You are overestimating the importance of the answers to the questions you were asked about X, which may have been geared to measure where your current knowledge is at rather than an exam per se.
In neither of these cases does it matter if you try explain your interview performance after the fact.

The admission committee (the set of professors or the people designated by the university) are not just interviewing you.
They have received n applications and have shortlisted m (m < n) applicants for the interview. Now, you are one of those m candidates who have been shortlisted.
Your job was to face the interview and put your best effort to it. There are always good and bad, and some unexpected questions, but that is how it is.
Now the job of the admission committee is to finalize the selection (p candidates; p < m) and your job is to wait and watch whether you come in the list of those p candidates.
If you email the professors (or the adm. committee), then your email would be ignored (with high probability).
Remember that, the admission committee can't deal with the selection on a case-by-case basis.


text:
Do I need to follow traditional cover letter style for applying for an academic position?
I am applying for a research assistantship at a university, and I am required to upload a cover letter for submitting my application. I am not familiar with cover letter, since I'd only applied to student positions before, where I was required to upload an SOP and a CV, instead of a cover letter and a resume. This application still requires a CV, and not a resume, but instead of SOP, it requires a cover letter.
I looked for cover letter templates online, and it has the form of a letter (starting with "Dear..."), and "sender" and "recipient" addresses on top of the page, which sounds weird to me since it is not 1918 ad I am not posting it to them, I am uploading it to their application portal, and my address is also on top of my CV and I separately enter my address when I fill in the application form (and they know what their address is, so I'd say they probably don't need me to write it for them on top of my cover letter!).
Is it just an outdated thing, or a convention that I need to follow?
Also, given the position is academic, do you think is it ok if my letter is some sort of a hybrid of cover letter and SOP?!

I think the answer will vary hugely by field and country.

Re: “Is it just an outdated thing, or a convention that I need to follow?” -- yes, and yes.

Here is my opinion based on my rather limited experience:
In the English-speaking world (and probably elsewhere except, perhaps northern Europe) sticking to a traditional letter format is probably a good idea (as if it was being posted). Also it is good to have your contact info on all correspondence materials, especially your email address.
Keep the letter short - one page max.
Start the letter with a Re: (the position applying for) line.
Find out who the search committee chairperson is (phone or email the department secretary) and address your letter to that person with appropriate title (usually Dr. rather than Professor, but in Germany both, if applicable).
Tell them why you want the position, why you want to work at that university (do some homework) and why you are qualified - be enthusiastic.
If it is a research-oriented position (rather than just teaching) emphasise your research interests and how they connect with the faculty there. If just teaching a short paragraph would do.
Let them know that you are available for interview (with blackout dates if necessary) including a phone interview to start with, if desired.

For a US perspective, I agree 100% about the one page maximum. You probably don't need to write the mailing addresses at the top of the letter. The cover letter should have the main message (your interest and aptitude) and the other materials are all evidence that backs that up.


text:
Should you ask for recommendation letter from the professor of a class you didn't get an A in?
It seems like the norm of American universities is that all the letters of recommendation are always positive stuff, and they are normally evaluated on the level of specificity they have, and if they have something extraordinarily positive about the student, rather than some usual positive language. Given that they never write a negative letter, would it help my application if I ask for a letter from the professor of a class that I didn't get an A in, if the professor is a really big name in the field?
(I got an A-, so not so terrible, but the grades were curved and I still got an A-.)
I was also wondering if the answer to that question would be different for applying to European universities, given that their expectations from a recommendation letter seem to be different, and they don't necessarily expect a personal description of the students' abilities.
(The professor is a really really big name. He is one of the 3 most famous people in the field in the entire world.)

I think there are two questions here that help determine whether or not you should ask this person:
Do You Have An Alternative? : This may seem like a simple question, but if this is the only person who you've done relevant coursework with, etc. you might not genuinely have a choice.
Can They Speak to Your Abilities? : While in the United States letters of recommendation often contain positive comments, they don't have to strictly be about people who are unalloyed perfection. What is important is that the person be able to speak to your abilities as a scientist, your probably success in graduate school, etc. "Merely" getting an A- in their class might not mean they don't think highly of your ability to think critically about the subject, etc. - just as getting an A is not a guarantee that they do.
For reference, I ended up looking back at the people I had write my letters of recommendation - I had taken classes with two of the three, and I had gotten A's in neither class.

"Can They Speak to Your Abilities?" Often profs ask TAs for their feedback/drafts of recommendations, if TAs had more direct contact with the student.

I guess his letter will probably be a very generic letter, without mentioning anything specific. My only interaction with him was the times I'd go to his office hour asking questions about the course material, and occasionally questions after class, so I don't think he has enough information about me to write a good letter. Would his name be enough reason to prefer his letter over another prof without the fame and name recognition that I've done better in their course and talked to them more?

@nra Personally, I read recommendations for the content, not the name on the letterhead, but your mileage may vary.


text:
What to do if a journal becomes "inactive"?
We submitted an original article in January this year to a Hindawi journal. In March, we received the request for major revisions. All points were easy to address. The reviewer asked for some additional data and some minor clarifications. We sent in the revised version about 5 days later. There was just one reviewer and we were convinced that there would be a fast decision. Notably, the journal has not published a single article after March 18. We inquired about the status and received a copy and paste "it is under review" reply. Per sé this is not uncommon but I know of a co-worker of mine who had a similar experience. He has a manuscript "under review" in the same journal where minor revisions were requested in early February. Still he is waiting for a reply.
What could we do if the journal becomes "inactive"? Contact the academic editor directly? One might argue that two months is not a long period but for minor revisions (e.g. some minor language corrections) it seems odd.

Make sure that the journal is not on the list of Hindawi journals delisted from Web of Science
https://retractionwatch.com/2023/03/21/nearly-20-hindawi-journals-delisted-from-leading-index-amid-concerns-of-papermill-activity/
Also, you may want to read the story of massive retraction of Hindawi papers
https://retractionwatch.com/2022/09/28/exclusive-hindawi-and-wiley-to-retract-over-500-papers-linked-to-peer-review-rings/
This may help you decide if you really want to continue with that journal

How often does that journal normally publish?  No new articles in 2 months doesn't seem especially worrisome in general.

There are all sorts of reasons why journals do not react quickly, and you can find them as answers to similar questions. The advice is simply to wait a reasonable amount of time. In Europe and the US, we are approaching or already at the end of the semester, so editors and reviewers might be busy. In India, we are in a break, so editors and reviewers might be busy relaxing or doing their own research. If you have not heard anything for about three-four months, you can nudge the editor.
If the journal would stop its activity, they will still clear the publishing queue in order to not upset authors, reviewers, and readers. There has been an explosion in the number of journals, so your fear of a journal becoming inactive are exaggerated.
It happened twice to me that an article was forgotten, once because the editor in chief had died. So, this is not a frequent occurrence in my experience.

Is the journal actually inactive?
If yes, then the answer is clear, you withdraw your paper and submit it elsewhere. Since the journal is inactive, you probably won't get a response to your "withdraw" message, but you could still say something like "if we don't hear from you in 2 weeks' time we will assume the manuscript is successfully withdrawn", and then submit it somewhere else.
But in your case it sounds like you are unsure if the journal is inactive, with good reason, since it's only been a few months since you got the minor revision decision. There's no way to tell from the outside what is causing the hold-up. It's highly probable the editorial board member assigned to your manuscript is responsible, but it's not possible to tell why. Some possibilities are:

They are travelling or attending conferences.
They are ill.
They are busy with a grant application or because it's the end of the semester and they're grading exams or someone's PhD thesis etc.
They were unable to handle your manuscript at once (because of #1-#3 above or similar reasons), and then forgot about your manuscript.

From the publisher's point of view, the solution to this is obvious, you need full-time journal staff. From the author's point of view it's a different matter. You can only chase the journal, and hope the journal staff is motivated enough / has enough free time to ask the editorial board member what's happening and when they can make a decision.


text:
What do you do after your article has been published?
Let's assume your article has been published and is now available. What do you do you next? Notice it and move on? Celebrate with your team? Read it again ? Print it?
I notice that my own behaviour towards my own work has changed quite a lot recently. In the very first years, I would print every single article, talk to my peers about the publication, etc... While now, the "excitement and joy" are no longer the same, it became "business" to some extent. Did you (senior colleagues) experience the same?

Hmmm, try to remember what it was about???

Relief, as I have one less headache.

Make sure that I put it on my annual performance review so I can keep my job.

In Germany, you notify VG Wort for a small payment later on.

"While now, the "excitement and joy" are no longer the same" First day of school. first pay cheque, first kiss, etc. lol Hopefully the last one has not fallen so low so as to just be business lol.

@ Stephan Kolassa - even for publications?

Never forget that getting original research published in a reputable academic journal is something most people will never experience. Even though you get used to it, it's still a big accomplishment.

I've always felt acceptance is the more major milestone, and is the natural time for congratulations and potentially celebrations. After publication is a good time for book keeping, i.e. updating CV, website, institutional repositories and so on. Depending on the paper, promotion of the results may be in order. Reading it again right after publication is very optional, and something I'm rarely inclined to do if I was involved in the proofs stage. Overall though, getting your first article published is of course more of an event and much more exciting than getting the (N+1)th article published... You can probably think of other events in your life, where the first instance was very significant, but following instances normalized it.

Certainly my (N+1)th birthdays have been much less exciting since about N=12. Perhaps once N=99 it might get back to being interesting...

This is a good answer for areas like math, there the publication might be six months after acceptance and two years after the paper first appeared on the arxiv.  In areas where things move fast, the publication will feel like more of a triumph.

@TerryLoring Interesting. I'm in physics myself, where (online) publication is typically a matter of weeks after acceptance. The way I view it, up to the point of acceptance there is some jeopardy. Overcoming that is more exciting and feels more like a triumph than having waited for what's more or less a predetermined outcome. I suppose I might feel differently if the gap was even shorter.

In the UK (I don't know about other places), acceptance is also the mandated time for institutional repositories.

Don't read it again, unless you want to find errors in it.

After the appropriate celebratory period, it depends where you are in your professional life.
If you are student then probably you are asking your advisor what next? Probably you were "rabbiting away" on the paper pretty single-mindedly. Maybe this completes your research quota for your degree and it's time to write the thesis. Or maybe you will do the next version of the research with "go-faster stripes."
If you're a post-doc or junior prof, look around for something new and exciting. Not necessarily immediately following on to the current work, but probably related. You are building a base.
If you are tenured prof, what's next in the research queue? And if no queue, get busy making a queue. You should have a program of ideas and possible research topics and tasks. If you are a senior type, you might even have several queues with more or less connection between them. If you are in a place where you have students, go walk around and ask each of them how they are doing and if they need some kind of push to keep them making progress. It's a time for a deep breath or two before getting back into hard work mode.
Maybe you have time and attention to look to your personal life with more than usual concentration for a week or two. Maybe that special somebody would be glad to have your full attention for a bit. Vacation? Even a small one to something local?
Ask yourself if this is the time to do "that" research. You know, the juicy one you've had in your back pocket for years. The one you have not told anybody about. Do you have time and stability to get into some new big thing with some speculation and risk connected to it?
Read through the "gossipy" journals in your research area and see if there's any "new big thing" you would be curious to expand into. The kind of journal that has "Today" in the title.
Anything you want to apply to or for while your head is out of research space? Grants, conferences, funding for a research fellow, funding for new equipment, funding for etc. I find filling in those forms spoils my mood for concentrating on the interesting stuff. Get it done now if you can, while it won't be distracting you from doing research.

No matter how many articles you publish, I think it is good to try to maintain that feeling of excitement and happiness at having a new article accepted.  Personally, whenever I have an article accepted for publication (which is the bigger milestone than when it is actually published), I treat myself by going to the movies.  That is quite a small little treat, but it is something nice to look forward to as I'm slogging through the submission and revisions process.  It also gives me a break from work where I can just enjoy the accomplishment of having had an article accepted, think about how it adds to the discipline, and feel thankful for having developed a useful skill that is manifesting in published work.

Thank you - I should also add a comparable ritual to get some distance from work!

In the interest of avoiding possible self-incrimination, I will neither confirm nor deny whether I go to the movies during work hours!

An unusually specific, unprompted non confirmation nor denial...

If you're on social media (you should be on social media), publication of the work is the best time to advertise it to potential readers. In my field, most people read preprints rather than publications, but even then, the official publication date would be a good time to bring in new readers. You can try spreading the news via your university or department's media.
You might also take a few seconds to update your "List of Publications" on your CV, tenure packet, etc.

I think a brief moment of celebration is fine (especially if it's a really good journal that you have always wanted to get into etc.)
But you shouldn't spend too long celebrating as you probably need to start thinking about the next piece of work.  If you want to become a senior researcher, you probably (or let's say definitely) need to sort out some ''research programme'' which basically supplies you with the next thing to work on and think about.

Publication is a bit late to start thinking about your next piece of work. This process should have started much earlier.

OK point taken, even earlier than what I say.


text:
ESCI, Impact Factor and its consequences
Starting from the 2023 JCR release, Journal Impact Factors were expanded to all Web of Science Core Collection journals including arts and humanities.
https://clarivate.com/blog/clarivate-announces-changes-to-the-2023-journal-citation-reports-release/
What are the consequences of this phenomenon? Will this inflate the IF even further or is it a good thing?

I suspect the answer will depend on one's feelings about impact factors in the first place.

Why (or how) would this inflate IF? What impact this has depends on your field I think.

@sErISaNo Why do you think it is field-dependent? Inflation is not limited to augmentation but could also indicate a negative inflation. That is why the question was asked in an open-end style.

Well I'm not sure what you mean by inflate or augment, but I'm terms of general impact, I'd imagine the appearance of IFs in fields that previously did not use them would have a larger impact that whatever change would occur in a field that was already using the metric.


text:
Job offer from a grant decider - what should I do?
I found myself in a very peculiar situation. As of recently, another department (different university) approached me. This department is well known in my country. I worked with them in the past and we published a couple of papers together.
It happens that the head of this department is a big shot in my field. He is also the head of the committee of a private foundation which funded me and my research in the past.
Said department is expanding and they expressed large interest in recruiting me. This would mean moving to another city (about 700 kilometers away) which I cannot at this moment for private reasons. Now the issue:
I guess they expect a decision soon. Meanwhile, I applied for a grant with that private foundation. I know that the head of said department will make the ultimate decision of whether my application is funded or not. What should I do? If I decline the offer now, I will diminish my funding chances. On the other hand, it feels not right to show interest in the offered position (since I cannot move there at this stage). Any insights appreciated.

If the foundation has proper ethics processes, this kind of conflict of interest ought to disqualify the department head from being involved in reviewing your application. And you probably should have disclosed the conflict when you applied.

It would be unethical for them to make a grant funding decision based on such other reasons. Most people are ethical and their reputation depends on ethical behavior (most cases).
If you would be interested in joining that department at a later time, you can say so but that it is impossible at the moment. Even if you aren't interested, you could say the same, thanking them for thinking about you.
In fact, accepting an offer and then being funded, with the decision on funding based on your acceptance, would also be unethical.
And if they make decisions on invalid grounds you probably shouldn't join them in any case.


text:
The department asks us to publish all study protocols of anticipated projects in specific journals to increase the impact factor of the department
Please imagine the following situation: The head of a local department asks his employees to publish all study protocols of upcoming studies in scientific journals. The rationale is as follows: These journals often have an impact factor (e.g. BMC Trials, JMIR Protocols, etc., to name a few). By this step, the head of the departmen wants to increase its global impact factor. While I see some benefit in this step (e.g. research transparency), I fear that this will delay the start of the respective studies. Moreover, I feel that this could be redundant as most studies must be registered at ClinicalTrials.gov or the DRKS (Deutsches Register Klinische Studien) anyway.
When we raised this concern to the head of the deparment, the head argued that this will increase the output of our department. May I ask whether you have heard of similar policies and whether there are any other benefits to registering study protocols? For clarification: I am not talking about pharmaceutical studies but investigator initiated trials. Thank you!

Sounds like an unpleasant situation, sorry to hear you're in it. But, May I ask whether you have heard of similar policies and whether there are any other benefits to registering study protocols? seems like a shopping question and is off-topic for this site.

Maybe most of your studies need to be registered at CT.gov or similar, is that actually true of all your colleagues' work? Not all medical research, even in humans, is required to be registered or considered a clinical trial.

I fail to see how this is a shopping question (CC @RichardErickson) as nothing is shopped for. However, you are asking two different questions and one of them is a survey, to which every answer is equally valid. I can imagine quite a few relevant questions about this situation, e.g., whether the department can enforce this, whom to complain to, etc., but for these you need to state some clear goals you want to achieve and probably also give us some background information.

This is called "juking the stats" (it is what happens in corrupt academic departments)
So, your Head of Department wants you to "juke that stats" to improve the quantitative research metrics of his Department: "making robberies into larcenies, making rapes disappear; you juke the stats and majors become colonels."
It is up to you whether you want to participate in this charade, or just do good research and let the citations and impact factors fall where they may.  If it is genuinely useful to give advanced publication of your study protocols then you may go ahead and do this, but it sounds like this is not useful and would be done solely as a way of artificially inflating citation metrics and other research metrics.  Alternatively, you may exercise control over your own research program and output, pre-register your studies on standard platforms, and then do good research and publish your papers after you have completed your studies.  Take the flak from your Head of Department if needed, and keep your eye out for opportunities to transfer to another institution.
As to your specific question, I have never heard of any policy at any research institution that instructs academics what papers they must publish.  That is something that would interfere with academic freedom and override the professional discretion of academics who have specialist knowledge in their fields.  At most, something like this might be a localised practice that is "encouraged" by senior people in the institution, sometimes in a manner that reminds us of a well-known police drama.  It could also hamper academic promotion if the Head of Department reacts adversely to your intransigence, but again, that is a feature of corrupt academic departments.  Best to just do good work, maintain respect for yourself and your profession, and let the research metrics fall where they may.


text:
How can I prepare for my first online exam under suboptimal conditions?
Context: I am a physician / clinician working at a university hospital.
I am involved in bedside teaching and in-person exams. I am an instructor myself. However, I have no experience with online exams.
In March, I started an extra-occupational training (a secondary university degree in the field of nutrition). The semester is about to end and I will sit my exams soon. All exams will be online - it is a remote degree.
Since I have no experience with online-exams, I contacted my university regarding instructions. I told them that I have never participated in an online exam. I asked them for specific advice to ensure that all will work out well. I did this because I have seen many reports of students "cheating" in online exams. I also read reports where students were accused of cheating because they did not focus towards the camera all the time.
They sent me a sheet with instructions, e.g. "focus your eyes on the camera" or "close all other applications". It seems weird to me to be able to comply with all these instructions during an exams. If I have to focus on a question, I will inevitably close my eyes. To write in a fast pace, I also have to look at my keyboard. My student peers are, on average, 15 years younger and much more familiar with computer devices.
How could I prepare for such an exam (I am well prepared with regard to the content)? I fear that my lack of technological knowledge / my rather slow speed with computers could compromise my results. I am also asking this because I have to take the exam in my office (due to my work schedule and shifts). I can only customize my surroundings to a certain degree. Will I fail the exam if another person enters my office for example? The sheet specifies that the room should be empty and contain no literature, but there are anatomical posters in my office. Would that be an issue?
Any comments would be highly appreciated.

Some of the "rules" you describe are foolish. Watch the camera throughout. Stupid. My computer setup is in a room full of books. It would be essentially impossible for me to move hundreds of books elsewhere or move the computer. Stupid.
However, your participation will be "judged" by humans who, one hopes, are sensible. If they are not, and if their goal is to "catch you" then you are lost.
I suggest that you comply "reasonably" with the rules and if claims are made against you then deal with it then rather than being paranoid up front, which won't help your mental state.
I'd suggest, however, that while taking an online exam in your office, put a sign "Exam in progress. Do not disturb" on the door. This should prevent all but emergency interruptions. And, people in the medical profession should be able to understand that emergencies do occur and must be dealt with.
Assume the best. Deal with problems if they occur.
Also note that online exams, being fairly new, are a poor substitute for face to face exams. The compromises needed to make it work at all are suboptimal, but we haven't yet worked out suitable procedures that focus on the purpose of exams. Perhaps that will come, but, for now, it is painful for everyone.

(+1) especially for put a sign "Exam in progress. Do not disturb" on the door, something that did not occur to me as I was reading through the question, but which seems especially relevant to the OP's situation.

I would caution that the conditions for online medical exams can in fact be extreme and ridiculous. The  Royal Australasian College of Physicians has gone back to paper exams because of high failure rates due to online proctors, and then failing all candidates in a year's cohort after a IT mishap.  If this is such an exam, consider using the bathroom, with the windows covered with unprinted paper, as the camera showing a "room full of books" would have serious consequences.  Determining the degree of proctoring is important, as practices in medicine differ from those of broader academia.

Dear Buffy, Thank you (as always!) for your valuable comment! I understand many rules are foolish, yet I did not create them. They were sent to me by mail. I fear exactly what vk5tu describes.

If there are any logistical issues that would prevent you from complying with the instructions in the instruction sheet you were sent, it would probably be a good idea to let your course instructor know. I would assume/hope that given your situation as a working physician they would be okay with some of the issues you mention (anatomical charts, other people going in and out of the room during the exam) and essentially tell you to disregard those instructions.
It may also be wise to ask the instructor if they could set up a mock exam that you will be able to take ahead of the real exam that simulates the exam conditions. Not with actual questions that is, just some dummy/placeholder content like a question about world capitals - the point would be to simply allow you to experience the software environment and make sure you understand what to do, where to click, etc. This could actually be helpful for other students as well (even younger, ostensibly more computer-savvy ones). I have given online exams on various occasions and I can attest this type of situation can induce anxiety very similar to yours among undergraduate students as well. For this reason, one quarter when I was doing online quizzes I set up a mock quiz at the beginning of the quarter, and even gave a small number of bonus grade points to anyone who took it. Hopefully your instructor will recognize that this is a good practice that can benefit everyone.
About behaviors like looking at the keyboard and closing your eyes, honestly I wouldn't worry about it. If it is a sin to behave like a human being during the exam, then you will surely commit it, but most likely the instructions are not meant to be interpreted as telling you not to behave like a human being.
I can't think of anything else to suggest. Good luck!


text:
What courses should I count when calculating my GPA in major?
When calculating my GPA in major, should/can I only count courses that are meeting the requirement for major or should I count any course on the same topic and from the same department as my major? For example, if my major is Physics, and I have completed my major with courses A through J, but have also taken the course K after completing all the requirements as an optional course (which does not even count for graduation; a completely optional course), should I count the grade for course K when calculating my major GPA for reporting it on my CV and in applications, or can I not count that one?

If no specific guidance is otherwise provided, I would include additional courses in the same department as the major. The reason for this is that anybody looking over your transcript will assume that, unless the course is clearly marked as a graduate course, it's probably a requirement for your major.
That said, we're also not likely to check your math unless there's a gross error, and we're not likely to sweat a few hundredths of a point difference.

The course is a graduate course, and if the person reviewing my transcript is familiar with the course numbering system, it is numbered as a graduate-level course. But I have quite a few graduate-level courses that are being counted towards my major requirements.

Also, the numerical difference would be clear because excluding this course, I have GPA 4.0 in major. But if there is any grade other than A or A+, my GPA could not be a 4.0, so it would be obvious without doing any math that I did not count this grade in my GPA calculation.

If an admissions committee is going to accept you with a 4.0, odds are excellent that they won't bat an eye over a 3.95 or so.

My university calculated my GPA for me.  I did not bother to double check their arithmetic.
If your university does not calculate your GPA for you, then just imagine the GPA that you want.  No one cares.

This is GPA in major, which the university does not calculate. The GPA for the whole degree is calculated by the university and reflected on my transcript.

"just imagine the GPA that you want" -- not sure exactly what you're suggesting here. Intentionally misreporting your GPA could constitute fraud and lead to being expelled from the program if it is later discovered. Further, GPA matters a great deal at many universities.

perhaps you mean "calculate it any way you want"? Sure, absent any specific instructions, calculating it in any defensible way may well be preferable to contacting them and asking for clarification.


text:
Is it acceptable to apply to a masters program based on your weakness, rather than you strength?
As an undergrad, I took a wide variety of courses, but focused on one or two fields and took advanced courses only in those, and those fields are my strengths. I intend to do a PhD, but now I'm applying for Master's programs, and I actually want to focus on the fields that I received little to none education in my undergrad on, and the subjects that I wasn't very good at. What I want to do for my PhD is more directly related to the subjects I'm stronger at, but a knowledge in those I'm not very strong in would be significantly useful too.
To me, that sounds totally acceptable, since I want to fill in the gaps and learn something new, rather than repeating what I already have a good knowledge on and possibly going a little deeper in it, especially as I took quite a few graduate-level courses in the fields I focused on.
I am wondering if that's acceptable and sounds reasonable to admission committee and graduate schools too. Given that they probably have applicants who are actually applying for what they have a strong background in, would it make sense for me to compete with them with this justification that I want to improve the weaknesses in my background by throwing myself at those fields and "learn to love them", or should I just apply for what I'm stronger in and try to improve my knowledge in other fields through self studying?
(Please note that by "field", I'm actually referring to subfields within a major field. So it's not that I've done Management and I want to study Dance Performance, it's more like PDEs vs Algebra, which would mean applying to Applied Math vs Pure Math.)

Your reasoning is excellent and I would suggest you stick with this approach: All educational programs exist to increase the knowledge and skills of the student, which presupposes weakness relative to the outcome of the program.  Remember that you need to convince the admissions committee that your undergraduate record is strong enough to justify admission to the Masters program, but at the same time, it is your intention to focus on up-skilling in your areas of weakness, with a view to becoming sufficiently competent for entry to a PhD program at a later time.  There is no contradiction in these two things - your existing set of skills from your undergraduate program might legitimately be considered to be strong enough for entry to the Masters program, but weak in comparison to how you will come out (this being the entire  point of education).
In terms of assessing postgraduate applicants, this is generally the kind of student I would prefer --- one who is able to look at his/her existing skills in a realistic way, identify weaknesses, set goals for improvement, and be proactive in plugging those weaknesses to achieve goals.  Would that there were more students like this!

This is not unreasonable. It is a common observation that there are fields that have accumulated a large amount of tradition and rigour and are difficult to learn outside of a university course. While studying, you can afford to learn things that are not immediately useful, but this will be much more difficult when you have a particular job to do.
In terms of admission or recruitment, wishing to get a broader education and diversify your skills is a perfectly valid motivation. You aren't expected to become a one-trick pony.

If you are in the U.S. context, you could also consider taking post-baccalaureate classes; some schools allow you to enroll in one or two undergraduate classes at a time. This might widen your options and allow you to focus on just a few things you want to review or brush up on. However, it would probably not allow you to access graduate-level courses, so this would be a better option if it really is a weakness as opposed to just not your strongest area.

I always liked Physics which I was not very successful and clearly it was not one of my strength. I was accepted in Physics major in undergrad. Before the end of the first year, I realized I am not suitable for the major, then changed it. I was not as hardworking as I should have been but I was unable to understand certain things.
Noting that if you study hard enough, you can do anything unless you have a disability but it is very difficult to study very hard. If you trust yourself about it and feel you can do it well, go for it. (I trusted myself in Physics at the time)
Alternative to what you say is to apply for the field you know and take many courses from the subfield so you will improve both skill.


text:
Is getting into MSc programs in Europe easier than PhD in US?
PhD programs in US usually include an MSc degree and many of the admitted students don't have an MSc. In Europe however, with just a few exceptions, everywhere requires an MSc for a PhD. There are also quite a few differences in the structure of the undergrad in US and Europe.
I was wondering if it is easier for someone with a US undergrad degree to get into an MSc in Europe than PhD in US? Are the PhD admissions in US more competitive?
If I have an offer from a couple of top US schools (by "top" I don't mean Harvard and MIT, I mean around a dozen (national) ranks below that... say, top 30-40 in global rankings), should I be confident that I can get into one of the few MSc programs in Europe I've applied to? (The programs are top/best programs in Europe, but the universities are essentially on par with the US school in global rankings. Perhaps some of them have a better global reputation in the specific field.)
Note:
1 - By Europe I am referring to Western Europe, excluding UK. More specifically, Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Holland, Austria.
2 - The field is Mathematics, if that makes a difference. (I think it might, given the reputation of places like Heidelberg, Bonn (Hausdorff Institute), and the universities in Paris have in Mathematics.)

Apples with oranges... Also, different programs may have different requirements. Considering that you are targeting different programs in different countries with different education systems, no one can promise you that if you are admitted to A you will be admitted in B. But as a general rule, I second nra: in most places MSc is not considered as a something super competitive program.

@Greg Is an MSc in a field like Math really considered an extension to undergrad?! The courses they have there (at least those for the second year of the MSc) are quite advanced.

@nra: Not in the sense that difficulty remains the same, but in the sense that 1) some MSc courses may be direct (more advanced) follow-ups to courses from the respective BSc, and 2) BSc + MSc might be considered "the complete major", so-to-speak the default degree that most students aim for when they plan to "get a degree at the university and then start working".

@O.R.Mapper I many countries the undergrad education was split intentionally to be compatible with BSc+MSc system, so yes, I agree, MSc is often considered as full major, and BSc is something lesser.

@Greg: I know; I studied in such a country right before undergrad education was split, and then worked at the university, including duties related to teaching students right after education was split. Most of the overall studies remained the same, with the Bachelor/Master split put somewhat arbitrarily in the middle (and some material left out due to restrictions in the new timeline).

Master's education in Europe is largely considered an "undergraduate" degree that follows the bachelor's degree, rather than being the prerequisite for the PhD. Thus, admission to a European master's program tends to be much less competitive than PhD admissions in the US. Now, if you're applying to a top program in Europe, it can be as difficult and competitive as in the US. But the average master's program in Europe has a lower bar to admission, so long as you've done the necessary undergraduate studies considered a prerequisite of the bachelor's degree program.
The rules about what is considered acceptable varies, but a few rules of thumb apply:

In a “consecutive” master’s, which requires a bachelor’s in the same discipline, you need to be able to catch up with coursework in less than one year (sometimes one semester, if the program is competitive).
In a non-consecutive master’s, you just need to have a suitable bachelor’s degree to enroll.

One of the many things I don't know about the criteria and the admission process in Europe, is whether they consider a US Bachelor's degree to be sufficient coursework. The reason I have doubt about that is that in European undergrad they only take courses in their major, but in US, there are other requirements, so I may be a few math courses (probably only 2, since I've taken a few additional courses here) short of a European BSc in Mathematics.
Do you have any information on how strict they are in evaluating a US undergrad degree and comparing it to theirs?

It depends on the program.  See edit above.

So, does that mean that the consecutive master's programs are more competitive, or just that they set the bar for qualifications higher? (i.e. they require a better set of undergrad courses and evidence of sufficient talent and competency for being able to catch up)

Neither. It just means that the consecutive program assumes a very specific background.


text:
The rise of LIDSEN Publishing Inc. - how serious is that publisher?
LIDSEN Publishing Inc. is a relatively new publisher that came to my attention a while ago. Their practices (e.g. sending multiple emails per day asking for submissions / special issues / reviews) is somewhat comparable to MDPI in my opinion. However, glancing at their review times, most article have a much slower turn-around and "more reasonable review times". That said, their editorial board in a journal in my field really contains some big shots (well known Professors and researchers) although the journal is barely indexed outside of GoogleScholar.
Does LIDSEN Publishing Inc employ a comparable aggressive marketing system like MDPI? Where could I get more neutral/objective information about this publisher?
Please note that this is not intended to be another discussion about MDPI. Numerous threads exist on this topic already.

Do the big shots know they are listed on these editorial boards?

@ Stephan Kolassa  Ha! That is beyond my knowledge : )

For what it's worth, LIDSEN were on Beall's list.

Does this answer your question? https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/83764/how-do-i-identify-predatory-and-low-quality-journals-with-bealls-list-gone-ho

I think the most neutral and objective information you will get will come from skimming papers in journals you're interested in. They can lie about all sorts of metrics and editorial policies, but they really can't hide bad papers. I don't know what other object data you will find - I suppose you could cross-reference their papers with PubPeer and see if you get any hits.
They seem like they are trying to break into the MDPI dominated grey-market (like so many other not-quite-obviously-predatory but not-quite-trustworthy publishers). So their practices are probably similar under the hood.
My personal opinion is that LISDEN is suspicious. Their websites feel off for a lot of reasons.Their indexing is lacking, they seem to churn out special issues, their APC is suspiciously low, and it seems like they may be a rebranding of a Open Biomedical Publishing - a now defunct (I think) publisher. I'm not convinced by longer review times either. It doesn't take a genius to realize that it looks bad to accept papers in a matter of days and, honestly, they may not have the infrastructure to churn through papers that quickly anyway.


text:
Discard a constantly rejected manuscript or go for a lower-tier journal?
Imagine you have a certain manuscript which you submitted multiple times over a period of a few years. The manuscript covers a niche topic and is not of interest to a more general audience. The manuscript is very basic, its results are valid but nothing novel / extraordinary. Reasons for rejection vary, mainly from "not making a contribution to the field" to "others have shown it before". The manuscript was never desk-rejected. It underwent peer review at 8(!) different journals. One constantly tries to improve a passage here and there, but comments affect the "overall product". In sum, the manuscript could only be published in a lower-tier journal. One already invested countless hours and the following question emerges:
Should I publish in a low-tier journal (+1 publication) or should I refrain from it because the manuscript could be disregarded (having wasted time but having learned a lesson)?

@Anyon Thank you so much for posting that related question. I feel that I know the weakness of the article under discussion: it is ordinary, it is not novel and it is common knowledge (though never shown in a scientific article).

Is it true that others have shown before what your manuscript shows? If so, are there other factors that make your manuscript an addition to the literature?

I used to work as a statistician and in two of the places I worked, my boss was one of the leading figures in their field, each with hundreds of publications and invitations to the most prestigious conferences.
And, while both of them sometimes published in the highest tier journals in their fields (or, sometimes, even in places like Science) they also both sometimes published in niche journals of far lesser rank.
One of the arts of being an academic is getting better at figuring out where to submit.
But .... You've already spent the time. So, submit. (Although I agree with Dan, avoid pay-to-play journals or any with a sort of negative reputation).