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How do professors advise PhD students that are smarter than them?
I will be starting a position as an assistant professor shortly and I have recently received applications from PhD students who in my honest assessment are likely a bit smarter and more talented than me. There is a decent chance I will be in a position to advise such students which I find intimidating. I fear my students will soon find out I am not who I appear on paper and will soon lose respect for me and either run off to be advised by other professors, or we will end up having a very difficult relationship. I would appreciate some advice on how I can possibly advise such students, especially on long-time scales of 6 years.
I also do not believe this to be imposter syndrome. While I believe I am past the bar to be an assistant professor at my university and deserve to be there, it has become evident to me that professors are not necessarily smarter than all their students. In my case, I fear there may be quite a large difference between me and my students and I wonder how other professors do it!

How did you get your position? Becoming an assistant professor is not easy, and you probably have proved yourself quite a bit to be offered such a position. Why do you think you are "not who you appear to be on paper". Might this be a case of imposter syndrome?

@Sursula I edited my post re: imposter syndrome. Academia is not a meritocracy and I got my position in large part due to the pedigree of my PhD advisor's group and my publication record which I believe is largely due to institutional privilege. Regardless, I do believe myself deserving of the job. But on a personal level I know myself to not be technically very strong (I was very much in close to the bottom of technical skill in my lab when I was a PhD student).

Not sure how helpful this is but: even if, considering the worst case scenario, your students have nothing to gain from you from a technical perspective, your knowledge regarding the 'hidden curriculum' of academia, your mentorship and your academic network are still very useful to them.

"I do believe myself deserving of the job." "I fear my students will soon find out I am not who I appear on paper" These two statements seem to be in contradiction. Who you are "on paper" is a person with the abilities normally associated with whatever your job title is ("assistant professor at university X"), not a person "smarter" than every conceivable PhD student that you might encounter. If you don't have those abilities, then that might indeed be a problem, but in that case it's a problem that goes beyond dealing with PhD students specifically.

Wait until you have a child that you are sure is smarter than you. Definitely an interesting experience ;-)

Hi! Could you please add a bit more context? 1) How many years of experience do you have?; 2) Which country is this in? (the meaning of "first-year PhD student" is extremely different in the USA than in every other country, and from your question I would guess that you are in the USA, but I don't like to guess)

Something to think about: If teachers could do nothing for those who seem in many ways to be more advanced/capable/smarter than they are, that would seem to be an existential crisis for teaching as a profession. We hope that our students will surpass us. Being able to teach those who are beyond your own abilities is to me a quintessential skill of teaching.

Not a perfect fit, nevertheless: https://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1725

What's the problem?  Listen to what they are working on and see if there is anything you can assist with, then sit back with a cup of coffee. Not sure I even understand the question or why the impostor syndrome at this level.

In a word, experience. Just because they have greater mental potential than you doesn't mean they know what to do with it as well as you do.

A wise person once told me that they way they achieved their success was because they weren't afraid to hire people that were smarter than them.  Not a perfect analogy but I know they were very well-liked an appreciated.  Sometimes really smart people need guidance.  Often a lot of guidance.  Most of what happens in the world is not logic-based.

@Sursula Have you tried luck? It happens sometimes, believe it or not

Short answer: Kick back and enjoy the ride.

Almost every coach in the NBA is a worse basketball player than the players on their team. You still have something to offer.

If every advisor had to be smarter than their students, the PhD students would have to get dumber and dumber over time. Being an advisor isn't just about smarts, it's about experience.

@Sursula I have seen people getting professorships because they are a sort of proteges of the powerful heads of research groups at universities. If you think the whole world is based on meritocracy, you are too naive.

@MasonWheeler The OP mentioned that he was starting soon so his/her experience is also limited.

How do professors advise PhD students that are smarter than them?

Normally: very, very happily. These students tend to not cause much work, and show potential for greatness (which, in one way or another, rubs off positively on the advisor).
Being a good researcher is more than just being smart - some students are very clever, some are detail-oriented and careful, some are exceptionally hard-working, some write very well, and some have awesome ideas. You also will have these characteristics to varying degrees. Yes, any given student may outperform you in one or multiple of these dimensions, but it's unlikely that they are better than you in all of them (you are a professor at a research university after all). And beyond that there is one characteristic where you almost certainly outperform all of your students - experience. You have seen more projects (successful and failed ones), you have submitted more projects, you know what reviewers value / do not value, you know the PhD process etc. If a student, even a particularly clever one, believes they have nothing to learn from you they are almost certainly mistaken.
Overall, what you should do with students that are smarter than you is the same as with any other student - find out what aspect of their thesis work / career they are struggling with, and help them with that. If they are very smart that's just one less thing to worry about.

(+1) especially for: any given student may outperform you in one or multiple of these dimensions, but it's unlikely that they are better than you in all of them

This is an excellent answer. Being a professor (or graduate student) is not only about being smart, but about so much more. You don't have to be better than a student in all of them to be a good adviser. In fact, perhaps seeing yourself as  "team" with your student is a good perspective, where everyone brings to the table different skills (and different amounts of time -- something you can definitely not compete with your students with).

Experience counts, and so does reputation and people you know. Your student can't go up to a random professor and just pick their brains, but you probably can with some of them.

@Nelson Interestingly, the "superpower" of one of my previous students was that he literally could get to talking with basically anybody, in any context. I think his network was larger than mine no more than two years into his PhD.

+1 "very very happily".  I have advised very bright students, and not-so-bright ones.  For me, it was much more work in the non-so-bright cases.

Yes. For instance, it's extremely unlikely that a bright student knows how to write a good research proposal, or how to navigate the various grant systems, or what grants to apply for, etc.  And while many bright students are good writers, many of them are not (in the sciences, at least, in my experience), and so an advisor can easily help them grow as a technical writer of publishable papers.

I have to +1 this because it is such a great answer that I didn't any longer feel free to write one up on my own.  I would just add this: Some employers value a degree because it shows a person went through a lengthy experience, likely including some requirement to fulfill some expectations.  If a student knows some thing(s) that you don't, that doesn't negate your ability to help with the overall school process.  Some students may only want to be in school to learn from smarter people.  Such short-term wants may not be the highest priorities that they need to focus on and fulfill.

Maybe the only piece of advice to the OP that I would add to this fantastic answer is to modify the perspective, not envisioning the professor-student relationship as a one-way transfer of information. The most gratifying human experiences are those in which there is a mutual exchange, we transfer some knowledge and we learn something. Working with exceptional students should be coveted as a win-win for both, for the professor to work with talented individuals in a field of interest and for the students to have an ally inside the institution who fights for them to get the deserved recognition.

First, the situation is entirely normal. All of us have faced it (well, nearly all, anyway). You give them the best advice you can. You encourage them. You share with them. Being "smarter" than you leaves them still untrained. They also need to learn to avoid pitfalls and things like burnout. When the time comes do what you can to jumpstart their careers.
You are wise to recognize this early. Some people, with evidence from some questions here, would try to denigrate such students, letting personal pride get in the way of your guidance. I suspect that you will avoid that.
Back before retirement, the doctoral program I taught in tried to insist that students use first names for faculty. The idea was to help the students think of themselves a colleagues, not subordinates. Some of them, from traditional societies and backgrounds, resisted this, but we were mostly successful. I've had students, myself, with more potential than I exhibited. That is natural, expected, and desirable.

Even the greatest athletes need coaches, and training plans. The best sports teams need managers to decide team tactics and strategies, to coordinate people working together.
The same is true of academics. You don't need to be smarter than someone to be a be a good coach and mentor.
Someone in the comments above said that academia isn't just about being smart. I'd say it's not even mostly about being smart. It's often said that a PhD is a test of stubbornness rather than intellegence.

So true. And the best coaches are/were not necessarily the best athletes and vice versa.

I have had the privilege to have plenty of students that are 'smarter' than me. I put the smart in quotes because smartness has several dimensions as someone said above @xLeitix. A student can be smart at coming up with ideas, but poorer in execution. Or smart in proofs but poorer in writing.
There will be occasions when students are very smart but also know and feel that they are very smart. Sometimes they can be antagonistic, condescending, and push your buttons. (Hence they can be difficult to manage. The term manage here refers to situations where funding of the student originates from a project and hence some deliverables, engaging with project members are required.) I don't think I have the golden solution for this rare case, and whilst I will advocate for patience and calm, advisors are humans afterall.
But no matter I close by saying that I do hope that all students are smarter in their research than myself. It is after all their phd. We are not captains of the PhD boat. They are. They are the captains, the mechanic, the engine, the navigator. At best in the beginning we are a map, and then gradually as they develop their understanding of the field and science a compass which gets faultier and faultier.

I think I was one of those difficult, smartass students and the relationship with my advisor got really difficult. One advice I would give, do not stop asking questions about your student's research. No matter how dumb or basic the question is for your student, you are not wasting time by asking it but by not asking it.

I would probably spend more time thinking about what it means to be a smart professor than what it means to be a smart graduate student. You are not a graduate student anymore. You might have been much less talented as a student, but could be much more talented as an advisor.
In the normal working world, project managers often stay as project managers and workers stay as workers. This is because being a manager is often just a totally different skill set, and usually needs more soft skills and less technical ability. Hiring the most talented worker to be the boss is often considered to be a poor choice in general.
In my experience, the skillsets for success in graduate school is completely different than success as a professor. So much so that that I would usually put my money betting on the success of a less typically successful graduate student in their performance as an advisor.
Grad student success is mostly hard work and a little bit of talent and luck. I've seen a lot of professors who when they were students were really technically talented but we're really just following the orders of their advisor. They get a lot of papers as a student, and then we're totally clueless about coming up with their own ideas and direction. Usually they just try to do research in exactly what they did as a graduate student with one or two extra complications.
Professor success is I think more flexible. Being a good boss and high charisma with no technical talent is a very viable strategy, and is often the most successful (I've seen this mostly in experimental groups but also sometimes for theorists). High technical ability professors can also be successful but usually have much smaller groups as the professor is often less able to offload the work, since he's the true talent.
Also, big picture understanding and gut feelings are much more important at a higher level in my opinion.
If you're particularly worried about your technical ability, just try to collaborate with some professors that can help out in the ways you can't. You can have your students go visit other professors and go on lots of conferences. (And in the end your work is sort of managing this web of connections.)

Different roles, different skills
Even if you both are in the exact same subfield of science, you'll have a different job role and a different skill set needed. Students write research papers, professors write grant proposals.
Advising a PhD student doesn't require you to be more knowledgeable in their chosen topic than they are, it is pretty expected that at least by the time of graduation they'll know more about their thesis topic than anyone else including yourself. Advising a PhD student requires you to assist then with the process of research and research communication, interaction with other researchers and institutions, sometimes handling employment and funding issues, and often handling how the publication process works.
They may be much more capable than you in your field of science - that's great, let them be. You're there to provide your experience on how to best apply their smartness and share it with the general scientific community.

It's the easiest thing there is, usually (but not always).  Let them work.  Be there if they need you.  Give them good advice from time to time.  Keep them focused.  Make sure they finish projects.  And keep in mind that nobody is good at everything.  At times they will need your help. And encouragement.

The PhD program is not an IQ competition, it is a training program for researchers.
You are a researcher who has completed many years of training and can give your students advice from your expertise. My advisor taught me how to produce novel research and be a good writer and reviewer. These are skills that need to be practiced regardless of how smart you are.
I also want to add that even if these students have better credentials than you, it doesn't imply anything on your intelligence or theirs.

It is a fantastic joy to see people you advise or mentor grow in ways you may not have anticipated. This often happens because you find these people are "smarter" than you. Your responsibility is to make sure these people can excel and continue to excel beyond expectations, for example give them problems you think you cannot solve yourself, or where you got stuck. If you can do that, then you are very "smart" as well.

Don't worry - go talk to a down-to-earth business management professor and they will tell you that those who teach and manage are NOT the true "wizards" - they are the ones who can understand all aspects of the work at hand, along with the resources involved, and how to make them properly function.
They need to learn how to LEARN - ie: you don't always need to teach them the skill, you need to teach them how to hone their skill. When I went to college for Comp Sci I already knew computing/programming. The students at the top of the class ALREADY know some of the stuff before taking the class.
What they really need are additional resources, ways to understand in-depth issues that are uncommon and ways to better network with other entities for better outcomes. You are never supposed to be the end, simply the means, helping to connect the dots.
The professors I had who tried to put things in concrete terms rather than abstract got hassles anyway. OK I got two wrong on the test, my hand is raised and my 142 IQ will prove you wrong every time. It is good to be wrong, it is how we learn and grow.
Be sure to be humble, and curb any ego. If you find they are more intelligent than you then ask them to work together with you on content for coursework as some sort of extra credit.
A racecar driver doesn't need to learn to drive from the most competent driver in the world they just need one who feels competent in what is being taught.

Out of pure probability, half of the students are smarter than their advisors (or elementary school teachers, for that matter). Otherwise, we will have to assume that the humanity, or at least the particular scientific field, gets less and less smart with time (the available data, at least in regard to the whole humanity, does not support this).
Being a teacher/professor/etc is not a matter of smartness, it is a matter of skill set and knowledge. Being a good professor is a complex thing and no personal trait dominates the success rate. Smart students learn these things intuitively at early age so no problem here.
p.s. I am in a positiomn to routinely use a variety of services from people whose entire work I can do way better than them. So I did in academia, long ago. This is normal as well.


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Recent publication versus old, crappy letters of recommendation?
I honestly didn't do to well in university. The classes that interested me I did well in, everything else not so much. Needless to say my GPA isn't the best.
Recently however I've found a field that really interests me. I've been trying to learn as much as I can, and I've been contributing to open source projects as well. These projects have led to at least one publication (a second is up in the air) as well as an online portfolio.
Since these are open source, remote projects I haven't had a real chance to form close relationships with anyone. Since I'm now considering going back to school, this puts me in a bit of a bind when it comes to letters of recommendation since I doubt in going to get really great letters from anyone from university.
It's been about five years since I graduated, so I'm not sure the impact of poor letters versus more recent work. I'm also not sure how to fix it. Any advice would be nice

What kind of graduate program are you looking for?  Coursework-based masters?  Research-based masters?  PhD?

Right now I'm looking at a PhD.

If you have done valuable work on open source projects, a recommendation from one of the lead developers would certainly count highly in my book, if you are applying to a related field (or software related in general). That you have never even met face to face should make no difference.
You say you did well at some classes you liked, presumably some of the people who taught you (preferably later courses) will write you "face to face based" letters, I wouldn't forego such totally.
For the record, I had some students around here (OK, still have) that do extremely well in non-directly study related stuff, and do so-so or directly terrible in their regular classes. I would recommend some of them highly, even if their grades aren't stellar. But probably with some warning about "careful, if work isn't interesting to them they might just drop it".

Yes, that's what one of my university professors said they would write. I'm just not sure about asking one of the developers, I don't think they will write one.

@user41824, worst that can happen is they decline

So they've all declined. I'm completely stuck on where to get more letters.

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Affiliated institution wants to remove name from already published paper?
We have published a review article, years ago, and since then all of the authors left the institution. Now the institution has suddenly woken up and realized that the authors did not get permission before publishing the article. And the institute does not want its affiliation any more on the already published article. What to do now?

Were all of the authors of the paper at the same institution?

Yes earlier at same institution, but now moved to different institutions.

The institution doesn't want the article withdrawn, it just wants to remove the affiliation information?

Yes, institution wants to remove the affiliation.

Who is "we"? Are you an author of the paper, or an editor of the journal?

we are Authors.

If you have any respect for the institution, accept their request and remove the affiliation information (as well as you can, at this late date).

Can you define what permission is needed?  I am not aware of any institute requiring permission for everything any researcher is publishing, unless it is not an academic institute but instead a company...

It sounds like you and your co-authors committed an error in publishing this paper against requirements imposed by your institution.  The institution would probably be within its rights to insist that you withdraw the paper altogether, so asking you to remove the affiliation markings from the paper is probably not too bad a compromise (it's hard to know for certain without knowing the regulations and situation in detail).
As such, I would recommend getting in touch with the journal and requesting a correction to remove the affiliations, explaining the situation.  The journal may or may not be willing to make the correction.  If they are not, then you likely just need to leave the two institutions to battle it out and hope that you have a paper left when they are finished.

It really depends on what permission means. If it was something like IRB review, then yes withdrawal is an option. If it was some other administration imposed rule, then they do not necessarily have the right under academic freedom, what institution requires permission to publish for anything other than well established ethical review, like IRB and the like?

Thanks. Just to mention here that it was not an IRB review. And the subject theme of review was not either directly or indirectly related to institute projects. The work was authors own intellect contribution to the society. The affiliation was mentioned just to fulfil the requirement of 'Guide to Author' of the journal.

@daaxix There are other reasons that permission to publish can be required.  For example, a corporate sponsor may give access to a confidential dataset on condition that they get to do pre-publication review of papers involving the dataset.  Some institutions require people to positively confirm that no such contractual relation is being violated before publication.  This is currently very rare in US universities, though it used to be much more common before the general removal of classified research from campuses in the 1960s, but other academic institutions and other countries may differ.

@jakebeal But violating those requirements would likely lead to a demand that the paper be withdrawn, no?

@JeffE Likely, but not necessarily, it the authors violate the internal review process but not the spirit of a contract.  I do think the institution's request is rather odd sounding, but am pointing out that we simply don't know enough to judge the situation more precisely unless the OP adds more information.

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"Awaiting AE recommendation" before first notification of acceptance or rejection
What does "Awaiting AE recommendation" mean for the first notification (not after revision)? I sent my paper to an IEEE Transactions journal and I am waiting for the first notification and the status is now "Awaiting AE recommendation." Could I conclude that my paper is accepted?

Possible duplicate of What does the typical workflow of a journal look like?

@jakebeal While you and I may be able to identify the relevant stage in the "canonical" workflow, I don't see how someone who doesn't know what "Awaiting AE recommendation" means can. When voting to close with "canonical" question like this, I think it's appropriate to point the OP to the specific part that is relevant and/or edit the canonical answer so it explicitly addresses this question.

How long did it take to get this status from the time of submission?

@jakebeal: To our knowledge the answer may a subset of the post you prescribed, but this question seems to be more specific. It isn't a duplicate of that post.

AE stands for Associate Editor. According to the process described in IEEE Transactions, "Awaiting AE recommendation" status means that the AE has collected all reviews from the reviewers who were assigned to review your manuscript and that the AE's decision for acceptance is pending.
After this phase, the AE would send her/his report to the EiC (Editor in Cheif), for the final decision on accepting the manuscript for publication in the journal based on the review results and the report from the AE.
You would find more detail of the process here.

For my case, the status is same for last 15+ days? What could it mean? Like OP, it would be my first notification after initial submission.

@Coder: When it comes to IEEE or Elsevier, 15 days is not a long time at all (unless you are communicating with journals that come under Letters). You could wait up to a month before thinking of sending a polite reminder. The acceptance for IEEE Signal Processing Letters did not take much time for me. I don't think it would take considerably longer for the Transactions on Signal Processing, either. This is because the Signal Processing Society (SPS) in IEEE has a strict schedule to follow.

Yes, I should wait at least a month. This transaction is taken care by Computational intelligence society, which usually takes longer for everything.


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What should I do if I chose a wrong experimental result for conclusions in academic paper?
I'm a graduate student who has recently submitted my paper to an academic conference.
All I have to do now is to wait for a few more days for the result.
I intended to show that even with small penalty the significant speedup could be achieved by my computer architecture and neural network design.
There were about a dozen experimental setups with differing degree of penalty.
I explained in abstract, experimental results and even in conclusion that even with the penalty limited below a%, the speedup of b times could be achieved.
But it turned out that I kind of cherrypicked and mixed the penalty and the experimental result.
The difference in neither penalty nor speedup is huge. The penalty selected was right next in the table to the penalty which should've been considered. Such as (a * 1.2)% instead of a%
And the speedup differs about 20% too.
So either the penalty limit should be raised by 20% or the resulting speedup should be decreased by 20% in the conclusion of my paper.
It seems like a huge speedup even with 20% deduction as it is above 1.3x
But I'm scared that reviewers will reject my paper for that mistake, suspecting me of being unethical such as faking or fabricating the result.
If the reviewers give me chance to explain, I can explain the mistake thoroughly as penalty-speedup correlation is even shown in the graph.
But the conference has no rebuttal period. They only allow me to edit between the acceptance and the camera-ready submission.
If the error is that much easy to spot, and even the corrected result seems promising, should I stop worrying about the effect of this error on the possibility of being accepted?

As a researcher you have to own your work and take responsibility. There is no such thing as "it turned out I kind of cherry picked...". We all make mistakes. But in order to avoid repeating them don't make it sound like a random accident that was discovered after the fact when it was a part of your active decision making process. (Just a minor suggestion about how you use words here.)

If only for honesty's sake, you should send a corrected version to the committee and explain your mixup.
Put yourself into the shoes of the hapless graduate student who tries to replicate your results in a few years as starting point of own research, only to find out nothing matches up.

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What laws exist in India to protect students from harassment by teachers/professors?
I am a college student in Rajasthan. I had a chance to address a large group at a college function, and in my address I said unfavorable things about professors in the college. Since then, I believe their behavior towards me has changed, and that they are personally targeting me.
I want to know what steps we can take against:

teachers scoring us according to some personal vendetta,
extremely rude language/behavior,
unnecessary targeting.

What laws exist in India to protect students from harassment by teachers/professors?

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

From the discussion above, it seems like you are an engineering/technical student. Technical education in India falls under the concurrent list -- i.e. both state and union laws apply.
The relevant national body is the AICTE, which does have a mechanism for grievance redressal, this is often used as the primary source of complaints against ragging.
You can submit a grievance here. The 2004 Guidelines for Grievance Processes require a sub-30-day resolution of complaints. In fact, all accredited technical institutions in India are required to have a local Grievance Redressal Cell and Ombudsman as per this 2012 notification. Finally, you could contact AICTE directly
Students may also file grievances at the UGC (University Grants Commission). The UGC is a statutory body in charge of "coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of higher education". In 1987, they released "Guidelines for Student Entitlement". See sections 2.5, 2.6 regarding fairness in evaluation and section 5 which deals with discriminatory treatment.
At a state-level, you could try Rajasthan Sampark, which only applies to government institutions.
As others have stated, you need to ensure that you have documented and clear proof to support your accusation, and that you should not back down in fear of reprisal. The process of collecting evidence may help you determine if you truly have a valid complaint, or are perceiving bias that does not exist.
To the best of my knowledge, in answer to your second question, no, Indian jurisprudence does not have a similar concept of student rights as the United  States and some of Europe.
While reading the links for the other answers and searching for policies for this post, the one thing that becomes clear is a worrying lack of depth in policies and transparently available policies and data. If you choose to take this forward, I hope that you will document and publish your efforts.

Disclaimer
I am not a lawyer, and this is not a legal advice.
--
Although student-teacher relationship is viewed as some superior relationship by many communities, it is only daily life human relationship.
That being said, I think to seek your right into university itself is pointless. If the organization were to punish these kind of disturbing behaviors, the mentioned academic staff would not be teaching there at the first place, or maybe their contract would have ended sooner.
So, it is true that you should go to law. But agian, not as a student, but as a person. Because these type of behaviors are mobbing or bullying.
As far as I have found, there are several laws like these and these against bullying in India.
There are actually two important things you have to do before taking action:

Be ready for the consequences. The professors will probably be mad at you because you troubled one of their colleagues. They will not just leave where it is. There will be some disturbing process.
Document everything. Whatever you can do. Find witnesses, record voice, record video. But first take advice from a lawyer what methods to document evidence is accepted as a proof. In some countries, voice recording without consent is not accepted for instance.

My personal advice would be not to step back. For some strange reason, when it comes to student-teacher conflict, people always advise to step back because he is your professor. I am working in academia since five years, and I have seen many similar cases. Not stepping up is equal to promoting the behavior.
This is not "he is not teaching well" or "he is making irrelevant jokes." If the claim is true, the person should be punished.

Strong emphasis on documentation. It'll really help. A lot.

I appreciate your suggestion .and I go to many lawyer for advice but I got a bad experience from all.finding a good lawyer in india is also a big challange they are waiting to jockey people to make money. So I can't trust on them because they are slave of money.I want to take some action without them because I am a student I am not able to hire a lawer for a long time

Lawyers are a slave of money?  You do seem to be quite judgmental of others.  Of course they will charge you a fee.  Lawyers do quite a bit of work, have gone through higher education for years to gain expertise needed in their field, just like doctors/surgeons.

@UmangPatwa I can see your reasoning, but you have to no other way to go. Based on my own experiences, there are some people who do their job perfectly, and without any income expectations. They exist everywhere. It is a matter of trying hard and finding them.

@cagirici I agree with your suggestion and it help me a lot but I need some more information which really help me to stop these kind of things.

Definition of "bullying" in India: causing of mental agony as a civil injury;It is further defined as unwanted and repeated
written, verbal, or physical behaviour, including any threatening, insulting, or dehumanizing
gesture, by a student or adult, that is severe or pervasive enough to create an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive educational environment; cause discomfort or humiliation; or
unreasonably interfere with the individual’s school performance or participation; and may
involve but is not limited to: teasing, social exclusion, threat, intimidation, stalking, physical
violence, theft, sexual, religious, or racial harassment, public humiliation, or destruction of
property.
There is no such Legislature for Bullying in School but as we considered about the Legal
System of India the law should make it a legal duty for schools to have such policies
and frame guidelines and mandate that bullying and cyber bullying be punishable by schools.
It shall then be the responsibility of the Principal to ensure that the policy is framed and
implemented. The Raghavan Committee Report has already recommended that teachers and
the principal be held liable for acts of bullying of students. So has the Supreme Court in
University of Kerala vs. Council, Principal’s colleges, Kerala & Ors

Supreme Court in Re Civil Appeal 887 OF 2009 on 8 Dec., 2011.

. It is now a matter
of implementation. Both the Raghavan Committee Report and the Supreme Court decision
would squarely take within their folds cyber-bullying, though not explicitly mentioned.

As this is worded, does this not focus more on school officials being possibly held liable for bullying perpetrated by non-adult students towards other non-adult students?  Is there a law that specifies adult on adult bullying?  if that is even considered a thing.

@NZKshatriya yes, there is according to decision of Supreme Court, please be aware that Indian law is part of commonwealth law and India maintains a common law legal system inherited from the colonial era and various legislations first introduced by the British are still in effect in modified forms today. Case law is the set of existing rulings which made new interpretations of law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents.

The guidelines issued by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on eliminating corporal punishment in schools, elaborating the RTE's classification, defines corporal punishment not only as physical punishment but also mental harassment (defined as 'non-physical treatment that is detrimental to the academic and psychological well-being of a child' such as sarcasm, ridicule, calling names, derogatory remarks and so on) and discrimination (defined as prejudiced views and behaviour towards any child because of gender/caste/class).
Juvenile Justice Act, 2000
Section 23 of new Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 provides punishment for cruelty to juvenile or child. Whoever, having the actual charge of or control over, a juvenile or the child, assaults, abandons, exposes or willfully neglects the juvenile or causes or procures him to be assaulted, abandoned, exposed or neglected in a manner likely to cause such juvenile or the child unnecessarily mental or physical suffering shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or fine, or with both.
Lodge a complain to nearest police station.
Yes,punishment in schools is strictly prohibited and one can directly lodge a FIR against the teacher and rest police will work out.

The OP is a college student, and this is a site about higher education (post-secondary). It's not clear how the laws about protection of children are relevant.

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


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Seeking to pursue research project independently (outside of academia)
Hello Academia Community,
I hold a PhD and would like to pursue a research project independent of an university (outside of academia on my own or in collaboration with other researchers). First of all, is that even possible? Second, what governing body do I submit my proposal to for review? Third, could you please outline the process?....I wonder whether if it is as simple as  conducting the research and submitting to a journal?
I appreciate your reply,
M

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/63870/independent-research

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/15075/independent-research-post-phd-strategies

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/3010/does-one-need-to-be-affiliated-with-a-university-to-publish-papers

There are only a few issues. First, yes, you can do such research as long as you haven't signed a contract that gives all of your IP to your employer. This sort of yielding of output is common in industry for employees, but rare, I hope, in academia.
Second, if your research involves human subjects in any way, you probably have to get vetting on your research proposal from an ethics body. In the US, that would be a university's IRB, or some equivalent. Most reputable journals won't accept a paper involving human subjects without an external ethics review.
But if there are no impediments, just do your research and submit it in the normal way. If you don't want your university's name attached to it in any way, your affiliation can just be "independent researcher".

Not so rare in academia, in the UK.

Hmmm. @Flyto, so you mean all IP, or just what is potentially patentable?

read the contract with your employer. In general, if you used employer's data/equipment/software/paid time to do your research, they might have a claim on it, and you might have to get their approval before publishing.

@buffy I'd have to check my old contracts, but I'm pretty sure there was an IP grab from staff (and from PhD students who didn't opt out)

@Flyto, in my career in the US, I never considered asking, nor was getting permission ever suggested.

The whole "all the IP you produce belong to your employer" clause is unenforceable in many jurisdictions.

@user8001 I'm not sure what you mean. Is it the "all" word there that is the problem? Or do you mean there are places where all kinds of "work for hire" contracts are unenforceable.


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I suspect someone deliberately ruined my experiments by poisoning my lab insects. What should I do?
I'm a graduate student who's currently working on an experiment involving some animals. I have two separate places where I keep my animals, and one of them is in a locked section of a lab (which is only accessible by myself, my PI, and a few other investigators).
A few weeks ago when I came into the lab, I noticed that all of the animals in that locked section had died. Without going into too much detail, after a quick investigation I found that a gas valve must have been opened to kill the animals, and then closed again. It is impossible for the valve to open spontaneously, let alone open and close. I also determined that it couldn't have been a gas leak because I have a habit of always setting the valve to a certain position after closing it, and it wasn't exactly in that position when I checked it, so it must have been physically moved.
I thought that maybe the stars unfortunately aligned and I had gone wrong somewhere for this to occur, so I left it alone and kept it to myself but have been careful to check the valve everyday afterward.
A few days ago, the animals were dead once again. The valve had also been moved. Although I don't have concrete evidence, I'm strongly suspecting that either my PI (who I don't have the best relationship with) or another investigator in the lab is deliberately killing the animals. I don't know what to do now, who to approach, and what to say. My entire experiment is now also in jeopardy. What steps do I take?
Clarifications / responses to comments:

The "animals" are insects, so "animal care regulations" are limited
No one has commented on the deaths. My section of the lab is rarely used, so they may not have noticed.
There are no security cameras.

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/83714/dealing-with-suspects-of-sabotaging-experiments

This is as to say " somebody put a chemical in my reaction flask". And no chance to get a trace of it. It this happened, then it is a very unpleasant and difficult to face situation. I won't know what to do if not asking the supervisor on his opinion on the insect death. At least is a starting point - Perhaps insect can get sick and infect each other? Could have been lack of oxygen? I wouldn't mention sabotage. Also think on what would be the benefit of a sabotage? Nothing in term of research nor in terms of prestige internal to the institute.

Why don't you setup a small camera in the enclosure where you keep the insects? Or leave a laptop running with the webcam on but the screen off.? You need some proof that someone is actually doing something and it is not a flaw in your experimental setup. Depending on your jurisdiction might not be legal to setup a camera so you might not be able to use it as a proof. You might also approach the police department for advice.

One thought I have: Could someone be accidentally bumping the valve when reaching/looking for something else?
That is, they could bump the valve, realize it and then quickly close it again. They may not have said anything because of either being scared of the consequences or because they didn't think/realize that such a small release of gas would be enough to harm the insects. I don't know whether the physical setup  of the valve would allow this, but this is one thing to consider.

get a gopro and get it on video

I am assuming that your line manager is your PI and that you would normally take any issues or problems relating to your work to them. If that is the case, then you ought to report your concerns to your PI.
While it sounds like you don't have a good rapport with your PI, that does not prevent you from behaving professionally.
Ask your PI for a meeting, raise your concerns, make good notes during your meeting (literally write notes during your meeting), do not accuse anyone, offer a solution (perhaps ask that a webcam be set up to record your insects, ostensibly to time when the deaths occur, but also can monitor who entets the lab),  ask for the PI to consider the matter but don't press the PI for an immediate solution.
Summarize the meeting in a subsequent email to your PI, asking the PI to add anything that was discussed.
Now you have brought your concerns to the person whom your institution expects you to tell, and you have a record of that meeting.
If it turns out that matters don't improve, you can refer to your earlier discussion and take it from there. This could include raising the issue again with your PI, or, if necessary, bringing the issue to the attention of people who could advise further. This could be the health & safety officer if you had justifiable concerns about a leak (or "leak"), or it could be your Department/School/Faculty head if you find the PI unhelpful.

Yes, documentation is very important here. In the meeting with the PI, I would avoid proposing your theory of sabotage, and instead summarize the facts very clearly and let the PI draw conclusions from there. TBH I think the sabotage is unlikely, but if he is the saboteur then this is still the best play. If he's not, he's not going to want to believe it was sabotage, and there's no reason for you to stake your reputation on that theory when more information needs to be gathered. If you're right, it will come to light when you escalate.

Also I would add that when you send the follow-up email to the PI documenting the meeting took place, he'll probably realize you know what you're doing and you are documenting. This may stop the bullying on its own, if that is what's going on.

It is critical that you approach the matter from the most objective point of view possible. Most importantly, do not make any assumptions about who did it and why it happened.
I can only repeat: do not make any assumptions about who did it and why it happened.
While it is quite possible that someone sabotages you, it may be that there is a misalignment of circumstances; and if there is an act of sabotage, it may be somebody entirely out of your picture, such as cleaning personnel or somebody entirely different.
In short, as you approach the matter, keep an open mind about what may have happened and why. Stick to the facts. Proceed by involving your PI, but at the same time triggering animal protection protocols, so that as many people as possible know about the matter being investigated. Hopefully that is a sufficient deterrence for any but the most determined and out-of-their-mind saboteur and if they are the latter, it enters outright criminal territory, which requires an entirely different ballpark of escalation.

Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

For purposes of advice, I will accept your assertion that you have good cause to believe that the insects were killed by turning the gas on.  Even in this case, it is surely possible that this could have been done for some other purpose than the deliberate killing of these insects.  Perhaps someone turned the gas on for some other purpose (or not even knowing it was a gas tap) and then turned it off again when they saw it had done some harm.  The fact that this happened twice does raise a reasonable suspicion of dasdardly deeds, but it is still possible that this is just someone making an error.
I recommend you go and speak to your PI about your concerns, and still to what you know for sure about the mechanics of the death, without speculating on the presumed malice of whoever turned on the gas tap.  Any improper use of the gas will raise a safety concern (and not just for the insects) so it is likely that this will at least lead to briefing the lab users on proper and improper use of the gas taps.  If it keeps happening, leading to strong suspicions of intentional sabotage then you might then take stronger action.  For now, start by speaking to your PI and give all participants the benefit of the doubt.

This is a very serious allegation. You should immediately speak with your PI about it. It is highly unlikely your PI would sabotage you - what could they have to gain?

This has been downvoted, but I find it extremely unlikely that a PI would kill their own animals -- they're paying for them!

I upvoted because speaking to the PI is the right thing to do first, but the answer would be better with a little more explanation about why this is the best course of action. The answer by @Nicholas is a good example.


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Discovering an error after publishing?
My paper was published 6 months ago. A few days ago, while reading it I discovered that one of the equations had the wrong power: instead of x it should have x². After checking my old notes it turns out that they had x², so its just a typing error. I should point out that this doesn't change the end result and the equation before and after it are both correct.
What should I do? Should I tell the journal about this mistake?

This is the sort of thing that corrections and errata are for. The journal should have a procedure for informing the editorial staff and correcting the record.  Follow it, and you should be able to fairly quickly and easily correct the record.


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Hot and timely research problem with a slow student
I am a postdoc and currently co-supervising a novel PhD student who works very very slow and needs to be spoon-fed most of the time (which is reasonable considering she's in early stages of her PhD). We are working on a very hot topic and have defined a research problem to work on. She has been working on it for 2 months, but I'm afraid we are going to miss out on publication due to her slow pace. I, however, can see where the work is going and can do it on my own very quickly and maybe get it published right way. This work is an incremental research on something I did before, but for the student to climb the learning curve, it will take a considerable time.
Thinking about this, I have two options:

Let her take her time and do research as any usual PhD student but
push her to be quicker (not sure how).
Do the research work myself and get it published much sooner than pursuing option 1 above, and list her as a co-author.

Now option 1 gives the student a fair-go in risk of missing out to another research group that may be doing similar research. Even under this option, I'm not sure if the student will really do a fantastic job eventually.
Option 2 seems unethical to me because a student should have his/her time to learn and experiment, but will allow her to learn the publication process and contribute to the production of the paper.
What do you think I should do?

You are "co-supervising", which means you are not to make this decision on your own. Talk to the other advisor (a more senior professor I assume?) before deciding what to do.

Is your field down to a single research topic? If not it really seems like your efforts could be directed to another, more difficult problem that is not something you can do very quickly.

@DirkLiebhold, yes obviously.

If you have taken on the responsibility of shepherding this student to her doctorate then you have an ethical constraint that overwhelms most other considerations. The only exception to that, that I can see, is if the research is actually life saving in some way.
I a lot of supervisor-supervisee relationships the advisor can do the work on her/his own without the student. But that doesn't ever imply that the student should be left behind. The supervisor has more experience in field and in research in nearly all cases, so the student requiring a (possibly long) learning curve is pretty typical.
The "hotness" of the research topic doesn't change your ethical responsibilities. If you don't want to honor that you shouldn't take on advisor roles.
However as aeismail suggests, the student needs a suitable problem, not necessarily this problem. If she is at the beginning of the process it might be reasonable to morph her participation into a different problem.
But, your assessment of her overall ability may also be wrong. She may, in fact, have a breakthrough moment in which things fall into place. And if the problem is that she lacks key background elements for some reason, you could make it go faster by finding ways for her to quickly come up to speed on those.
Finally, it isn't uncommon in many fields, including mathematics, for an advisor to give some hints to the student, pointing out the direction to be explored, if not more.

If she’s truly in the beginning phase of her PhD, it would be entirely appropriate not to wait, unless you have specifically defined the tasks she needs to do as an explicit part of her thesis research. In that case, you must proceed with extreme caution, because you are fundamentally changing things after everyone has agreed on a plan.
Otherwise, if she has already made some contributions, incorporating them into ongoing research and including her in the publication process would be a good way to help her develop her skills and motivate her to make further contributions because she can see directly what can be done with it. You can also mention that other results she gets in the near future could also be used.
However, as mentioned by others, if you are a subordinate co-supervisor, you are not able to follow this advice unilaterally and should consult with the principal supervisor to make sure you are in agreement on this strategy.


text:
Would I need to cite explanation of linux command lines?
I am a bit confused about how I go about this, as the questions require me to search some commands and explain what they do, or in some cases the differences between the commands.
I've been trying to do that, but then I find that none of the actually knowledge ends up being mine. I'm just copying what others have said this command does, and what the differences between these two commands are, and possibly following it up with my own example.
I ended up with really just a reference after each one of my paragraphs.
Isn't there any way these commands and what they do could be considered common knowledge? In the end, many people are using them everyday and there are many websites explaining what they are for and how they differ from other commands. How would citation apply in this case?

Who is asking you the questions?

For "what they do", cite the man page (if that is where you get the information from), for "the differences" between commands - this sounds like something you should find out. If not, cite your source.

Common Linux commands can typically be listed without introduction, when you're writing for Linux users.1 More advanced commands require introduction. As you've hinted, providing your own introduction is rather tiresome, because numerous introductions already exist. Hence,

I suggest that you simply quote what others have said and provide a citation to the original.

Ideally, I'd recommend quoting man pages, since they are reputable, but you might have to rely on other sources when man pages provide insufficient detail.

1 What constitutes a common Linux command is rather vague. I'd certainly include cat, cd, and cp. I'd also include less and more. Thereafter I'd be a little hesitant, should grep, ps, ... be considered common?

There are so many guides to GREP floating around online that I'd argue it's certainly common enough to not have to really explain yourself.


text:
How to write a paper where a chemical compound's name cannot be disclosed?
I am currently working with a certain chemical compound whose name its very well known and largely studied. However, due to my findings that relate this compound with an industrial procedure (that cannot be patented), I am not able to mention its name in a possible manuscript.
My question is if anybody knows about publications that somehow avoid to mention the name of a chemical compound due to industrial secrecy from which I could guide my thoughts towards writing such a manuscript.

What is your manuscript going to be about?  If you're describing some experiment that uses the compound, it's hard to imagine why any journal would want to publish a paper that doesn't include enough information to reproduce the experiment.

The compound is found during the development of a plant, and the industrial application is the elucidation of the seasons in which they can yield the maximum of this compound from the plant. As a side history of this analysis, I found that it confirms the effect of abiotic factors in the plant's development, so is not directly related with an experiment or new method. Rather, an unexpected result

It may be useful to read these related questions about confidential research: Academic literature on the construction of Dangerous Things, Using Leaked Proprietary Information in Scientific Paper, Confidentiality of Thesis Data: PhD with Industrial Partner

I guess the question would be, is the result going to be scientifically interesting or useful to a reader, without identifying the compound? Can a researcher make sense of the result, and be convinced that it is valid, without knowing what the compound is?

My ex did a confidential final year project and it is still held confidential... Ok so I formatted and proof-read it but it is not publicly svailable...


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Negotiating boundaries with a conflict avoidant advisor
My PhD advisor is someone who values workplace/personal life boundaries. Sometimes I feel that he gets mad at me for accidentally crossing those boundaries in small ways. The problem is that he doesn't explain when he is mad at me, and this can cause problems in our working relationship - for example, he tries to avoid me online and in real life, probably in order to avoid confrontation.
I confronted him recently about why he was acting mad at me, and it surfaced that he expected me to figure out why he was angry. This is a waste of my time and energy. How can I manage my relationship with him; in particular, what are some steps that we can take so that we understand clearly what the boundaries are in our relationship? How can I encourage him to communicate his boundaries to me, without such a question seeming overly personal?
Has anyone been in a similar situation? What insights or advice do you have to offer?
Thank you!

Could you give a couple of examples of ways you inadvertently crossed a personal boundary?

@aparente001 For example, I might sit in and listen to his meeting with his other students and ask some questions. Or I tried to invite him to lunch and have some casual discussion with him. From time to time I will also try to share my snacks with him as I do to all of my friends.

Some people like causal relationship, some people professional ones... Just, be professional, you don't need a list, just treat him professionally as a colleague or a boss and don't get personal, as he clearly has shown distaste of this.

Thanks for the examples.  I agree with Ander.  Different strokes for different folks.  Live and learn.  Accept and appreciate him for who he is.  You never know what brought him to where he is.  My advisor had suffered severe food shortages in the post-war period.  This had a big effect on his outlook on life.  Each individual is different.  If you think you can learn and thrive with him, then try to fit into what he's comfortable with.

I already started an answer, but one information is missing: Does he behave like this to all students or just to you?

He expected you to figure out why he was angry? Are you, by any chance, married to your advisor?

We all initially learned boundaries as children by testing them individually and then receiving feedback when we crossed some imaginary line. You can learn your advisor's boundaries the same way - by generalizing rules based on specific interactions. Every time something comes up where it seems that your advisor is angry, ask him directly if x behavior of yours was a problem, apologize if necessary, and ask if he would prefer you not to do it again. As you do this over time you'll get a more solid map of what is and isn't acceptable to him. You already have the beginnings of one based on what you already know about him and the advice given in the comments, so you are off to a good start.
(I'm assuming here that you've already tried multiple times to have a general discussion with your advisor about boundaries and it didn't go well. Depending on the situation, you might be able to arrange a meeting with your advisor to talk about the problem the way you would with a manager. Because he's your advisor, it would be best to frame it as you humbly seeking counsel from him on how he would like you to behave, rather than as a mutual problem for both of you to solve.)

Many times people communicate boundaries in subtle ways. Often they also expect that certain boundaries commonly accepted by the society or general group you both belong to will be respected without any need for even subtle communication.
Having to repeatedly clarify my boundaries to each and every or even just one person would take a lot of my time and energy and it would definitely gnaw on my nerves.
There already was some communication about boundaries, as you are certain that they value their boundaries.
What you now need is empathy. And that seems to be a little lacking on your part, to be honest. I will try and go through the three examples you gave in your comment:

For example, I might sit in and listen to his meeting with his other students and ask some questions.

This is not only about your professor establishing their own boundaries, it is also about the other student's boundaries and potentially your supervisor protecting those. There is an advisor-student relationship and if it is good there is quite a bit of trust and value in it.
Did the students agree that you can participate? One-on-one time with an advisor is a precious good that many cannot afford to pass on. Did your supervisor agree that you listen? He might need to discuss issues with the other students that are none of your concern. Even if they agreed that you stay and listen, they might not have the time to explain and discuss everything with you. It is them working on their project. Meetings can be lengthy and hard and if you want to avoid that you need to be effective. An outsider actively joining is often disruptive to that effort.

Or I tried to invite him to lunch and have some casual discussion with him.

As every person, they have a right to not want to go to lunch with you. As your supervisor and someone who is going to grade you somehow in the future, with all the friendliness that can be involved it is more common in a group setting. Going for lunch alone with one of your students can lead to talking behind their back for them. And you won't profit from that either. In life there is a general guideline that in a friendship between people in different levels of the same hierarchy, the higher up should make the next step. They will know how far they can acceptably go and how far they want to take it. Or they might decide to only do this after the supervisor-student relationship as such has ended.

From time to time I will also try to share my snacks with him as I do to all of my friends.

As long as you offer them to everybody else in the room/group/lab as well?
Giving out snacks or treats to a specific person can look like bribery. Not everybody would think so, but the few who do are enough to start gossip. But I would rather again offer to share in a group setting. Definitely not walk up to them specifically unless you are also walking up to everyone else who is around.

I assume, that discussing about boundaries crosses boundaries for your professor ;-). So in my opinion, your negotiation phase aleardy ended (and I think you came to this point but you don't like the result):
No personal communication, no settings which could be considered "private" (like having lunch ect.).
The reasons for such a behaviour can be manifold (from thinking that a professor "should behave like this", fear that a personal communication could reduce level of respect, fear of beeing accused for harassment, fear, that other might think soneone is preferred over others, sociopathic nature of the professor, ...
In fact the reasons don't matter much, you can just decide for yourself to respect whatever reason there might be, or to look for an other position. You can not change someone. You made a very good step by asking for explanations and guidelines (if you would not have done this, this would have been my first advice), but the reaction shows that it would be inappropriate to dig into this issue any further.


text:
Will it damage our grant application if we include an additional applicant with no publications?
My colleagues and I are currently writing a grant application to the German Research Foundation. My colleagues have published many papers before and I have not published anything yet.
Ideally, we would like to include me as an "additional" applicant, because I have written most of the application, but we worry it might lower our chance of getting the grant. Does any of you have experience with this, and can tell us if our worry is warranted?

I can't answer this question, but wonder whether the application has a section on the expected contributions of the applicants.

Can’t answer for Germany. At the funder I work for the totality of the applicants is taken into account - they need to demonstrate the right expertise between them. We wouldn’t be concerned at an applicant (or two or three)  who hadn’t published before as long as it was clear what they brought to the project. If none of the applicants had an academic track record that would be a concern. Everyone has to start somewhere.

If you are a doctoral student, you are probably fine, as long as the rest of the team has sufficient evidence for expertise. If you are a postdoc or above, having no publications may be counterproductive. If you are a junior postdoc, you may consider putting papers in submission or revision into your publication list if you at all have them.

Thanks a lot everyone!

I would give the grant administrator a call. They are ready to help and don't want anyone to fail for insubstantial reasons.

Maybe too late for this specific case, but maybe useful for others later:
There is not universal answer to this as there are too many factors. A few things that one can say (for proposals to the DFG - may also hold for other agencies):

Projects with more applicants should be even more coherent, i.e. each new applicant should sharpen the focus of the proposal (and not broaden it).
The standing of the applicants actually matters a lot, however, academic age is considered and there is a one-time "first applicant bonus".
The reviewers will judge if the team of applicants is up to the task. Usually this is judged based on the track records, especially the publications. For an applicant without any publications, this is impossible and there needs to be strong evidence in favor.
Every official applicant needs to apply for some funding (otherwise they would not be applicants but "cooperation partners") and usually more than just travel money, but money for positions. I think it is hard to argue that somebody without any publications should supervise a PhD student (or a student assistant) in a research project. However, you could apply for money for your own position.
It is perfectly fine to contact the DFG directly (just call the person responsible for the funding scheme and subject) - they are there to help with such questions.


text:
How to deal with page number requirements in a thesis?
The faculty in which I write my thesis demands students to write 60 pages (+/- 10%).
This, however, is contrary to all the guidelines about academic writing online (see e.g. Writing tips for PhD students by John H. Cochrane). This guide (and many others) give recommendations typically along the line of (be brief, be concise, come to the point, nobody cares about xyz, only review literature which is directly related to your topic).
I can't really see how I would ever reach 60 pages while being concise. The topic my thesis is centered on is still, from a research point, in its infancy. There are three studies at max that are directly related to what I am trying to replicate.
If I want to write more pages I really would have to expand and also look at studies which fall under the same subject but do something completely different in terms of their methodology.
Has anyone faced similar issues in the past? I feel like I am making my thesis much worse by balooning all these irrelevant stuff into it but if I don't do it, I write 30 pages at max. (2 p. introduction, 2 p. literature, 2 p. discussion and results, 24 pages on methodology)

The tags seem to indicate that you are writing a Master's thesis, but in the second paragraph you are referring to a guideline about PhD theses. Could you clarify which kind of thesis you are writing? Apart from this, which field are you in? And what does your advisor say regarding this matter?

Can you also clarify what field you're in, as that may make a difference to expectations. I can't imagine how even a masters project could present all its results and discussion in two pages unless something had gone very wrong somewhere!

@JochenGlueck it is a masters thesis. The writing guidelines above were handed out by my faculty.

@Stephen McMahon - I'm writing in finance/economics. I'm expanding on a paper that has been recently published and is one of the very few papers who quantifies a recent phenomena.

The quoted guidelines are not about a dissertation, but about writing journal article.  A master's dissertation is not a journal article.

Be as concise as you can but don't sacrifice understandability to it.
Here are some strategies that you can use to write more pages without being unnecessarily verbose:

Put yourself into the shoes of someone who hasn't worked on the topic for months. Have you really included all the necessary background? Do your conclusions directly follow from your results without implicit context and assumptions?

Include illustrations where they help understanding. This breaks up the wall of text, making it easier to read. They can convey some information far more efficiently than text, although you will often still need text to go into the details (e.g. overview over a measurement setup).

Give your thesis more structure (e.g. your 24 pages of methodology shouldn't be one giant section). This helps to guide the readers, helps them understand where they are and lets them skip back and forth  more easily.
You can start each major section with a brief overview of what will be covered there.

Two pages for discussion and results seems very short. Include enough data here that the readers can judge the results for themselves and do not have to rely on your interpretations. You are likely going to need result tables or plots here. Maybe you even need different representations, e.g. results grouped by different factors.

Give your thesis draft to one of your fellow students or someone else from your field. Ask them to note down things they had to look up, passages that are unclear, questions left open, conclusions that were hard to understand at first, ... Expand on those parts.

If you still end up with a version that is too short, talk to your supervisor. They may have requests on what to expand, or they may agree that the length is appropriate and make an exception.


text:
What is the academic consensus on footnote citations?
Not really found a good answer on this online.
There seems to be a wide variation in the usage of footnoes in publications. While some authors use an APA format for every citation, even non-academic, e.g.:

(New York Times, 2018)

Some authors would use footnotes such as:

1: The New York Times published an extensive analysis that details ...

Another example would be

Footnote: See Authors et al. (2018) for an application of the model to evaluate the loss due to disasters in South America

What is your view on that?

I spot a general trend that if there is a definitive, concise statement, the citations are kept in text
If there is something more to add (so not "these are the results (..., 2018)" but rather "there is an extensive debate about xyz, (...,2017) lays it out in detail" - authors tend to use footnotes

I am a master thesis student that finalizes his thesis with the request of the professor to orient myself on a certain journal since he encouraged me to publish the results.

As stated, you are asking for opinions. That puts it off topic.

Mechanical style issues such as this will depend on the place you want to publish. Different editors have different requirements. Even different departments in one university may have different requirements. You will need to consult with the person(s) in charge of the place you want to publish.

Potentially an interesting question, but poll questions like "what is your view on this?" are not what we do here. What do you really want to know? The pros and cons of this system? Why it went out of favor? Whether such a system is appropriate when the choice is left to the author?

There is a wide variety of conventions, both between disciplines and between journals/conferences within a discipline. There is absolutely no single "academic consensus" we could point you to here.
Since you already have a specific journal in mind to submit to, I would very much recommend you take a look at its Guide for Authors, and/or look at recent papers published in that journal as to how they deal with these kinds of references. Since you plan on submitting (a version of) your thesis there, I would presume you already read and cited a number of papers from that journal, so much of your work is probably already done. And if papers in that journal follow different conventions, that probably means that the journal is flexible, so you can choose whatever approach you like best. (I personally dislike footnotes and overuse parentheses.)


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If supervisor has no expertise in your research work, is it possible to do a PhD under that supervisor?
In my PhD, I am assigned mathematical modeling topics and my supervisor's work is related to mathematical biology. But I don't want to work in mathematical biology. Because actually there is not so much real application of that and I don't like biology. Instead, I want to work in fluid dynamics. But my supervisor's research area is totally different. Is it possible  to do independent research work without supervision of supervisor?

A strange question. Who "assigns" topics? Why do you have an advisor doing something different than what you want? How did this state arise? No, it's not good to have an advisor who cannot give you expert advice, nor write a knowledge-able letter later, ... How did this state arise?

I found myself in a situation with distinct thesis supervisor and lab director (in different states from each other).  The thesis supervisor still provided me with a LOT of non-technical guidance that enabled me to finish, but the lab director was the one for day-to-day experiment design and discussion.  (And a third committee member was much more versed in foundations of the computational method I ended up defending than either of those).  So don't look at it as "independent, without supervision", but that the supervisor is providing advice in only a subset of the "normal" ways.

But there are plenty of topics in mathematical biology that require fluid dynamics.  //  Frankly, I don't understand how you ended up with a supervisor who does mathematical biology if you dislike mathematical biology.

In summary: is it possible? Yes. Should one do it? No.
You need an advisor to tell you which problem is important to solve, which direction may not be feasible to investigate, which conference to submit your work etc etc. If you have to do all these alone, you may waste years going nowhere.
That being said, I happen to know a couple of people who successfully did their PhD without working with their advisors. All are very talented, and extremely confident with their research. One of them is a very young PhD student in my former school, who has published 3 solo papers (and co-authored some others), and invented a new sub-field of cryptography.

Would add that ideally, a supervisor introduces you into the community — how they work, what is important, etc. The things you can only infer from papers. And you need to become part of the community to get crucial information. It is very hard to do this without help. Also, how can a supervisor grade the work without domain expertise? This being said, some supervisors jump on "hot topics" they know nothing about — which is rarely good for the PhDs.

You need someone to help you with the technical side of your work, and that person needs to be an expert in the field (remember, for a PhD you need to do new research, which google won't do for you).
However, the person who supervises you in practice does not ultimately have to be your supervisor in name. One option to consider would be co-supervision, so one supervisor brings experience of academia and research, while another brings technical knowledge. If it works out, that can also be a benefit to a young academic who is new to supervision. I've also known people whose supervisors were sufficiently absent that they weren't really much use. Much of the supervision was actually done by postdocs who were working in the same lab.

No, this is not possible.
Having a supervisor is not some formal paperwork you need to do to please the management. A supervisor exists for a reason. If you work alone, your work in fluid dynamics is unlikely to be successful. Most probably it will be about "reinventing the wheel", as proposing a doable topic with the potential of scientific novelty requires lots of competence. You cannot have also your PhD defence without the competent opponents; they will come and may find lots of issues.
A supervisor may only be partially competent if the project bridges multiple disciplines. For instance, if you are doing mathematical modelling in biology, your professor may be highly competent in mathematical modelling or in biology, but maybe not in the both areas at once. Also difficult but I have seen this working, and professor should normally try to arrange at least some co-operation with researchers competent in the complementing area (how successfully, another question). However simply ignoring the supervisor and going just on your own does not make any sense.

Theoretically speaking it is possible to do a PhD under a supervisor who is not an expert in your area but it can get very difficult for times when you need help and "supervision." PhD students are not completely independent researchers and generally follow the directions set out by their supervisors. So if you really want to do something different, the best way would be to change supervisors.

So is it not possible to take online help of my area?

@RonobirSarker, online help (e.g.SE sites) can be invaluable for some details, but you'll require hands-on, face-to-face help much more. Besides, your advisor/people of the research group/lab supervisor/... do have (some) interest in your work, random SE folks don't.

Is it appropriate to change supervisors due to lack of expertise in the field? Any hard feelings?
Doing a research under one who doesn’t have a good understating about the topic is one lonely journey.

Upvoting, not because I think this answer is particularly good but because I think the negative comments from review are particularly bad. The idea that this is a new or different question seems to come from seeing two question marks and not reading the words that precede them.

It depends on the field.
Just as a positive example from my field, I know people in geophysics who regularly do PhDs and research based masters with people who have little knowledge of their specific project at the start.
For example, one of my colleagues is doing a PhD with a very very well known geophysicist, who is known more for is observational and experimental work, but has developed a modeling project with him. Because my colleague has very strong computer skills, and access to advice from other people, the actual "modeling" part he doesn't need as much advising in as the actual general scientific skills. In my opinion, his dissertation  work has turned out to be very good because of this, with many more productive collaborations than the normal PhD students tend to have out of necessity. Another strong point about his program is that because he is using unusual methods for his lab, he already shows strong independence from his PhD advisor, which might look good on job applications.
So I will say that it might be smart to do this depending on the quality of scientist you are at the beginning of your PhD work, and the quality of your advisor. These are two things that are very hard to evaluate, and I think that it turns out bad more than it turns out good, but there is clear upside and potential to create a truly unique educational experience regaurdless.

I think it's easier to do this in experimental topics than theoretical ones.  Big physical lab groups really have little supervision, apprenticeship anyways.
Overall, it is going to depend on how independent you are, how feasible the problem is (pick something doable).  Also that the advisor is at least not an active hurdle--it's one thing if you pull your own sled but if you have someone fouling the runners?


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Is having done research a must when applying to a graduate program in CS?
I live in Mexico and I go to a private University where doing a thesis isn't a requirement for graduating (many universities in Mexico follow this). I only take classes and do small projects for exams. But I want to do a graduate program in Canada or USA or Europe. I don't have any experience in the field. What are my chances in getting into a graduate program without any relevant work?
What should I do if it is very important?
I'm studying actuarial Science so I don't have any sort of Github account or online work. And I'm not aiming at a very top university.

I find it questionable to mark a question that explicitly asks about USA, Canada and Europe as a duplicate of a question whose scope is limited to the USA. Possibly, the question should be asked three times, though; once for Canada, once for Europe (which is probably still too broad a question), and once for the USA. Also note that the other question explicitly says "particularly for weak or borderline students". I don't think "live in Mexico" and "not aiming at a very top university" are sufficient to conclude this is about "weak or borderline students".

In Europe you typically do not need any research experience or industry experience to get into MA programs.
You typically do not need this to get into a PhD-program either, but it helps to have something to show; a very nice MA-project, perhaps a published (or publishable) paper from your MA-work, popular publications such as newspaper article or similar where you communicated you subject, a nice open source project you contribute to, etc. Some contributions to the field you apply in. This is not a requirement, but it helps when candidates are evaluated. The admission for PhD-programs mainly depend on the research proposal you have submitted: do the comity have faith in your project, it's potential impact or interestingness, does it align with the institutions research goals, and does it seem realistic to complete in time?

I mostly agree up to "The admission for PhD-programs mainly depend on the research proposal you have submitted", which does not seem generally valid for "Europe". In Germany, a typical mode of operation is that there is no research proposal when applying for a PhD candidate position (at least none written by the applicant) and the topics and questions of research are only gradually chosen during one's PhD candidacy.

You are off course right here Mapper, I should perhaps have limited my "Europe", to "Scandinavia".


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Does FERPA require parental notification of disability assessment?
There are significant barriers asking and negotiating disability supports and accommodation at a college/higher education level. There is also a lack of awareness and education of the rules and expectations on both the learner and the educator.
A recent question seemed to describe a disruptive student who did not want to accept supports due to parental disapproval. There was some confusion whether FERPA rules covered disability notification and whether parents are routinely contacted when disability accommodations are requested.
There might also be barriers if students require new assessment documentations as their childhood assessments may not be recent enough. Access to healthcare may mean that parents are notified by health providers. Students may also need to request accommodations when they are not fully aware of their limitations and available supports.
I guess I am keen to clarify the rules around FERPA and parental notification: to what degree is notification required?

You have stated it as a "shopping question" I'm afraid. I suspect that there is such research, but this is not the venue to search or it.

I am happy to spend time and answer the question if there is no interest and people with the expertise that can help out

I am not sure how to make the question less of a shopping question

I have attempted to improve the questions by editing to focus on the parental notification question, which is specific and answerable.

This is an easy question to ask FERPA...

It could be that every university may have a different interpretation of the FERPA legislation. So it may not matter what FERPA says. Disability may be out of scope for the legislation? Results is clearly covered by FERPA but maybe disability is interpreted differently?

Students who are over 18 or attending college (often times 17 year olds) have control of their educational records under FERPA.  The individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is consistent with FERPA so that the student controls access to this information too.
Students can waive their FERPA rights and often do so.  Since parents are typically paying some or all of the cost of college, they can effectively force the student to waive their FERPA rights.  Many parents do this so that they can monitor their child's grades.
Another issue is that in order to get disability accomodations a student will normally need a medical diagnosis.  Students who have reached the age of majority (18 in most states) can see a provider and get a diagnosis without parental consent or notification. By default, this is confidential under the HIPAA (the federal law on privacy of medical records.)
However, there's also the issue of how the student could pay for this medical diagnosis.  Since there's a potential conflict of interest for the college to provide the diagnosis (because of the costs of accommodation they might want to avoid diagnosing a disability) or just because it costs money, colleges often won't provide this service to students through their clinics.  The student would have to see an outside provider. The parents' insurance might pay for this, but then the parents would know that the child was getting medical care (but not the specific medical information which still is protected under HIPAA.)

Thank you so much Brian. This is exactly the complex dynamic that educators may not appreciate. Parents can refuse to pay for college if they do not have access to grades and also able to discourage and block their children's access to disability support. Parents would usually get broad descriptors for medical diagnosis which is also another barrier. The lack of privacy means it is hard for students to access disability support.

HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. If I edit, it'll go into review.

I'm a bit skeptical about the last paragraph - I would think university clinics operate independently of the rest of the university and are bound by medical ethics rather than a fiduciary duty to the university. Can you reference the concept that university clinics can't provide a diagnosis appropriate to determining accommodation?

See for example: https://mcburney.wisc.edu/apply-for-accommodations/undiagnosed-students/

My institution refuses to offer diagnosis of learning (or other) disabilities to students.  Clearly the University of Wisconsin is willing to do this.

I have to say that in my own experience as an advisor, rather than parents being opposed to the student getting accommodations, it's more often the case that the student doesn't want the stigma associated with "disability" while the parent is pushing for the student to get accommodations.  It's not uncommon for students to tell me that they were being treated for and getting accommodations for a learning disability in high school but that they don't want to continue this in college.

Also, as an instructor and advisor, I'm in no position to tell a student that they have a learning disability or that they should seek accommodations.

I'd like to see a citation for, "Students can waive their FERPA rights and often do so". This sounds contrary to what I've been told at my institution.

Many institutions have forms that students can use to waive their FERPA rights for various purposes.  One common waiver is so that parents can see the academic records of their children.  See for example the Department of Ed's model waiver form at: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/safeschools/modelform2.html

@BrianBorchers I agree too. There is a lot of internalized ableism which means that students are hesistant to seek or ask for help. The two cases that I initially quoted described ways that seeking help was detrimental to their studies as well. So the lack of sensitivity around ableism and the denigrating nature of disability needs to be challenged and engaged with. However, Spark's initial question gave me the impression that parental concern was the main driver, so hence this clarification question...

Not accepting the disabled label may be a practically smart move for many students who can "pass for normal" and thus avoid discrimination against their disability.

Unfortunately that is the state of play at the moment, when the help and stigma can actually do more damage than the disability itself. It would be interesting to see whether student support improves the pass rate compared to those that have a disability and did not access support. Ideally a randomised trial would be done one day...


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Can I ask a journal editor about an invited review paper?
I would like to know whether I can place an inquiry to a journal editor about writing an invited review paper. In particular, I would like to write a review paper on a particular topic which is currently of significant research interest. However, I have not been invited to do so from the journal (where I would like to publish this review paper). In this regard, I am wondering whether I could draw the editor's attention via email and ask him whether I could be requested officially from him to write this review paper. Is it a valid inquiry from my side?

Is it a valid inquiry from my side?

NO. Invited reviews are the word "invited" means. The other party invites you to write a literature review paper because of your great expertise. You do not invite yourself. If you are Mr.Nobody, the whole effort of self-inviting will be embarrassing for you.
That does not mean that you should not actually proceed with the review paper. Just keep in mind that review papers are usually done by respectable and well-known authors who have contributed greatly and have great expertise in the suggested area. Also, remember that writing an extensive literature review may be very time consuming if you want to cover a great area. This is why review papers are done my multiple well-established authors who contribute almost equally and not by a single inexperienced author.

Yes, you can. What sort of reply you will get is, however, uncertain, probably ranging from no reply to a kind explanation of what applies.
Invited reviews are just invited and the way the journal editors make the choice varies. I am sure the term Invited review is used varies from the case where every published review is though of and invited by the editors to the case where editors consider suggestions from others, perhaps ranging from prospective authors to their own ideas of useful reviews.
Running a journal where Invited reviews are accepted, I can say that the word Invited for us means there is no point in just sending in a review for consideration, it will be rejected, but we do accept suggestions which we then check for general interest and suitability and only then, maybe, provide a go ahead. In other words, an Invited review strictly means we have to agree that the proposal is viable. Suggestions can come from anyone, including as mentioned authors. So this being just one case, still serves to show that the concept Invited review can be viewed slightly differently from the literal.
So you can send your mail but please make sure you try to figure out as best you can how the individual journal invites such reviews, it should be clear from their journal page or their "Instructions for Authors".
EDIT: I should add that any letter should also include a proposal of the review which should clearly and in a short form describe the necessity for a review of that field. This is probably a point that is "make or break" if the journal accepts suggestions from prospective authors.

I think there is some confusion in this question stemming from the notion of "official invitation."  Unless you have some odd bureaucratic requirement that you have to fulfill in order to submit, requesting an official invitation seems odd.
I think that the notion you are actually trying to get at is what is more typically referred to as a presubmission inquiry.  In a presubmission inquiry, you write to the journal editor and say essentially, "I'm thinking about writing Article X.  Would you be interested in me submitting this article to your journal?"  The editor then comes back with "Yes," "No," or "Maybe, if you do the following..."
Presubmission inquiry can often be a good idea for everybody, because it means that you don't waste your time writing something the journal isn't interested in, and the journal's submissions are more aligned with what it wants to receive.  Pretty much every journal is open to them, and some journals even encourage all authors to go through a formal presubmission inquiry process.
In short: don't ask to be invited; send a presubmission inquiry to ask if they are interested.

Thanks to Alex and Peter - both of you.
I totally agree with Peter. I would rather consider my case as presubmission inquiry which I will place to the editor and see how it goes.