text:
How do you cite an entire magazine/periodical?
I have a class where I am supposed to talk about advertising in magazines, and I can't find any information on how to cite the entire magazine/periodical. I have to talk about the trends I generally see, so I think I need to cite the entire periodical/magazine. I am going to also reference some specific articles and advertisements, but in the assignment, it says to cite the magazine correctly, and I can't figure it out. It is supposed to be in MLA format.

Have you tried asking the professor?

Are you trying to say something like, ‘Lots of people find Time [1] to be interesting’?

Of course there are times when the entire journal should be cited.  Journal A [1] allows political advertising, but Journal B [2] does not.

You might need to get some clarity about what your professor means by "cite the magazine correctly." They might not be telling you to cite the entire publication. It might be general guidance to make sure you follow the MLA format when citing the magazine with the expectation that you are citing something specific.

Magazines may have the same articles but different adverts in different regions, e.g., North America vs Europe. Just to make it more difficult...

I expect that you're having trouble finding how to do that, because you should not do that.
The point of a citation is to link to something concrete that another person can look up and verify. It should be as precise as possible, so as to save the verifier time (down to the page number or line if viable).
What is a reader supposed to do with a reference to, say, a whole book, or the entire history of a periodical? Read the whole thing to verify your observations about trends?
But ask your professor to be sure.

I would assume OP means they don't know how to cite an entire issue, but know how to cite an article. I don't think they mean cite just "TIME."

I’d think that one would have the magazine name, date of issue on the cover, and publisher info.

I would say if you are talking about the layout and design of something, this often is expressed through all publications or at least more than one article.

A citation should be as precise or broad as is appropriate to the claim it’s being cited for — which usually means as precise as possible, but not always.  If I’m giving a citation for a single fact, then I’ll cite a page or theorem number.  If the citation is for an author’s overall argument, then it’s often appropriate to cite a whole article, chapter, or even book.  If the citation is to back up a claim about — for instance — the gender distribution of authors in some periodical over time, then it would be appropriate to cite the whole range under consideration.

Example of a situation where you have to do that: "We reviewed the issues of weekly sports magazines on sale during the Olympics. We found magazines sold in the country of the Olympics had 77% of their full-page advertising themed with the Games [1-5], while those sold in neighboring countries had 60% [6-12]." In many journals, this would be better served as a supplemental data table or file, but in other titles, and class papers, you don't get that.

Consider a scientist who studies beetles, and has made a particular investigation of the habits of Badister dilatatus. Would you expect them to cite the beetle?  Of course not! The beetle is the subject of their study, not a citable source.
This is your situation, except you are studying magazines, and you've made a particular investigation of the advertising in Time.  The magazine is the subject of your study, and not a citable source.
However if you refer to a particular advert, you can cite it in the normal way, giving the title, date, page number of each particular advert.

Exactly; OP should include in their methods section how they obtained their data, which should include enough detail that someone else could plausibly obtain the same sort of data. That'll likely include more than just the issue number, it should include some mention of how they decided on that particular issue ("most recent available" might be one way), but is not "citation" per se. However, since OP is doing this for a course, their instructor's view is probably more important that what makes more sense broadly.

The goal of a citation is to provide the reader with the information they need to find your source and reproduce your results.  You are creating a paper trail of ideas, which people coming after you can follow.  This is very important in academia—there is a famous quote from Newton: "If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."  We need to know whose shoulders we are standing upon, if for no other reason than if one of those giants turns out to be wrong, we can figure out which following results need to be reconsidered.
Also, I think that it is important to note that, outside of the classroom, no one really cares about the formatting of your citations.  Citations on informally published work (e.g. citations in a StackExchange answer, citations on a blog, citations in your own personal notes) just need to contain the important information, and if you are writing something for publication, whatever journal you are submitting to will have some specific format that they want and it should be easy enough to simply format your citations in that manner.  Moreover, most serious academics use some kind of citation management system (EndNote is a fancy tool; I use a variation of BibTeX, and so on).  As a user of such a tool, you enter the appropriate information into some kind of database and when you cite one of the sources you've entered, an appropriate reference / bibliography entry is automatically generated for you.
If you are planning to continue in academia for any length of time, it might be worthwhile to learn how to use one of those tools.
In general, there are some basic data which one might expect in a citation for a magazine / periodical (e.g. Time or National Geographic):

Name:  What is the name of the magazine?  (Again, Time, National Geographic, etc).
Publication Date:  The magazine will have been published at a specific time.  For example, Wikipedia claims that Time is currently published twice per month on Fridays, so a publication date might be "July 5, 2024".
Issue / Volume: Some magazines might have serialized issue or volume numbers.  I can't think of any off the top of my head, but if such a thing is available, keep track of it.  Again, remember that the goal it to make it easy for others to check your work.
Author:  If you are citing a particular article in a magazine, someone is going to get authorship credit.  This byline is typically right at the start of the article.  Make sure you keep track of that information.
Page(s):  The pages should be numbered.  If you are citing an article, list the page range for the article (if it starts on page 10 and runs to page 15, note something like "pp. 10–15"; if you are only referencing an advertisement on page 31, then "p. 31" might be appropriate).
Other Information:  While this probably won't end up being part of the citation, you should keep track of other information which might help to track down the article.  If you pulled it from some database and have a URL for the information, note that.  Most academic resources have a digital object identifier (DOI) which can be used to track things down.  And so on.

Since the question talks about advertising, I would suggest that the most straightforward approach is to cite each and every issue of the magazine in the bibliography, and give more precise inline references (with page numbers).  Following the general formatting guidelines given by Columbia College (the first result which popped up in my Google bubble when I searched for MLA guidelines regarding citing a magazine), I would expect an inline citation like (Time, 5 July 204, 17), and a bibliography entry (following the unknown author examples for an advertisement) similar to

Advertisements.  Time, 5 July 2024.

Of course, at the end of the day, you do whatever your editor or instructor tells you to do, so the ultimate solution here is to just ask that person how they want you to cite things.

Xander Henderson’s and James K’s answers give excellent general principles.  But since you say you’re being asked to use MLA citation style, then the definitive answer is to go to the MLA style guide itself.
The 1998 edition is online here at the Internet Archive — you may need to sign up for a (free) account to read the whole of it.  Your institution’s library may well have more recent editions available online or in person, but the difference between editions is likely to be negligible.
The MLA also has a website, https://style.mla.org/, presenting a lot of the material from the guide — more accessibly, but less comprehensively and less clearly organised.  Browsing there a little finds a few relevant pages:

How do I cite a periodical over a range of dates?
How do I cite the table of contents of a journal?

Amusingly, these slightly disagree with each other. The former suggests (like James K’s answer) that if you’re discussing the journal as data, then no citation is needed; the latter suggests in a similar situation that you should cite the whole journal issue, and illustrates how.  But this inconsistency itself bears out Xander Henderson’s answer: What really matters is not the precise details of the rules, but the underlying principle, of giving the key information to your readers in a clear and consistent format.

I am glad you answered this question.  I thought about including some of this in my answer, but I was also thinking about a rant about how stupid I find it to put some much emphasis on any particular citation / bibliography style (students often place too much emphasis on the formatting, and not enough on the reasons for citation).  I ultimately decided to cut both from my answer, and appreciate that someone took the time to add in the MLA details.

Does the series have an ISSN, International Standard Serial Number? This is the best identifier for this task.
Probably there is no format for whatever style you use, you have to improvise.

Since there really is no concrete citation, I would pretend it's some sort of product that can be purchased.  In text, I would parenthetically add the publisher and the city of publication.  In the refs cited list, I would include nothing.
If this isn't right, the person in the work chain for the publisher who's in charge of making sure published works adhere to the style sheet (often the copy editor) will likely flag this with an author's query for clarification, and you can start a conversation.  Alternatively, the copy editor might just change it to match the style.
Lastly, don't get hung up on this.  Take you best guess at the right approach.  If it's wrong, somebody will correct you, or it isn't important enough to correct.


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How can I recover from a psychological abuse from PhD advisor and move forward?
During my PhD, I encountered significant challenges that left me questioning my future in academia. My supervisor provided minimal guidance, and a colleague in my research group began treating me more like an assistant than an equal, often sidelining my contributions and using my work without my knowledge or proper acknowledgment. This led to increasing isolation, stress, and eventually, a break from my research.
As I approached the final stages of my PhD, the situation worsened. Despite needing support to complete my work, my PhD advisor refused to provide guidance or even meet with me, and when I requested a reference letter, it was denied without explanation. The university has been unsupportive, advising me to find a new advisor on my own.
Now, as I try to move forward, I’m struggling with the impact of these experiences. I’ve moved into a new role (as postdoc), but the damage to my confidence and motivation lingers. I’m unsure whether I should push through and finish my PhD or cut my losses and move on.
Given this background, what strategies can I use to rebuild my academic career, regain my confidence, and overcome the setbacks from my PhD experience?
Thank you for your advice and any help!

Have you been in touch with a personal counselor?

Hey, welcome to the site. There's a lot here, and I'm sorry you've been having a bad experience over the past few years. This question does have a lot in it, though, and in particular asks several questions at the same time. https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/417476/question-close-reasons-definitions-and-guidance/417486#417486 from StackOverflow gives some details. If you're able to distill or break this up into individual questions via editing, that would help a lot in fitting with this site's Q&A format.

@user176372 The questioner is clearly in distress and needs help, perhaps immediate help. It therefore was certainly not a good idea to close this question.  I would strongly recommend to reopen it, despite all its flaws.  People in distress need support and advice, not corrections to their literary style.

@Michael_1812 this site and its format are particularly ill-equipped venues for providing aid to people in distress. I'd much rather we take the chance to direct people to better resources than leave questions open to gather discussion post answers which we have a hard time moderating.

@user176372 so please delete that question if you think that it is too broad or unnecessary for me to ask here for any advice.

@panegyricDoll you can't delete a question if it has an upvoted answer.

@user438383 so please take a look at the updated one if it meet your conditions, thank you.

@panegyricDoll Yes I think that's a much better and more focused question

The question should be reopened and the poster should be encouraged to provide more specific information about what led to the difficulties with the supervisor. It's hard to offer advice on moving forward unless we understand what caused the past problems. Many PhD students find themselves in similar situations and understanding and answering the OP's question could benefit many others.

Eggy, I would love to share more aspects of this story, but if they cannot re-open this question, I would rather to use another platform.

@user438383 Please reopen this question, thank you,

Except in extraordinary situations (like when the fate of your family is at stake), put you health (including your psychological health) first. Specifically, it would be better now to focus on moving forward, rather than filing formal complaints about your past experiences.

Sadly, it happens often that a busy advisor neglects their students.  My son had such an advisor, and chose to switch to a different school after fulfilling his Masters requirements. By word of mouth, he learned about a great professor from a different university, who was really caring about his students. So my son spoke with that professor, was urged to apply, got admitted, finished his PhD, got a job, and never had regrets about leaving the previous advisor.

Given your present condition, would it be of help for you to take a break? If yes, can you ask your doctor(s) to provide you with the necessary paperwork? Once again: put your health first. You will achieve a lot in your life if you stay healthy.

Thank you, @Michael_1812, for this advice! I've come to realize that my current procrastination on my PhD isn't a waste of time or resources after all. It's actually serving my well-being, and for the first time ever, I'm doing something that's genuinely beneficial for my mental health - beyond just seeking advice here or in via counsellor. Regarding my PhD, I've already informed my advisor that I’ve other priorities at the moment and won't be rushing to finish the project. I think it's also important to inform the Graduate School so they are aware of the situation and can stay up-to-date.

@panegyricDoll Whatever your choice happens to be, I wish you success in your endeavours. But first and foremost, try to stay healthy. Strong health and positive mood will open many doors for you. Good luck!!

I'm really sorry to hear about your tough PhD journey. There's nothing more stressful during a PhD than having a poor supervisor and a toxic work environment. I truly hope things start looking up for you soon.
In my previous department, several of my PhD colleagues have gone through similar challenges, and they described feeling just like you do. The good news is that almost all of them recovered and moved on after some time!
My advice would be to consider seeing a therapist who can offer tailored guidance to help you cope with these negative feelings. Some universities provide therapy services for students, so it might be worth reaching out to your PhD coordinator to see what resources are available.
Changing your supervisor could be crucial. Try reaching out to potential supervisors in your department—or even in other departments—for an informal meeting, maybe even over a coffee break. This could be a great way to discuss the possibility of supervision. It’s important to choose someone with good supervision skills, so talk to other PhD students about their experiences with different supervisors. You might need to adjust your research project slightly with a new supervisor, so finding someone who works in a related area could make the transition smoother.
You can also consider national or international mobility to another university for a period. In Europe, it's quite common for PhD students to spend a few months at another institution. This could give you the opportunity to work in a healthier environment and expand your academic network.
Hope this help, BEST OF LUCK

+1 for the suggestion of therapy.  My journey was rough in similar ways, and I suspect I could have really benefitted from some therapy.  But, perversely, the situation left me feeling so drained of energy and time that I could not conceive of carving out the time to actually do it.

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How long does it take to reimburse travel grant by the conference organizers?
I have participated at a funded conference in Europe, where the travel grant was sponsored by the organizers. I have submitted the form of reimbursement a month ago. Still not received the reimbursement.
I am thinking to email them but I am not sure it is early to enquire about the reimbursement.
Please share your experiences about the timing of reimbursement.
Thanks

In my experience most large organisations work on a 30-day billing cycle, so you can usually expect to receive payment within 30 days of submitting your invoice. Smaller organisations are sometimes much less organised and can be very fast or very, very slow.

In my experience, getting reimbursed within a month happens, but is rare. If it takes longer than three months, you definitely should inquire.
The organizers will probably have to do some paperwork and forward it to their finance people, who'll check the paperwork and eventually initiate the payment. However, for some reason many universities then don't make the payment immediately, but do all payments once per month or so. This means that it will take a long time even if everything goes smooth, but there are also various places where stuff can get stuck.
I don't think there is anything wrong with a polite inquiry already after a month, in particular if being out of pocket is problematic for you.

Thanks for the answer

That is impossible to answer, as it strongly depends: personally, I had an organization reimburse me after 1 week, in another case it took 11 months. No other way but politely asking the reimbursement organization for the status, maybe ask if there are documents missing from your side.

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How are publications outside Unit of Assessment assessed for REF?
My understanding of the purpose of REF Units of Assessment (UoA) is that they determine what sort of subject specialist evaluates a REF return. Please correct me if wrong on this point.
One corollary of this is that Journal Impact Factors for publications are naturally assessed in context of their field, because the subject specialist understands how their field works.  For example, there are low-JIF fields such as History (mean IF=0.416 in table 3 of this 2004 paper) and high-JIF fields such as Molecular Biology (4.763), so a paper published in a journal with JIF = 3 might be seen as a great history paper but a lousy molecular biology one.
Obviously research outputs should be assessed on their own merits, but realistically, JIF of the publication plays a part in this.
Suppose a researcher does a lot of work outside their UoA - for example a computer scientist collaborating with researchers from several other disciplines to produce outputs in other fields than CS.
Are they able to submit these publications for their CS department's REF return? And how are the publications assessed if JIF norms are different for the fields where they have been collaborating?

How to assess interdisciplinary research is a known issue with the REF process. There is currently a REF Interdisciplinary Research Advisory Panel working on the details of how to properly assess outputs (papers, chapters, books etc) that cross the boundaries between different units of assessment. The panel is due to report what the detailed arrangements should be "in Summer 2018", so hopefully more details will be available shortly.
What we know at this stage is that:

Each sub-panel will have at least one appointed member to oversee and participate in the assessment of interdisciplinary research submitted in that UOA, with a specific role to ensure its equitable assessment. This role will include liaison with corresponding members on other sub-panels

A little more detail about the role of these 'interdisciplinary research advisors' can be found in a blog post on the HEFCE website from November.

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Ordering Co-Authors in a Large Research Team: Best Practices?
I am currently involved in a research project that has an unusually large team of about 40 co-authors. Given the extensive number of contributors, we are facing a significant challenge in determining the order of names for our publication.
The main issue lies in accurately measuring and representing everyone's contributions to the research. With so many individuals involved, it becomes difficult to quantify each person's input in a fair and equitable manner.
I am seeking advice on the best practices for ordering co-authors in such a scenario in computer science, AI-ML field. Are there established norms or guidelines that can help us decide the order of names?

Does this answer your question? How does authorship work in large collaborations?

Actually no. I just added the field of my research. @Sursula

Did every one of the people contribute enough to merit authorship and not merely an acknowledgement?

Based on agreements at the first stage, yes. We agreed kinda on the lowest level of contribution, so anyone with that level of contribution will be a co-author. @Sursula

Your other questions suggest you are fairly junior. Is there not someone leading the project who can manage this?

In your position I would be tempted to propose making it alphabetical...

IMHO not a duplicate. The linked question about CERN-scale collaborations is about things with thousands of authors, wheras this has 40 and is asking about a specific field. Voting to leave open, though it may not have great odds of a good answer.

Since you're asking this question, I will assume that your field doesn't use alphabetical order. Based on your previous questions, I think these two answers lay out the relevant custom for your field.
My experience in physics is that a good approach to ordering a substantial number of authors is to start at the edges and work inwards. That is, who should be first (or co-first) author, who should be last? Then iterate inwards. In case your field doesn't necessarily put PIs and other senior authors at the end, you can adapt this to start from a single edge. Either way, eventually you get to a point where it's hard to tell who should go next, but, equally, the difference between being the 23rd or 24th author on a 40-author paper is negligible in terms of career impacts. So the further you get from the edge(s), the less the sorting matters, and the less you'll need (or want) to worry about getting the order of contributions absolutely right. Maybe use your judgement, or alphabetize authors after a certain point. In any case, it often helps if someone just proposes an author order and then asks if the others are OK with it, or if they want to make any modifications. You all need to agree to the order before submission, but generally speaking, if the order near the edge(s) is proper, few will worry about their precise position in the list.


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Requesting an extension for revision due to being on holiday
I submitted an article on the first of May, and just got the comments from the reviewers today (31st of October).
The editor specified that I have 2 weeks to address the comments, but I am going on a hiking holiday in 4 days for 3 weeks, and this was planned already at the start of the year.
Is being on holiday a valid reason to ask for an extension? This is my first article ever, so I am not quite sure of the rules.
The journal page says that you can ask for an extension for valid reasons, so I'm wondering whether a holiday is one.

Just ask for it and don't worry
These "deadlines" for revisions aren't real deadlines. Journals simply quote something to keep the authors thinking about the manuscript and the journal orderly (since some authors will withdraw the manuscript by never submitting a revision).
If you need more time, just tell them and they'll adjust the schedule accordingly; in particular, their automated reminders will not be sent until you're back from holiday.

Thank you so much for your response! I was almost panicking thinking of how my holiday would be ruined, and was considering just withdrawing the manuscript and sending it to a different journal (which my supervisor wouldn't be so happy about).
I'll send the editor an email asking for an extension.

Also: simply don't describe your reasons other than: "We are confident that we can address all reviewer comments in full. However, due to prior commitments, we will be unable to complete these revisions within the allotted time frame. Would it be possible to extend the deadline to ?"


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Lost in my life plan at the beginning of PhD thesis
I started my PhD thesis (in artificial intelligence and ecology) about a month ago, because it seemed like the perfect choice to continue from my master's degree. The problem is, since the beginning of the PhD, I started to become more and more anxious and have insomnia and depression-like symptoms (I will soon see a therapist for this reason). Now, I think of quitting PhD because it seems obvious to me that this new place does not fit me at all, and I cannot find enthusiasm for the work I have to do.
I feel very lost because my goal was always to become a scientist after finishing these last three years, but now I am pretty sure that this does not fit me. For the moment, my plans are to stick with the thesis for a few months to see if the situation gets better, but I don't have lots of hope.
So, I have a master's degree, I do something that makes me feel depressed, and I have no idea what career choices I should do. I have been thinking of starting something completely new, which is scary but seems to be the only way...
Would you have any advice? Have you ever been in that type of situation?
Edit: thank you for you answers. I just want to clarify that I am not afraid or worried about not knowing/learning/understanding the subject. The work I have to do is clear to me. But I have the growing sensation of being trapped in it for the upcoming 3 years. I feel like this is not for me.
Edit : Thank you for all your answers. About a month after posting this I talked with my advisor who told me to take a few days to rest. I never came back, except for one last discussion with my advisor, who agreed with me that it was not the right time for me to start a PhD. He was very understanding and told me that this situation is not so uncommon and can appear sometimes. Now I have a new job and no regrets whatsoever. So my advice for people in a similar situation would be to 1) talk about this with your advisor or at least someone who went through a PhD and can understand you, 2) consult a psychologist if possible and 3) understand that if you feel very bad and things are not improving, you are not trapped, sometimes stopping is just another way to say that you start something new. Most importantly, take lots of time to ask yourself the question : why do I want to do this ? Does it help my dreams or my vision of an ideal future come true ? These may not be the best pieces of advice for everyone, but they helped me the most.

take it easy. A PhD is not a sprint, it is a marathon. And writing the thesis is another marathon. You cannot be quick. You cannot do or understand anything in 1 month. Sleep well, eat well, exercise regulary, take it easy, do not expect anything good ro new or interesting before at least one year into your phd ...

How much knowledge gain you should "feel" during your PhD:
https://www.openculture.com/2017/06/the-illustrated-guide-to-a-phd-12-simple-pictures-that-will-put-the-daunting-degree-into-perspective.html
Basically nothing. And that nothing will costs an enduring effort that cannot be sped up.

My advice is to start with the therapist as soon as possible and discuss all these issues and your options with them.
Raise the issue of Imposter Syndrome with them if they don't.
Raise the issue of burn out with them if they don't.
Raise the issue of Extreme Introversion with them, if you think you might suffer from it and explore how to compensate for this. But even exploring it with a counsellor can be hard if you have this issue.
I suggest that you don't make any life changing decisions before you spend some time with a qualified counsellor. One that is familiar with the pressures of academia would be best, perhaps, but that isn't my field.

Personal note. I never had Imposter issues, but I definitely had issues with the other two things mentioned and both set me back. A counsellor helped me through the last, though it also took years of practice.

I agree that the OP should take some time to clear up his headspace before making such a decision. But I am bothered by the quickness with which the suggestion of "imposter syndrome" is usually made on such posts. There are likely significant downsides to collectively erring on the side of faith when competence is statistically rare and entrance standards have been gradually eroded over the last few decades. We can no longer be as reliant on the ability of admissions processes to filter out those who would become imposters.

Thank you for that answer. I don't feel like imposter syndrom is an issue for me (maybe it is but I don't see it). However, I truly recognize myself in the issue of extreme introversion. I didn't know this existed, so thank you very much for telling me about that.

You definitely should not make major changes to your life plans if you are feeling unusual emotions, relative to your past experience.  Talk to a mental health professional.
Ignoring your personal situation, my advice to anyone starting a PhD is:  Do not get a PhD unless you are sure you want to get a PhD.  Try not to consider

Other people's opinions, including social status
Other people's needs
Your emotions

Do try to consider

Short term benefits of a PhD
Long term benefits of a PhD
Opportunity cost (It's massive!)
Some jobs will not hire you if you have a PhD

Agreed. The poster needs to be able to clearly distinguish between 1) my dissatisfaction with this PhD path is making me depressed and 2) I am depressed and therefore am feeling dissatisfied with this thing I had previously dreamed of doing. Unfortunately that is difficult when in the midst of it without some outside help.

Yes, distinguishing between the two is not easy at the moment. I think there is a bit of both.

Should it say "Some jobs will not hire you if you don't have a PhD" ?

@DavidRaveh No.

@AnonymousPhysicist would you mind explaining that line then? What job wouldn't hire   a PhD on principle?

@DavidRaveh https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/105566/13240 There are whole list of reasons.  Perhaps none of them are rational.

@AnonymousPhysicist "Perhaps none of them are rational" my opinion precisely

Take it easy.
A PhD is not a sprint, it is a marathon.
And writing the thesis is another marathon. You cannot be quick. You cannot do or understand anything in one month. Or in 3.
Sleep well, eat well, exercise regulary, take it easy, do not expect anything good or new or interesting before at least one year into your phd.

I'm adding a few cents of my experience of starting a Ph.D. Even though they won't apply to the OP anymore, they might help someone else in a similar situation.
I felt really upset and depressed in the first month of my Ph.D. The reasons were, I really missed my family, even though I moved to a new country with my husband, I missed the comfort of the home I had, and I was still in a bit of a shock of resigning from my job to embark on a Ph.D. because I didn't have enough time to understand and process how big of a decision that was for me. Adding to this was a temporary accommodation which didn't feel like home, a season of rainy weather, and feeling lost of what I should really be doing as a Ph.D. student. I made a poor decision in that first month to isolate myself from my research group. My advisor was organizing a team building in that first month after I joined and the morning of that event I woke up with a sense of dread and couldn't get myself to go, and I just stayed in bed.
At the same time, I knew I wanted to do research. I've been wanting to become a scientist for many years prior to starting a Ph.D. Little by little, in the next months I pushed myself to get to know my new colleagues and to talk with my advisor about the plans forward. I started to organize my new apartment so that it felt more like "my place", I started to learn my way around the town, I found places I could go running to, etc. It started to get better, little by little, and in the end, my Ph.D. was the most rewarding and fulfilling experience I have achieved in my life so far.
So the upshot is: These feelings don't necessarily tell you the truth about your Ph.D. program or your research path. They might simply signal that other parts of your life just got different and you have to learn to navigate them, make sense of them, and get accustomed to them. Yes, for the moment, you don't have access to the joy of doing research, or the enthusiasm of the idea of becoming a scientist, but that's because some other important things need to be sorted out. Things that can help:

Stay engaged with your colleagues, your advisor, other Ph.D. students in your group. Spend some time to get to know them, go out for lunch together, join the coffee break, even if at times you'll have to force yourself to do that. But also call your family and friends every once in a while.
Talk "big picture" with your advisor. Have a meeting at which your advisor could paint some vision for what you could tackle in your Ph.D. Chances are that once you see more clearly what exciting research project you could do in the next 4 years (like, what your first paper might be on), you'll start to re-gain excitement for your work. You'll start to see the reason for why you're here.
Just let more time pass for you to gain familiarity with the new accommodation, new campus, new streets, new parks, new products on the supermarket shelves...

I have just recently started a postdoctoral appointment and the first month felt hard again (changing countries again, etc.), but this time I just keep repeating in my head a passage from a Grateful Dead song: "The first days are the hardest days." That Ph.D. experience taught me that some things just need time to get accustomed to. And now I'm taking every chance I have to go out for lunch together with my colleagues!

Sorry my answer is not mine. I usually relate this answer to every aspect of my life, work, career, relationships.
Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.
Rainer Maria Rilke

First, be aware that the beginning of new things––jobs, education, moving to a new town or house––often feels strange, uncomfortable, and sometimes wrong. If the thing (in this case your PhD program) is fundamentally right for you, over time you will find ways to make it work for you. But if it’s fundamentally wrong, you won’t adapt. So how can you know whether your program is right or wrong for you on a deep level? It sounds like you need some time off to think this through. Is this possible for you to do?
If I were in your place, I would give a lot of thought to basic and important questions about your values, your mission in life, your goals, the lifestyle you want, where you want to live, who you want to associate with, etc. Examine your interests and skills. I would write all that down, study it, and ask what career choices would allow you to manifest and use those internal drivers. A life coach could help you with this phase.
Next it’s time to think concretely about your current dilemma. I use two steps to solve problems like this. First, I think about the problem very analytically. I make charts with different solutions, the advantages and disadvantages of each one, ways to overcome obstacles associated with each solution, etc. I use a numerical rating system to compare the desirability of each course of action and the importance of advantages and disadvantages of each choice. The next step to is to test your chosen course of action intuitively. Close your eyes and imagine doing each one. Does your energy rise or fall when you imagine each one? Does your intuitive feeling match your intellectual analysis?
In hindsight, it might have been better to take a year off after your master’s. At this point you have choices. You are free to take the time to step back and contemplate your situation. Personally, I prefer life coaching over therapy because life coaching directs your attention to fundamental life questions beyond immediate events and feelings.

I think a PhD is a long-run way. Try to love what you are doing. Take everything easy. And love your body!
If you feel tired, take a rest. Then continue when you have recovered!

I feel very lost because my goal was always to become a scientist after finishing these last three years, but now I am pretty sure that this does not fit me.

First of all you have to take time and contemplate why you want to be a scientist and to understand what it means to be one. Do you want to be a Professor? a Researcher?
Consider what would be your work environment in the future.
A researcher doesn't do research, the people below him/her/they do the actual work. To arrive to the "Researcher" point you will have to bear a lot of mental health issues in order to survive the "marathon" the fellow academics here discuss.
If you think that you can land a job directly in industry (in artificial intelligence for example) then maybe that is a way better career for your future.
Read some references:
The challenges and mental health issues of academic trainees
Working in industry vs academia
Ten Simple Rules for Choosing between Industry and Academia

I think you should pivot your work to something that excites you and makes you want to get up in the morning and work on the problem. Just cut me in just reframing your card work into something that's more meaningful to your circumstances, or it could mean combining it with a different field. How about ecology and computer science?
I also feel you should be more specific in your goals so that you can measure how close you are to achieving them.


text:
Would it be possible to work as part-time staff in a university research lab?
I was wondering if it's usual(or even possible) to work in a research lab as part-time staff. I would love to just apply for a full-time position, but I cannot leave my current job due to an education benefit contract for the next two years. I would be willing to do full-time if that's the only option but will have to work both jobs concurrently, which is unideal.
Does anyone think I would have any luck just emailing PIs and asking if they are willing to take me on? Or is there a better way to go about this?
I don't need to start right away so could I ask that they keep me in mind if something opens up for them and they need help?
My background, if that's helpful
my reasons for wanting such a position:

stimulating work
research experience
tuition remission (I would like to take classes
that interest me)
considering grad school

For the past few years, I've been working in a medical reference lab as a lab associate and more recently as an MLS(medical laboratory scientist). I just graduated this December with my B.S. in Biology(minor in chem) and while working obtained my M ASCP(MLS in microbiology) certification.
While I love bench work, I can see myself becoming bored in this role as it's pretty repetitive.
In undergrad I was in a lab for about 2 years as a student worker, I was lucky to have gotten my name on a publication and gave a few presentations during lab meetings on the projects I helped with. I also have experience maintaining the lab as that's what I got paid for(all the research experience was volunteer hours).

Research administrator here (US-based).
Are you looking at jobs as like a lab manager?  These positions are often hard to fill because research folks tend to look at academic positions instead of staff.  Many PIs cannot get one because they don't have funds for a full-time position, and so a part-time position might be an option, but they don't post one.  You could cold-email people, but just expect only the largest labs to have this need.  This would potentially be a better move than a simple lab tech position, which is often filled by undergrads.  A lab manager needs to understand some of the science, while also understanding administration, marrying the worlds together.  A good lab manager is something PIs struggle to find and never want to give up once they do.
As for part-time work, one of my employees (a research administrator) is part-time.  We posted a full-time job, she applied and asked for part-time.  We hired her anyways.  She says this method works better than people realize.  I would say it's worth a shot.
As for tuition/graduate school-- If you work at a university and are staff, tuition remission is often a benefit.  I got my degree in teaching paid by my employer (unrelated to my job, no strings attached).  These policies should be published by universities on their HR website.  For hospitals, you would more likely have to apply and ask at the time of an interview. At my institution, the benefit does depend on your position, your union (or if not union), and full-time vs. part-time.  I have worked for two separate universities, and have taken classes every year for nearly 15 years.  There's no application process, you just enroll in the classes as allowed by your policy.  My teaching degree is not discernable from a traditional student--it's from the actual graduate program.  It took me five years to complete, but I also graduated with 5 years of work experience, had a full-time salary during that time, and didn't accumulate student loans.
For what it's worth -- I am "an academic" by heart, but have worked in research administration for nearly 15 years.  I was making more than postdocs after just 6 years of experience, and now there is such a shortage of research administrators, that even people with little to no experience make more than postdocs.  You can go the way of being in a lab, as a lab manager or lab tech.  You can also be more of an office person and look into research administration.
Disclose your other job to HR at the time of hire, and it should be ok if you can manage both positions.  They will let you know if not, and you'll have to accept that.  If you don't disclose it, and people find out, that will not end well.  You may or may not have IP depending on your role.  Despite the fact that I author a large number of proposal documents, I am staff, and thus have no IP.  My name appears on nothing.  If you are technical staff instead of lab admin staff, this could present a challenge if the role overlaps with an existing job.
Try looking for admin jobs on Higher Ed Jobs.  They have an entire category for scientific admin jobs.  Research admin jobs are here.

Yes, it's possible. I'd expect any institution to have jobs posted somewhere and browsing those jobs is probably more productive than cold emailing. At my own institution you can easily filter by job type and part/full time (though, just checking now, as I'd expect most of the part-time jobs listed are also listed as full-time, so they are probably looking primarily for a full-time worker).
However, I'd expect the total number of available jobs at any point to be small, and then you filter by your area of interest, and then you filter by part time, and based on your situation you're likely limited geographically. Each of these filters is going to cut down the number of possible fits.
Your best point of contact would be a lab you've already worked in; training student workers is costly, to the point that student workers may not even be a net labor benefit to a lab, having student work can be closer to fulfilling an educational mission unless students stay in the same position for awhile.
Among your "asks", tuition remission seems most unlikely to me, but it's possible. It's probably not something that depends on a particular position but rather depends on broader institution policies. Remission may be available only for full-time workers, only for certain job-related courses, etc.
Another stumbling point will be intellectual property; you will likely need approval to work a separate job outside the university because they will want to avoid any potential legal contest over work you do. You may have the same issues with your current employer.


text:
Leaving my undergrad research assistant position mid-project? (With two months notice)
After a lab meeting today, I am absolutely fed up with the state of my lab right now, and the current project being worked on going… nowhere.
A year and a half ago, I joined a mechanical engineering lab at my university that wanted to evaluate pedagogical techniques using EEG signals as a measure for how much students are paying attention.
I was working directly with a PhD student, and initially 99% of my work included reading papers for him, summarizing them, and then explaining them to him, since he didn’t know much about EEG or Cognitive Science. Then, we got to actually making lesson interfaces for the pedagogy part of this lab… this is where things started to get weird.
I made a rather nice interface that would show video displays of a certain mechanical test the PhD recorded (most of their work is just recording videos…) that would also synchronize with the EEG signal collection to the nearest millisecond(the headset which took a year to get despite the fact it was the main point of the research)
The interface worked… but then he told me that they actually wanna do it in C++, so they hired two more undergraduate research assistants and wrote a similar interface in JavaScript and got two conference papers out of it… whatever. Oh well.
Next, IRB is being such a pain. This is my senior year, and recently I joined another target lab at my school, in the area of BCI, which I’ve been wanting to join forever… essentially today I learned at a lab meeting that getting IRB ready would take about another year or so so that I can record student biometric data.
I didn’t say anything yet, but I blew up when I heard this on the inside. I don’t know much about IRB, but the PI mentioned something about some simpler paths the PhD student could have taken at the beginning of the year, but he didn’t act fast enough??
Literally all his contributions have been recording videos and creating text manuals for the lessons while the undergraduates are dealing with the real meat of the project like creating lesson interfaces and the signal processing pipeline.
This is starting to feel like a joke, and especially now that I’m working with a professor that I am really enjoying, where I get to do my own independent research, during a gap year before I apply for PhD programs, I don’t think there is much point  in me staying at this lab…
I’m thinking of making the offer to the PI that I am giving 2 months notice, and that when they find a replacement, I will give them the run down fully about the literature, code base I am using, and how we are currently analyzing the signals. I think this is fair, but I’m not sure since it’s in the “middle” of the project.

Research administrator here. IRB doesn't take a year. If that were the case, we wouldn't be able to function. It does take weeks and usually months. What often happens is that researchers don't take the process seriously and it drags out the paperwork. The offices become overwhelmed by trying to help people who don't know how to fill out the paperwork. Call up your IRB office, ask for advice, read their materials, and do the application. I support HCI folks, and seasoned IRB researchers get things done in a few months because they are responsive to the back and forth process that is required.

You can probably 'get away' with that, but it might not be your best move. You indicate (tags, title) that you are an undergraduate. Perhaps you have unrealistic expectations about the scope of research and the length of time and the complexity to get it done correctly. Yes, IRB can be a block, but it is a guard against unethical research.
The more important question for you, I think, is what you can gain from continuing (or not) on the project. It is unrealistic to expect that the research will be completed by the time of your graduation and any papers might appear long after that. You can, alternatively, discuss how your work will be presented in publications, whether as author (not so likely) or with proper acknowledgement.
But if you intend to continue to graduate study, continuing might be your best option for obtaining good letters of recommendation.
Significant research takes time as well as care. There are setbacks and frustrations. Don't expect doctoral study to be easy or painless. T/he experience you are getting might actually be extremely valuable. And if it fails, as some projects do, the onus won't be on you. I see many reasons to stay if you can deal with the frustrations. But realistic goals are important, too. Few undergraduates have significant research experience (in the US, at least) due to the nature of the beast itself as well as the time limitations of the undergraduate program. However, those that have some significant contact with real research get a boost in many applications.
I seriously question the value of a gap year to do "independent research" at your level of experience. Certainly in a field that requires IRB approval (and some others) it would be even more frustrating and less likely to result in "timely" success than what you are now doing. Some can handle it, but you would be a rare exception, I think. You have better options.

Thank you for your comprehensive reply. One of my concerns though was that we knew what we were going to do, and that we needed access to biometric data a year and a half ago, and here we are still, at 0 progress with IRB. Would this be a valid concern to bring up, worded more professionally, or would this be seen as inappropriate?


text:
Is it plagiarism if you copy the structure of an assessment?
I have a group research proposal assessment at my university, and my friend had previously completed the subject, so he gave me his assessment as guidance for how the proposal should look. His group and my group's research proposals are completely different, but the layout design of how the assessment is presented is quite similar. I'm concerned that it will be considered plagiarism for having a similar structure/layout design and spoke to my group about it but they didn't seem to be bothered as much as I am.
The topic is completely different and every word is completely our own, however the figures/tables look quite similar. We made our own figures and tables based on our topic but the design ideas of the figures/tables as well as the assessment layouts are pretty much the same.

It is especially not plagiarism if you thank your friend in an acknowledgements section for their assistance with typesetting and figure preparation (assuming this is all you mean by "structure").

Note that what is plagiarism in the wider world might be different from what a professor considers plagiarism for purposes of assignments. Often the latter are far stricter than the former. So, we can't say here, since it is your professor that will make the determination.
However, in the wider context, you can't plagiarize common knowledge and it isn't plagiarism to reuse (read copy) things that can be done in essentially only one way. In particular, if the outline doesn't contain any creative elements, then copying it is not technically plagiarism, though it is your professor who has the only important vote. The arguments here may be effective with them or not in the case that you are charged.
But note that plagiarism has to do with creative elements, ideas, and those require citation. But some forms of copying, while not, technically, plagiarism, are also improper.

As an example from another domain, I currently read a lot of mystery novels for relaxation. I've noticed a pattern used by several authors. The first chapter introduces the villains and their horrific crimes. The second chapter introduces the detective/hero of the story. Different chapters are given from the viewpoints of various characters, not always the hero. It is just a common (though not universal) pattern. No one thinks much of it, though a more creative "outline" might be refreshing.

I think you are in the clear.   As an example, most research papers in my area look the 'same'.  This is because everyone uses the same template and tools.

This is completely fine.
Moreover, it is common in academia for this kind of conduct to be encouraged. And there is an important distinction.
If you take someone's book and copy the chapter list from there with minor alterations, it is a creative work dealing directly with the subject you both are working on. No bueno.
If it is a proposal (or quarterly report, or any other writing dealing with formalities rather than the subject itself), however, it should provide whoever is in charge of assessing it a clean and familiar structure. There is a reason the layout of the dissertation is highly standardized - the content, obviously, is not.
In some cases, it is even okay to copy certain cliché phrases, but this is more of a gray area. After all, you're supposed to pick those up while learning in order to not have to seek them elsewhere when writing a "real" proposal all by yourself.
Focus on research first and what do you want to say; "how?" is the second step and successful communication requires to understand the listening side perspective.


text:
Can IRB approval be reversed?
If you get the written IRB approval of the school/site for research
and you conduct the research with all participants' written agreement, can the school revoke agreement to research after you are done with the research?
An IRB was signed. Research for dissertation. can the research site revoke the agreement after the research was conducted?
Research was approved through signed IRBs.
Research was completed and results were done.
How can a school revoke approval if the research was completed?
In essence, I am asking if IRB can withdraw approval from all schools involved after the fact.

Can you add more details, such as your academic rank, what the agreement was, etc?

Has this happened or is it just a worry? Do you mean an ethical review (IRB) such as is required in the US and elsewhere was signed off on?

What do your documents signed with the site say? It definitely doesn't matter if the research is for your dissertation or something else so that seems irrelevant. Why do you think they'd want to withdraw participation?

Please add whether this has happened already or whether it is just a worry. If it has happened, were you given a reason? The answer to your question could be yes or no depending on the details.

@Mary - this is a very interesting question. Please [edit] your post to add the details requested above.

I voted to reopen. The question as asked is clear and can be answered without additional details, even if it would be interesting to read them.

Ugh. I don't think this question should have been reopened until clarified and I don't think the edits understand the question. I do not think OP is asking about IRB approval being withdrawn. They have a study site, for example a school, that agreed to participate in research. This is a consent process a lot like the consent for an individual. It is not an IRB approval, IRB approval would be with OP's institution. The "research site" is distinct from OP's academic institution. The new question is a good question but it is not OP's question unless they phrased the original wrong.

@BryanKrause -- I agree, but I think for every single path you can run down, the answer is a clear "yes, IRB approval can be revoked"

@ScottSeidman This wouldn't be the IRB approval, though, it would be more like an individual revoking consent. I know that's standard for continuing in a study but I don't believe it's standard to allow patients to revoke consent for already collected data.

@BryanKrause This has all gotten very complicated in light of the 2018/2019 changes to the "Common Rule", recognizing that consent also has to do with what happens to tissue samples, which can be stored, or even promulgated, for decades.  GDPR (though this isn't US "Common Rule" holds that best practice for consent revocation is to destroy all samples from a person who revoked consent.

@ScottSeidman Destroying samples isn't quite the same as destroying data, though. I haven't had to deal with revoked consent myself but my understanding is that the usual process is to review the case to assess risks to the participant and study of continuing to use their data, since there are a lot of issues to consider including that omitting the data could cause damage to the study and therefore the other participants. If a participant is no longer affected by the study e.g. not receiving any treatment then it's highly unlikely for the balance to come out in favor of omitting them.

The only exception I can think of would be a case where anonymity is impossible, which would be pretty unusual for most studies.

You still haven't indicated whether this has happened or is just a worry that it might. Please add that information.

There's perhaps a disconnect in expectations here - you say 'agreement' to do research, which implies you're thinking of the discussion with the IRB as a contract or similar. However, IRB reviews are generally framed in terms of approval - that is, they say that based on current information, you may conduct the research you describe. Because this is a unilateral decision by the IRB, it can also terminate these approvals for any given study at any time. Most commonly this is because the researcher is not following the agreed plans or other new information comes to light which affects the approval, but there are probably numerous other reasons.
Typically, they have to be able to justify this decision, but nothing you mention in your post would seem to prevent them from terminating an approval (even primary data gathering being completed).
As others mention in the comments, you will probably get better answers by providing more detail, but the general answer to your headline question at the moment is 'yes'.

Yes. I think that "Most commonly this is because the researcher is not following the agreed plans" is the key here.

To support your answer, drug trials are often halted part way through based upon preliminary results. Here is an example from a recent news https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/bayer-cancels-asundexian-phase-iii-study-program-2023-11-20/.

See my comment on the OP and compare to the original question. I think edits have messed up OP's intended question. The agreement for research is likely a consent process with e.g. a school for children, not an IRB approval with a higher ed institution. They would first get IRB approval, and then seek agreements with their study sites to do research there with the students or teachers.

@BryanKrause That's a good point - looking back at the original version of the question it's unclear if an IRB approval was meant at all. I think in almost all cases the answer of if an ethical approval for research can be terminated will still be 'yes', but the details will definitely depend a lot on what exactly is being asked.

@BryanKrause, it was the OP that added the IRB in the text. I added the tag and changed the title. But it was the OP that indicates IRB approval. And, like you, I'd have preferred more information, which is why I haven't tried to answer.

@Buffy I don't think the text OP added indicated that they were asking about losing IRB approval. They were saying they have IRB approval and then asking if a participating facility can revoke their consent.

@StephenMcMahon I think OP is worried about data they've already collected, and if they can lose access to their collected data if a study site says they don't want to participate anymore. I could see this concern especially if, for example, the study concludes something that the school doesn't want concluded (even if they are not named; I'm aware of cases where it's happened, especially when the research topic is something like racial disparities in education). Unfortunately they did not clarify these concerns before the question was reopened and answered.

Absolutely, at least in the US.  There are legal requirements for re-reviews after a certain amount of years.  The study approval will lapse if you don't keep up on the paperwork.
If you expect to re-contact participants years after they sign a consent, you need to work to keep the study open.
Also, there are reporting requirements to the IRB (and sometimes the funding institutes) for certain types of events during a study.  Some of these types of events may force the IRB's hand, calling for a change in protocol, or even a suspension of approval.
If the question involves a the institution that owns the research site and a separate IRB, the mechanism may be a bit different, but yes, the approval can be withdrawn.  The site can simply mandate what can go on at the site.  If the site is shut down for purposes of the investigator's research, then that would be reported to the IRB, which will probably yank approval (because there is no site for the research) unless acceptable substitution can be made.


text:
Is 18 references in a 18 page article too little?
I'm about to submit my paper which is about predicting the apparent geothermal gradient in a country using a machine learning algorythm, the main motivation is the fact that the country only has heat flow data for about half of the territory and it's measured in-situ from well logs, so there are a considerable part of the country devoid of data. I'm using a Machine Learning approach to estimate the geothermal gradient using geophysical and geological data available for all the territory.
I referenced 18 papers: data sources, XGBoost fundamentals, decision trees, geological information about the country, current geothermal gradients map; and some about similar jobs (Predicting heat flow in Greenland, predicting heat flow in Antarctica, Predicting very shallow geothermal potential in Switzerland, Statistical modelling for global heat flow, etc).
So, should I add more citations? The Antarctica paper has over 60 citations, but they are doing double job (They train and test the model in Australia and then use the model to do predictions Antarctica).
I'm not quite sure if 18 references is fine for my paper, as it not a survey research or a review, just a proposed methodology. Thanks in advance for any suggestion!

There is no rule for the number of references in a paper. You should cite the papers you know about that are sufficiently related to what you are writing about. If that's what you did, then you're fine.

This question very much seems outside our scope to me, as it's about the content of research.

@leonos there's a meta question about this https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/130524/which-stack-exchange-website-for-machine-learning-and-computational-algorithms . The question as posed is about technical content in a paper. It may or may not have a good target Stack— I don't think we're supposed to leave out of scope Q's open on the basis that there's no other Stack for them.

What does your adviser say?

@user176372 In my opinion, OP does go into unnecessary detail about the content of their research, but the underlying question is essentially "how few citations are too few in a research paper".

on average it is enough

In my opinion, a number of citations doesn’t matter. But, I think it matters if you properly cite your sources

There are no universal rules for how many references a paper should have (except that a few journals have maximum limits). The appropriate number for your paper falls firmly into "talk to your supervisor" territory

There is no "right" number of citations for a paper, only the number that you need in order to appropriately position the paper with respect to its background.
There is especially little correlation between the length of a paper and the number of references that it has. That is because it in papers with new results, most of the references tend to be in the introduction, while most of the length of the paper is typically in the methods and results.


text:
Can I decline a professor's request for video conferencing?
I am a Phd student who has  recently tried to initiate a collaboration on a paper with a professor to a university unrelated to mine.
I have already collaborated successfully with this professor a few years before but the collaboration was textual via email.
The professor now wants to see me via a video call saying that video collaborations are far more time efficient than textual ones which is probably true. I wish to avoid meeting him via a video call because I am depressed and I fear that he may decide to not collaborate with me which will hit me much harder emotionally than not wanting to collaborate because I reject his video meeting invitations.
The consequences to our relationship after he sees me may also be more permanent than those of not seeing me at all.
Some of the commenters seem to be assuming that my fears are irrational but this isn't likely the case. Face and facial expressions during communication convey a plethora of clues about the mental state and character of someone and these don't necessarily contribute positively to the perception of the person. Without these clues people's perception of someone can differ significantly.
What can I do?

Would you also decline an in-person meeting?

Comments have been moved to chat; please do not continue the discussion here. Before posting a comment below this one, please review the purposes of comments. Comments that do not request clarification or suggest improvements usually belong as an answer, on [meta], or in [chat]. Comments continuing discussion or containing answers may be removed.

Yes, you can decline the request. However, just like you can decide to only work with people who are willing to communicate solely through text, the professor can decide that they prefer video and are only interested in working with other people through video.
The professor has more experience with you in academic collaboration, and they if they feel video conversations are more productive you're unlikely to convince them otherwise (and, it seems you do not really disagree). It's quite a big request to ask someone to proceed in a less efficient manner because of your personal preferences: you're asking them to spend some of their time solely for your benefit. In some cases this may be a reasonable accommodation for some disability that cannot be overcome by other means, but my outside impression is that this is not the case in your situation (or, at least, it does not seem to me that you've tried other strategies yet).
I think refusing to converse over video is far more likely to harm your relationship and prevent the collaboration than your appearance during the video call. People draw closer personal connections to people they interact with most closely: in-person > video > phone/voice > text. This is broadly appreciated in fields as diverse as sales, education, management, and medicine.
Ultimately, though, all I can provide is this advice, I can't guarantee anything about your interaction with this one person. However, I think it's very important to consider that this is not a one-off situation: it's not like this is going to be the one and only situation where someone is wanting to work with you face-to-face in a collaboration. If you're uncomfortable having contact with others over video or in person, it's going to cost you a lot of other opportunities across your career, too, so I think it will be extremely valuable to you to find ways to cope and thrive in these situations beyond your current comfort level.

---tl;dr---
Simply answer you are available for a phonecall, without video. There are thousands of good reasons for that and you do not need to explicitly mention any.
If the professor is a decent person, they will understand. If not ... your call if you want to work with them.
---longer convoluted answer involving potential unethical behavior (your mileage may vary) ---
I will not address the deep reason behind your request, but the term "video call" is nowadays simply a replacement of the "phone call" term.
Additionally, a video call usually allow you to share screen, which is the most useful feature of calls through computers/smartphones.
In short: you can agree to have a video-call in first place, if you feel like a collaboration can be a good thing for you (for the professor it is, since they invited you to have a video call).
Then, on the day of the video call, if you feel ok about having a videocall, then you are fine. If, on the other hand, on that day you do not feel like to show your face, your webcam does not work, or you have low bandwidth, how unlucky you have to turn off the video to go forward with the call.
If I were the professor, I honestly would not care if, on the planned day and hour of the videocall, your video system does not work: sh*t happens, the point of a video call as a first contact with an unknown person is "just to be sure that the person is real, and let's have an idea about how they are", but not having the video is still helpful and I would not care, even if it was the original format I proposed.
Having said that, a lie is a lie, but I think that a lie is good if it is to preserve your mental equilibrium for the timespan of a call to start a potential collaboration.

If, on the other hand, on that day you do not feel like to show your face, your webcam does not work, or you have low bandwidth, how unlucky you have to turn off the video to go forward with the call. - I can't parse this sentence but it sounds like you are encouraging the OP to lie.

@Kimball Yes, I am encouraging OP to lie, if they cannot afford to have a non-video call.  Feel free to throw any number of stones at the guilty old liar you just caught (he is a man, and even white!)

Considering OP is afraid that their "face and facial expressions during communication convey a plethora of clues about their mental state and character [and that] these don't […] contribute positively to the perception of" their interlocutor, it does not appear as obvious that lying would be the wisest suggestion ever…

@SkippyleGrandGourou The lie is to avoid face and facial expressions. I do not judge the validity of this assumption (see for example the Wiseman experiment described here http://sarahlockett.co.uk/better-to-lie-on-radio-or-tv/ ). OP is asking not to have a video call, if OP cannot change that but hsa to have the videocall with the professor, where OP wants to discuss the topic and not being distracted by visual clues. It is the professor unreasonably rigid in a request for a videocall, I fully and wholeheartedly support lying as a way out from the excessive rigidity of the professor request.

Thanks for providing support (through the Wiseman experiment) to my implicit claim that lying on phone is not the best idea if OP wants to make a good impression.

@SkippyleGrandGourou feel free to give your comment to other answers suggesting the same.

Try to put yourself into the Professor's (let's call them X) position:
X makes a completely valid request that indicates that X is interested in working with you. You deny this request and force on X the choice to either abandon working with you or working in a much less efficient manner. X is very likely to conclude that either you are not that interested in working with X or that you have serious difficulties with being on-video. To counter that you would have to include some explanation why video is not good for you in your denial. If you tell the truth, i.e. what you told us, then X might deduce that you are going through psychological challenging times and would be best advised to not work with you, as you are not at your best and because working with people facing psychological challenges for people untrained and not paid for their effort is difficult, less rewarding, and even dangerous. If you do not tell the truth, you endanger your collaboration because unless you are a sociopath, people are not good at lying and professors get lied to a lot, implying that they have experience with being lied to. So, I do not think that denying the video calls is going to work out for you. In this scenario, the best white lie would be citing technical difficulties such as low internet connectivity or a broken camera.
Some very limited disclosure about your feelings might work out, but ultimately, you need to face your anxieties in one way or the other. Avoiding face-to-face interactions while working in academia is just going to be too difficult. Just the fact that you are posing this question indicates a more than normal level of distress. You seem to be trying to manage an inevitable failure when in fact X is very open to work with you. You are smart and definitely capable of drawing the necessary conclusions.

"X is very likely to conclude that either you are not that interested in working with X or that you have serious difficulties with being on-video." - I think it's vastly more likely that the professor concludes that OP is not fully committed to working with them. Even if they explicitly say they have a problem with video specifically it may be taken as a veiled attempt to back out of the project gracefully.

In other words: Professor X can't read minds?

Addressing your literal question: yes, of course you can decline. It's 100% your decision whether to have a video call with a professor (or anyone else), and any decision you make is 100% valid and would not be an appropriate reason for anyone to criticize you over or try to make you feel bad about.

Addressing the cost/benefit analysis of declining the video call: I think if you go about this in a mature way (see below), it is unlikely to leave a negative impression on a reasonable person. If the professor is unreasonable, then sure, there is a chance he will form a negative opinion about you. Whether that chance is higher or lower than the chance that he will form a negative opinion of you if you do agree to the video call because he perceives that you are depressed seems impossible to say based on the information we have.
That being said, even if he doesn't get a negative impression, it is still the case that without the possibility of video calls, collaboration becomes more difficult and perhaps even impractically so. The professor may reasonably decide the project is not worth the effort that an email-only collaboration requires.

Addressing how to go about explaining your refusal to do a video call: I'd suggest something along the following lines:

Dear Professor,
Thanks for your kind offer to hold a video meeting to continue our discussions about the project. I am sorry but I will be unable to meet you over video due to a current health-related situation. Would it be okay to continue our collaboration over email for the time being? I will let you know if the situation changes in the future.
Thanks,
Stapton

You can substitute "personal situation" for "health-related situation" if that feels more comfortable. Do not go into any details in any case - they are not relevant, and adding them would not make it more likely that the professor would react in the way you hope. Good luck!

You can meet them halfway -- accept the video call and do not turn your own video on.  If called on it, you can come up with a harmless lie, like "if I turn on my video the audio often gets staticky due to bandwidth or RAM issues."
In the long run, if you are working in a field where video communication is the norm, you will need to find a way to make yourself more tolerant of video calls, such as by playing upbeat music before and afterwards. You may also find that if you occasionally turn the video on, on days when you are feeling your best, that will be enough to make the person on the other side feel fully engaged.
(Source: had a manager who insisted on video for meetings.  Among other things, my typical WFH attire was not presentable for such.)

I actually independently made a comment on OP's post similar to this, but your answer (arp) was first.

If you are fine with the voice component, and video is the only concern, you can suggest that for security reasons you do not have a camera on your computer, or that you have it permanently disabled. Depending on your field, you may also suggest that a shared whiteboard would be more effective than a face-to-face communication anyway. Internet security is a perfectly good reason to not have a camera, and I have never had anyone argue with it.

I agree with arp and Jeremy Dover - even in a video call, you are not obliged to be visible all the time. I have already attended lots of video calls where the participants did not switch on their cameras, or they were visible for about a minute and then switched it off. And I myself often work from a computer which has no camera at all, so it is impossible to see me. Nobody has ever complained about that.
If I were you, I would accept the video call and then attend without the camera on.

You really need to assess if it's worth the effort on your part, because this will be extra work, but technically you could fake an average or even an upbeat attitude.
You just need to pretend for the introduction and outro. Being focused and serious through the main discussion, looking away etc is completely normal. And yes I mean coming up with questions in advance, practicing the posture and a smile. Tell them how "excited" you are to work together and any nervous movements will be seen in positive light. Maybe it would be easier if you don't see them, test if that helps.
It definitely can be done but you need to figure out if that is worth the effort for you because I know with depression getting out of bed is a feat and training this skill can be too much.
I'm honestly not familiar with SO's policy but if you want to try and don't know someone else who could help you train I can offer videochatting couple times a week to try out these tips and brainstorm a strategy. Obviously it's not the same as when talking to someone big in your field, but practice is practice. Let me know in the comments if that's the case and I can create a temporary email to share for further discussion.
Mind you - I'm not a professional, I do not expect anything in exchange and I definitely cannot promise any results, I just feel like with some practice the worries could subside.


text:
Do online University Systems close during holidays and are unable to process submitted information?
My examiner has recently told me that he is unable to submit information to the Uni system about the result of his examination of my revised thesis.
I am uncertain of the name of the online system used by my university but I assume it is an off the shelf standardized system that is likely used by many other institutions(How can I find out what system is used?).

Do online University Systems really close during holidays and are unable to
process submitted grading information?

What did he say why is is "unable to submit information"? That would be the right question.

@WolfgangBangerth he said something along the lines that he is unable to input the information on the system likely due to the system being unable to process the information during the holidays. I am a bit suspicious of that so I was wondering if anyone from here is encountered anything similar to this before.

The only person who can definitely answer the question is your prof.

It is unlikely that systems will shut down during holidays. Email servers run as usual. Payroll systems, etc. keep on keeping on. But when decisions are made they are most likely made by humans, many of whom will be away from their desks and workstations.
Your earlier question seems to indicate a situation in which human actions are needed.
To know which systems are used, and you might not be told, contact the IT (Information Technology) organization at the university and ask. But, the answer would probably come from a human, who is probably enjoying a break at the moment.
Your frustration is understandable, but the people downstream from you who want information about your degree will also understand the limitations of the system and are unlikely (IMO) to punish you for things you can't control. Their own systems will have similar limitations.
Note, as I've done in a comment elsewhere, that many, probably most, university systems have people available to answer phones and handle departmental emails for most of the holiday season, other than the holidays themselves. It will likely be reduced staff. And emails will still go through, though recipients may not be reading it, nor answering it. Academic holidays are for academics, not necessarily for academic staff. Things important to the running of the university still get done, but that doesn't imply dealing immediately with academic issues. You might be able to reach the department office (a staff person, perhaps) by phone during holiday seasons and ask what help might be available to resolve the issue.
My best guess is that you will be fine in spite of the frustrations. If the system were driven by completely automated AI systems I'd think you would be less pleased in general with the results as those systems make many (many) errors. Artificial Intelligence is certainly artificial, but not so much intelligent in spite of the name (hype).

My own experience is that any maintenance required for these systems is done between semesters.  Sometimes the systems remain available, sometimes they are taken down.  When taken down, it's never for more than a few hours.
That said, "unable to submit" can mean many things.  The system used for managing grad committees at my school are separate from the main LMS, and I've had trouble logging into it myself.

Are you sure about "never"? Larger changes, like migration to a new system, could take days.

Planned vs actual times tend to diverge quite strongly…


text:
If a bachelor degree was revoked for a exam misconduct committed within a module, how can that degree be re-earned?
My question is very simple. If someone was found guilty in cheating during a continuous assessment, and the degree was (about to be) revoked, can that person re-earn it by taking that particular module again? Or that person have to retake the entire course?
(I am sorry for not adding proper tags)

I suspect that will depend very much on the institution, and on the specific terms of the punishment.

Ask an appropriate person at the institution  - they will know their rules better than strangers on the Internet.

This depends on the rules of the institution. For example my university has general rules, but each faculty has another additional rules and it's all documented in a document called: education and examination regulations (my university is located in Europe). Try to find those rules and regulations and ask around. My advice is to email them and ask if they have a document (pdf) with the general rules and regulations.

In examination regulation of my institute, no specific rules have been provided about revocation. Only what would the examiner do upon catching a misconduct and what are the punishments given for a specific misconduct. But none is involved with revocation.

@ramsil In my country there are also laws and regulations from the government, but the best way is to make an appointment with the dean of the faculty to ask how the rules and regulations are about this topic. I'm pretty sure that the dean would know or otherwise know who or where to refer you to.