text:
How do I tell the SLAC where I am visiting that I would like to not teach next semester?
I'm a fourth year student in Experimental Psychology who is dealing with major, unresolved mental health issues and major problems fulfilling my basic responsibilities. I'm finding myself under-performing this semester big time with late grading, arriving late to classes (first half of the semester anyway), showering every other day, and taking long naps. It has not improved at all and I haven't made any progress even writing for my dissertation at all despite data collection being a thing at the same time. I'm probably going to step down from this position altogether before I strongly anticipate being dropped from my courses for next semester due to my low reviews. How can I broach this to those at the SLAC (Small Liberal Arts College)?
I know I'm also going to invite some backlash but would this do more harm than good (even with the negative reviews on the way)?

Have they even offered you a position next semester?

@AzorAhai-him- I was assigned classes for next semester so yes they have in this case.

@JW Small liberal arts college.

The title question is a duplicate of this. Other important context is that we have already told you that the issues you mention are not that serious (though the low reviews, if they really are super low, change the picture somewhat) and that you are unlikely to be fired in the middle of the academic year.

If your job is to teach, "not wanting to teach next semester" is in essence saying that you want to resign from the job. Or what other kind of outcome are you looking for? SLACs don't generally pay people unless they are willing to teach.

Given your other questions and concerns, I suggest that you go talk to the department chair (or maybe the dean) and let them know that you are over committed generally and need a break as soon as can be arranged. Preferably for the coming semester.
Perhaps it would be easy for them to accommodate and maybe not, but they should be able to tell you. They may have to scramble a bit to cover at this date, but should, hopefully, be prepared for such surprises.
You can also resign your position, of course, but you may need to find something else for financial reasons.
If they aren't already aware of your general issues, I suggest that you not bring them up. Over commitment in your situation is pretty common and natural.


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In Moodle, how to submit student evaluation without assignments
I'm trying to configure (the online Virtual Learning Environment) Moodle in such a way that a teacher can submit a daily evaluation for his/her students without having assignments. I'm building this Moodle for Kindergartens and would like to keep track of the progress of the students without the students actually submitting an assignment.
I can't seem to find a way to grade without an assignment.
Any thoughts?

For context, can you say what Moodle is?

You can grade assignments even if students have not submitted anything:

Can I grade work that’s been done offline outside of Moodle?
Yes. Just untick all submission types when setting up the assignment and just use it for grading.

The quickest way to do this is, unexpectedly, to use Quick Grading. When you enable this, you will have input forms directly in the grading table. Just enter the grade in front of each students and click on the button at the bottom of the page to save.
(If you want to get complicated you can use CSV imports and whatnot as explained in Solar Mike's answer using Offline marking, but honestly why make it complicated when you can make it simple...)

Another, maybe simpler possibility, is to simply add Grade items and then edit them directly into the Gradebook. For something so simple it probably doesn't make much sense using the full-blown Assignment activity, unless you want to add material each day like grade sheets, solution sets etc. So you first add Grade items as explained in the doc, and then edit them in the Grader report. It can be done very quickly.

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text:
Chances of getting in at a world top 50 graduate school for Economics with a C+ in Calculus II?
My GPA (Economics) at the moment is 3.7 but I have a terrible grade on Calculus II (C+)- the reason being that Calculus II clashed with another mandatory course of mine, and I couldn't attend most of the Calculus II lectures (furthermore, the Calc II Professor refused to accept my homework since I wasn't attending all the lectures, and all the grade weight fell on my final exam- most people who attended the lectures got super nice grades; also, the homework problems for that course were easy). On the other hand, I have perfect scores on all of my other Math and Statistics courses that did not have clashes. Furthermore, I will probably have my name on 4 papers by the time I graduate next year (please note that I have made significant contributions to the paper, and it's not just "some helping out on the research and my Profs. are too kind" thing). Apologies for the lengthy question.

Your grade in an introductory course like calculus is not very important compared to your grades in advanced courses which are relevant to your graduate studies.

Yes, good grades in more advance math courses, courses for which Calculus II is prerequisite.  So, unless Calculus II will be your last math course, you should not worry about this.

If you don't get in to a great school it won't be because of a single grade. More likely it would be that there is so much competition from good candidates for very few actual positions.
In almost every place you apply people will look at your whole record and how you present it in the application materials. It is up to you to make your case. But you will need to make it well, showing that your background gives you the basis and your goals are appropriate and attainable.
It is possible that a few schools with a small staff and too many applicants may have to depend more on counting up chits than most, but it is possible to make your case even there.
But I wouldn't stress the low grade and the reasons for it initially. Give the explanation if asked, but don't put a spotlight on it.
Oh, and it probably isn't a good idea to self describe as a "dunce" in any application. But you know that, of course.

Let me say a few words here for the benefit of future readers. I worry more about an applicant with a perfect record than one with a few flaws. Nearly everyone will eventually reach a point in which things aren't easy anymore and have to deal with struggling through hard problems. If they have never experienced anything close to failure before then, when the going gets tough, they may just collapse. I've seen this happen.
I was lucky to get my struggles behind me early so learned how to work hard for success. One of my sisters totally outshone me in school, but found college a struggle as she hadn't learned that lesson. I was the turtle, but pulled ahead in the end. She wasn't lazy, like the hare in the story, but just hit a wall she couldn't seem to push through.

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Teaching high school students as a career development
Some universities offer courses for high-performing high school students.  These include advanced placement classes, but sometimes they are not integrated to any existing curriculum or standards.
I am currently a postdoc with no teaching duties, but I am thinking of teaching one of aforementioned classes (due mainly to financial reasons).  I am wondering if pedagogical experience in a such a setting may be viewed in favor in the future when I apply for a position (in higher ed) with teaching components.

What sort of career do you want?

Related: What is the importance of postdoctoral teaching experience for US tenure-track jobs?

but I am thinking of teaching one of aforementioned classes -- To what extent are you confident that, if you applied, then you would be selected to teach such a class? I ask, because my experience (and knowledge of other people) in matters related to this is that being selected for something like this can be very challenging if you are not able to offer much beyond simply having an advanced degree and research experience in the subject (neither of which is in short supply near most universities). But maybe the situation where you're at differs from my experience.

It might be valuable for other reasons. Feynman said that teaching helped him in those times his research was unproductive. He could feel that at least he was still teaching and helping the university that way.

My opinion is that teaching experience is beneficial for almost any profession and will almost always be seen favorably. My own teaching experience taught me a lot:

Public speaking/presenting
Thinking on the spot/critical thinking
You need to assess and evaluate your own knowledge
When your approach doesn't work as expected for some students, you need to be able to adapt your methods, so more/all students can learn from you.

These can be valuable life skills in general, but especially since you mention you want to a future position with teaching components, having this experience will definitely be a plus.


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Incomplete manuscript with an error published by mistake
I had an accepted paper at a production stage, when I became aware of a technical error, which I was able to fix (in case it matters: the field is mathematics, and even though the claims I made in my paper were correct, they did not have adequate proofs in the earlier version).  When I sent the correct version to the journal, they told the production team to halt the publication of my paper, and sent the new manuscript to the editorial team and the original reviewer as the change was deemed significant.
A few months in, while presumably the new edition was under review, the production team published my old manuscript with the gap anyway even though they were not supposed to.
When I let the production team of this incident, they maintained that only thing they could  do now was to publish an addendum.
While this response seems reasonable (while it's regrettable that they made this mistake), the details of their response seem odd.
First of all, on the addendum, they said:

What we can do is issue an addendum notice (NOT an error notice such
as an erratum and corrigendum) and note any additional information
that was present in that revision to the addendum.  I.e.,
“Post-publication, _____ was brought to our attention.  In this
addendum, we lay out additional research/information/etc….” and then
proceed to include any of the additional revision work that was
intended to be included in the original article.

The language the production team suggested is not precise (as the gap was spotted before the publication) and puts me under a slightly worse light, unless by "i.e." they meant "e.g.," in which case I can say what I see fit.
Also, the production team erroneously believe that I have several papers in production with their journal, which is not true.  This shows that I may have confused the production team; I certainly do not want, e.g., to have both versions of my paper published.
Unfortunately, when I asked them for clarification regarding these details, they stopped communicating with me.  How should I proceed with the conundrum?

Discuss this with the handling editor, not the production team.

I once managed to convince the editor-in chief to republish the entire paper because of mistakes by the production team. Publishing an addendum is not always a good option since mistakes by the production team can make the paper unreadable even with an addendum. While this is not your case, on one of math papers (not mine) the production team replaces all the inequality signs with the number 4. The published addendum "all instances of the number 4 in the paper should be replaced with the > sign, did not help at all.

I agree with @Alexander Woo that you should be discussing this with the relevant editor. I recall seeing a paper where the journal published the correct version of the paper, accompanied by an  apology for having previously published  a version that they had messed up.

They screwed up, all that's left is to pick up the pieces.
First, they can't retract your paper and republish it with the missing information, because once a paper is published it goes out to all subscribers & other venues besides. It will have metadata, a DOI, etc., and those can't be retracted. So the only thing they can do is publish an addendum.
The question is what to put in the addendum. You could suggest an accurate version - "this paper was erroneously published without the following ...". The production team should agree to this version. If they don't, message the journal's editors and see if you can convince them - their words carry a lot of weight.
By the way it seems rather unlikely to me that they are ignoring you. Maybe they have already approached and are discussing with the journal editors?

"Maybe they have already approached and are discussing with the journal editors?"  This hadn't occurred to me.

You can keep talking to the editor or you can just accept it. They may be firm in their decision, however.
It seems like the journal is trying to cover up for a mistake, which is something not unusual, I suppose.
While their "solution" is a bit messy, the important thing to remember is that your "fix" will be published.
For a print journal it is difficult to publish a corrected version, even for an online publication, changes can invalidate subsequent work of others. This is likely part of the decision they made, in addition to covering up their error.
Long term, it probably makes little difference. Figure out how to best spend your time.


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Professor I applied to is about to move – can I ask them to consider my application for the new institution?
I am in the process of applying for graduate programs at various universities. Given the importance of research in some graduate programs, I have been searching for professors/potential mentors when I came across a particular professor whose work impressed me immensely. I got in touch with the professor to discuss my application.
Now this is where the tricky part begins. The professor informed me that they will be moving to another university shortly and will not be accepting mentees anymore at their old university. Luckily, I had submitted my application for their new university a few days back. Is it okay to ask them to consider my application as a part of an application different from the one I had initially approached them for? My desire to carry work under them is genuine but will doing something like this make me look too opportunistic of unscrupulous?

It is absolutely not a problem for you to ask for help!
Faculty move is part of academic life and often times one of the trickier things to handle – especially when figuring out how to handle relocating a lab full of people. Your interest in their work is not tied to where their lab currently is, at least as far as you describe it, so it is fully acceptable for them to advise you on the application process.
Regardless of their affiliation, their role has been strictly advisory (as described). This means it is as if one professional is simply giving advice to someone entering the field – there is no conflict of interest.
Continue, and if that professor’s research excites you, you should certainly try to get into their new university and rotate with them to see if it’s a match.

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What stops a university from doing whatever they want when an academic misconduct allegation arises?
I got permission from a professor to submit an essay to him that I wrote for one of his previous classes. It is academic misconduct to do this unless you receive permission from the professor.
Say the professor changes his mind for whatever reason and I have his permission in writing, what is to stop him from going back on his word during or after the class? I understand the Dean and Department Chair would also be involved. If I prove that I had permission, what can stop the university from failing me on the class or assignment and/or doing whatever they want essentially since it's basically a private business/entity? Would I need to sue the school?

Most professors are not evil people who want to fail you. Either because they aren't evil or because failing people is work. So do you have a concrete reason why you worry about this?

I expect it would come down to the fact that when you enrolled in the university, you agreed to abide by their written academic misconduct rules, including their prescribed adjudication and enforcement process.  If they punish you without due process, you might have a case for a lawsuit.  If you have clear evidence that your behavior was in accordance with the policy, and the university fails to consider that evidence, that would probably be a due process violation.

This question seems very hypothetical.  Is there an actual problem?

@Bob Brown I am curious to know and be prepared in case it does happen. I'd rather not wait until it happens if I can do something to avoid it prior.

@user69115 Well, your question appears to assume unethical behavior on the part of the professor when you write, "the professor changes his mind," and also assumes unethical behavior on the chair, dean, etc.  I believe that to be extremely unlikely.  Better to spend your efforts preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse.

I guess my only option would be to sue the university in this case.

What's to stop him?  His ethical considerations, and the paper trail that was created.
If you prove you had permission, what's to stop the university from doing whatever they want?
Your university will have policies in place, and procedures for filing internal complaints.  Your energetic self-defense, using your paper trail and university policies and procedures, would be what would stop the university from doing whatever they want.
You might also be able to file a complaint with your state education department.
I don't know anything about lawsuits, except that they can take a long time.  Perhaps it would help to post at Law SE.

That's very helpful. Are you speaking in reference to public universities or private? If it's private, I'm not sure if complaining to the state education department would do much good. Or can the education department still play a role in regulating the university's practices?

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Professor not responding email about his grading, do I have to email again?
I received a failing for a course; however, one of my project (which worth around 10%) was not graded. It is possibly due to my late submission (one minute late). Previously many of his students submit their works late (I mean super late), and he accepted them all. So I politely asked him by email whether the assignment is graded or not. No answer.
My other works are curved at a B grade. It was not a fancy grade so I politely asked for extra work as part of one of my previous email, well before the semester was ended. He did not answer that question, but he answered the other questions that I asked in the same email.
I have emailed him a few times before about grading or something else, he usually responds after a few days. This time, he is not responding for like 2 weeks. He does not have regular office hour. The prof is very nice (so I definitely don't want to appeal to a higher authority) and also super busy. Since our school has a loose policy on updating grade, he gives out my grade a couple of months after the course was over. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
He could have private office hour for his current students so I could try to sneak in with my acquaintances who are his students.

He is still teaching this semester at another campus so I could technically catch him after class. But I doubt that we are going to have a private environment for discussing grades.

Visit him in his office hours, if you can make it to the other campus.
There is a good chance, that your e-mail landed on a huge pile of things to do, as it is much more important to you than to the professor. E-Mailing again is an option (you get at least a few seconds of attention and a chance that he reads and reacts), but visiting him in the consultation hours will get you the full attention. And personally I would not e-mail more than twice with (almost) the same content, but try something else instead.
For such formal problem you may consider mailing his secretary as well.

As noted, discussions on important matters such as final course grades start with arranging a face-to-face meeting. They do not rely on email. Indeed, as an instructor, I have a policy to never ever discuss any aspect of grades via email. I also believe that using email for this type of discussion may be a violation of or skirt the bounds of FERPA regulations.

Many thanks to both of you. The problem is he does not have open office hour this semester; so I probably still have to email him first for a meeting/Chat. What is the "reason" that I suppose to include in the email?

First, consult your student handbook. The policies at your university, college, or even department should direct you on who you are to contact for disputes about grades. You may find that a policy is in place that says you should contact someone other than the instructor for your situation.
In case you are allowed to contact the instructor, are not limited to contact the instructor first, and certainly may even be recommended to contact the instructor first about grade disputes, I might propose that this email might get respectful attention ...

I would appreciate a chance to meet with you to discuss my final grade in Course ABC taken over the (Fall/Spring/Summer) semester of (whatever year). I recognize that my (first/third/last/tenth ...) project report was not graded. As best I can determine, my submission was late. !I acknowledge that your syllabus states that no late reports will be accepted (thereby giving a grade of zero)! I am (however) concerned because I heard from other students in the class that their reports were graded even when they were submitted later, possibly even later than mine was.
I am available (at this location at the university) on (whatever days at whatever times). I hope that you will be able to arrange a meeting so that we can discuss and resolve my concerns in person.
[ I have copied Dr. XYZ, the Department Chair, on this correspondence in case he/she needs to be consulted for further advice. ]
OR
[ I have contacted you in the past with email without success. I am therefore also preparing my records to take my case forward to Dr. XYZ, the Department Chair. I prefer that we can resolve my concerns without such an action. ]
I appreciate your prompt attention to my request.

The part in !...! is essential to include if it is true.
You should also approach how you phrase the email and what you document in it as though at some point, its entire contents will be published on Facebook without your permission. So, by specific example, do NOT put the words "failing grade in Course ABC" in the email.
In summary, I might comment on the overall issue raised here. A student always has a right to appeal a grade. The appeal must be based on objective facts not on personal desires. When all recourse at the first level is exhausted, the appeal goes to a higher authority. The professional approach throughout the process on both sides is to avoid stating the need for further appeal as a threat or holding the decision to take a further appeal as punishment. Finally, instructors are human beings. They make mistakes in judgement that may lead to unfair practices for any number of reasons. Sometimes it is as simple as "I forgot, my apologies". Sometimes it is as hard as "This is MY class". Learning to be mindful of such outcomes and to navigate them professionally and respectfully is perhaps the biggest lesson here.

Do I actually cc the department chair? I am afraid that the professor will be even stricter when the issue is going into a higher authority. For example, he might have to give a zero grade for the late assignment.

I have modified my reply to address parts of your question. Your appeal seems to be based on what you have heard from other students. They were given grace even when their reports were late. You were not. You may need to obtain proof that, with all else equal, other students were given grace and that you should therefore be due the same grace. Your appeal will be validated not based on what you think, feel, or believe. Your appeal will be validated when something is different, and it will be granted when that difference led to an unfair outcome relative to everyone else.

"I wish to meet with you to discuss my final grade in Course ABC" sounds like a threat. It will generate attention of the Professor  and the police.

@markvs I have a hard time recognizing how an expression "... wish to ..." becomes a threat escalating immediately to a notice to call the police. In any case, I have changed to "... would appreciate a chance ...". This should carry a less negative undertone.

If the instructor does not answer, (s)he has a reason. A student who wants to dispute a grade has several official ways to do that. The student can, for example, talk to the undergraduate Chair, to an appropriate person in the dean office, etc.

@markvs Nothing you say indicates that a student makes a threat when making a request. Our official statement to students about how to discuss issues about a course says to start with the student considering whether to make a request to meet with the instructor. When the instructor does not answer, the student can certainly then proceed to the next level. I appreciate the indication that some universities may have policies telling students to bypass the instructor to raise issues about grades. Duly noted and I will amend as such.

As I said the Professor may have a valid reason not to answer. For example the student might have shown   during the semester that he is not completely.stable.

@markvs We might at times wish that we did not have to maintain a professional obligation to respond to a student. We might at times believe that our judgements about our right to claim that we have a "valid reason" not to answer an inquiry by a student are gospel just because we say they are. In my view of the profession however, faculty have both the obligation to respond and the duty not to claim otherwise. As appropriate, the response we can give to a student who confronts us with a difficult situation can simply be to direct the student to a higher authority.


text:
Is it impolite to not to respond to professors' replying email asap?
I emailed to a professor about a research question. In most cases I reply to them asap. In some scenarios I think I cannot do this asap because:

He asked me a very difficult question that takes a long time to get an answer.
I don't have any further questions for now. But I might have them in the future.
He does not show any interests on me. He's response is professional yet short (little interests). He does not ask me any questions. I don't have too much to say.

From what I read on this site, people seem to suggest that, since a professor reads thousands of emails, I should not bother to send another email unless it includes a considerable amount of new information.
However, my advisor told the contrary: to show respects, I should almost always send the last email: professors can ignore me but I cannot ignore them. For example, in case 1 I can say that "I will spend more time on this problem", in case 2&3 I can say that “Thank you for your answers. May I email you again if I have other questions later?". My advisor said something like: although everyone is equal, there is still a hidden "hierarchy" thing: lower people are expected to show more respects and do more works to maintain the relationships. I think he is trying to be honest here.
What is the standard etiquette in USA?

Might be a cultural thing, so I think this question would benefit from knowing your location.

Your option "Thank you for your answers. May I email you again if I have other questions later?" is problematic, as you might get a "yes" or "no" in response, and would have to send another mail, thanking for his response..

This might not be a good question for the Internet as chances are that the answers here tend to "People are all equal, there is no good reason that the prof may ignore you and you can't", "just change advisor if your advisor is unreasonable" etc because they are the ideal world answers. It might make more sense to talk to your real world friends, collegues and professors.

You have done the right thing - you have asked your advisor for advice. Is there any reason you don't think his or her advice is good?

@Sverres Because the advice contradicts with the advice I got from this site

@user111388 I agree with you! I think the SE sites might need an anonymous function to better elicit true preference.

In the US, many professors really don’t like the idea that students tremble in fear at any interaction with them, and/or regard them as a class of semi-divine beings who need to be constantly flattered and paid homage to. Any idea that the student’s actions are motivated by ideas like

“hierarchy”

“I should not bother to send another email unless it includes a considerable amount of new information”

“I should almost always send the last email”

“professors can ignore me but I cannot ignore them”

“lower people are expected to show more respects and do more works to maintain the relationships”

“Is it impolite to not to respond to professors' replying email asap?”

etc

will be seen as upsetting and in many cases offensive to such professors.
The standard etiquette in the US is therefore to treat the professor with the same respect and professionalism that you yourself expect to be treated with (and that any professional person ought to expect to be treated with) by anyone in a professional working environment. That is, if the context of the email requires an urgent response, then you should answer with a corresponding urgency and immediacy; and if it doesn’t, then you should answer within a time frame that makes sense for that context. The fact that you are a student emailing a professor has no effect on whether the time interval to answer an email is polite or impolite.

I agree with Dan Romik's post above. The advice that your advisor shared does not, in my opinion, reflect US culture. As a professor, I am not offended or upset if a student does not reply to an email UNLESS I stated within the email that I needed a response. If a student does not send me a reply, I assume that my email addressed their concerns and that no further explanation is needed at the moment. Some of my students will reply with a brief 'thank you,' but this is not necessary.

I wonder if you will feel better if they send a short appreciation note at the end.


text:
What exactly constitutes as Novelty in academia?
In the world of academia what exactly counts as a novelty, when we talk about a novel idea or more specifically when we say Academic Novelty ?
I am trying to start writing on a particular topic (details of which I am not at liberty to divulge) but I am a bit confused about the aspect of novelty regarding that topic.
While discussing the general outline of the work, my advisor told me that what I am trying to do, does not count as a Academic Novelty. If it were a product for the industry, it would be a good innovation.
I was also told that I have to think more in an academic mindset instead of thinking in a product/industrial mindset.
I am very confused and I am in need of some guidance to figure out what to do ..
I will provide some context : I'm a M.Sc.(thesis) Computer Science student and although I have a journal publication prior to starting grad school, I do not have any publications (conference or journal) during my M.Sc. studies. I am rather eager to publish during my studies.
Can anyone please make explain in very simple terms about how I can resolve this concern of novelty?
P.S : I have another question about novelty as well, but I will ask it separately

Ask a question, and if nobody knows the answer, you may have a novel idea/question.

You should ask your advisor these questions. That's what they're there for.

@astronat, i did and i was advised to read more papers.. since i am still struggling to find out the solution, that's precisely the reason i asked this question here

@Yasir I think the suggestion to read more papers is because published papers are examples of academic novelty.

First, don't expect a hard boundary between the two concepts. It is a matter of more or less of one or the other. So, the "exactly" in your title can only be approximated.
While research in industry is now only occasionally anything beyond product research, it wasn't always that way. Some places still do research much like is done in academia. And some universities get involved in some product development, often through collaborations.
But, on the academic side, "novelty" is involved more with what is known or knowable or what it is possible to do. And on the industrial side novelty is more involved with doing things that might have economic value by being different or unique in some way. Some toasters, for example, have a "novel" design that appeals to people. But an academic paper on the design would be unlikely.
However, there are things that might be hard to classify. The transistor, for example, invented at the old Bell Labs was novel in the knowable, doable sense and could be considered valid academic research. The exploitation of the transistor to make useful products (faster, more reliable computers) was less likely to be have novelty in the academic sense thought it does in the industrial sense.
In CS, creation of the object oriented paradigm (Simula and/or Smalltalk, depending on your view) was academic research. Creating the Ruby programing language probably not so much. But not entirely one or the other.
So, in the final analysis, judgement is required and your advisor has made a judgement that your suggestion was too far from the (very) fuzzy line. That doesn't make it worthless, but it probably makes in impossible to develop into a dissertation, at least with that professor.

Your advisor has fallen into the trap of thinking there is a significant difference between academic and industrial/product thinking. The truth is that there is a continuum between the two and that little good comes from the lofty or pretentious imposition of bipolarity on that continuum. Such academic stereotyping often indicates unwillingness to apply one's work to the wider world, and a desire to inflate its importance within a limited self-defined sphere.
Some academic ideas are trivial and useless, some are far reaching and influential. Some industrial/applied ideas are trivial. Others pose intellectual challenges that easily exceed the self-chosen and self-defined themes of a limited academic idea.
I doubt there is a convenient catch-all definition of novelty that would allow you to categorize your work reliably. If the idea has not reached the published peer-reviewed literature or the authoritative textbooks it is probably academically novel.

I see I piqued the ire of someone. I wonder why? It might be helpful to the questioner if they would be gracious enough to explain themselves.


text:
The level of English throughout your manuscript does not meet the journal's desired standard
How can I respond to this reviewer's remark?

Hire an editor in the short term, hire a tutor in the long term.

Sometimes, reviewer write this because they do not want to read your paper (because it is not interesting for them). Or not. Maybe start by showing your work to a native speaker.

@user111955, I think such an editor would be acting unethically. They should give better advice and suspect that they would.

@LukeSawczak, expand that a bit and you have a good formal answer.

@Buffy: I agree completely that this is unethical.

What was the actual quality of the English in your paper? I assume significantly better than the first version of this question, but how much better?

Unlike some other commenters, I would not consider this remark unethical if the paper's English is so bad as to make it unreadable. It would be better to accompany the remark with something like "There are four misspellings and two grammatical errors in just the first "sentence" of the introduction." But if it's really that bad then I wouldn't consider that additional explanation to be mandatory; the editor can find the first sentence of the introduction even without a pointer.

In the meantime, use a grammar checker as well. The feedback is invaluable to improving your written language.

If this is the only remark of the editor, then he likely didn't even read much more than the abstract. You should and can only apologize and make a new submission later.
I've noticed as a reviewer that even in top journals blatant grammatical mistakes can already appear in the abstract and continue throughout the manuscript. Still, the editor send to reviewers and in general I will make a comment on the quality of the language and give few examples with line number.
But, if the quality obscures the meaning of sentences or induces ambiguities I stop reading the manuscript and vote for rejection, because more than 1-2 major revisions are uncommon/unwanted by reviewers investing their free time and the good journals are more and more in competition for a fast review/pulishing process.
Hiring an editor can be expensive, especially with a draft containing ambiguities etc. More than polishing up your language is not their task and job. In general, for quality control of language and comprehension of your content it is imho necessary to "pre-review" before submission to a journal/editing service, that means to ask someone in e.g. your research group or a colleague to read the draft, who was not engaged in the actual research, but has an educational background in the best case. Your supervisor/professor should normally be able to judge if the quality meets the journal standards. Then there is still the option to hire an editor before submission or stick to use more standard phrases in scientific publishing, which you can find as lists via google or borrow from published articles of the journal you want to submit to.


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How are copyright transfers for a journal article done?
Almost a year back, I have submitted a manuscript for a Journal as a research article, and after almost 11 months and after undergoing two rounds of peer review and referee suggested revisions, I finally got an acceptance letter. After getting acceptance, I thought I would receive a letter to sign a copyright agreement and asking my permission to transfer the rights for publication, but to my surprise I did not get any such letter. I then read the copyright document on the Journal's website (under instructions for authors segment, one is supposed to read even before submitting a manuscript) and found that as per the document the copyrights laws are automatically transferred once the manuscript gets accepted, and come into force from the day of getting the acceptance letter. Is this quite a common thing with Journals. The Journal is although not a top journal but fairly reasonable and from a fairly known publisher and I am sure its not a fake or predatory. There are no charges for authors whats so ever.
Question : Can the copyrights be transferred without the author explicitly signing (electronically or otherwise) any document to that effect?

What's the question? It seems you've already answered the title question in the body of the text.

@Allure : I think the question OP wants to know is: Can the copyrights be transferred without the corresponding author explicitly signing a copyright agreement either electronically or physically?

There are very few kinds of contracts that require a full written form and a signature (depends on the legal system, but I think in most places real estate is the common exception). It's just easier to prove the existence of a written contract than an oral agreement if things go to court.
But in this case there seems to be no need. You said yourself, that the terms in the instructions you are supposed to read before submitting, so you can hardly argue to have missed them. You also cannot really argue that the terms are unreasonable or unexpected, since a copyright transfer of some form is to be expected when publishing.
Legally what happened is that the publisher offers a contract that involves transfer of copyright in case of acceptance and you agreed to that contract by submitting.


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Should I adress myself as a doctor (Ph.D.) when I am only waiting for the diploma to be signed?
I have publicly defended my doctoral thesis over a year ago now, and it is published online. I have also finished all the other doctoral studies that are required for a Ph.D. in my field (I have an official e-mail regarding this from the Head of study affairs of my faculty). All that remains for the final and official Ph.D. status are the official papers signed by my university. This is due to the fact that I have continued extracurricular studies (some minor subjects, methodological studies etc.) at my university under my postgraduate student status and thus have not requested the official papers yet since it would end my possibilities for further studies. I have also applied for postdoc grants, but for the time being without results.
Against this background, would any of you recommend addressing myself as a doctor (Ph.D.) until I receive the official certificate from my university? For example, I have been part of multiple academic peer-reviewing endeavors within the past year, and the journal editors always refer to me as a Dr. in their correspondences. So I have just followed their lead.
I've searched and read different forums around the topic i.e., "when it is proper to be called a doctor?" There seem to be somewhat ambiguity within the responses given.

Which country? In Germany, it would be outright illegal for you to call yourself a Doctor/Dr. until you have been awarded the degree (i.e., the paperwork that you are missing is done)....unless you already had another doctoral degree before.

Welcome to Academia SE. Please note that multiple questions per question are not a good fit for our format. I therefore removed one of them. You can ask it separately, but I suggest to first wait for the outcome of this question.

Also: In which context would you call yourself a doctor? Are we talking about a public CV or an informal conversation? (This begs the question whether it really matters, e.g., does the title actually confer relevant prestige in the context?)

Finally, most academic journals address everybody as Dr. by default (see, e.g., this). I wouldn’t give much on this.

Your university might allow you to carry the title Dr. des. (Dr. designatus).

What country? In many countries you need to have the diploma ready (Case for most EU), in others you even need to register yourself on the government databases to be able to legally call yourself Dr and be able to work as such (Mexico and some LATAM).

@DCTLib: while that's true, the possibility to finish extracurricular studies would not be bound to that paperwork: the university will hand over the certificate either in a ceremony or post it to you, and neither of that is bound to the end of the term/semester. Also in Germany, while OP could not refer to themselves as Dr., as they have passed the defense/disputation they could let others call them Dr.

As I understand it, you have met the requirements for graduation but you have not applied for graduation yet, so you have not graduated. The degree of Dr. has not been conferred to you by the university, so you should not use it.
The importance of this varies by country: in some countries such as Germany, this is explicitly stated in the university regulations. In the US, many universities have three official degree conferral dates every year (at the end of each term, see for example https://web.iit.edu/registrar/academic-calendar), and you are not expected to use the title before the degree has been conferred.
Others may address you as they wish, but trying to use the title yourself might be seen by some as dishonest.

Some departments in Germany have a dedicated title for a person who has successfully defended their thesis, but is not graduated yet: "Dr. des" (designatus). This is most common in the humanities.


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How to react to a student proselytising during office hours?
A few weeks ago, a student asked me during my office hours whether I was religious or not. More specifically, he asked whether I believed in his religion, and was visibly disappointed when I replied negatively.
How should I react to a question such as this? Religion is a bit of a touchy subject, and even if I am a TA (i.e., not the instructor of the course - and more importantly, also a student), I don't want to be put in a similar situation again.
More generally speaking, how do I react to a situation in which I have to answer a question in a way that I know is likely to upset a student, without lying or making the situation worse?
edit: Some comments have pointed out that the student was never actually preaching, and I understand and somewhat agree. The reason I chose this phrasing over anything else was because he did try to make the conversation into something along the lines of "Do you want to learn about the ways of [religious figure]? There's always time, you know".
edit 2: I'm in computer science; there is no link whatsoever between religion and the contents of the class (or the whole program, really).

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

@osuka_ I think the edit is helpful. You could also use "proselytizing" which conveys more of an attempt at religious conversation, including one-on-one interaction, whereas "preach" suggests the audience is a larger group. You could also add "in office hours" to your title to make more clear this is a private, rather than public, overture.

@BryanKrause I agree - the fact that it was directed at me, and only me, was in fact the reason it took me a bit to decide on a word in the first place. I’ll edit the title when I get to a computer

"proselytizing" does not fit either. This word means "the action of attempting to convert someone from one religion, belief, or opinion to another" and from what you described this did not happen.  Would you consider it "proselytizing" if he had asked if you were a Dallas Cowboys fan, following it up with, "Do you want to know why they are the best"?

@MichaelJ. From the OP: he did try to make the conversation into something along the lines of "Do you want to learn about the ways of [religious figure]? There's always time, you know - that's proselytizing, or evangelizing if you prefer. They aren't having a broad discussion about theology, someone specifically brought up their religion and asked for a chance to start converting them toward it.

@MichaelJ. With the edit ("Do you want to learn about the ways of [religious figure]? There's always time, you know"), I would argue that proselytizing would be the correct word after all, although I am not a native speaker.

You didn't mention what you are teaching. If you are teaching a class on philosophy or comparative religion your student might have a valid reason for wanting to know where your biases lie. You would still have the right to deflect the question if you find it too personal, but the reasonableness of the question changes along with how you could deflect changes.

@TimothyAWiseman If it was a class on philosophy or religious studies, this wouldn't be a problem (and arguably an integral part of the class itself); I'm in computer science.

// , "Proselytizing" seems a bit much to describe this sort of tepid "Have you been saved" type of question. If you want to put yourself in a situation where no one will ask you awkward questions, well, that's a different post entirely, isn't it? :)

@MichaelJ Not at all: to the question "Are you a fan of my favorite sports team?" a TA can answer: "No, they are shit, my team is sooo much better!" without getting into trouble. Try doing that with religion. The TA could be expelled from University.

This one time I've opened the door to some JWs, and clearly stated I'm a satanist. I don't know if this is what you want to do, but I haven't had any JWs knocking since.

@Nathan It’s the textbook definition of the term. And, as you recognise, this question isn’t about avoiding awkward questions. So why bring it up in a comment?

// , "Is offensive" or "I'm offended", which is it, JGreenwell?

@NathanBasanese I said "moving into offensive" and I mean it that way. Better to assume caution when dealing with questions regarding religion and asking someone if they are Christian falls under that. You, meaning anyone, never know how someone has been persecuted for their beliefs or what their reaction will be. And yes, I've never met anyone who isn't Christian who isn't offended when asked those types of questions. There may be some who aren't but I imagine it would be a small percentage and again not worth the risk or at least should get far more consideration then "do you like the Cubs?"

Is religion something that was broached by the class content, as it would be in a class on medieval history or political science?

You address this by stating directly

"I would prefer not to discuss this topic during office hours. Can I help you with any questions you have on the homework?"

If the issue persists, I would speak with the professor and perhaps also your dean of students (or something similar).

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. Please keep all comments civil... there were quite a few ad hominem attacks in this thread.

I like this answer, but it could come off as a bit cold. I answer such questions with a smile and say "that is an interesting question and I'm sure we could have a great discussion, but I prefer not to talk about these sorts of things at work, I hope you understand". If they push, you could say "answers to these sorts of questions can have unintended consequences" and "I'm curious why this is important to you"

it could come off as a bit cold. — As it should.

@Behacad I don't really agree with that... for starters "I'm curious why this important to you" is pretty obvious, but more importantly is engaging the conversation rather than closing it.

and was visibly disappointed when I replied negatively

This is their problem, not yours.

How should I react to a question such as this?

If you feel uncomfortable defending your position when it comes to religion, politics or sex, or simply you don't want to discuss them with an extraneous person, recall that you don't have any obligation to: cut it short and answer that you're there to just answer questions about the subject you TA.

@MishaLavrov I find your claim implausible. Can you name the law or policy that forbids an instructor from discussing their religious beliefs with a student when prompted by a question from the student?

@MishaLavrov ok, interesting. Well, since some people’s religions require them to express their religious beliefs through their outward appearance, clothes etc, I find it difficult to see how such a rule can be enforced without violating instructors’ religious freedom rights. But I agree it would be generally inadvisable for an instructor to discuss their religious beliefs with their students without being prompted to do so.

@MishaLavrov I think even more importantly, even if you didn't have an obligation not to; it's generally just a whole mess of a situation that it isn't worth getting into in the first place.  If the other person wasn't disappointed looking, it probably wouldn't be as risky; but it can still create a lot of tension for no good reason.  Just one of those "you should probably avoid me in professional settings" topics.

@MishaLavrov It depends on your institution so I cannot say much about the policies, but in many fields it is difficult (arguably impossible) to have no bias so the best course is to disclose the biases. This comes up obviously in classes on religion and certain fields of philosophy and can easily come up in classes on political science, history, and law.

@MishaLavrov That … sounds downright unethical; as in, a freedom of speech violation. Discussing ≠ proselytising. It’s even more extreme than forbidding show-casing your belief (e.g. in clothing), and likely wouldn’t fly even in countries where the latter is restricted (France, potentially Germany).

@user2357 “Since you used that example, in France, it is forbidden for faculty members to express political or religious views.” — Stated this generally, that’s patently untrue. You’re not allowed to talk about it in class, uninvited, if it’s not part of the subject matter. But you are allowed to discuss it, including in class, when prompted, and as relevant. At any rate I went to school and Uni in France so I’m somewhat familiar with the rules.

@user2357 Your rulebook explicitly calls out proselytising and discrimination (though non-exclusively, true). I certainly agree that especially the former are subject to interpretation but neither corresponds to a blanket ban on answering direct questions about one’s religious convictions. In fact, I suggest that rather than being absolutely strict, the letter of the law is reasonable even if individuals sometimes (attempt to) apply it over-zealously.

Let us continue this discussion in chat.

I don't want to be put in a similar situation again.

If that is indeed your main motivation, the best thing to do is to politely refuse to discuss the topic with the student, as suggested in @Vladhagen’s answer.

More generally speaking, how do I react to a situation in which I have to answer a question in a way that I know is likely to upset a student, without lying or making the situation worse?

Although Vladhagen’s suggested approach seems the best suited to avoid confrontation and minimize the extent to which the student may get upset without lying to them, I think it’s worth examining your premise that telling students things that may upset them (particularly in the current context) is something that necessarily needs to be avoided. Consider the fact that for many students, college is the first place where they start encountering many people whose cultural backgrounds and beliefs differ significantly from their own. So, “making the student upset” by showing them that there are interesting, intelligent people out there with beliefs different from theirs may actually be doing them a big favor. You are not making them upset, you are helping them grow up.
Moreover, a truthful answer promotes the general value of truth-telling, which is always a good thing. So, unless you have reason to fear that the student genuinely “can’t handle the truth”, answering truthfully seems to me like the course of action that leads to the best outcome for society, although it is a bit more unpleasant for you personally.

This is an excellent answer. I think, too often, we simply expect that young people should act professionally without helping to teach them about it. Professionalism is learned, and not just by example.

Make it clear that religion is not a topic for conversation. When raised, reply with:

My religious views are private.

That should end the conversation, but, if pushed, follow with:

This isn't a topic for conversation.

You needn't react, per se, you just need to dismiss the topic, and this response enables you to do so honestly.

As rightly noted by Buffy, "[t]here are countries...in which the only accepted (safe) answer is the State Religion". I have assumed the OP isn't in such a country, given the phrasing of their question.

You do realize that it is only under certain religious views that religion is private...

@einpoklum It’s less related to the religion and more to the individual (and things like social contracts … case in point, in most Western countries, it’s common etiquette to treat religion as a private matter).

@einpoklum That seems somewhat irrelevant. Nonetheless, as noted in the above comment, it does depend on the country.

In the US, you have done just the right thing. Tell him the truth and leave it at that. You can't avoid such situations as they are set up by others.
Of course, you can say, and it is perfectly valid, that such questions are very personal to you and you don't feel that you want to discuss them. Reasonable people will accept that, and if they aren't reasonable, they have no right to proselytize. You don't need to be harsh ("None of your business"), but you have no obligation to answer.
There are countries, of course, that have State Sponsored Religion in which the only accepted (safe) answer is the State Religion, but not here.

For completeness, you also have countries that have State Sponsored Religion (Sweden until 2000 for instance, or UK) in which people are neutral / do not particularly care about religion.

It's simple:
"Sorry, I do not discuss my religious views with anyone, and am not interested in learning about other people's views.  Thank you."
And it's the same if they approach me about politics.
I'm fairly blunt, assertive, and unequivocal: stay away from me in all matters of religion.  I'm not interested in what anyone has to say.
People should know by now that discussing politics and religion with strangers or acquaintances is liable to get you an earful at best; but the chances you are going to sway someone one way or another - while at work - is slim to none.  Such topics create bias and division in the workplace, and can bite you in the rear later on.  Best to always avoid these subjects while at work, unless your work is directly related to religion. (Or politics).

It is like a question about your political opinion or sexual preferences: It is your private matter!
If you want to tell the student, you can do so, but you'll have to face the discussions (which can be fruitful or stressful), but if you prefer not to share them (which many people will do in a professional context), tell the that this touches your private field and since this does not belong to the workplace, you do not want to answer this question.

Religious proselytizers don't do you the courtesy of letting you avoid this conversation in the first place.
You don't have an obligation to extend them a courtesy they don't extend to you (that of avoiding an unwelcome turn in the conversation).
That is not to say that you should seek to be rude, but seeking to avoid offending someone who sets out to create a situation in which they will be offended if you don't give the answers they want is creating the problem -- don't take on responsibility for the situation they felt no compunction about creating.
I suggest you don't answer questions on personal topics, particularly on religion or politics or your personal relationships (or a number of other subjects).
I recommend simply cutting the conversational direction right at the beginning. Don't feel like you have to be overly gentle (it tends to be taken as encouragement) -- the inappropriate behavior was not yours. It's necessary to be firm and clear and leave no hint of wiggle-room for continuing the conversation in that direction. Something like this:
"I am here as a TA for your course. I am willing to discuss anything directly relevant to the course that falls within my responsibilities as a TA. It is not appropriate to expect to engage in discussion of personal topics."
If they choose find that offensive, that's not an issue you should need to  be concerned about -- you can remain within the bounds of reasonable interactions but you cannot control how people will react. After that, as far as possible make sure that any interactions with the student take place with another person present.

So the goal is to find a way to react, with the following requirements

to never be put in the same situation again
to not upset the student
to not lie
to not make the situation worse

Let's take them one by one and then combine the solutions to find the optimal one.

to never be put in the same situation again

I am afraid that you cannot control what people will say when they start talking with you. You can influence that by opening every discussion with something along the lines I don't speak about religious matters. In this way you will also get notoriety and perhaps some people will stop doing it. Still, it's not 100% effective. It might even have a boomerang effect, i.e. religious people to consider you're a lost soul needing guidance. Conclusion: No solution.

to not upset the student

What did exactly upset the student? From what you said, it's the fact that you told the student that you do not have the same religion. So, to NOT upset the student, just reverse the previous phrase, i.e. do not tell the student that you do not have the same religion. We can go with the analyses further and think what would happen if you would not say that, but instead reply with something along the lines I do not want to speak about religion. I think the likely outcome of that would be that the student would still get upset, but that's just my assumption, you may try it out and come back to this answer. Alternatively you can lie and tell the student that you do have the same religion. I bet that would not upset the student. Conclusion: lie to the student and tell them that you have the same religion.

to not lie

If you don't want to lie to the student, you obviously have to be honest. The way you proceeded is the most honest way. Conclusion: Be honest and tell the student that you do not have the same religion.

to not make the situation worse

I don't know how you define worse, so I can't provide advice on that. Conclusion: No solution.
Let's put draw all conclusions and see how we can put them together:

Conclusion: No solution
Conclusion: Lie to the student and tell them that you have the same religion
Conclusion: Be honest and tell the student that you do not have the same religion
Conclusion: No solution

Solution 1, and 4 are incompatible with any other solution, so you either accept that there is no solution, or you change requirements 1 and 4. To go further, I'll assume you give up on these requirements, as I can't possibly know how you might want to change them.
Now we only have solutions 2 and 3. They are obviously incompatible. 2. says you should lie, 3 says that you should be honest, which are antonyms. You'll have to give up on one of the requirements 2 or 3.
In conclusion: You either pick 1 and 4 as a solution, or 2, or 3. One last alternative is to change the requirements all together, but that would just mean that you accepted 1 and 4, and you'd try to solve a different problem, wouldn't it?
Note 1: By this point I expect that some people will say that this answer is not helpful, as it doesn't give the OP a solution that matches all their requirements. To which I reply that you can't draw 7 red lines, 2 with red ink, 3 with green ink, and the rest with invisible ink, all perpendicular to each other.
Note 2: Some critics will say that my answer (lying and honesty are exclusive) is trivial. To which I reply that the question would not have existed if the solution would have been that trivial.

"I don't wish to discuss that" seems to satisfy all four of your requirements /to me/. Perhaps it would be worth adding that into your discussion and how you think it weighs up against your requirements.

They're not my requirements. I merely structured and formalized the requirements mentioned by OP. Saying "I don't wish to discuss that", will not convince other people to approach OP. They wouldn't know that he doesn't wish to discuss that. It would also likely still upset the student. Answering a simple question like "do you have the same religion as I do?" with "I don't want to discuss about this" is changing the subject. Most people would classify that as being less than honest, even if not lying. I already mentioned all of the above in my answer.

This answer is completely logical and correct, but also overly pedantic and formal, and ultimately (I suspect) not quite what OP would consider the most helpful. But you certainly crossed all your t’s and dotted all your i’s, and even foresaw possible criticism of your answer and tried to preempt it, which I think is quite nice. So, +1.

Although other answers are basically reasonable, I think the answer to this and other questions about personal/inflammatory things is "don't engage"... but be polite.
E.g., say "We really shouldn't talk about this here. Here, we talk about math (or whatever)." This can also apply to pick-up lines, and harassment of other sorts. It is harassment. Thinking of it that way, the futility of giving some information and "reasoning with" the harasser becomes clearer.
In different words, although we should be "personal" as opposed to "stand-offish" with students, it is definitely a friendly-and-compassionate persona we take up... which does not even understand questions about religious or political affiliations, for example. :)
I know, easier said than done. But I do recommend aiming for that.

"It is harassment." No, it is not. Asking someone out, asking about their religion or political affiliation, or offering to talk about religion is not harassment. It would only be harassment if you insisted to continue even after they said no.

@vsz, actually, in the workplace in the U.S., especially if there is any sort of power differential (in either direction), the things you mention are considered "harassment" in policy documents. Anything that adds an unhelpful cognitive load is undesirable.

I agree with this advice.  If you're going to throw up a stop sign, provide a detour to get the conversation back into safe and fruitful territory.  You still want to have a good TA-student relationship here.  A simple "Oh, let's not go there [smile]...do you you have any more [math] questions?" will give the student a graceful exit from this line of inquiry.  Now if it continues, that's when you can say, "This isn't appropriate."

How do I react to a situation in which I have to answer a question in a way that I know is likely to upset a student, without lying or making the situation worse?

There is no such situation regarding religion!  There is no obligation to provide any answer to a student's question.  Professionals are entitled to their own personal beliefs, just like normal people, and they are entitled to refuse to answer personal questions.  But please do this politely.
Suppose the question was personal, but of a different nature: one of the other topics "not to be discussed in polite company".  Would you have reacted the same? ...or would you have felt more secure in responding, "I appreciate your interest, but I don't think it's necessary to get into my personal beliefs about [koans / the Prosperity Gospel / helminthic therapy / homeopathy / Interpretational Quantum Mechanics / Quakerism] during office hours."
And if you like the student, to add "maybe after the final we can get boba and talk about it some more."

Why do I ask you to be polite about this?  It's because students are in some real way, kids.  They don't know what they don't know, and they depend on authorities in their lives (like you!!!!!!) to learn how things work out in the big world... this means that it is not unprofessional for you to overlook what would actually be a lot worse in a workplace setting, social club, or Thanksgiving dinnertable conversation.

In the very first college class I taught, I had a student come up after class who wanted to engage me in conversation.  He began with something along the lines of "Don't you think all these Christians are stupid?"  He assumed that all college profs and TA's were atheists, and he was clearly looking for some validation.
Unfortunately, I'm a fanatic Lutheran, attend church every Sunday, sing in the choir, go camping with the youth group, etc.  So I just said, "Well, I don't feel all that stupid, but I can ask some of the others at my church, if you'd like."  His eyes got big and he slunk (slinked?) away.  I felt bad for him.
I also didn't want to be put in that uncomfortable situation again.  So I make it a point in every class to somehow let it be known that I'm a serious Christian.  I do this by sneaking the fact in when I'm introducing myself.  "My hobbies are homebrewing, coffee roasting and I'm learning to play the pipe organ.  I suck at pipe organ, but I'm good enough now that I can play one hymn while the real organist goes up for communion."  Slick, eh?
I believe that the first day of class is when the students are listening most closely.  That's when to set up your personality.  The things you say the first day will stick.  "Please don't give me little gifts like key chains or pencils.  I  appreciate the gesture, but it makes me uncomfortable.  Please keep our relationship academic.  I will be most effective as a teacher if I know you only as a student.  I'm not going to join your pyramid scheme, your club, watch this great movie you love, read this book, etc.  It only distracts me from my number one goal.  If you're in a play or part of a concert, do let me know that, because I'll probably attend."
This sort of pre-emptive strike may not be 100% effective, but it's close.

Some religions make recruitment ('Spreading the Good News') a permanent obligation.  This student seems to believe in his religion, and doubtless gains benefit from it.  Maybe it even makes him a better person.  Don't set Human Resources up against all this.  No-one wins, everyone gets upset.
You deal with lots of people.  You WILL be put in this situation again.  People will also invite you to join pyramid selling schemes, book clubs and drinking parties.  It's part of YOUR life skills to be able to deal with these politely, and without getting YOURSELF upset.   Don't worry about his behaviour.  Worry about your reaction.

The question is how to avoid being put in an uncomfortable situation that I don’t know how to reply to. Escalating didn’t even cross my mind; taking it up with someone else feels overkill here. But regardless of whether he has to do it or not, there’s a time and place to do it - the fact that someones religion says they have to do it doesn’t make the practice acceptable in all contexts.

As I said, you can't control being put in such positions.  It's part of being a social human being.   What you CAN control is whether it upsets you.  Just shut down the subject in a friendly manner.  Or, if you're feeling mischievous try 'Actually, I'm a witch. Wanna try it?  There's a coven on Tuesday!
(Actually, DON'T do this.  You're a strong person who doesn't let such things upset you, he may not be.)

you can’t control being in this position, but you can control whether you know how to react to it or not (i.e., if you know what to do then you’re not in a situation where you don’t know what to do). Obviously I now know how to react to this example, but the answers to this question should apply somewhat more generally.

Are you falling into the trap of making a big deal out of it?  The advice was NOT to!

nope. I meant react in a way that doesn’t make it a big deal or a worse situation than it is

@LaurencePayne this doesn't seem to answer the question. Is your answer basically "do nothing"? I mean the "don't get upset" stuff aside, what ACTION are you recommending? What REPLY are you recommending?


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Double blind peer review when paper cites author's GitHub repo for code
I and my coauthor wrote a paper and the project involved creating a (small) software library. Part of the novelty of the paper is the output of the code, which is a digital object not intended for by-hand manipulation. The code (open source) would ideally also be useful for others. One journal to which I was considering submitting this requires double-blind peer review, but the GitHub repo where the code is stored, referenced in the paper, identifies one of us simply by looking at the username in the url. We can of course obscure our identities in the paper as authors, but really need to cite the code repository.
I've not had to do double blind review before, and so it's not clear what we should do. My coauthor is going to run into more problems of this sort as they continue research with a similar mix of code-and-paper as output.
Is there anything we can do, at least as a first attempt to soothe the journals worries?

Is this something that you suspect will be a problem, or is it already a problem (e.g., the editors declined your paper)? In the first case, I suggest not worrying. My impression with double-blind reviewing is that it operates on the "honors code"; the veil of author anonymity is easily broken and editors are well aware of that. The point of double-blind is to avoid rubbing the authors' identities in the referees' faces, not to completely rule out the possibility of them discovering them.

@darijgrinberg Writing, "Our code is available on GitHub: https://github.com/AuthorName," seems like rubbing the authors' identities in the referees' faces, noting the GitHub repo...identifies one of us [by] the username in the url.

@user2768: Usually, referees don't look up such citations until they already have read much of the paper. Even so, link shorteners can help (just make sure to remove them before the final version).

@darijgrinberg Link shorteners should never be included in a submitted manuscript, because they allow the author to track who accesses the linked resource. If the author can see in their logs that someone from the network of the Technical University of Sikinia clicked on their link, it's easy to guess who the referee is.

@FedericoPoloni: Good point!! Better solution: Zenodo hosts snapshots of GitHub repos, and they can be accessed by IDs that don't include the author's name (at least not visibly); so that might be the right thing to do (for long-term preservation reasons as well).

Relevant (and possibly a duplicate?): How to anonymize self-citation of source code repository in IEEE double blind peer review?

@Abigail: See my comment to the OP. Making your authorship completely un-identifiable borders on the impossible (most of the time, your referees will belong to the 50 people studying your little sub-topic, and they'll be able to make educated guesses on who you are based on your visible interests, background and writing style); the best you can hope for is that the referees are not confronted with it if they don't deliberately try to.

I find it strange that the Journal requests double-blind review yet supposedly wouldn't allow some temporary cite replacements to guarantee that it is indeed blind.

An interesting variant: The repository is public from day 1. By the time the paper is finally submitted, the software may already be widely known in the subfield, and double blind review is impossible. I see this a lot in bioinformatics.

For me, @darijgrinberg's comment is the best answer, and I'd up-vote it if it appeared as such. Providing a separate snapshot doesn't work: if I was reviewing code in a repo, it's the history I'd be looking at as much as the code itself. Also, by the time a reader stumbles across a github URI within the paper, they've probably already come to some provisional accept/revise/reject conclusions. If you happen to be in a field with such intense animosities that blinding the author is somehow vital, then you should perhaps talk to the editor about which referees you'd like them to avoid.

@NormanGray which comment precisely? I think this is more of a bias-reduction measure than an author-protecting measure given the journal in question.

@DavidRoberts Ah, good point! It was the 'honor code' one, suggesting that the goal of blinding is to lower the chances of inadvertently identifying the author (for whatever reason), rather than to erase the possibility, through actions which create friction without actually fully working – unwieldy solutions to something that may not be a major problem. I don't 100% agree with this, but I think it gets closer to the real heart of the issue than do the existing technical answers.

Censor out the repo's name, and provide code to the referees as an auxiliary file.

If the referees wants to, this is obfuscation is easily circumvented: take any non-trivial part of the code (one expressive function name or comment is enough) and drop it into google.

@NichtJens in the age of arxiv, this often works with paper titles too, and it's ok. The authors just have a responsibility to allow the reviewer to proceed double-blind.

OK, I see what you mean. The equivalent to the cited repo would be to mention the pre-print in the submission (e.g. "A pre-print of this paper is available as arxiv:1234.12345.").

@NichtJens even worse, because the arXiv number doesn't include an author's name.

FWIW, I use this regularly to create a copy of a Git repo without any history at ../repo-name-copy from within that repo: git -C "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)" checkout-index --all --prefix="../$(basename "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)")-copy/". You may also want to grep -r -e 'Author Name' -e 'Other Author Name' in the resulting directory, and do something like sed -i 's/Jane Doe/Author 1/g;s/Joe Bloggs/Author 2/g' PATH to replace names.

@l0b0 Normally I would use git archive HEAD > filename.zip instead of your complicated command --- what's the advantage of this method?

@FedericoPoloni git rev-parse --show-toplevel gives you the top level directory of the repository, so this command will work when run anywhere within the repository. Other than that, I guess it depends whether you want a copy of the directory structure or an archive.

@Federico Personally I simply checkout the repository in the form I want it to be and then delete the .git folder, but good to know there's a command for that too ;) (how does archive deal with submodules for example?)

@Voo No idea --- I am no git guru myself.

I'm literally in the same situation as you right now, and came across this repository/service on GitHub a few days ago:. Since your code and names are already public, it only provides a basic level of obfuscation. However, as long as reviewers are being honest and not actively trying to find out the names of the authors, then it should keep them from accidentally discovering who you are.
Beyond that, the most effective approach is not releasing it publicly until after review, and instead providing the code/documentation/whatever privately through the journal. My concern with this approach is that it depends on removing any name association from the material. So what happens if a reviewer rejects the manuscript, then publishes the code or parts of it as their own before you? The lack of a public record on your part could make it a bit of a headache to resolve.
Ultimately, there's not much you can do about reviewers that intentionally try to circumvent the anonymity. Even without your name anywhere, if you've published before, someone could potentially still get a pretty good idea of who you are through the content and patterns in the manuscript itself.

"the most effective approach is not releasing it publicly until after review," <-- too late

@DavidRoberts I saw. I included that second paragraph more for anyone that might stumble on this question in the future

If the authors are given, though separate means, access to an anonymized copy of the code, why should a public release of the code also be avoided?

@CurtJ.Sampson If the reviewers need to do a web search for a term or concept in the paper, documentation in the repository could put in it the search results, especially if it is a specialized area of research. Alternatively, a reviewer might want to see what other work has been done and make sure the paper is properly citing it. Finally, a reviewer might search for the code itself to ensure that someone else hasn't published the code (to ensure that it is original work, and not plagiarized code/violating a copyright)

Having both a record of submission, along with putting the code into a public git repository (even if the code is not yet public), ideally preserves the authors' timing. It is possible to arbitrarily set timestamps in git, but the public repo should have its own accounting for the repository. Additionally, one can make public just the latest or a series of commit hashes or another checksum of the codebase.

Make a copy of the repository available at an anonymous URL, e.g., using Google Drive with a fresh account.
Submit a copy of the repository with your manuscript (if permitted by the journal), alternatively, send the repository to the editor by email.

If the referees wants to, this is obfuscation is easily circumvented: take any non-trivial part of the code (one expressive function name or comment is enough) and drop it into google.

@NichtJens Equally, the referee can drop a sentence-or-two (from the paper) into Google and find the preprint. As noted in another comment, the veil of author anonymity is easily broken and editors are well aware of that.

Exactly! Wouldn't that be a problem for double-blind reviews as well? EDIT: Apparently it is: https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2018/01/15/hey-heres-new-reason-journal-reject-paper-annoying-already-preprint-server/

@NichtJens The point of double-blind peer review isn't to make it impossible for people to strip the blinding out, but to make it more difficult without some effort by the reviewers or authors. No system is perfect, and the system does need to operate with some minimal assumption of ethical behavior on the part of the reviewers, including not going out of their way to deliberately find who the authors are.

OK, I see what you mean. Thanks for clarifying.

@NichtJens as a reviewer, the system is more so that I can avoid being unintentionally biased - I won't try to look up the authors, because I don't care, however, if I'd see a name that I recognize on top of the paper or in the github url, there's nothing I can do to unsee it.

@Abigail Well, the change log could be obfuscated easily ... It's what was proposed here already.

There is Anonymous GitHub, a proxy server to support anonymous browsing of Github repositories:
https://anonymous.4open.science/
Usage:

Fill the Github repo URL.
Complete the list of terms that will be anonymized. The anonymization of the content is done by replacing all occurrences of words in a list by "XXX". The word list typically contains the institution name, author names, logins, etc.
Define if you want an expiration date for your anonymized repository. You can keep it for ever, remove the repository after a specific date or redirect the user to the GitHub repository.

As result, a unique url is created with the content of your repository, for example, http://anonymous.4open.science/repository/840c8c57-3c32-451e-bf12-0e20be300389/.


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how long does a company normally take to respond to the question asked for dissertation?
Because of the late decision to change my dissertation topic , I have a month to finish my dissertation.
For my research I have to contact some company(construction company, domestic and foreign )and wanted to know the time they normally take to reply so I can plan out the structure for my dissertation.

This can vary greatly.  Do you or your advisor routinely work with these companies?  That usually speeds things up but otherwise it could take days, weeks, or you could get no response.

You have a month to finish your dissertation and you don't even have a structure in place? Do i understand that right?

Have you heard the expression "How long is a piece of string?" This is basically that.  There's no way to know at this level of generality.  For that matter, if there isn't any good business reason for the company to work with you (will it lead to profits for them?), they might not reply at all.

The time seems extremely short to me. Unless they know of the urgency and agree to expedite you could wind up without the data you need. A normal request could take a while as the person you contact needs, perhaps, to gather information from those who may be busy or unavailable.
They may be willing to work faster if prodded, but it might be better coming from your professor, if that is appropriate. A note that the information is needed asap to allow the completion of research might help if worded correctly. Unfortunately, people have their own priorities.
The more extensive the information, the longer it takes to pull it together, of course.
It sounds as if visiting the person you contacted, face to face, isn't an option here. But you may be able to use voice communication with your correspondents to get the data if it isn't too extensive. In that case, make appointments for calls.
I suggest that you don't wait for the information to come in before you start. There might be a lot you can do and only plug in the results in to a framework already in place in case the information is delayed. The structure of the dissertation shouldn't depend too much on the actual data, though the conclusions might.


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How to check if a person is a real DSc?
How can I check whether a person who puts DSc after their name is in fact entitled to do so?
Is it possible to find out where this person was allegedly confirmed as a DSc?

Are you HR? Are you interviewing them?

You could ask them about where they got the degree and then called the university that purportedly awarded them the degree and ask.

It's hard to answer this about more details, like your reason for checking this, or what information you already have. However, what you want to do is often called degree verification, and there are a few questions on the same theme on this site, such as How do employers verify that job applicants have the degree(s) they claim?.

The only official way to find out is to contact the university that supposedly conferred the degree.

If the person is applying for a job, and their DSc was relatively recent, one of their recommendations should be from their advisor, who should say that they were their student. If their advisor refuses to write them a recommendation, this is a big red flag (whether or not they have a real DSc). If you're not hiring them, this may be harder.

In the US, depending on whether or not the person has requested confidentiality, the University might or might not be able to confirm that the degree was granted.  You can normally call the registrar and ask.  If the individual has made thier "directory information" open under FERPA, then the university will typically confirm with something like "John Doe received the degree of DSc on May 15, 2012."  If the person has requested confidentiality then you'll get a non-informative answer like "I can neither confirm nor deny that."

Ask some intelligent questions about the subjects they say to have worked on.

A decent, active academic after 10 or more years of tenure (sometimes sooner) will have a publication record that normally satisfies the requirements for the DSc. Which is why few bother to actually go get the degree, and even fewer will be much impressed if a person has one.


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Does a thesis have to have a "Discussion" chapter?
I have written a thesis seeking to analyze the ideological thinking of a newspaper through its editorials in a political situation during a certain period of time (1985-1991). I couldn’t count on my advisor and I have written my thesis by myself. My advisor approved my thesis and I must defend it in three weeks.
I have been reading other similar theses. I have realized that most of them use a chapter for “Discussion”. My thesis does not have such a chapter. I wrote a chapter for “Methodology”, another for “Results” and after that one for “Conclusions”. I am afraid that in my defense someone will ask me why I did not write a chapter for “Discussion” and I don’t think I have a very convincing answer. How would you answer to that kind of question?

A thesis can have any chapter titles that make sense. My PhD thesis does not have a Methodology, a Result, or a Conclusion section. Most PhD theses in my research group, which is internationally known in my field, don't have some or all of those either.

Do you discuss the results and their implications?  Do you present the insights and conclusions?  Do you make your argument and present your evidence in a logical, persuasive way?
I find that chapter/section headings are much less important than the overall document strength. If your thesis fits the following, the I'd defend it.  Worst case you may be asked to restructure; best case you make your point and it is accepted as is.
Key Points:
Thesis should
- be organized and logical
- clearly articulate the main points and supporting evidence
- discuss any conclusions and insights
I'm sure there are others.  Section/chapter headings are author's choice - use what you need to accomplish your purpose.

Even though your advisor hasn't been helpful, perhaps he or she can give you advice on this. Possibly s/he didn't think of it. But the only sections you need in a thesis are the ones that you and your advisor think you need.
Of course your concern is valid in general - how do I defend the thesis in the face of questions.
But ask yourself what would you say in such a section. If you can't think of anything, you are done. Ask yourself what kinds of things others in your field say in such a section. If you have covered those elsewhere, or don't need to say anything, you are done.
A Discussion section might be used, however, to explore alternate approaches to your problem that you haven't taken (and aren't in the literature) and why your approach is likely better. But perhaps you have covered that. Even if it isn't there, you should be prepared to answer questions about that.
The questions you get aren't likely to be about section titles, but about content. If you can point to where in the thesis all of the essential points are covered, you are done.


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Student-Professor Etiquette: I think I'm a bad listener
Long story sort, I am a young undergraduate student (exact sciences) working on a project with one of my professors. I proposed the idea I had together with my references on him and fortunately he agreed to supervise my project, although it doesn't quite fall under his research interests and expertise(half of the project).
It looks like the project-thesis is going to lead in one or more publications. At one of our meetings he offered me a PhD position after I graduate,  after seeing I got some potential, I assume.
Unfortunately I acknowledge myself as a bad student, in the sense of the relationship between the professor and the student. The student is supposed to listen to the professor's points and suggestions and ask for his recommendations-corrections etc.
I'm a bad listener, and quite impulsive, I have to admit. After he goes through my writings during the meeting and asks questions trying to understand I am constantly interrupting in order to explain myself.
Most of the time I know the material pretty well(I always provide a list of references at each meeting related to the work I've done the days before). I understand this may be perceived as me being arrogant and selfish. However this happens completely spontaneously as an attempt of defence;
(I've had a professor in the past constantly asking questions at me until I don't have a complete reply or until it's wrong. Then he would just brag I have no idea what I'm taking about.)
By no means I want to harm my relationship with my supervisor. I am certain a change of my behavior is needed, but have no idea how to proceed.

You haven't actually asked a question.  If the question is "I have identified that I don't listen enough and sometimes speak before I have thought things through, and I am worried that this may be hurting my relationship with my supervisor.  What should I do?" then the obvious answer is that you should listen more and make a conscious effort not to speak before you think things through.  It is hard to think of a less obvious answer based on the information given.

The way I see it, you have spotted and acknowledged your own character flaws, which is something 90% of us have an expletive deleted hard time doing.  Just work on what you already know you need to work on.   Extra credit for anyone who gets the expletive deleted historical reference :P

If the professor had concerns about your defensive behaviour, he would not have offered to sponsor your doctorate. He may feel that the behaviour will disappear once you've gained more confidence, or simply doesn't care. Changing your behaviour is only something you can do, if it truly bothers you.

Regarding the confidence thing, my heart still pounds when I enter the office.

That's a normal response to stress, especially if you feel you have to prove something. At this point in your education, you're not expected to have all the answers, so don't put too much pressure on yourself.

Some collaborative relationships involve a lot of mutual interrupting.  That drives me nuts but my spouse had a collaborative relationship of this type once, during a postdoc.  I couldn't stand to listen to the two of them constantly jumping in on each other's sentences.  But they were as happy as clams.  I think they were so much on the same wavelength that they felt like Siamese twins.
I don't know whether your relationship with your professor is like this or not.

What about your ability to listen without impulsively interrupting with others?  If you have trouble with this in general, you could make an appointment with your doctor for an evaluation for ADHD.  Impulsivity is one of the hallmarks of ADHD.  (If you turn out to have it, whether or not you decide to try one of the various medications that are available, just knowing that you have it can be quite helpful, in terms of understanding yourself, and learning coping mechanisms.)

Is your relationship with the professor satisfying?  Do you feel that he is contributing enough to be able to be your advisor?  If not, I would suggest you work with someone else for your PhD.

I agree with Inde that the professor would not have offered you a PhD position if he were much concerned about your behaviour. However, you are wise to recognise this problem and want to change it. The good news is that you are likely to get better at this with age (at least that's my experience), but I have a few suggestions that may help.
First, when the professor gives you feedback, focus on listening to all of it before you even think about replying. Then, before you respond, ask yourself:

Is it really worth correcting the other person? Will either of you care about this conversation tomorrow?
Is the feedback entirely wrong? For example, I submit an article to a journal, and I'll get a comment back from the reviewer saying that I didn't talk about X. But I did talk about X! Then it occurs to me that if the reviewer missed it, maybe another reader might miss it, so it might be worth beefing up what I wrote about X, or making it clearer, or something like that.

If the answer to both questions is yes, take a deep breath (to give yourself one last chance to think it over), and then explain your side of things.