text:
For how long is research considered valid for publication?
Does a research/study have an 'expiry date' that prohibits it from being published in a journal after it has been completed?

In case you are interested in more anecdotes: the Erdos-Ko-Rado theorem, a fundamental fact in extremal set theory, was proved in 1938 (according to Erdos) but published in 1961, partly because there was not much interest in combinatorics at the time.

Research does not have an "expiry date", but what it does have is competition. Journals want to produce cutting edge research, new information that will help others in the field.
If you do some research but don't publish it, then find 20 years later that no one else has done it and your information is still something other researchers would want to know then you can easily publish it. Delaying publication is only a risk in that other people may work on the same topic or have the same idea you had, and publish it before you.
One interesting example is Brian May, guitarist in the band Queen. He was studying for a PhD when the band took off and quit his studies in 1974 to become internationally famous. In 2007 he re-enrolled at university, completed and submitted his PhD on the work he started 30 years before. Luckily for him, his field was a small one and no one else had decided to work on the topic he had studied in the intervening years, so his work was still new, interesting and relevant.

Most research can be published even after many years.  But if the research is out of date by then, the journal may not want it.
An example: I attended a lecture by Chinese mathematician Hua Luogeng sometime around 1980.  He mentioned one of his earlier papers, giving the date submitted to the journal and the date published.  Then he paused while we all noticed the 10-year-gap between.  He explained that the "Cultural Revolution" fits in that gap, when all intellectuals were sent to work on farms in the countryside.

In general, I can not really see how a research will have an expiry date. Maybe if it was "too old" or "proven to be obsolete"? Even then, there might be some merit to your research. This will depend on the way you present you research and market it. After all we publish to "share, help and inform". Some high quality journals may not agree to publish such research, but others with lesser impact factors or standards might.
What is your field? If a research conducted in your field can be labeled as old, perhaps your methods can be applied to other fields. If the results are "very time-dependent" and can no longer be used after a certain date, this can rise some concerns. Also, if your studying an aspect that has been thoroughly studied before, such research might not add much to current literature (not sure if expired is the appropriate term to use for this case).


text:
How to make the most of my time as a volunteer at a research-paper conference?
I'll be attending as a volunteer at a prominent conference for computer-science research papers. Do you have any advice for how I can do a good job in my role, and also make the most of my time at the conference?

Check out these: http://academia.stackexchange.com/a/21691/10042 and this: http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9792/why-do-phd-students-volunteer-at-conferences

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text:
MS in Physics after Bachelors in Mechanical engineering
I am in the final semester of my mechanical engineering bachelors, though I could have finished my bachelors about  4 months ago, but I failed to clear 2 of my subjects, for which I would appear again in the December examination. Physics has always caught my attention, but then, everything I see catches my attention.I want to study physics now after I get my degree. The problem is my grades. I have scored an aggregate of 65% in my bachelors, but I can learn and understand things once I decide to do so. I am from India. How can I apply in foreign universities for MS, considering that they take engineering graduates for MS in physics, what kind of entrance/competitive exams would I have to give.
Thanks.

http://physicsafterengineering.blogspot.in visit this blog it might be helpful

Changing fields from Engineering to Physics should not be a problem. I have several colleagues who have done this at various universities. Although, you would need to check with the specific universities you are interested in. If you are applying to universities in the United States you will likely need to take the GRE exam (some non-US universities will also consider GRE exam scores in the application process). As you are applying from India you may also need to take the TOEFL test.
Your grades may hold you back since most high-ranked universities require an average over 75% for graduate studies. These are the University of Toronto minimum entrance grade equivalents from Indian universities:

Bachelor's Degree Equivalent: Completion of BOTH a Bachelor's
  (three-year) degree and a Master's OR A Bachelor's degree requiring
  four years of study (e.g. BPharm, MBBS, BDS, BTech, BEng, or BArch)
Mid-B Equivalent: 1st Class or 1st Div.; 7.5/10 from Indian Institutes
  of Technology; 8.0/10 from other institutions

However, good exam scores, relevant research experience, and good reference letters may help make up for the difference. It is worth discussing with a potential supervisor at your intended university who may be willing to support your application, as this can often help.

@JoyGrewal an aggregate of 65% is equivalent to percentage  3.5-3.99? You'd better check it again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_grading_in_India

@mg4w something I want to add about the Mid-B Equivalent, I just checked and found that the U.S. grade point equivalent to my percentage is 3.5-3.99 and grade is A.

@JoyGrewal, Well different universities may take a different approach. But according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_grading_in_the_United_States that doesn't look like the correct interpretation.

@mg4w what about state colleges in US?

Well state vs private universities/colleges (the term is used interchangeably in the US) probably won't change the calculation method for GPA. But each will have different entrance requirements and methods of determining equivalent grades. You will need to check with the schools you are interested in to be sure.

@mg4w one thing more, GRE physics test will be necessary, but if I take th mathematics test and score good marks in both would that enhance my chances.
thanks for help, I really appreciate that.

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text:
My friend listed my name as a co-author on two journal papers without my permission
Recently, I found that my friend published two journal papers. He listed my name as a co-author without my permission.
He used to send me a draft of the 1st paper, and wanted to add me as a co-author. After reading the manuscript, I found that this paper has a lot of serious problems. Thus, I told him that he needs to address these issues, and tell me how to solve them before submission. However, he submitted anyway, and did not tell me. In this final version, some major concerns have not been addressed yet. I am the 4th author of this paper.
The 2nd paper is about XXX. I clearly told him that I do not want to do any XXX-related research due to my religious belief. However, he added my name on this paper without my consent. I am the 6th author of this paper.
The editors of these two journals are his friends. Thus, he listed me as co-author since he wants to increase the global impact of these two journals. These two journals are not good. Thus, they did not send me emails about the co-authorship while submission.
As a co-author, I will be responsible for the content that I published. In my opinion, the 1st paper does not meet the academic standard. The 2nd paper is against my belief. I really do not want to be a co-author of these two papers.
Can anyone tell me what I shall do next? Since these two papers have been published, can I contact the editors to remove my name from these papers? Or even withdraw these two papers? Will this ruin my friend's academic life?
..................................................................
Thanks a lot for your help. I really appreciate!
If I withdraw these two papers, will there be some bad records online, e.g. records which show that my two papers have been withdrawn. Or can I just report that I am not the author of these two papers on pubpeer?
Thanks again!
..................................................................
My friend has contacted the editors. My name has been removed from these two papers.
Thanks a lot for your answers and suggestions. I realy appreciate!

It's not exactly plagiarism. It's more like fraud, since the other person is claiming you did something you did not.

How were these papers published without the consent of all authors? Are they in real journals?

If it does damage his career, it would be hard to feel too bad TBH - he kind of brought it upon himself.

@AzorAhai Is that a serious question?

@emory Erm, yes? The OP said they "are not good," which is not the same as "completely fraudulent." Are they saying their friends the editors completely bypassed the consent part? Or it was faked? Or the journal never had it?

@AzorAhai I think most journals operate under the honor principle.  If the corresponding author says that all authors consent, then the editor accepts that at face value.  Of course, this is open to abuse.  This stackoverflow post suggests the possibility of dead coauthors (https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/116845/dead-author-ethical-guidelines) for which active consent is impossible.

@emory Well, I haven't published a great many papers but I've always supplied my own agreement. Maybe I had a un-representative sample

These two journals are not good. Thus, they did not send me emails about the co-authorship while submission. In my experience, it's rare even for good journals to email all the co-authors during submission. They usually only liaise with whoever submitted it. Some papers have over a thousand authors, it'd be unfeasible to email them all.

@Allure On the contrary, all the journals I've published in send an email to all authors saying that someone submitted paper X listing you as author, and to contact the editor if there's anything wrong with it.

@MassimoOrtolano Hmm, might be a field-specific thing then. What do the journals you're familiar with do if the co-authors are listed, but no email address given?

@emory It varies by field, and by the software the journal is using. I've seen everything from a) zero communication with coauthors to b) emails to everyone asking to contact if there is a problem to c) requiring a signed PDF from every author (usually the latter is accompanied by a conflict of interest disclosure as well as guarantee of authorship).

@Allure Often the submission software has a space for emails along with names. Input validation would prevent you from submitting without entering an address.

@Allure I think it's required, but I've never tried not to put an author's email address.

@MassimoOrtolano that depends on good faith.  If I want to co-author with MassimoOrtolano but can not depend on MassimoOrtolano vouching for me, I could provide a "MassimoOrtolano email address" controlled by me.  I do not think relying good faith is a bad thing but we are kidding ourselves if we think there is no cheating.

Actually I would start to rethink the use of the word 'friend' on your behalf.

Why didn't you decline authorship of the first paper right off the bat? You read the manuscript and addressed problems, this shouldn't really qualify for authorship to begin with, yet from my understanding you would have been fine with co-authorship if the issues were resolved before submitting.

How senior are you? If your're not TT be careful as your decision will look bad on the other authors as well... after all they might have accepted it. Maybe an chat with the others?

Your academic standing should be your primary concern, so if the quality of paper 1 is so poor contact the editor(s) and get the paper withdrawn or your name removed.
For paper 2 if it offends your beliefs such that you want to be disassociated with the paper, again contact the editor(s) and get the paper withdrawn or your name removed.
You have to decide if the issues warrant your subsequent actions, we cannot decide, but worrying about the effect on your "friend" is secondary.

Good use of scare quotes; I'd question whether the "friend" here is really a friend. They seem to be using OP.

To supplement this answer, I'd suggest trying to get some office at your current institution to back you up on a withdrawal. A sternly worded letter from a university attorney might do wonders. Maybe a letter to the other author as well as the journal.

From the question it seems likely that the journal is quite shady... so it might need addressing what to do if the journal isn't cooperating after the OP contacted them for a withdrawal.

In both cases the author is entitled to ask for their name to be removed. But there aren't sufficient grounds to ask for either paper to be withdrawn entirely - plenty of papers are poor quality or conflict with certain people's beliefs. They don't get withdrawn just because someone (including an inappropriately-listed author) points this out. The appropriate remedy there is to publish a rebuttal via a letter to the editor or a subsequent paper - i.e. standard scientific debate.

@MichaelMacAskill Then you need to post your own answer and see how it is accepted.

Your answer is great. An answer from me would be the same, except for removing the "get the paper withdrawn" phrases. So rather than posting a competing, almost identical, answer, I suggested what I think is an improvement to yours. Accept or reject as you see fit.

yes, that's no friend anyway.

This is serious scientific misconduct
You should contact the editors for these two journals, and ask for a retraction or even a withdraw.
Then you send your case to Retraction Watch for further impact.

I'm not saying it's not a scientific misconduct but there are couple things here to clarify. First, I think it's better to just withdraw the article instead retraction if that's possible. It may not be possible which makes the situation really unfortunate. Cause that record for retraction will remain online forever and even if OP is completely innocent here and is just the victim of his/her friend, this retraction still makes OP's record awry. Also, you suggest OP should send his/her case to Retraction Watch! Why?! To make bad reputation for himself/herself? Why?! There is no reason for that.

Why a retraction rather than a name removal?

@einpoklum well it's not an erratum so the next step up for ret conning academia is retraction.

@AdamO: A "author names change" is a perfectly valid retcon. In fact, I've known this to happen in the past (albeit in a conference that's semi-industry semi-academic).

Do NOT publicize at Retraction Watch unless you want to ruin your public profile or academic record. Why to draw more attention to your name connection to a retracted paper?

it is not uncommon for papers to be retracted due to author fraud.  I would hope that institutions would be more discerning than to simply judge by the mention of one's name in an article on RetractionWatch, disregarding all context.

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Are there drawbacks to taking 4+ years for a PhD?
I am a 3rd year PhD student. I am being pushed by my supervisor to apply for scholarships which will lengthen my PhD by two or even four more years. I enjoy what I do, and I have had good outcomes so far (in terms of research).
Why is everyone rushing to finish a PhD in three or four years? What are the hiring drawbacks in academia for hiring a PhD who needed 4+ years to finish? Should I accept these scholarships and lengthen my PhD or is it better to not?

What country are you in and what field of research? In my field (math) in the US 5 years for PhD is normal (I had just one student who finished in 4 years).

4,5, or more years may be common in the humanities?

If you want actual facts about how long a PhD takes in the USA: https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvydoctorates/

In my field / country 3 years is the norm. I would question a candidate on taking longer as it sometimes suggests there were problems with their ability to to carry out research. Not always, but I'd certainly notice and ask about it. You've not mentioned you aspirations...but many grants have time-limits and finite funding, you need a post doc who can work to that (it's not about rushing or over working, but meeting timely deadlines).

People on hiring committees are interested in your academic qualifications, but they are not going to be particularly interested in whether your PhD took three years, or five, six, etc.  Most people who read your résumé are not attentive enough to even notice the time taken, and even if they do, it is only likely to raise a concern or question if it is an extreme deviation from the norm.  Perhaps there might be some questions in marginal cases where a PhD takes less than three years or more than eight, but aside from those extreme cases people are unlikely to care.  As your career progresses and your PhD degree recedes into history it will matter less and less.  So yes, stick with your PhD program and enjoy the extra time.

The survey of earned doctorates gives median times to complete a degree.  https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf23300/data-tables  There are several categories where the median is more than six.

Indeed.  My answer flags more than eight years as an extreme case, but even there, it is field-dependent.

"My question is: why everyone is rushing to finish a PhD in 3 or four years?" In many places it's very hard to get hold of scholarships for a longer PhD period, so they run out of money. Or they want/need to earn more, want a better life, start a family etc.
I don't think the reason is hiring drawbacks (in those cases I'm aware of, which are of course not representative for what goes on worldwide in all subjects), I think the reason is many candidates can't sustain a longer PhD period well financially.

The other answers talk about what happens at the end of a PhD and in the first few years after the PhD.  This is the wrong way to think about it.  Instead, think about your entire career.
You did not mention your personal and academic goals, so I will focus on finances in this answer.
It is quite common for workers to earn more as they gain experience.  Either their employers increase their pay because the experience is valuable, or more commonly workers are able to switch to a higher paying because they gained experience.  PhD students usually see smaller increases in pay than other workers.  In recent years, the increases have been well below inflation.
As an example, let us assume you work until you reach the age of 65. if you get $37,000/year as a PhD student in 2023 and finish your PhD in 2024 at age 30, at age 65 you might earn $110,000/year in 2023 dollars with 35 years of post-PhD experience.  If you finish your PhD in 2023 at the age of 29, then at age 65 you might earn $110,000/year in 2023 dollars with 36 years of experience.
Finishing your PhD one year earlier will get you ($110,000-$37,000)=$73,000 in 2023 dollars.
Certainly the details will vary greatly between individuals.  If you choose to adjunct teach creative writing for your entire career, your income may never go up.  If you start a successful company immediately after finishing your PhD, the extra year might get you tens of millions of dollars.
Many of the enjoyable aspects of a PhD can be continued after you complete your PhD.

The length of your doctoral program, per se, means little. What you accomplish and the connections you make with people mean a lot.
However, the tricky part is that the overall economy changes and that affects the academic marketplace. Had I finished in four years instead of seven, I'd have been in a completely different and extremely hot market. But it died rapidly. The opposite can happen as well. And it is hard to predict.
But, if, in your field, the market is hot and seems like it will stay the way for a bit, it would be better to finish early than to delay. Again, the opposite is also true.
But better than thinking about the time, think about how you can build resources for your early career, both through your research and through establishing a circle of contacts and potential collaborators. Some people are able to establish a (modest) reputation even as students if your field has conferences and such.

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Including bad exchange transcript when there are limited upload slots in graduate application
I am applying for graduate school. I have a very good profile, except for a very bad exchange semester, in which, due to unfortunate circumstances, I got two Fs (and two A+).
One of the universities I am applying to asks for transcripts from all universities I have attended. However, they mention that exchange education should not be declared (in the education listing section). Then there is another section where I can upload transcripts, with only two slots, each for one diploma. In my case I am studying for two bachelor degrees, with different transcripts; theoretically, I have to put the transcripts separately.
Should I put my exchange transcript? I have not validated the courses I approved there in my home university. It's as if I took a sabbatical semester. I know that the exchange transcripts should be there, in theory. I do not know why the university has provided limited slots for transcript submission. Ethically, I know it is wrong to not present them, and it feels bad.
What would you do?

Is it a requirement to present them or not? I don't see any unethical in not presenting them (assuming they do not require all transcripts - this is how I understand your case)

Well, in the official page of the MSc it says it is. But in the application site it is very confusing. I don’t want to get in problems though so I might put it, unless someone with more experience than me in these topics reassures me it’s not a big deal.

As a general rule, you should present all academic records in an application. Doing otherwise usually will run afoul of the rules/requirements and, if your found out, could land you in hot water. It wouldn't be the first time someone had an acceptance rescinded for lying...
It sounds like the university you mention is basically saying you don't need to list exchange programs separately, with the understanding that those courses are listed on your home institutions transcripts. I don't think they are saying "pretend the exchange program didn't happen".
I would assume that someone at some point from your home institution will expect you to submit those grades, and they will then appear on your transcript - undergraduate students don't take "sabbaticals" and if you are still enrolled as a student, that time will need to be accounted for. I don't know if you are US based, but generally there are specific requirements for maintaining student status. You can't just not enroll in courses, presumably you were approved to take a semester abroad or something. There will certainly be a paper trail. Please correct me if my understanding of the situation is wrong.
Anyway, even if you don't submit the grades and no-one asks, how will you explain a semester gap in your education? It will certainly raise questions (unless you lie again here, which is not a great idea).
And then, if you don't validate them through the university it won't count as an exchange program and you'd be expected to submit those grades separately, as if it was any other transcript from any other university - the number of slots they give you doesn't really matter...
So this was a long-winded way of saying that you shouldn't try to hide this. It isn't worth it. And frankly, I think if you did try to hide it, it would come out fairly quickly. A blank semester will look suspicious without a good explanation. Assuming you've done well otherwise, I suspect most people will be somewhat more forgiving of a few bad study-abroad grades. You may want to specifically address it somewhere though.

No I am not US based. My university does not require me to be enrolled as a full time student, I can take as many courses as I want. Also, my university does not require me to validate the exchange courses. And during my time of exchange I worked online at a company from my country.

Ethically I know it is wrong, and I don't want to omit information if it is against the rules. However, I was genuinely confused by the istructions. Them saying exchanges should not be listed and only providing transcript slots that should be followed by a diploma made me think that perhaps exchanges were not part of the requirements.

The rest of my profile is good (I could provide more detail if needed). But I think the context of the grades is important. The two F's corresponded to courses I did not have the pre-requisites for. Therefore, I asked the registrar's office to register me as an audit, which they agreed upon. Later in the semester, I found out this was not done because of univ. policies. As a result I missed some deadlines and could not unenroll/change the courses. Since then, I have done everything to revert the situation (retook the courses at home getting A, relevant work exp, online courses, and research).

Back then I did not know I had to upload the transcripts in graduate applications, so I was not concerned. Now that I know this I have been extremely worried for over a year now. I think it is worth saying that I have a letter from the university that briefly states what happened. But overall, I do not know how bad an effect this will have.

As a not-US-based person - there can be plenty of reasons you do not have grades in a certain semester (at least here) - people wouldn't bother checking the exam dates if they are in semester A or B.

The exam dates do appear in my transcript unfortunately. So it would difficult to not be seen. However, I would like to know if this “slip” would be forgiven. It’s not the same as actually not being able to pass the courses while doing the work, it’s a different context.

So I still think that the instructions about not including exchange transcripts were made under the assumption they appear on your regular transcript. But these other details change things a bit. If you have a letter saying this was essentially a bureaucratic error on their part (is that right?) then I think you are okay. I would not worry about this. Whether or not you report the grades depends on each programs' application requirements. If they require it, I would submit them, it seems like this is easy to explain and I think no-one will worry too much.

I think this would be easily overlooked, as long as you don't lie about it...

No, I don't want to lie so I will put it in my application. Yes, I have a letter from the university that confirms that I did not had the pre-reqs and that I was initially accepted as an audit. However, I have been freaking out about these two Fs. Since then, I have took the 2 pre-reqs courses I neeeded, along with a very similar course, in my home institution, and got A+ in all. I also did like 4 courses on edX to at least show I am not an ignorant on the field. I hope this shows my interest at least and that this will not repeat. What do you think?

I think you have nothing to worry about. I doubt anyone will give you a hard time about this. It was a mistake (no fault of yours) and you've done more than enough to make up for it.


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How to address the recruiting committee in a cover letter in case the recepient is not an individual to the best of your knowledge?
Specializing the question
Who to address on the cover letter?,
let's assume that you apply for a tenure-track position in the US in computer science, that the job announcement has no particular individual listed, and that Google/Bing/Yahoo led you to, say, "recruiting committee" (as opposed to "search team"). Then, which opening would be proper:

To Whom It May Concern

or

Dear Recruiting Committee

or

To the Recruiting Committee

or

Dear Representative of the Recruiting Committee

or

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen

?
How about the punctuation after the opening? No punctuation, a comma, or a colon? I.e.:

〈Whatever opening〉
〈Whatever opening〉,
〈Whatever opening〉:

All are o.k. according to the broad English grammar, but, in academia things might be more special.

I used Dear Search Committee, for my US CS TT applications.

@Thomas Have you had luck with such an application?

@Hexal No one is going to decide whether to hire you based on whether or what salutation you've used in your cover letter.  They'll decide based on actual substance, including your CV, LORs, statements, teaching demo and interviews.

@Hexal, it really doesn’t matter, as long as it isn’t something ridiculous like yo’ doodz, pls gimme a job. Your success is not gong to come down to the salutation on your cover letter. Also, yes, I’ve gotten several interviews thus far. Thank you for asking and good luck to you.

Use an inside address and a subject line, then dive into your letter.  You can skip the salutation in letters to committees.

Recruiting Committee University of Whatever City, State
  Zip
Request for appointment
I would like to be considered for a full-time appointment as ...

Starting the para with "I"?

@Hexal This is how I've requested my appointments and it seems to work. :)  It's direct.

Oh, but your profile says you're still a lecturer. So, it worked not for a TT position?

@Hexal Yes, I'm a lecturer.  I'm also 67 and on our search committee.  There's no difference in the format of a cover letter for a lecturer vs TT position.

"To whom it may concern" is perfectly valid, but you shouldn't capitalise every word as you did in your example.
Instead of "Dear Recruiting Committee" I would write "To the Recruiting Committee". I don't have a good reason for this, it just sounds better to my ear.
I would definitely not use "Dear Ladies and Gentlemen". You're not the ringmaster in a circus. This phrase sounds very odd, especially because you have no idea who is on the committee (there may be no women or no men on it).
Finally, the correct punctuation after all of these (and indeed, any salutation in a letter) is a comma.

Thx! I added "To the Recruiting Committee" to the list to let others express their opinion on that. Regarding capitalization, Purdue OWL https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/652/ thinks diferently.

@Hexal maybe it's a difference between British and American English. IMO, it's not a title or name and therefore lowercase is correct. (Either way, I doubt it will affect your application. The content of the letter is far more important.)

@Hexal yes, but if I, an English person were applying to the US, I wouldn't change how I spell things just to fit American convention. Like I said, I don't think these subtleties really matter.

The question is about the US and about the subtleties.

@Hexal you are overthinking things.

I prefer to be overthought than undereducated.


text:
Should I omit a citation if the authors ask me to?

"Program MARK: A gentle introduction" by Evan Cooch and Gary White

is a guide to using a particular piece of statistical software. It is available in print form as well as in a free, online version.
The foreword to the book contains the following paragraph:

We’re occasionally asked how to properly cite this book. Easy answer –
  please don’t. This book is not a ‘technical reference’, but a
  ‘software manual’. The various ‘technical’ bits in the book (i.e.,
  suggestions on how to approach some sorts of analysis, guides to
  interpreting results...) are drawn from the primary literature, which
  should be cited in all cases.

Now, I don't have any problem with the last sentence - the authors are quite right to recommend citing the primary literature. But I don't understand why they recommend NOT citing their own work. If I have found it useful (I have) then the usual arguments for citation seem to apply:

Citing the guide may be helpful in pointing others towards this useful resource
The guide has performed an important function in my work, even if that function is "just" pointing me towards the primary literature, and that function should be acknowledged. It is in a small way dishonest if I imply that I researched the primary literature without any help.
While any mistakes in my use of the software are of course my own, knowing the source of advice that I've used might help others to spot or trace those mistakes.

Against this is the fact that the authors have politely asked me NOT to cite the work. I have no wish to be disrespectful to the authors who have created a valuable resource. But is it reasonable for them to ask me to break from academic good practice?
Should I respect the authors' wishes and omit a citation?

You can accomplish your purpose and respect the authors' wishes with a bibliographic entry or footnote rather than a formal citation.

@BobBrown That's an interesting suggestion, thanks! Would you consider turning it into an answer, and expanding a bit on how that would look? Particularly in a journal paper where they are normally quite strict on citation formats.

For a journal you could also add that you learned many things from this book in the acknowledgments. This way you can work around any problems with footnote and citation formats.

I think I would make a joke out of it and say something like "on the subject of MARK, we would have referred the reader to [Cooch & White], but following the authors' request in op. cit. not to be cited, we will refer to [some other reference] instead".

@BobBrown Huh? A bibliographic entry is a citation.

Would it be possible to contact the authors and ask for their suggestions on how to indicate that you found their work helpful?

@JeffE I am used to distinguishing "references," those things I used in preparing this paper, from "bibliography," a list of things you might want to read for more info.

This text helped you. Do you believe it would also help others who read your work? Part of the purpose of citations is to increase awareness of useful work.

If you decide to go with the other person`s will and not cite him be sure you have a written record that clearly states the "do not cite" request!!!

No.
If you use a source, you must cite it.  The authors deserve credit for their work, even if they don't believe they deserve credit for their work.
Of course, you should also take the authors' advice and also cite the appropriate primary sources (after reading them, obviously).

I don't think it'd necessarily be an also, unless other fields work differently from mine. If author A references an idea from author B but doesn't bring anything new to it, we would just cite author B. If author A quotes/cites B, but we have no access to the original work by B, we cite the latter by way of the former (B qtd. in A). If we're only interested in what A says that's new, we sometimes are okay with only mentioning B's name (mainly for famous authors/general knowledge), or in many cases, not mentioning B at all.

Also, citation is not just about "who gets the credit" - in fact, one could argue it's not even the most important - what is important is being open and honest about your sources so others can investigate those sources to ensure you represent them accurately and so they can explore the topic more. This notion about credit (and the corresponding respect and funding) is meta to the notion of performing good science.

@guifa There are lots of good reasons to cite secondary sources.  Suppose author A references author B without bringing any new technical content, but with a much clearer exposition.  Or suppose author A references authors B, C, D, E, F, G, H, X, Y, and Z without adding any new technical content, but had the foresight to survey those other authors in a single document.

@JeffE I didn't say one shouldn't cite secondary authors. If someone provides a succinct summary of some idea, that's something useful, but then that obviates the need to cite the primary sources, generally. What I was trying to say is that it's generally not necessary to cite both primary and secondary, unless there's particular value to the paper in both.

Your “no” verdict is correct but I disagree with your reasoning. If an author expressly wishes not to receive credit, it is not meaningful to say they still “deserve” credit. For example, if someone I knew published a book under a pseudonym and kept their identity hidden, stating a desire not to become known as the book’s author, but I accidentally found out that they were the author of the book, would I have a moral obligation to publicly expose them because they “deserve credit for their work, even if they they don’t believe they deserve credit for their work”? Of course not. ...

... The reason why “no” is correct has nothing to do with the authors “deserving” credit. By not citing their book, it’s not that OP would be doing the authors a disservice by denying them credit that they “deserve”, but rather that OP would be doing OP’s readers a disservice, by depriving them of the knowledge of a potentially useful resource, and of the ability to evaluate the novelty and context for OP’s own contribution.

Just cite them because (in my opinion) they only do not want to have any serious, academic citations.
They made these remarks to prevent you from citing them for ideas that are not originally theirs and facts that might not be as sourced as in a "proper" academic publication.
I think what they don't want you to do is cite their book like you'd cite other sources for ideas and facts. Like:

We got the idea from [Evan et al] or used the formula from [Evan et
  al] to prove what was proven before [Evan et al].

What I think is perfectly appropriate is something like the following:

We used fact a and fact b to get started [other guy et al], based on
  the idea from [this girl et al]. A helpful source in the
  implementation using the software xxx [proper software citation] was
  the textbook by [Evan Cooch and Gary White].

And then take care that you actually cite primary sources where needed.

While I think this is a reasonable approach to the issue, I'm not convinced that this was the authors' intention, given that they refuse to answer the question of how to properly cite the book.

Technically they don't refuse to answer the question, they just write it like that in their message (in the book / on the website?). If you'd like to be really sure, send them an email to ask. If you show you're just including the citation for educational purposes they might easily change their minds.

This is the correct answer. The authors of the manual state about being cited:  "Easy answer – please don’t." But that is only the easy answer for those who do not understand why: they can stop reading there and take the advice. According to the question OP understands perfectly that his case is not one of the "easy" cases, and citing the software manual together with the original papers is the best solution.

@louic: I didn't read it like that at first, but it makes perfect sense.

I think you may have misread what they want. I admit it is a matter of interpretation, but to me it seems that they are asking you to not use them as a citation for certain types of information, namely statistical techniques.
So, if you are doing a t-test and want to say "I did a t-test as described in (Cooch and White)", they are asking you to not do that, but to go find a textbook on statistics and say "I did a t-test as described in (Bamberg and Baur)". This should not exclude citations where their book is the authorative source. For example, if you are writing a comparative article on statistical packages, you can write "The MARK software supports both paired and unpaired t-test (Cooch and White)". This would be a proper use of their work, for which they deserve a citation. They wrote a book on what a given program supports, and you can cite them for that.
So why did they express it in this unusual way? I think they had a specific target population in mind. There are a lot of students out there who are eager to do right, take the time to perfect every single citation they use, but don't know yet enough about different types of literature sources and which one is appropriate for which case. So, they do a statistical analysis by clicking the appropriate button in their software tool, their supervisor remarks that they need a citation, and the first place they naively look is the book describing which button to click. And then ask the authors how to make the citation "right". If this happened often enough to Cooch and White, I can understand why they chose to put this information in the book, hoping to save the students from doing the wrong thing.
As for everybody else, who does not belong to that population but is using the book as a citation for the things it actually is meant for  (e.g. information on the functionality of MARK), I think they are free and even obliged to cite it in the usual way.

"you have misread" - Assuming that your interpretation holds, I wouldn't put the blame on the OP, but on the authors for not expressing clearly what they want. They straightforwardly say that one should not cite the book.

Whenever you make a statement that expresses someone else's idea, you should provide a citation for the idea, even if the originator of the idea ask you not.

Citing the guide may be helpful in pointing others towards this useful resource

This is not a reason for citing work. The purpose of citations are to give credit to others for their original ideas and not because you think something might be useful to the reader.

The guide has performed an important function in my work, even if that function is "just" pointing me towards the primary literature, and that function should be acknowledged. It is in a small way dishonest if I imply that I researched the primary literature without any help.

No one expects you to research the primary literature without any help. No one cites Google Scholar and Pubmed. I often read an article and find other articles from there and in the end do not cite the entire chain that got me to the idea I needed. Again, this is not a reason to cite something.

While any mistakes in my use of the software are of course my own, knowing the source of advice that I've used might help others to spot or trace those mistakes.

This is a reason to cite something. Saying what software you used is critical. For example, and I think it is relevant and correct, the SVD is well defined mathematically, but can be implemented in a number of different ways that behave very differently for nearly singular matrices (or something like that). It becomes important to provide readers with which version you used. Two common ways are to state the software used and to reference the technical manual. The author's have asked you to not reference the technical manual. In this case, I would then cite the software itself.

"helpful in pointing others towards this useful resource (...) This is not a reason for citing work." - strongly disagree. It is the primary reason. Authors receiving credit is at best a beneficial side-effect. The purpose of publications is to disseminate information, both by directly providing it, and by pointing to related publications that disseminate more (background or otherwise) information. It is not "look at how great we are, and how great these others are", accompanied by some pages of text. But basically, that's also the conclusion from your last paragraph ("This is a ...").

@O.R.Mapper Nope. StrongBad is right on the money here. If all you got from someone was literally and explicitly the resources that they quoted, you don't cite them. If you use any of the book's argument (&, in practice, it seems you should, if you're quoting several of their resources), then you cite them. I'd tell the OP to try harder to find some argument to cite in addition to the primary refs. Otherwise, nope. O.R.'s take is exactly like saying you have to cite the Library of Congress Classification System when you pull every well-bound book off the shelf for [your subject here].

@ruffin: "literally and explicitly the resources that they quoted" - unless we're talking about a pure listing of bibliographical entries, any text that cites other works typically adds something on top of that. This "something" can be a different way of explaining the topic, or even just establishing a connection between several different publications, or juxtaposing them in some way. Depending on the situation, it can be exactly this "something" that you want to point out by your citation - even if it is not a "hard finding" in the traditional sense. ...

... With this said, "common knowledge" usually remains uncited. Generally known sources like the "Library of Congress Classification System" thus would not be cited (unless, of course, the author wants to make a statement about something specific related to this classification system).

@O.R.Mapper That's right -- it's near impossible not to pull something from the source that presents the sources, but OP needs to cite that thought, not just sources that source cites. Even if just to say in a footnote, "That this confluence of sources is most easily found in a source that tries to forcefully proscribe being approached academically... (PatOriginalSource 5)" Though you're now approaching it as a cultural artifact rather than an academic source, which is perfect. Thought experiment: If I pull a source from a Wikipedia article that turns useful, do I cite Wikipedia?


text:
How can I find out a researcher's current affiliation?
What is the best way to find out a researcher's current affiliation? Let's say I know a name and a field, but not much more.
A google search seems like the most obvious approach, but unfortunately university personnel or research group pages often seem to be quite poorly maintained, and it is not uncommon that someone is listed even if they left more than a year ago.
Early-career researchers are particularly difficult to track down since they often have less of a "presence" on institution webpages and are likely to be moving relatively frequently.

Got an e-mail address for them?  Because there's always asking them.

@zibadawatimmy Yes, and if it's an institutional address one might not even need to ask! Let's assume not.

just a note: This gets way worse when the person you are searching for has a common name, like John Smith... or Fabio Dias :)

Google is not only for institutional pages! It often finds conference abstracts, LinkedIn pages etc which still can help contact the person. Often conference abstracts contain email addresses for the presenter, not only to the senior researchers/ supervisors as papers do.

Many professional society still have private membership directories if you belong to them.

This is the best solution that I came up with, but hoping that someone can suggest something more effective:

Look up the researcher's profile on Google Scholar
Sort publication list by year
Look up the most recent paper in the list
Obtain affiliation listed in that paper

This seems reasonably reliable, but depending on how prolific the author, it might miss a move in the last 6 months to 1 year, or even more. And it relies on the person having a Scholar profile.

Check said institution if he is still listed as a member. \ 6. If it is a university, check if the person is currently giving lectures/seminars, etc. If yes, you can be rather certain that you found the right place.

@DirkLiebhold Good tips. But I don't expect this will cover all cases: in particular, early-career researchers are unlikely to have teaching duties (at least in the UK where I am based), and are likely to be moving institutions fairly frequently. (Also, I know it's probably just a translation issue, but note that researchers can be female ;)


text:
Can a routine in R be published in academic journals?
I have developed a routine in R for longitudinal analysis of networks. I was wondering whether it can be published on an academic journal as a dedicated article?

What do you mean by "whether it can be published"?  No mainstream academic journal would publish an article that consists of literally nothing but R code (with no accompanying text at all), so you can't just publish the program.  On the other hand, there's no reason why you can't publish an article that describes your methods and results and is accompanied by the code as supplementary information, assuming you've done something innovative and interesting.

Yes, I meant with text describing it and an example of application.

Possibly helpful: http://scicomp.stackexchange.com/questions/660/venues-for-publishing-papers-that-emphasize-software

It'd be easier to publish your code if you have access to a time machine: The Incomplete Gamma Integral

The question is: was the algorithm developed by you and not published before? If so, then it will be eligible for publication, provided it is good enough for something.

Yes, but that doesn't mean it should be. See comments here: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0085047

Depending on the extent of your work, you may be able to get a paper describing your package and methods in PLoS One or a similar journal, or the Journal of Statistical Software.
Alternately, The R Journal is a peer-reviewed journal covering R software, which may be an appropriate venue if you don't have enough methodological material to build out a full paper for another journal
Finally, many journals accept code supplements for papers describing the use of your method, so you may be able to publish your routine's in a paper about the actual work you are doing.

Link to the Journal of statistical software (which is what I assume you are referring to) http://www.jstatsoft.org. They publish "code snippets". Of course some exposition will be required.

Be wary of publishing code in PLoS One. They might accept it: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0085047

@mankoff Not sure what your point is. Is it that the article in question is not good?

+1, This question has a related set of advice, Is it ethical to publish a paper about porting an existing software package to another programming language? (although IMO is not a duplicate). Methodology papers are perfectly acceptable in field specific journals as well. For social scientists I'm familiar with the journal Social Networks, although there are surely many others to chose from.

@FaheemMitha The PLoS One article linked to might as well be called "Reinventing the Wheel". It takes a known, common example and repackages it as new.

@Fomite fair enough.

Publication of an article about R code (in package form) is definitely a possibility. Whether your particular code is publishable is something for the reviewers to judge. There is always The R Journal, which is peer-reviewed and read by most serious R programmers. Journal of Statistical Software is a more general outlet that is not R-specific.
I see a lot of projects where a substantive article is published in a disciplinary journal (perhaps describing the algorithm or using software in a particular application) and then an accompanying piece describing the software specifically is published in JSS or The R Journal.

Definitely publishable is too strong (I would use the word potentially in this circumstance given the limited amount of information the OP provided). It still needs to make a unique contribution that is necessary of all research articles, and uploading to the CRAN servers is not a measure of such a unique contribution.

@AndyW Good call. I've revised the first line.


text:
Best practice of presenting running time results?
Often I come across the following situation: I have some experimental evaluation of running times of a new algorithm. Printing the running times in a table is good. Adding a plotted diagram illustrates the results in a nice way. Unfortunately this brings redundancy in a publication and needs many space, because the runnings times are already listed in the table.
Which way is best practice?

Only print a table (precise results, but no illustration)
Only print a plotted diagram (none precise results, but illustration)
Both (precise and illustration, but redundancy)

Are the times important in and of themselves ("wow, he got it in 2s") or scaling with some other parameter ("wow, it goes as ln N")? I would think the former would favor tables and the later favor plots.

I'd go for the diagram, supplemented by a short table if need be. But be prepared to have a "full version" (with complete tables as appendices or so) as a technical report or otherwise available for anyone who wants to replicate your work (or use your data for comparison, or whatever).

This is a perfect use for supplementary information in a journal publication.


text:
Stay put or enter the US application process
I am an American who came to Europe last fall to do an MS which would complement my BA, since the field of study for my BA was different than my current one. My original plan was to apply to PhD programs in the US this fall, but recently I was offered a PhD position by my current adviser. I have until this summer to decide, which means I can either stay where I am now or decline the offer and cast the dice in the US application process.
In itself, my current department is not particularly well known in the US, where I would ultimately like to work. However, my field is small and my adviser is somewhat influential. Moreover, the advising is high quality. My adviser and I generally meet for one to three hours a week to discuss my work. I genuinely like my adviser, her insight, and the work I am doing. If I stay here I would also have connections to a lab in the US which is among the best in the world for my field. I would spend some time there as needed/desired, and the other members of my dissertation committee would likely be from this lab.
There are several US departments where I originally planned to apply. They have good faculty, have a large number of students in the same subfield, are close to other institutions doing related research, etc. In short, if I were accepted to one of these schools, I might sleep sounder knowing that others have tread my path, and at least some have had a good outcome (solid reputation, decent job, etc.).
My situation can be problematized as follows. The offer from my adviser is obviously an opportunistic move on her part. As a friend of mine put it, “she sees a talented young scientist and wants to snatch him up before someone else does.” Regardless of whether the characterization is accurate, that's a way of looking at the situation. My task is to decide whether the move is the right one.
Has anyone had a similar experience or just care to share some insight?

Presumably another factor to consider is the relative lengths of typical PhDs in Europe and the US. How much sooner would you expect to graduate if you stay in Europe? (This can be seen as either a pro or a con, depending on who you talk to!)

While this is not particularly relevant, would you be willing to reveal the name of your university?

You have a good relationship with your advisor, you value her input, you feel valued, and she gives you plenty of her time. Before you make a decision about what to do, you might want to read a few of the stories on here about poor student-advisor relationships.

Calling a job offer or a scholarship offer opportunistic on the basis they see you qualified for it / "talented" is an opinion I wouldn't share too loudly. What would you think to be a right motif for a scholarship offer if not your skills/"talent"?

While shane's argument has some merit, there is another important factor to take into consideration: time to degree, which is very much inequal here.
If you accept your professor's offer of a PhD position, you would in principle be able to start your PhD research as soon as this fall. If you were to decline the offer, you'd definitely have to wait a full year to start the PhD program, and then at least an extra semester or two, depending on the course requirements in your field. So there could be up to a two-year delay before you do substantial work in your PhD field, depending on whether or not the department will waive your master's coursework. This may or may not be enough to sway your decision.
Additionally, you should look at all of the "peripherals," including things like:

how much teaching duty would be combined as part of the PhD position (this can be substantial, depending on your advisor's or department's teaching load!);
what the benefits and support associated with the position are relative to the US programs you're considering; and
what are the chances someone with your record will have to get into a comparable US program.

Depending on the field in question, you m ay be able to start your PhD work as soon as you enter a US university as well.  Many departments (like mine) strongly encourage beginning your research while, not after, you pass your course requirements. In fact, why not start now?

In my field (ChemE), pretty much every department of note expects first-semester grad students to be full-time students, typically taking four or five courses. They wouldn't have time for research, even if they wanted to do it.

In this venue you will see how important good advisors are. Indeed, having a PhD position in Caltech/MIT/Harvard is mostly useless if you don't get proper advising. If she is good researcher, you have a good working relationship, and you get the advising time you need; you have a good reason to stay.
When getting a position, committees will look at your PhD more than where it was awarded. The more resources you have, and the better the faculty, the better your thesis can be; but it is definitely not the sole factor. If your professor is reputable in the field with good connections, she may be able to help you get a good postdoc.
Also, nothing guarantees you that you will get in the US. No matter how good you are, there are people out there that may look better in an application form. Furthermore, if you have to take the GRE, you are conditioned to what happens to you on that day. And, as others have mentioned, you would have to wait a full year before being able to start. Applying in the US is not free, but I don't know how much a US citizen would have to actually pay; can you afford it?
Consider the working conditions. In many countries in Europe they are much better than in the US: right to vacations, higher salary, sick days... Weight here the requirements to get the degree in your current university (coursework needed, teaching and administrative duties...).
Your main concern is that you want to work in the US after your PhD. It is probably the best place for research, but maybe in three or four years you will decide that you don't want to go there so much, or maybe you will be counting the days to go back.
All this are pretty general comments that may or may not fully apply in your case, that you will have to weight according to your situation. But if I was in your case, as you have presented it, I would say "don't walk. Don't run either."

Applications in the US aren't that expensive. Typically the entire process for graduate schools costs a few hundred to about one thousand dollars, including tests. Waivers are often also available for people who might not be able to afford the application otherwise.

@aeismail I personally think that is a lot of money for start working (I see a PhD as, fundamentally, a job). It also involves a lot of bureaucracy, that I try to avoid as much as possible.

I am an American living and studying in Belgium, and I've also recently been applying to PhD programs around the world. Based on what you've described in your question, I have to honestly ask: why are you even considering going to the USA for a PhD? It looks like you have it made in your current situation: a great and influential adviser, excellent resources, and the ability to get into your research immediately. You didn't mention, but I suppose funding plays some role--and if your adviser offered you a position, I'm guessing funding is included. :)
You mention you're in the sciences, but you don't indicate what kind of career you want...so I don't know if you're looking for corporate or for academia. But my speculation (and it is entirely just that) is that the academic market in the US will be turning more and more international as the years go on: professors from other parts of the world, as well as Americans with international degrees. But, I might add, that perhaps you'll find yourself as an expat for longer than you initially thought... Perhaps your career would be better if you took a job somewhere else in the world, and/or getting your foot in the door with an international corporation may do well to help get you into a state-side company as well.
So, from a fellow expat living and studying abroad (and from a fellow applicant to PhD programs who would love to have a funded position just offered to him, but who knows that won't happen)-- I say you should take the offer!

Stay put for your good. You are happy there, so be content!
Why would you want to quit something for something which does not even exist, and ruin your content merry life?
May be that's just me, but if I were you I'd take the PhD offer from my current advisor.


text:
Is it standard for graduate students to get gifts for their advisors?
Is it standard for graduate students to give their advisors gifts around Christmas, like chocolates or bottles of wine?  What about other important people, such as their thesis committee members, or department secretaries?

No not standard (at least in Canada) and depends upon the tradition, it may actually seem as an odd thing. If there is a social gathering before Christmas then I believe that is fine to bring chocolates or whatever to all of attendees.
I would be very cautious to give my advisor gift every christmas. A verbal saying before the holiday starts is normal and acceptable;  nothing more nothing less.

A card is certainly acceptable if you want to give something, and will probably be appreciated.  (You can make it a New Year's or generic holiday card if your advisor is anti-Xmas.)

A secretary is a different question. Especially, if they have been helpful to you personally, you can use christmas to show your appreciation. For example, when I first went abroad the deperatment secratary helped me with a lot of things that wasn't strictly her job (my health insurance for example). If (s)he is "just" good at her job but has not done something "special" for you, you can consider doing something together with the other collegues at your department.
The key difference is where you stand in the hierarchy: Giving "sideways" or "down" is much less of a problem than giving "up".


text:
What is the best way to solicit teaching feedback from students (before the class is over)?
I sent my students a feedback form (I'm a TA) and I got three responses.  While they were helpful and informative responses, I am not sure how to interpret them, because there are only three of them and they all disagree with each other.
What is the best way to get feedback from students?  Should I enter them in a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card?

What type of questions are you asking? Perhaps try some of these? http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31680/effective-open-ended-student-evaluation-questions

Definitely not the gift card option. Your intentions would be good but that could be considered bribery-ish

Two words: Anonymous feedback. Then there is no filter.

On the day of a physics midterm, my physics professor posted an online questionnaire with the promise of a few points extra credit on the exam for the respondents. The questionnaire is through our existing school infrastructure, so the responses are anonymous but the professor can see which students responded at all. Perhaps something like this might work for you?

@WChargin Getting academic credit for something which doesn't require any academic input seems like a terrible solution to me.

@dirkk That's certainly a valid point, and why I posted it as a comment, not an answer. On one hand, you could say that two points out of a hundred-point exam in a thousand-point class don't matter. But on the other hand, it's a matter of principle, and, further, that could make the difference in someone's grade. The call is up to you. (For what it's worth, I had another professor bring cookies for filling out a survey!)

A method which I learned quite recently is the Start-Stop-Continue. I think it is a great method, as it is quick, and it does not require much effort both on your part and your students. You will need to distribute three small pieces of paper (e.g. Post-it) to each student, ask them to label Start, Stop, and Continue, respectively, on the top of each paper, and then ask them to list on each paper, according to the label, what they think you should start doing, stop doing, and continue doing. Ask them to submit their papers before they leave.

Giving students very guided, specific feedback prompts during class time (as others have suggested) can be very helpful.
Here are a couple of specific techniques. These are from a book I am reading called "Teaching What You Don't Know" by Therese Huston (which is about situations like the one described in How to teach a class that I've never taken? - but the advice on assessing your teaching applies more generally).
The one-point raise
Pick one aspect of the course on which you want some feedback. Ask the students to get out a blank piece of paper. Then ask them to rate their experience on a scale of 1 to 10. After they've done this, ask them to write down an answer to the question "What would raise that rating by one point."

Make sure to define the endpoints of the scale, so students have a common understand of what 1 means and what 10 means. Use extremes, e.g. "A '1' means you wish you were getting a root canal instead of sitting in this class and a '10' means you wish this class was on YouTube so you could watch it again right now"
Many students will write something that is their own responsibility - i.e., "My rating would have gone up a point if I had gone to sleep earlier last night." On the other hand, for things that are in your control, you'll get immediate, actionable feedback on things that really affect your students' experience.

This evaluation is helpful because it's quick to administer, and quick for students to fill out, so you can do it in class and you can expect a high response rate.
Two-column form
Give out a form in which the heading of the first column reads "I like the way the instructor..." and the heading of the second reads "I would like the instructor to..." Then in each column, put practices you want feedback on. Students can check off the practice in the first column if they like it, and/or indicate in the second column if they want more or less of it.
For example, you might put in the first column ("I like the way the instructor...")
__ Solves example problems during class
and then in the second column ("I would like the instructor to...")
Solve more/fewer example problems during class.
You can put up to ten specific feedback items in the columns. At the end of the form, you can still ask for open-ended feedback - but it is likely to be much more directed now, since you've asked for very specific feedback on specific practices already.
This form is helpful because it's quick to administer, quick for students to fill out, and models how to give helpful feedback (not all students know how, and this could be preventing some of them from giving any feedback at all).
Small group analysis
This is a more time-consuming, but very powerful technique, and practically guarantees that you will get useful feedback. However, you'll need to have an outside facilitator who's trained in the technique. (My university's teaching center offers this service to faculty and graduate students who are teaching - check if yours does.)
In small group analysis, you invite a facilitator (who is trained in SGA) to observe the class. At the end of the class, the instructor leaves the room while the facilitator asks students for feedback about what is most useful to their learning in the course and for suggestions for what might improve their learning in the course.
After the class, the facilitator prepares a report and meets with the instructor to review the results. You can then discuss with the class and tell them what changes you will make based on their feedback.

Also, here are some general comments on making the feedback you collect more effective:

If you plan to collect feedback often, start early in the course (first or second week) to create a culture of feedback.
Don't collect more feedback than you can handle. This doesn't apply so much to you because your class is small. But if you are teaching a large course, ask for feedback in small, manageable chunks. You don't want to get into a situation where students believe you are ignoring their feedback, just because you got so much feedback that it takes weeks to read and think about it all.
Close the feedback loop by telling students what you have changed based on their feedback.

That might work, but I think the best way to make sure they fill in a feedback form is to print it out, hand it out in class and tell them that they can't leave unless they hand you a filled in form. (This is from personal experience as a student).

Yes, most students seem not so interested in responding, perhaps because they think it's hopeless to have any impact, or are complacent, or perceive themselves as too busy to do it. So allocate class time to filling out a printed form... The self-selected students who will respond in a way requiring any more effort will rarely give useful information.

While there are many answers here, I will add one more.
My lectures are driven by slides so at the end of every deck (which marks the end of the session) I include a slide which says:

On a 1/2 sheet of paper, answer 3 questions:

What was the most useful / interesting idea today?
What idea did you least understand today?
Any other comments for your teacher?

Bring the paper to me on your way out.

The reason for being the final slide every session is as @ff524 wrote, it is important to create a culture of feedback. After the second session they begin to expect this slide.
Do I get 100% participation? No. But I do not need 100%. What I do need is significant participation which I get because I give them the time at the end of class (usually 5 minutes is enough) and because they see it every time, and they see everyone else doing it, those "sitting on the fence" will usually do it, even if they say "nothing" for question 3. Every session I get a lot of repeat comments (like, "I least understood xxx") and that really helps when I teach the same subject the following semester.
At times it has even caused me to send some extra material through email to clarify a point about which many students had an issue. This also helps: Show that you actually care what they write by doing something about their comments. That goes back to the culture issue.
I have used this technique with class sizes between 20 and 100 but believe it would work with all sizes of classes.

I agree with adipro about taking class time to ask students to write down what they would like you to keep doing and what they would like you to do differently.  We often do this in my department.  Asking for specific feedback on your teaching methods, rather than general feedback, lessens the likelihood of your getting comments about your appearance or other things you cannot easily (or should not have to) change.
If you absolutely can't use class time, some ideas are:

Offer to bring treats if at least X% submit the survey.  Send updates about the progress toward that goal.
Offer credit for turning in a survey, either toward homework, class participation, or extra credit.

Something that I've used a few times is Poll Everywhere. It's fairly easy to use, and as long as you can phrase a question in the form of multiple choice, you can ask just about anything. Every once in awhile, I'll stop my lecture and use Poll Everywhere to ask a conceptual question, or I'll simply ask "Do you think you understand this?" Based on the responses, I decide what to do. As mentioned in the other answers/comments, one issue is student apathy. I rarely get 100% participation, but overall I think I get enough participation that it is useful.

Might work for the OP, since his class is small; but that service charges $99/month for polls with >50 respondents (I have classes of 70 and 100 this semester). Yikes.

Fair point. I guess I always am under that limit, so I never paid attention to it; however, for larger classes it might be a very important consideration.


text:
Can a school change their admission decision before April 15th?
I have been accepted at a good school in the U.S. with full-funding. However, I am still waiting on the status of three very good U.S. schools as well.
Can the school that already sent me an offer of acceptance change their mind before April 15th?
I want to wait until I receive all the schools letters and make a decision around the 1st week of April, but I'm worried that just in case nobody else accepts me; what if the first school that accepted me changes their mind? Is that a possible scenario?

To clarify: April 15 is the date they've told you in your offer letter as the last date on which you can accept their offer, right?

Yes, they do say to accept by April 15th. I was just wondering a worst-case scenario which for some reason it would be possible for them to change their mind before.

Maybe they could change their decision on the 1st of April. Just joking...

What to do if you do get an offer from another school after April 15th?

I am very experienced with admissions in the U.S., in particular in math programs at my R1 university: unless you grossly falsified something in your application, it would be very unusual, and substantial professional misconduct, and would not be even contemplated as a dignified option, for a grad program to recant on an offer of admission and funding.
The only to-me-conceivable scenario would involve catastrophic budget problems at the university ... since, after all, grad student funding is a tiny bit of the whole.
So, at least approximately, I'd recommend thinking of the offer of grad admission and funding as a far more reliable contract than most others you'll encounter in life. (Car repair estimates? Real estate appraisal? Promises of eternal friendship :)
So, quite seriously, you should not worry about it (if the offer is from a reputable, long-established university (e.g.) in the U.S. that is not filing for bankruptcy etc.

+1 This. We might improve your offer by upping your fellowship (especially if you have a competing offer) but we'd never downgrade or rescind it unless the university was going into receivership.

It's worth adding that, in these kinds of situations, whether you have accepted the offer or not is unlikely to affect the likelihood of it being rescinded.

I think there were also some cases in the past when Universities sent by mistake acceptance to the wrong students....


text:
Is it correct to submit a manuscript as a writing sample for graduate admission?
I am applying to a master program in cognitive sciences and they ask for two writing samples. I have read that published articles and even manuscripts can be good writing samples, however I have the following questions regarding the ethical and/or legal issues of doing so:

Should I include all the authors as well as their institutions and
e-mails in the manuscript I send?
Should a writing sample include a brief introduction?
What happens if you are not the ONLY author of the paper you want to
submit? Should you specify your contribution? Does it help that you
are the first author?
Can I send just some paragraphs of the manuscript in order to keep my
sample short? If I do this, should I modify all the references so that they are kept in order according to Vancouver style?
Probably a little paranoid but, could the university use/ distribute any results I report in this unpublished manuscript?

Why do you want to keep the sample short? Do they give you a recommended or required minimum or maximum length?

Yes, the minimum and maximum length are 5-35 pages.

Presumably they want a sample of your writing, not the result of you drafting something, somebody else writing it up, some referee suggesting corrections and your advisor giving it final polish and blessing.

While I believe you that single-authored papers are much preferred for writing samples, this doesn't really address what to do if you come from a field where most work is collaborative and single-authored papers are very unusual.

Yes, I agree with you in that a single-authored paper would be much better, however, as a medical student I was not required to write a thesis and it is not likely that I would be able to publish a scientific paper without the (at least) supervision of a researcher from my university. So, currently my options are: an unpublished manuscript in which I am de first author ( drafted and wrote it), a published paper in which I am the second author or... hurry up and write a small essay on a topic of my choice.


text:
Can a MSc after medical school count as the German Dr.med?
I am a medical doctor from a non EU country and have a German MSc in Neuroscience. In Germany only doctors that do a 6 month research internship during their medical studies can get their “Dr.med” title and only the doctors holding and Dr.med.can do clinical research.
I want to get the equivalency of my medical studies. Can I be granted the Dr.med now that I did a whole 2 year MSc after my medical studies? If not why?

Why would it be that a Dr.Med. of 6 months allow doctors to do clinical research and a MSc of 2 years not?

because rules often have silly consequences when applied to the real world

Well, your assumption is just wrong. Please read different "Promotionsordnungen" of different universities (they differ slightly), but usually you'll have to finish your medical exams and afterwards you might do your Dr. med.. May require a minimum period of two years for the dissertation.
Yes, sometimes students are staring the required research work during their studies, but this led to the poor reputation of a "Dr. med." compared to the other "Dr." flavours. And yes, often the quality of a medical dissertation is compareable to a good Masters thesis. Nonetheless, formally the "Dr." is one step on top of the "Master".
Nonetheless, you can do clinical research, but you are not allowed to apply as PI for some (many) funding schemes. But of course you can work in research! BTW: I never heard of a fresh medical doctor who succeeded in applying grants on his / her own - so in practice it makes no difference.
I would suggest looking for a position which allows you to obtain a doctoral degree - in your case you might even be able to get two (one Dr. med., one Dr. rer nat (or similar)) depending on whether you are building upon your medical or your neuroscience background. But it will take at least two years.


text:
Medical doctor who tried science now wants to quit Phd and science altogether. How to explain to supervisor?
I am a medical doctor, but decided to go into a graduate program because I wanted to contribute to progress of humanity with new knowledge ( I know, very romantic).  I got accepted into a graduate program in Germany (I am not German).
Now that I am in science, I have realized it is not what I expected. Getting a job in academia is very VERY hard ( particularly in Germany I think), the life of a professor is not what better suits the lifestyle I want to lead in the future,  and a job in the industry is not really what I want, particularly having the possibility of doing a medical residency and having my own practice one day.
I have already finished my masters and thought I could do my PhD and use the 3 years to learn the medical german language and later apply for a medical residency here.  But as time goes by I am forgetting everything I learned in med school and I cannot focus on learning German while doing a PhD because of all the work that comes with it, of course.
Don´t get me wrong, I like my PhD project, the lab and doing research per se. It is just that I feel these would be years dedicated to something that I do not want to do for a living.
So...
I have not share any of these thought with my PI, so, how do I tell him that now all of a sudden and without previous notice, I don´t want to do the PhD AT ALL, especially after having shown enthusiasm for the PhD in the past ( just a couple of weeks ago!)?  That is, without looking like I was faking enthusiasm/ was just „using“ them.
Additionally, I am in the 4th month of a one year contract. I would actually like to work the remaining 8 months to get all of my work in order to hand it over. However, is it possible by law that he "fires" me and does not allow me to finish the one year contract?

You talk to her, it has happened before and will again.

Question is rather trivial as written. You want to quit, so quit. Easiest thing in the world generally. Perhaps your real goal is to quit while avoiding embarrassment or looking like a flake? Just tell them you have come to feel you need to go back and do your residency first, since it is the real top priority, and your hope of simultaneously having three top priorities (medicine, research, language-learning) isn't working.

You are currently likely still in "Probezeit", and could get fired within two weeks. Theoretically, I'd say highly unlikely. Firstly the prof would be in for a lot of administrative trouble, and also the work you already did would be wasted. Why would a prof do that? Also he likely needs a few months to find a successor for you, during which the project would be in standstill.

@Karl: that is only the case if it is the first contract - which is not clear to me from the question.

It is my first contract.

There is no problem here. Just inform the PI that you intend to leave the program at the earliest opportunity. You haven't signed a contract with the devil for your soul. People change, people grow, people learn. Others understand that.
It would be good, however, for  you to do what you can to leave things tidy when you go, not leaving others (PI, other students) in the lurch. To do this effectively you may need to spend some time cleaning up the current work and either finalizing it or passing it on to another. That is courtesy, but useful to you for the future if you decide later to re-evaluate yet again.
Take care of yourself; your future is yours and yours alone.

Summary: talk to your supervisor. If it is sudden for you to realize you want to get out of the PhD and your relationship to your supervisor is reasonably good, also tell him that you suddenly realized this is not what you'd want to do all your life, even though you still like that project. And that you think staying in the PhD program may hurt your chances with what you want to do for a living. You never know - he may have a good idea how to proceed. In any case, you don't have anything to lose: you can leave in any case (at the latest at the end of that contract).

 Additionally, I am in the 4th month of a one year contract.

Is that the first contract at that university? If so, as Karl pointed out you're likely still on probation (typically 6 months) and either side can still cancel the contract with 2 weeks notice without giving any reason.
(Your "as time goes by" sounds to me longer than 4 months in total.)

 I would actually like to work the remaining 6 months to get all of my work in order to hand it over.

That is something most supervisors like to hear: worse than a student leaving is a student suddenly leaving and leaving a mess.

 However, is it possible by law that he "fires" me and does not allow me to finish the one year contract?

Other than the Probezeit (probation period), no: neither the employer nor you can one-sidedly cancel a fixed-term contract. Both sides can agree on prematurely ending the contract, though (and employers will typically agree if an employee wants to leave).
And as employee, the employer has to let you out of the fixed term contract if you can show a better opportunity. I.e. if you have an offer, say, working full time + night shifts as doctor, that's more money than your PhD contract, so "better".

With  "as time goes by" I meant from my point of graduation from medical school, which is three years already. Sorry, that was not clear in my question.

You PI never paid you salary for your PhD study. As a PhD student, you worked for yourself. Your scholarship came from yourself. You indirectly paid your PI's team, not the other way around. Your're your own boss. He's not your boss.
Just tell your PI you'd like to quit because you believe PhD is not suitable for you. No need to be emotional. You're the person who is going to fire your PI.

OK... Your PI is actually your boss. Just inform about your decision, this is like resigning for a position. Again, no need to be emotional. Ask him for your future career referee.

The thing is that... I do not have a scholarship. Actually I have a one year contract to the lab, so they are paying me...

@DiaLena Ok, different story now... My answer would work for countries that PhD paid by scholarship.

Yes... that is what bothers me. However, the PI gave me a one year contract instead of 4 becasue " he did not know if I could handle" the data processing my project required. But after 8 months he seems satisfied and we were now making plans for the next 3 years.

@DiaLena That happens to everyone in the industry. Quitting is not a crime. Your position is probably replaceable. Don't worry.


text:
What are the prospects of a Math Master student applying to Finance PhD programs?

What are the prospects of a Math Master student applying to top tier Finance PhD program?

So here's a little bit of my background.
I'm currently in my second year of my Mathematics master degree, applying to Finance PhD programs. The top tier Universities are definitely what I'm aiming for. What are my prospects?
Aspects where I felt like I am disadvantaged compared to other Finance PhD applicants:

I have not taken a lot of Finance/Econ course
I have little research experience compare to other applicants
Admission commitee might question my determination to go into the field of Finance

Aspects where I have outstanding performance/other information:

I have a background of Master in Math, which I assume most applicants don't
I have taken plenty of courses in applied math, including real analysis (I'm currently the grader for the  first year graduate real analysis class)
I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0 GPA. I am still keeping the GPA in my graduate courses so far.
General GRE scores
  -Quantitative: 170/170(98% below)
  -Verbal: 156/170(71% below)
  -Writing: 3.5/6 (38% below)
Math GRE scores: 860/980 (89% below)

I would very much appreciate if someone in the Finance/Econ academia (graduate student/Professors) can give me some advice. Besides my odds of getting accepted,

What are others things I can do to improve my chances of getting into the top schools?

one of them offer me the opportunity to do research with him Do you think you'll get a good recommendation letter from him? Do you think you'll get  more recommendation letters from other Finance professors as well? Would you have good recommendations letters from Math professors? What's the rank of your current masters program?

Possible duplicate of How does the admissions process work for US Ph.D. programs, particularly for weak or borderline students?

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because we don't do personalized assessments of chances of admissions here. See "Can I ask about my specific situation?" in the [help/on-topic].

Admissions for PhD programs at top-tier schools is hyper competitive, and I would imagine it to be even more for finance and economy. Admissions there get huge pools of applicants and they are spoiled in their choices. Applicants would come with these perfect GPA and GRE scores and crafted portfolios from top-tier undergrad programs and so on.
I would say, though, that you can apply and see. But do not limit yourself with top tier universities! You can always find 2nd-tier ones with fantastic research groups in some specific areas that might be of your interest. Do NOT choose where you want to do PhD solely based on the reputation of the university. There is more to it than that, you have to see the research group and their reputation and what journals/conferences they publish in, etc...
Also, here is a link for you to read. You might find it to be such a treat.
http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/if-you-get-phd-get-economics-phd.html