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Are there any guidelines for labeling axes in plots/graphs?
What are best practices (if any exist) for labeling axes in plots/graphs for academic documents, such as theses, publications, or presentations?
Possible options are to use the variable, spell out the variable, or a combination of both. For example, to label a time axis, we could write: t (s) or Time (s) or Time, t (s).
Are there any objective reasons to prefer one style over another, assuming the publisher does not specify which to use? Or sources suggesting a particular format?
I have browsed many journal requirements, but haven't found any that specifically address this.

This differs widely between fields, journals and reserachers, so your Q is to broad and partly opinion based.

My intention was to determine if there were any sources suggesting a specific format. Do you know of any books, or journals that explicitly address this? I have browsed many journal requirements, but haven't found any.

This question appears to be off-topic because it isn't close to any of the topics listed in the Help Center.

APS gives a good hint for authors on their website: https://journals.aps.org/authors/axis-labels-and-scales-on-graphs-h18 BTW: I do not think this question is too broad and should be reopened.

This seems to be a question about preparing images for publication, which is firmly on topic. It asks for objective reasoning and information from other resources, not answerers' opinions. The OP is not asking for an exhaustive list of requirements of different fields, so it's not especially broad. The existing answers are concise, focused, and supported by objective reasoning. This seems like a fine question to me and I've voted to reopen.

The recommended way, according to the International System of Units (SI), is to write t/s (SI brochure, §5.3; see also this guide, §7.1). And the SI is the only system of units that should be used to report experimental results.
The rationale behind this notation is the following: a quantity is the product of a numerical value and a unit, so that the ratio of a quantity (e.g. time) and the corresponding unit (e.g second) is a numerical value (a pure number), which can be used to label axes, tables, etc.
In any case, don't use brackets around the unit, like in "t [s]". The reason is that in quantity calculus brackets represent an operator which means "unit of" (not "dimension of") and should only be used around quantities, not around units. So, for instance, you can write:
[t] = s
but not [s]. For completeness, I also mention that braces are also used to denote the numerical value of a quantity. So, in L = 5 m, we have [L] = m and {L} = 5.

References
For those interested in learning more about quantities, units, their typographical conventions, and quantity calculus, here is a list of references with a few notes:

J C Maxwell, "A treatise on electricity and magnetism", vol. I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1873. Online. Note: Here Maxwell introduces the concept of quantity and the bracket notation.
International Vocabulary of Metrology - Basic and general concepts and associated terms VIM, 3rd edition, JCGM 200:2008. Online. Note: This is the official dictionary of metrological terms where it is possible to find definition for terms like quantity, system of quantities, system of units, etc. On p. 13 there is note which explains the bracket/braces notation.
I M Mills, "The language of science", Metrologia 34, pp. 101-109, 1997.
B W Petley, The fundamental physical constants and the frontier of measurement, Adam Hilger, Bristol, 1988.
I M Mills, "Physical quantities and units" in Recent advances in metrology and fundamental constants, Proceedings of the International School of Physics E. Fermi, Varenna, 2000. Online.
J de Boer, "On the history of quantity calculus and the International System", Metrologia 31, pp. 405-429, 1995.
M J ten Hoor, "Quantity calculus for chemists", Chemistry in action n. 57, 1999. Online
M L McGlashan, "Physicochemical quantities and units: The grammar and spelling of physical chemistry", Royal Institute of Chemistry, London, 1971.
E R Cohen et al., "Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry", IUPAC Green Book, 3rd Edition, 2nd Printing, IUPAC & RSC Publishing, Cambridge, 2008 Online
Nayuki, Handling physical quantities in math formulas. This article is a lively little gem on quantity calculus with lots of practical examples.

Thanks for the reference, I am glad to see some "standards" have been considered. That being said, I would confusingly interpret those units as divisions. Furthermore, they recommend 1000 K / T could be rewritten as kK/T, which seems unnecessarily confusing. Thanks for the information on brackets, I've never seen them in the form of describing units of value of units.

The brackets notation was introduced by Maxwell, who is the father of the concept of quantity as we know it today. The braces notation is probably more recent, but I don't know when it was first introduced. For the interpretation of / as division, the framework is that of quantity calculus: albeit not well known, its foundations are sound (see e.g. this paper). I have a book which uses '/' in tables and graphs which dates back to 1968, so it's not even a recent notation.

Could you please provide a reference on the use of brackets in quantity calculus?

I've edited my answer adding a list of general references, with online links where possible. Maybe in the next days I'll add a few more notes.

@BenCrowell: the main point of quantity calculus is indeed that of mixing quantity symbols and unit symbols. And quantity calculus has nothing to do with (faceless?! - come on, really) committees, but it has a lot to do with basic physics (and as you can see from the publication dates of the references given above, it is surely not a modern, fancy, invention). The fact that a certain idea or notation is little known, it does not mean that its rationale is not sound, and I can list quite a few ideas that are little-known but that are quite fundamental.

As for the readability, it assured by the fact that variable quantities should be typeset with an italic font shape and units with a roman shape, since they are considered constant quantities. Here, on Academia.SE, there's no LaTeX markup so I didn't differentiate the two shapes at the time of writing, but I can edit it by using the text italic.

@MassimoOrtolano In your answer you recommend against using square brackets around the unit, but the OP asked using parentheses. I have seen the labeling "Time (s)" or "Speed (m/s)" used very commonly, and I think it is unambiguous and unlikely to be misinterpreted. However, is this considered wrong in your point of view?

@Nayuki Tricky question ;-) I'd distinguish between the case of axes labelled with mathematical symbols and those labelled with text. In the case of mathematical symbols, I strongly suggest the coherent use of quantity calculus, e.g. v /(m/s) (sorry, no MathJax here). In the case of a textual label, typically less formal, I wouldn't consider wrong the usage of parentheses: actually, they can be even clearer than the division in the case of a long text (e.g., I wouldn't write "John's car speed/(m/s)" but "John's car speed (m/s)"). Probably I should've addressed this distinction in the answer.

So to plot a car's distance vs time, the horizontal axis would be labeled "time per second" and the vertical axis would be labeled "distance per meter"?  That seems incredibly confusing.

@endolith No, they would be labelled t /s and d /m, which you don't need to read as time per second or distance per meter, but as time divided by second and time divided by meter.

Good practise is to make sure the graph is understandable even when taken out of its context (the paper). Hence spelling out the label helps to avoid misunderstandings. There is, however, nothing formally wrong with the other forms you mention although the label including both variable and variable abbreviation is not common in my field. On the other hand, it serves to couple the variable name with its abbreviation so it has its merits.

I am very particular about figures in my papers, as when I skim a paper the first thing I do after reading the abstract is look at the figures to determine whether the results are interesting or not, and on that basis whether to read the paper in more detail. Hence I always make sure the data is clearly presented through an appropriate use of symbols, colours and typeface, as well as a detailed stand alone caption describing what the data is and what it shows. As part of this I always label the axes in the form "quantity (unit)". In my opinion a variable name 't' is insufficiently descriptive to make figures stand alone, and so doesn't communicate to the casual reader what the figure shows. Units are of course essential, and in the case of dimensionless quantities I usually include the variable name as the unit, eg t/t0.

While I share your perfectionism, I find this answer too verbose and hard to extract what you are trying to communicate.

There is nothing technically incorrect about any of those forms. In journal submissions, there will be typesetters to check that your figures adhere to their style guidelines.
In general:
The name of the quantity (e.g. time) and its units (e.g. s) are needed for clarity. It is generally better to add some concise descriptor to the quantity (e.g. Is it reaction time? geological time? etc.)
Preferences for how the units are displayed are somewhat subjective as well. An alternative format is using / as a separator (e.g. Time / s), though I personally think this format lends itself to confusion with derived quantities that contain division (e.g. Dimensionless Time, t/tc, as another user mentioned, will also have a /)
Adding the variable name (e.g. t) is often redundant in formal publications, unless equations figure extensively into the written portion and/or the naming is non-obvious or unconventional (say you used τ). Italicization will often be used to improve clarity.
Above all, consistency is critical. Choose a format, and use it for all graphs in the same manuscript. Doing otherwise just appears sloppy.

The only thing I dislike about spelling out variable names, is the length, e.g., I could write Q* or Dimensionless Volumetric Energy. The latter can require a larger figure if the y-axis is too short to contain the word, while the former certainly doesn't have this problem.

@William As long as you define Q* in the caption then I think this is fine. I always make sure my figures are standalone because people don't always read the whole paper.

As @MassimoOrtolano's answer points out, Time/s is indeed a division.


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Does it look bad to go to a campus interview at one university after accepting a TT position at another university?
I currently accepted a TT position in a Canadian university (let's call it "Univ. A"). I have now a on campus interview (again for TT position) at a more prestigious US university (call it "Univ. B"). Now I have a dilemma, about whether to go on campus interview at "Univ. B".
If I go to campus interview (which is likely public info) at "Univ. B", how "unacceptable" is in the eyes of other universities? ("Univ. A" will surely not be happy)

yes continuing to interview after accepting an offer will annoy the place you accepted an offer from. If you are confident you can not interview secretly I suggest notifying Univ. B and asking to change the purpose of your visit from "job interview" to "research seminar"

Your question is really do I risk a long distance relationship and take the chance they find someone else, or do I join them and suffer if it goes south : good luck.

If I understand the question correctly, you have already received and accepted an offer of a position at University A. Then you should inform University B (and any other universities you've applied to) about this fact and withdraw your application(s) there.  (You could, in the same message, inform University B of your continuing interest in working with some of their faculty, even if the collaboration has to be via email or skype.)

I removed the details about A and B from your post, as they are not relevant to the question of "how will this look to other universities."

Related: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/38040/what-is-the-recommended-option-for-a-faculty-applicant-after-accepting-an-offer/38050#38050

Does it look bad etc. ?

Yes, it looks bad - although it's not clear it is actually noticeable, see below.
Also, it depends on what you mean by "accepted":

Did you only say you want to accept the offer over a phone conversation?
Was there a formal letter of offer?
Did you formally accept the offer somehow?
Was there work on a draft contract, or negotiation of employment conditions?
Was there a final contract?
Did the university sign the contract?
Did you sign the contract?
Has some time passed since your signature, during which University A may have been making plans relying on your starting to work there?
Were you assigned specific duties such as teaching, committee memberships etc?

The more "Yes"es on this list, the worse it is. If it's just the first item, though, I wouldn't even say it's that bad that you're proceeding with another interview.

"Univ. A" will surely not be happy

It is not necessarily the case that University A will know, or can know, that you've gone and interviewed at University B. After all, visiting a university does not necessarily taking an interview; so unless they're in contact with whoever is interviewing at University B, and those people feel like sharing this information with them - it's not clear University A will be any the wiser.
Note that I'm not suggesting you actually use this fact to hide what you're doing from University A.
And a second note: Some people hold partial tenured positions in more than one university; others hold a tenured position in one university and a "visiting professor" or some such position at another. You could possibly make your interview at B be about that.

Thanks! Yes, the answer all your points are "yes" in my case, so it may look bad. "Univ. A" also spent their money to get me there (sorting out immigration stuff). I forgot to mention that my TT position at "Univ. A" starts now (Jan 2018), while the interview at "Univ. B" is for a TT position starting in Sept. 2018.

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Submitting open LORs as "Supportive Documents" scans?
In addition to the 3 LORs for my Ph.D. application, I have requested extra LORs from professors that I scanned & uploaded under the additional "Supportive Documents" of my application.
Obviously, the professors of these additional LORs are fully supportive and aware of their letters being open to me to upload as UNOFFICIAL & supporting docs...
Q:  Since it's customary for applicants to "waive their rights" to LORs, will these extra LORs negatively impact my application since I know their contents???  What is your take on this?  Thanks in advance :)

Possible duplicate of What is the point of a non-confidential reference letter?

Which country is this?

USA. California

No one needs more than three strong LORs, especially if that's what's been requested.  I don't think these additional letters will be helpful to you, both because it might make it appear you have trouble following directions and because the non-confidentiality, the fact you're delivering them yourself, reduces their value.

Thanks for the response.  Value reductions are no problem.  But can we talk about having trouble following directions?  That's the main reason why I didn't make them official.  We actually have extra slots for more LORs but I chose to do exactly 3 and the rest are "supporting docs".  Would that still be bad?  TIA!

@oikos99 I don't see how that changes things except to make it worse.  I personally wouldn't submit more than 3 letters.  And any LORs I did submit would be submitted by whatever mechanism they requested or not at all.

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Withdrew from PhD without dissertation, can I claim that I have PhD on my resume?
I attended Capella University from 2009-2016. I earned a Master's degree without any problems. I completed all of the coursework for the Ph.D. at the same university and spent two years in the dissertation program. Due to many hindrances by the university (Absenteeism of 4 dissertation chairs, Lack of guidance and direction/feedback and extremely slow response time- many weeks) I decided to withdraw from the university. My overall GPA for the doctoral program was a 3.8 and my total tuition was $185,000 for the two degrees.  The university issued me a Ph.D. completion of coursework certificate. Can I use Ph.D. as an earned degree on my resume and other credential necessary situations?

Correction, your total tuition was $185,000 for one degree and a coursework certificate - not for two degrees.

The dissertation/thesis is the "spine" of the phd. You categorically do not have a PhD, implying otherwise would most likely characterise fraud (IANAL, depends on the country). Bad idea all around tho.

You're pretty clear about the fact that you don't have a PhD before asking if you can tell people that you have a PhD.  Exactly what sort of answer were you looking for here?  Did you just need folks to tell you the obvious?

You can use the exact wording from the completion of coursework certificate to show what you did achieve. Just don't give the impression you completed the PhD.

Absolutely not. Unless you have a diploma, you do not have a PhD! There are certain rules you have to follow to get a PhD, including a dissertation and a defense. The fact that you feel slighted by the university does not mean that you can re-define what rules apply for you.

I agree with the previous votes that you cannot claim PhD on your resume. Future employers would be able to use this as a reason to fire you without any additional justification. Unfortunately, you are not alone in this situation. Approximately 50% of all PhD students leave before completing the dissertation. This is so common that many cite your level of degree work as an "ABD" degree -- ABD stands for all but dissertation.
You might consider giving the dissertation another attempt. You could re-enroll for the minimum dissertation hours and form a new (and possibly better?) committee. Most universities allow 7 years for PhD completion, so you may be able to get back into the program without too much hassle. You may not want to do this, but it is an option for you to consider.
Another consideration: if you want to work in academia, all that is required to teach undergraduate students is a masters degree. Many colleges and universities have an "ABD" category in their payscale -- meaning that your PhD hours would enable you to earn more money than another candidate with only a masters degree. (I live in Florida and am a professor at a 4-year college. The "ABD" category was added several years ago and seems to be growing in popularity here.)
Best luck moving forward.

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Tenure-track application: how important is the area of preference?
I'm applying for tenure-track positions in mathematics in the US, and I'm seeing some ads with a specified area of preference, which says "preference will be given to the candidates in area XXX".
Is it worth it to apply even if I'm not in these areas? Do the applications even get looked at? I would like to hear from people who have served on hiring committees.

The short answer is that it varies.  In some cases an institution might be quite willing to consider a strong applicant who is outside of the preferred area of specialization, while in other cases it may be very important to the institution and they'll only take someone outside of the preferred area if there are no reasonable applicants in the preferred area.
The one thing that you can be sure of is that there will almost certainly be a substantial number of applicants who are in the preferred area.   You won't get the job unless (1) the department is willing to hire outside of the preferred area and (2) you're a stronger candidate than all of the other candidates who are in the preferred area.  That's a pretty high bar.
My own experience on hiring committees for positions in applied mathematics is that a large fraction (maybe half) of the applications come from candidates who aren't in the desired area.  As a search committee member, I look at their applications and drop them from consideration with no more than a minute or two of consideration because we've always had plenty of good candidates in our area of interest.

A lot of times, at least outside of Math, an area is preferred because it is hard to find good applicants in that area.

I'll add that it costs very little effort (no more than a few minutes) to submit an application through mathjobs.org.  Given that it's so easy to submit an application, there's little reason not to if you're at all interested in a position.


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Do American universities generally sponsor H1B visas for staff?
Do top American universities (such as NYU, etc.) sponsor H1B visa petitions for staff position? If yes, what type of jobs are sponsored in staff positions?

I edited it to make it more generalizable and apropos for this SE.

The key here is the nature and duration of the job.  You simply can't sponsor an employee for an H-1B visa if the position doesn't require at least a Bachelor's degree.  You can't sponsor without being able to assert that qualified US citizens/residents weren't available- for most low level administrative and IT positions, that can be tough.  It also makes little sense to sponsor for an H-1B visa if the position is for a limited time- thus many universities won't sponsor an H-1B visa for a one or two year post-doc or visiting assistant professor position.

Actually, the sites I looked at seemed to suggest it happens pretty regularly.  But yes, absolutely must be specialized and long term.

Yes.  A simple google search for "H1-B university staff" links to a bunch of federal and school-specific policies.  It goes without saying these roles are reserved for people with "specialized knowledge," etc.  Also a link to a similarish question about faculty is here.
You asked "what type" and I missed that the first time around.  Here is a link to a page that explains H1B jobs open at NYU.  Not all but mostly faculty positions.


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My french-to-english translated transcripts and certificates use the term Computing instead of Computer Science
In order to apply for foreign universities, I translated my academic transcripts and certificates from French to English, and the sworn translator used the term "Computing" instead of "Computer Science" (French for both terms is "Informatique"). My question is: Does the difference between the two terms really matters? or do universities use the list of subjects taken to decide whether I have the prerequisites or not?

It's not clear whether you are the translator or not. Could you please clarify?

@MassimoOrtolano my interpretation was that "the sworn translator" implied a professional/legal entity other than OP

There is definitely a difference in English.  "Computing" more generally means the application of digital devices to tasks and problem solving.  "Computer science" is the field in which one would study such application. (Ducking, as I know someone's going to have a problem with that, but more-or-less that's the difference.)  That said, most admissions committees are pretty good about reading between the lines, especially when applicants are from foreign countries.  You might want to add a note explaining that your application is a translation.  Can't hurt.

@Luigi You're right, I've overlooked "sworn".

Are you applying for undergraduate or graduate?  In what countries?  At what type of university?  All of these matter.  (For graduate study in my department in the US - send the French documentation as well as the English, since several of us can read French well enough for this purpose, and the department makes the actual decisions.  The university has an office that needs to see the documentation that you have a degree and the US equivalents of your grades.  However, this office just confirms department decisions were made in good order, so they don't need to understand everything.)

You should always arrange with the translator for you to be able to take a look at the work before they go get it notarized.  It needs to be a collaboration.  The translator prepares a draft, you look it over and flag some areas of concern, the translator makes some adjustments.

It might matter more or less, depending on the particular subject in question, as well as the given translation. Even though the terms that designate "Computer Science" were changing multiple times throughout its history (the name of the field has a rich history and interesting etymology itself), there is a standardized set of terms that people usually go by.
Unfortunate translations that might lead to using terms that are not widely accepted or using terms in a wrong way, might make a difference, depending on the situation. Therefore, even though they might not make a big difference in what they convey, they might make the overall interaction (e.g. a university application) look less professional and it is best to avoid them.
As for the concrete example you've mentioned, even though a degree in "Computing" probably can be easily disambiguated as a degree in "Computer Science", it would still be better to make sure the translation matches such widely used term, due to reasons of thoroughness and professionalism of the applicant in preparing an application.
("Computing" has a more general meaning, which does not imply science of computing, as mentioned by Dave Kaye.)
I had a similar experience with translations of my academic transcript, where the sworn translator incorrectly translated terms like "network" and "security". (I think these terms are ambiguous in multiple languages.) I resolved the issue by explicitly checking whether the translations matched "common sense" and pointed out the right translations to the translator.
(It's always good collaborate with the translator, which might not be familiar with the specific technical terminology, as mentioned by aparente001.)
Of course, this also depends on the person, the institution that evaluates your academic transcript and its translation, as well as the context. My personal opinion is that in most cases of university applications, these should not matter too much overall (unless they represent a sign of things like negligence and misconduct): 1) translated names of subjects in Computer Science cannot get too ambiguous; 2) you usually get a chance for explaining any potential misunderstandings (e.g. during an interview). Also note that, as far as I know, in most cases, universities require original transcripts as well, thus any "alarming" ambiguity might get resolved without further intervention of applicants.

"Unfortunate translations that might lead to using terms that are not widely accepted or using terms in a wrong way, might make a difference, depending on the situation." - anecdotally related: Can Rechnungswesen be used as translation of Computer Science?


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How to cite supplementary material of a Science paper and avoid confusion with my own supplementary material?
I want to specify in my paper an exact methodology developed by another author and explained in the suplementary material of a Science's paper. The problem is that I already have my own supplementary material's section, formated in the same fashion, and want to avoid confusion. I have tried something on the lines of:

Therefore, we regarded the results as likely noise and following XXXXX et. al. (2012) methodology (Supplementary material S3.3. (XXXXX, et. al. (2012)) proceeded to reanalize the data.

Citing XXXXXX's paper twice seems cumbersome and out of style, but if I write instead:

Therefore, we regarded the results as likely noise and following XXXXX et. al. (2012) methodology (Supplementary material S3.3.) proceeded to reanalize the data.

i feel people might get confused and turn to section 3.3. of MY supplementary material, where they, of course, will find something utterly different.
How can I be clear enough that readers should look at XXXXXX's Supplementary material and not mine while keeping the readability of my paper?

@DSVA For the sake of clarity, I think it is, at least, good practice.

Therefore, we regarded the results as likely noise and following the methodology described in Supplementary material S3.3 of XXXXX et. al. (2012), we proceeded to reanalyze the data.


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Decision pending for more than 15 days
I have submitted my paper in one of the Elsevier journals. It was under review, and now it is decision pending for more than 15 days. Does it mean that the paper will be rejected?

On academic journal scales, 15 days is almost nothing. I guess it can take up to a month or even longer, depending on journal and field.

"Decision pending" means that the decision... is pending. They haven't decided yet.
There isn't any secret code to deciphering the submission tracker. Things just always take much longer than we think they would.

It should be mentioned that rejections usually are somewhat faster than acceptances.

Since you (nor I) know how your paper's status is changed in the journal's website, you shouldn't jump to conclusions.
It is likely that the change "under review" -> "decision pending" means that referee(s) report(s) were received, and now the editor has to make the decision. In many journals the decision does not fall solely on the editor, but papers are discussed to some extent by the editorial board. Those things often take time.
It could be that the editor is pondering the decision. It could be that the editor only works on editorial decisions every couple weeks. It could be other things.
The way I try to see it, is that things seem to be a lot better than they used to be when there were no online submission and tracking systems. There was a time when we actually submitted the papers by postal mail.


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For publications, what do I do when my first name is abbreviated?
I'm Muslim, I use Md. as for Muhammad. So when submiting to journals, should I stick to the 2nd & 3rd names? I'm currently facing problems in submitting to arxiv.org which asks for only first and last names.

There is no restriction on the arXiv to using just first and last names, and many people use initials in various combinations.  For example, http://arxiv.org/abs/1101.5984 has "Md. Saifur Rahman" as an author, so you should have no trouble with "Md. Golam Rashed".

This shouldn't really be a problem these days in most places, because the entry fields on most web-based entry forms are smart enough to recognize and accept spaces. Thus, even when the site asks for a first name only, you can put in "Md. [Middle Name]" as your first name.
As Dave suggests in the comment, unless you have a really uncommon last name—one that doesn't show up in ISI or arXiv.org searches at all right now, you're better off having parts of three names show up. It's also helpful to keep your professional name fixed throughout your career. (In other words, if you want to go by Md. [Middle] [Last], use that same form whenever possible.)

I will definitely do that!

My advice is to use at least 3 names (including your surname) so that you will be uniquely identifiable. It probably doesn't matter if you do not use your first name unabbreviated. I know a few researchers whose names are of the form: C. Harry Kay. I also know of researchers who go by a single name (Robby, Arvind). So just fill in whatever names you want , abbreviated or not, into the first names field.
Make sure you use the same configuration of names for your entire career, so that all your papers can be linked to you (I made this mistake).


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Invited paper: who has to be the first author?
My supervisor received an invitation to submit a paper to a special issue of a prestigious journal. Naturally, I have done most of the writing (80%) and all the results in the manuscript are my work.
In this case, who has to be the first author? Is it him, for he is the one invited to submit the paper? Or is it me for doing most of the work?

possible duplicate of What does first authorship really mean?

I don't think that is a duplicate.

Invitation does not per se equal first authorship. I assume the rules of who should be first author in your field (as discussed in some places here) do not change significantly just because it is an invited paper.

I don't really understand why the OP's thesis advisor wants to respond to an invitation to submit a paper to a prestigious journal by submitting the OP's work.

Sorry, but @410gone is correct.  This question is a duplicate because it has the same answer as the other question.  An invitation to submit a paper does nothing to change author order.

@PeteL.Clark In most lab sciences, advisors exclusively publish their students' work.  Supervisors are managers and grant writers.

If a person receives an invitation, the responsibility to deliver will be with that person. That does not necessarily mean that person will be first author although I suspect it will most frequently be the case. There are many posts on academia.se that deal with first authorships so I do not think I need to replicate many good answers here. Suffice it to say that you need to discuss the authorship with your advisor. Unfortunately, this should have been done early on because lack of an agreement on authorship ordering early on is what usually leads to conflicts in the end. I am not saying this applies in your case but the fact that you ask seems to go in that direction.
For authorship and contributorship discussions I can point you to two posts in Council of Science Editors and BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal). There are many other sources but they provide the core ideas on author/contributorship. It is easy to agree with these ideas, more difficult to live by them, particularly in a student-advisor relationship.


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As a postdoc, how to make sure I get credit for helping undergrad and grad students?
I am a postdoc, and I understand that my work involves assisting undergrads and grad students with their projects. But sometimes things go beyond mere helping into more like supervising and explaining in detail some important aspects to undertake the work correctly. All I get at the end is a "thank you for your help" (which I really appreciate)! At some stage I even helped another postdoc by doing some calculations and some analysis of her work. I never have my name on any of their resulting publications.
I don't know how to approach this issue, it seems odd if I would say 'listen I won't help until you promise that I will be a co-author'.
Any advice?

If your contribution deserves co-authorship, it's unethical to drop you from the author list. If it doesn't, it's unethical to have you as a co-author. Of course, no one should promise to put your name on the next paper as a co-author when you haven't made enough contribution yet. Are your colleagues/coworkers systematically exploiting you by making you contribute to some extent but never enough to be a co-author? Or are you saying they put you in such a situation without realizing it? Or are they simply unethically dropping you from the author list?

First, from the title it's unclear if by credit you mean coauthorship or something less.  Second, from the question it's unclear that your help merits coauthorship.  Explaining crucial known things in detail does not, though typically merits an acknowledgement.

I think that the OP meant how to get anything out of all this time they invest into advising other students. PostDoc time is "Career preparation" time. So investing so much time should count somehow, like being allowed to write "co-supervised PhD student xy" on the CV or getting a "dean's certificate for excellence in keeping the department strong in research", which could - in turn - appear on the CV. In either case, he/she asks for some way of benefitting from all this work.

@DCTLib: To me, from the last sentence of the first paragraph and the second paragraph, it looks like the OP might be focused on co-authorship.

If you wish to be a coauthor, you should definitely ask if that will happen before you start the work.  Setting clear expectations is the best way to get people to do what you want.  In those cases where you think you cannot become a coauthor, ask the person you are helping to tell your supervisor that you helped them.   Keep a list of things you did and give it to your supervisor when you need letters of recommendation.


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Would it be rude or helpful to ask a foreign coworker if they'd like for me to correct their English when there are obvious mistakes?
I have a colleague who is very new to this country (USA). His English leaves a lot to be desired, to the point that it often actually hinders communication. I think he's trying to learn, but it's obviously hard.
Sometimes in an email, there will be a few mistakes that are fairly glaring, even if I get what they're trying to say. I was considering asking him (so as to not just give unsolicited advice), "would you like me to correct any errors in your writing I see when you email me? It could help you improve more quickly."
It could definitely help him learn, but I'm also aware that it could be embarrassing for him, as well as presumptuous on my part. Personally, I (like to) think I'd really like it if someone made me that offer if I were in that position, but of course I can't know for certain.
Is that a good idea, or is it better to just mind my own business?

I don't think this is specifically an Academic issue. It is one that could occur in any workplace, so perhaps it should be more suited to the workplace group.

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is more suited to [workplace.se]

You are so kind. I wish somebody do the same for me.

@BrianTompsett-汤莱恩: I disagree with the close rationale. While the problem surely does occur both in academia and in business, I do think answers are somewhat different. Case in point, there is one similar Workplace SE question, and its answers mostly focus on whether the English issues are a problem for the company's business ("if the customers are okay with the imperfect English, then you shouldn't meddle with it too much") and on the relative hierarchical position of those involved ("Knowing when to shut up is very important (even if ...

... you happen to be right)."). While practical considerations certainly have their place in academia, and hierarchy does exist in some way, my general experience is that people in academia will rather also have a certain sense of perfectionism concerning their work and usually value expanding their knowledge a bit more than being happy with "good enough". And while this particular response wasn't given, I half-way expected someone on Workplace SE to point out that "if it's not your assigned task, don't do it", which of course is also in contrast to the self-organizing nature of academic work.

I'd also add that, scanning the related questions off to the side, a lot of those could just be workplace.SE questions instead. This is taking place in academia, if that helps.

@qsp "I wish somebody would do the same for me." :)

It is hard to say what your colleague would feel since I cannot predict how anybody would feel in any situation. Yet, if I received an offer like this, I would most certainly not get offended. I often consult my native speaker colleagues about my writing and get useful feedback.
One thing you definitely want to do is to not do this in front of others. Doing it in an e-mail privately would certainly decrease the "embarrassment" if there is any.

Oh definitely. I would never do it in front of others.

I have many friends and professional (academic) colleagues who are from other countries, and in my experience, they are eager to accept positive correction on their English pronunciation and grammar. While it may depend on each person on a case-by-case basis, someone who is willing to move to another country is most likely the type of person who is willing to improve upon themselves and their command of the English language. I definitely think it could really benefit the person receiving your corrections from a native-speaker such as yourself.


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What would I need to show to change fields and get into a physics PhD program?
I've been working as a software engineer for a few years now, and have a bachelor's in computer science and math. My interest and knowledge in physics has been growing since I graduated, but I never took any formal courses after high school.
Obviously, entering into a physics PhD would require a huge amount background knowledge comparable to a bachelor's in physics. My question is what would I need to do to prove that I had that knowledge, and actually get accepted into a program?
Would it be enough to score high on the GRE, and have some strong letters of recommendation? Could I do it with enough statements of accomplishment on coursera? Or am I looking at a few more years of undergrad to get a second Bachelor's? Or could I get into a master's program, and use that as a stepping stone?
Thanks.

Check out requirement for the programs you want to apply to; it will tell you what you need to have. For PhD in Economics, any background in Economics is a plus, but usually not required.

If you have a bachelors degree and would like to make a phd in physics, you might want to consider doing a masters degree first. This will probably also help you evaluate what kind of field in physics you want to do research in.

I am switching to a software engineer after getting my physics PhD. My suggestion is to keep your curiosity in physics but NOT try to get a PhD... Too many physics PhDs out there not able to land a job in academia.

possible duplicate of Having the knowledge of a graduate student but not having the degree requirements for graduate school?

@DavidZ I don't think that's a duplicate, because this OP (1) already has a BS in a related field, and (2) is willing to get a BS or MS in physics en route to PhD if necessary. These make the answer very different.

I also suspect the answer would be different for physics than for math since most undergraduate physics programs involve some lab time which is harder for an amateur to get at. That linked question is encouraging though, and makes it sound as though a good GRE score along with a conversation with someone in the department might be enough without actual course records.

@ff524 no, I don't think that makes the answer different.  Having a degree in a different field doesn't affect one's qualifications for graduate school in physics; in fact, even having a degree in physics, the requirements are pretty similar. Anyway, the answer I posted to the other question is even more applicable to this one - I would post it here if I hadn't already posted it there.

Seeing as nobody else has answered and this is judged not to be a duplicate of this question, I'll quote my answer from there (except with "math" changed to "physics"), which also applies here:

If you're asking about graduate school in the US, probably the single most significant thing you can do is to take the GRE subject test for physics and score well on it. This test covers a broad spectrum of material that is taught in a typical undergraduate physics curriculum, and so if you get a good score, it strongly supports your claim that you have the level of physics knowledge required to enter grad school. Without that key piece of evidence (i.e. a good GRE subject score), graduate admissions committees are likely to look at your statement that you have the knowledge to take graduate courses, contrast it with your lack of an undergraduate degree, and conclude that you're full of hot air, so to speak.
Now, of course there is more that has to be done to actually get yourself admitted. You can't get into grad school based on even a 990 (the top score) on the GRE alone; you'll probably have to present some other sort of evidence of accomplishment that could be viewed as equivalent to an undergraduate transcript. You'll also need recommendation letters and various sorts of essays and forms. But a lot of that can vary from school to school, and is more likely to be negotiable if you talk to someone in the department. The GRE subject score is the one thing you really need to get your foot in the door, so to speak.

Beyond the GRE, probably the best thing you can do to increase your chances of getting into physics grad school is to have some physics research experience, with a good recommendation letter from your supervisor(s), although strictly speaking this is not necessary. However this might be somewhat difficult to get given that you're not currently an undergraduate.
I don't think there's much to be gained by using a masters program as a stepping stone, at least not among US graduate schools; in fact, there are not really many masters programs in physics at all. People who go to grad school in physics typically go straight from their undergraduate career into a PhD program, without a separate masters program in the middle.

Good advice, I would add though that the physics GRE is a stupid test.


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Can I use someone else's research commercially?
I found a published research paper from the research arm of a company. I would like to use what is presented in the research paper commercially. The materials presented in the research paper do not seem to be patented.
Is this legal? Does the originating company own the intellectual property, or is it now "public domain" due to the research paper being published without a patent? Does this happen quite often? What is the proper etiquette in this situation, should I just leave an attribution to the researcher?

The answer by Nicholas is good. Best approach may be to ask the authors if they patented it and if not would they mind saying why (e.g. they found prior patents.) Better to know in advance what their reaction is going to be than after you have invested time and money. They may even help you.

If the subject material in the research paper is a patentable invention, it might also be the subject material of a patent.
The inventors of an invention may be the first applicants of a patent application. However, if they were employees, employed to invent as part of their normal duties for their employer, the employer is usually considered the first applicant for a patent application.
The rights in a patent or a patent application may be assigned to another person.
So: if there is a patent for an invention relating to the subject material of the research paper, it might be owned by someone other than the company from where the research paper originated. How did you check whether a patent or patent application exists for this subject matter?
Bear in mind that patent applications are made publicly accessible a certain time after the application for a patent is made. So, an applicant may have filed a patent application for the subject material of the research paper, and then published the research paper. The patent application - if extant - may not be publicly available yet. What this means is, if you put into practice the subject material of an unpublished patent application, you may in future receive notification of the patent application, and be advised to cease your operations. If the patent is granted, and you haven't ceased your working of the subject material, you might be liable for damages.
Bear in mind again, that there might be other patents - or patent applications - which relate to the subject material of the research paper. For some degree of certainty, you will need to do a patent search. You can do this yourself, but you have to bear in mind the warnings I gave above in relation to unpublished applications.
There are patent search firms who will do this service for you for a fee.
For a professional legal opinion, ask a patent attorney.
EDIT: If there are intellectual property rights to the subject material of the research paper, you can ask the proprietor of the rights for a licence.

There are time limits on patents from the time of publication.  So if this paper was published in the last year (or even two+), there might still be patents pending.  I thought you had to file within one year of any public announcement of the work.  (but there are different kinds of filing)  Agree on double checking with an attorney.

@DrLivingston: Just a reminder that the grace period for claiming an invention after first disclosure is available in the US, most notably. It is not the case for most other countries, where any information made available to the public regarding the invention could prevent a valid application being made for a patent to that invention in that juristiction.

Good point.  I guess I was just trying to say, if this paper is ~10 years old, and you don't see a patent you are probably good.  I didn't know that wasn't more universal.  It makes more sense than the US way though I suppose.

@DrLivingston: Yes, what you've said is generally true, however the OP should be aware that the only way to get a good handle on the intellectual property surrounding the subject matter of the research paper, is to conduct a patent search. And even then, such a search can be inconclusive. If there is nothing out there  in the 10 years following a publication, then yes, you may feel that you are free to operate. A patent attorney is the only person that should know of all the pitfalls.

You made an excellent point about patent research. You still haven't answered the question though. Assuming there's no patent, how do you go about using the research of a published paper. Do you need the consent of the author? Or maybe you just need to acknowledge them, regardless of their consent? Or maybe not even that, and any published study can be used with no limits in commercial applications. Of course you would ideally want to involve the author, but sometimes this is not feasible for various reasons.


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What should I do about my previous self-plagiarism?
I came across the question "Attitudes towards self-plagiarism" on this site, which asks whether it is OK to reuse text from your own papers without quotation formatting. It seems the answer is no. I didn't know this and I have in fact done this in the past, before I even heard the term "self-plagiarism."
Here is the precise situation: I wrote and published paper A. Then I kept working in the same area and I extended the results, so I decided to write paper B two years later. When writing paper B, I started by taking paper A and editing it. Consequently, much of the text in paper B is directly copied from paper A. In particular, many paragraphs in the introduction, related work, and background sections are either identical or lightly edited. There is no indication which sentences are copied and which are not.
Of course, paper B clearly explains the difference between the results of paper B and the results of paper A. In particular, paper B solves an open problem posed in paper A. As far as content goes, there is no problem, in the sense that, if I had rewritten the copied parts, there would be no problem.
When I did this, I didn't know it was considered bad practise. I figured that, since the motivation, related work, and background for both papers is  essentially the same, there was no point in writing paper B from scratch, given that paper A had already covered these things.
What should I do about this (if anything)? I don't think I did anything malicious, but it seems this is not acceptable.

Did you at least cite Paper A in the References section of Paper B? (If not, that might be a problem. If so, maybe not so much.)

@J.R. B cites A many times.

What is your field?  In some fields, this seems to be regarded more seriously than others.  In math, it's not so uncommon for many "background paragraphs" to be essentially copied.  I dislike when authors do this, but it's forgivable.

This following response is highly personal and does not claim universality: it is my personal 2 cents, and my opinion is that your approach sounds perfectly fine. You do not claim other people's results as your own and you do not claim previous results of yours as novel.
I do not know where this fashion that one has to rewrite everything from scratch comes from, even unchanged aspects in a new paper. Perhaps it comes from humanities where language and formulation is central. But in technical topics it does - in my personal opinion - not really make sense to reformulate obvious intro sections; as little as it makes sense to rewrite code for which there is a library.
Personally, I like to rewrite even intro material sections because I do not like to bore my readers that have read other papers of mine, and also I sometimes discover novel aspects just by writing. However, as long as above conditions of 1. attribution and 2. clearly delineated novelty are fulfilled, I would not join in a negative judgement about repeated sections.

In paper B, if you cited paper A, the paper from which the major content of paper B is from, then your act would not completely be pictured as self-plagiarism. This is because plagiarism is an act of inclusion of matter without attributing the original source.
There is also another case of duplicate publication, which also doesn't apply to your condition as you stated that you've improved the method and differentiated the results.
Final verdict: Provide the methods and results are clearly differentiated, there is no need to worry. You haven't done anything seriously unethical to be concerned too much about. If this still bothers you, then you may suggest for a revision of your paper to the publisher of paper B to make necessary changes in the related work and background section.


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Is it appropriate to email a professor asking for a possible summer project, through online correspondence?
I'm an international Masters student, aiming for a certain reasonably competitive pure math PhD program in the US next year. In Dan C's answer here, he suggests to try and get a recommendation letter from one of the faculty in the school you apply to, by doing some work under him/her. There are a couple of professors in the program whose work interest me, and one of whom I might select as my advisor (given that I'm selected for the program, of course. And assuming my interests don't shift by the next year). However, since I'm not from the US, it would not be possible for me to meet the professor in person.
Given this premise, is it appropriate to contact the professor asking for a possible summer project through online correspondence? Also, should I mention that I would be applying to the program next year?

Yes it's perfectly appropriate

Given this premise, is it appropriate to contact the professor asking for a possible summer project through online correspondence?

I doubt you'll get a positive answer, but there's nothing offensive about asking, as long as the way you phrase your e-mail doesn't come across as entitled or demanding.  Given that you are concerned about whether it's even appropriate to ask, I'm not too worried about that.
There are a number of reasons why this probably won't work out: supervising a student can be a fair amount of work, online correspondence is an inefficient way to do it, and there's usually plenty of demand from local students already.  However, it can't hurt to ask, and you might happen to ask just when the professor has in mind a project that none of the local students have the time or expertise to take up.

Also, should I mention that I would be applying to the program next year?

I think you should.  It's a tricky issue, since you don't want to make it sound like that's the only reason you're interested (and learning or doing research are secondary), or like you expect that it will lead to guaranteed admission.  In fact, I'd recommend explicitly addressing these issues, perhaps by including something like this partway through your e-mail: "For context, I should point out that I'm planning to apply to the [university] Ph.D. program next year, and you are someone I have in mind as a possible advisor.  Of course I understand that I may not be admitted, but working on a summer project would be a valuable learning experience regardless of where I end up attending graduate school."


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What should I do to make the new University appeared in the Webometrics ranking?
What should I do to make a new University appear in the Webometrics ranking?
http://www.webometrics.info
Are scientific publications by researchers affiliated with this University (additionally assumes quoted) sufficient?
We assume that the University has a website.
Theoretical question.

What do you find out at that site?

@GEdgar it looks rather sketchy


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Should I include salary information on my CV?
I am about to graduate with a PhD. I have an accomplished advisor (whose advice I value very much) who told me that I should always include the salary of my previous and current job in my CV when applying for jobs.  Her argument is that the academic job market is very competitive and university administrators want to see at first glance how much money you will cost them should they choose to hire you.
I did this without any question several months ago and was able to find a decent job, but I want to get a second opinion on this idea. Many of my peers thought I was crazy for listing pay on my CV, and received the opposite advice from their mentors.
It worked for me this time, but is this standard practice?

I have never seen that, and honestly salary information is not useful at all. How can you compare the salary working in NYC to a small town in Mississippi? (And that's well before you consider differences in duties, etc).  Public universities (in the US at least) have their salaries available for you to look at as a matter of public record. If you think you're too rich for their blood, don't apply.

Can you specify to which country this applies? For example, in Germany the negotiation margin for academic salary is zero in most cases, so the suggestion wouldn’t make sense.

Seems strange.  Maybe it is common in your field, but it is not in mine.  But it also seems strange that people answered "no it is not standard" without knowing the field, or the country.

You don't "win" negotiations by disclosing everything up front. Why tell the selection committee "this guy's current salary is so low that he/she's unlikely to be good enough for the job" or alternatively" this guy's current salary is so high he/she won't accept what we can afford to pay, so there's no point considering him/her for the post."

I'm curious to know what country this is? I also don't know if you mean your current salary or your salary requirements. I think both are important to know for any proper answer.

@alephzero basically poker where you play with cards open, mostly. Fine if everyone does it, but if you're the only one, I don't see an advantage. That's also why I typically decline to tell what my concrete salary expectation is, unless the job offer already includes a salary (range), because that depends on the job and is part of the negotiation.

@guifa "when applying for jobs" the context heavily implies salary expectation for that specific job listing area. This is information the OP should have already before sending a CV (whether they include their expectation or not)

Would be wildly abnormal here in the UK, although I'm not in the academic field and I suppose it could be different to the rest of the job market.

Only if Trump is going to be your employer and in such a case you would be advertising the fact that you are worth your weight in gold as that's then more important than being the most competent applicant.

This is not standard in any academic or industry context I am familiar with.
Typically salary negotiations (if they exist and a position is not simply funded at a fixed salary) occur after a hiring decision is made, that is, a step past when someone is reading your CV.
I would find it odd to see salary information in a CV.

No this is not standard practice and is probably detrimental to obtaining offers and maximizing the salary of the offers. If your past earnings are too high, a company may not make you and offer for fear of you not taking it. Why let a company decide if you will take the job. Once an offer is made, it is generally held negotiating strategy that the party that says a salary number first "loses".

"detrimental to obtaining offers" - you're phrasing like it's a bad thing. That's the whole point: to stop offers below your expectations, saving everybody the time.

A CV with a salary stated in it will certainly come across as "don't bother contacting me if you can't offer at least that much". It could send your CV to the bottom of the pile, so even if another candidate will eventually request exactly that much during the in-person interview, they will get the job instead of you. By being upfront and honest about your salary expectations (which is technically a good thing), you give up on a sort of lock-in effect (the more time a department spends interviewing you, the more valuable you become) which would work in your favour.
Now, if you're awash in position offers and you want to be contacted only about the most lucrative ones, such a filter may sound like a sensible thing to do. But it really isn't, because such offers will automatically be capped to something like your current salary +10%, even if the employer initially had a higher salary in mind. It doesn't mean you cannot request a higher salary or that you will be automatically denied one because your current salary is too low, but it does make such negotiations an uphill battle. You lose the initial chance to "high-ball" by making an unrealistically high offer and expect that the counter-offer, although substantially lower, will still be higher than it would be otherwise, which is a common negotiations technique.

Your cap is generally true (at least in USA), but not universal.  At one job I took (after seven months unemployed, I got a 35% raise.  The company had academic origins, and the salary was determined by degree and number of years experience.  Where I got the experience and how much I got for it was irrelevant.

Depends on your location. In my country (Chile) it is normal to put your salary expectation (not your actual salary) on your CV and it will be one of the filters that will be used to get the job.

If you are about to graduate with a PhD, your current salary has no bearing whatsoever on the salary that you should be getting after you graduate. A postdoctoral fellow should be making a lot more than a graduate school teaching assistant.
And even if you are talking about a former real job that you had, rather than a graduate school teaching assistantship, your educational credentials were different for determining your previous salary — a PhD should generally increase one's salary by quite a bit. (On the other hand, if you were a quant in the financial industry before you decided you wanted to go back to graduate school and become a biochemist, your previous salary was much too high, and you'll be pricing yourself out of the market if you put it in your cv.)
So there is absolutely no reason to put any salary on your CV ... any salary you put down will probably be too low, and thus it can only hurt you.

I agree with answer in general. However: "A postdoctoral fellow should be making a lot more than a graduate school teaching assistant." . Around here, PhD students and postdocs are employees and the difference in salaries is not huge, though it certainly exists.

Lacking additional information about location, this is a bit tentative.  But, for many places, especially those with diverse economic situations it would be a mistake to list requirements. Let me give some of the reasons, though they may not apply to many readers.
I'll assume a fairly large and diverse country, and also one that, like the US, doesn't have a national educational system. I'll also speak only about academic jobs.
First, the cost of living is vastly different in large cities and in small towns in the US. A dollar in NYC is more like two in Kalamazoo, MI.
Next, the quality of life is vastly different in those places, though you get to decide what is positive and what is negative in those various places. NYC is crowded but has many cultural attractions. Kalamazoo has a quieter life style, but museums are farther away.
Next, it may be that, lacking a national system, some perks of the job may be more valuable than salary. An extra dollar of a travel or research fund is better than an extra dollar of salary, since it isn't taxed.
Next, in a diverse system, I think stating your requirements early is an excuse to reject you more than one to accept you. And if you give a too-low figure, you might get an offer worse than one you might have gotten if the university was less certain about what you would accept.
Yes, there are places in which my assumptions don't hold.
My final position before retirement may be a case in point. First, I convinced the university that I would be a good match for them and for their students. I had experience and I had (have?) ideas. They were interested enough to, only then, ask me about salary. This was in a place where salaries are generally pretty high. I gave them a very large figure, which scared them a bit. I heard later that they had discussions about it. "He is good, but very expensive." However, along with the large requested salary figure, I gave reasons for it. The main reason was that I had a lot of international collaborations that required a lot of travel to conferences and such and that was expensive. The dean suggested that I accept a lower figure, but still pretty good, and she would promise to make sure that travel got covered. We came to agreement on that and it was never broken.
But, had I given the same salary figure, even with reasons, at the beginning of our discussions, I doubt that I'd have even been considered.
Make them want you. Badly want you. Then talk about money.

Note that in many places in the US, there are no salary "schedules" that might put your request out of bounds. They do exist some places, I think, which would make it even more likely to get an early rejection. And, your CV should be tailored to each job offering if you can make that happen.

Since you said "I should always include salary information in my CV when applying for jobs", I am assuming you mean expected salary for the job you are applying to. While expected salary on your CV is not standard, it is important to note that this is from the perspective of maximizing money. And as your mentor pointed out, the point of his tip isn't about the money, it's about pushing your resume to the top of the stack, and maximizing the chance you are chosen at all (since a low salary in your field is usually much better than a high salary in another field).
As the other answers mention, by saying the first number, you "lose" the negotiation right off the bat. That gives a major advantage to the university over you in the hiring process, and all other variables being equal, makes you a much more attractive candidate. With how much opposition there is to giving up this advantage, it should be pretty clear already why giving it up makes you look much more attractive.
People have noted that by listing an expected salary, you may deter offers (you get pushed to the bottom of the stack because you are either "too rich" for them, or they fear you are too cheap and will be a liability). It should be part of your research before sending a CV to know what the average salary is for your field in that area (and for competitive fields, you should be doing research on the company/area to make sure you have the highest quality CV in the stack). If you are doing your research right, this shouldn't be an issue at all, and how to do that is another question for another site. But a low yet reasonable expected salary will maximize your chances of success.
I believe your mentor's advice is actually good, as long as you remember that you are trading a portion of the salary of the job you are applying to, for a higher rate of success getting that job. Since your mentor said you are in a highly competitive field, you should follow his advice. If you are in a non-competitive field, the trade isn't worth it (because you can more easily get the higher pay by putting out more applications at a lower success rate; not a valid option when the success rate and number of jobs is already terrible from the start).

In addition to the above comments about it not being standard practice:  This is the sort of thing, you should be looking at articles, books, websites, multiple people.  Job searching is a huge activity that many people do.  There has been an immense lot of good stuff written on it.  There is no reason to consider your particular advisor the oracle of this massive societal activity.

On the other hand, it’s notoriously difficult to get any robust data on this, since the reasons for decisions are rarely revealed and most people only go through the entire hiring procedure in a comparable situation once. In my experience, the literature you can find on this is strongly contradictory in many aspects and therefore it’s a very tedious process to extract the advice that is actually generally valid and not based on a whim of the author. (It’s similar for the literature on raising children for the same reasons.)

That is not a standard practice and I would not recommend it
Most of the time you interview first and then they ask you your salary expectations. By putting a number on your resume you are closing the door on a potentially higher salary.
For instance you put 100k to your resume as your current salary, however, the job that you applied pays 200k. Finally, they won`t offer you 200k they may offer 120k maybe and think it is an attractive offer for someone whose current salary is 100k.

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


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Rebuttal is limited to 500 words, but the reviewers asked almost 20 questions
I have got a rebuttal for the conference and require to respond the questions reviewers asked. However, the response section says "Your response must contain at most 500 words." How can I answer almost 20 reviewers questions in 500 words? Any suggestions?

Can you group the questions so that a single answer will cover all questions in a subset?

@PatriciaShanahan The reviewers comments itself tooooooo lengthy and require a detailed reply.

@Skipper07 if you say the task is impossible, then that is your answer. If you want us to help you, you need to be open to suggestions.

Contact the convenor or bite the bullet. If you really can't group some questions, then that leaves 25 words (or two medium-length sentences) per question. That doesn't sound impossible.

@henning -- reinstate Monica definitely I'll bite a bullet

Depending on the questions, some might be answered with 'This has been resolved in the paper' or similar which uses few words. That is you don't put the actual answer into your answers but rather into the paper.

Post a hyperlink.

Post the answers online and send them a link as answer. That's way below 500 wordds.

Are you sure it's not 500 words/question and not for all?

I suspect I know which conference you are talking about (I am in the Program Committee) :)
Answering questions in the rebuttal phase of conferences is a newly emerging skill. Almost any paper faces the issue that you are facing - rebuttals are strictly word-limited, and the reviews / questions are waaaaay too long to clarify everything.
A good strategy for dealing with this depends on you understanding how the rebuttal will actually be used in the final phase of reviewing. Essentially, after your rebuttal, there will be a final phase of (online or physical) discussion among the reviewers and PC chairs to decide if the merits of your paper outweight its limitations, if the paper is important enough to warrant presentation at the conference, and so on. Many papers have nobody really willing to fight for it (i.e., everybody mostly sees limitations), and for these papers your rebuttal will not change anything. A handful of papers will only have people positive about the work, and in these rather rare cases the paper will be accepted no matter what you write. Some papers will have one or more quite positive people ("champions") and one or more people who are sceptical or downright negative. In these cases your rebuttal can play a major role in how the discussion goes.
Your rebuttal should be written for this specific case, and it should be written to give the champion(s) the best possible ammunition to counter the arguments of the sceptical crowd. That means:

Answer questions where you have a really convincing answer, especially if they come from the most positive reviewers.
If you identify factual mistakes or misunderstandings, clarify them directly and without the polite hollering one tends to do during journal reviews.
Focus on questions or concerns that multiple reviewers have, especially if you have a good argument.
Focus on concerns regarding methodology, validity, or importance of the work. Don't focus on presentation-level issues (the champion can always make an argument that these can be fixed in the camera-ready version, you don't have to point this out).
Remember that you don't get an actual revision for most conferences. Do not agree that some additional work will be needed (even if it's small), this will work against you.
Do not get into discussions that are a matter of taste or subjectivity (you won't change anybody's mind on those).
Do not feel like you need to address everything.
Skip polite phraseology ("Dear Reviewers, we are very grateful that you took the time to ..."). Get to the point.

Importantly, it's not similar to a response letter for a journal. You do not have to convince every single reviewer. Counter-intuitively, you need to focus your attention on the reviewers that may fight for your paper, and the ones that could realistically change their mind (in that order). Don't worry too much about a single reviewer that will never love your paper (especially one that does not like the kind of work you do or doesn't think it's important). You won't change their mind, and if the others champion your paper the PC chairs will likely side with the positive reviewers. Whereas in a response letter you will often "agree" with certain reviewer comments and fix them in the revision (even if you don't really agree), your goal here is to convince at least a subset of the reviewers that your current version is good as it is. Agreeing with the reviewer's concern may or may not get you sympathy points, but it will definitely not help you get the paper accepted.

What does "PC" mean? I assume the C is for committee, but what's the P? Paper? Is this something specific to those fields that treat conferences as major publications (math and physics, I think), because I've never heard of the term in my field (biology) where conferences aren't considered that important.

@terdon Program committee maybe?

Yes, that's Program Committee.

@Clement C Yes it is program committee and the paper rejected as usual...One reviewer accepted and Other rejected and third was a quite indecisive...

You need to be strategic about the issues (including questions) you comment and don't comment on. Identify and address those issues that seem significant enough to sway a reviewer. Possible indicators for these issues are:

The issue is mentioned in a context which suggests a possible major limitation/flaw of your work.
The issue is mentioned repeatedly and/or with many words in the same review.
The issue is pointed out by several reviewers.

If one of the reviewers sticks out as more negative than the others, give the others some hints to help them "disarm" the negative reviewer in the discussion. Point out any factual mistakes and misunderstandings in the review, possibly by pointing to sections in the paper they might have missed.

Thanks...I am answering the similar questions in a one go and then the other important ones. In the end, I am saying the remaining concerns will be addressed in the next submission...something like that

Sounds like a good response.

@ lighthouse keeper Thanks a lot for helping...

Is the 500-word limit suggested, or strictly enforced?
If the former, my experience is that you can simply ignore the limit, and include all answers to explicit questions where your answer is likely to be helpful. Of course, do not include answers that are not helpful. Since the reviewers are not required to read past the first 500 words, make sure to include the most important questions or points at the top, and more optional / unconvincing answers lower down.
This is the prevalent culture in my area of CS, where the limits in current top conferences are soft, rather than hard. I don't know about all other areas.

definitely enforced...See the text it says 'at most'

@Skipper07 Well, in my field the limits sound serious, but they are really not (it says "your response should contain at most 500 words", or whatever, but most people don't actually pay attention to what it says). It sounds like for your case, the limit is hard. I'll leave this up in case someone else comes across your question and finds this answer useful.

@6005 It's quite common that one has to type the rebuttal into a web-page form, and then press a submit button, which will refuse to work if the response is over the limit, i.e. not unlike how comments work here.

@RobertFurber Thanks for the info. It appears to vary by field / conference.

Is there an editor/convenor who could have potentially backed this 500-word idea and whom you can address with this question? They will possibly answer vaguely in the sense of shifting the burden of decision on you. Or possibly not, understanding the impossibility. At a minimum, if they are sensitive organisers, they may reconsider this system for future offerings of the conference (for example, by capping the number of remarks reviewers can rise). Probably you are not the only one to complain, and the feedback can reach critical mass.
In your approach to the editor you might want to underline that the unreasonable and unfair overhead comes precisely from selecting what is important to react to:  so "pick up the most important points" just identifies where the solution cannot be implemented at a reasonable cost, and not a solution in itself.
You are certainly not bothered by improving the quality of your work, but this has to be proportionate to time normally allocated for a event of similar kind. Twenty (!!) reviewers are not two or three, quantity changes quality. Work has to be workable after all.

Here are some responses that are under 25 words, each.

Fixed.
Fixed, except for subpoint 2.e on transmission spectroscopy, where we disagree (see ref 43, page 36 for details).
Not fixed.  We are stating this as a possible interpretation of the data, with that caveat well stated.

You should be able to do the same.  At least try.  And of course if some answers are shorter than 25 words, than that allows for detailed discussion elsewhere.  If they are minor issues, you may want to use a lot of "1", rather than debating not important things.
If things are still unreasonable, than (a) contact the editor/convenor to ask for relief.  If that doesn't work, (b) pull the paper, ditch the conference, submit elsewhere.  (Duh.)  But something tells me from your initial squawks in the question and the comments below it, that your paper and you may need a little kick in the ass, that the reviewer is not being unreasonable.

I think you're mixing this up the revision phase for a journal paper, where it's usually expected to answer every referee comment, but without a word limit. In the case of a conference rebuttal, it's usually not expected that every single comment is addressed. Doing so might actually be a waste of space.

+1 for concrete examples. Sentences can be abbreviated further: "We state this". Bullet point style.

These are really bad things to write in a conference rebuttal. A conference rebuttal is not a response letter for a journal.

Done is even shorter then Fixed. Also there is no need to add a "." ;)

Sometimes you don't get to submit a revised version, so "fixed" and such may not work.

I like done, but yes you do have to keep a period.

@quant It's a word limit, not a character limit - so punctuation and word length have no bearing here. We're not golfing here, fortunately ;)

Some questions are just questions.
Some questions are suggestions for further work.
Some questions imply that reviewers may want to reject the work.
Address the last questions in your rebuttal and leave the others for now.
If there is an opportunity to give a revised work, then address the first group in the revision.
But it is really only the ones that seem to suggest rejection that are essential to address. If there are so many of those that they cannot be addressed within the limits then the paper may be doomed for now, but you can still give it your best effort.

and some questions imply that the reviewers are not competent enough to review the paper...

@Skipper07 Seconding Buffy, it is indeed unfortunate that implications ought not to be part of a genuine reviewing process, and they do creep into it, because they are not recognised and/or held back by the reviewers themselves


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In a grant application, how to address gender aspects when working in a highly technical field?
The guidelines for a certain funding source ask me to address gender aspects. This call is open to all scientist, but I work with pen, paper and computers and I see no gender aspects in my work (only that usually in the institute there are clearly more men than women, but this is not something I could fix in the project). I wouldn't like just to ignore the comment, as it might make my reviewer unhappy. What might this mean for mathematicians/informaticians/physicists?

Did the context of the term suggest whether it was more likely gender aspects of your research or of your team?  If unclear, what related guidelines were around the area where the term "gender aspects" appeared?

Have you tried asking the organization that awards the grants?

Is the guideline written in English, or are you supplying us with a translation?  “Gender aspects” doesn’t sound like typical English phrasing in this context.

It's unclear to me what "gender aspects" means. It sounds like you're assuming it's asking about handling gender in your research, which is a great question since a lot of studies (especially psych and medical) have been done on all-male participants. Some of these fail to replicate in mixed-gender or all-woman experiments. There's also a pretty interesting (and depressing) history of abuse of women in scientific research as research subjects that has gained greater attention recently, which is wonderful. In that aspect it seems like it won't relate to your work at all, since you don't have test subjects. Even amongst research program without the kinds of testing issues, some projects in philosophy, social theory, or medicine are plagued by sexism in their experimental design or theoretical conceit. Here the issue is less the treatment of test subjects as inherent issues and assumptions in the underlying theories. This would also not apply to mathematics, physics, or computer science as they don't develop theories about humans.
However it could also mean to ask about more administrative things, like discrimination against women and transgender people in the project. If this is a small project it might not relate to you, but in a larger project and especially a in a lab this is important.
To clarify, by "small" I mean "me and two of my grad students and we know each other well." Even a working group of 5-10 people can run into gender discrimination issues. Do you know how you'd respond if a woman working under you came to you and said that she was being harassed or her ideas were being discounted because she's a woman? Do you know how you'd respond if a new grad student was to join and tell you that they were transgender? Or how you'd respond if they were rejected by other people in the project because they are transgender? If you haven't thought about these things, you definitely should. Even if this isn't what they meant, you should have an answer to these questions.
I would recommend reaching out and asking for clarification as to which of these interpretations is meant. Definitely don't say "I don't think it matters to my work" because that can come across really poorly, especially if they mean the second interpretation I gave. Simply say that you were unsure if the question was asking about gender as a topic inside of the research or about discrimination within the group of researchers.

+1: Especially for the part about asking for clarification.

It could also include issues such as whether the researchers are going to use gender-neutral language in their publications. In any case, it needs clarifying.

+1: "Definitely don't say "I don't think it matters to my work"

You can try, as others suggest, "ask for clarification", but in my experience it is likely to result in a loss of time. Large funding organizations are extremely bureaucratic, and the application guidelines have likely been designed by committee consisting e. g. of a physicist, psychologist and a professor of art and letters. That committee will not convene to answer your questions, and may have nothing to do with the panel that will evaluate your proposal. So, the question "what do they mean" may not even have a well-defined answer, and even if you receive an answer, there is no guarantee that the panel evaluating your proposal will be bound to use the same interpretation.
What I would write in this case is that there is no gender issues pertaining to the research program, and then pledge to adhere to best practices in hiring and in everyday life of the research group.

I' cant agree with this. I just called my university's grant-application services on a similar matter, asking how to interpret a certain section of the grant guidelines. Then  I also called the funding agency, just to be sure. Both gave me (congruent) answers within minutes. It's not the first time they get these questions.

So the first, and most important suggestion is one echoed by many: Ask them what they mean. Because at the moment, it's fairly ambiguous.
Here are a couple potential examples of what they could mean, somewhat building off @StellaBiderman 's list.

The inclusion of female subjects in the study. This is now something that basically has to be included in NIH/HHS proposals, and includes both the idea that female study subjects should be included in research - including in animal studies, and also that pregnant women are a protected category for IRBs.
Will this project benefit women in the field? This goes somewhat beyond "Institution X is an equal-opportunity employer". For example, one might discuss that the lab being funded, or the institution it's in, has active programs to recruit and retain women that will impact, or be impacted by, the project. For example, a recent proposal we submitted that was to support a large number of graduate students noted that the recruiting department was fairly gender balanced - suggesting that the applicant pool would be as well.
Will this project impact a particular gender? Clearly, a project examining the evolution of men's social networks over their lifetime will primarily focus on men, and the findings of the study will primarily impact them. But more subtly, one might recognize that a study modeling disease interventions to prevent school closure, or improve farming practices in certain parts of Africa may have gendered impacts because the burden of domestic and farming work falls on women.

I'd also echo @StellaBiderman's advice not to just say "It doesn't matter", at least until you get clarification.
Even then, I would try for a more fleshed out version of "It doesn't matter" that shows that you put thought and care into the answer. For example, "only that usually in the institute there are clearly more men than women, but this is not something I could fix in the project" isn't true if you have any funding for students or postdocs - that funding could, at least, help address the problem. If that is indeed what the funder is asking about.


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How much salary can I expect as a physics post doc in the Netherlands?
I am considering a post doc in the Netherlands.  I am a bit spoiled -- currently doing a post doc in the US with a salary of about $75000.  I found a PI in the Netherlands whose project sounds very interesting and it seems like I may be able to have a bit of freedom in forming collaborations.  But the PI had quoted a salary of 2000 euros (he didn't actually know, but just took a guess when I asked him to estimate).  Though I currently have no better offers, this sounds like too big a step backwards that I am wondering if I should spend more effort searching for other jobs.
I would like to negotiate a better salary when I interview with the PI.  Is 2000 Euros reasonable?  I saw a post with a salary table.  But I'm not sure where on the scale I fall.  Should I be a E10-1 because this will be my first year on this particular job?  Or can I hope for a E10-4 because this will be my fourth year as a post-doc?  Is there any way I can supplement my salary by applying for external grants? (I guess there are few of those for non-EU citizens...)  I have a husband and school-age children, and since I am not sure whether my husband will be able to have income, I want to be able cover our necessary living expenses with my salary/benefits so I can concentrate on working.

As to your last sentence, for general questions about living abroad, http://expatriates.stackexchange.com is probably the better site. However, you'll want to ask more focused questions there.

While I don't know the exact answer to your question, do take into account that the salary grows every year. Also, NL is a socialist country, and many things you pay for a lot in the US might be cheap or free over there. I pay 130 euros a month for full health and dental care for myself and my son. I was shocked how much more I had to pay in the US, and also, how few free activities for children there are in the US. Back in NL, we had a petting zoo near our place, an indoor area full of toys for rainy days, several amazing playgrounds also full of toys, all just there for anybody to use.

Also, I expect the 2000 euros a month is after taxes. I got ~1800 a month in the last year of my PhD, after taxes. Which also maybe means that 2000 is indeed reasonable for a first-year postdoc. The jumps between steps in salary are not too big in NL, because taxes increase the more you earn.

Also, 41 vacation days a year is standard. People rarely take that much, but the remainder can be traded in for benefits (tax cuts, a new bike, a train card, parental leave days...).

@Ana NL is a socialist country? I very much doubt that, although it might appear so from an US american point of view.

The Netherlands is very much a capitalist, not a socialist, country.  It just has a little bit more publicly funded services than the USA.

@Ana If you are employed, you pay quite a bit more than that for healthcare (albeit through a tax-like contribution instead of direct payments to an health insurer but that's mostly a technical detail). But it's true that comparing salaries directly is misleading.

I don't think you can negotiate anything. If your position is not fully funded, applying for grants might be expected or even necessary to prolong your contract but that money would not change anything to your personal remuneration (at most you would have a little more freedom to go to conferences or that kind of things).

Hi everyone,  thank you for your comments!  I just finished interviewing on-site and it looks like this will happen.  Embarrassingly I STILL don't know how much I'll be paid.  But I understand it will be whatever post docs start with plus some points for experience (as this will be my fourth year as a post doc in general).  I'll answer the question when I get an actual contract.

It's also worth mentioning that many post-docs in Europe pay a supplement if the candidate has a family.

You can expect rather more than that.

10/0 corresponds to a second year PhD student (functieschaal P). A postdoc typically goes on somewhere around 10-5, plus a point per year. So you might hope to be somewhere around 10-8.
To get your annual salary, multiply these numbers by 14: 12 months plus two bonus payments. Don't ask me why.
Coming from abroad you are probably eligible to be paid under the "30% rule", where you get the first 30% of your salary tax free.

Thus, after tax you can expect to get something in the region of €35-40k ($48-55k). Be aware that living costs may be higher than you're used to in the US.
Of course, you shouldn't rely on this information: talk to the HR department. But the situation isn't as bad as you fear!

1 month's worth is an annual bonus; a second sum, about one month's worth, is a "vacation payment". It's not exactly/not at all pegged to the monthly salary AFAIK.

There's isn't that much room for negotiation in general, since all these university-related things are fixed by law. You've already found the CAO tables which determine salary. Depending on how badly they want you over there, a PI might be able to get you entered in a higher 'trede' (10-x), or even a higher 'schaal' (x-1). I would say it's nearly impossible that they would put you on 10-1, but don't hold me to it. What you have going for you is your high previous salary, because new employers sometimes do take this into account as far as possible, and your being from outside the country which can have its own benefits. A few things to keep in mind:

the 2000 the PI mentioned would be after tax, and in my estimation quite the lower limit in terms of net monthly income
the PI has only limited influence on salary, you really need to talk (or have the PI talk) to HR to know exactly what you're in for before you make your decision.
quite a lot of benefits are included and already deducted, which makes a comparison of raw numbers between the Dutch and US salaries a bit tricky. There may moreover be quite a few differences in terms of vacation time (a lot of holidays, really), benefits such as bicycle plans, whatever...

So I would advise you to get an overview of

your exact current benefits, health care costs, pension plan, plus your current pre- and after-tax salary,
your potential future benefits, health care costs, pension plan, plus your new pre- and post-tax salary (especially if being from abroad has extra tax benefits as mentioned by someone above, I don't know about that), depending on
the 'trede' and 'schaal' they would put you in to start with. The one thing to ask your PI is to find out which trede and schaal HR could (would) give you, then contact HR to find the answers to your other questions because - from my experience - there's a good chance the PI won't know all these details.

75.000 dollars sounds like quite a good salary to me, but without knowing what that got you, what's included, and so on, it's hard for me to say how much (or if any) of a step backwards you'll be taking.
The last thing to note: living expenses (mainly housing) can differ quite a lot across the NL, so what you effectively save each month also depends on where the institution is. World of difference between e.g. Amsterdam or the provinces outside the 'randstad'.
Good luck on the decision and potentially the position.

Found the answer now:  pay scale 10, step 8, 3381 euros monthly before taxes and other deductions.  Thanks for all the answers!


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Finding google scholar page of a journal
Some journals have a google scholar page where you can see how many of their published articles got cited and their h-index.
Example: Scholar page of Advanced Journal of Science and Engineering
How is it possible to find the page for a specific journal (except clicking on the link they sometimes provide themselves on their website)?

It looks to me like this journal is posing as an author.  Probably Google would say this should not be happening.

The basic principle is that Google Scholar pages are for authors; it is not for journals. This is not always the case that a journal will create a Google Scholar page. If it does, it is posing itself as an author (as commented by @Anonymous Physicist). So, the example that you have given is very unusual.
However, if you are interested in articles from a specific journal, you could use the advanced search option in Google Scholar and enter the journal name in "Return articles published in" textbox (in my example: I am interested in articles published in the Machine Learning Journal).