text:
Diplomurkunde and Diplom (Diplomlehrer) in English?
This might be off-topic but I thought I would try here since I know we have people who will know the answer.
I have received two documents from a prospective teacher. They seem to be German diplomas but I do not understand clearly what they really mean. The names of the diplomas are:

Diplomurkunde, and
Diplom (Diplomlehrer)

(1) translates (via Google) as Diploma Certificate. This is a bit confusing because I normally think of certificates as something and a diploma as something else (which requires more studying).
(2) translates as Graduate Teacher. This seems to be quite different from what I'm used to as a graduate teacher is something you are (or something you do) rather than something you've achieved.
Is there a more detailed explanation which would tie back to the UK or US educational system?

you should be able to create a new tag just by typing it in.  The academia faq says you should only need 150 rep to create a tag (this number varies by site).

Pre-Bologna process, a German Diplom (which is no longer being awarded, and [see cbeleites's comment below] is mostly replaced now by a Master's degree) was generally the rough equivalent of a US Master's degree, attaining it is one of the requirements to start Doctorate studies.
Your applicant sent you two documents:

The Diplomurkunde is roughly the Master's diploma in the US. It is called a "certificate" (Urkunde) to distinguish it from the Diplomzeugnisse which also includes the transcript of grades. It is the one that one may consider framing and putting on the wall.
The Diplomlehrer tells you what subject the applicant received his "masters" in. In particular, he received it in Lehrer, which translates directly to Lecturer Teacher. Or, as we may say, it tells you that he received something like a Master's in education.

To clear up any doubts, though, you could just ask your applicant to ask the Akademisches Auslandsamt of the place where he received the degree to send a letter attesting to the equivalency of the degree. (That shouldn't be too hard, since now they should've converted to a Bachlor/Master system anyway.)

This letter of equivalency is called "Diploma Supplement", and the applicant can usually get it in the exam office of the university that granted the degree. It also gives translation instructions of the grades.

BTW: Some departments decided to continue the Diplom, e.g. engineering at TU Dresden (http://tu-dresden.de/die_tu_dresden/fakultaeten/fakultaet_maschinenwesen/studieninteressierte/diplomingenieur/index_html/document_view). The rule is that they have to offer Bachelor/Master courses, but are free to offer additional Diplom courses.

@cbeleites: thanks for the corrections! I completely wasn't aware that the Diplom system is still available.

"Lehrer" translates to "teacher".

@cbeleites and Willie Wong - The two diplom documents are separated by four years. Does this mean the candidate has the equivalent of two master degrees?

@earthling: beats me. Why don't you ask the candidate?

@A.Schulz fixed. Though I profess I am not exactly clear on the finer points of the difference. (I am not thinking of lecturer as the academic title, but as someone who gives lectures.)

@WillieWong It's a good question but he's German and doesn't understand UK/US academic systems.

@earthling: you can simply ask the candidate whether he holds two separate degrees. There's nothing much I can tell you based on the information you've given us. The Diploms just tell you a certain authority has given the candidate certain degree(s) on certain dates. If you need to know the details, I would second cbeleites and tell you to ask the candidate for the Diplom supplement in English.

But if all you care about is whether the candidate has received "something like a masters degree in education", I think the conclusion is that "yes, he does". Does the fact that he may have two separate degrees matter?

'Diplom' is the standard academic degree in Germany (slowly being replaced by a bachelor/master system). In the German system, it is roughly equivalent to a master degree. It usually takes about 5 years to complete.
Teachers-to-be in Germany usually take a combination of two subjects. Their studies include courses on teaching/education as well.
Since schools are subject to special federal law, teachers usually end their studies with a state-controlled exam ("Staatsexamen").
Regarding the word "Diplomurkunde": The word simply denotes the piece of paper confirming that the person holds the respective degree. It is the one you want to see.
I'm not so sure about the other one, but from my own experience, I would guess that the "Diplomurkunde" simply has the applicants name, place of birth and a date one it, while the other document has a bit more information but basically grants the same degree.
Cf the article on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplom

It is the one you want to see — What?  People still use paper for this?

@JeffE: sure. And occasionally you even have to hand in certified copies of these pieces of paper...

@JeffE: Germany is verrückt when it comes to paperwork. I was expected to show paperwork for a degree I didn't even have. (I don't have a master's.)

You better also have you high school dilpoma ready. Not to forget the Polizeiliches Führungszeugnis.

@aeismail: I know a university that required me to hand in several (I think in total ≈ 5) copies of the Diplom they gave me. Of course always with a copies of the Abitur, so they now have ≈ 6 copies of that as well (additional one for entering the university as student)...

(answering the comment)
4 years separation would be enough to do the teaching program after the "normal" subject. And it would definitively not be the parts of one Diplom (Zeugnis + Urkunde), they have the same date.
And, by the way, till now I was always required to show/hand in both Urkunde and Zeugnis of my Diplom. As I understand it, the Urkunde certifies that I have the "title" of Diplom-chemist, the Zeugnis certifies the grades of the final exams, and possibly other legally relevant additional exams (the examn that allows me to handle chemicals according to the German laws).
I'm wondering a bit about the teaching Diplom - usually the teaching studies end with "Staatsexamen" (state exams, also includes one or two theses). But this can differ a lot depending on the state, and I don't know that much about the teaching studies. AFAIK, if you have a master/Diplom in some subject and then do the teaching studies for this subject, you can get the master/Diplom recognized as the first state exam. Otherwise, what you write sounds like 2 separate Diplome.
I guess it boils down to asking and getting the Diploma Supplements - AFAIK they explain what the Diplom is about.


text:
How should I cite products?
This question is closely related to How should I cite a website URL? but more concrete.
I'm currently writing my master thesis. In the section "related work" I give an overview which also includes concrete products (normally software). Usually there is no academic paper published about this work and often there is only a product homepage, a git hub repository or a manual available.
How, if at all, should I cite this "products"? I thought about adding the URL just after the name of the product, adding it as a footnote, cite it as usual with a MISC BibTeX entry or not mentioning a URL at all (usually they are easy to find with Google). I'm a bit worried too blow up my bibliography to much.
I give a few examples to stay concrete, my thesis is about a pattern matching algorithm (well, very simplified) so I want to show tools that help programmers with writing regex:

The software RegexBuddy (http://www.regexbuddy.com)
The online tool RegExr (http://gskinner.com/RegExr/)
The Statically Checked Regex (a software artifact) in the Git Hub repository https://github.com/retronym/macrocosm
The function ctRegex in std.regex (http://dlang.org/phobos/std_regex.html)

Could you please also please also answer if it's OK to include a lot of citations (around 20) to mention this products although the text is only around one page, respective one sub chapter (in a work that is expected to have something around 100 pages).

I think it's closely related, but not a duplicated. As mentioned in the answer of @eykanal rules are different for standard office software and programming languages then for specialized software. And I do not use this software, I only reference it to give the state of the art.

Just give as much information as you can to uniquely identify and date the product.  To quote one of my own recent papers:

Nuclear Monkey Software. Narbacular Drop. Video game, 2005.
Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski. Matrix Revolutions. Warner Bros., 2003. Motion picture.

According to the APA:

Do not cite standard office software (e.g. Word, Excel) or programming
  languages. Provide references only for specialized software.

Ludwig, T. (2002). PsychInquiry [computer software]. New York: Worth.`

Software that is downloaded from a Web site should provide the
  software’s version and year when available.

Hayes, B., Tesar, B., & Zuraw, K. (2003). OTSoft: Optimality Theory
    Software (Version 2.1) [Software]. Available from
    http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/hayes/otsoft/

The IEEE style is almost identical. (I'd reproduce it here, but it's in a stupid flash file which doesn't support copy/paste.)
That being said, I notice that you cited software for parsing and understanding regular expressions. While there is no official rule that I know of for acknowledging software, it is typically only used for software crucial to the development efforts (i.e., an analysis tool). To bring a somewhat extreme example, while everyone uses some form of operating system (Windows, Mac OS, Linux), no one cites their operating system. Recall the purpose of citations; to enable others to understand your frame of reference and replicate your work. You should only cite tools that are specialized to your research that others would need to continue your research.
Additionally, I've seen many neuroscience papers where some software is listed but not cited (e.g., the Matlab reference here). This is typically done for tools developed outside of an academic environment. Here, Matlab is a non-academic commercial, but both SPM and Fieldtrip were developed using grant money, and both specify exactly how they should be cited in publications (e.g., Fieldtrip; I can't find SPM's now).

Thanks for the answer. This is what i searched for. @eyekanal may you please add some words about my fear that this blows up my bibliography too much. I might cite around 20 products.

@eyekanal thanks a lot, but it's not what I meant. I think I do understand now when to cite software. But I'm still worried that I get a too big bibliography. Do I have to worry about a "too big bibliography" or is there not too big for it. (I changed the question a bit.)

In larger works such as theses, I generally like to cite software that was crucial to the development efforts. Not only do I think this will help others to replicate my work, I also think it is due attribution to the people who made the effort of creating those tools. Come to think about it, I now realize the "larger works" I do this in typically also extensively report about implementation aspects besides the merely conceptual research itself. Also, I normally restrict such citations to software that was somewhat specific to my work, and did not just provide a basic environment (i.e. no OS).

There isn’t really a ‘set’ method to cite products, but rather a paradigm: Give enough information so a veteran can identify the product – novices do not need to be able to do so.
For example, if I use an enzyme from Sigma Aldrich in a biology experiment, I write something like:

25 ng of amylase (Sigma Aldrich; Missouri, USA; P228) was added to the mix

Notice how I didn’t use a stock concentration. That’s because the information is already there. I simply quote the provider, their origin, and the product code. If a veteran now goes to the website, they can see the exact product I used. I do not write P228-1g or P228-5m, because those are volumes or masses, and that’s all irrelevant. Sometimes I’ll add a date if I think it’s relevant.

The software manufacturer may be willing to provide a few more details, like the lead developer's name(s) and so on for academic purposes. Software written for academics may already have a citation ready.
See, for example, the citation for Gaussian 09. Note that they already have a bibtex starting point also.

Gaussian 09, Revision A.1, Frisch, M. J.; Trucks, G. W.; Schlegel, H. B.; Scuseria, G. E.; Robb, M. A.; Cheeseman, J. R.; Scalmani, G.; Barone, V.; Mennucci, B.; Petersson, G. A.; Nakatsuji, H.; Caricato, M.; Li, X.; Hratchian, H. P.; Izmaylov, A. F.; Bloino, J.; Zheng, G.; Sonnenberg, J. L.; Hada, M.; Ehara, M.; Toyota, K.; Fukuda, R.; Hasegawa, J.; Ishida, M.; Nakajima, T.; Honda, Y.; Kitao, O.; Nakai, H.; Vreven, T.; Montgomery, Jr., J. A.; Peralta, J. E.; Ogliaro, F.; Bearpark, M.; Heyd, J. J.; Brothers, E.; Kudin, K. N.; Staroverov, V. N.; Kobayashi, R.; Normand, J.; Raghavachari, K.; Rendell, A.; Burant, J. C.; Iyengar, S. S.; Tomasi, J.; Cossi, M.; Rega, N.; Millam, J. M.; Klene, M.; Knox, J. E.; Cross, J. B.; Bakken, V.; Adamo, C.; Jaramillo, J.; Gomperts, R.; Stratmann, R. E.; Yazyev, O.; Austin, A. J.; Cammi, R.; Pomelli, C.; Ochterski, J. W.; Martin, R. L.; Morokuma, K.; Zakrzewski, V. G.; Voth, G. A.; Salvador, P.; Dannenberg, J. J.; Dapprich, S.; Daniels, A. D.; Farkas, Ö.; Foresman, J. B.; Ortiz, J. V.; Cioslowski, J.; Fox, D. J. Gaussian, Inc., Wallingford CT, 2009.

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text:
How to search for a suitable journal to publish my paper?
I'm an undergraduate math major, recently I've written a paper about approximation by neural networks in a theoretical settings because I really like the mathematics involved in neural networks. It is a paper mainly based on another paper, for your information, 'Optimal Approximation with Sparsely Connected Deep Neural Networks' by Bölcskei et al.
What I've done is not something innovative at all.
I proved two results from the original paper because the author only gave a hint on how to prove the theorems, and I thought it will be a good idea to explore more.
As a result, I found some other research papers which helped me to gave the two proofs in great detail.
Now my paper is nearly complete, I just have to choose which journal to submit my paper, then do a little adjustment based on their requirements, it will then be done.
However, I'm not confident enough to publish my paper to, for example, the SIAM Journal or the IEEE Journal, because they would expect research works with more originality and innovation. How do I find and evaluate suitable journals for my type of research paper?

I'm an undergraduate math major --- It would help with answering your question if you explained why you didn't ask any of your present or former teachers, or someone else in your department.

There are journals that publish specifically undergraduate research.  From your brief description, it sounds like such a journal would be good for you to try.  See also these questions: https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/65166/4484  https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/117224/4484  https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/11094/4484

@GEdgar I didn't see specific undergrad math journals mentioned in those threads.  See https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/116377/19607 https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/41575/19607 https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/1439/19607

@DaveLRenfro I have tried to ask my advisor about it, and he did gave me a list of math journals and their tiers to let me choose from. I'm thinking hearing more from other professionals will help me for choosing the right choice. I'm sorry if this doesn't meet the rule of this community.

@Kimball Thanks, I'm surprised there exists undergrad-oriented journals!

My question wasn't really a matter of meeting the rules of this community, but rather the fact that for the vast majority of people here (I would guess, at least), seeking the advice of your teachers or asking another department member would be the obvious first step, perhaps even done when first thinking about the issues (i.e. before beginning to work on the problem), so I guessed that maybe COVID issues have made things different now or maybe your local customs might make this something difficult to do, and I thought it would help if you said why to avoid everyone saying "see your teachers".

When one isn't certain about where to publish something, often the first place should to go is people you know. In the case of an undergrad, you should have professors/mentors are your school who can help out. Another option is to ask the authors of the original paper who may have more of an idea. In this case, given the circumstances, an undergraduate focused journal may be ideal. There also may not be a good place to formally publish it at all. Sometimes people don't give almost any details of a proof, and you have to work it out on your own; that's not publishable in general (even if it should be). However, at a minimum, you can certainly put it up on the arXiv as an expository work there, which doesn't count for "publication" for most purposes but will still look good for things like applying to grad school.

Indeed, my final goal is to use it to raise my chance for getting into a PhD degree. I've asked my advisor and he didn't say anything like it is non-publishable, maybe because I did put some original work in it. And thanks for your information, I think I'll put it on arXiv then consider an undergrad journal to publish my paper.

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text:
Is it necessary to write proof if one can refer to the database?
I'm a final year undergraduate Math major. So now I am writing a paper about an application of Elliptic curve. You can see my research topic from this question in Math StackExchange.
When studying the elliptic curve above, I'm following the theoretical result and approximation in Rational Points on Elliptic Curves by Silverman and Tate. It details all calculations required to find the rank, torsion point, generator of infinite order of an elliptic curve. When I have almost done calculate all properties of the particular elliptic curve from my research project, I discover the LMFDB database, which has all information I wanted.
I would like to ask, is it necessary to put all calculations of mine in my paper, which is a duplicate effort from the book of Silverman and Tate? Or is it better just include the LMFDB database in my paper and discard these calculations? I think math papers are all about rigorous derivation, every gap should be properly filled, but I'm not sure is 'using database' an academic approach. Besides, I'm not worry about the length of my papers because I have some other original results.

When you say "paper" do you mean one written for a course, or something to be published as original research in an academic journal?

It is an undergraduate research, I want to publish it in some journal.

What did your advisor tell you when you asked them?

My advisor said I can put the calculations as appendix, but I think if someone found my paper useful, they were already familiar about how to do these calculations. So I'm not sure is it a good idea or not.

Assuming the result is publication-worthy without the extensive calculations you've done, maybe you could have two versions. One version is all the work you've done yourself, with all the details, and this would be what you submit for your honors project which, depending on the university, might be made available on some kind of honors thesis archive such as this one, or which you could post yourself somewhere. This version could be of use to others wanting more details than in typical publications. The other version would be for publication.

For example, this thesis is probably not publication-worthy (too basic for research, too lengthy for publication in math exposition journals I know of), but I believe I actually recommended this (among other things) once to someone in Mathematics Stack Exchange asking for somewhere online for an introduction to Hausdorff and other dimensions and fractals.

I see. So do you think I will rather not put the duplicate calculation in my paper, right? Because I'm aiming for publication.

I don't know enough about this specific area of math to know whether this (duplicate calculation) is something you should include in the published version, which is why I didn't give any specifics or explanation about "version would be for publication". This is something you need to discuss with your advisor and/or others in this specific area. I guess my main point is to not let the extensive calculation version vanish, as others might be interested -- even you yourself in later years, in case you work on other things, and then want to get back to this particular topic.

Thanks. I will keep that in mind.

I think there are two situations where it is worth spelling out the details of what an expert might regard as a routine calculation:
(1) The routine calculation is only routine for experts, and the details of how to do these calculations are not spelled out in an easily accessible reference.
(2) The results of the calculation are needed by your paper and not already published. Including the calculation (or at least some of its key steps) serves as a proof that the results you are using are correct and is worth doing if it may not be easy for the typical reader to reproduce the calculation.
In your case both the method of calculation and the result are published and readily available, so I would just cite the page of the LMFDB that contains the results you need (following the instructions at https://www.lmfdb.org/citation) and the sections of Silverman-Tate that explain how to compute them.
p.s. I realize my answer to this 4-year old question is almost certainly not useful to the person who posted it, but perhaps it will be useful to others.

Appreciate your comment, I'm not studying mathematics anymore :) but will just mark this as solved by you.

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text:
What do grad schools want to hear about why I'm changing PhD programs?
TL;DR: I'm reapplying to schools in the US for Fall 2021 because (1) the research project I'm getting paid to work on isn't in my area(s) of interest, (2) in general, mathematics at this university is heavily applied and computational, so there's little scope for me to do something else I'd like here, (3) I'm making much less than minimum wage (assuming a 40-hour work week for 52 weeks a year), and (4) I don't like living here. These are listed in order of importance to me. The question is, which of these points do I emphasise to an admissions committee?
More context: I'm an international student (for US and Canadian schools). I graduated with a Master's in math from a well-known university in Europe. I was "on-track" to start a PhD in Fall 2020, but due to personal reasons and global events I couldn't go to any schools in the US or Canada. I didn't want to take a year off from math, and I needed to make at least some money, so the best option seemed to be to enroll in a PhD program in Europe.
I plan to reapply to US and Canadian schools (for the reasons listed above). Only, I'm not sure how to explain that despite already being enrolled in a PhD program, I want to "transfer" to a different one. I have a solid academic record otherwise---how will this affect my application? How do I explain this in my statement of purpose?

I'd suggest that, as a guess, 95-99% of your application should be just as it was the first time, focused on your skills and likelihood of success in any new program. I think it would be a mistake to spend valuable words giving a bedsheet of reasons that you are unhappy. Even ignoring the issue altogether might be fine, if a bit risky, especially if you are crossing borders as part of your switch. You are "looking for opportunities not available locally". If it comes up in an interview you might want to raise it.
The one thing you say, however, that might resonate, is that COVID limited your choices last time around and that you picked a less than ideal situation because of it. Also, if you are interested in pure, rather than applied, math, then a quick/short statement that your current institution supports that poorly might be fine.
But keep the focus on the skills and success part, just as you would if this is your first application. People won't choose you because they feel sorry for you but because you seem to be a good fit for their programs and a good bet for success.

Thanks! A follow-up question---I've seen advice that the statement of purpose is to convince the department that you aren't going to drop out of their program. Is this something I should be worried about?

Probably not, unless there are special concerns. If you make it positive and forward looking it should speak for itself.


text:
Equal author contribution
I, along with two fellow doctoral students, am about to publish a paper supervised by our professor. Our professor is listed as the last author, which of course is fair as he supervised the project.
One of us, student A, is listed as the first author, which there is not disagreement on. Student B is listed afterwards, and I am the third listed author.
The ordering of student B and I is alphabetical, nothing more. This is also reasonable, as we all believe that our contribution has been the same.
However, it is not listed in the paper that our contributions are the same. Should I insist on this before submitting the paper?

Is this the same paper in your previous question, when you then thought you should be first author? Now you are asking about being 2nd vs 3rd author? I think you try to make too much hassle for one paper.

@Alexandros It's not the same

It's worth noting that that the ordering of listed authors is highly field-dependent. In medicine, the supervisor is listed last and the others are listed in contribution order. In mathematics, all authors are listed alphabetically. (There are of course exceptions to these rules.)

What field is this? Practice varies somewhat, I think.

Buried in this (and other similar questions) is the notion that one's contribution to a paper can be unambiguously assigned a single number that can be compared with the other authors.  This notion should be banished from your thoughts.

@Jon Custer Perhaps not a number as in http://www.authorder.com/newpage but to determine who contributed more and who less -- that's possible. Of course, a better policy is to decide beforehand who is first, second, third, etc. author.

Well, you still are proposing that you can line up the authors in a unique order that nobody can argue with. Same difference. In reality, everyone will have a different opinion of their contribution.

In fields where authorship order matters, the difference between second author and third author is very little, pragmatically, in terms of how people will think about your contributions.  Neither is the first author (whose name will be noticed in every citation), and neither is the last author (in those fields where last = senior).
What you can do, however, is what many journals now require, where you add a section at the end of the paper with a name like "Author Contributions."  In this section, you write down exactly what each author did, e.g.,

R.L. performed the experiments, T.X. ran spectroscopic analysis, B.G. supplied a critical DNA construct, R.L. and T.X. analyzed the data, T.X. and B.M. wrote the manuscript, and R.L,.T.X., and B.M. edited the manuscript.

This won't change the "first impressions" that anybody has of the paper, but anybody who wants to know whether you're a significant contributor or not will be readily able to find out.

Personally, I don't think that being second or third matters. At least not to the point of arguing (in case you needed to). If you have the space, you can add a statement in the Acknowledgements section.
Realistically, only those who read the paper would be aware of that. You'd have to replicate the statement in your CV, or the distinction might be lost.

In many cases (especially seen on online sources like PubMed et al), names are suffixed with a * and explanation:

Smith J, Lee H *, Doe J *, Howard M, PhD
*: These authors contributed equally.

Whether this solves the problem or just makes the order slightly less important... That's up to your personal preference. But this is a commonly accepted method of mitigating just this issue.
The greatest benefit of this solution is that it can change the first impression of the viewer, if the * catches their attention.

If you want to highlight that everyone has contributed his/her expertise equally, you could sort the authors' names alphabetically and specify in the acknowledgement that 'the order of the authors is alphabetical'. I have seen this a few times. Of course, this is meaningful for the audience that reads the acknowledgement, which may be a small subset of the overall target audience (who may just be content reading abstract and conclusions).

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text:
Four papers accepted for publication however not published due to some monetary issues?
I have successfully got my papers accepted in different journals. However, due to some money issues, I couldn't get them published. Now I have my final project presentations.
Will it hold value for me? I have slogged day in and out to accomplish this, but money constraints have shattered everything.
How do I manage my presentation in such a scenario?
EDIT : I do have all the email conversations and acceptance notifications and  do have the feedback as well.

I've never heard of anyone encountering this problem. Is your work grant-funded? Every grant I've encountered includes money for administrative costs, such as those associated with publications. Additionally, if you don't have money for publications, how do you have money to defray other research-associated costs? Publications are the currency of the researcher; I find your story very odd, and it would raise strong red flags about the management of your lab.

It would help to know what field we're talking about.  Publication practices and funding sources vary dramatically from field to field.

Man... your work may be awesome! Are you a Ph.D., M.Sc., B.Sc.? What's your subject matter? What journals are you talking about? I mean, depending on your status, depending on your university/college, I'm absolutely sure that you must have some funding, from anywhere... i.e., from your advisor (that may have interest in your work, of course), from your university (that may have interest in exhibiting its name worldwide), from a gov. agency, etc etc... Give us some more details... otherwise, as said by @eykanal, your story may be considered odd/weird by SE community

Reputable journals will waive publication charges for authors who cannot pay them, so you should ask about that.  If everything goes well, then that will simply solve your financial problems.  I see only two ways you can get stuck:
(1)  The journal insists you can pay, perhaps because your advisor has plenty of grant money, but your advisor refuses.  In that case you have a serious problem, and it is much deeper than just paying for these publication charges; you need to sort things out with your advisor.
(2)  The journal does not have a procedure for waiving the charges.  In that case, the journal acceptance is worthless.  The journals in this category are money-making operations with no academic validity.  Nobody will care that they accepted your paper, because they just wanted your publication fees.
The first thing you need to determine is which case you are in.  For example, one valid reason for an advisor to refuse to pay is because the journals are not reputable.  If you are in that case, then you need to rethink everything.  Otherwise, it sounds like you may be in a complicated situation with your advisor.

For example, you can start by checking whether the journal publishers are listed at http://scholarlyoa.com/publishers/.  If they are, then the librarian who compiled this list considers them predatory publishers, and acceptance won't mean much.  If they aren't on the list, then that doesn't prove anything, since the list is far from complete, but at least you would have ruled out some of the worst publishers.

they aren't present in the list

That's good.  It sounds like you either need to talk with the journals about the possibility of waiving the charges, or with your advisor about what's going on.

This would raise a red flag for me generally - I've never published in a journal that had publication fees just for publishing the papers themselves. Color charges, sure, and if I had submitted to an open access journal they have fees, but nearly every one of them has a mechanism for waiving the fee in the case that the author can't pay. My four suggestions are this:

Make doubly-sure, as @AnonymousMathematician has stated, that you're not accidentally trying to get published in a for-profit vanity press journal. These won't actually do you much good.
Contact the journal and see if you can get the fees waived, if they are indeed a legitimate scientific journal.
Get in touch with your institution's librarians. Universities often have discount deals with some publishers, are members of groups that waive the fees, etc. Make sure you're not covered that way.
Stop submitting to journals with publication charges if you don't have grant backing. Submitted, or even accepted papers that aren't in press (and it sounds like will never see the light of day) don't do you much good. Those papers are currently just rotting there - no journal is good enough for you to let your work languish without publishing it.

these are open access international journals mentioning a few ijca,ijcsi , jict.co.uk .. ijca has an impact factor 0.8 and ijcsi a 0.2

@Asp.netmylife Consult the journals to see if the fees can be waived. Are there no credible journals in your field that don't charge a fee?

There's some good advice on recognizing dubious journals at UHD: http://library.uhd.edu/journalquality. If IJCA is the International Journal of Computer Applications then it meets most of these criteria for being a low-quality journal. (Note, for example, their odd claim to be "indexed" by Scribd, which isn't an academic site at all.)

Yeah, IJCSI and JICT are also very worrisome.  IJCSI advertises notification by June 30 and publication by July 31 if you submit by May 31.  JICT advertises publication by June 10 if you submit by April 30.  These extremely rapid review times are not the way any reputable CS journal that I know of works, and they are not consistent with careful refereeing.  I've never heard of these journals, but they do not look reassuring to me.  I'd recommend looking elsewhere, especially if these journals insist on page charges you cannot afford.

i know i am getting advice from very experienced people out here  and i thank you for helping me out. This was my first time writing research papers plus i am undergraduate . i will pay heed to all of this from next time..

What makes these sorts of journals so problematic is that they try hard to blend in with the reputable journals, so without some experience or background it can be difficult to tell the difference.  (See http://www.jfdp.org/forum/forum_docs/1013jfdp1040_1_032912094346.pdf for stories of people being tricked.)

My guide did not guide me enough and that's the main issue i did all on my own... yes i got that most journals are money making business

@Henry IJCA does not contain indexed by scribd as i have seen its in IJCSI and IJCA isn't that bad for me having written a research paper for the very first time though i agree JICT and IJCSI are no good ....

@Asp.netmylife: Huh. This page: http://www.ijcaonline.org/indexing- most definitely included Scribd, but they seem to have removed it. Regardless, IJCA still shows most of the signs of being a vanity press.

http://www.ijcsi.org/ lists scribd. Man, I hope these sort of journals do not end up tarnishing the open-access brand. I had gotten spam from one or two of these publishers, but never realised there were so many of them.

there are loads of them......that list scribd

One of the most prestigious physics journals around, Physical Review and Letters, charges an $815 publication fee even though it's not open access. https://journals.aps.org/prl/authors#pubcharges


text:
A professor has offered to send me a hard copy of his new book. Would it be rude to ask for a PDF file instead?
While working my way through one textbook, I spotted several errors, TeXed them up and emailed to the author of the textbook. He thanked me and asked for my physical address so he could send me a copy of his new textbook (a more advanced one). I was planning to work though his new textbook anyway, since it matches my interests. Yet I'd much prefer a PDF file and not a hard copy. Would it be rude to ask if he could send me a PDF file instead? I don't want to come over as ungrateful, yet I'd make much more use of it if I had a PDF file.
Definitely of relevance here:

He certainly does have a PDF file of the new book since the publisher offers PDF as one of the options (hardcover, softcover, and PDF file),
The PDF file in question can not be 'freely' found on the Internet (although its previous edition can).

If you ask for a PDF, you should mention that the publisher makes the book available in that format as well.  (To establish that you aren't suggesting pirating it, and to make sure the author knows.  A not too tech-savvy author might simply not be paying attention to ebook options.)

you could also comment that it would be easy for you to mark up any comments on an electronic copy.

Many of the hard copy books that I own come with the pdf on an attached CD so you are potentially getting both anyway.

Ask for a PDF as well. Then you get the book and are not rude, and can load it on your e-reader.

He's offered you a gift from gratitude; accept it for what it is.

Do the PDFs that they sell have any DRM? If so, he may not be able to give you a DRMed version for free and may not want to (or be allowed to by the publisher) give you a DRM-free version that could end up "freely" available on the internet.

I find it amazing how worried people are being about being polite to a professor.  Professors are just people after all and in most civilised countries are not liable to destroy your life because you didn't open a door for them. If you can work out how to be polite to people in general, just act the same to the professor.

Yes, it is always rude to respond to the offer of a gift by saying "Actually, I'd rather have -------".

The PDF file in question can not be 'freely' found on the Internet (although its previous edition can). Yet. Don't think too long about this point.

I think refusing would be disrespectful, can't you just say yes that would be great, actually I would be interested in reading it electronically whilst I am out and about, could you send me a PDF copy as well as a physical copy?

Feel free to ask, but if this author is in the same position I was in when my recent book was published, the answer would have to be "no"  Under my contract I got a set number of printed copies of the book, but not even one DRM'd ebook copy.  I could send you an electronic copy of my manuscript, but it doesn't exactly match the published version (the copy editing got done to their copy of the manuscript, not to my copy) and besides, I'm bound not to distribute the manuscript.

It is a question of framing. Frame it as something that is good for him, not just for you. I'd write something along the lines of:

Thank you very much for your kind offer. I'm indeed  very interested in the subject of book X. It probably is easier and cheaper for you if you just send me a PDF, and as I am someone who reads mostly on a screen anyway, I would be equally happy with an electronic version.

(And then you might or might not mention your postal address anyway, but in any case stress again that it is up to him to decide.)
In fact, I have had such situations before (people asking me for a copy of my dissertation [which I would have send them for free in print], but who also mailed that they preferred a PDF).

This seems reasonable to me. However, I'd recommend also including a postal address unless you really don't want a hard copy in any case. Just because the publisher has prepared an ebook version, doesn't mean the author has a copy of it. Authors often get a certain number of hard copies of their books gratis or discounted which they are then free to distribute as they wish. Even if the author has a copy of the ebook, the author may not be entitled to redistribute it.

Don't forget to mention that the PDF saves paper.

That's very polite.  I still think it would be fine to ask for both, especially if it's possible to read the pdf online.

It's very annoying when people do this. If you want a PDF, say so. Don't tell me what is easier and cheaper for me - you might be wrong.

Maybe add: "This makes it easier for me to write (legible) margin notes!"

That is a very (maybe, too) diplomatic approach. Additionally, @cfr's point on the e-book's distribution rights seems to be a valid one.

The suggested email is disingenuous: the asker says they would prefer a PDF so don't write to somebody saying that you'd be "equally happy" with a PDF. It's also very annoying if you offer somebody an apple and they say they'd be "equally happy with an orange." Well, isn't that an interesting piece of information? I offered you an apple. Do you want it or not?

Yes, previous two commenters nailed it. If someone told me what would be easier for me, I would be annoyed instantly.

I would say "Awesome, thanks! By the way, did you release your book as an e-book? I have one of those awesome kindle things I take everywhere, I bet people would like to read it on the go sometimes, I know I would!"
"You do? I wonder if I could get a copy too, because I'm going away for the weekend and would love to be able to read it on the train"

Do not convince people that what is good for you is good for them as well.

Why not just say what you mean? "Is there any chance I can get an electronic copy? I am more likely to enjoy your book if I can read it on my Kindle."

The other side of the argument is that perhaps the professor wanted to write something personal in it and give it to you as a gift.  It might be even better to say that you are delighted to receive the hardcover, and wonder if it might also be available online in PDF format.

This. It really sounds like he wants you to have a physical token of your collaboration. Accept it.

+1 did not occur to me, but now that I think about it this is probably the case.

You can ask him to digitally sign your PDF. There's nothing more personal than a 256-bit public key <3

Now that's funny.  :)

One thing that hasn't been mentioned in the other answers is that authors often get free or discounted copies of their physical books. As part of my author agreements, I get about 20 copies for free and can buy additional physical copies at 50% that I buy in bulk. This is fairly typical.
I usually keep a stack of my (physical) books in my office to give to people who visit or exchange with other scholars. It's  easy for me to drop one in the post at my office and have the staff put the right stamps on the package.
If someone asked me for a PDF or ePub, it'd be more difficult. My press does offer e-copies but they are digitally watermarked to the purchaser. In order for me to give them the ePub/PDF, I'd have to put in an individual order with the press to have the ebook made and watermarked and sent.
So PDFs are non-trivial and a pain in the ass from my perspective. Yes, it's very 19th century, like a lot of academia.

I can't imagine anyone being offended. Just say, "Thank you very much for your generous offer. However, a PDF of your book would be more useful to me. Can you please send me one instead of a hard copy?". If he can, he will. It should actually be easier for him.

Hm, I might be offended at that if I was to be in those shoes...

@Mehrdad Could you explain why?

@Niko: I'm not going to claim it's rational from a game-theoretic standpoint or something, but I think it's a don't-look-a-gift-horse-in-the-mouth kind of thing. I can imagine wordings that would be perfectly fine for me, but yours specifically would leave a bad taste in my mouth.

I think part of it is that it sounds like you're not just asking for another one, but also rejecting the gift. If I were to phrase it, I would instead say something like: "Thank you so much for the generous offer; yes, I would really appreciate it! If sending a PDF of the book may be any easier, I would find that just as useful as a hard copy, since the book is quite useful as a reference to search through electronically [or, insert some other legit reason here]. If a hard copy is less trouble then of course it would be just as valuable and I would really appreciate it. Thank you again!"

@Mehrdad But the asker says they want the PDF more. It's disingenuous to pretend that the PDF would be "just as useful".

@DavidRicherby: I know, but politeness in human interactions doesn't always make mathematical sense. It's enough of a hint that they should get what you're really saying. If they don't, then oh well... don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

@Mehrdad Why say that a PDF would be "just as useful" when it's just as easy and just as polite to say something like "I'd find a PDF even more useful than a hard copy, if that's possible"? Being polite is about not imposing yourself on others, not about saying things that aren't true in the hope that the other person will realise that the precise phrasing of your untruth indicates what you actually want.

@DavidRicherby: Because humans don't always interpret literally. If someone offers you X and you reply that Y is more useful than X, it can seem like you're just trying to find a polite way to reject X while demanding Y, neither of which is the case here. On the other hand, with my wording I think it's pretty clear that that's not the case. I couldn't think of a better way to say it while still accomplishing that goal, but if you can, props to you. Just remember that telling the professor what you "want" is not and should not be the sole purpose of your email, so optimize it accordingly.

@Mehrdad I agree that the goal is not to tell the professor what you want. But it's also to avoid telling them you want something that you don't want, or claiming to have no preference between two things when actually you do have a preference. This is easily achieved by saying something like, "Thank you -- I'd love to have a copy of the book. If possible, an electronic copy would be even better but I understand if that's not an option."

@DavidRicherby: Well your wording is fine too, I don't see a problem with it. My whole point this time was that this answer phrases it poorly, and I just tried to suggest one that I could find better. I didn't say my wording was the best possible...

@DavidRicherby Post that as an answer, good sir (with appropriate explanation about how you feel the other answers are worded disingenuously).

Yes, it sounds like a bad idea. A hard copy is a token of appreciation; you are basically saying that you don't need this gift.
Take the hard copy, which will come with a hand-written note. If not, you can sell it through Amazon and buy the PDF file.

As stated in the other answers, the author is probably offering you a hard-copy because his publisher gave him several copies. Also, it's offered as a gift and attempting to negotiate gifts isn't very gracious.
If you do want to ask for a PDF, do not pretend that this is because it's easier for him and do not pretend that you'd be equally happy with a PDF or a hard-copy. Either is a pretty transparent lie. Be honest, say what you want. "Thank you -- I'd love to have a copy. Actually, if it's possible, an electronic copy would be even better, but I understand if that's not an option." But I'd just stick with what you were offered.

Yes, it is very rude to refuse the hard copy.
Even though the PDF is practically comparable to the hard copy, the hard copy is being offered as a gift and so refusing it could greatly insult the professor. Academics are not generally proud but it is better not to take the chance. Consider the possibility that this professor rarely offers to send books to anyone but has chosen you especially.
Refusing is the equivalent of saying, "Your book does not warrant the ample space it requires in my bookshelf," or "the cost of shipping is hardly worth a permanent compendium of your knowledge." Even if this is not your intent your gesture can be interpreted as such, so why risk it when the cost of accepting is so low?
So, yes, you should take the hard copy and also thank the professor very sincerely, or else you might offend them.

I would definitely be happy about the book and accept it. Even if you don't want to have the book and it would only be on your shelf and regardless of this situation, if someone in life offers you something, they have possibly put a lot of work and effort in making it. I would consider it rude to ask for a digital copy of it, "to save paper" or "because you read it on a PDA" or for any other reason.
Your professor is possibly also a bit older and this does not have to be the case with every older person, but when I tell you that having a physical copy of a book with some ideas from someone, it is a great thing to have it as a book and this will also possibly be the thought pattern of your professor. If the professor wanted to have you a PDF file they would have emailed it to you by now.
If I would be in this situation and I wrote a book and wanted my students to have it and they ask for a PDF file of it I would possibly dismiss the class and hand them a copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People and make them write an essay about it, hehe. Again and again. This not only has to do with usability, but also with respect towards another person's thoughts and feelings.
It is another thing when you ask the professor for a copy. Then surly you can ask to have it as a PDF file or as a book if possible. The other way round this would work, however when being offered a gift in life you go by the simple rule, smile, be genuinely happy about it, gladly accept it and if you don't like it put it on your shelf and forget about it. There is more damage done in being picky about the format of a gift than simply accepting it and not letting the professor know you would prefer their gift in another format.
Sure, one or two weeks after you have accepted the gift you could very kindly ask for a PDF version of the book since you like to "have it with you when you travel on the bus to uni" or something along the line, simple reason, for you to be able to take the information in it with you wherever you are, implying you value the information given to you. This again would possibly flatter the professor and not make them think this student refused my gift and it asking for a digital copy to torrent it, no thanks.
Of course, if your professor is a PDA-loving cool dude/chick that loves the latest tech gadgets, has all their classes in digital format and only reads on PDAs you could surly ask for a PDF file straight away, it depends on the situation and the type of character your professor is.
General advise, not only in this situation but for the rest of your life: If someone offers you a gift, accept it as it is and possibly thank them for it, that depends on your manners.


text:
How can I make use of iterative "work in progress" versions of papers
I often find myself writing the N+1st version of the same paper: we might have a short periodic internal report, a longer report for the funding agency, and  we're now writing a conference paper.
As N gets larger, this gets more and more confusing.
While the early iterations were good, they had different purposes, lengths, and level of details.
For example, the internal "work in progress" version of a paper might have many preliminary results, but almost no introduction.
The conference version needs to have a more detailed introduction, but fewer (more focused) results.
Currently, I find that writing paper version N+1 requires starting with a rough copy/paste from version N, printing all version until N, and then looking in all previous versions for any missing information.
What are some strategies for better handing these multiple iterative versions of these papers?
Note that in contrast with this question, we don't start with a complete result (something that could be considered the "superset" paper).
Early iterations are mostly rough drafts, and sometimes middle versions do diverge because of different audience/requirements.

Not sure if I understood you correctly, but if you need a better workflow for managing the progress and evolution of your drafts, then I think the question you've linked to actually answers your question.
A combination of git and modular LaTeX can help you to:

track changes in your draft(s)
make sure new versions (and new versions of new versions) start with everything that was in the version they were started from
merge changes between versions
split your draft(s) in such a way that it is easy to include different bits and pieces in different versions
greatly simplify collaborative work
reuse parts of your projects (e.g. git project setup, LaTeX macros/environments/styles, any compilation scripts)
and many more things


text:
Mistook new faculty member to be a student, how big a faux pas is it?
Today I was introduced in the cafeteria by a professor who I know to someone new by just their first name.  Because of admissions season, I thought that the new person was a prospective grad student and I asked, "are you here for admissions?" and the reply was that "no, I just joined as an assistant professor here a month ago." I was already embarrassed enough but I think I stuffed my foot further in my mouth, when I said "oh sorry, sorry but you look so young."
The problem is that the person who I was introduced to is female, and I am afraid that I might have offended her. Am I just being paranoid or will some people really feel offended from such a comment?

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

I'm a female professor in my late 20s and I'm pretty sure I look even younger than I am. I've been mistaken for a student a bunch of times and it's always been an honest and totally understandable mistake. I'm often assumed to be a grad student; heck, I discovered in front of my mirror three days ago that wearing the school logo T-shirt I somehow acquired is inadvisable because it makes me look nearly indistinguishable from an undergrad.
I know doing this is embarrassing for the person who messed up, but looking at me and concluding that I'm very likely a grad student is reasonable and something I know is going to happen unless I'm wearing a fancy-schmancy suit. Heh! I've even done it myself. One time when I was meeting a (male) colleague, each of us mistook the other for a grad student; we've been teasing each other about it since. The only circumstances under which this would bug me would be if the person doing it were trying to be patronizing, or covered it up in a way that introduced some creepiness.
But yeah. I'm accustomed to it and I know my status surprises people. When someone asks if I'm a student, I laugh it off and say, "I am a very young faculty member." Most of the time thereafter I forget it happened. You did everything you needed to in order to make amends; I'd say put the guilt aside and move forward with a professional relationship with your colleague.

Glad to finally see an answer by a woman! (Judging by the other usernames…) This should be the top answer.

Could you open up those: "trying to be patronizing, or covered it up in a way that introduced some creepiness" I think there is a true risk that OP is on his way to some of these, if my woman-English vocabulary is right.

Sure thing! I can't speak for every woman ever, but from my perspective, "Sorry, you look really young!" is neutral (I wouldn't take it as a compliment, but it'd only be insulting if the person kept going and emphasized their commentary about my appearance). These examples are all totally hypothetical, but something like, "Whoa, really? Are you sure you're old enough to be a professor?" or "Wow, you look younger than my daughter," would strike me as condescending, and anything along the lines of, "Oh good, so it'd be safe to date you," even if meant as a joke, I'd find creepy. (1/2)

What I tell people in general (based on my own experiences, anyway), is that you have to have a reeeeeeeeeally good reason to refer to physical appearance or ask about relationship status. From my perspective, an apology for mistaking me for a student is an okay place to (briefly!) refer to my looking young, because it's an explanation meant to help the person regain some face. Likewise, commenting on what I'm wearing is usually not a very good idea, but if I e.g. accidentally sat in a puddle and didn't notice, a careful way of pointing it out in the interests of being helpful is fine! (2/2)

Thanks for the answer. The conversation really was exactly the way it happened, and basically alarm bells started ringing in my head that I was being socially awkward, so I quickly said that I had to leave and left asap. My plan is to 1) not bring this up again, and 2) Remember her face so that this mistake does not happen again.

Don't worry (too much), I think this happens to everybody at some point in their academic life. Your case isn't even particularly egregious, given that the new faculty member just started as an assistant professor, so likely she actually was a grad student not very long ago. I once idly asked a fellow conference attendant who she is working with, and she told me that she is a tenured associate professor. Embarrassing? Certainly, but not the end of the world. You apologize and move on.

The problem is that the person who I was introduced to is female, and I am afraid that I might have offended her.

I am not sure whether being female makes her more or less likely to be offended. However, I can't help but notice that most such stories are about female professors, so it seems to me that we jump to conclusions about them more freely than for males (or we guys just have trouble assessing women's age accurately). In any way, I have learned my lesson to be extra-careful before assuming that a young-looking female academic is a student, and you should too.

Am I just being paranoid or will some people really feel offended from such a comment?

I would not worry too much. You can bring it up lightly on a good ocassion and apologize, if such an ocassion presents itself in the next weeks. However, don't make it a bigger deal than it is, and if she seems unbothered or hasn't even noticed, then let it go.

I definitely feel that accessing ages is way easier the "closer" someone is to yourself (gender, age, race, social group). So yes, I think males are more likely to to assess woman age (especially of woman much younger or older), but so do woman for men.

"most such stories are about female professors" [citation needed]. Btw I was asked just this week to show my "student ID" while checking out a book from the library, so please factor that into your statistics of stories. And please factor all the other times that this happened to me and to pretty much any faculty member I know (male or female) below the age of 45, and that never turned into a "story" because we found such events to be entirely unremarkable.

"I am not sure whether being female makes her more or less likely to be offended." Being continually mistaken for students or other "status errors" - being called Miss/Ms/Mrs instead of Dr./Professor, etc. is a pretty common experience of female academics. That likely colors their perception of such incidents.

@DanRomik http://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/28/what-not-to-wear-assistant-professor-edition/ https://conditionallyaccepted.com/2015/04/28/stop-assuming/ http://www.forharriet.com/2015/01/young-gifted-and-black-facing.html#axzz4Yyw0wOC3 That someone also happens to men does not necessarily mean that it doesn't happen to women more frequently, or that it doesn't take place in a different context.

@Fomite agreed about the context being potentially different (in some cases at least). However it's also true that just because you raise the possibility that something might happen to women more frequently than to men, it doesn't mean that that's actually the case.

@DanRomik It's a common complaint among a wide swathe of my female colleagues. I've never had a male colleague complain about it being part of their experience. That's good enough for me - and while we're talking about context, the experience of a minority being dismissed until they can amass overwhelming evidence of something is depressingly common.

@Fomite ok, your anecdotal evidence is not worthless I suppose, but the point I was trying to make is that you may not be hearing such stories as much from men simply because men don't consider it noteworthy enough to mention. Also, I am not "dismissing a minority". I honestly can't say if a woman assistant professor would find it offensive to be mistaken for a grad student, so I'm making my best guess. I do know that I'm not offended when it happens, and I know that the only actual woman professor who answered here from her personal experience also isn't. That's also evidence of sorts.

I've been in similar situations, and I think there's one clear way to handle it.  After you inadvertently underestimate someone's level of expertise or qualifications like this, the next thing you do after a quick apology is express interest in their work as a professional.
In this case the obvious follow-up questions after a brief apology look like:

"What's your area of expertise?"
"What are you researching?"
"Any advice for me?  I hope to be on the job market soon."

Then continue with as genuine interest as possible.  In short, the way to rectify accidentally treating someone like they're not an expert is to then treat them like the expert they are.

I started working as a medical doctor when I was 24 years old, and it happened to me all the time, but mostly with patients. When I get introduced by a more senior doctor, they assume I'm an intern; when I do research I don't wear a doctor's coat and patients always wish me good luck "with my studies".
I'm only mildly annoyed by this, as long as they take me seriously after finding out my role. I'd advise you to do the same: just forget it happened and treat her like the assistant professor she is.
If she were offended the damage has already been done.

I don't think you should be the least worried. You cannot guess someone's qualifications from their appearance  (even if it is commonly tried). I'm a full prof who doesn't look young at all, and to this day the library staff see that I'm faculty only when they see my file on the screen, but it doesn't seem to be obvious to them beforehand. And why would it be?
You made an honest mistake.  The young prof would likely be flattered or amused. And if she isn't, the onus is on her to be less easily offended.

–1 for the last sentence, not least because blaming someone for being offended is virtually always siding with prejudice. The OP recognizes that there is a real problem with STEM being unwelcoming to women and undervaluing their scientific contributions. It is a sad but true fact that the woman the OP encountered has surely been on the receiving end of countless incidents of dismissal and discouragement. Being offended by such an environment (even if some dismissals were accidental) is a perfectly reasonable response.

Sorry, but where exactly does it say that this is about STEM? And where does the OP "recognize that there is a real problem with STEM being unwelcoming to women and undervaluing their scientific contributions"?

Nothing really wrong has been done and you have already apologized for the part which you should apologize. Calling a female young is usually considered flattery, and your mistake could be maybe interpret as a "mistake", but I assume that you were not that smooth with it that anybody would consider your actions flirty. Based on the information and the assumptions I make to fill the gaps like your working culture, facial expressions and such, my advice is: Move on, and never look back. If you sweep the thing under rug it will be forgotten. Bringing it up, and dragging it further would be something that may rise suspicion or at least make things awkward.

@NajibIdrissi Depends. http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/woman-versus-female-0 By quick googling it also seems that some radical feminist groups are advocating the use of woman, because they claim that nobody would use word male, which is rubbish. As a non-native English speaker myself, I tend to use whichever sounds better to my ear and whatever comes to my mind. In that sentence woman sounds awkward to me because both "woman" and "young" has "-ou-" between them. Also there is age differentiation to girls and woman; female being age independent. OP uses word female. Etc.


text:
Will anybody actually read your research and teaching statements?
When applying to faculty jobs, how much weight is given to your research/teaching statements?  Talking with a few folks on admissions committees at Very Good Departments in Big Research Universities, I was told in no uncertain terms that

your letters get you the interview,
your talk and individual meetings get you the job,
nothing else really matters,

where "nothing" includes your research statement, your teaching statement, the content of your publications, or your hairdo.  Of course, I am working with a very small sample here.  How true is this sentiment?  (And if it is true, why keep asking us young folks to write these hackneyed teaching statements that nobody ever reads?)  More importantly,
Question: For those who have been on faculty hiring committees, what are the actual criteria you use to invite applicants?
By actual (in bold and italics) I don't mean "what the job posting specifies" or "what the department charter says you're supposed do," but rather "how you actually make these decisions in a meeting right before lunch while preoccupied with a grant proposal due at midnight and the fact that the cafeteria is going to fill up with noisy smelly undergrads if you don't get there soon."

your previous title did not reflect the tone of your question and did you disservice… I second making the title more in line with the question, if somewhat less provocative. Regarding “unceremoniously”, please keep in mind that this site is collaboratively edited… the person who did so did it to help

You are right.  I appreciate the community and will edit away the sarcasm.  Mea culpa.

I am the chair of the faculty recruiting committee in a Very Good Department at a Big Research University.  I read research and teaching statements.
I need to know that you have a compelling agenda for your future research; your letters won't talk about that at all.  I need to know that you can describe and motivate your research agenda well enough to attract external research funding.  I need to know that you know why (not just "that") your work is interesting, visible, important, and likely to have high impact.  I need to know that you communicate clearly enough to be a good teacher, and that you care enough about teaching to formulate a coherent teaching philosophy.  I need to know that your research, teaching, and career goals—as you describe them—match those of my department.  I need to know that you are taking the recruiting process seriously.
In the long run, your publications (which I also read) and your recommendation letters are probably more important.  But saying that your statements have no importance is a dangerous exaggeration.
Also, I don't eat in the cafeteria.

Thank you, that is a useful admonition.  I think you are a good guy, and I am glad people like you are making these kinds of decisions.  I also notice you have a particular zeal for the academic process (as evidenced by 33.1k points on Stack Exchange).  To what degree would you say your colleagues share this zeal?

To the degree that they want to be taken seriously in committee discussion.

I agree that letters are by far the most important part of an application, but there's a big difference between not reading something and not having it be the deciding factor.  Your research statement is needed to describe your research agenda; if you don't do a good job of this, you are unlikely to be hired.  However, there's only so much one can learn from a research statement.  For example, some people describe ambitious plans they cannot actually carry out successfully, some are very good at making incremental work sound exciting, and some may work in an area nobody on the hiring committee can evaluate confidently (perhaps that's why the department needs to hire in this area).  The top candidates all have impressive research statements, and the differences between them are generally not compelling enough to matter compared with what the letters reveal.  On the other hand, it's certainly possible to write a bad research statement, for example by giving the impression that your greatest ambition is to refine your thesis work forever.  If you do that, you'll discover that someone was reading after all.
Teaching statements are a messier subject, and nobody can quite agree on what should even be in them.  Search committee members at research universities differ in how they evaluate them: some read them very seriously, while others use them for nothing but filtering out applicants who might provoke a student uprising through incompetent teaching.  I think you'd be surprised at how many people care about teaching, even in departments that are not known for teaching excellence overall, and even people who don't care about teaching know they need to maintain some minimal standards and put on a good show for the administration.
Of course, all this depends on what sort of job you are applying for.  There's enormous variation, not just via the obvious categories (research universities, comprehensive universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, etc.) but also at the departmental level or just based on who's on the search committee.  There are overall patterns, such as the importance of letters, but there is no agreement on things like whether cover letters matter.

It's certainly true that publications, letters and your performance in an interview are far more important than research or teaching statements; I'd much rather be on the job market with latter weak than the former.  That said, I think you're conflating two things here: most applicants' research and teaching statements never get read.  But if you get the job, it's pretty likely they were.  Between TT and postdoc searches, my department currently has 623 applicants in our MathJobs queue; that's way too many to read all the research statements of.  But eventually things will get narrowed to a shortlist, and then documents will get read.

Your posts about job-hunting have always been helpful (and thanks a lot for making your application package public). But this one was both encouraging and depressing. It's good to know all documents will be read in the end if you get shortlisted. But 623...? Six hundred twenty three?! That's just crazy...

@YuichiroFujiwara Well, that's MathJobs.  Everybody can easily apply for every job (and of course, you have to if that's what everybody else is doing).  I think that number is suppressed somewhat by UVa not being a major metropolitan area.  The postdoc numbers are running 150-200 lower than what we saw at Northeastern.  But of course, a lot of the people who apply are not serious candidates (for example, people graduating this year applying for the TT positions), so the numbers anywhere are also kind of inflated.

That many doesn't sound crazy to me, but I suspect it reflects the way people paper the universe these days, applying for everything everywhere, regardless of whether even they think they're a believable candidate.  You get lots of junk.  I think what Ben is saying is that out of any pool of applicants, something like 80% will be obviously inferior to the other 20% based simply on credentials.  He doesn't need to read anything else to know this.  But by the time anyone gets hired, that person's statements will get close review because this is choice they'll have to live with.

To both: That makes sense. I'm not sure about the numbers Nicole brought up though. But I can imagine the majority of applications are obviously not competitive and have no chance, at least in the case of highly competitive TT positions at reputable universities.

@NicoleHamilton I'm not sure 80/20 is really the correct balance.  I don't know that it's so easy to skim the top 20% out of the top 40%.  Lots of people are superficially plausible (went to a respectable university, have some publications and good letters of reference), probably at least 50% and unless they are in a field you know well, it can be hard to figure out who has done really impressive work.

As a member of a hiring committee in a small department at a primarily undergraduate institution, I read both statements.

For the research statement

I need to know that the research planned by the candidate is feasible at my institution. If he/she needs access to one of only five specialty instruments in the world, then I am suspicious that the candidate may not be happy at my institution and will likely want to move on in a few years. I also want to see projects that look like they are friendly to undergraduates. Finally, since I am in a small department, I want to see research that somehow balances our desire to find someone who complements the types of research we are already doing while filling in voids in our expertise.

For the teaching statement

Since teaching will be the majority of what the candidate will do, I read this statement for a few key items.

Is the statement cogent and organized? I do not care what the teaching philosophy of the candidate is so much as I care that the candidate has clearly thought about how they would approach teaching and learning.
Does the statement contain more specific examples than fluffy buzzwords? Even if the candidate has limited teaching experience, specific examples from classes the candidate has taken again demonstrate that the candidate has thought about what good teaching might look like.
How long is the statement? Half a page means the candidate put no effort into the statement. More than three pages means the candidate does not have focused thoughts on the matter.

Ultimnately, I make certain to read both statements carefully for the same reason I read the letters carefully. I want to make sure the candidate is the best possible match for the job.

Yes, people like to rant about the current state of the system, and most often over-exaggerate the importance given to this or that item. Some people find it sounds better to say “the system is rigged/stupid/corrupt, all that counts is whom you know” than “it's a pretty tough job, and we need that much information to make the best decision”.
I think the simplest way to make the point is this one: with the huge amount of competition and pressure on that particular job market, hiring committees use all the information they can get their hands on to make the best decision.
Going to the extreme, even things like your hairdo, your clothes and your language style do convey information to your interlocutors: does the guy know how to adhere certain basic social conventions, for one thing? It sure is a minor element compared to your publications, but it may come to play a role, because, well, plenty of other applicants will have stellar publications!

Note that my question is not a rant: it is a startled reaction to matter-of-fact information provided by actual people on faculty hiring committees.  (I for one am all for the reading of statements.)

I said the people you quote are ranting… though at least one sentence in your question (“why keep asking us young folks to write these hackneyed teaching statements that nobody ever reads?”) feels borderline :)

Ok, you are right. :-)

I sat on a hiring committee last year.  We read all the research statements.  Candidates didn't submit a separate "teaching philosophy" but did discuss teaching experience/perspective in their cover letters.
I would bet that it depends on the job.  If the job is narrowly targeted toward a specific research area, your research statement is more likely to be similar to those of many other applicants, so it may carry somewhat less weight.  For the committee I was on, the job ad was very open-ended, so the research statements carried considerable weight in weeding out people whose research didn't jibe with the department's goals.
At least in my experience, it is quite untrue that the letters are the only thing that gets you the interview.  In our discussions, letters were among the least discussed aspects of the applications.  Committee members would not if a particular letter seemed especially glowing or damning, but that was about it.
One thing you don't mention is your CV, which I found to be one of the most important factors.  We spent a lot of time discussing the research output of the candidates.
In general, my impression is that it is (unfortunately) much easier to shipwreck your prospects than to boost them.  We definitely had people who gave poor interviews, or poor job talks, and thereby took themselves out of the running.  So, even if people don't give the research statement immense weight, it's worth your while to make it decent, because if it is noticeably sucky it could torpedo your chances.

Every time I do an interview I see the interviewers pull out a folder and read my research statements right in front of me.  So yes, I am pretty positive people read them.

I have been on search committees.  I have made decisions (usually decisions about who goes on my short list) on the basis of the research statement.  So make an effort to have it readable and accurate.


text:
Repeating definitions in the Abstract in the Introduction?
In a mathematics paper that has an Abstract immediately followed by an
Introduction section, should notation that is defined in the Abstract be
repeated in the Introduction?
Or is it fair to assume the reader will read both consecutively,
and such repetition is superfluous?
For example,

Abstract.
This paper studies the cut locus C(x) of ...

Introduction.
We let C(x) designate the cut locus of ...

More generally: a paper should always be written so that it is complete and readable even if the abstract were not present at all.

@GregMartin This should be an answer.

Thank you for making this question independent of its title :)

Personally, I like to keep the abstract free of formulas and references, if possible. Defining a notation in the introduction of the article, rather than in its abstract seems more reasonable in this respect.

I think the body of the paper needs the full definition. The abstract might not. If you can write it without formulas it will be easier to read and easier for tools to parse and tag. So

This paper studies the cut locus of [continue with appropriate words]

would be better if it's possible.

I would go so far as to give a precise definition of "cut locus" in the paper. Researchers from other universities or other countries can easily have a somewhat-similar-but-subtly-different-definition, and not stating the definition you're using in your paper just obfuscates your paper by forcing the readers to guess.

The abstract should entice you to read the paper.  I’m not sure how including definitions fits this goals, unless you have a very long abstract.

I'm not sure about "entice" (we're not selling cars), but the abstract should summarize what you're doing in a clear and concise way to allow the reader to rapidly decide whether the material is likely to interest them or not and worth devoting more time to.  If a definition helps that then I think a definition is useful.

@StephenG-HelpUkraine well...  You may not be selling cars but you are selling your results.  (Not sure about "selling" but close enough to reality). I would not state that the objective is to allow the reader to decide whether "the material" is of interest to them: I would suggest instead it is to allow the reader to decide whether the results are of interest to them, and I'm not sure how a definition helps with that.

As, perhaps focusing on the results is a better description, although I think some people will be more interested if the approach is a method that interests them.  "We got this result by using this approach" sort of thing ?  And, as always, it's important to drop the word "novel" in there somewhere to wake the reviewer up. :-)

An abstract is a summary, not an advertisement.

@CrisLuengo …and products should sell on merits, not on the advertisement but the reality is that if you don’t try to catch the attention of the prospective readers there will be that many fewer people to read your papers.