text:
How to deal with my results being stolen?
I have experienced a couple of times the following problem: I have asked another researcher to cooperate and provided mathematical results (as a basis for an algorithm). The cooperation has not proceeded as fast as expected and the other party has taken my results and integrated them into a work that he has published with other people. There are two questions:

How to initiate cooperation with new people and still avoid this problem? The mathematical properties are central in our research. New algorithms cannot be created, unless we first invent some clever properties that prune the search space (so, the properties are the heart of the algorithm, the rest is usually straight-forward). So, they have to be invented first and this inventing happens to be my speciality. Unfortunately, it is easy to proceed without me, when I have done this difficult part. So, I don't know whom and when I could give the results. They should be shared pretty soon, since we should all be able to ponder together how to integrate the new properties in the algorithm. Sometimes we may also find that they are not useful or strong enough and new results are needed, so ideally this invention-brainstorming process would be iterative.
How should I refer to my own results, if others have published them first? Should I still give a reference to their publication, when I use them for something new? This is now an important question since I have invented a new use for one of my previous results. (Naturally, I don't like the idea I should refer to somebody else for my own invention.)

I would also like to understand the behaviour of those other researchers. I have a few hypotheses:

It's possible they underestimate the invention work, because I
usually present only the final results as nice compact proofs +
explanation what the result means in practice. In reality, deriving
the results may easily take 100 hours or more - proving by trial and
error, guided by intuition and earlier results.
I have been only a post-doc, when this happened, so I had no authority. They may think it is easier to get a paper published if it is written with some better
known researchers.
These people have been from other countries and had a different mother tongue than me, while they have published the results with
people who were either geographically close (even the same research
group) or spoke the same language they did. So maybe the question is
about easy communication and cooperation?
The original research had suffered from delays, like rejected project application. It would have continued but not in the original schedule (from my part). So maybe they wanted to get things published faster or even assumed I won't get any funding for future research.

What do you think is the explanation? Understanding the reasons would help to avoid the problem in future.

Don't give out results / your work without a solid agreement that you will have an attribution or be a co-author on any paper using that material.

Have you been cited in this other work? I find it hard to understand how they could use only your results without the underlying analysis if they don't cite it. Their paper would seem very incomplete to a reader, I think.

No citing (no proper publication to cite), but they have given my proof of the result. After invention and explanation, the results are easy to grasp.

Actually, you can always cite another's work and mark the citation as "private communication". It should have been done.

Can you elaborate this part? "The cooperation has not proceeded as fast as expected and the other party has taken my results..."? Suppose I am that "another party". I devote my time to the project, and what I see is endless delays. What are my options then? One of them would be to publish what we got so far and close this cooperation.

No citing (no proper publication to cite), but they have given my proof of the result. - which they explicitly attribute to you?

How to initiate cooperation with new people and still avoid this
  problem?

You need some basic trust in the people you want to cooperate with before starting to share ideas. In some cases, you might know coauthors of them. Talk to them and hopefully they will drop hints on whether the collaboration was fair or if you need to be careful. I have indeed gotten warnings from other researchers (inside my own institute) regarding who I can trust and who tries to steal ideas. And I also pass on such information (after validating it) to new researchers.
But most important: Before starting any serious exchange of information, define basic rules for all of you. For example, anything which is developed throughout this collaboration must only be published with everyone agreeing to it. Create proof of this via a digitally signed email.
Of course, you might not be able to fully trust ANY person. So take care and create proof of your initial ideas. I tend to create repositories with revision-tracking (via GIT or SVN) of the joint work during collaboration. Everything should be stored therein, for example, any paper that you are writing or simulation data. Even if you get into trouble later on, you can proof, WHEN and WHAT you contributed.

Create proof of this via a digitally signed email. - This seems excessive to me and would put me off.

If you have a digitally signed email, and somebody steals your results, what good is it going to do you?


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Why cite the access time of a URL if half the URLs become dead anyways?
What is the actual goal of citing the "access date/time" of when you access a URL? For example:

Bruce Bower (July 17, 2010). "Serbian site may have hosted first copper makers". ScienceNews. Retrieved 22 April 2017.

Or sometimes thanks to web.archive.org, you get some that archive the URL:

Allen, Michael J.; et al., eds. (2012). Is There a British Chalcolithic?: People, Place and Polity in the later Third Millennium (summary). Oxbow. ISBN 9781842174968. Archived from the original on 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2016-02-02.

If URLs can change willy-nilly, what is the point of referencing the access date? The URL could become dead at which point the source/citation seems useless, or the content could be changed and the original content at the retrieval date can no longer be found. So I don't understand why this practice is in place, and yet I don't have a better alternative.

“Half” is inaccurate. All the references will be dead sooner or later. We are in fact in the classical/mediaeval environment where you refer to a previous writer and the only MS of the cited work disappears. Many pre-Socratic philosophers are known only from quotations in later works. If a printed source exists, always cite it - in addition to an online version, if you like. Much of the purpose of the date is to help the reader decide whether there is even any point in chasing up the reference you have given.

Well, in a way this "timestamping" of citations is indeed irrelevant - it simply doesn't matter, as your paper is timestamped anyway. It is expected the source is valid at the time of submission and during review process - if it changed before submission or during review, citation is worthless and should be removed or replaced. ((of course, if you yourself have a type of media that can change eg a webpage, then it does make sense to timestamp accesses to other transient stuff))

I don't really get your question. Yes, stuff pointed to by URLs is incredibly unstable, even if the link itself stays up. We know that. But you already know about a tool to combat that: the waybackmachiene. With a fixed date and an url, you can - with some luck - get the exact version of that website that was cited right there. Whats your question?

You go to https://web.archive.org/save and let the Archive save the page, then use that as the timestamp that you cite. While there's a low chance that it might still get removed etc., others will then have a good chance of getting pretty much exactly the version that you looked at.

For the record, good URIs never change.

The point of referencing the access date is because URLs can change willy-nilly. It's true that it might be hard for a reader to access the specific version of the website you're citing if the website has since been updated or deleted. But at least it gives the reader some idea of what's going on if, for example, the reader finds that the information you cited has been changed or is missing.
Incidentally, this is why you should try to avoid citing websites which are liable to change in the first place, if you can avoid it. Instead, aim for sources with greater permanence. Ideally published, but at least archived with a permanent identifier, DOI, etc. If you really can't avoid citing a website, and the website later dies without any kind of archived version, then that's unfortunate but there's not much you can do.
Note that in your second example, you're actually citing a published book. In that case, you just need to cite the book itself, not the particular website you might have used to access it or the date you did so (the book is already in a fixed, published form, it's not going to change based on the date you access it). As long as a reader has sufficient information to find the same version of the book (including e.g. the particular edition number you used, if applicable) then that's sufficient.

Assuming the Wayback Machine never goes down or runs out of funding!

the idea that this is much you can do, does not assume that

@DanielHatton There's been instances of the Wayback Machine removing archived pages at the request of the site owner or some other authority.

Some websites are also poorly crawlable or include robots.txt that prevents the Wayback Machine from archiving them. Better check if it has it before making that reference.

The online version of a book can be updated more easily than the print version; citing where you got it can help as a defense if there's a difference.

@walen they are still stored, but not accessible.

@user253751 source?

This is one of the benefits of using a tool like Zotero to manage references: cited webpages are stored with an offline snapshot at the current time.

@0xDBFB7 That doesn't really help if you expect other people to read your publications.

URLs change or stop working, and the contents of webpages also change.
The date enables readers to view the exact version of the page that you viewed, even if the page was subsequently changed and even if the URL no longer works - at least, it enables them to do this if the page is archived on archive.org.

You cite with a date for your own veracity. At the time the citation is made it is (almost always) checkable. The page may change or disappear, as you note, but it existed in the form you claim it did on the date you claim - or so you claim.
Without the date, nothing is really checkable. So, you are making a claim of honesty about what you say and giving proper attribution.
And, we do the best we can with the tools we have. The internet archive provides an improvement over a situation where sources can change without comment or ability to verify. Not a perfect world, but it is the one we live in.
Note that when you cite a book, you cite the specific edition. And when an archive captures various versions of a web page the date points (hopefully) to the version you accessed.

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text:
How to teach students not to use other people's work in an assignment or a thesis?
When reading submissions by students, for example coding assignments or bachelor theses, I stumble upon code or text not originally written by the students themselves, usually not referenced properly (see the edit below). After being confronted with this, I often hear or read statements like:

"I did write it myself -- using a source, and making some of my own modifications."
"Wikipedia explains this topic very well. I didn't know that I am
not allowed to copy the article in my thesis. Wikipedia is
even on my list of references!"
"Our code looks similar, because he helped me with some bugs I had."
Or that plagiarism in the methodology section is small and unimportant (original version).

I usually tend to see these statements as lame excuses, because I thought it would be common sense how not to plagiarize, but maybe they are right that they really do not know it better. It seems like they think the correct way to avoid plagiarism is to modify the source even more instead of doing it on their own in the first place.
Our usual approach to tackle this problem is to state that we do not want
plagiarism, search for indications of plagiarism and then have endless
discussion about it afterwards.
There are methods to circumvent this partially, for example by providing
individualized tasks, and our university also provides workshops that teach you for example how a reference list should be built, but I am searching for ideas for the everyday teaching (programming labs, supervising students writing a thesis...) to promote the mindset that taking the text or code from someone else and modifying it is not the correct way, especially when it comes to graded submissions or publications.
EDIT: After receiving multiple comments about what I am worried about is not plagiarism, I would like to explain this aspect a little more by means of some examples:

There is no reference at all: This is clearly plagiarism, period.
The reference is not sufficient: This is the Wikipedia case from above. Having only "Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/" in the list of references without any indication which part of the text is from which article and which part is written by the student does not help at all and is in my opinion nearly as bad as having no reference at all.
There is a proper reference: As others have noted, this is not plagiarism. Still, in the context of grading, we have to look deeper:

Written exam: Everyone should agree that a student should fail an exam if he copies the solution by another student even if he writes "This solution was copied from the student sitting next to me."
Code Assignments: I had cases where students wrote "I copied this part from ..., because I was not able to do it myself and the rest of the program would not work without it". This is totally fine for me, but the student should not expect to receive points for the copied part, but only for the other parts written by himself. The same holds for code copied from other sources and modified afterwards.
Lengthy text passages: This is the example of copying significant parts of a Wikipedia article, again. But this is already covered in several other questions.

For me, plagiarism is the act of quoting someones work without proper reference. Therefore, I'd say all your examples are perfectly ok and might well be done; as long as they are cited accordingly. Could you explain why you want to teach "not to plagiarize"? Because to me it seems like you should rather teach how to give proper credit to the original source; and maybe that a submission with 100% cited material is not good enough in some/many cases...

@DirkLiebhold I see your argument and agree that with proper (!) citation it is not plagiarism in the strict sense. Still, we have to give individual grades and just using content by others should not result in a better grade than if you have not provided this content at all. At most, you can honor the fact of finding the content, but not the content itself.

@koalo Yes, of course. But I would still teach how to properly cite (e.g. also explain that you need to cite ideas, not only verbatim text, as DSVA pointed out) and once that is done, make proper rules for assignments, stating that at least XX% need to be own ideas, at least YY% should be cited, etc., depending on how you want it. Also teach the students how to point out "I did this myself, this is MY very own idea" without sounding too arrogant.

@DirkLiebhold: Usually in beginning CS courses the expected rule is that 100% of the code-writing is one's own, 0% quoted, so what's the point of that side-excursion?

I'm not sure code belongs in this discussion as it seems legitimate to me. When I'm fixing issues in my code, if someone is helping me fix those issues, there's a good chance that I'll end up using the same solution. Unless the language being used has room for stylistic differences and I actually prefer a different style than the person helping me, we're going to end up with the same code. Add to that the fact that in the workplace you want to avoid reinventing the wheel and just need to really understand the code...

Taking that into account, I would advocate testing the student's understanding of the code they've written by having them explain what they are doing and how they are achieving it, since that's what you really want to assess.

I don't know if this comment is going a bit off-topic, but assume a student tries and fails. After some time, they decide to look up how it's done on wikipedia and they now understand how to solve the issue. They do so, and obviously the result is very similar to wikipedia. If they state that they learnt the information from there, is this still an issue?
What I mean to point out is: Where is the line between "lazy and copied" and "tried his best and copied"? Or would you say both should be discouraged and the students should rather not do the exercise at all if they initially don't know how?

Your definition of plagiarism as "any use of someone else's work or ideas in any form for any reason no matter how it is cited" is very unusual in academia. Building on and responding to other scholars is what the scholarly conversation is all about, and it's how we build knowledge. Even Newton said (approximately) "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." If you want students to do everything from scratch for particular assignments that's fine, and there are methods to ensure that, but that's different from, in general, teaching about not plagiarizing.

@Cronax it's legitimate only if credited properly, not after being discovered. I attended a class where I was doing my lab work with another student. All of my reports were started by a disclaimer like "portions of the following code have been developed together with [name]" even if the reports where actually about answering questions (the code was just for reference) and even if the teacher already knew we were working together. All of this doesn't matter, people need to acknowledge when what they hand in is not 100% their own.

@1006a the question is clearly about all the excuses students claim after being found guilty of plagiarism, not about proper citations.

Most universities have an academic honesty policy that (and this is the key point) uses rather harsh and confrontational language. Are students exposed to this, on a course website or syllabus or something?

State the rules upfront and reject assignments containing plagiarism without a right to resubmit afterwards and without a right to discuss. An aside: you do have to distinguish academic plagiarism from copyright violation.

@1006a You are correct that my question is not about plagiarism in the strict sense, but your title change does not cover other work by students such as a thesis. I have tried to improve the question accordingly.

@kirkpatt There are rules in place that would allow to expulse students in case of misconduct, but they are rarely applied. The problem is that if there are rules such as "If you cheat in any way, you will be expulsed" you should apply them even for really minor cases, otherwise they loose their force.

@1006a: "I can't see further because I'm standing in the footsteps of giants :-("

@koalo You might consider re-framing your question, both in the title and in general, in terms of "How to teach students how and when (and when not) to use other people's work in an assignment or a thesis?"

It seems to me that you have an "Academic Integrity" issue as opposed to a "Plagiarism" issue. Academic Integrity covers many areas including:

Plagiarism
Collusion
Fabrication

and so on...
In my personal experience the biggest 'excuse' that students will plead is ignorance. What this causes is the following cycle:

students submit work
work is marked
issues are found
issues are discussed with student
student pleads ignorance
student is educated
(sometimes) student is allowed to resubmit

The problem here is that education comes after the crime, and any resubmissions can drastically delay students receiving marks and feedback (which feeds into other assignments).
Now I do not have a solution that will stop all cases of academic dishonesty and personally I do not think it is possible. If people want to cheat, they will. The key is to remove the accidental plagiarisms so that the focus is on the intentional cases.
To remove the ignorance excuse the answer is simple: education. Now you are already employing education as your solution, however, you are doing it after the submission. The key is to do it as soon as possible. Personally, I use part of my first tutorial class to teach the students what Academic Integrity is, and then get the students to work through some examples and questions. Lastly, I require them to complete an "Academic Integrity Quiz" which is regulated by our University Library. Before the students can gain access to our assignment submission boxes they MUST have scored 10/10 on that quiz (this is automated). Unlimited attempts are allowed on the quiz as well.
The solution above forces students to learn about Academic Integrity and thereby removes the "I didn't know" (ignorance) excuse.
I hope this helps.

Interesting. Does your university have data showing significant benefit of such a scheme? I've heard various studies that people cheat less when they are reminded of it (they already know it but reminding them makes them think twice).

I really like this answer, especially the parts give examples to substantiate the usual common-sense drivel and let them do a quiz to activate all students, even if the quiz would be relatively easy for most students.

Thanks Koalo, when I do examples with  my students my favourite thing to do is to make everyone stand up and then based on the example move to one side of the room if it is an issue, and the other side of the room if the example is fine. Then I will pick a few people from either side to discuss their position and why they are standing there. This gets people out of their chair (increased bloodflow, wakes up sleepy students) and it forces them to think about their answer and their position. If you want you can also put a neutral position in the middle of the room for people who aren't sure.

@ReidHonan Sounds great, now I want to be one of your students ;-)

@user21820 im terms of data showing the benefit Me and my team is in the process of compiling the data into a paper detailing our methods and the output.  When it is completed I will link it here.

Was this paper ever written?

There is likely no silver bullet. However, I have found some traction with aggressively educating students in the first few sessions. (So: this echoes Reid Honan's answer, without depending on the outside-regulated quiz assessment.)
I have a statement on code plagiarism on the syllabus. Note: To my surprise, there was no crystal-clear statement that I could find online as a reference. In some sense this requires me to clarify exactly what will count as plagiarism in the context of my class. I also outline the exact penalties. This is handed out on Day 1 (of course); on Day 2 I verbally quiz the class together. "Is X plagiarism? Is Y? Is Z?" The answer to all is "yes"; include every excuse you've ever heard here.
Since I started this in the last year, it cut my incidences down by about half, especially on the first few assignments. (Previously lots of copying, now none in the first few weeks.) When copying happens, I apply the penalties precisely as stated, and then announce that it happened in the next class meeting (obviously not identifying individual offenders; but use this as a reminder and confirmation that the stated penalties are being applied). I tend to have a few more cases near the end of the semester when a few lagging students become hazy, have fallen behind, and/or get desperate with more challenging work.

Next year from student "Yes, my submission echoes Mark's code, but it's clearly original" :)

I will add few words from student perspective. Others answers points out that providing education to students is very important. I think it is also important to show students that you care about this. Publish clear guidelines what is allowed and what is not. Explain to students reason behind this guidelines. Talk about it in class. Think if your grading encourages plagiarism. Answer student’s questions about plagiarism. Allow student to ask if specific example is plagiarism or not. If I am expected to provide perfect homework at the beginning of semester and cannot fix mistakes later I start to think that goal of the assignment is not learning. I think is better if you expect student to send homework few times so they could improve and fix mistakes over time. I also feel that that is not fair if assignments are poor quality or there are too many of them. Publish high quality assignments and say why you think that it is important to finish them. Say why you think that assignments are good use of time (instead of reading a textbook or other activity).
To summarize my answer – you can do something so students will find following rules meaningful and fair. I know about cases where the same student did not cheat when he had perfect opportunities and cheated where there was considerable punishment, strict checking and supervision.

I ask my students to read this and paraphrase it as part of the first homework assignment. I have no evidence showing  that it reduces the amount of dishonesty, but at least they can't say they didn't know.
https://www.cs.umb.edu/~eb/honesty/

I mention potential real-world consequences, because the proof of plagiarism never goes away:

tenured professors who plagiarized in their PhD have had their diploma retracted and consequently lost their job;
political nominees have had to withdraw their candidature after journalists found they plagiarized in their graduate thesis;
newspaper editors have been fired because plagiarism is a time saver, but it caught up to them;
companies have been sued and lost money over violation of intellectual property involving software source code.

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Good examples for methods section in math or computer science
A methods section is very common in areas such as medicine. However, in math
or computer science papers I rarely find such a section if no experiments or
observational studies were conducted. Nevertheless, it is a requirement for
the computer science journal I submitted to. While nearly none of the papers
published by the journal provides one, I still have to fulfill this requirement.
While some general guidelines can be found, for example in this question,
it would be very helpful to have some good examples for such a section in existing math or computer science literature.
Edit: As clarification: I already submitted and got a revision request that did not mention a missing methods second. I then submitted a revision and after a few hours I got a second revision request asking for a methods section (and a few other formal requests). I know that I could discuss this with the editor if I really need one, but maybe it would actually improve the paper.

You're written "it is a requirement for the computer science journal I submitted to," surely you mean want to submit to, otherwise, it is to late to fulfil the requirement. (Sorry for being pedantic, I just want to understand your situation.)

Since "none of the papers published by the journal provides [a methods section]," despite the journal's requirement for such a section, you needn't fulfil this requirement.* (It is perhaps a generic requirement that most of the publisher's journals demand, but isn't required by the journal you're submitting to.)
*You can confirm with the editor, to be absolutely sure.

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text:
Can I, when writing a book, make use of a physical model made up by someone else?
Currently, I'm writing a book about everything from A to Z [physics, the science of the brain, AI, many more scientific topics, the "philosophy" (the workings) of the sciences, economy, the destruction of Nature and can she still be saved for future generations, the place of the sciences in society, etc.].
I'm a big fan of a certain physical model: The Rishon model, invented by Haïm Harari. Can I use his theory without further consequences? Or is it good propaganda for his theory?

And you may well find that the amount of references you need to use matches or even exceeds the text you write.

Anyone can use anyone else’s published theory as long as they cite their sources and don’t try to falsely claim ownership of the ideas of others. So yes, if you present it honestly as Harari’s theory then of course you can use it in your book.


text:
I submitted a paper five months ago. Should I wait a little bit more for a response?
I submitted a paper to a journal five months ago. The status of the paper was 'With Editor' for the first three months. After three months from my submission, I sent the journal a polite enquiry about my submission. I did not receive any reply, however, the status of the paper changed from 'With Editor' to 'Under Review' less than 24 hours after I sent my enquiry.
It has been two more months now, and I still have not received anything back. What should I do? I am assuming that the editor has forgotten about my paper, then when he or she received the reminder, sent it to a few people for review. In which case, I was going to wait another month, then enquire about my paper again. Is this too conservative? I would love to get a reply, as this paper is part of my forthcoming PhD thesis which I'm about to submit soon.

It differs case by case, but journals take a while before acceptance and publishing. Once I waited a year for a high ranking journal! You can always contact the editor and ask about the status of your journal.
Advice On Your Thesis and Submitted Material: You can definitely cite the submitted material within your thesis. Don't forget to add the (Submitted to X) at the end of the citation.

Thanks for your answer. Yes I know I can cite my submitted paper. What I'm eager for is feedback regarding the paper, really, as it would surely help in my thesis as well.


text:
Time management in PhD Math program
I'm accepted at a PhD math program for the fall and I will be expected to take 3 very rigorous pure math classes a semester and TA about 10 hours a week. I am a slow learner and it takes me a long time to truly understand difficult concepts (at least it seems longer than what it takes my peers).
I would appreciate any tips in the following:

What are some tips for managing my time in grad-school?
Is there anything I can do now before I start to help prepare me (other than learn more math of course)?
How to grade or teach time efficiently?
Is it better to focus on learning material for one class per day, or allocate a little bit of time each day for each class?

Shortly after each class (same day, if possible) go over the material, write down any unclear points/unresolved doubts to ask next time. Don't study for an exam the day before, close the subject two days before. Go to bed early, be rested for exams. You can study the day before the exam, but only other subjects. Leave a day a week for relaxing. Go hiking, do something else that day. If you get stuck, do something else for a while. Working more than two hours straight (or so) on something is counterproductive, have something else to do. It tired, go for a walk, work out for a while.


text:
Using a quote to begin a new chapter in a thesis
I am doing a Masters thesis. Can I use a quote to begin each chapter of my Master's thesis?

I've seen this done before. The quotes were separate from the main body of  text though. Somewhere near the chapter title in a smaller italic font.

The quick answer is, yes, you can, but perhaps the more interesting question is whether it is a good idea. I.e., does it add to the thesis?

Duplicate: http://academia.stackexchange.com/q/12565/19607

Epigraphs are generally fine unless otherwise proscribed by university rules or the style guide used in your field. (MLA has specific formatting guidelines for them, I'd imagine others do too)
But first ask yourself if they add something to your paper. For example, a quote from Borges on an section on recursion would go rather nicely, setting up the ideas/theme far faster than a stale introductory paragraph. A quote from a historical leader might establish a link between the past and a chapter on modern day politics or society. But an inspirational quote about hard work probably doesn't belong in methodologies chapter.

Yes unless your university's rules forbid it. You should check your university's master's thesis formatting rules and guidelines.

"I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking." - Dorothy Sayers

Well, I would say it depends on the context. If you are using the quote later for your work, or if it is connected somehow to your work, it is ok, otherwise the quotation would not have a purpose (for example in theory this can be a copyright law issue in some countries, e. g. Germany, whereby it is unlikely that someone will pursue it.).


text:
what should i do in this situation , please?
I got minor revisions for my paper and sent it by 20/9 , in 23/9 I got change in the status to be "with the editor" then I got change in the date in 5/10 and the status is "with the editor" too. Now I asked the editor for the expected time that I will got the final decision and his reply was "The manuscript is currently with the editor for evaluation and you will be notified once the decision has been rendered.".
Does his reply means it will take more time , please ?
Does the final decision will take all the time with minor revisions, I know that the time will differ from journal to another and depend on the editors but is there any expected time I can guess ?
also what is the difference between the two dates that changed and the status still itself "with the editor" ?
what is the the status that I should wait it ?

Once a decision is made they will tell you. Yes, nothing to do but wait.

does the minor revisions take all this time ?

The journal has a workflow process. Many other articles are in the pipeline requiring attention as well. The editors are (generally) volunteers who have other jobs. Yes, it all takes time but they will get to it when it is the next item in the queue.

I got it but excuse me , there are papers revised after my paper but accepted before mine . the minor revisions i got not much . it is just replaced or checked some words

And those may well have gone through different editors. Things were easier back in the day - you sent off an envelope with a submission, and at some point got back an envelope. Instead of checking on the status, go take a walk or have an appropriate beverage with friends. Learn to accept what you can't influence.

Re: "also what is the difference between the two dates that changed and the status still itself "with the editor" ?": Status of submitted article changes the date but status remain from 'With Editor' to 'With Editor'

The answer to the title  question, "What should I do ...?" is relax.


text:
What should I do to add a correction for an already submitted article?
If I need to make a correction to the results of a paper but I already submitted the proofs for publication, what should I do? What is the impact of such a correction for the authors? I got an email of the proof with the DOI awaiting confirmation.
I got a response
Given that your manuscript has already been exported from our manuscript handling system, in order to facilitate further peer review, the latest version of your work will need to be submitted again as a new manuscript, accompanied by a cover letter explaining the changes. If you have already paid the article processing charge, this would be refunded.
As the article was accepted for publication, it is exported from the editorial system and forwarded to production. However, once the export has happened, no changes can be made on the editorial system.
Does it mean that the old one will be published now and after sending the modifications it will updated ?
I'm afraid that the message mean that and ask again but hope someone help me

Sorry your English is pretty hard to understand. The paper is already published and you want to make a correction?

sorry for that. No, I'm waiting the confirmation for publishing. i sent the proof already

I have done it. At first, they said that no changes can be made, but, in the end, they made the correction.

Thanks for replying , please Does the paper published with the corrections without any note with it ?

I think we all misunderstood your earlier question, thinking you were writing about a general proofreading service, rather than a submission. But the answer there would be, once again, to ask the editor. Good luck.

I sent the message now and hope i got positive reaction. Thanks again @Buffy

Is your paper submitted or nearly published? The text says "submitted", but you also mention a DOI, which strongly suggests that it is nearly published.

@Allure i updated the post please can you check it

@Sursula i updated the post please can you check it

Your description does not make sense. I already submitted the proofs for publication suggests that your paper is not only accepted, it has already gone through production. But the response you got says further peer review is needed. Something is incorrect. Make sure your description is accurate.

That what happened to me in my case. The paper already gone to the production and i sent to the editor and his reply as i post

If your paper really has gone through production and then needs to go through peer review, I cannot answer the question because I don't know what the answer is. If (much more likely imo) your description is inaccurate, then look at https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/55665/what-does-the-typical-workflow-of-a-journal-look-like-how-should-i-interpret-a carefully and amend the question as necessary.

Inform the editor immediately. It may cause a delay but will prevent later problems.
Don’t wait.
Depending on the nature of the error a quick fix might be possible. Or not.

How the cycle will go in both if it will be fix or not please

The editor will know. Ask.

can i withdraw it after proof ?

Again, ask the editor.

thanks but i ask here if someone met this issue before

Every case will be different and so don't give you any guidance. Ask the editor. Please. Just. Do. It.

i will do of course as it is unintended mistake

@Begnnier it is in the interest of the editor to publish error free articles, so I don't think that anyone will object to you asking

@Sursula Thanks a lot. it is the first time to face this issue and honestly afraid from any reaction


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Is it rude to fix a date of appointment with a professor after one week?
I am undergraduate student and am applying for internships to professors in the United States. One professor replied to my email and said - "Thanks for your email! Lets have a zoom call" to which I replied that it would be convenient for me to schedule a date after a week since my semester exams would end by that time and after that I would be free at any time. Was it rude of me to schedule a date that far away and did I leave a bad impression? Should I have scheduled something more immediately? Does my reply show that I am not really dedicated to working with him or I am bad at efficiently managing my time and scheduling my multiple tasks together?
Thanks for any insights!

I don't think it is rude if you say it in a nice, respectful and professional way to the professor.
All professors understand that the highest priority of a student is to study well for the final exams. They will likely accept a new date for the interview that fits both their schedule and yours.

I replied - "I have a series of semester course exams starting from this Friday () that will last till next Friday () so it would be great if we could do it after that, preferably any time during week after that. In case you think an earlier date might be preferable for you, let me know and I would try to go by that. "... Do you think its okay?

@Harmonic, That sounds great to me.

Thanks! Hopefully its just me overthinking it, and I haven't managed to annoy my prof on the first interaction

@Harmonic, Best of luck. :-)

Yes, that was a good response. Not rude at all.

@Buffy Thanks! Although I am yet to hear back from him... Maybe I should email him again once my exams are over


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Withdrawal of Acceptance for Postdoctoral Position
I am a PhD student in mathematics in the US, scheduled to graduate this year. Last fall, I applied for postdoc positions. My situation is a bit complicated: in late January, I was offered a postdoc position in China. I wasn't particularly thrilled about this opportunity because there's no one working in my specific area of expertise at that institute, although there is no teaching load involved. Additionally, I have no proficiency in the Chinese language, and as a married individual with children, I anticipate potential challenges in adapting to life in China. Despite my doubts, I tentatively accepted the offer at the beginning of March, although no formal documentation has been signed yet, as I was informed that the onboarding process had already commenced.
The day after accepting the offer from China, I received an invitation for an interview from a university in the UK, which is where I would prefer to go because there are researchers there who specialize in the same area as I do. However, the interview isn't until four weeks from now. If I receive an offer from the UK university, I am seriously considering declining the offer from China. I understand that the academic community is relatively small, and this decision may have potential repercussions, but I question the wisdom of joining University X without a mentor and without proficiency in the local language, especially given my family situation.
Could anyone provide advice on what steps I should take in this situation?
UPD. If this somehow alleviates the situation, I am prepared to reimburse all financial expenses that have been incurred during the onboarding process. I need to emphasize that I applied for both positions at the same time, but for some reason, they took different amounts of time to reach their final decisions or schedule interviews.

All you need to do is apologize but say that you must decline the offer for personal reasons. You don't need to say more.
Neither do you need to reimburse them for things that are part of their normal process. If they have given you travel funds or some such then you probably need to reimburse those, but not otherwise. They are familiar with such things and have budget for their own process. They probably also have a backup plan that you don't know about.
Just a polite note to say that it is now impossible to move forward. Thank them for their consideration.
And FWIW, there seem to be a lot of negatives with language and family and mentorship and....
Also, making multiple applications is perfectly normal.

Thank you very much for your reply! To be honest, my point of view was completely opposite. I have talked with a few people, and they discouraged me and kind of convinced me not to accept the interview from the UK. Of course, it is possible that I will not get an offer from the UK, and in that case, I'll go to China. I have asked the hiring committee from the UK, and they told me that they will make a decision by mid-April(immediately after interviews). Given that I accepted the offer from China on March 1st, turning down the offer after 1.5 months of acceptance. Is that normal?

It seems a long time, actually. Especially since you "accepted", though you haven't made it official, if I read it correctly. But if you are going to do this, then sooner is better, though risky for yourself. Consider your own best interests.

Perhaps very soon the Chinese university will send me some official documents that I need to sign, probably (I am not sure whether it will happen or not?). Unfortunately, I cannot make it sooner since there are other candidates who should be interviewed the same day as I. You said "though risky for yourself". What do you mean?

Risky because you could wind up with no offers open.

Hello! Finally, I have received an offer from a UK university, which I was talking about. So now, I believe I can withdraw the offer which I accepted from China at the beginning of March. I know that rejecting an offer after accepting it is not good, but at this point, I care more about my research and family. So hopefully Chinese will understand my situation..

You are going international--I don't think we are connected at the universal level in the way you are thinking. If you get an offer from the UK, I don't think walking back from the contract with a Chinese university would affect you at all. And, when you have to cross the border, there are always ways to deny any offers citing logistics or other issues. International hiring is not simple and your Chinese university personnel will understand. Even if they don't understand, there is almost no to very little chance that might hurt you. Just write a simple and polite email saying you are unable to move to China because of your reason.

Given that I accepted the offer from China on March 1st, turning down the offer after 1.5 months of acceptance (because the UK university will announce the final decision in mid-April). Is that normal?

If the hiring process in China gets completed before you accept the UK offer and start working, you can resign. Resigning is normal. If you are still in the hiring phase but accepted, you can tell them you decide to reject. Everyone is looking to optimize their own goal and not someone else. I have heard Japanese get disappointed when someone changes their job in a short period but I don't know about Chinese work culture. Regardless, you want to optimize your goal, not someone else. Also, the chance of hurting your career, because you declined, is negligible given cross country's situation.

I was in the same situation as you, having to decline a previously accepted postdoc offer. And I was also worrying a lot about it. What helped me a bit was reminding myself that it is the universities, not us, who hold the position of power. I have submitted so many applications, only to have them rejected later. This required a significant amount of time and effort on my part. Sometimes, I traveled for an interview (that was before COVID) only to be rejected afterward.  And moving to another country with a family is a huge decision. So the relationship between you and the university is in no way symmetrical, and you have every moral right to reverse a decision.
And on a personal level, the professor was very understanding. We met at a conference a year later and had a nice chat. There is no guarantee that a specific person won't hold a grudge — who knows? But most often, people are well aware of the difficulties involved in such decisions and are quite understanding.


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Inform the search committee of another university about your current campus interview
I applied for some places and got a campus interview from one of them. My second application, however, has remained silent and I have not heard any news yet. I email the staff who is in charge of this position (answering email and uploading the missing documents, ...). She said that "We are still in the selection process. We'll notify you if we need further information from you." I think this is just a very general response without any clue and maybe they already have selected the finalists!
I was wondering if it is wise to let the search committee that I already have a campus interview and want to get an update on my application? Because I like this institute instead of the one that has invited me.

I suspect that what you suggest is risky. It might bump them in either direction. If they are interested in you they will let you know, but probably on their own schedule. If you try to force the issue, it may be easier for them to say good-bye unless they really really want you.
Some places have fairly strict rules about things and may not be able to say more than they have. That would result in a general answer, of course.
I'd suggest you don't press too hard. Go to the other interview, evaluate what you hear there. If it sounds good, you can always ask for a delayed acceptance to see what happens at your preferred place. It might be acceptable or not, in which case you need to make a decision.
I would also guess that they aren't so naive as to think that you aren't exploring other options. It is certainly assumed that you are.

I agree.
I am not sure how accurate the secretary's response is. I hope they are still (and really) shortlisting the candidates.

I'm pretty sure you will learn if you are no longer in contention.

What @Buffy says is correct. It does the university no good to select their candidates and then wait for weeks to notify anyone.


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How long is the waiting time for having a phone/Skype interview?
I applied for some faculty positions, starting from Nov 01 to Nov 15 and one on Dec 01. I was wondering how long it takes for the search committee to shortlist the candidates for a phone/Skype interview?

When does the call close? I'd think likely 6 weeks after that - you could reach and ask how long they anticipate the committee search to take. Usually the committee is made up of multiple faculty members so I would imagine it would be post - holidays.

I really don't want to bug them, especially at this moment. Because I am sure narrowing down the candidate to something like 10-15 candidates is really time-demanding. I was not sure about the processing time for selecting the semi-finalists when they have 200-300 candidates. Your answer makes sense as we have holidays ahead. They should start calling the candidate in Jan.

The call was closed on Dec. 15, 2018. Are you saying that the Skype interview will be after the holidays? Because, as I mentioned, I am not sure how long it takes for the search committee to make the semi-finalists (for Skype interview)

In my experience, no way to know for sure. I had answers anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months afterward, from postdocs and TT processes, both positives and negatives. It's a bit like buying stuff from china, you do it hoping to be surprised down the road...


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Letter of recommendation before Skype interview
I recently applied for a tenure-track faculty position. The recommendation letters were not requested when I applied. After 2-3 weeks, I got an email that my referees should send them the letters and it seems they have done some screening based on the email I got.
My question: how large is this initial long list? Will they interview (Skype) all candidates (i.e. those asked for recommendation letters) at this stage? What is the main purpose of letters at this stage?

This could vary a lot from school to school, but even aside from that, a fair bit of variation from field to field. At very minimum, you should mention the field in question.

@JoshuaZ: Corrected

You really can't conclude anything from this.

Any other comments?!

If the 2-3 weeks are after the deadline, it looks like they are shortlisting. If the 2-3 weeks are immediately after the deadline or before the deadline, one can't rule out the possibility that they haven't shortlisted and that they just remind of incomplete applications.
On another note, I wouldn't take reference letters too seriously, nor would being asked for reference letters make me excited. Letters from prestigious persons don't help too much unless several candidates are tied, in my opinion.

What is your experience that makes you not consider letters of recommendation important? In my experience and from what I have learned here, they are one of the most important things for any application.

among those numerous rejection letters, obviously reference letters were actually sent and some were from prestigious professors. so they didn't really help land a job

@feynman: They initially did not ask for recoms. So, it is not a reminder to complete an application. I also asked them regarding this and they indicated that they have done some screening, but I am not sure how! Am I among the 20-30% or maybe 70-80%?! If it was a Skype interview, I would put myself among 8-12 candidates, but I am sure about my current situation

then dont worry about it. just let it happen. there's nothing u can do about it

@TobiasKildetoft My anecdotal experience is that references matter more if the person assessing the candidates is in good relationship with your reference (PhD student, PhD brother, etc).

@ Alexey B right, but that's of low probability

Procedures differ between disciplines and institutions. As an almost universal rule, you will not get a tenure-track position without recommendation letters. So, no conclusions can be drawn from the fact that they invite you to send recommendations. With other words, you cannot distinguish between three scenarios:
(A) The hiring committee did some initial screening and only asked for letters from candidates that are deemed - at first look - to be a good fit. This is done as a courtesy to the recommenders.
(B) The hiring committee sorted out the obvious cranks and is asking the large pool left over to send recommendation letters.
(C) Someone noticed that they forgot to mention letters of recommendation.
Based on your comments, it appears that Scenario (C) is out.


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Faculty hiring after campus interview
I did a campus interview two weeks ago (US universities, R1, Engineering). I was not the last candidate, so, by considering the last one, the search was closed one week ago. In the last meeting with the department chair, he said the department will select the final candidate next week and it seems they have made some decisions based on the information I have. I received an update this weekend from the department chair indicating that they are working with the dean's office and I should get an update this week. First, I interpreted this email positively in a way that probably I will be their first choice since they should keep all finalists on hold until the first candidate (assuming to be me!) signs the offer, which normally takes time (negotiation, salary, lab space, ...). So, there is no reason to notify me if I am not the first candidate.
Then, I looked at this matter differently and thought maybe they already have offered another candidate and they are indeed waiting to get some approval from the dean for that person (probably the candidate has some requests). Because sometimes dean's office can approve the final candidate after a few days since it should not be a long process. I am not sure which case is more likely. I know that I should be more patient, but it is honestly difficult!
So, my question is about your experience with the hiring process and its timeline.

Short piece of anecdotal evidence. When I was chair I would send a letter like the one you received only to someone we would certainly make an offer to if the dean signed off.

Thank you for the comment and for being so positive. If they already have not offered the position to someone else and are not waiting to finalize the negotiation with the candidate (I believe the dean's office should still be involved with the negotiation as well), then I take this very positively. "I do not think if the chair is rephrasing the story by saying that they are working to get approval from dean" if they already have offered the position to someone else. He could simply say that they are still working on this and will let me know soon (instead of this week).

It is most helpful to think of the faculty hiring process as a black box. Decisions get made according to some opaque process of which only a small amount of detail is revealed to you, the candidate. But the bureaucracy of a university, and the dynamics of a job search involving multiple finalist candidates, are complicated, so the reality on the ground can involve a lot more that’s going on than what you are being told. I don’t mean a lot more necessarily bad stuff, or a lot more good stuff - just in general more people and more decisions (some perfunctory and some that are more uncertain) on which the outcome depends. Some of those decisions can be purely logistical or financial in nature (or even political) and quite far removed from the question of whether you are “good enough” to get hired by university X.
The bottom line is, if the department chair is competent then they have likely shared the maximal amount of information they can reasonably share with you at this point without risking misleading you into believing the outcome will be either better or worse than it might end up being. The only thing that’s reasonably certain at this point is that you’re still a viable candidate. For anything else, you’ll have to wait for the black box to do its thing. Good luck!

A very nice response! I completely agree with you. The final candidate is not necessarily better than all other candidates. It is a multi-variable problem with so many unwritten elements, not what one has in his/her CV.

I think it’s unlikely they would contact you if you’re not one of their top candidates - not necessarily their first choice, but near it for sure. Faculties frequently don’t even have the decency to let interview candidates they will not hire know. That said, it’s also not terribly uncommon for a group wanting to hire someone, and for the dean to say no, maybe because the dean wants to go in a different direction from what you do, maybe because of pressure from other groups, etc. Good luck!
I missed the timeline part: to get administrative approval and the formal offer drafted can take several weeks, in part depending on how large the department you would like to join is. I don’t know if the current pandemic situation impacts it.

Thank you for the response. The chair also asked me whether I have any time constraints (having an offer from somewhere else), which I did not respond to this question exactly since I am doing a campus interview with another university, but it is not an offer yet. I think the source of this question comes back to my email to one of the other faculty in the department and thanking him for his help during my interview and discussing my impression with him that I think I have not been selected since I have not received any email from the chair.

That makes it sound as if the group is interested in you for sure. But what I said about the dean is unfortunately also real and could mess with what the group would like to do. I’m not saying that anything you write indicates that’s the case, but I know of several such situations. You should probably step back for at least a week or two to not appear too interested, which sometimes works against you as well. Here’s hoping it works out!

My main confusion is actually the timeline because they can be working with the dean to finalize the offer they have already given to the first candidate since they decided last Wednesday and I am not sure if it should take a long time to send out the offer letter (maybe they have sent it on Thursday or Friday - but I am not sure how fast it can be). I have seen offers sent out in 1-2 weeks.

This is what I wanted to know (This can easily take 2-4 weeks, even if the dean turns out to be fully on board ... )

@Adam: You’re not out (obviously), but something might be going on. If I had to guess, some people really want you, others not. It could also mean they are waiting for a reply from someone they extended an offer to. It would be neutral except for the “...because you are waiting on us,” which sounds ominous. But you’re also not out of the running. And it could be something else entirely - you never know. As there is no “pressing need,” I’d probably not officially talk to them, but if you have informal connections, you could reach out to them. Again, fingers crossed!

thank you very much for the reply. I will keep you posted.


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Best way of mentioning specific non-famous/named theorems in my Statement of Purpose (SOP) for PhD math
In my SOP for PhD math in US grad schools, I am mentioning a specific instance where I came up with an easier solution to a problem using elementary theorems, instead of using more complex theorems. Here I'm trying to mention the names of theorems that I could have used and one of them is a non-famous/named theorem (Theorem 16.4c in Willard's General Topology) from a famous Topology text. What is the best way to mention this result? Even though there is no word limit, I don't think quoting the entire thing would be wise. I could just mention its number and mention the book in the references or I could try to summarize it as a "Separability criteria for the product space of non singleton hausdorff spaces". Or should I avoid mentioning any theorems at all?

What is an SOP? It might be obvious to someone from the US but to anyone here, it is/would-be meaningless?

I may not advise on SoP for US PhD applications (so not a full answer), but a proposed scenario where the committee has to look up a somewhat obscure reference can not be good. Summarizing seems like a much better choice here, but even then stating the problem you were able to solve and not going into great detail about the solution might be preferable. Unless it was a particularly elegant/strong result, in which case you should be able to summarize it well ;)

@CrimsonDark My bad, SOP=Statement of Purpose. I've edited it in the title.

Was any of this published? If not, what assurance do you have that it is correct?

@Buffy Oh, this wasn't an open problem, just a tough exercise that I wanted to mention since having multiple ways of solving problems is one of the things that attracted me to topology. I read in SOP guides that one should mention specific events from one's past that made them interested in their field, instead of generic sentences that could apply to anyone so I thought including specific names would be helpful. My professor and posts on Math Stack Exchange confirmed that its correct.

Other questions imply that you are not from the US. You don't have a good understanding of the SoP here. It is future focused. It is about your goals for both study and thereafter. Why do you want to study this subject at this place and what do you hope to do thereafter.
If you focus the SoP on the past you are wasting an opportunity. Especially focusing it on "successes" in coursework is a poor use of the words you have - even if there is no specific limit. People will tend to stop reading if it is too long in any case.
However, if you want to study in the specific area of these math topics then say that and mention, in a phrase, that you have experience there already and have produced some simpler proofs than what you find in the literature.
But, IMO, more important than the specifics of those proofs is what insight you have gained in proving them that (this is the important part) makes you especially suited for further study in this area. "This is what I want to do, I have some skill here, and have had a bit of success already".
Prepare to be asked for details, but the details shouldn't be in the SoP. The CV is the place for that, though I realize that for one application at least you aren't being asked for one.
But, focus on short and long term goals and how you hope to achieve them. Statement of Purpose.


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Pros and cons of asking for an application fee waiver for PhD math
I'm considering applying to several grad schools in the US for a PhD in math as an international applicant and the combined cost of those applications, gre/toefl official score costs, official transcript postage costs etc. are going to be significant. I'm from a developing country and most of the fee waiver guidelines that I've read about apply to US citizens only. I have the following questions regarding the application fee waiver:

How common is it for such a waiver to be approved for non US citizens? I suppose citizens are considered prime candidates for such support since their taxes are funding the public universities.

Are there any cons to requesting such a waiver? Is this information going to be shared with the admissions committee and would this hurt my chances of admission since they might think I'm more likely to not accept or drop out later due to financial issues? Almost all of them have TA positions for PhD students and I'd be taking a loan to cover the rest so this is not actually an issue, but it might make them de-prioritize my application.

Are there any pros to it? Are university fellowships and scholarships granted solely based on merit or need as well, to a lesser extent?

One large state university I requested a waiver from suggested that I complete my application but not officially submit it. They said they'll review it as is and if an admission offer is made, the department will pay the fee. Is this standard procedure for offering a fee waiver? I suppose their application system won't allow submission without payment, still I fear my application might get rejected if I don't submit it by the deadline. Would an email from their admissions office asking me to do so be enough as a justification, in the unlikely scenario that my application gets rejected due to not being officially submitted?

Related: Would using an application fee waiver affect my admission result in a negative way?

Here are a couple thoughts about your numbered questions:

The requirement that an applicant be a US citizen or permanent resident indicates that the fee waiver is funded by a grant (either a government grant or a university-level grant from the administration). Such grants will have firm rules about whom the funding can support. If a department is going to offer a fee waiver without using grant money, the fee waiver would probably come out of the department's own funds. This is why it is uncommon but not necessarily impossible for a non-US citizen to receive a fee waiver.

There should be no cons to requesting a fee waiver. Besides the small number of faculty involved in administering the fee waivers, no other faculty on the graduate admissions committee are supposed to even know who has received a fee waiver. One goal of these fee waivers is to increase socio-economic diversity in graduate programs by removing socio-economic barriers to applying for admission. These fee waivers don't address the socio-economic barriers to preparing for admission to graduate school (or retention once admitted to graduate school), but solving those problems will require more ideas and work than a fee waiver program.

I am not aware of any needs-based scholarships for math PhD programs. Any reasonable program will offer a stipend and tuition waiver in exchange for some teaching responsibilities. Depending on the location, this funding may be sufficient to cover your living expenses, especially if you live frugally. Some programs will also award an additional scholarship or fellowship (in the form of extra funding or reduced teaching), generally on the basis of merit or fostering diversity.

It sounds like this is the department's way of offering fee waivers out of their own funds without wasting money -- they can directly pay for application fees for students they want to accept, but they don't have to spend any money paying for an application that they know they won't accept. Each university will have their own policies about this. My advice is to email the math department Director of Graduate Studies to ask about their department's policy.

Context: I proposed one of these fee waiver programs while I was a PhD student. I had not seen any other math departments offering such a fee waiver, so I wrote out a plan, submitted it to the Director of Graduate Studies, and helped finalize the fee waiver procedures. Since I was a grad student, I was not allowed to participate in the actual administration of these fee waivers, so there are probably details that I am missing.


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Can we modify some part of a standard benchmark? Will the results be accepted by the community?
I am researching on spinlock synchronization method used in parallel applications. Unfortunately most of the standard benchmarks in the parallel computing area use another type of synchronization method called mutex locks. I am thinking to replace mutex locks in these benchmarks with spinlocks and get the results? Will the results be still considered by the scientific community if I inform the modifications done to the benchmarks? Will that be a valid claim? Any pointer in this matter is highly appreciated.

What are you trying to achieve by modifying the benchmark? Usually that would make no sense because you want to make test results comparable. Also spinlocks should perform less optimal compared to mutexes.

I am trying to measure the performance of my modified spinlock so I needed a benchmark using spinlock. Spinlocks are not always less optimal to mutexes. Sometimes they are more quicker. It depends on how large is your critical section and how much parallel is your hardware. Thanks

I am not sure if I understand it correctly. Don't you need the same benchmark and apply it to a program using your modified spinlock and another one using the mutex? How would changing the benchmark let you compare mutex and spinlock?

As always when using code you do not own, you need to check the licensing terms for the benchmark. Do they prohibit what you want to do?
Assuming that is OK, I would distinguish two uses of a benchmark:

Report and publish results as results of the benchmark. That should only be done if you have conformed exactly to all relevant requirements, which will probably prohibit the type of change you want to make.
Publish a paper in which you compare and contrast the standard form of the benchmark with your spin-lock variation. You could treat the spin-lock version as a new benchmark based on the standard one, documenting your changes.

I know I would be interested in the results. If the number of threads the hardware can run simultaneously is at least as high as the number of application threads, do we need all the overhead to let a process sleep while waiting rather than just spinning? This sort of question becomes more interesting as hardware improvement becomes more a matter of adding hardware threads than of making each thread run faster.

It is a very nice point to check the licensing terms of a benchmark. I never thought about this point. It is also very interesting to check the usefulness of spinlocks used in applications running on multi-core processors compared to using mutex locks. Thanks for sharing it.

The usage of spinlocks in userspace application is very less as its performance can get affected due to the Operating System Jitter. This explains why spinlocks are not used in the benchmarks which run in userspace. Mutexlocks are preferred instead of them.
Link: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/mechanical-sympathy/YTEPa9Qtfv4
But for my unique scenario I need to measure the spinlock performance in userspace and thus I ended up with the question. Thanks for the pointers

You can always propose a new benchmark and demonstrate that it measures what you want. Once you've done that, you can show how your new thing compares. The scientific is not guaranteed to care, but if your methodology is good, it may catch on.


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Plagiarism if different term used?
I wrote my bachelor thesis but now I saw that from one source I mixed up a term, instead of term that was used I accidentally used a different one. this happened because I translated that from a language. And I saw that I put my quotation marks at the wrong place, I quoted only the last half of a sentence but I accidentally put my quotation marks more at the beginning of my sentence, even tho the beginning was not a direct quote from the source. Can they now accuse me of plagiarism?????

Why don't you talk to them and see if you can revise it?

can I withdraw it after handing it in?

Usually not. But you have an advisor right? Talk to him/her and see what you can do. This really depends on how your college/university handles such things.

but would my mistakes be plagiarism? or a reason to not let me pass?

You could try and publish a corrigendum. Coming out and saying I made a mistake is very different from having the mistake found by someone else.

I accidentally used the federal states instead of member states and therefore it is a different context... But the beginning of the sentence somehow shows that I mixed it up because I talked about Europe... but Im just scared that they think I did that on purpose. And with the quotation marks I said that "Germany.... efficient...." but only from the "efficient..." to the end was the direct quote...

Screwing up a single small quotation in the manner that you describe could not reasonably be considered plagiarism.
While yes, it is true that you did not correctly attribute some words, from your description is appears that the attribution is not so much missing as misplaced.  Moreover, while I cannot entirely judge without reading the actual text, it seems likely that any reasonable reader would likely be able to tell from the context that you are not attempting to claim the quoted text as your own.
It's still good practice to go back and correct, if your institution allows it, but don't worry about being accused of plagiarism over a single typo-level error.

Technically someone could accuse you of plagiarism, but I don't think that it is likely
It seems you currently submitted your thesis and spotted the mistake. You (only) misplaced your quote in the text and did not do it intentionally.
Perhaps you can still change it. Talk to your advisor and see what you can do.
Judging from the situation I think that it would not make you fail or get you in big trouble. After all you are trying to fix a mistake not covering it up. This of course assumes you are on a friendly footing with your advisor.
For future scientific publication I suggest checking every source and quote before submitting.

I accidentally used the federal states instead of member states and therefore it is a different context... But the beginning of the sentence somehow shows that I mixed it up because I talked about Europe... but Im just scared that they think I did that on purpose.   And with the quotation marks I said that "Germany.... efficient...." but only from the "efficient..." to the end was the direct quote...


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Changing colleges for international graduate student
I joined a university in US for master's program two months ago as a GRA and it turns out my adviser had a lot of expectations from me, which are beyond my reach. He wants me out, though he hasn't explicitly made such a comment and I am also finding myself a liability for a program I don't deserve. I will run out of funding for next semester (or sooner) and it won't be possible for me to continue studies here because tuition fee are awfully high. I am planning to join another less competitive university without transferring credits from here? Do universities accept students who have already started in another university and want to change?

Yes, it is possible to transfer to another graduate program but often not very easy.  It's typical for graduate programs to limit the number of credits that they'll transfer (no more than 12 at my institution), and you may end up having to retake courses that you've already taken.
A much bigger issue can be getting admitted to another program.  If you have not done well in your courses (say a GPA of at least 3.5 or so), then you could find it very hard to be admitted to another graduate program.    It is also very important to have at least one positive letter of recommendation from a faculty member at the institution you're currently attending.

"transfer" may be the wrong word. Doesn't he need to apply to a program to move to it?

Yes, he'd have to apply for admission to the other program (as I thought my answer made clear.)

Check carefully. As I remember, my visa to the US was linked to a specific university and for a limited time. You might get into trouble by switching. The financing arrangements from your origin country might also have similar restrictions.


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Choosing the professors to ask for recommendation letters
I'm applying to a Ph.D. program which asks for 3 to 5 recommendation letters. I have four professors strongly in mind who I'm sure will give me great recommendations, however I'm struggling to pick a fifth one. I can find people who can attest to my abilities (I graduated in top 1% and was my department's honoree), but they will either have to be from other departments or an internship supervisor.
Some of the questions I have are:

Do I need a fifth reference if the requirement is 3 to 5? Will not having it lower my chances?
I am applying for a Ph.D. program in film, however all my recommenders have either an M.F.A. or M.A. None of them have a Ph.D. themselves. Will that be an issue? M.F.A. is a terminal degree and most professors of film have it. In fact, I've never personally studied under a film professor with a Ph.D. I should also add that the program I'm applying for is a hybrid program which combines theory and production.
Before transferring to a 4-year university, I attended a community college. Should I ask my CC professors for a reference or would that somehow look bad for my application? I personally love my CC, but am aware of the stigma.

Thank you so much for responding!

If 3 to 5 are acceptable then stay with the 4 you have : quality over quantity...


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strategy of looking for external reviewers in grant applications
Some grant applications require aplicants to find external reviewers. First, we can't look for co-authors. Who else can we look for? Friends? Faculty who ever worked in the same school? Do the external reviewers need to be the immediate same field? People who don't know us at all? May I ask immediate associates to recommend their associates who don't know me at all?

Can you give an example of such a grant? I’ve never heard of a grant requiring the applicant to find reviewers.

a school wide internal grant

Well then, I don’t see how you expect anyone here to advise you on whether the reviewers need to be in the same field as you. That would depend on your school’s specific requirements. Anyway, good luck with the application.

You check who covers the type of research that you are doing. If people know your own work line, this is a plus. But I do not recommend friends - this is a conflict of interest in any way; and if the grant does not go through, e.g. because of not-so-brilliant recommendations, you lose not only a grant, but also a friend.

for friends not having co-authored together, how would this be found as a conflict of interest?

For external grants that ask you to suggest reviewers (common in UKRI grants for example), you are expected to suggest someone who has the technical, theoretical, or methodological expertise to evaluate the proposal and who would have no conflicts of interest in doing so. In other words, no one that you have an active research project with, no one who you have had significant past research collaboration with, no one that you go down to the pub with as friends, and likely no one in your institution. You can and should suggest people that you know to be collegiate and who are generally friendly to your work, that's expected. The granting body will then consider your suggestions and will likely select one or two of those you suggest mixed in with someone you don't suggest just to balance things out. It is unwise to try to game this any further than suggesting someone who you know generally likes what you do as reviewers are asked to disclose any conflict of interest. For them to reveal there is a conflict that you did not reveal does not sit well.
For an internal grant, that will likely be a bit different and it is best if you get clarity from your institution as to what they expect. They may expect reviewers to be internal.


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Slides for 30 min~1 hr Skype tenure track application interview
Is it good to prepare slides to present during the video chat even if the search committee say you don't need to prepare slides?
What's the strategy of impressing them then?

Just tell them your name is Feynman, that should do the trick :-)

Before we decide to bring faculty candidates to on campus interviews, we would like the search committee or department head to have met the candidate before. This used to happen primarily at the major conferences in our field for any candidates that we did not already know. Now it can sometimes happen alternatively in videoconference interviews. These will generally last about 30 minutes, but are planned a bit longer in case things go really well.
You should absolutely not have slides prepared, and you should not be tempted to refer to slides to answer questions. The goal here is to see how you interact spontaneously with other academics, how you talk about your research, how you talk about your career goals, etc. We are absolutely not interested in a canned presentation. In fact, we would prefer that your answers do not sound too well "rehearsed" or "coached" at all!

Just a note - you don't want answers to sound "canned," but most interviewees definitely need to rehearse. They just should do so without becoming "scripted."

Agree completely! Big difference between preparing and rehearsing, versus sounding overly scripted! Thanks!

What's the strategy of impressing them then?

@feynman Being able to communicate well.

No. I have done eight Skype interviews, and I have never been in a situation where I would need or want slides. I am probably not in your field, but I don’t think my experience is unusual.
It is a better use of your time to practice your answers to common interview questions. Make them succinct and compelling. Also prepare short ideas on teaching every class mentioned in the job ad. Finally, learn about the department and have lots of questions for them.

very good thx. BTW what's ur field, and did u pass those skype interviews

Speaking from the point of view of the interviewer, I agree. Don't use slides in a Skype interview.

I had a skype interview with a research institute that wanted me to prepare slides once (and give them in advance). But otherwise yes, a typical skype interview for an academic position is a many-on-one interrogation where they fire questions at you like a batting cage. Any stunts you try to pull to deviate from that would probably just annoy everyone.

Actually yes, 100% of my skype interviews turned into flyouts. It is actually kind of amazing. My two other tips are a) good lighting/backdrop and b) don't wait until the end to ask questions - ask them throughout and make it a conversation.

In addition to the other, quite correct, answers, here is another perspective:
It is very unwise to disregard the clear instructions of the search committee.  Even on a minor topic, this sort of behavior can reflect quite negatively on the candidate.

What's the strategy of impressing them then?

You should ask this as a separate question, not in the comments, and not by editing your question.

The only time I was asked to present slides was in followup onsite interviews. During the initial Skype interviews, I have never been asked to present slides.
The initial Skype interviews are, in my opinion, usually just to get a little more information about your background and to get a feel how well you communicate your field of work. In an academic setting, this is important, because your ability to clearly communicate your work is highly correlated to success in teaching, filing grant applications, etc...
To impress them, you want to be able demonstrate how you would fit into the department. Generally, they want to make sure that there is no overlap in the topics that each faculty is working on so that there is no competition inside of the department for funding. To the contrary, any synergies that you could propose would probably we welcome.
I think that the biggest thing that they will want to know is simply... can you fund yourself and your group. Either you have demonstrated this in the past already or you haven't. You can't change much there. Just be prepared for this question and have a good answer.

What's the strategy of impressing them then?

I've had tenure-track faculty Skype interviews that included PowerPoint presentations, and ones that didn't. I recommend you follow their instructions. In this case, they are not necessary. If there's something highly technical that you need to refer to, you could share your screen with them, but it's probably not advisable. It's not a job talk. Instead, this is an opportunity to demonstrate how to communicate your research and teaching in everyday language.

What's the strategy of impressing them then?

In my personal experience, the skype interview is mostly about: showing professionalism, warmth, and competence in verbal interactions; discussing fit with the institution (research, teaching, other), such as what your career goals are, why you applied to this kind of position, etc.; exploring questions they had from your written materials, such as in my case asking about a gap in the CV; etc. In sum, do your homework about what they want and who they are, and show via detailed questions how you would succeed in the role in that context.


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any limit of putting too many videos/animations in presentations
In the context of applied maths, physics and engineering. Videos/animations beat pictures and thousands of words, as is known to all. Is it bad to put too many videos/animations in a presentation? It's hard to define 'too' though.

For most presentations one is too many.

"as is known to all." That is news to me.

@Roland Wrong. The focus of the talk should be the subject matter, not the speaker.

Videos and animations of what?

As you said. Too many is too many.

@ElizabethHenning of scientific stuff

If you have "too many", then, of course, it's "bad". This is more or less the definition of "too many".
How many is too many, is dependent on the situation and who you give a talk to. I have seen good presentations with videos illustrating a point and also short animations/memes which made the audience laugh and gave them time to breath after a long and heavy theoretical slides. (I don't like memes, but nevertheless I enjoyed those animations).
(Keep in mind that here are many mathematicians and a typical math talk has no animation/video, so you will probably get a lot of answers/comments  similar to "I've never seen a good talk with animations in my life". It would be best if you would write your field.

applied maths, physics and engineering

@feynman: Write this into your question. And please maybe also a more accurate definition of *too many".

The number of videos does not matter.  What matters is:

Is the video relevant?
Is the video effective?

A video that clearly communicates the message of your talk should definitely be included.  If it is off-topic, confusing, or has distracting flaws, it should be removed.
Do not be one of the many speakers who brings a video that does not work.
Do not use the "animations" built in to presentation software.  They are distracting.
I disagree with @Hatschu.  Do not use memes unless they are the topic of your presentation.  Using memes suggests that your topic, and your spectator's time, are not important to you.

It is good to use things in moderation. If the videos or animations are really important to make your points use them but not in excess. If they are not meant to make your points, they will only serve as distractions to your audience. Also, consider the time you will have for the presentation and tailor things accordingly.