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Supervisor demanding impossible workload at the very end of my PhD. Considering change of supervisor
I am a PhD student in computer vision and I managed to publish 2 conference papers (one as first author and other as co-author) as a side project, since I had low quality data during my PhD.
Currently my supervisor is demanding a huge amount of work to be completed in 6 months - he is telling me to write 2 journal papers and a thesis!
My PhD always had problems with lack of data, but my supervisor never acknowledged that. After my papers had been rejected because of the low quality data, he acknowledged we needed to develop a better dataset.
So, I have been working for one year developing a novel high quality dataset for my PhD. But the problem is, I just have 6 months left and he is demanding at least 2 journal papers before the submission of my thesis.
I suggested to him to extend my PhD. He replied that I am allowed to take more time to complete my PhD, but he won't give funding to me after the original time passes. My supervisor actually has money for funding, since a post-doc left the project. But he said he will use this money to extend the contract of the other post-doc (the latter post-doc already has a 2 year contract).
It took 2 years to convince my supervisor that we needed a better dataset. I could be developing it from the first day of my PhD. Therefore, I consider it not my fault that I am in this situation where I am experiencing a major setback and now I am being rushed to complete my PhD.
To add to this, after I had developed the dataset, my supervisor is now giving it to new PhD students...
To give a bit of context, we had access to some prototypical sensor from the physics department, which I can use to collect lab data (the low quality data  that I had to work with in the beginning), but the sensor is really bad for the type of computer vision research that I am conducting. I always wanted a commercial sensor so I could collect more realistic data that would represent my PhD topic. I used the lab data for my research as I had no other choice at the time, but my paper was rejected because the reviewers claimed my dataset was not realistic, so they could not evaluate if my method would work for more realistic scenarios. After I developed the new dataset (after I managed to get my supervisor to buy a new sensor from my funds allocated for PhD travel), my supervisor is requesting to me to still work with the lab data and publish it before I move to the new realistic dataset.
Furthermore, my supervisor doesn't have knowledge about my research topic - all the meetings that I had with him were me explaining very basic concepts to him. I have been working completely alone, and I do not benefit from real academic discussions with him.
I suggested that I could work just with the lab data and write my thesis about it, and he could hire me as research assistant afterwards and I could publish more papers on the new dataset. But he wants me write 2 journal papers (one with the lab data and other with the new dataset) before the end of my PhD!
I never had a good relationship with my supervisor, he constantly criticises my work and never shows an alternative solution. And changing supervisor in my case is a bit more challenging since my PhD is industry funded and we have to sign a NDA.
I really think I don't have time to write both journals. I don't know what to do... I won't work without funding. I am really considering going until the end and asking for change of supervisor at any cost (but afraid of the consequences).

You are obviously unhappy with the situation, but what is your exact question? We cannot tell you what to do. We don't know the exact circumstances, and you cannot give them in the amount of detail here online we would need to responsibly advise you. So all we can say is get local help.

I am requesting advice: Should I change supervisor? Should I request funding from my supervisor? Should I report it to my institute? Did anyone have heard of similar situation?

Those are lots of questions. But put yourself in our position. We don't know you, we don't know your advisor, your institution, your country. All we know, is what you told us. Do you think you could advise someone based on only that information? I think it would be irresponsible for us to try to advise you.  You need to talk to someone who you can give all the necessary information and who knows the local circumstances.

Just to be clear, it is not that I don't want to help you, but that I think the risk that any advise I do give you will make your situation worse is just too high, just because I did not have a piece of crucial information that you thought was too self-evident to mention or for privacy reasons could not give me.

I will try to have a confidential meeting with someone from the department to give me some advice.

I am surprised that while you developed a new data set that you are not allowed to use it, BUT your supervisor is giving it out freely to others especially when it was bought from the funds allocated (and perhaps misused if what you wrote is clear...) to your project... Sounds like your supervisor is fitting you with skids..

My dataset can be used for several tasks. So the other PhD students are using it for tasks different from my PhD. But I took 1 year developing it, those students just got it for free.

@user1998012 How long have you been in your PhD program?

@ErikM I just finished my 3rd year. I have funding for 3 years and a half

Can you use the text of the two papers to form two chapters of the thesis (+/- a day or edits)? It might make things less daunting.

I'm already organising my thesis to have 2 chapters about my previous papers. But my initial PhD proposal wasn't supposed to be in those paper's topics. I just worked on those papers because of lack of data during the PhD, my main contribution should be on this 2 papers that my supervisor is demanding at the moment.

I agree with user Maarten Buis that this is probably too personal to really give good advice. But let me suggest a few things.
You should probably optimize everything now for quick completion of your degree under a situation over which you have little control.
While you can ask your supervisor for more funding, he has already said no. What has changed to make him say yes?
While you can complain to the institute that would most likely result in animosity from your advisor, not helping your path to completion.
While you can ask for a different supervisor, that would set you back, possibly for years and not necessarily leaving you in a better situation, depending on the local culture generally.
You have been given a steep hill to climb - two papers, etc. Start climbing. Do what you can. That is, in fact, all you can do anyway, but give it a good effort. Everything you do for that will get you closer to completion and will help build a good record of accomplishment for a future position.
I would, myself, try to work on the two papers in tandem. Getting a rough outline of both as quickly as possible and then filling in the details as it becomes possible. I assume that the work behind the dissertation contributes to the papers and is done or nearly so. That might make it possible to work on all three items simultaneously. Then, as the deadlines approach you will have made progress and if you need additional time for completion you have an argument for it and additional funding.
No, it isn't right or fair. But a short term push toward a better future might be better than just fighting it when you have not much chance of winning the fight.

+1 Good advice. Forget the emotional component, just focus on the task at hand as far as it is in your hand. Do not play through "what if" scenarios. You do what you need to do as far as you can do.

Very difficult circumstances, and I am very sorry you are placed in this very stressful catch-22 situation. I do not think there is a perfect answer nor is there a solution without stress.
My impression is that it is better go get out of there pronto and somehow retain authorship over the dataset that you developed. Just remember your supervisor is not the only ultimate decision-maker on your PhD. You can always recruit more co-supervisors (yes, even at this very late stage), ask for more help from within the department and also the research school. Getting help is the first step to reduce the feeling of being trapped and underappreciated.
Lining up your postdoc may be a way to get help. If you have a supportive postdoc lab that are interested in your current dataset and keen to develop collaborations with your current supervisor, then you might have useful step forward. The collaboration will form legal agreements over authorship hopefully etc.
If it was me, I would just focus on the thesis in the next six months and put the papers on the back-burner. Focus on writing the thesis without the two papers, there would not be enough time for reviewers to provide useful feedback on the two papers in the six months anyway. The panick and stress in getting the papers to a publishable stage would not benefit your PhD at submission time in six months (but it would beneif. The issue is whether you have enough material and the two conference papers to get your PhD across the line...

Thanks for your answer! I contacted other lecturer about the dataset that I developed, and he said he could hire me as postdoc after I finish my PhD. So I would need to try to finish the PhD anyway! I will have a thesis before the end of the PhD (probably not the version my supervisor would like to) and hopefully my supervisor will accept.

You can always include the other lecturer as a co-supervisor for your thesis? But definitely speak to more senior administrators as to how to negotiate this difficulty with your supervisor. My graduate research office is really friendly but your departmental research officers may be really helpful


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Citations in graduate school applications
One of my graduate school application question asks me to analyze an economic/ social problem and give solutions. For this question, I need to use facts and statistics in my essay.
In such case, do i need to use citations in the essay? If so, do I need to use footnotes or in-text citations? As for reference page, since this is a grad school application form, there is no separate section for references.

I need to use facts and statistics in my essay.

You should always indicate the source of your facts and statistics. That means you will need to use citations. Which format to choose? The social sciences typically use APA, MLA, or Chicago Manual of Style. They are very different: MLA uses in-text citations while CMS uses footnotes. Use the one you prefer and be consistent. It helps to make a good first impression, but of course even a perfect mastery of style will not get you accepted. That depends on the quality of your analysis, so focus your efforts on that above all.

+1  They are looking for evidence of your potential as a scholar.  The best way to do that is to write like a scholar, following the norms of scholarship in your intended field of study.  Scholars cite their sources.

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Chances of admission for a PhD program with high WAM (GPA) for masters but an average GPA for undergraduates (A unique case)
I have completed a Master of IT specializing in cybersecurity at an Australian University ranked around 200 - 250 in the world for computer science and IT. In my master's, I achieved a Weighted Average Mark of 90.875%  with all HD (higher distinction) grades for the coursework and a thesis mark of 95%. The thesis accounted for 25% of the course.
In addition to all of this, I have two refereed publications (a journal and a conference) of which I am the first author. I am currently working at my master's university as a research assistant.
However, I am still concerned about my bachelor's of Engineering (Computer Engineering) GPA which is average at best. My bachelor's GPA is 3.0/4.0 although I showed significant improvement in the final year of my 4-year bachelor's with a GPA of 3.52/4.0. My bachelor's university has a much lower rank than my master's university.
Could anyone tell me what are my chances of admission to a Ph.D. program? I would also like to know whether I would be competitive for scholarships?
I really hope to pursue a Ph.D. but I am really worried about my bachelor's GPA.
P.S - I have 322/340 for GRE with 168/170 for Quantitative reasoning

I have seen people get into harvard within 3.20 range and I have seen people get rejected with perfect 4.00 from "lesser" schools. From what I have seen it is more about what a transcript / application tells rather than whatever the GPA is. Espcially, you having a masters degree, there are many stories an application could / should tell. I fear no one here would reliably be able to tell you your odds with this amount of information. Even if you disclose every information you have available to yourself, the recommendation letters written about you will have significant implications.
I personally would ask a question like this to my proffesors (with whom I had academical interractions). Your thesis advisor or references would be a good place to start.

What is your opinion on the information I have provided? Will my master's GPA, publications and GRE score overshadow my undergraduate GPA? (Given that I have strong recommendation letters)

again, GPA really tells nothing. You can get bunch of low level classes and have a high gpa or really get out of your way to take "risky" courses, actually learn something and somehow prove that you have learned something even though you didn't get an A. I can't say anything specific but my understanding is newer data tend to overshadow the older one.

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Possibilities of Going to Industry and back to Academia in a Different Field
I am a postdoc doing Particle Physics in a university in a small town in US midwest , and I am thinking of moving from academia to industry. But I have been facing a dilemma because I think I like academia in general and is mostly just struggling with my situation.
I was very ambitious when I was young and picked a really "bad" field. Not that I don't like it, but everyone knows that the chance of getting a faculty job in theoretical particle physics is as harsh as one can imagine. Obviously, it's a very hard subject, and I didn't get to publish much in grad school (just one first author paper). I was fortunate to get this job, but it's not a very popular school, and my current research is also going nowhere, so I think my chance of getting any faculty job is close to zero.
Additionally, my partner (whom I was in the same graduate program with but later moved to Silicon Valley) was doing quite well in industry, and the long-distance relationship is really taking a toll on us. I would like to move closer to her since in my current city there is not much she can do for her job, and there are a lot of industry opportunities in the Bay Area.
But I have been feeling very conflicted about it, because I am still very excited about research and teaching especially in physical sciences and not so much of data science jobs etc. etc. . So I just wonder if there is a way that I can switch field somehow- as I heard from friends, it's fairly easier to get a faculty job in computer science or statistics since a big number of the students just go to industry without looking back. So maybe I can apply for a job in a national lab or those big companies that have research scientist positions that allow you to publish in machine learning related subjects, and if I get good publications I can apply for faculty jobs in computer science/statistics? Is that too idealistic? Anyone on this forum has had that experience?
Or maybe I should just admit my academia career is done and just stop thinking about any academia jobs?
Another question would be, has anyone had experience applying for another PhD program when they already have a PhD under his/her belt? I know it's not a top option given the financial setbacks but I think given that I have extensive coding experience and strong math background I could probably finish a statistics/computer science PhD in a shorter amount of time, then go on to find a faculty job in that area.
Let me know of anything that would be helpful.

To get things out there:

Applying for another PhD after your first PhD is possible and I know a few excellent researchers who are now professors who have two PhDs. It does depend on the field you are moving into of course, but coming from Physics I think your options are good. Basically anything that you can fill in while you work will be relevant.
Where do you feel most comfortable? I have debated this myself (academy vs. industry), but it's not always a matter of deciding. If working in the industry doesn't suit you, then there's no point considering it while you are choosing what you want. If you can't choose what you want, maybe it is an option. Try to imagine what a day's work looks like there, and then a year, and then a career. Will you be satisfied with your work? It's a tough question, I can't figure it out myself.
Check all the options! Have your possibilities set out on the table so you can decide knowing that you considered everything. Check PhD programmes, check companies which do basic research along with commercial projects, relevant startup positions, and check all the various living arrangements. It takes time but I think the worst mistake is deciding without the full picture. Remember that industry has as many, if not more different settings than academia, and you could find a suitable niche in either system.

You have loads of options. The end of a post-doc is really a cliff-edge, and I think it is mainly like this because we don't get exposed to alternatives, and something in our head tells us that not continuing to a tenured position in the same field constitutes some kind of failure. That's just one option out of many.


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Will an advisor schedule a PhD defense just to get rid of an underperformed student?
Last week, my PhD advisor commented that I can postpone my thesis defense for couple of months if I was not ready to defend. However, I was adamant of completing my defense this year. As a result, my advisor has scheduled my defense for december and I have few weeks to prepare.
Now, on second thought, I was wondering that probably her suggesting the postponing of defense was a way to tell me that I am not going to pass the defense.
In that case, is it possible that the advisor thinks that I am unsuitable for PhD defense and she just wants to pass the onus of passing on the judgement about my qualifications/research output to the committee. Probably she doesn't want any confrontations with me but doesn't approve of my research work either.
Is it possible that she aggreed to defense scheduling to get rid of an underperforming student?
I am in Canada.

I would say probably no as (a) a good advisor should want their students to succeed and (b) their statistics on graduating students might be tracked inside the department or otherwise. But, no experience at all with the Canadian system, this is just a general observation

It's possible, but I think that the question is impossible to answer without more details. It really depends on your PhD performance, your relationship with your advisor thus far, her personal opinion of you, your committee, your school's attitude towards graduating students etc...

If you were "adamant" even after your advisor's suggestion to delay, what did you expect but that they'd agree?

Context matters. Is your advisor the sort of person who tries hard to be non-confrontational and prefers to "hint at" things instead of saying it straight out? Has your advisor a habit of deferring to your judgement at multiple points throughout your PhD career? Absent a knowledge of how you typically interact with your advisor, there's really no way for a third party to answer your question.

@Heutl I never heard of anyone doing the PhD defence twice in Canada. Also, report of failing the defence are extremely rare and some are urban legend.

The answer to the title of the question is: they have and do sometimes.

Based on what you say, I doubt that there are any issues other than getting yourself prepared. The comments here at this writing are all valid. It seems like she just deferred to your own judgement about scheduling but was giving you a way to extend prep time if you thought you needed it. I don't read anything negative in to that.
Likewise, I can't see any professor scheduling a defense just to "get rid" of a student, whether a superstar, a typical student, or an underperformer. In fact, in the latter case, most would rather give the student time to come up to whatever standard is expected.
Some professors, of course, when faced with a seriously underperforming student would be more likely to counsel them to leave academia and find a more suitable career before possibly facing a failed defense and then carrying that record for the rest of their lives. But there is no hint of any of that here.
Some professors press their students pretty hard to finish, but because they judge the student ready to move on.
But, you did ask, and you were adamant. You can live with that and get ready, or you can go back to her and say you misjudged and would, indeed, like a bit of extra time, if that is what you really want.

Keep in mind that failing a student during his/her defense is an immense embarrassment for the advisor, who surely wants to prevent exposing him/herself to such situation. I have heard of advisors forbidding their students to defend, they were lound and clear. The only situation close to a student defending a failing thesis I've ever hear about happened when his advisor had some very serious personal problems and did a very lame advising job. Even in that case, a member of the committee readily pointed out well in advance for the defense that the thesis had serious flaws, and thus the defense was postponed.
A few alternatives you might consider to explain the situation:

Perhaps, your advisor is very busy by the end of the year, and is eager to postpone stuff. Often people will accumulate tasks by December.
Maybe your thesis is okay, but you likely need to prepare slides for your defense, you need to rehearse your defense, and you need to rehash it a few times. If you are not that used to public speaking and slide preparation, your advisor should instruct you to do so. He/she should be more open about it, but it could come across a bit awkward to tell you that "your thesis is good, but your presentation is not ready yet".
Maybe, other than the actual thesis work, you are also responsible for doing lab work/preparing classes, grading exams and so on. If you defend in December rather than in March, maybe your advisor will have no one to perform these tasks for him. Very petty, and only his/her problem, but I'd find it very plausible that an advisor in this situation would try to stall the student's defense without giving clear reasons.


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Best way to position yourself to contribute greatly to a very new field?
I'm in my undergrad and am interested in brain-computer interfacing, but the field is still very new and undetermined.
My hope is to be at the forefront of the field of BCI and be in a position where I can contribute to research. In particular, I want to develop a BCI that serves some cognitive purpose and is actually suitable for human use (though it doesn't have to be a consumer product). To this end, after I graduate, should I pursue academia or industry?
A big con with the academia option seems to be that academics have to cater to journals for funding instead of pursuing what they want. Also, presumably in academia I wouldn't be able to try and develop an device: I'd likely have to stop just short of the development stage, which is why I lean towards industry. Is this the correct conclusion?
I use "I" a lot here, but I understand that my goal won't be realized without the help of many others. I know very little about academia and even less about industry, so any advice or insight whatsoever is greatly appreciated!

http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/

I don't think the BCI field is actually very new. There has been a BCI group at my institution for decades. Of course there are new developments, but from what I can see the field has been making slow progress (the usual mode of research) for a while now.

You haven't said anything about what you have studied. In order to work in brain computer interaction you will have to know a lot about brains and about computers. No company is likely to hire you to teach you all that, so you will probably start out in academia. Get a doctorate in one of those fields where you can work near to the other. Then decide between industry and academia for your next step.

Thank you for the response! Indeed, I neglected to mention what I'm studying because I hope to just study whatever is most efficient for my goal. (At the moment, I'm majoring in comp. sci and minoring in biochem.) So are you saying I should get a PhD before all else? And would I have to transition to industry after my PhD in order to be able to develop a new device, or will that be possible in academia as well?

I don't like giving advice based on so little information. Talk to your professors in both disciplines. Figure out which grad school. You have several years before you have to make the next career decision. You will know a lot more then.


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Year of Masters degree completion or cgpa?
Is it better if I take and a B+ grade and my gpa improves little from 3.44 but the date of completion on my degree will be 2019 or is it better if I take an A grade and my cgpa becomes 3.55 but I get 2020 written on my degree? Incase I apply for further studies abroad
Is cgpa more important or the time period of degree completion

Those are  both small differences.  Is there a difference in cost?


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Could anyone judge whether or not what I have experienced are types of abuse?
I am in a Ph.D. program. In my program, I declared my preliminary advisor who is supposed to guide me when writing my first field paper.
Firstly, after I passed my qualifying examination in the last summer, I asked my paper advisor to visit his office to discuss and determine my research topic. He just ignored my email and did not reply at all.
Secondly, one month later I sent an email again and visited his office. I got a research question from him. I read some papers and then visited his office to discuss the next steps. I told him about my rough ideas, then he told me that they will not work. He told me to change my research topic if I would not have a skill set to deal with the problem. I majored in a field of study which specializes in the required skill, so I kept going on doing my research. Then he refused to see me when I asked him to visit his office later and get some feedback on my research work.
Thirdly, he had not given me any guidelines on my research as a paper advisor other than giving me some papers.
Fourthly, he ignored my email later when I asked him to write a letter. I can understand that he would not write a letter for me, but he just ignores my reasonable emails several times.
Fifthly, he would not advise me anymore as the main advisor since I did not know some stylized facts when I started my research and since I did not produce an immediate result within a few weeks.
Lastly, all the Chinese Ph.D. students in my research group only insisted to work with my paper advisor because he is also Chinese, though there are at least three other professors. So he said to me that he has too many students, which is an excuse to support his decision that he does not advise me.
I am wondering whether or not these are reasonable. What should I do if there is no one other than him whose research interests lie in mine? Looks like I just have to endure several year's loss in my life due to a bad decision of mine. The intended field of study is very narrow, so it is difficult to find another professor at another University since my Ph.D. program is evaluated around the margin of ranked universities that have professors in my field of study. Do I have to transfer to another different program with a different major?

There are very clear markers for an abusive academic relationship, it's possible to judge this IMO.

You need to clarify what you mean by abuse. Abuse has multiple definitions, but when talking about human beings and animals, it specifically means a repeated pattern of cruelty or violence. Simply not being responsive is not abuse under this definition. It might be abuse of his position if he fails to properly follow up on his responsibilities, but that does not mean the same thing as abusing a person.

He says himself that he has too many students, so imho you need to talk to the director of studies and tell them that your supervisor can't work with you, you need another supervisor.

I would not call this abuse, but I would say that this professor is clearly not interested in working with you. Not answering emails, not meeting with people in a timely fashion etc. are all indicators that the professor just thinks that you're not worth their time. This may or may not be true, but that really doesn't matter - it takes two to tango in an advisor/advisee relationship, and you don't have a partner in this professor.
I don't quite know how your university works. It sounds like you were assigned to this professor semi-randomly to (I'm guessing here) start some project while you look for a permanent advisor. Whether the professor violated some of the rules of this mentorship process (say, they have to meet you a certain number of times or help you actively, however that's defined) is really not for me to judge - you should consult with your student counseling center/ombudsperson/graduate handbook about this.
Overall, my advice is to look for someone else to advise you, ASAP. This professor is not going to offer you a happy PhD experience in my opinion. If that means changing your field slightly to accommodate some other professor's interests, I would do it. If that professor is the only person in the department qualified to advise you on that field, and you are unwilling to change fields, you have a problem. No one can force a professor to advise someone (I would never want to work under someone who was forced to take me anyway, that would be hell for us both!), so you need to figure out what matters to you more - staying within that narrow field, or actually getting an advisor in that university.
Good luck!

I wouldn't say it's abuse, but I would say the professor is not delivering on the most basic requirements of being an academic adviser. In effect, they have unilaterally backed out of their commitment to be your adviser, without even deigning to tell you. Unfortunately, universities do not have a good track record at holding their academic staff to account in this regard. As a result, it is likely unproductive to speak to university management about this issue. At best, it will result in you being assigned a different adviser, and at worst, you make yourself a formidable enemy in your current one.
Instead, ensure the best possible outcome by looking for a better adviser yourself. More generally, if you want to succeed, you cannot wait around for either people to come to you with solutions to your problems. You'll need to adopt a more assertive set of behaviors than those you have described in the question. Get yourself the help you need, and indeed deserve in your position as a graduate student. Perhaps a professor you are friendly with, a fellow student, or a student councilor can provide some on-the-ground mental support.
Be aware that, despite the fact that your current adviser has wasted your time and treated you like trash, it is in your personal interest to refrain from pointing this out in public. Professors are in a position of considerable formal and informal power, and can make your life difficult. So you'll need to be diplomatic and treat your adviser with the utmost courtesy. They have provided themselves with a justification to gracefully exit the relationship: there are just too many students to support. Quelle surprise to the person who signed on to support them, but it is probably not a complete lie, so you can give this as the reason when you are asked why you want to change advisers.
I wish you all the best in resolving this issue.


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If I'm personally invited to give a talk but have to pay and submit an abstract does that count as a invited talk?
Suppose I receive a personal, written invite to a conference. I would like to attend, and the procedure still requires me to submit an abstract and pay for the conference, would that count as an invited talk?
On one hand, it's not different procedurally from someone submitting an abstract that gets accepted. But on the other hand, I have technically been given what seems to be an invite.

That's not an invite, that's a spam conference.

@CaptainEmacs: Not necessarily.  For instance, this is the way that special sessions work at conferences of the (very reputable) American Mathematical Society.  The session organizers send invitations to their chosen speakers, and each speaker selects their own topic and submits a title and abstract, within the scope of the session.  The organizers check that it is acceptable (it usually is).  There is typically no funding for such sessions, so speakers pay their own travel expenses and a modest registration fee for the conference itself.  But this is definitely an invited talk.

@NateEldredge For very selective, high profile conferences, I agree. Unfortunately, many spam conferences now mask their financial interest by a flattering "invite", so that inexperienced young researchers, especially from groups with less international experience, are prone to be baited.

@NateEldredge I agree. Even the standard conference I have attended (e.g., Ecological Society of America, Wildlife Society, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Joint Mathematics Meetings) all have special symposium where people are invited by the symposium organizers.

@CaptainEmacs: Well, I don't think anyone would describe AMS special sessions as "very selective" or particularly "high profile".  They're just a common and convenient way to have a bunch of talks by reasonably qualified researchers in a particular area.  I fully agree that spam conferences are a problem, but the abstract process and payment structure aren't an effective litmus test.  One really has to look at the academic quality and reputation of the conference and the organizers.

@NateEldredge OP doesn't say which conference invites them. I have conferences in my field I trust, which comprises about 5% of the total "invitations" I get. So, I assumed the 95% case for the OP. I agree with your "not necessarily", but unless OP knows more about the "invite" (they do seem inexperienced, and so find it difficult to judge), the default assumption is to treat the invitation with much care.

Yes, it's basically what Nate said. it's a legit conference.

@det You should add that to your question. If I knew you are aware that this is a legit, good quality conference, I would, of course, not have started the thread. Clearly some other readers agreed with my original sentiment.

Just leave "invited" off your CV and say "Speaker at.." until you can clarify this with conference organizers if they are fine with it.

@CaptainEmacs: at the Canadian Math Society Meetings, the absolute majority of invited speakers are required to pay their expenses, and also the $400 registration fee. That's also true of many conferences I have both participated in, and organized.

Yes. It does count. For example, many meetings have special topic sessions (e.g., SETAC). When people organized these sessions, they are often required to have a number of committed speakers.
That being said, here are some caveats:

Beware of predator conferences.
The value of being invited to a special session is different than being invited as a plenary speaker. Be careful to not overplay this on your CV. For the life sciences, invited talks are nice, but not as import as fields where conference proceedings are highly valued.
The custom related to being an invited talks vary across academic disciplines.  Also, some meetings wave registration for all speakers (e.g., ODSC). Most, however, do not.

Invited presentations, where you're only formally invited, became quite usual these days. Being invited then merely means that you get more time to present your stuff. Sometimes the conference fee is waived when you ask for it. Often the organizers rely on the registration fees to break even.
Independent of paying the fee or not, it is usual to ask invited speakers for an abstract. As an organizer, you want something for the booklet (or USB stick nowadays). The submission deadline is treated more loose since an invited speaker does not need to be rated by the program committee. Though of course there is the deadline for the printed version of the booklet (which not all invited speakers manage to meet - or violate on purpose).
Such presentations are considered as invited talks without doubt.
I'm not talking about the spam conferences, as mentioned by @captainemacs, although these of course also exist. Though personally I don't know anybody, who ever attended one.

I also don't know of anybody who's attended a spam conference, but there must be plenty of people who do, or they would't exist. Typically, such people would be students who aren't yet fully familiar with how the system works, and that's also the sort of person who might ask a question such as the one at the top of this page.


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What is the Timeline for Entry-Level Mathematics Job Search?
I'm applying for mathematics jobs (entry-level, non-tenure) in the United States from abroad.
I've googled and read the obvious articles on this topic and I still have big questions about the process.
Are the stages of a successful application: phone interview > in-person seminar > offer?
Given that I'm applying from abroad, how will the phone interview work? Is it usually a Skype interview or skipped?
I've heard that offers usually go out in January at later, but if I do not receive a phone interview or any acknowledgement by mid-December, does that mean the application is likely rejected?
And if the "review date" for the application is earlier than normal, e.g. early-mid November, does that imply that the timeline is also earlier, so that no acknowledgement around early December means likely rejection?

"Entry-level non-tenure" could mean a few different things, with different interview processes.  Are you talking about tenure-track assistant professorships, postdocs, full-time lecturer positions, teaching-orienting visiting assistant professorships, part-time adjunct positions, ...?

I'm talking about non-tenure assistant professorships and postdocs, which seem to be the most common positions offered.

I am still not sure what you mean by "non-tenure assistant professorships".  Are these permanent positions that will eventually be eligible for tenure (i.e. tenure-track), or temporary positions that will end after a certain number of years (usually called visiting assistant professor)?

Yes, visiting assistant professor.

The situation for postdocs and non-tenure-track visiting assistant professorships (VAP for short) is rather different than for tenure-track assistant professorships.  In particular, postdoc and VAP positions often do not have an in-person interview.
I would expect there will certainly be a phone (or Skype) interview.  This wouldn't be skipped simply because you are coming from abroad.  If ordinary phone is inconvenient or expensive for you, it's fine to ask that Skype or another alternative be used instead.  Some committees may have their own VOIP/videoconference solutions.
It's likely the case that the initial shortlist would be contacted within a few weeks after the application deadline, so if you don't hear anything within that time, you probably didn't make the initial shortlist.  However, if the committee interviews those candidates and doesn't find enough that they like, they may go back to their application pool and contact some more candidates.  So all hope is not lost.
A couple other notes:

VAP positions are often posted much later, because they are sometimes used to temporarily fill a position that comes open because of an unexpected departure.  It's not uncommon for them to be posted in February or March or even later, with a quick deadline.  So if you're looking for such positions, keep your eyes open.
For VAP positions that are primarily meant to fill teaching needs (e.g. with a load of 4 courses per year or more), the department may not be interested in hiring candidates from abroad, because of visa issues (unless of course you are already a US citizen or permanent resident).  This is not such an issue for postdocs.

It's not uncommon for them to be posted in February or March, with a quick deadline. --- The two times I applied for VAP's, I didn't even start looking at the positions until mid-April (early May for the 2nd time, in fact), as I was involved in tenure-track campus visits and such Feb.-April (typically they start a few weeks after the January AMS/MAA meeting), and quite a few were not posted until April, with interviews (sometimes by phone, but most of mine were campus visits) conducted May-June. There were a few still open in July, but for most people probably last-resort places.

@DaveLRenfro: Good point.  Updated.


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Will a master's in math from the University of Vienna help or hurt my Ph.D. prospects?
My end goal is to become a professor of either mathematics or philosophy. I haven't made up my mind which. Thus, I plan to get a master's degree in math, specializing in logic, in order to continue my education without committing to either discipline. More generally, I suppose my question is: is this a sensible plan, and is the University of Vienna a good place to carry it out?

I'm not sure why you think it might be otherwise. The university has a very rich history and has produced many Nobel prize winners.

Kurt Gödel is an alumnus of University of Vienna, and would be a pretty hard act to follow, but at the intersection of math and philosophy he has few peers.
I think your plan is perfectly reasonable, though if you don't speak and write German, you might want to address that. Maybe not essential today, I guess.
The Wikipedia entry on the university is informative, of course.

There’s also the Vienna Circle! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Circle

That's at least three generations of researchers ago. Sorry, but this legacy really doesn't matter anymore for anything but the university's public image.


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Differencea in working at academia and corporate technical jobs
What are some differences in working at corporate technical jobs and academia (in pursuit of pure research on field X)? I am working in tech company and I'm slowly getting fed up with deadline pressure, bureaucracy and BS politics. Do they also exist in academia?

What advantages do professors have over equivalent industry and government researchers?, Why do so many PhDs choose to join academia instead of industry given the pay in academia is considerably lower and the workload is much heavier?

Yes, all of those exist in academia as well, but for tenured professors, at least, they are probably much less than in many industrial positions.
One of the advantages in academia (most fields) is that you can set your own research agenda and, for the most part, your own working schedule, so long as you are effective and productive.
But most academic positions require some meetings for important (and not-so-important) decisions. Your teaching schedule may not be under your control (or much, at least). Office hours might be mandated. These may limit your freedom to schedule somewhat, but usually much less than in the industrial field. At one point (pre COVID) I could fulfill all my obligations with two or maybe three days physically present on campus.
Industrial research, these days, is mostly product oriented, rather than pure, idea driven, research. It wasn't always so and there are some exceptions, but that is the trend. The implication is that in industry you probably have a boss who pushes you in ways that are valuable to the company, but maybe of little interest to you, personally.
For example, Dilbert resonates much more forcefully in industry than in academia. But you can find jerks everywhere, and some of them are your superiors. I had to deal with quite a lot of that early in my academic career. And I also met many very decent people in industrial settings, though the product pressure was always there.
I was always amazed in my own long career, that people actually paid me to think the thoughts I wanted to be thinking on my own.

The second and third paragraphs are contradictory.

@AnonymousPhysicist No, they are not.


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Does age matter in graduate application?
At what age is it too late to pursue graduate studies? Does age matter in graduate application? How would potential supervisors think of candidates who are older than themselves?

Does this answer your question? https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/902/age-and-graduate-school

If you are old enough that the time for your degree, post-docs, and tenure track would put you close to retirement age, noting that academics retire rather late, then some advisors would be skeptical of taking you on. Investing a lot of effort in training somebody who can’t have a maximally canonical academic career might turn them off. But there are many examples of successful graduate students, by any measure, starting in their 30s and 40s. There are less examples of older students going on to have full and illustrious research careers, but if you are middle aged and want to do a PhD more for your own passion than to spend your golden years moving all over the world and fighting for tenure, then this is something that happens reasonably often. You might just not be able to work in the “hottest” labs.

Note that "passion" PhDs are more common than some subjects than others, particularly subjects that don't have "labs". Further, older PhDs researchers, just generally, are more common in arts, humanities, and social sciences. I've had graduate students (mostly master's level) the age of my parents and that was fine and not particularly weird.

@GrotesqueSI Thanks. It makes sense that fields where a PhD is more about writing a monograph than about running huge experiments or developing tech to spin off into a startup are more open to older students.


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What should I do to make the most of a stopgap postdoc position offered by my PhD supervisor?
I am a PhD in computational materials science, and I have been offered a stop gap postdoc position (at the moment for 6 months) by my PhD supervisor which I will be starting a month after my defense. Now, I have many manuscripts pending for submission and getting them out will be the highest priority for the next couple of months. But apart from that and searching for new opportunities, what should be my prime focus during this duration? My advisor is a handsoff person and will give me full freedom to pursue my interests. I want to stay in academia.
My plan:
I want to upgrade my python programming skills and experience (I will be actively participating in kaggle competitions), and also want to work in incorporating machine learning in my field of research (something that is being done in my field). I also have to work on my technical knowledge and improve my experience with the numerical method I have used in my PhD research.
Keeping all this in mind,
Summarizing:

Will it be a good move for my academic career to explore new topics
  during this short postdoc position, try to publish something in an
  area I would like to work in the near future? Focus on get my pending
  papers out and learn new skills along the way?

I am really serious about this and I am confident that I can put my 100% effort in the work. My question is, as an experienced academic, what is your opinion on my plan?

Your #1 goal is to find a real post-doc position, so think of why that hasn't happened yet. Next is finishing up those papers, since that may help with the #1 goal. Anything else is gravy. Do not let anything new (much less competitions for goodness sake) get in the way of those. Don't think of it as 6 months, think of it as week-to-week.

@JonCuster, or even a permanent position.

@JonCuster That's exactly what my answer would have been. Can you convert your comment into an answer?

Your #1 goal is to find a real post-doc position, so think of why that hasn't happened yet if you have been out trying for a while.
Next is finishing up those papers, since that may help with the #1 goal. Further, once you do get another position where you want to chase after new things, you will find that time slips away.
Anything else is gravy. Do not let anything new (much less competitions for goodness sake) get in the way of those. Don't think of it as 6 months, think of it as week-to-week until you have accepted a job offer.

Your career isn't going to depend on Python. I love the language but it would be poor use of your time. The answer of Jon Custer is the core of it, but I would also suggest that you spend time building a circle of collaborators and professional contacts. Use your advisor's base to develop your own. Reach out to people with similar interests. Attend any conferences that are available so you can meet people.
But, yes, make sure the papers get attention, build a notebook of research ideas to follow up on. Think about how to strengthen what you will say in applications, both in the CV and the SoP.


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Should academic experience from other domains be included on a CV?
As an undergrad, I was a double-major in neuroscience and music. Now, I'm working on putting together a CV for applications to master's programs in neuroscience. But, my thesis work was done in the music department and unrelated to neuroscience whatsoever. Should I include this on my CV, or would it be seen as irrelevant "padding" of my CV? (I'm not really concerned about shoring up my experience, as I've had several years of directly relevant work experience since I finished my bachelor's degree.)

If your undergraduate program requires a Bachelor's Thesis, graduate school admissions committees might expect to see it on your CV. Completely omitting your thesis in your CV might raise questions.
Your ability to do independent work is also important, even in another field. If your thesis work is not related to your graduate school field, I would mention it but not focus on it. (i.e., include the title and one sentence summarizing what you did). If your Bachelor's Thesis is publicly accessible (and it is a good thesis), citing it in your CV cannot hurt.

@DaveLRenfro I removed that claim from the answer.

As a past admissions committee member for graduate studies (in a different discipline), one of our biggest concerns were which applicants had the independence, stick-with-it-ness, and structuring and writing ability to finish a degree. A thesis in any discipline is solid evidence of that and will likely be looked on favorably.
From another angle, it is worth noting that academia favours CVs - which stands for curriculum vitae, the course of one's life. These tend to be multipage documents including all accomplishments concievably of relevance to the reader. Of course, a CV should be tailored to the audience, but basically you include everything and the bar for calling something "padding" is pretty high (low?). This is very much in contrast with industry-favored résumés, highly selective summaries chosen to be most directly applicable to the position being sought. That's why résumés tend to be 1-2 pages even for an accomplished experienced professional, while even a pretty junior CV is likely to be much longer.

Yes, definitely. Padding a CV? Definitely not. A resume, maybe.

Put it in for clarity, it's not padding. The point of a CV is not just to claim a set of knowledge, but to provide evidence of skills like research, analysis, self-motivation.
Also, you never know where you are going to end up, some time in the future you may do research at the intersection of these interests (such as how the brain interprets music).

There are two key elements of such applications, normally called the CV and the SoP (Statement of Purpose). Your CV details your past accomplishments and should probably be complete. Your SoP is directed at your future goals with some care given as to how the past enables the future.
So, my recommendation is to include everything in the CV. This avoids any possible future problem of anyone thinking that there are gaps and wondering why you are not giving a complete picture. But in the SoP, or equivalent, only mention music if it is somehow relevant to your plans in neuroscience.


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Change the "under review" date after revision
I submitted a paper to a journal in Springer system. After a revision, I resubmitted the revised paper to the system, and the system change the status to "Under review" on Nov 24. After that, the status didn't change but the date was changed to Dec 06.
I wonder that what can cause this situation?
Thanks.

You might want to look at this question.


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Should I contact the universites that have not given me a decision yet after I have taken a offer?
I am a student who just finished applying for a Ph.D. in Physics this year. I have not only received and but also accepted the offer from my dream school. However, there are three other universities that have not given me a decision yet. Should I contact them to let them know that I will turn down their offers anyway?
If the answer is yes, how should I word it so it doesn't sound weird?

It would be polite and helpful for you to let them know as it reduces their work. But a simple mail/email is all that is required.
"Thank you for your consideration, but I've accepted another offer."
No more is really needed.

+1: informing them saves one extra round of emails and is a nice gesture.


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Qualification prior to highest degree
What does it means if someone asks the qualification prior to highest degree ?

It's usually considered reasonable to give some reason for down-voting.

@puppetsockreinstateMonica Then I would have lots of explanations for the downvotes I get... But, oddly, they seem to be missing. BTW, it was not me.

It would help us give a good answer if you gave more context. Without that context it is very hard to understand  why anyone would want to know what was your "qualification prior to highest degree". One of the most distinguished scholars (full professor, Fellow of the Royal Society) under whom I studied would have had to answer that question as "Bachelor of Arts" - so what?

@JeremyC It seems relevant for a hiring committee, for instance, to ask about a junior candidate's highest and second highest qualification.

It means that you should state the qualification that was completed before the highest degree you have.
So, for some completing their education in the UK, if they have a BBA in business, the prior qualification could be A levels.

True, but so what?

@JeremyC because that is what they ask for, and you don't know why they ask or what they may consider doing with that information...

OK A stupid question. Give a Stupid answer: A level chemistry, or whatever. I find it hard to believe that any reputable institution would want to ask such a question, Hence my comment that more context is required.

@JeremyC some questions are posted on here by users who don't have such a good level of English and a simple explanation is often all they need.... Not sure my answer deserves a downvote.

I am sorry. I did not wish to offend. But I still do not believe the question. It is like asking "who was your favourite lover before your current wife?". In my case the answer to the specific question would actually be Bachelor of Arts. My highest degree is Master of Arts from the University of Cambridge. As it happens I hold several degrees, one of which is, technically, junior to my Cambridge MA and another is not obviously higher than my Cambridge MA. But the question IS a silly question because it focusses on an irrelevancy.

(+1) @JeremyC "Silly" questions are on-topic

I should stress, I don't consider the question silly.

@DanielHatton +1 for a good point about "prior to highest" not the same thing as "second-highest". In my case "prior to highest" is certainly the BA but "second-highest" is very hard to define given that the MA was awarded for literally zero extra academic work. BTW I do not hold any such thing as a"Certificate of Post-Graduate Study in Mathematics". My most recently awarded degree is  Cambridge MMath - technically junior to my MA - but that came to me 40 years after passing the examination.

@DanielHatton I did indeed pass Part III before even the CASM was invented; I was entitled to not so much as a slip of paper as a reward for doing so.


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Should I appeal my paper's rejection in PRL?
My manuscript in PRL was rejected after two rounds, although apparently quite narrowly.
First round the paper was sent to two referees. One was very supportive to accept, and the other provisionally rejected but was willing to see what we had to say in response.
Second round we actually got both of the original referees to accept the paper. But for whatever reason the editor sent it to a third referee, who recommended to reject the paper. Typically PRL ends the review process at two rounds: it always rejects if there is no complete consensus to accept the paper after two rounds.
We agreed among us that the argument is not a deal killer, definitely fightable if we have the stomach for it.
As far as I can see we have a few options, and am wondering which we should go for.

Ask for a further round of review. Although the review process is technically over, in our collective experience, the editors will typically oblige your request, and even more so when you've got two good acceptances. The downside is that you have no idea how many additional referees you will end up having to fight with - some of our friends have ended up with 5 or 6 referees, not the easiest considering how PRL referees are like.
Appeal straight to the divisional associate editor, the default course of action. What this person says is final, even if it's to overturn two acceptances.
One of the lower Physical Review journals has offered to publish as a 'rapid communication' without further review.

Any advice?

This depends on your preferences and your cost/benefit analysis. We cannot help you with that.

For example, if you're currently held hostage and your captors will kill your family members if you don't publish a PRL paper by March 2020, then the answer is clear. Go for it, unless you have a second even more promising paper.

Conversely, if your tenure committee meets in January and they have previously indicated that you are on track to get tenure if only you had published the magic number of N papers but currently have N-1... Then obviously get the paper published somewhere else.

I totally understand the above examples are ridiculous, but many quite realistic scenarios somewhat interpolate between the two. I suggest you decide for yourself what your costs and your benefits are.

How did you get the offer from rapid communication without transfer?

Remember that editors often have to reject papers even if all reviews are positive. The reviewers only see the paper at hand, the editor sees all papers submitted, and all papers with only positive reviews are often still way too many to be all accepted. So by necessity, the editor also needs to reject papers with all positive reviews. Passing the hurdle of getting all positive reviews is often a necessary but not sufficient condition to be published, your paper also need to be better than a large portion of other papers that also passed that hurdle.
Bottom line: fighting editor decisions is usually not worth it, especially if you have another accept ready.

This sounds like one of the "your paper is good, but not good enough for our journal" kind of result. PRL is one of the premier journals in physics and they almost surely receive many more papers than they can publish. If this guess is correct, then yours is one such paper - they don't think there's anything wrong with your paper per se, but it's not significant/interesting enough for PRL.
One consequence of this is that it's possible even if you convince the third reviewer, your paper ends up rejected anyway.
It boils down to whether you care sufficiently about the PRL brand name to try fighting the decision. It could work, it could also not, in which case you've spent time for nothing. Against that, you could just switch to one of the lower-tier journals and get published instantly. It's a decision you'll have to make yourself (in conjunction with co-authors).


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How Does Statement of Purpose Play a Role in Graduate Admission?
I'm applying for MSc. in Computer Science.
The basic format for SOP would be (at least in the university which I'm applying to):

State your research interests and career goals
Outline your previous research experiences / contributions (if any)
Name the faculty members you would like to work with

Does competitiveness of research areas (that are stated in SOP) affect your chance of graduate admission? I'm talking about a master program, not a PhD. If two people are both applying for MSc. in Computer Science, does the applicant (who showed interest in less competitive field) have a better chance of getting accepted? I guess the answer is obvious for a PhD admission because the decision is made by professors, but graduate admission is decided by graduate committees.

Your assumption that MS admission isn't handled by professors is probably incorrect in many cases. If it is a purely administrative process then no one can evaluate anything but numbers such as GPA. Certainly "competitiveness of research area" can't be evaluated by a secretarial assistant.

I doubt that "competitiveness of research area" is much of a factor, even for doctoral admission. They are looking for candidates who have an appropriate background (mostly from the CV) and a good probability of success in the program (mostly from LoR). The first bullet in your list is always the critical part. But the second point should simply point to how your background situates you to achieve your goals. Naming a faculty member is important in some, but not all cases. More so in the EU (and UK) than in the US.
But, the research area is important as a decision making issue in so much as there are faculty resources (including any named advisor) to support that area. If there are more resources in one area than in another, then candidates in the one with more is likely to be favored, at least a bit. So a school that doesn't do much serious work in AI, say, will probably look for candidates in other areas. This is especially true at the MS level, but also at the doctoral level.
For faculty hiring, on the other hand, different rules may certainly apply.

I doubt that "competitiveness of research area" is much of a factor, even for doctoral admission. — Really?!  It is most definitely a significant factor in my department!


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Acquiring a bound copy of someone else's thesis
I am in Canada and wanted to get a bound copy of someone's doctoral thesis in Sweden. The thesis is fully available online in PDF form for free from the library/publisher, but since there is a copyright on it printing services won't print and bind it for me without proof of printing permissions. The library does not seem to offer a service and does not seem to understand what it is I want since they keep directing me to the online PDF, while the author doesn't seem to be responding (probably ended up in his junk mail).
Does anyone know how one would go about this?

@nabla That's good to know. Copyright is 2017. I just can't seem to get ahold of them sine when you have no connections, Facebook messages ends up in a hidden message bin.

What is it that a bound version would do that a PDF won't let you do? Also, is the PDF "secured" so you can't print it out on your own shiny laser printer?  I would be surprised rather than annoyed if somebody wanted a hard copy of my thesis. It's boring even to me.

@puppetsockreinstateMonica This is actually a request from a 70-year coworker I work with. He wants a bound hardcopy to add it as a reference to his library and also prefers to study from them rather than a computer screen. I'm sure the author wouldn't mind helping out if I actually had a way to get ahold of him. I've just been firing request left and right over different sites but unless one of them is his actual e-mail or phone number I doubt he will ever see them.

And your printer is out of paper?

@puppetsockreinstateMonica We are still unable to bind it even if we did print it out ourselves. It's also 200 pages.

@DKNguyen Some places have self-binders. Nevertheless, what a pain.

Not ideal, but 3-hole punch it and put it in a properly sized binder.

As @mkennedy suggested, why not print it, punch holes in the paper, and put it in 2 or 3 notebook binders? That's what I've done with my dissertation, which is on a bookshelf in another room. In fact, I have photocopies of many thousands of pages of papers in similar topic-labeled notebook binders. Also, you could have it coil-bound at a printing store, something I've done with several of my longer personal manuscripts.

@mkennedy It's not so much an issue of whether it's legal, so much as it is an issue that the copy shop doesn't know what it's doing about copyright so won't do anything without written permission. A while back they refused to print something that was in the public domain because I could not provide written permission to go with the 1908 copyright stamp they found within its pages, despite it coming with the google book preservation boilerplate page.

@DKNguyen I understand that.You would probably need to print it yourself, then bind/hole bunch/etc. yourself. You can probably print it out at using a copy shop printer/copier, but you doing it, not an employee.

You can get reams of paper with the 3-hole punch in it already. Makes that bit even simpler. Run a test page to get the holes on the ‘correct’ side first.

Print the paper yourself, three-hole-punch (or buy pre-punched paper), and use a three-ring binder. For 200 pages, it might be easier to do this at an office/print shop (search "print shop" or "printing" on Google Maps or something to find one near you). Sometimes these shops will do this sort of thing for you, and often they have self-service machines which can get you around wariness that employees may be trained in as far as printing work they are not confident they are allowed to print. As a comment mentioned, these shops can also sometimes do coil binding, which would hold together better on a shelf. Nicer binders would do okay on a shelf, though they would be best held page-side-down in a file drawer or horizontal rather than vertical.
It's not normal to bind someone else's work in a proper book, and theses are not typically printed as books for resale. Printing a PDF of a copyrighted work that you have digital access to for personal use is typically completely legal, and practically never going to be an issue even in some odd context where it isn't.

@cbeleitessupportsMonica also suggests a "springback binder" which I have never used personally but it looks like they might be ideal for this purpose.

The printing services are a real stickler (i.e. they don't know what they're doing so they don't do anything). They wouldn't even print a public domain book because it had a copyright stamp on it from 1908.

@DKNguyen I'm suggesting a copy shop, not a book bindery.

I am talking about a copy shop. Staples.

@DKNguyen Have you tried walking in with a stack of paper already printed and ask if they can punch it for you? or try another shop? or buy pre-punched paper? It's pretty different printing a thesis which has likely been bound only for personal use versus a book that's sold in circulation.

Not yet. But from the way they were speaking they were completely fixated on the copyright stamp, which both works have. They didn't care about context at all. I could try another copy shop. I only know of this one but I'm sure there are others. Just on the others side of the city probably.

@DKNguyen You might be best with a place that does more of a self-service model then. They in fact might be in some trouble if the law treats it as them taking a copyrighted work, printing it, and selling the work to you. That's different from you renting their equipment/paying for supplies and then printing the work with their equipment for your own use.

Over here (Germany) springback binders are fequently used for theses. There are also products that don't need a machine to open the spring. Also, I'd ask departments around: in many places where I've been someone (secretary) somewhere had a plastic binder or a thermo binder.

@cbeleitessupportsMonica Nice, I'm not familiar with these - they look great for this

Talk to your university’s legal department, and ask them what to do.
Most universities will have legal teams, and in many cases, those legal teams will have quite a bit of experience with IP law. Talking to them about actions you could take seems like a good idea; it’s very possible that a good solution for your problem might be as simple as your university’s legal team drafting a letter to their university’s legal team asking for written permission to print a copy of the thesis paper for non commercial use.

This sounds like way more work than necessary to get a single copy of a thesis into a format that is readable to someone averse to reading on screens.

@BrianKrause Probably still less work than printing it out and manually punching holes in 200 pages yourself.

@BrianKrause: less work than printing it out and manually punching holes in 200 pages --- nick012000, I'm not sure I follow. Printing may take a few minutes, but you do something else after you click "print", and even with my hole puncher (does only 20-30 pages at a time), I could get this taken care of in less than 2 minutes, and this is at home. For most every department I've taught at, the process would be to send it to the printer, go to the department workroom to pick up the output, and spend less than a minute punching holes in it using the better hole puncher in the workroom.

@DaveLRenfro round here, just print it on the photocopier (MFD ) and it will punch the holes for you

@DaveLRenfro If he’s going to Staples to get it done, he probably doesn’t have a fancy hole puncher available that can do a lot of pages at once.


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In-text citations - First and subsequent citations - AMA
Am new to writing research article. While I am following the guidelines here
Am I right to understand that whenever we refer to a source, we cite them in-text.
Let's say my paragraph has 100 lines.
I refer the source for the first time in L10. So, I write xxxx[superscript 1]
I refer the source again in L25... Should I again use the [superscript 1] here?
Basically, should we use in-text citation whenever I refer/mention about the source?
Or just in-text citation for just the 1st mention is enough (and we don't have to in-text cite the subsequent mentions)?

Yes, use again the same superscript as before.
Here is a random example from JAMA Network Open (this paper at p. 5). Note the repeated use of 1 or 24:

Thanks, upvoted and accepted


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Awaiting AE recommendation - Can be rejected?
I already referred to this post, post, post
I recently submitted my paper to a journal 40-45 days back.
For the first 10 days, it was reviewed by the managing editor and sent to us for some format issues, etc.
Later, it has been under "Awaiting review scores" for the past 25 days.
And from the past few days, I see it as "Awaiting AE recommendation". I know the next stage is to Editor In chief. But my question is as below
a) Is it possible to be rejected at this point? Because we didn't receive any email till now on clarifications, request to revise something, etc. Could it mean direct rejection? Like reviewers gave low scores and it is bound for rejection?
b) For ex: Let's say the paper requires some revision based on reviewers. In that case, will it be communicated directly to us (by the managing editor) or even request for revisions/clarifications will also happen through "AE" and "EIC"
c) Am I right to understand that based on the info that I shared, there are only two possible outcomes. Either outright reject or acceptance notification is the next possible step? No revisions because it is already "Awaiting AE recommendation"

Yes, it could be rejected. But it could also have other outcomes, including requesting revision. Don't make assumptions. There is no oracle for such things. This is probably a duplicate, but I won't mark it as such since my vote would be definitive. Others might, however.

There is nothing to be gained by obsessing over these things. Beyond making sure that your paper isn't forgotten, just wait until you learn of the outcome.

In journals that use Manuscript central, there are a few possibilities. Since there is no way to know specifics, in general, and AE can do one of the following depending on how the recommendation task is set up:

Make a recommendation. (Accept, reject, more reviews needed).
Make a decision. (some journals allow this at this point in the workflow)
Add more reviewers, and continue the peer review process.

Hope this helps.
Note: I am a ScholarOne employee, but my opinions/answers are my own.

I don’t think this addresses the fact that the OP can certainly still get a revise and resubmit recommendation. Seems to be the crux of the b and c sub questions above.

The specifics of what could happen are totally dependent on the journal workflow. At a high level, 3 main actions are typically available to the AE. They can make a recommendation, they can make a decision, or they can get more reviews. Each journal decides whats available based on their specific workflow and business process. What is available to a particular AE on a particular journal is not definable without more information.


text:
What should I tell my department head (about my advising problems)?
I have two advisers. One primary adviser (PA) is from my department. The second adviser (SA) is from another department. The PA appointed the SA (as my co-adviser) unofficially without asking me 2-3 years ago. However, the SA is not my adviser on paper.
I wrote 5 chapters out of 6 (the conclusion is left). They like my argument. They like the chapters I sent them. 3 chapters are approved by them in email and by phone. I am editing chapters 4 and 5 they liked.
In an email, PA suggested I extend my program into Fall 2021. I said I do not agree with this date when my chapters are written. I did not see my family for more than a year due to COVID restrictions and because I worked only on the dissertation. Like anyone else, this impacts my well-being.
PA was not helpful in their email. The PA emailed again apologizing for the PA's email earlier. The PA proposed a meeting to get this dissertation to the finish line.
The PA at the meeting apologized for her badly worded email again and told me "send the full dissertation draft by "a date" so we can work on it.
When the day came recently, the SA responded to my email and said "do not send us the full draft." I said, "but the PA asked me to do this." The PA denied the PA said something like that at all.
What lines can I use to convince a department head to take my case and really pressure both the PA and the SA for a defense date at the end of August 2021?
Info about Me:

is at an R1 university in the US
deemed active, good, and successful.
has their dissrtation's contribution to the literature ready.
does not need reference letters by the PA and the SA to survive after grad school.

The process for scheduling a defense varies by region; what country is your university located in?

Defacing your post is extremely rude to those who spent time responding to it.

Please do not deface posts after receiving answers. You can edit to remove anything that's too specific if necessary, and if something is sensitive you can flag for moderator attention to get it removed from the post history. Please see this for further details.

Sorry everyone; I do not know how this site works. I anonymized details. Thanks for your input. I did not mean to be rude but erase my identity. I guess I could just edit it but I had no idea at the moment.

I can’t think of much more than you can do other than to present your case to the department head calmly and clearly (much as you have done here). But here are a few things to keep in mind:

There are two sides to every story. The department head would likely want to hear the other side’s version as well, so you should not take it for granted that your version will be deemed the official or correct one.

Even if PA did say to send her the draft by a certain date, she might have forgotten (especially since this was not documented in writing) — so one should not assume malicious behavior when there may be more innocent explanations. And she might actually have changed her mind and could legitimately think now that you need more time to finish your dissertation. Even if she is lying about not saying that, for example out of embarrassment and not wanting to admit that she changed her mind, it would not make her current position invalid from the department head’s point of view (although it is of course an inappropriate thing to do - but my point is it’s inappropriate in a way that doesn’t necessary strengthen your case that you should be allowed to graduate this summer).

Department heads are not as powerful as you might think. Even with the best of intentions and a desire to help you, the department head may have a limited ability to pressure a faculty member on a matter such as this, particularly if the faculty member is senior. The power wielded by department heads is usually a kind of “soft power”: the fact that they are generally seen as sensible, trustworthy people whom people respect and who hold a modest amount of authority. So whether your adviser will listen to the head depends on local department politics, the specific personalities involved and various other factors.

I am sympathetic to your desire to see your family, but in academia if your adviser doesn’t think your work is at the level where they are ready to approve your dissertation yet, it’s really their call to make, not the department head’s. Anyway, good luck!

+1 for the "if your adviser doesn’t think your work is at the level where they are ready to approve your dissertation yet, it’s really their call " part.

Thank you. I guess I will go back to my country. Probably defend there since I am not good enough for the United States. I guess...

@FlorenceD it may still be worth talking to the department head, I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise. Perhaps they do have some influence, or they will see a solution to your problem that were not seeing. Good luck.

@FlorenceD I would separate the issue of quality of work from the personal wellbeing issues; you seem to entwine them. It does not seem that your work is not promising to be at the desired level, only that it may not be there in the time frame you insist it should be. The advisors are the ones who aim to help you make your work achieve the appropriate level of quality. It's understandable that you want to see your family, but you should detach your desire for being able to visit your family from the requirements of the PhD work. Perhaps you can get a visitation visa break for the summer?


text:
Submission status changed to "submitted" after "awaiting reviewer scores"
I submitted my article to a SAGE journal roughly six weeks ago. The status of the submission was "awaiting reviewer scores" for four weeks and few days ago it changed to "submitted". Any idea what this means? Does it mean that the article is with the editor who goes through the reviewer comments? Or does it mean that the article has been sent for new reviewers?
I have also checked the typical workflow of the journal, but was not able to find similar situation.

Maybe reviews are late or reviewers have dropped out, and they need new ones. That's at least a possibility, but these status messages are often all over the place, and I recommend to only worry about them if you have nothing better to do.

It could be meaningless.

While this question is not quite a duplicate, I think it is more helpful to close it as a duplicate instead of closing it as "depending on individual circumstances."