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What should go in a diversity statement if I believe I have had no relevant experiences?
So I am completing the application for UCSB, and they ask me to write a Personal Achievements/Contributions Statement, however, I feel I have nothing to say, since I have never experienced anything like examples they give. So what should be talked about in this kind of essay except examples they give?
Here is what on their application:

Personal Achievements/Contributions Statement
UC Santa Barbara is interested in a diverse and inclusive graduate student population. Please describe any aspects of your personal background, accomplishments, or achievements that you feel are important in evaluating your application for graduate study.
For example, please describe if you have experienced economic challenges in achieving higher education, such as being financially responsible for family members or dependents, having to work significant hours during undergraduate schooling or coming from a family background of limited income.
Please describe if you have any unusual or varied life experiences that might contribute to the diversity of the graduate group, such as fluency in other languages, experience living in bicultural communities, academic research interests focusing on cultural, societal, or educational problems as they affect underserved segments of society, or evidence of an intention to use the graduate degree toward serving disadvantaged individuals or populations.

possible duplicate of What do admission committees look for in a diversity essay?

Whatever they decide to call it, this is commonly known as a "diversity statement."

I think this is not a duplicate, because this is asking how to respond if you are not from an underprivileged background.

@jakebeal: The other question is phrased broadly and asks for general advice about these essays. Maybe nobody has adequately addressed that aspect yet, but that isn't a reason to duplicate the question.

Can you just answer honestly, and write something like "Nope, I am as privileged as they come, and my research interests are completely unrelated to social justice"?

@NateEldredge I think the other question makes it clear that the applicant has relevant experiences, so nobody would (or should) address this aspect there.

An important aspect of the other question is that the diversity essay there was optional, so it was possible to just not answer it at all.  It is not clear if that is the case here.

@BenBitdiddle Sure, you can always answer like that. You should expect that to doom your app with plenty of schools and advisors though. It doesn't matter how privileged you are or what you plan to study--everyone can contribute something toward making academia more inclusive and diverse, even if it's just learning how you can use your privilege to be an ally for those with less. I'm always happy to consider prospective students who aren't from diverse/disadvantaged backgrounds themselves if they're aware of their privilege and conscientious about advocacy. I just admitted one for next year.

@Dandan, exactly.

I agree with the other answerer in that some self-examination will probably yield many ways in which you have overcome adversity or worked to support others from diverse backgrounds.
But here's another angle that's worth considering: Why does the university require a diversity statement in the first place? You'll encounter many forms of diversity at a large, public university like UCSB, where there is a substantial population of international students, federal student aid recipients, students with family/work obligations, and so on, and the school wants to know how you expect to integrate into the diverse community at the target university and how you believe interacting with a diverse student population will help you grow in your career and as a person.
Therefore, you don't have to "be" diverse (how can any individual be diverse?) to help foster a diverse, inclusive campus climate. I found this diversity statement from a faculty application written by an Asian American to be very successful, even though the author makes no mention of his personal background, focusing instead on the things he has done to support diverse students and explaining why he thinks diversity is a good thing:

I believe that diversity is fundamentally the relationship between a community’s distribution along a multitude of dimensions (e.g., physical traits, interests, cultures) and that of of the general population. I am strongly in favor of a diverse community that samples broadly from the general population.  From a selfish perspective, it lets me learn from a variety of different, strange, and interesting people.  From a larger perspective, it creates a robust community that is immune to "jumping on the band-wagon", and, as the UC diversity statement notes, it is "the source of innovative ideas and creative accomplishments".

In a case like yours, I would recommend being honest about your blind spots and expressing your interest in learning more about people from other backgrounds. What was it like to grow up and attend college within a homogeneous community? What challenges do you expect to face as you transition to the target university, and how will you overcome them? What are the characteristics of the university's community that attract you to studying there? Bonus points if you can name specific student organizations, courses, or other features of the university that align with these goals.

On the flip side, it's worth pointing out that writing a diversity statement isn't necessarily any easier for those who are from "diverse" backgrounds. A diversity statement that simply enumerates one's demographic characteristics without reflecting on the meaning and importance of diversity can ring hollow. And there is a danger in invoking false parallels, i.e. assuming "Because I am from marginalized community X, I understand the challenges faced by those from marginalized community Y."

It's pretty likely you've experienced a lot more diversity than you realize. Consider:

Have you always been surrounded by people sharing the same ethnic majority as you?
Have you ever experienced another culture beyond simply eating at taco bell and panda express?
Have you ever spent time learning about a friend's culture?  This includes European cultures like Irish, French, Italian, German, Polish, etc. (I only named the major ones for condensation.)
Have you ever helped with social justice causes beyond being a follower in slacktivism?
Have you ever stood up for someone who was being treated unfairly due to being different be it a disabled person, a minority person or a LBGT person?

Let me give an example of four things I would identify with myself that could be mentioned in this section:

I am half Lithuanian and keep many of the traditions in question, especially regarding food, which is valued in my culture, alive.
I have Autism and have both suffered discrimination myself, and have fought to end discrimination.
I have friends who are trans and/or gay and fight for their rights.  I have strong empathy for this particular group due to the fact that they too are expected to hide who they are.
I am a strong believer on solidarity political theory and have strongly pushed to assert it over convention Identity Politics.

Depending on what I would feel the place in question would expect, depends which of these I would include.

I wouldn't include "I have strong emphathy", "I am a strong believer". Everybody would say this when asked. Most people want the world to be a place with less discrimination. But what's important is what you do, not what you think.

What exactly do you mean by "you've never even stood up..."  For example, I would not include "I stood up for my LGBT neighbor who was treated bad at the market" because this seems to pathetic (only once occurribg situation in private life). I don't think most people can say they stood up for LGBT rights more often.

In response to a flag, I made a few choice word changes here to really lighten the pseudo-accusatory tone of the post. If you dislike, please strongly consider how to revise the original post instead of simply reverting.


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UK PhD application Advice for a Socially Awkward Person
I am a UK Life Science Mres student whose program just started and is trying to apply for 2025 PhD studentships. How should I interact with supervisors? I have very bad social cues/skills. How do similar people navigate this?

When emailing a potential PhD supervisor for an advertised pre-designed project, do I still have to include my CV and credentials? (I see this as a recommendation for emailing prospective supervisors)
How should I go about asking my current supervisor naturally if there is any internal DTPs/funding and to take me as a PhD student? (I saw that some people do this and it turned out well for them, but I find it so hard to bring this up, especially since I’m so new in her lab)

There is nothing particularly unusual about your situation. Lots of academics are (or started out) very introverted and/or "on the spectrum". You do what anyone would do. See the answer for UK for advice on applying to doctoral programs.
As for the social awkwardness, note that it can be overcome with will and with practice. Seeing a professional about it and techniques to overcome it is advised. I know plenty of such folks at the top ranks of academia. Some are amazing public speakers, for example. Good luck.

thank you for your response :)

To directly answer your questions:

Yes, a would include a CV when you are approaching a supervisor even for a pre-designed project. The person you address may not look at them, but it doesn't inconvenience them for those materials to be present and they may want took at them.

With regards to your current supervisor, if you find bringing up the issue in person too awkward, there is nothing wrong with emailing them. It is possible that are well aware of your difficulty with social interaction (unless your mark is very good). Either way when looking for a supervisor,  you want someone you can work with.  If they can't interaction that emailing may be easier for you,  perhaps they are not the right supervisor. However, most supervisors will understand.

thank you so much ^^

source: Stack Exchange

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Keep trying in one field, or study more on other more interesting fields, as an undergraduate interested in math research?
I am currently a sophomore majoring in mathematics. I am interested in pursuing a research career in my future. In order to have a taste of mathematical research, I contacted a professor who could lead me if I join a university-organised summer research program. He assigned me a number theory problem that he believes would suit my background. However, as I read the paper he assigned me, I felt stuck almost everywhere. I might at most be able to explain a rough outline of the paper (i.e. how each part of the paper contributed to the eventual proof of the central theorem). The summer research program application deadline is in less than 3 weeks, and I have no idea if the professor will be satisfied with my progress and agree to supervise me during the summer research program.
Nevertheless this is not the whole picture of my problem. I feel like I am more interested in devoting myself to analysis/geometry, and I chose the number theory professor because I think my background knowledge in both analysis and geometry is be too weak, and number theory seems appropriate for me to have a taste on math research as a sophomore. Should I keep attempting for number theory (perhaps not having an opportunity to conduct research over the summer), or should I concentrate on reading books/taking more courses on analysis and geometry, and contact a professor on these two areas during my junior year? I am worried that not starting research until junior year might be too late if I want to apply to a graduate school.

Besides talking to your professor, you may want to see if anything mentioned in the answers or comments in the mathoverflow question Short papers for undergraduate course on reading scholarly math perks your interest.

As a second year student, I don't think there is a downside to any option. Personally (math analysis) I find number theory daunting, but there is more action there currently I think.
My suggestion would be, assuming it is possible, is to have a face to face discussion with the professor about the paper, indicating where you are having difficulty. There is nothing wrong with that.
Don't neglect other opportunities, but don't consider yourself to be a failure for not understanding something that might be quite deep. You've got to start somewhere. You lose little by following up on this opportunity. It will, perhaps, give you some insight even if you don't make much progress with it.

"Undergrad research" in mathematics is a tricky thing. In the U.S., especially, undergrad math majors don't really take very many math courses, in comparison to other countries, due to the different university ideas. Even so, no, a year or two of basic mathematics is not at all adequate to begin "research" on topics that far more experienced/scholarly people have attempted and (presumably) failed. How could this be conceivable?
(Yes, I know, in some engineering or CompSci situations, being a worker in a lab is "research", but there's rarely an analogue in mathematics.)
There are some typical traps for people wanting to "do research" in math, without much background: graph theory, and elementary number theory. The latter is especially insidious, because people've been looking at it for centuries. Graph theory less so. And, hey, turns out that lots of other parts of math (complex analysis, abstract algebra, functional analysis, Lie theory, algebraic geometry, ...) are essential to understand, much less do, modern number theory.
So, without knowing what you've been looking at, it's entirely plausible that it's a reasonable article, but uses some other math that you don't know.
And, to answer another of your questions: yes, keep studying! :)

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How to improve my academic vocabulary
I'm an international student and would like to prepare myself for a PhD which I will possibly be starting in 8 months' time. I need to improve my academic vocabulary and don't know what the roadmap is for that.

What is an "academic vocabulary"?

Please [edit] your question to clarify: What kind of vocabulary are we talking about? Are you a native speaker of whatever language’s vocabulary you would like to learn?

I am not quite sure what you mean by "academic vocabulary". If you mean words which appear in your field, read papers in your field or, if their level is too specialized, books for students.
On the other hand, if you mean words like "paper", "rejection", "withdrawal", "paywalled journal" etc., you may want to start at Academia Stack Exchange: reading many questions and answers here gives you a good feeling what academia is about, what certain words mean (and how academics think).

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How can I start to write my final paper?
How can I start to write my final paper? I have been doing nothing during the whole week. I just stayed at home and slept. I'm afraid to do anything even cooking. I can't focus and can't concentrate on work. I'm just afraid to write a single sentence. I don't know how to start. I mean that I know how to write but I just can't start. I am incredibly anxious and don't know how to get started. Can anyone  help me?

Possible duplicate of Resources on how to overcome writer's block, especially for non-native English speakers?

Getting started writing can be very hard—if it weren't, it wouldn't have a name: writer's block.
There are a lot of different strategies you could try:

Free writing. Just write anything that comes to your mind as you think about your topic. Don't worry about grammar or correctness or appropriateness or accuracy. Just put down something. (You can handwrite it or type it, as you see fit).
Mind map. Just put together a flow diagram showing how different things you want to write about are related.
Create an outline. Don't focus on writing the whole essay, or even whole paragraphs or sentences. Just try putting together a skeleton for what your essay should be like.

There are a lot of other ideas for how to cure writer's block, including walking or even spending time with people who make you feel comfortable.

Thank you very much！ Your response let me successfully cried out. This lets my brain feel more free. Thank you very much!

Take a deep breath.
Do you know how you want to frame your essay? Do you have it organized in your mind?
Try brainstorming your ideas and see if there is something cohesive to come out of it.
Sometimes putting pen to paper is a better agitator of a good essay than sitting in front of word and trying to create something.

Thank you very much! I tried to make a face time with my friends and say nothing just hear her voice of breathing. When she was doing her assignment, I tried to type some thing. It helps me about one hour. When I stop this, and go back alone face my computer screen, I feel feet cold and stomach.

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Can I look for a new post-doc without informing my current PI?
I'm thinking about leaving my current lab, since it's moving to a field that I'm not really interested in.
I am thinking of contacting other PIs that work on topics that are a closer match to my research interests, to see if they are interested in starting a project together.
I am concerned that if I talk to my current PI before taking any steps, she could bad mouth me to prolong my staying in the lab, and to prevent leakage of the lab's knowledge. So from this point of view it would be my best interest to inform her as a fait accompli when I find a new lab (while still giving proper notice).
I still have some reservations about doing things behind her back though. I would like to leave on good terms, and since academia is such a small community doing this could affect my reputation.

As a practical matter, depending on academic culture in your part of the world, it might be very difficult to get another postdoc without a letter of recommendation from your current PI. I'm not sure why she'd be worried about "leakage" though; after all, a postdoc isn't a permanent position, so you're going to leave eventually anyway.

@NateEldredge - the 'leakage' issue would seem to be an impression from the OP, not an actual fact. How long has the OP been a post-doc? How long will it take for the lab to 'move' to a new field (what does that mean, anyway)? Why do post-docs seem to have such bad relationships with their supervisor? More at eleven...

In my experience, people who have been in a field a long time all know each other, even if only peripherally. If you do apply to another position, there is a real possibility that the the new PI will simply call up your current PI and ask about your qualifications etc.
To me, it seems completely reasonable to tell your PI exactly what you say in your first sentence. You could even ask for her help -- if you are this uninterested in your current position I doubt she will go out of her way to try to retain you. (Also, if you are indeed looking to move to a lab that does not compete with the current one, can she legitimately be concerned about intellectual property "leakage"?)

Three major points:
First, either you are very paranoid, or you are working in a very unhealthy situation. I want to highlight three things that shouldn't be considered normal: 1) You're worried about your advisor lying in your recommendations, 2) Your advisor is trying to restrict, not disseminate their techniques, and 3) You seem to think you won't be supported in your interests when the lab goes in a new direction. All of these argue that you're not in a healthy spot.
Second, what you are proposing is possible. People can get postdoc offers without advisor recommendation letters. [disclaimer: in many cases, I don't know if there was an informal call - but I don't think so.] It helps to have a strong CV/case for what work you want to do, and how it links to your new PI's plan. Some of it is also luck - some PIs just always ask for letters, and if they do, your explanation is not going to sound great unless your current advisor is well-known as an asshole. (The other possibility is to lean on your own network: people who already know you as a scientist will be willing to skip an advisor's letter.)
Third, it is possible you will burn some bridges by leaving. Having seen this from the side of people left behind in the group, the less notice you give and the more projects you leave unfinished, the more likely you are to burn bridges. However, unless your advisor is particularly spiteful and well-known in the field you want to work in, this probably won't follow you around: academia is a small world, but it is also insular, and big wheels in one field are unknown in another.
Basically: assess if you are really in as unhealthy a situation as it seems, and if you are, it might be worth burning a few bridges to get out of there.


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Is doing Ph.D from a US university regarded as an absolute advantage in future career for international students?
According to the UTD Top 100 Business School Research Ranking, there are some Asian (Hong Kongese) universities that rank higher than many US and Canadian universities. What are important factors to consider for international students in case of Ph.D admission especially with respect to funding, region and ranking of the university?
And with respect to future career, networking with academics, publication, shouldn't international students aiming for a Ph.D prefer the US first?

It depends on what your ultimate goal is. If you want to work in a US university of company then there are going to be some advantages (all else equal), but much less so if you want to work in Asia or Europe.

@ Roger Fan: I think US degree is more appealing in case of academics position in the universities of Asian countries.

One of the most important factors is in which country you plan to work after getting your diploma. E.g., if you plan to work in France, some French diplomas are just as valuable as "top" US schools.


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Masters admission while still enrolled on another course
I am a little concerned and need your help. I am applying for a master program abroad. However, I am enrolled in another master program and still have two semesters to finish. I am not sure what to say on my CV: should I mention that I have completed two semesters and want to quit it or should I not say anything about it?

I am not sure if I understand why you are applying for another program if you still have two semesters to finish on your current one.

Wanting to bail from one masters program does not suggest you will successfully complete another. Or that you were thoughtful in choosing the first masters program. Plenty of people out there with two masters degrees.
If you quit, don't say anything about it. If you get asked, say you took some courses but decided it wasn't for you. Unless it's extremely expensive, or you need to quit right now, keep at it.

Since your are currently enrolled in a program, you should list it on your CV. At some point you will usually have to provide information on your former education anyway.
In the CV itself you do not have to say anything about wanting to quit, but in the application letter you should explain carefully why you are choosing to apply for another program even though you still did not finish your first master degree. You want to avoid the impression that you are a "quitter" who does not finish things he/she signed up for.


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Applying for Academic position after Phd completion
I completed my Phd 5 months ago and I left university to return to my home country. I was an associate lecturer and now I am converting my PhD into articles with my supervisor. The problem is that my working experience stopped 5 months ago and this does not look good for employers/universities. Is there a way to include in my working experience the fact that I am still working with my supervisor in order to produce papers for the university? Can I write that I am a Research Fellow or something else?

(1) I am not clear about i am converting my phd in articles with my supervisor Are you writing a paper based on your PhD thesis with your supervisor? (2) What do you mean by my working experience stopped 5 months before? Do you count the time you spent at the university where you completed your PhD as working experience? (3) Would you clarify what associate lecturer is? Is it equivalent to Teaching Assistant?

Welcome to Academia.SE. I have edited your question to remove some of the extra "fluff" to make the important information stand out, in line with the conventions here. (You are free to undo these edits, but they should hopefully help you to get a constructive response)


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Is this a correct way of using a literature review in a thesis?
I'm writing a thesis and I'm supposed to find existing mechanisms about a topic.
The literature review papers can be called B and the primary literature B uses is called A.
I have found 2 literature reviews [B] that cover more than 30 state of the art mechanisms and I use their papers to list all the mechanisms. I basically mention all the mechanisms they mention and explain them briefly, and of course I give credit to the [B] papers. And those mechanisms I want to test out my self I will go to the primary source [A] to write in more depth about them and give credit to the [A] papers.
I have listed more than 30 mechanisms. If I were not to use these [B] articles I'd have to go trough 30+ [A] papers and basically recreate [B] papers and recreate a redundant literature review of said mechanisms that already exist in earlier papers.
Is this the correct way of using a literature review, or should I read it, and use the original [A]? I will later take the ones that fit my domain and make my own review. So I use existing reviews and use the primary sources [A] to make my own review.

Thinking about it, it seems very unprofessional to rely on a few literature reviews imo. Wont it show lack of research when I present my final paper? Shouldn't I rather look at the reviews and then go directly to the sources[A] and derive valuable information in the way I interpret it?

Shouldn't I rather look at the reviews and then go directly to the
  sources[A] and derive valuable information in the way I interpret it?

Yes. You need to read anything that you cite, and you should read the original articles.
But if the review articles were helpful to you, you should cite them too. For example, the review article [B] might compare techniques used in two of the original [A] papers. You might want to cite that comparison in [B].

I have listed more than 30 mechanisms. If I were not to use these [B]
  articles I'd have to go trough 30+ [A] papers and basically recreate
  [B] papers and recreate a redundant literature review of said
  mechanisms that already exist in earlier papers.

Do use the review articles; they can help you and save you a lot of time. Without the review article, it would probably taken you a lot of time to figure out which [A] articles are relevant to your research, and to see how they relate to each other. Also, the people who write review articles tend to be experts in their field, so you're getting an expert opinion on what the state of the art is on a particular topic at the time the review was written.
You do still have to read the original articles, summarise them, and draw your own conclusions. And you should check for any important developments in the field that were published after the review article. But it's not nearly as much work as doing a literature review from scratch.

Thanks! I have one more question. If I read a literature review, and use the papers they refer to, chances are what I infer from them will most likely be the same the literature reviews extracted from them. Wont that look strange?
e.g [B] says technique does xxx, I will most likely interpret it the same way. And now as ive read the reviews the way they wrote it is stuck to my mind and it will probably resemble it.


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Should each substantive chapter of a thesis have its own literature review in addition to the main literature review chapter?
I am a PhD candidate in the school of enginerering.
This question is about my dissertation literature review.
Through my review of past dissertations, I see three styles of literature review. One is a single literature chapter which has the past theories. The second, and most common due to the style of publishing three journal papers, has the literature review separated into each of the contribution to knowledge chapters  (typically three chapters). The least common is a hybrid with the single literature review chapter plus literature reviews in each contribution chapter (looks like it was a three paper but did not get published so modified into a single paper dissertation).
To remind the reader and/or allow for self contained chapters, should each contribution chapter have a literature review? What should the chapter literature reviews contain? Should each chapter have a literature review even if it is repetitive from the main literature review chapter? Is it just the underpinning theories in the chapter literature reviews?

Have you talked to your advisor about this yet? What did he/she say?

Usually we are expected to have found the answer ourself or exhausted every attempt --even then, we should decide on a best solution and be able to explain our rationale. Asking is the last thing you want to do -- tell and explain is better. Still, on review, I will find out what it should be.

I always thought one difference between background and literature review is context. In a review (with no own research presented), you would have a literature review. In a thesis (at least where I am around), if the literature has no relevance for your work you are not supposed to review it, making any literature review automatically part of the background/foundations/whatever you may call it.

Your institution's library should have all doctoral dissertations ever approved at the institution on its shelves (or possibly in an electronic archive), so you ought to be able to see how this has been done in your department over the past few years. You might be able to find these through the online catalog, but if they aren't immediately apparent just ask a librarian for help.

@1006a funny you mention that... I did, and found lo and behold my predecessors sometimes bent the rules--just because they bent the rules and got away with it didn't mean I could too: I actually didn't have a single solid example to stand on

There is no one universal answer to this, because it depends on what is acceptable to your advisor and doctoral committee members. That answer  is not a cop-out; it is the most important answer to all questions regarding appropriate formats for your doctoral dissertation.
As some of the comments suggest, you should do the homework to find out what has been accepted in the past in your department; sometimes your advisor doesn't know which is better, so presenting prior work (in your own department) would help your advisor decide what to expect. It is also important to ask your committee members, or at least to inform them in advance of what your advisor prefers, or else you might find that they have different preferences.
If you want a universal answer, I can only offer my own reasoned perspective:

For a unitary thesis (that is, a book-format dissertation), I would prefer a single literature review chapter. It would be annoying to read if other chapters would repeat that same content; I think that would be completely unnecessary.
For an article-format thesis (e.g. three journal-style articles), I understand the goal to be that each of the article chapters would be able to serve as a standalone journal article. In that case, each one would certainly require its own literature review and repetition would be inevitable and even necessary. However, copy-and-paste repetition is not acceptable, mainly because you would need to avoid copyright infringement and multiple submission. That is, when you submit each journal article, you would be claiming that each one is completely original, and so there can be no word-for-word repetition. You would need to completely rewrite the literature review for each article using your own original words.

Again, even though that is my perspective, the only perspective that really matters is that of your advisor and your committee members.

have you ever tried to find your advisor and talk with them? indiana jones is easier to find after the exam /s

Maybe you need to bait your Indiana Jones advisor with a meeting to discuss a mysterious hidden gem that you unearthed in your literature search .... :-)

solved: got shit faced and just wrote it--everyone loved it, I heard brilliant and genius murmured at the defense--the problem was I was 2/3 between a unitary and article-format so it was something in between, I made the lit review an article chapter by itself

"Should each chapter have a literature review even if it is repetitive from the main literature review chapter?"
No.  Avoid putting the reader to sleep unnecessarily.

in terms of pragmatics -- this might be the best answer and gave me the pathway to follow

^ confirmed, worked--signed Dr. Peterson


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For paper based on thesis, should I list my university as affiliation or the name of the company I currently work for?
I am currently writing a paper for the thesis work I did last year along with my advisors. (I successfully graduated last year and currently work in a software company.) I am confused regarding what organization I should  mention in the author's section. Should I mention my university name since I completed my thesis work when I was a university student or the name of the company I currently work for?

The way I have seen it: put your current company as an affiliation and add a note saying that the work has been done while you are attending the  university.

More or less a duplicate of What should someone who works at a tech company that isn't associated with the work list as affiliation??

Was the writing up done on company time?

I will take a somewhat different view from @jakebeal's answer.
The primary question is: when did you work on the paper? Did you do all of the work while you were a thesis student, and then the paper has slowly made its way through the system? Or did you actively work on it as part of your new job? Did you use institutional resources from your new position to do any part of the paper?
If the answer to the latter is no, then you should only list the old institution in the actual affiliations, and then list your new job as a "present address", if you so choose. If you worked on the paper as part of your new job (beyond rote submission and minor edits), then you should list both workplaces as "active" affiliations.

Thanks for the reply. I have done all the work during my thesis and before I joined my employer. However, I started writing the paper while I was in new position but never used any of my employer's resources for the same.

There is some ambiguity here, particularly since it sounds like you have headed into a non-research industrial job.
If you were in a research-oriented position, you would probably want to put down your current affiliation as your organization, and possibly the university as a secondary affiliation (some publication venues allow multiple affiliations).
If this paper is instead from a phase of your life that you are setting behind you as you depart the research community, however, it's entirely reasonable to leave your current non-research company out of it and simply claim your old university as the relevant affiliation.

Thanks for the reply. It is a latter case as I have departed from research community into non-research industrial job

@vivek Then I would say you should definitely list your old university affiliation.  This paper is the closing of that chapter.

When I was in the same situation, I used my current affiliation with a footnote "work performed while at ..." (my previous affiliation).
However, you need to ask your employer whether they accept using your current affiliation. In certain cases, they might ask to read/approve the paper.


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How to reference a website article of discussion between two people, posted by a third?
I would like to reference a website article at Point-Counterpoint: Additive vs Subtractive Rapid Prototyping that is a discussion between two individuals and posted by a third. I'm using Harvard British Standard referencing and it's not clear how exactly I should approach this situation.
In my references section, do I need a single reference crediting the poster, a single reference crediting both individuals in the discussion or separate references crediting each individual in the discussion? At the moment, I'm using the first option but I don't feel that it's correct.
It may be that an answer to this is a matter of opinion, rather than going by hard and fast rules, but I'd be extremely grateful for any help or advice with this issue!

I would include as much bibliographic information as possible, but as long as the reader can unambiguously find the article I think that would suffice, and to find the article you need the author.
In your bibliography:

Gooch, J (2013) Point-Counterpoint: Additive vs. Subtractive Rapid Prototyping. Webpage: http://www.rapidreadytech.com/2013/09/point-counterpoint-additive-vs-subtractive-rapid-prototyping/ [URL accessed: April 2015].

In your text you could use something like:

Grimm, in Gooch (2013), states...


text:
Is it an insult to my US university to not walk in graduation?
I will be graduating with a degree in Software Engineering. I have a 4.0 GPA at this institution (not counting the 3.85 GPA I transferred in with). The institution is awarding me Outstanding Scholar for my degree program/campus/year.
I am seriously considering not walking in graduation. Being on stage in front of people is not my definition of celebration, and I am not a fan of tradition unless there is a logical reason behind it. (I'm an INTJ personality type.)
For the outstanding scholar award, they will be giving me a certificate and honor cords at an awards banquet that is before graduation. Does that imply they expect me to walk? Is it an insult to not do so when they are giving me an award?
Actual diplomas will be mailed sometime after the ceremony in the summer. The ceremony doesn't cost anything to be a part of (other than the cost of getting a degree :). There are about 20 people graduating this year in my major. I have a sister graduating the same day in a city 8 hours away (and only an hour from home), so most parents/relatives will be at the other graduation anyway. As an alternative to the ceremony, I am thinking of writing thank you cards to the teachers and mentors who were influential in helping me get to this point.

Is there some technical (or American) meaning of the word “walk” that would be helpful for context here? I think I can figure out the meaning from context, but I haven't encountered this use of “walk” before.

@ShreevatsaR we say someone "walks" to mean that they —literally— walk across the stage at the graduation ceremony, during which time their name is announced and they receive their diploma from the dean or chancellor or other important university figure.  For PhDs, you'll also hear the term "to be hooded", because when you "walk", both your name and your dissertation director's name is called, and they then place the doctoral hoods on you before you walk across the stage to get the (as JeffE said, blank) diploma.

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

@Azendale While you shouldn't feel obligated to attend the ceremony, an easy white lie is to say you are going on vacation to celebrate your graduation, and the travel dates conflict with the ceremony. It was either miss the graduation or spend an extra $500 on plane tickets!

I find the grand irony of graduating in absentia while purportedly "bucking tradition" to be extremely pleasing. A hearty har-har to you, good Sir.

I would like to say that whether or not you end up going to the graduation ceremony, those thank-you cards are a great idea.  As a rule, faculty are always delighted to hear that they've made a difference for a student.

Although this may not be applicable to you, I only ever wanted to attend my first graduation but attended the following ones as a sort of 'show of gratitude' to my parents. They wanted the opportunity to be involved so I let them have their day when they could be outwardly proud of me. They often say that graduation is as much for the parents as it is for the student. As I said, this may not be applicable to you but I think its a point worth considering if it is

I am not sure if it is an "Insult", but because of the special honor they are bestowing on you, I am sure that they will be very disappointed if you do not walk.

My school required walking unless you had extenuating circumstances. Check with your registrar on that one.

As a curiosity, those "walks" on Brazil are paid by the students. You have to shed an extra thousand dollars or so if you want to participate in the ceremony. Otherwise, you'll just go the college later and pick your diploma there.

If attending a graduation ceremony is not your cup of tea, you don't need to go.  Better to stay away than to go and be uncomfortable!
It would be considerate to let your department know that you won't be attending.  Some universities make more of a thing of graduation than others, so depending on the vibes at your school, you might want to have some travel plans that conflict with graduation day.
By the way, congrats!

"It would be considerate to let your department know that you won't be attending. "  <-- Absolutely  And you may be able to determine from the reaction whether or not it will make a difference for your relationship with the university, and/or your professors going forward.  As aparente001 said, "Some universities make more of a thing of graduation than others, so depending on the vibes at your school ..."

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

Please elaborate to justify your claim that it is better to stay away than go and be uncomfortable. There are down-sides to not going, and it may end up making OP uncomfortable/regretful later on.

@einpoklum - Please head over to chat, if you don't mind: http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/59547/discussion-on-answer-by-aparente001-is-it-an-insult-to-my-us-university-to-not-w

From the point of view of a faculty at a mid-size university: I honestly do not care if students walk or not. Any kind of personal congratulation or communication I want to have with outgoing students I do on my own time. I'm not going to keep track of any particular student (or count on being able to find such a person) at a graduation event. This might be different if you go to a much smaller university.
However, graduation ceremonies are often much more for the people outside of the university rather than inside. Parents, relatives, and friends are probably much more excited to see you walk across the stage than you are, and definitely more excited than your professors are. I'd check with them before eschewing graduation before I'd check with professors.

The institution itself is pretty unlikely to care.  INTJ's a pretty common personality type in your major's field, so many of your instructors and peers probably feel the same way.
Consider your family
The one big consideration to make is your family.  Depending on your family status and family members' inclinations, they might be the sort that's sacrificed a lot to help support you through your education and want to see you graduate.
If you think about it, a lot of ceremonies are more about the family than the honoree (e.g., baby showers, infants' birthday parties, and funerals).  Some parents take great pride in boasting of having just gotten back from their child's graduation, giving them another excuse to brag about all of their child's accomplishments.  Gotta love parents!
But, every family's different.  Even if you have a very loving family who are highly invested in both you and your education, they may feel the same way that you do about such events.  So, that consideration'll depend on personal factors.
Let your classmates know
Graduations have a lot of downtime in which students stand around.  And what do you discuss?  Your plans, career goals, exchange contact info, etc.; networking with your peers has become part of the ritual.
While it's true that your peers could just look up your email address later, many prefer to do their networking at graduation - either because they planned it that way or because the ceremony of it all calls attention to the fact that you won't be seeing each other anymore.
If you're going to skip the graduation, you can make up for it by getting this networking down in advance.  Letting your classmates know helps signal that it's time to say goodbyes or/and exchange contact info.

You haven't read it whole. The family will be at another graduation.

@robinj - In this instance, the family will be at another graduation; however, I think the "Consider your family" mantra is excellent advice for the question in general.

@robinj More about what J.R. said.  This is, I kinda doubt that everyone here has put in their time to help with this one particular poster's question; rather, we're generating answers on the general topic for future readers.

By all means do what you feel is best for you, but please don't typecast yourself based on the result you got from a Myers-Briggs test.  It's more insulting to academia to perpetuate that pseudoscience than to not attend your convocation.
Please don't claim to require logical reasoning for things when your basis for not attending isn't based on logical reasoning.  Personality is extremely fluid and you are shorting yourself on a rare experience because of an apparent huff with 'tradition'.

The OP should not only not typecast himself, he also shouldn't bother to tell others.  Nobody he works with (or befriends) is going to want to hear him brag about being an INTJ or make excuses for not doing things because he's an INTJ or know about it for any other reason either.  He should just forget about Myers-Briggs and get on with his life (as you suggest).

Funny - I didn't really see the OP as "bragging," "self-typecasting," or using the results of a personality test as an "excuse" for not attending. I viewed it simply as a brief way to offer a little insight into the OP's typical way of thinking. In other words, it's not: "I'm an INTJ; ergo, I shouldn't attend." Rather, it's more like: "I'm not a big fan of these celebrations – I'm an INTJ, if that helps shed any light."

THIS! (and I'm an INTJ). If you don't want to go, you don't want to go. Nobody needs to know or care what specific aspects of your personality inform your personal utility function by which you decide that cost/benefit ratio of attending is less than that of not attending. Also, as INTJ, I assume you spent the effort reading the literature about fulfillment and that "new experiences" are pretty much what makes people most happy? This is one of them "experiences", which long term will make you more happy than marginal benefit of 4 extra hours of D&D :)

INTJ personality type

You may view it as an extended training scenario! Do it, or learn to do it, and then do it. You feeling comfortable is not the primary function of this tradition.

Let me play devil's advocate for a second: What is the primary logical function of this tradition? Why should this tradition not be abolished? (I did participate in my high school graduation and have done presentations and such, so I know I can overcome uneasiness with being on stage or the center of attention).

@Azendale Graduation traces its history back to the guild system where public ceremonies were how the guild let people know that you were an accepted member of the guild at a given level. In a lot of cases, there is also legal language at the commencement in which the degrees are actually conferred. As for why it shouldn't be abolished: it's kind of like wedding ceremony, you don't need it to be married (just sign the paperwork), but people like to mark major milestones in their lives with significant events.

@Azendale In a strictly logical view, it's a show (a) what the institution "can do", and (b) what individuals can achieve.
Regarding (a): It's rewarding to teachers to see that some succeed, even if your progress is at most in part a consequence of their training. But this will nourish their ambition to improve (or, not to let up in their efforts). Which is to the benefit of all.
Regarding (b): And while doing this, if you can smile proudly at the ceremony, you might even instill some motivation to the younger ones. Which in the long run would be to the benefit of all, too.

INTJ's usually have absolutely no problem being on stage. In fact, they enjoy it. I'd recommend attending the ceremony and going through the internet on how to overcome stage fear. Being in front of people and being on stage is a big part of life you need to learn.

learn to to it -> learn to do it. I hope I got that right. If I didn't please revert, and apologies.

@Nav You dont actually have to learn it if you don't want to. YOu wont starve without stage presence.

For a more generic case: check with your university's graduation department or equivalent.
Other answers here are answering specifically to the US, but that does not apply to every country and institution. Here in Brazil I was obligated to participate in the ceremony, otherwise I would get no diploma, and enter a "hiatus" state instead of "graduated".

This. I didn't want to attend my (US) graduation but I had to because they wouldn't award me my diploma otherwise.

Your discomfort or disinterest in these events is something you'd better start getting used to : in real life (just starting, as it were) you're going to be required to attend all sort of proceedings which have little or no immediate practical purpose but are absolutely required for social, networking and simply to demonstrate you're part of a team.
So, without being insulting, just forget about your own feelings and do it.  At the very minimum, it's your duty to do do.
It's also probably the one graduation ceremony you'll get the opportunity to attend, and I see no reason in avoiding it unless pressing business calls you elsewhere.  So go and maybe, just maybe, it will be part of a small pleasant memory for the years to come.
Think you're an INTJ do ya ?  Well it's time to start factoring in the social and human needs of the world around you, not just yourself.  Successful people - all of them - know how to do this.  You're starting off badly by assuming the graduation ceremony is of no importance just because it's of no importance to you.

I have a 4.0 GPA at this institution

Not at life.  You appear to have a really low score at life.  Honestly you give the impression of someone who thinks of themselves as above everyone else.  Maybe it's only an impression and not the real you, but you need to learn to communicate and support other people, not just yourself.
Soft skills.  You need them.
Be there and spend the day thanking people for everything they did.  If you can't see the value of the human value in doing this, try the cynical, excuse me, logical one, that these are skills that will benefit you in the long run.

I am thinking of writing thank you cards to the teachers and mentors who were influential in helping me get to this point.

A smile and a handshake and some words face-to-face would do a much better job and make better friends than a card.  And not just the teachers and mentors, the librarians, lunch counter staff, porters and admin people.  If they're not there on the day, the send them cards.  A heck of a lot of people worked hard to get you to graduation.
Learn to see the big picture.

For the outstanding scholar award, they will be giving me a certificate and honor cords at an awards banquet that is before graduation. Does that imply they expect me to walk? Is it an insult to not do so when they are giving me an award?

In my view this makes it your duty to attend, and being outstanding or a leader of any kind requires you (if possible) to demonstrate that you appreciate the honor and want to show your gratitude and congratulate your classmates on their achievements.
Leadership is about other people, not about yourself.  Want to be a good leader ?  Learn to factor them in as a first concern and yourself second.
Start learning to look at the world this way.  Treat the ceremony as a first step in learning to develop to leadership skills and soft skills you're going to need and, more importantly, the people who you end up trying to lead need you to have.

For someone preaching the importance of soft skills, your answer sure lacks them. It is borderline rude, as it focuses more on criticizing OP for having a dislike for ceremonies than on giving advice in good faith.

Another side note: "A heck of a lot of people worked hard to get you to graduation." - No, a heck of a lot of people worked hard to do their job and OP worked hard to get to graduation. There is a difference (e.g. lunch was served before OP enrolled and will be served after they leave, it would even be served if OP never attended the university). The people who put in extra effort for OP personally were probably thanked on other occasions. If not, that is a separate issue.

Soft skills does not mean being artificially polite to people, it means being human where possible and seeing their point of view.  But as someone show is themselves extremely shy I can also say, with certainty, that the OP needs a kick-in-the-pants type answer, IMO, not to be hugged and babied.  And I feel the OP thinks they are special as opposed to lucky.  That needs addressing by the OP or they'll simply come across as arrogant.  As for the people "doing their jobs", well that's a cynical attitude and says more about you than me.

OP "is special as opposed to lucky" and I have a "cynical attitude". How do you come by those conclusions? Ad hominem attacks contribute nothing to the discussion and only weaken your arguments. Whatever point you are trying to make, you'll have a lot more success, if you keep to the facts without judging people. Note that I don't dispute your point of view (it is irrelevant whether or not I agree with it), I'm criticizing your way of communicating it.

Although this answer is extremely rude, it is also correct.

This answer is total nonsense. It's your education. You paid for it. You got your diploma. You have no reason to walk if you don't want to. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It's certainly not your duty in any way, shape, or form.

Thank you cards are an amazing thing, particularly in this day and age when many think they are useless. Yes, the in-person greeting is good, but a tasteful note in the mail a week later is an exquisite touch. I love getting thank you notes, and have greater respect for the people sending them. Etiquette is underutilized these days, and it shouldn't be.

While this answer makes some good points, I think parts of it are a bit over-the-top. For example, I'm not sure how many of the lunch counter staff people are planning to attend the ceremony, and, even if they did, I'm not sure they'd be hurt by the absence of one student. That said, if a student frequented one lunch counter and a particular staff member was particularly friendly every morning, it would be worth one last trip back to that counter to sincerely thank the person for dishing out an encouraging smile along with all those mashed potatoes.

@sgroves: "You paid for it" - funny, that one :-) Education is a social endevor, my friend. The education of each of us is the result of the work of thousands in this generation and countless millions throughout human history. (For better or for worse.)

@StephenG: I would also suggest rephrasing or removing the "not in life" paragraph.

@einpoklum That's a nice sentiment, but it's otherwise not relevant here. I stand by what I said.

Your hard-work is the respect you gave to your university and your teachers.
Whether you are around to let them put feathers on your cap isnt important - you can always excuse yourself with a polite letter.

In the corporate work environment it is quite common for things to not really be entirely optional. A regional term I've familiar with is "business optional," but your supervisor might say something like "[person] is going to be at this event and you should meet them," or a mentor might tell you "this will be good for your career." All of these are effectively code meaning that even though nobody is going to force you to show up, it behooves you to show up. Usually this is something that comes up for holiday parties but it's not just limited to those.
The reason that I mention this is because commencement ceremonies operate the same way. If are recognized by the university in some way (i.e., Outstanding Scholar) then you are pretty much in a "business optional" situation. Likewise, I've always heard that if you are being hooded and your advisor can make it to graduation, you better be there as well.
The good news is that, baring people on stage, commencement is a lot of sitting in the crowd not standing out. You are only on stage for a minute, tops, and it is over quickly. You also have a really good excuse not to go: your sister is graduating the same day and your family can't make it to both. You should inform people in your department. Usually there is a departmental celebration and you can let them know then. I doubt anyone will hold it against you under those circumstances.

Could you share a couple of links showing the use of the phrase "business optional"?  I wasn't familiar with this, so I googled it, and I'm not finding anything useful.  Thanks.

@aparente001 I compared notes with my coworkers in the break room and apparently it must be a regional colloquialism. Once I explained what I meant everyone one knew what I was talking about but everyone had a wordier way of saying it.

Interesting.  If you want to share your region, it would be more interesting still.  Maybe it's an extension of the concept of "business casual" clothing, where you try to strike a happy balance between formal business attire and something more casual.

@aparente001 I'm not sure business casual is the best mapping of the concept and I'd be surprised if you hadn't come across the same thing in academia yet either. It's basically the same things as a TT professor hearing the "suggestion" that they should look into doing more service work for their tenure package.

That was a helpful explanation, thanks.  I have posted a question at ELU: https://english.stackexchange.com/q/391911/112436

Will do, if my ELU question doesn't fare well.  Thanks.

Maybe this person is not going to be a corporate bot.

They cannot make you walk, that said, they might be hoping you do. It sounds like the ceremony is prior to graduation, so there may not be any additional reason for you to walk. That said, it would be best to ask. That said, for many graduations, people do not get called up on stage. Those that do call people by name, the appearance is brief.

Take a big breath, ignore the crowd and just go up there and accept the award.  Once you start the walk to the stage you can ignore everything else.
Like you, going to the ceremony was something I never wanted to do, but accepting an Academic Medal for Excellence is something that will only happen once in my lifetime. As a bonus I'll have the photos forever.
Likewise, accepting the Dux award was at another ceremony, but I'm glad I went.
I am sure that thank you letters are always welcome, irrespective of whether or not you attended the ceremony.
So, IMHO, it's not an insult to the university if you don't go, it would just a shame for you to miss out on that special moment and associated photo opportunity.

The person who asked the question has clear and obvious reasons to not even be in the same city as the graduation ceremony, let alone attending it or going on stage. It's not a simple case of stage fright. They have also explicitly stated that they're not interested in tradition for its own sake; this is not a special moment or a special photo opportunity for them. As such, this is not an answer to the question.


text:
How to select a journal for publishing when my priority is to publish soon?
I am a PhD candidate in a small country. I have two Master degrees, one from an American university. I am also an experienced professional and an expert in the subject of my PhD studies (in my country, clearly). I need to publish a paper in an international journal as a condition to obtain my PhD. How do I choose a journal? I cannot afford years of waiting for the paper to be published, submit it and be rejected many times. I am looking through the journals, and there is simply no way to know which one is suitable for me. Any help? I understand about looking for journals which had previously published similar articles, but how to know that it is a journal which is likely to accept my article?
Thank you!

Advice such as this is why Ph.D. supervisors are invaluable.

You need to find a journal that is a good fit for your paper. Try to find similar papers and see where they were published.

First, you need a list of the journals that are relevant to your field. Here are some ways to create that list. I recommend that you do all of these, not just one or two.

Ask your supervisor.
Ask your librarian.
As you read articles, take note of the journals that the articles are published in, especially if the article is interesting or relevant to you.

Now that you have a list of relevant journals, it's time to select the one that's right for your article. Here are some things that will help. Again, I recommend that you do all of these.

Ask your supervisor.
Search the literature for articles that are similar in some way to yours. See where those articles are published.
Visit the home page of journals that you're interested in. Read their "aims and scope". Be warned that you have to read a lot of different "aims and scope" writeups before you catch on to the lingo. Is your article covered in their list of topics? Do they only publish major breakthroughs in the field, or do they publish more modest articles?
Look at some articles that are published in journals that you're interested in. Are they roughly similar in focus? Are they similar in quality? (Don't underrate your own work. Beware the imposter syndrome!)
Since you've written an article, you must have done a fair amount of research. So ask yourself: "Where would I go (i.e., what journals) to find an article like this?"

A few miscellaneous tips:

If you're not sure if an article is appropriate for a particular journal, you don't have to submit it and wait 6-12 months for an answer. Write up a 1-2 page summary of your article (called an "extended abstract"), and send it to the editor asking if it's appropriate. They'll probably answer within a week or two.
Check Beall's list to make sure you're not dealing with a predatory publisher.
Check the copyright/license terms. (E.g., will they let you self-archive?)
Check if there are any publication charges that you will have to pay. I would only pay a fee if my article will be open access (free for others to download), and only if the amount is reasonable. The fee may be lower if you're in a developing country.

"If you're not sure if an article is appropriate for a particular journal..." Interesting idea.  Have you had success with that yourself?  It used to be the case that, if I felt I knew the handling editor a bit, I might ask them to speculate on the appropriateness of the submission and/or if they would recommend I sent it elsewhere.  In every case the answer I got was, "You can submit it here if you like, and we'll take it from there."

@PeteL.Clark I did it once. In my ignorance, I sent it to an editor for one of the LNCS series, where they only publish conference proceedings; they don't solicit articles. But the editor responded kindly and made specific suggestions of journals where I might submit my article. I have also heard from one or two others who have done this sort of thing, with success. But then, people are more likely to talk about successes than failures, so YMMV.

One place to find an appropriate journal is your very own list of references. Where are the most relevant articles that you cite published in? Those journals might be good places to start.
You should also think about whether your long-term plans include staying in academia. If not, pick whatever journal satisfies your program's requirements. If you do, however, you should start at the top and work your way down if/when the paper gets rejected (hopefully with useful comments from reviewers). That greatly increases how long it takes to get the article out, but once published, it'll be a lot more valuable to you. The first thing search committees look at is where you have published. If it's only in journals that people have never heard of, you may be in trouble.

Most of the big publishers like Elsevier or Springer Nature have a tool called "Journal finder" o "journal suggester" where you can place your abstract and they give you a list of suitable journals to start with.


text:
Can I reuse the title of a previous poster presentation for my PhD thesis?
I'm currently writing my Ph.D. dissertation, and I would like to use for my thesis exactly the same title as for one of my previous poster presentations.Is this OK?

You can, but why do not you want to change it!

Ask your supervisor.

It's your dissertation, so you decide on the title. Unless you don't want to make decisions, but im getting sarcastic. Just make it convincing, like the rest of your thesis.

I did exactly the same thing and am regretting it slightly. No one seemed to care, but for some reason the poster is listed on Google Scholar separately from my thesis but under an identical title. I could have avoided the "disambiguation needed" situation altogether by renaming one of them (preferably by saving the really nifty thesis title for the thesis, and using a work-in-progress version for the poster).

I guess you're right: If there is a naming conflict, that would most often mean that one of the titles was not fitting.

@Karl: I don't think that's what TrikeProf wanted to say. The title could very well be fitting both the poster and the thesis, but using the same name twice (however appropriate otherwise) is likely to cause confusion.

Use a title that makes sense for your dissertation. A dissertation is way more detailed than a poster so ideally your title would reflect this. Elaborating on the answer above, you might want to use another name, given that there is already a document with the same name.


text:
When editor does not respond to the request for withdrawal
I submitted a manuscript to a journal, but due to some issue with that I asked the Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editor to withdraw the manuscript from further consideration.
Despite several emails, they are not still responding me nor ended the process.
Now, what should I do? Can I submit the manuscript to another journal?

May the journal be a predatory one?

@MassimoOrtolano, Absolutely not such a journal and this is what makes me confused.

@Roland, a working strategy!

@Roland, For sure!

You're getting some really bad advice.  Whatever path you take should involve some sort of written acknowledgement from the first publisher that your submission is considered retracted, so as to avoid problems down the road.

@ScottSeidman Waiting forever clearly isn't practical

@user2768 Agreed! In fact, there is not any other working and timely solution.

@Roland You still own all rights to your manuscripts That really depends on the contents of any agreement

what should I do?

Send another email stating that you will consider the article retracted if you do not receive a response within one week.

Can I submit the manuscript to another journal?

Yes, after one week.

Responses to comments:

I would likely do this but I am not convinced that it precludes troubles. Imagine the same referee getting it twice. It would be confusing at least. Just to mention one case.

Referees regularly receive manuscripts twice, for instance, when a manuscript is rejected. Admittedly, this situation is different, since the reviewer may not have been notified of rejection. However, such a reviewer will likely assume that the paper has been rejected. Even if they don't, they will likely contact the editor, who will be able to promptly deal with the situation. This could even be pre-empted, for example, an unacknowledged retraction could be explained in a covering letter.

[this] does not avoid...issues such as when the first journal and second journal both publish it...For all you know, the author may ALREADY have assigned copyright to the first journal.

From the question I assume copyright hasn't been assigned nor is the manuscript camera-ready.

I would likely do this but I am not convinced that it precludes troubles. Imagine the same referee getting it twice. It would be confusing at least. Just to mention one case.

@Alchimista Edited to respond

This seems arbitrary, and does not avoid any issues such as when the first journal and second journal both publish it.  Wishing problems away is usually a poor approach.

For all you know, the author may ALREADY have assigned copyright to the first journal.

@ScottSeidman From the OP's question I assume copyright hasn't been assigned nor is the manuscript camera-ready.

If you still hold copyright you can pretty much do as you please. It is yours. But it is probably worth sending a retraction notice by registered postal mail with a return receipt. Then you know your request/demand has been seen. (Works in US, at least.)

@Buffy, The manuscript is still in the early step and even no reviewer selected for that.

Then why wouldn't one just send an email to say "I withdraw this" and submit to another journal immediately?  What's so magic and legal about the 1 week deadline?

@ScottSeidman You have to give a reasonable amount of time. Unfortunately, reasonable is undefined. Is it one day, two days, five, ...?

Just to add to the answer from @user2768: when you submit the manuscript to another journal, mention in your cover letter what happened with the previous submission (including your one-sided correspondence with the editor).  I would write this in as neutral a tone as possible; the point is not to hurl accusations at the editor of the first journal, but to avoid any appearance of deception on your part in the eyes of the second editor.
It's impossible to say in general that this will not be an obstacle to your second submission.  As an associate editor myself, I believe it should not, but this kind of thing would definitely be looked at by the editor-in-chief.

Great point! (+1). One more question: Can such a statement cause some problem, by the way?

That is the point. Somehow you should have a receipt of your retraction statement. Clearly you will be on the right side, but you need to assure that the second editor will stand on your side. With no clear communication, the first submission might be further handled resulting, to the people unaware, as a double submission. Surely what is good in this story is that a publication from the first journal is impossible, as for there is not copyright agreement nor camera ready proof. @Eilia


text:
Graduate School Application: should I mention where my working paper would be submitted
Follow-up on
Does unpublished paper matter for U.S. graduate school application?
One of my papers is ready and my research adviser wants me to submit it to one of the best journals in my area. But it's actually proposing a new idea so there's still a lot to be done (in the paper I pointed out many tests that should be carried out), so I'm not entirely confident about it getting past the review.
On one hand, I could submit anything to any journal so it's not necessarily saying mcuh about the quality of the research, and it would look pretty bad if it failed the review; but on the other hand, my adviser is kind of a semi-big deal in the small circle (I mean, he knows some people and some people know him). So those who know him will understand that the paper would be examined rigorously by himself before submission.
So, should I add anything to my resume about this? I understand the answer will probably be largely opinion-based, so I'm sorry if it's violating any rules here!

I did that once. And I got the scholarship. But who knows why I got it?

I'm in a business school and our norm is to list a submitted paper as "under review at so and so journal" on our CVs. People tend to update their CVs in this manner before heading off to the job market so that selection committees can see that they have projects that have progressed. I've served on a doctoral admissions committee in our department. Knowing that an applicant had a paper that was far enough along to be submitted would have put that applicant at the top of my consideration list.


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Is a corrigendum necessary if a published result is discovered to duplicate an earlier one?
(cross-posted from math.stackexchange.com)
I found after publication of an article that a chunk of it was duplicated in a previous article written by someone else, and I'd like to know if I should take some action, like write a corrigendum just to add the other paper as another citation.  Perhaps some journals have a formal process to deal with this?
In my field, pure mathematics, it sometimes happens that people publish the exact same theorem, but the methods are distinct enough that the reviewer of the later paper views it as publishable because of its methods.  In my case, only one of four theorems in my paper duplicates earlier work, but the methods I use, while looking slightly different, would certainly be considered essentially the same as the earlier paper.
I suppose the best answer might simply be, "contact your journal and ask".  On the other hand, I have seen many times a result claimed as "independently" discovered in multiple papers, and I don't recall seeing a corrigendum or something in those cases.  Perhaps a notation on the research page of my website is sufficient?
As a follow-up, in mathematical publishing/culture, where is the line drawn between saying a result was "independently" discovered by multiple people and crediting all of them, as opposed to give priority to the one who was first?  Crediting all authors who gave substantially different proofs makes sense to me.  But what if two proofs use essentially the same idea?
(This question differs from
How to cite earlier work, discovered only at the end, that claims similar results to a recently completed project?
in that the both results, original and duplicate, have already published.)

See my answer at http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/85330 .

Ah, yes, thank you.  I missed that post when doing a preliminary search for answers to my question.  I'm still interested to hear ideas on how the line is drawn between "independent" discovery, i.e., shared priority, versus  giving priority to the first discoverer.

Another example that I find interesting, there is a congruence in the theory of real quadratic fields usually credited to Ankeny-Artin-Chowla.  I found years ago that Kiselev proved the congruence a few years before them, but in Russian, so its understandable why many people don't know.  Perhaps its a losing battle to try to get people to call it a theorem of Kiselev-Ankeny-Artin-Chowla.  A less extreme version of trying to change the name of "Pell's equation".

Although I just found that the congruence has a webpage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankeny%E2%80%93Artin%E2%80%93Chowla_congruence.  And it doesn't reference Kiselev's paper, so I can do I bit for posterity by adding him.

I have voted to close this as duplicate: even though the direction of the relationship is inverted from the prior question, the explanations in its answers appear to provide the information needed to solve this dilemma.


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Should I be concerned when an editor tells me that I have the final say about the paper he sent me to referee?
I have been asked to referee a paper for a middle-tier physical science journal.  I have reviewed for this journal many times before, although it was several years since I had gotten a paper sent to me by this particular editor.  (I thought that this editor disliked me, since I was fairly critical of one of his own research papers.)  However, some weeks ago, he sent me a paper to referee, and I promptly sent back a report.
The peculiarity came the second time that I was sent a draft of this paper.  After the first round, I asked for some significant clarifications, since the work being described in the manuscript seemed to have been done properly, but the justification was very poorly explained.  The editor was not able to find another scientist to provide a second report, so the revisions were based solely on my comments.  The authors made some changes, which I have not combed through that carefully yet, but they are probably satisfactory.
However, this editor told me explicitly in the letter he sent me that he will definitely accept or reject the paper, according to whatever "verdict" I return.  This makes me a little uncomfortable.  On the one hand, I am honored that he trusts my judgement sufficiently to put the entire decision effectively in my hands.  On the other hand, I feel a nagging concern that the editor is, to some extent, shirking his own responsibilities in this case.  Not that I would ever really expect him to go against my recommendation, but I am sort of uncomfortable with the level of responsibility that he has implicitly placed on me.
As a general rule, the way this editor works is somewhat idiosyncratic.
For example, the journal has an online system for submission and refereeing, but its use is apparently optional for the editors.  Every other editor I have worked with on this journal has used the Web-based system for assigning and collecting reviews, but this guy does everything entirely via e-mail.  His e-mails can be rambling and mix personal and professional communication, quite different from most e-mails I get from journals, which are almost all boilerplate.
First, is it reasonable to be concerned about what the editor has said?  Second, is there anything I can (or should) do about it?

Can we assume the paper is one where an editor could reasonably find another reviewer? (not a highly specialized topic, or a big science project where everybody else is in someway connected)

@user71659 There certainly are other people who could do the review, although the number who are strongly qualified is not that large.  I am probably the most knowledgeable person about the topic, since it builds directly on my own prior work.

What you could do is locate a second reviewer, say a colleague, yourself. Explain the situation and the paper (in general terms) and ask if they could give a review. Then write to the editor

I found that the authors addressed most of my concerns. However, there are still a few points I am unsure of and would like a second opinion on. I have spoken to Researcher B (without disclosing the paper) and he/she is willing to give me some input. May I share the paper with him/her?

Even for mid-tier journals, a single reviewer isn't unheard of, especially when the topic is specialized and as you have said you are an authority on the topic. What usually happens is that the editor doesn't tell you about their plans.

My experience being the sole referee of papers in physics is that editors are very likely to follow my "verdict" anyway. The fact that the editor has articulated they are going to do so in advance is unusual, but if you can make a firm recommendation to accept or reject, I see no reason to communicating anything else.

This answer does not address personal likes and dislikes and whether you should be concerned about the editor's work flow.
If you clearly feel that the paper should be rejected/accepted then tell the editor that. If you are unsure, tell the editor that you are unsure, tell them what you think and ask them to find a second referee.

It might very well be the case that...
(a) he still does not like you very much and (b) does not like the paper either but (c) feels he needs to go through the proper motions because one (or more) of the authors is (are) (connected to) a Big Fish in the field, but (d) does not want to waste his usual trusted reviewers on this one and consequently (e) has saddled you with the hatchet job.

Subversive, but interesting response. +1

Edgy response there.


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Is it OK to use abbreviations of the same university I am applying to?
Most of the universities in the US use abbreviations on their websites. Can it be considered a good practice to use abbreviation of the same university I am applying to?

Is this a reliable source: http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/general/academic/3.4.xml ?

This is a good practice, but make sure to clear any potential confusion.
This will show you have done your research and you are familiar with the position you are applying to. However, your letter has to be understandable for someone who just begins recruiting in this field. I would advise you, to avoid any risk of misunderstanding, to use the full name the first time, and to put the abreviation you will use for the remainder of the letter between parenthesis.
Here is an example:
I am answering to the offer n°16112016 as a Car Builder (CB) for General Motors (GM). I believe GM is a great company .... and I will succeed as a CB because ...  and so on.

I am using the abrevation of the same university I am applying to and using the widely used abrevation. Really, do I have to use the full name (it takes too much space) ???

Well, you asked a question and I gave you my best answer, but it's ultimately your call.

The major issue with abbreviations is ambiguity. For example, OU could refer to Ohio University, University of Oklahoma, the Open University, and others. Other abbreviations like MIT are less ambiguous despite there being MITs in other countries. Similarly, longer abbreviations like UPenn are less ambiguous. Some universities, go by multiple names. For example University of Nottingham is often called Nottingham University, despite there being a Nottingham Trent University in the same city that goes by Trent.
When applying to a university, or for internal purposes, ambiguity is not an issue. If you are at, or applying to the Open University, in general everyone will assume OU means Open University and not Ohio University. In the rare cases where you are applying to the Open University from Ohio University, there could be ambiguity. Understanding the nuances of the name and abbreviation uses can be difficult. In general, you should probably steer away from abbreviations and just use the full name.

So, basically, if you apply to a certain university and use the abrevation internally, there should be no problem?

On that: I would spell out the university name. Many schools ask that on the application, it should go that way in the personal statement.

Regarding ambiguous names, I taught 4 years at CMU (but probably not the CMU most people think of) and for a couple of years I attended USC (but probably not the USC most people think of).

As was pointed out to me a long time ago, Cornell University and Cornell College are two distinct entities. Spelling out the name entirely the first time you use it is always a good idea.

@sitilge - but you can't just say 'Cornell' - it isn't a confusion of initials, but you have to specify the full name...

@JonCuster I doubt there would be any confusing of an search committee/admission committee at either Cornell College or Cornell University reading Dear Cornell Committee. It is similar if I wrote a letter to you and started it as Dear Dr. Custer, I doubt you would be confused even though there are lots of Dr. Custers in the world.


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Interpreting admission requirements
I am reading through the application requirements for this programme. However, as far as I see it, there are some ambiguities

Motivation
A clear and relevant essay in English (1,000 – 1,500 words)

I contacted an experienced prof. working for admissions committees and she emphasized that a letter of motivation should not exceed 1.5 pages. Also, words "clear and relevant" makes me feel that 5 page "sheet of text" is way too much. On the other hand, there is "essay" in the quote above, which maybe makes the word count relevant. I currently have a concentrated letter of motivation with about 350 words in it (1 page) that includes all the points that must be covered.
In my opinion, 1000 - 1500 words feel bloated. I am interpreting the numbers given as the maximum top boundaries for the essay / letter. Or am I missing something here?

I usually think that there are 750 words on a page with narrow margins and a small font. 350 words is way too short as 1 paragraph abstracts are often 250 words.

This looks entirely unambiguous to me. They ask for a clear and relevant essay containing 1000-1500 words. So give them a clear and relevant essay containing 1000-1500 words.

The essay prompt you cite includes 5 points. Why don't you edit your question to include them? Also, if I had to write your essay, I would subtract off the summary word count and then divide the word count by the remaining number of prompts.

By giving you a word range (1000-1500 words) they are telling you how much detail they want the letter to go into. Your 350 word letter is likely too superficial.
Give them what they are asking for. "Does not follow instructions" is generally not a good look.


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Motivational Letter for Work placement
I'm an italian student,attendig the university, and I have to apply for a Work placement during this year, in order to complete my path and graduate. I have already found a firm in London and I would like to send as soon as possible my request. The point is that it's my first time and I have some doubts:
Should I send, with my CV, a motivational letter in order to introduce myself or this letter should be done only for jobs or accademic application like PHD and Masters?
I read this thread below very carefully, and I loved it!
A good motivation letter
Could be the first answer from @penelope a good structure also for my application?
Thank you so much!

This is probably more in scope of workplace.SE, as it is about a placement in industry, as fas as I understand.

Sorry I didn't understand the the second sentence . . . What Does SE mean?

SE = Stack Exchange.  @skymningen was talking about Workplace SE

I'd send a CV and a motivational letter - it might be a good idea to call as well if you are unsure exactly where to send it.
Penelope's answer is good, but recruiters can spot a 'template' motivation letter a mile away - I'd try and do it from the heart as much as possible.
Also, make sure you include contact details on both your CV and covering letter!

It's better to send resume and CV along with motivational letter. Here is a letter which might help you.

Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to you to apply for a summer work placement at your department.
My name is AB and I come from Finland. This semester I am studying at the University of Sheffield as an Erasmus Student. I study Human Geography programme with specialisation in regional development and regional policy. I would like to utilize the opportunity of studying in the United Kingdom and extend my stay beyond the end of the semester over summer holiday. My plan is to spend this time by work placement at a regional planning department.
I have explored your internet pages, and I was very interested in the topics you are dealing with, such as the creation of Local Plans, Joint Structure Plan or Local Development Framework. I would like to apply for a 4-week placement in June or July, most preferably at the Department of Forward Planning.
During my prior studies I have been working on several training developmental projects. We were mostly engaging with rural microregions’ strategic plans. During this projects I have learnt basics of regional planning and the creation of strategic and developmental plans. I also have a good theoretical knowledge of the European Structural Funds.
I think I could bring a lot of assets to your team. I can offer strong commitment to work. I am very reliable person who can work hard. I learn quickly and after short training I am perfectly able to work independently, but at the same time, I am a team player. I believe, I could enrich your team with my international background and perspective.
The stay in Yorkshire gave me a good opportunity to get in touch with local environment and people, and, I have to say, I really got to like the region. I am excited by the pace of the changes, it is currently going through. The opportunity to actually take part in these changes would be priceless. Furthermore, I believe, the placement would really help me in my future studies and prospective career. At the same time I believe, I could be a useful member of your team and bring a lot of positive elements into your department.
Please find my enclosed CV. Thank you for considering my request. I am looking forward to your reply.
Yours Faithfully,
AB