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How to know a supervisor's working style before joining his group?
I have recently joined a research group, where everything was excellent until two weeks of my joining.
My supervisor was very friendly when I met him for the first time at a conference. He was very interested in conducting work similar to mine in his lab. He showed interest in the subject and insisted that I make an application for a vacant position in his group.
He was very happy when I cleared all formalities (completed the application, was shortlisted, performed well in the interview and received an offer letter). After joining, I felt that I had joined a very good group that could help me enhance my research skills, as my colleagues are very friendly and helpful.
However, two weeks later, when I met my supervisor to discuss my work, he suddenly gave me many difficult tasks, many of which are very new to me and out of my skillset and told me that everything should be finished within another two weeks. He also told me that I should do everything by myself and never disturb my colleagues.
When I discussed this with my colleagues, they told me that he is very strict, not a good person, and he intends to dominate.
My question is how would I know about these things before joining his group?
For now, I can’t imagine how to continue to work in this group.

...never disturb to other colleagues. When I discussed with other colleagues...

Good for you!

My question is how would I know about these things before joining his group?

By talking with other members of the group, away from faculty, during your interview visit (or some other time before accepting the offer).
Conversations with students outside the professor's group would also have been useful. Also with the clerical staff. Even if unhappy group members themselves are hesitant to talk with strangers, for fear of reprisal, people know who the unhappy research groups are.
If the professor didn't actively encourage such conversations, that's already a red flag.

+1 especially for the last sentence. Where I did my PhD the PI would get some existing students to take a prospective new grad student out to lunch (on expenses) so that they could ask off-the-record questions.  This was in a group where people were encouraged to contribute to each others' projects, very much a team

In addition to discussing with current members of the research group, it is often a good idea to discuss with students/researchers who left the group for another group in the same university (i.e., switched labs).

Current members may be unwilling to give negative feedback regarding their advisor, especially if you do not know them well. If you're a prospective PhD student at a visit weekend, beware that current graduate students are sometimes asked to convince prospective PhD students to join.
Members who left may have had a good reason to leave, and you probably want to understand it (is it because of the advisor/colleagues/funding/willingness to explore some of the research directions/etc).

I think that research departments should keep track of students/researchers flow between labs and make it available to new students/researchers, but unfortunately this is uncommonly done.

I would guess that the people that work the closest with professors are typically PhD students. They are also very much "exposed" to the professor's leadership style.
Often times the website of a research group lists the finished PhDs. Recently, I contacted former PhDs of a certain professor, because I consider joining his team. People were happy to share their experiences and I got a multi-faceted picture. Of course there may have been personal conflicts, so take their opinion also with a grain of salt.

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How to deal with a co-author that refuses to read a manuscript?
I finished a postdoc and then moved to a different position.  At the time of leaving I had a manuscript finished and ready to submit to a good journal.  I have two co-authors on the manuscript, one of them was my supervisor (who I did not get on well with) and the other was another postdoc of the supervisor (first author).  The supervisor contributed nothing in terms of ideas or work and is on the article because the first author likes to put his supervisor on everything.
Since we did not get on well, I guessed that the supervisor would not read the article to approve it for submission and would keep promising to read it and then never actually read it.  This seems to be what has happened.  I spoke to them in May before leaving and they said they would read it, but nothing happened.
20th July I received a message from my co-author that the supervisor would read it (nothing has happened).
5th September I received a message from the co-author saying he was waiting for the supervisor to look at the manuscript (still nothing has happened).
What can be done about this?  At what point is the length of time so long that I can contact the university asking them to tell him to read the manuscript or remove himself as an author if he does not wish to read it (having contributed nothing else)?  Obviously I put effort into this article and it has a high chance of getting into this journal so I don't want to walk away and forget about it.
Edit: I have spoken to the lead author and he will ask the supervisor if he is happy not to be a formal co-author on the paper, sounds promising.
Edit 2: The lead author will be having a follow-up discussion to see if he can get confirmation.
Edit 3: The lead author has now also left that university and so is only in sporadic communication with the supervisor, who has promised yet again to read the manuscript.  The saga continues.

The short answer is "never."

I think what you are experiencing now is the fallout of a broken relationship with your advisor. It might just be time to move on and cut your losses. You cannot force them to do anything, especially since you are not even the first author.

Does the first author have a good realationship with the supervisor? If so, perhaps they could take it up with them, and you could try to stay back to avoid inflaming things

I believe the first author has a good relationship so that might be the best route.

Couldn't you just write an email like "If I hear nothing from you within four weeks, I will hand in the manuscript as it is now." ?

@JFabianMeier Yes could do that.  It sounds a bit like a threat, but I will say something like that.

"contact the university asking them to tell him to read the manuscript" This isn’t how this works. Though it would be interesting to know what would happened if someone tried to do it anyway.

OK understood.  I suspect that if I tried it they would say they are unable to resolve authorship disputes or something like that.

If you have a timely need for the submission, you can say that in an email to the co-author(s). But if there is nothing really pressing, you could also just let it go.
While it might cause difficulties, it would shake the tree a bit if you suggest to both co-authors that the paper should be submitted by some date certain if there are no objections. Make the date a couple of weeks or so in the future.
The PI doesn't need to read the paper, but their permission to publish is needed. Those aren't the same.

"The PI doesn't need to read the paper, but their permission to publish is needed. Those aren't the same." Certainly true. It might take some diplomatic skills to go this way, though.

Unless one brings valuable, unique genius to the party, diplomacy is a great skill to develop.

From experience I think the PI reading the paper will be necessary, he will not give permission to publish without reading it.

The journal is a decent journal but the article is not essential to my career, walking away from it would not cause me any damage probably.  I would rather keep the article though.

Would it be possible to just remove the supervisor and publish it that way? Or is it unacceptable to the other (true) author?

I think the problem is that the (true) author puts his supervisor on every paper, even when the supervisor genuinely contributed nothing in this case.  I can ask him about the possibility of (a) submitting with the permission of the PI even if he has not read it or (b) or removing the PI from the paper, I think one of the two possibilities has to work somehow.

@Tom depending on the field, this can be entirely reasonable. For example, in biology, the PI is always listed as the last author. Even in the rare case where they contributed nothing to the specific paper, they still provided guidance, materials, reagents, a laboratory etc.

+1 especially for the middle paragraph. If soneone isn't communicating, inform them that (they've got another chance but) their silence will be taken for permission.

@GregMartin: This does not always work. I had once done it with my noncommunicative collaborator. The end-result was that my collaborator "blew his lid," and it resulted in a 3-4 year (!) delay in  publication of three joint papers.

@MoisheKohan Looking back now, do you think there was a better alternative?

@Mentalist: Yes, I should have been more patient... Eventualy, we started to collaborate again and wrote 9 more papers.

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How do I deal with a referee who tries to make me cite ten of their articles?
I have received back an article asking for major revisions.  As far as I know, the journal is a reputable one.  The referee stated that the introduction is 'very short and poor' and that the authors should 'improve the introduction using recent theoretical developments in this field'.  The referee then suggests that I 'can add' a list of seven articles to 'enrich the introductory section'.
I notice that for all of these articles there are one or two names which keep recurring and in fact one author appears on all of them.  Added to this, it seems like some of the journals in question are quite obscure (at least I have never heard of them).
Later on, the referee suggests another three references: again, a certain name appears on all of these and all of these three articles appear in obscure MDPI journals.
I don't mind adding a few references, it just seems like something strange is going on when the referee wants me to add ten references some of which (or probably if I am honest all of which) they are co-authors on and some of which appear in obscure journals which might struggle to attract citations.
Is there something I can do about this?  Could I perhaps revise the article without adding all the references and then request to the editor that the paper be re-reviewed using a different referee? I will mention that the papers are on-topic obviously.  But they just describe a type of system which is in the same class as the system which I consider.
Edit: I have just looked up the profile of the person who is probably the referee and he seems to be a professor at an obscure university in Egypt. He has below 1000 citations on Google Scholar on many papers on almost the same subject.  Half of these were obtained in 2022, around 100 in 2021, below 100 in 2020, and then below 50 every year prior to that.

Once, a big name editor asked me to cite 30 of his papers!   Similar to your case, these 30 papers have one name in common. You have to wonder how he got his 'big name'.

You didn't mention whether the papers were on topic, only how obscure the journals are.

Referees don't make decisions about papers. They only suggest, but if you have good reasons you can ignore referee comments and explain these reasons to the editor (who is the one making decisions).

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Resources for quantitative social science research workflow
I'm interested in best practices for research workflows for quantitative social science. The best book I have encountered on the subject is "The Workflow of Data Analysis Using Stata" by J. Scott Long (2008). As the title suggests, it is largely about working with Stata, but the author begins by discussing general characteristics of a good workflow: accuracy, efficiency, simplicity, standardization, automation, usability, and scalability. (It is also a decade old now, and does not discuss version control software, unit testing, etc.)
What other resources (books, websites, etc.) are helpful for designing research workflows for quantitative social science, both generally and for specific packages (Matlab, Python, R, ArcGIS, Stata, etc.), and what are the strengths and weaknesses of each such resource?

A group to check out is Data Carpentry; unfortunately, most of what I've seen is "build-your-own-workflow," but that also kind of makes sense when you go beyond just one or two tools. Good luck!

Can you edit your question to avoid being a "shopping" question, which is off-topic for the site.

@RichardErickson I could, but my schedule doesn't have room for that for at least the next week. I could delete the question (and my answer) and consider another attempt later.

@FalafelPita What about is this rephrased question:
What recommendations do you have for designing a practical research workflow in quantitative social sciences? Please state also which resources and tools you find helpful for different phases of research like planning, organizing, documenting and computing.

Overview
To my knowledge, only a very few research workflows for specific packages / tools have been published (the R and Stata books listed below).
As the question is about research workflows, I have avoided the many published guides about how to use a particular quantitative analysis application, with the exception of the Data Carpentry website, because it is explicitly designed for social scientists and emphasizes the importance of a reproducible analysis.
I included the section on version control because, in my experience, it is not commonly used by social scientists.
General Resources

(pdf) Code and Data for the Social Sciences: A Practitioner’s Guide by Gentzkow and Shapiro (2014)

Topics include automation, version control, file organization, data management, abstraction, documentation, project management, and code style. Employs a conversational. Freely available at the link.
Strength: Topics include most aspects of a research project. The authors are social scientists who sought better workflows.
Weakness: Level of detail in the examples and anecdotes varies considerably across principles.

(pdf) The Plain Person's Guide to Plain Text Social Science by Kieran Healy

Topics include: text editors (especially emacs) and markdown, version control, automation with makefiles, and using pandoc to generate HTML and Latex for presentation documents. Freely available.
Strength: Provides many links to valuable information on particular tools and topics.
Weakness: With the exception of the emacs starter kit section, the material is more motivational than instructional.

(Article) Best Practices for Scientific Computing published in PLoS Biol in 2014

8 best practices with subparts, including (1) Write program for people, not computers; (6) Optimize software only after it works correctly; and (7) Document design and purpose, not mechanics. Freely available at the link.
Strength: Very concise statements of general principles. Contains references to additional information.
Weakness: Because the principles are general, they cannot be used as an off-the-shelf guide for specific software packages or tools.

(Website) Data Carpentry

Strength: Freely available lessons with considerable detail on python, R, OpenRefine, SQL, and spreadsheets.
Weakness: Topics are largely restricted to working with data, and do not include other parts of the research workflow (some of which are addressed through the companion Software Carpentry resources)

(Website) Software Sustainabilitiy Institute Guides

Topics include Data, Project Management, Software Development (including testing), and Repositories and Project Infrastructure, among others
Strength: Many short articles on specific topics
Weakness: Not a unified work

(Book) The Practice of Reproducible Research, edited by Justin Kitzes, Daniel Turek, and Fatma Deniz

Strength: Many examples (case studies).
Weakness: Very lengthy. Not designed as a quick-reference for practitioners.

Version Control

(Book) Version Control By Example, by Erik Sink (2011)

Freely available as a website or downloadable pdf.
Strength: Explicit examples of how to use Subversion, Mercurial, Git, and Veracity.
Weakness: ?

(Application) Sourcetree

A graphical user interface for version control systems (Git, Mercurial), compatible with GitHub and BitBucket
Strength: Good for the less experienced because users don't have to use the command line
Weakness: ?

R

(Book) Reproducible Research with R and R Studio, by Christopher Gandrud

About using R, RStudio, Knitr, and Markdown to perform data management and analysis, document one's work, and create presentation documents in HTML or Latex. Also includes one chapter on using git and github, and one on data gathering using makefiles.
Strength: Unified workflow for research from start to finished product.
Weakness: ?

Stata

(Book)The Workflow of Data Analysis Using Stata by J. Scott Long (2008)

Topics include file organization, variable naming, data labeling and documentation, automation and one-click reproducibility, and larger project management organization.
Weakness: no discussion of version control software or code testing

Perhaps you would like to add this: https://kieranhealy.org/publications/plain-person-text/

@henning That is exactly the type of resource I'm looking for. Thanks!


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Can I submit in a new journal after submission in a predatory journal who force to pay in order to withdraw?
After submission of my article, I realized that it was a predatory journal. I asked to withdraw my manuscript but they require to pay half of charges.
What can I do?
If I do not pay, can I submit in a new journal?

Have you already signed and sent the copyright transfer form?

Have you already paid them anything? i.e. you gave them X and they say they will give you refund of X/2 back?  Or you've not paid anything yet?

Don't pay.  It will not solve any problems.

This question cannot be answered without reading your correspondence with the journal, which might contain a binding contract that could say anything.

Could you provide some more details? In which country are you based? Where is the journal based? Is the journal WOS-listed?
Here are some basic orientations:

If you are certain that the given journal is a predatory journal, you can certainly retract the publication. Predatory journals are designed to maximise income and minimise expenditure. Accordingly, these journals are certainly not interested in a lawsuit (especially an international lawsuit). Emails are a matter of empty threats in that case.
If you are uncertain about the degree of predatory-ness, simply retract the publication based on the most relevant limition/flaw of your study. State explicitly that you feel that the quality of work does not fit their criteria of "high-quality, peer-reviewed science" (quote whatever the described on the webpage). Write the email in a manner, which puts them in "double bind" dilemma (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_bind). Force them to either agree with the retraction at no cost, or to openly have to admit dishonesty regarding their "high-quality" peer-review process.
If it is just a low-quality but not predatory journal, be fair and go along with the submission this time and stay away from the journal in future.

This is bad advice.  if you are uncertain if a journal is predatory, do not publish there but do not tell the journal that your article is flawed and should have been rejected.  The publisher could use that information to harm you.

The "double bind" will not work.  A predatory publisher will either do nothing or publish the paper without admitting anything.


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Letter of recommendation contains wrong name of journal, how will this hurt my application?
I’m really freaked out. My professors and manager have submitted my LOR’s to colleges. When I asked one of my professors to send me the letter she wrote for me, I noticed that she mentioned the paper we published together (to which I have also provided a link and PDF as part of my application) but the name of the journal mentioned seems to be incorrect. I am sure its a genuine mistake and a mix up of names but will this look bad on my application?
The rest of the information is strong and talks about everything else I have achieved. I have also added this paper to my portfolio as proof and provided a link to it in my resume. What should I do now? I am really hoping this isn't going to hurt my application.

You didn't name a country, but just btw, in some (like the US), it would be rude to ask.

wow… incredible that a referee should share such a letter.  If I were to know this I would consider this more more negatively than an error in a journal name.

To add to @AzorAhai-him-'s comment, in fact many applications will ask if you waive your rights to view your letters.  The understanding is that your letters may be more candid (and thus useful/trustworthy) if you do so.

As someone who interviews PhD candidates, I would probabnly not even notice that the journal was wrong. I don't read references for details like that, I go with the CV. I read references to see 1) whether the candidate is good enough to get people to write a reference that isn't boilerplate, and then 2) what the person's impressions are of them.

''I'm really freaked out'' Sounds like you need to calm down a bit before assessing the situation

Thanks for replying. This for the US universities.

okay that is relieving to know that they look at things beyond these little mistakes. Thanks alot! i was really freaking out, i didn’t want this to mess up all the work i put in till now. I really need to calm down i guess

They definitely are not going to hire your referee for making such a colossal minuscule mistake. It is his/her mistake, not yours. So just relax!

It's perfectly normal to see your LORs in the UK. So if you ever hired a candidate coming out of the UK system they might have read their LOR before you. And yet the world kept on turning.

Don't worry. The letters will be read by members of a committee who are of course familiar with academia and know that writing letters of recommendation is a bit of a chore. An error such as this (if even noticed) would be immaterial and attributed to an overworked professor.

Indeed. I doubt it would be noticed or fact checked. There are many applications to go through. Taking time for something this miniscule would be a colossal waste of time.

Great, I am going to keep this thought aside till there is an actual problem then. Thank you for replying :)

This is unlikely to have any effect other than possibly asking you about it. Since you have the correct information in the application materials it should be recognized as a simple mistake. Just be prepared for the question, should it arise.
Some places might be able to accept a correction from the letter writer. People make mistakes. Other people recognize that.

Okay sounds good, this is so relieving to hear. I have provided my actual paper publication pdf, link in my resume, my online portfolio as well as my SOP. If contacted I will let them know the correct source. Thanks alot for replying:)

If your professor made a minor mistake, that doesn't reflect badly on you at all. The only way that this might conceivably hurt your application is if the incorrect name is also the name of a journal, but one significantly weaker than the actual journal. Then if someone doesn't notice the error they might think the paper is less impressive than it really is.
Even in this case, I wouldn't bother to mention it - it is more important to avoid annoying your professor.

The incorrect name is actually a name of another journal. They’re both at par. I am hoping that this isn’t a big deal even if noticed. I have provided links, pdfs with my application material in my CV, portfolio and SOP. I hope that’s more than enough. Either ways, thank you for replying :)

@Krithi, in that case, you're totally fine. If anyone notices (and I doubt they will! Nobody's got time to cross-check citations across your application), it'll be treated as the tiny mental lapse that it is--and it's not even yours! Fix yourself a cup of tea, a slice of cake and relax! (And best of luck with the rest of your apps).

I'd imagine naming a "superior" journal could also backfire since it would risk making the recommender look like a liar (albeit one without much tact).


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What are the chances of getting into a great CS PhD program with research in a different field?
I am a CS and Mathematics double major going into my senior year at a very small liberal arts college.  I aspire to get into a high ranking AI PhD program.  The issue is that, due to the size of my school, I had no research opportunities in CS at my current institution.  I was accepted into an REU at a very good college for the summer of 2020, but due to the pandemic it was cancelled.
I have been able to work on several mathematics research projects with a professor at my school, and one is published in an undergraduate journal.  I have also been working on chemistry research with another professor, which may get published but it may not be before program decisions are out.  I know that students from math background often do PhDs in AI, but I worry that since I specifically am a CS student, it will be expected that I have CS research.
I am in all other ways a good student, I just worry that my research will not be enough.

I'll assume you intend to study in the US. It might be a bit different elsewhere.
From the sound of it, you are a good and eager student, interested in opportunities. If your record is good, generally, and you get good letters of recommendation from professors, then you are competitive. However, there is a lot of competition, and the higher up you go in university rankings the fiercer it tends to get.
Only an admissions committee can really answer your question, and that would only be in how they treat your application. There are a lot of applicants for every slot in doctoral programs.
If you want to assure that you find something suitable, cast a wide, rather than a narrow net in making applications. Apply to a few "dream" universities, but also to some others that have good programs, but not necessarily in the top 25, or even 50 in the rankings. The worst case is that you will get a lot of offers with a wide net, but no offers at all with a narrow one. Stay flexible.
Some undergraduates going in to doctoral programs (in the US) have some research experience, but not all. The fact that you have some, even in chemistry, is a plus, but more for your overall likelihood of success.

I struggle to believe the last paragraph here. I just started a PhD last year and I don't know anyone who got in to the program without prior research experience (I am in a top 10 CS PhD program, maybe its true of lower ranked programs). However, I don't think that everyone necessarily had research experience in CS.

@setholopolus, yes, I can easily believe that at UIUC entering students have research experience. But UIUC is anything but typical in CS.


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How to put a paper which is part of conference proceedings and a book chapter in CV/resume/SOP etc
I participated in an AI competition and as a part of my submission, I submitted a paper about my solution. This paper was part of a conference (held alongside the main conference), and the competition organisers also published a book (subseries of a book series) which had the paper as a chapter. On ACM digital library, the bibtex includes the conference details for publication and the springer site (book  series publisher), the bibtex has the book as the publication. Both have the same DOI.
How should I mention this paper in my resume or CV? I am also applying for graduate programs, should I mention it twice, once under conference workshops and once under publications or just under publications?

Is it a chapter in the proceedings book, by any chance?

@OlegLobachev i don't think so, the proceedings were part of MICCAI and the book is a subseries of LNCS, edited by the challenge organisers, a collection of papers from the competition and the conf is not mentioned in the generated citation

Ah, yes, LNCS. It is still proceedings of MICCAI, isn't it? I typically write "LNCS 12345, Proc. FOOBAR '78, Springer, Apr. 1879" in my bibliography.

List it under publications and (provided the styling permits it), add a note at the end: "Also appears as ...", to show the conference version. In reality it won't matter much, though.
Alternatively, list it under conferences with a note that it also appears in book form. "Also appears as ...".
Just don't give the impression that it is two different publications.
Note that in CS, "publications" and "conferences" overlap greatly, not quite completely, but to a large extent.


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Whom is a diversity statement written for?
This is related to the "what to say in a diversity statement" question, but I'm asking something slightly different:

Who reads a Diversity Statement in a faculty application (exact sciences/CS/math) at an R1 institute?

Anticipating answers like "anyone on the department can read it", let me be more specific: Who usually reads diversity statements and takes relevant decisions on their basis? Is it faculty members? Is it administrators? Are they generally used as a first screen, as an appendix to the teaching statement, or as a tiebreaker?

A diverse range of people depending on what they are looking for...

The purpose of having a diversity statement is that you can honestly say that you have one if anybody asks.
The people who will read them would include:

People who are told they have to read them.
People who have nothing better to do.
People who want to confirm that you really do have a diversity statement.

Don't assume that anybody takes any relevant decisions based on the diversity stament.  The people who make decisions will either continue to be fair to all candidates, or will continue to be prejudiced.  Writing a diversity statement won't change that.

Thanks. Between this and @OBu's responses, it seems to play a nil to minor role in the decision.

It depends on how serious the university you are appliying for is in encouraging diversity.
In every case, the persons responsible for diversity / minorities / ... will read it and bring in their opinion.
I'm sure, at my institution every person in the selection committee will read it, and it will affect the decision. If your research record or teaching performance are not good, the diversity statement will not save you. But if there are two people with similar performance, it will make a difference!
Some insitutions are haveng point based evaluation sheets for applicants - it is up to then to decide how strong the influence of the diversity statement is. But usually those factors are not public.


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Is anything wrong with hiring TA as a private tutor?
I'm an undergraduate student and recently I've been trying to find a private tutor to help me further expand my knowledge (outside of a scope of my courses). I've discovered one of the TAs advertises themselves as a private tutor. Would it be ethically wrong to hire them? Are there any potential issues/conflicts of interests?
As far as I know there is nothing strictly forbidding it in the university codes and I would love hiring them - I'm quite picky when it comes to the teaching style and in case of the TA in question I already know it'd be a great fit.

As a lecturer, I would feel that my TA possibly has a conflict of interests if they are also working as a tutor for one of my students. Among other things, TAs are often asked to solve through the final exam, to check correctness. So even if they are not involved with marking, they have access to confidential materials, and they can inadvertently leak some of this knowledge to the student they tutor.

This is the conflict of interest that can be such an issue...

I haven't considered it from that point, thanks. Does the fact I'd like to get tutoring in the area that doesn't overlap with the course change anything?

@MathsStudent no, as you will inevitably talk about the course you both share...

as long as the TA is not involved in grading the course (or preparing exams / tests, etc.) it is ok (might still not be a good idea because they can influence other people), but at the moment the TA is involved in any grading / tests etc., it is a clear no-go!
There are many related questions like
Is it ethical to give (paid) private tutorials for a student in a module I am TA'ing? (see the "related" column to the right).

That was my first thought as well, however as far as I can tell the situation might be considered to be a bit different than the one in the related questions as I'm looking for tutoring in the area not overlapping with the course they're TA'ing.

Let your TA decide.
There is nothing wrong with asking, especially if the material to be tutored lies outside the scope of your course.

I'm a bit worried that may lead to some kind of awkwardness later on. Unless I'd do it anonymously but it doesn't really sound much better to be fair


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How not to get drowned in details and questions?
Hi I am a perfectionist electrical and electronics student who struggles with studying because I cannot focus on the subject or context as I cannot let go of the questions or details that trouble me. I always feel like I must be an expert regarding the subject and be able to answer all the questions that one might raise no matter how stupid or unrelated those questions are. That is why I am not academically successful and satisfied. What mindset should I adopt to overcome this situation? I feel totally frustrated and hopeless. I tried out psychological help but it keeps coming over and over.

Quite related: What are some strategies to deal with perfectionism?.

How long has this been going on? A few weeks or even a couple months is probably not a big deal. If you have been unable to focus for many months, you definitely need to go back to that psychological help. In the short term I'd suggest talking to your professor about the text/notes in particular and why you feel they are unsatisfying, and see if the professor can suggest a reference that might suit your needs better.

See also this almost-duplicate: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/89032/how-to-stop-hopping-the-learning-chain-and-actually-begin-somewhere

I tried out psychological help but it keeps coming over and over.

First this is important. If you have received any behavioral or medical interventions you'll need to discuss with your health care providers and let them know you're not progressing.

My overarching question back to you is: Have you considered aspiring to be a perfectionist in time use and efficiency?
Collect necessary information before studying: Make sure the materials you need to study are handy before engaging the study: syllabus, texts, notes, assignments, etc. Minimize wandering off for extra materials along the way.
Set goals and time: Before studying, state clearly what the goal is and how much time you'll allocate to it. E.g. "I'll spend 2.5 hours in this lab report, and I will spend no more than 2 lines of text for each point I wish to score."
And it's fine to set up a time for deep diving as well: "Tonight, I'll spend 1.5 hour and binge reading/searching this theory. I don't know what would come out of it, but I will enjoy this adventure and bonus for me if I can find a few new insights."
Go through a set of checklists before doing anything: Have a set of "mantra" before committing to anything. It's up to you what they should be, but generally focus on return of investment. Here are some I always ask myself:

Is the objective of this work "SMART" enough? (SMART: Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time/duration is clear.)
Is this work in alignment with my value?
Is this work going to propel me forward in [whatever endeavor: studying, career, etc.]?
What will I likely gain if I do this work?
Is there any other work I can/should do which will bring a better gain?

Ask this before, and ask this whenever you change your focus or attention onto something else. Keep a diary on your daily time use efficiency and review them often.
Have a "mind dump": When strayed thoughts invite, instead of immediately engaging them, jot them down somewhere. It can be a paper pad on your desk, Evernote/OneNote, post-it, voice messages, etc. Put them in one collection point, and revisit them during your "wild hunt" time.
It may be more useful to see these strayed thoughts as a group periodically. You may found that something you wondered last month was resolved in the class this week. By putting these questions together instead of deep diving into each of them immediately, you can better see the landscape.

Having a mind dump is gold.

of course I say yes to your question

Dealing with details is what makes good engineers (of any type so I don't get roasted), that way bridges don't fall down, rockets don't fail and the lights stay on...
Try and work out where you need to go for detail and what you can just accept...

I can't deal with psychological issues, of course, but there is another side to this. When you deal overly in detail, you run the risk of missing the big picture. Insight into why a system works as it does can be as valuable as knowledge about its intricate details. If you miss this (missing the forest for the trees) you may not be able to integrate all of the "knowledge" that you have gained.
I suggest that you build yourself a habit of stepping back to look at the bigger picture on a regular basis. Hourly if you are working hard or daily.
Buy yourself a deck of index cards. Periodically take a blank card and write on it the "key idea" underlying what you have been looking at since the last card. What is the big picture here? Why are these details important.
These cards become a sort of table of contents of what you have learned. If you can force yourself to look at the overall system, even if just for a moment, you can build a habit of capturing the big picture.
But, for it to work, you need to make it a habit and to do that you may need to really force yourself to do it initially.
The advantage of index cards over, say, your laptop, is that a card can only hold a small amount of information - a couple of sentences. You can also carry them around with you, including a few blank cards, and review or record new thoughts. They can be sorted, etc. You can even take a small set of cards and create a new card to summarize the big idea contained in that set, leading to a hierarchy of "big thoughts".
I can't guarantee that this will get you out of the microscopic view situation, but it can help you avoid missing what it is really all about.

Wasn't it a really small seal that took the shuttle out? small details can be so important...

@SolarMike, wasn't it ignoring the big picture of how the system interacts with the weather? Do you recommend ignoring the big picture? I didn't recommend ignoring details.

Do you mean how that seal acted with temperature? And when you put "When you deal overly in detail..." what di d you really mean?

@SolarMike: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster

read Professor Feinmann's book... Very revealing...


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Bringing my nephew to classes with me
How does bringing babies to classes make the person, i.e. the student who brought the baby to school, feel?

Can you be clearer. Is the baby with the student or the teacher?

Sorry, but I really don't understand the question or the reason for asking. Can you clarify a bit. We can't, of course, know how anyone "feels". Or are you just asking if it is acceptable to do this?

What is this website about? I would like more information about it.

See the help center: https://academia.stackexchange.com/help

Related : https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27230/children-in-the-classroom

I think in general, people realize that there are situations beyond one's control where things that are less than ideal are accepted in order to allow education to continue.
If you google-search for "Prof holds baby" you'll get a lot of hits for cases in which the lecturer holds the baby to let the student pay attention to the course material.
How does this make one "feel"??  I suspect that the person would feel much like they would in any other situation where one is different from the majority of the people in the room.  The person might do fine, so long as the baby behaves well, and if the baby starts crying, like babies do, you may feel differently.  Same as if you brought a baby into a fancy restaurant on a Saturday night -- you might choose to be ready to leave if things go wrong and those in the room can't tolerate it.  If you're sensitive, you might not like being the center of negative attention, or you may be a person that's fine with it.
I suspect that if it's necessary to continue one's education, it might be well tolerated.  Further, the person who does it might feel proud that they're able to work hard and pull off a tough situation successfully.  It might not be well tolerated if it's every class and the baby is fussy, and the person with the baby might feel like they wanted to disappear.


text:
In which tense should the conclusion line of existing studies be written?
I am bit confused in which tense I should write the conclusion of existing studies in literature review.
For example in past tense, I write the methodology and result of a study. Now I want to write

The findings provide a strong technical foundation for ......

Or should I write

The findings provided a strong technical foundation for ......

Whichever you choose, make it consistent. I see many papers where they flip between past and present tense repeatedly within one paragraph, I get a bit seasick from that. :)

This might be informative: https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/effective-writing-13815989/#:~:text=In%20your%20scientific%20paper%2C%20use,an%20experiment%2C%20and%20so%20on.

The difference is very slight. If the findings still provide a strong technical foundation, the presence tense would be more accurate. If you use the past, you might be seen to indicate that they once did, but no longer do provide a strong technical foundation, e.g. because the field has moved on to a better analysis.

If you use the past, you might be seen to indicate that they once did, but no longer do - I think only if the surrounding context suggests this.  To me the difference is more about how far in the past it had an effect, and whether this effect came to fruition already or is ongoing.

I suggest present tense. Angelika Hofmann (Scientific Writing and Communication, fifth edition) suggests in 4.4 (Tense) that one should

Use past tense for observations and specific conclusions

Use present tense for general rules and established knowledge

Hofmann expands on the latter:

You should use present tense for general rules, accepted facts, and established knowledge. Thus, results from already published papers should be described in the present tense as published results are generally assumed to be "facts." Similarly, if something is a general rule or fact that is still true in the present, use present tense.
If you use past tense for describing results of already published work, you are implying to the reader that you do not consider these results to be "facts" but observations.

In your case, you are reporting on the findings of a study. Those are results that provide a technical foundation for something. That suggests that the results are still true. So you should probably use present tense.

It's not entirely clear to me what she means by "observations" as opposed to "facts". Maybe she means "talk about what we know in the present, but about what was written in the past". For instance, "In paper X, author showed that..." "In last section, we proved that..."

To stress the point of the present tense write:

There is a strong technical foundation (citation) for...


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OCD and studying
Learning or studying is a huge burden on me and I always feel like I spend 10 times much more effort than any other student to start studying and keep it going. I am struggling with OCD many years and I also saw counseling, took medications etc but never benefited it. I am an engineering student and often fail many things such as exams, assignments or lab work due to my stupid compulsions. I always take studying too seriously and compel myself to be perfect at it(no flaw allowed). I cannot lose my focus, I must learn everything I see or read instantly, I must solve every question at one attempt etc. When I fail to be perfect, I am overrun by great dismotivation which makes me stop studying and procrastinate. I always think that those high achievers, A+ students are nothing but perfect learners and students when they sit down to study. What mindset should I use to trick my brain into accepting imperfections and mistakes?? I have no possibility to see a profession any more, I am on my own

This seems to be a repeat of your earlier question: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/119053/how-not-to-get-drowned-in-details-and-questions

Does your university not have student support services that can help you? Your tutor should be able to direct you to the right place or perhaps you could ask a lecturer you trust.

I don't think that people on this forum are likely to be able to give you psychological advice on OCD, and for that matter you will probably get better expertise by directing those questions to psychologists.  Having given that caveat, one thing I can certainly say from an academic perspective is that it is simply not true that high-achieving students go through academic material without difficulties, and without making errors.  Top students at university usually succeed due to a mixture of innate ability and tenacity - they are willing to keep attacking difficult material, and making mistakes, until it yields to them.  Top students often spend large amounts of time studying, doing practice questions, getting some of them wrong, seeking help from their lecturers, etc.  They succeed because they are willing to push past the difficulties - not because they don't have difficulties.
As evidence for this basic truth, you should observe that the entire framework of university education assumes that learning core tertiary material takes years of practice, and involves progression standards that generally only require you to get at least half-correctness in assessable material.  The material at university is taught and assessed on the basis that it requires long periods of practice, error, contemplation, correction, more error, and then finally (partial) understanding.  Even top students do not generally sail through courses with grades near one-hundred percent.  Material is generally difficult during the courses where it is first introduced, and the earlier material gradually seems easier as you progress further through your education.  By the time your progress through a few years of university, the material taught in first-year starts to become more automated and intuitive, and you find that material that was previously difficult now seems easier.  (Similarly, look back at the basic arithmetic and algebra you were taught in primary school and high school.  Looking back, it now seems quite simple compared to what you are studying now.)
It seems that you are already aware of this on a conscious level, but you are nonetheless exhibiting a "fear of failure" (what psychologists sometimes call fear of negative evaluation).  This appears to be causing you to behave in a way that precludes repeated attempts at difficult material in the face of failure.  In short, you appear to be engaging in a form of self-sabotage that prevents you having the tenacity that is necessary for success.  I cannot speak to the psychology of OCD, but I am suspicious of any viewpoint that would assert that you have to "trick" yourself into success.  Rather than trying to "trick your own brain" it is much better to stop tricking yourself --- re-evaluate your false idea of how success is achieved (i.e., without any difficulty or error) and adapt your thinking and actions to the reality of what is required for success.
Since I'm not a psychologist, that brief pep-talk is all I can really offer.  However, there are many resources available giving advice on managing and overcoming fear of failure.  These might help you get started.


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Are there any citation managers that track author-specific affiliations?
I'm looking to clean up our citation database and would like to be able to record the institutions that authors are affiliated, especially in cases where a publication is reporting on a collaboration beyond a single lab or institution. However as far as I can tell, Zotero, Mendeley and Papers (Mac) don't support the ability to associate each author with a particular university or institution. Does anyone know of any citation or bibliography management software that enables this level of detail in capturing citations?

To those voting to close: please see the linked meta question regarding shopping questions. In my opinion, this doesn't fit that bill at all and is directly on-topic here.

For what it's worth, this is a nonstandard entry in bibtex, so that's not apparently a good solution here. Curious if there is a good one.

@eykanal biblatex supports data field annotations, but I am not sure if there is a reference manager that makes use of them.

Depending on how you define citation or bibliography management software, you can get part of the way there in the LaTeX world. The biblatex package in conjunction with the biber program supports data annotations. With biblatex/biber the database files can be in a variety of formats, but the most common is probably a bibtex .bib file (yeah the LaTeX world is confusing). Assuming a .bib file, for each entry you would add a field author+an with a value similar to 1=University A; 2=University B; ...; N=University N to denote the affiliation of each author (I think it can even support a list of affiliations for each author). With biblatex and biber you can store the author specific affiliations in the data base and get access to them when citing, but this is only part of the way there.
I am not aware of a nice graphical front end for managing bib files that directly supports data field annotations. The database is a plain text file, so maybe a text editor counts ...
I am also not aware of any biblatex styles that utilize data annotations, so you would have to roll your own. While updating a style to print the annotations is relatively easy, at the user level you are pretty limited. J Doe at University A and J Doe at University B are going to be treated as the same person. There is no user level support for sorting based on author name and then affiliation (or even affiliation of the first author).

On the Mac, you can use BibDesk, which allows you to create custom fields, and hence would allow you to create that data. The problem, as you already mention, is how do you use the annotations…

Try Scopus. They support a tracking system where you can export scientists' work and obtain their respective affiliation per publication. However, it might be a bit tedious depending on how many scientists you want to investigate.


text:
Can I still mention a project as research project if it was/will not be published in my cv for graduate studies application?
I have done several projects with novel approaches to some problems during my computer science undergraduate studies. Some are course projects but still novel algorithms. These projects have not been published as a paper/conference due to non state of the art results/time constraints etc.
Can I still put them as research projects in the "university projects" section of my CV? I have the code publicly available on github and can also share the reports for the same on github. I also have a separate publication section so published and unpublished work is separate.
I am creating my CV for graduate school admission for masters in computer science (research/thesis based programs)

Is this for study in India, or elsewhere?

If you have done some research to get those projects done , you can definitely classify them as research projects.

@Buffy elsewhere (North america)

There is (usually) no fixed form for a CV. If you think these projects are relevant to people evaluating your admission request, then you can put them into your CV. Make sure that people can easily find your github projects by providing clickable links and make sure that you are not embarrassed by what they find. At the very least, have a good ReadMe file. Remember also that a CV that is too long will/might not be read with the same care as a normal one.


text:
Should I email a faculty for graduate program if they have mentioned they might not reply but haven't said not to email them
I am applying to thesis based Master's degree programs (in Canada/USA) and I have checked the profiles some faculties. Some faculties mention not to email them and just mention them in my statement of purpose/application form, some have asked to email them some details about myself such as CV and why I want to work with them, but for some, it just says they might not reply as they get a lot of emails, without giving any strict position on emailing them.
In the last case, should I email them for their later reference when they might come across my admission details and might want to check other details about me(without expecting a response) or does that mean I should not email them.

What would be the purpose/content of that e-mail?

@erc content related to why i'd like to work with them and why I'd be a good fit for the type of projects they/their lab have been working on based on my past experiences. Ones that have asked prospective students to email them have asked for this info. Purpose would be to show interest in working under them on a thesis.

Note that, in the US, at least, one only chooses an advisor after acceptance into a graduate program, not before. And individual faculty members have little to no influence on acceptance unless they happen to be on the admissions committee. I don't know if it is the same in Canada, but think it might be.
So, while you can write to them, expressing interest, it won't have any effect on whether you are accepted or not. And, if you are accepted you can then visit with them to explore possibilities for the research/thesis.
Many professors don't spend time or effort on such mails, since they don't lead to much in most cases. The situation is quite different other places, like parts of Europe.
In any case, don't flood them with information.

Even in the US, this isn't necessarily a hard-and-fast rule: my (neuroscience) PhD program had rotations, and therefore delayed picking an advisor until the first year. The psych program (with many of the same faculty!) essentially had direct admissions. Where I work now in Canada has both: there's a (more competitive) rotation program, but students can also be directly admitted to a particular lab.


text:
Career advice: How to move on in academia after a negative PhD experience?
I am post-PhD and I am really struggling with the job search phase of my career. My PhD took me almost a decade to finish, with time off, because after successfully completing all of the requirements up to the dissertation in the span of 4 years (note: my discipline is generally known to have longer completion times), my writing period was fraught with dealing with mental health issues (that are likely to some extent environmental... a direct result of things that happened in both my masters and PhD, sexual assault in the field and many personal losses). While the university and the department did everything they could to accommodate me so I could finish, my masters supervisor, the PI I had on a project I worked on before my PhD, and my PhD supervisor saw me through their respective duties, but now ignore any attempt at communication and requests for references (note: I was close with my PhD supervisor at the beginning of my PhD, but I am now seeing indications that they have distanced themself as well after a couple of years of me trying to figure out the post-doc world). I have one other reference from one of my committee members in my department, but nothing more. Most TT jobs I’ve seen require 3 references, and teaching positions require 2 refs. I want to continue on in academia and am currently working on publications (while getting support for my mental health). With Covid, the precarity situation and without the references, I’m afraid it may be difficult to even get a teaching position now, even as an adjunct. I have taught at the university level (both in my undergrad and masters) but not in my doctoral discipline. However, I don’t know what to do in terms of references if it truly is the case now where the three core people I could normally get a reference (that would attest to my ability to do a job) from won’t even acknowledge me. I didn’t have this problem with my undergrad professors and am still in touch with them (who are at a different university than my masters and PhD). I am basically trying to move on successfully after a horribly fraught 12 years of work but keep coming up against obstacles. Any suggestions to start to rebuild my references? Even if I can’t stay in academia, I will need more than what I have.
Also, if anyone has suggestions about the standard practices of academia for addressing long PhD completion times due to mental health issues in applications, please feel free to include. I applied for a post-doc grant and felt required to explain my long completion time but (stigma!) I feel it works against me.
Thanks you your thoughts.


text:
Why is there a general dislike for asian universities?
I had intentions of applying for higher education in Korea or Japan, but I was told many times that "Doing PhD in an Asian university is a career suicide".
Why is that?
My field is cognitive neuroscience, and to be more specific I'm interested in a  PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Seoul National University.

This seems a bit sweeping. Just off the top of my head, for what that's worth, the Universities of Singapore and of Hong Kong have stellar reputations in many areas.

Generalisations like this often blur the lines between fact and propoganda. Its best to think and judge independently, as behoves an academic.

Maybe you should talk to the people who told you this, and ask them why they think this way?

In Asia, very generally speaking, things are often very hierarchical. The prof's opinion is rarely questioned, and students are the prof's worker bees. That occurs in the west, too (all too often), plus it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, and there are countless counter-examples. But I guess that's what the people warning you thought or thought other people (those who might hire you in five years) think.

For what career exactly? academia? And where?

It really depends on where and what you're studying. Physics at the University of Tokyo - it's a very reputable (stellar?) program; computer science at Tsinghua - it can be pretty good, depends on your field and advisor; studying (Greco-Roman) classics in Asia - probably not? But unfortunately, I know nothing about SNU or cognitive science; however, if your potential advisor usually publishes in reputable places, it's probably not a bad idea.

I wouldn't say dislike, it is rather a distrust. What is your purpose with PhD, when you finish if you finish

Similar to https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/107964/is-obtaining-a-phd-from-an-asian-country-really-a-career-suicide/10796

As @Karl points, it might just be that people are warning you about the independence as a research student. In many places in Asian universities, you won't find that. That is both good and bad.

Maybe because they're less well known (in the US and perhaps Europe too)...?
In the US, for instance, everyone knows about Harvard, Yale, MIT, etc. They probably also know about Oxford and Cambridge. But then, few outside of academia will be able to recognize the quality of programs at the other European universities, such as ETH, EPFL, TU Munich, the University of Copenhagen, or, in the case of Asia: at the University of Tokyo, the National University of Singapore, the University of Hong Kong, the Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology, etc. Less recognition means general distaste/disdain.
But then, if you ask people in the right niche, they will give much better evaluations. A physicist will know that the University of Tokyo has a very good (indeed, one of the best) physics department, their research leading to quite a few Nobel prizes. A mathematician would likely recognize the Kyoto University Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences (again, a few of their faculty members have been honored with Fields medals). A computer scientist might know about the National University of Singapore's computing programs. A biomedical scientist would probably have good things to say about the University of Hong Kong, and so on. There's quite a lot of top cadre research going on in many Asian universities!
Moreover, it can even depend on the subfields concerned: for example, in general computer science, the Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique (INRIA; the French National Institute for Computer Science) might not pop up as a big name; in my subfield, though, it's a very renowned place. The best advice: ask someone who knows about your field very well!
(Of course, I know very little about SNU, and nothing about cognitive science. But someone has to know.)

Honestly, I never heard someone is accepted in academia, just bcs of reputation of UNI. it is more likely to be regarded in terms of publication record

The question is where the top people at the named institutions or generally from those countries got their doctorates.

@SSimon Of course. But then OP is picking a PhD program, and his best bet is probably going to a department (and studying under an advisor) with a good reputation, which will likely lead to more, better publications. No one gets to choose their publication record before they enroll, it really depends on many, many things :-)

@Karl AFAIK, most professors at U of Tokyo Physics Dept and KURIMS received their degrees in Japan. I have seen quite a few Japanese PhD graduates getting jobs in the West as well. For NUS/HKU, it depends on the department: usually it's about split-half, but indeed many of the top people have PhDs' from the UK/US (most, but not everyone. I have certainly seen HKU PhD graduates getting jobs in the US too). Of course, none of them work in neuroscience, so I don't know how well the OP's concerns are addressed; to me though it seems that neuro isn't a big thing in Asia as of yet.

^of course I'm talking about R1 (or equivalent) universities here. At a R3 or weaker R2 it probably matters even less where you got your PhD from...

In addition to xuq01's answer, which covers most bases pretty well:
It is pragmatically a good idea to do your PhD in the broad geographical area where you also see yourself staying for the longer term. The actual science is, or at least should be, pretty international. A good research method in Asia should also be a good research method in the US.
However, the whole surrounding framework (how are PhD students advised, and how are PhD schools organized? which grants are available and how does one apply for them? how does undergraduate education work? what does a typical career track look like? how is the university organized?) can vary tremendously between geographical areas. When you learn your ropes in Asia, you may find that a lot of how you think an academic career works will not transfer easily to Europe or the US. Further, if you do your PhD in Korea your professional network will presumably be in Asia, making it harder to find good references for applying for jobs in Europe or the US.
Of course, there are also significant advantages to doing your PhD abroad, most importantly that you will see this different perspectives first-hand and will gain a lot of experience that other academics may miss, but you should prepare yourself that you will ultimately pay for this with additional challenges when you want to move back.

you will ultimately pay for this with additional challenges when you want to move back.

Ideally, I wouldn't move back.

If she wants to return back and work in neuroscience, I think it is not possible. hard  pill to swallow

Yep, connections are really important, especially in the US...

I have recently spent two years in China where I worked as a postdoctoral fellow. I was in touch with many PhD students, almost all of them Chinese. A few international PhD students. Mainly from two well-known national institutions, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and South China Agricultural University. I can speak of my local impressions and of I have learnt from my colleagues (most are Asian) about other places.
Personally while (i) I do not recommend pursuing a PhD in Asia for someone who is seriously interested in STEM research and Science , (ii) I definitely do not think that would be "a career suicide". In fact nowadays a degree in Asia may prove a great CV implement and attract considerable employers' interest.
How do I mean?
(i) My impression is that a closed, rigid hierarchy-oriented culture which is refractory to axiom-challenging cannot foster high-quality philosophy and scientific thinking. My colleagues and references complain that a general feature in Asian societies is that open discussion and critique are in direct conflict with main pillars of formal education and social traditions. This pervades the Academia as a widespread notion that PhD supervisors are regarded as leaders instead of tutors, and the focus is results-oriented; classes are professed top-down as lectures and PhD candidates are still evaluated by school-fashion tests & grades based on memory and mechanistic performance. Thus being, I strongly recommend science-aspiring individuals to train as PhDs inside multicultural pockets where critical, independent thinking are encouraged, especially where there is a sedimented tradition of Scientific Method.
(ii) Most individuals pursuing a PhD are actually not primarily interested in STEM research and science, but keen on building a strong CV and connections towards a safe career path. History shows that Science and curiosity-driven research is not about securing a job, good connection, stable salary pay. Stats and facts show that Modern Academia and Industry are also not rewarding unbiased thinking and traditional scientific principles. There is a growing interest in official performance numbers, and many countries in Asia are leading the latest professional rankings in highest specialised fields of industry. The chances of getting hired as a PhD seem to be currently much greater in Asia (e.g. China, Thailand, Vietnam, India) than elsewhere. A PhD completed in Asia is guaranteed to pave the path to strong connections for a stabler career in Asia, as well as select those individuals capable of adapting to local cultural standards (and language). All Asian PhDs I have met seem quite sure of their short-term goals and seem great performers towards modern 'system' rewards. Thus being I do recommend career-driven performers (i.e. the majority of professionals) to consider taking a PhD (abroad) in Asia, which I believe is a strong asset to CVs nowadays.
As with everything else in life, the value and price of choices/opportunities depend on circumstances -- e.g. whether you are a (i) or a (ii) kind of person.
P.S. Anyone interested in this thread should also read http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/107964/is-obtaining-a-phd-from-an-asian-country-really-a-career-suicide


text:
PhD Applications and GRE Subject Tests during Covid
I just recently finished a masters program in Mathematics, unfortunately it seems most PhD Programs require a math GRE Subject test. At the moment I'm living with my parents and don't feel comfortable going in to take an exam with others - especially with the cases in the US right now, but I don't want to lose a shot at getting into some programs.
Does anyone know if universities have lifted the requirement for GRE Subject tests as a result of Covid?
Thanks

Certainly if universities want students in a time of chaos, they need to be somewhat flexible in their admissions. Some will have dropped the GRE requirement, and some haven't had it for a while.
Unfortunately that is an individual decision by an individual university (or perhaps a statewide system) in the US, so you have to inquire for each university to learn a useful answer. Don't assume that any given university has, or hasn't, made changes to their requirements.
However, note that ETS is making accommodations also. It is possible to take the General Test at home under certain circumstances. It doesn't seem to include the Subject tests, though that may change.

Thanks for the answer! Unfortunately the test at home option is for the General Test, not the Subject Tests, though I'm surprised they don't offer that. (Ah correction, I see now you edited!)

@GastonGonzalez: There is a reason that test at home is available for General but not Subject.  For the general, they have enough test takers to be able to collect lots of data to statistically calibrate the difficulty of many different versions of the test.  For any particular subject test, they have a lot less data and hence they are only able to calibrate one or two versions at a time, so if they do test at home, the test will be leaked and there will be widespread cheating.

Some universities are not requiring GRE test this year due to the pandemic, see for example UChicago's website - https://mathematics.uchicago.edu/academics/graduate-programs/mathematics-phd-program/how-to-apply/
On the other hand, I know 10-14 days quarantining alone in a motel, after taking the test, might be depressing, but it seems that's one possible solution for your situation.
If you know some other friends taking the GRE, you can do that together and actually enjoy this time.

It seems Princeton is also GRE optional - https://www.math.princeton.edu/graduate/admissions , same with MIT - https://math.mit.edu/academics/grad/admission/index.php, CAL - https://math.berkeley.edu/programs/graduate/admissions , Stanford - https://mathematics.stanford.edu/academicsgraduate-students/graduate-admissions . I suspect Harvard is doing/will do the same. So probably if you are just applying to top-6, you should be OK.
Nevertheless, it is always smart to cast a wide net in your applications, especially giving the current pandemic and academia/job market effects.


text:
How should I decline a referee request for the paper which I refereed before?
I have received a referee request for a paper that I refereed and rejected a few months ago. I would like to decline the request because although the recent journal's rank is lower than the previous one, I will reject the paper again for the same reasons I gave last time. Hence it would be better to decline the request to referee. What should I write to the editor in this situation?
A friend suggested I write to the editor.

Do take a look at this
and this. The general conclusion of both threads appears to be, don't decline.

Please take time to read the paper carefully and note if there are any improvements made to the paper without bias. If you think the paper has improved, you may decide not to reject.

I didn't understand the question. Why did someone asking you for refereeing a paper?

@manuel because that's how the peer review system works...

I will reject the paper again for the same reasons I gave last time. Hence it would be better to decline the request to referee. If everyone behaved like that, there would be no rejections, just extended time to find referees until a positive one agrees to do the job. I think that would introduce an unnecessary bias in the review process towards not rejecting.

@RichardHardy, wouldn't it seem reasonable to allow authors a second opinion, at least?

@RichardHardy : Why would it mean no rejections? If the reason why a paper is rejected is that it ought to be rejected, wouldn't getting another referee normally also result in rejection?

You seem to be assuming that the paper has been resubmitted to a new journal without modification. Assuming that you gave constructive feedback with your earlier rejection, isn't it likely that the authors will have improved it?

@paulgarrett, I think declining to review based on the recommendation one would give is a fundamentally wrong approach to reviewing, just as I stated above. A second opinion may be fine when a referee declines to review based on some other reason, though.

@MichaelHardy, if everyone behaved like that (following a rule "Do not review if the review is going to be negative"), there would be no negative reviews. This is a little extreme, but I think it illustrates the point well.

@RichardHardy : When did anyone ever suggest that one should not review if the review will be negative??

@MichaelHardy, this is how I read the OP, particularly I will reject the paper again for the same reasons I gave last time. Hence it would be better to decline the request to referee.

@RichardHardy : Did you expect me somehow to know that you were putting that strange interpretation on it? That's not what it says at all.

@RichardHardy : Up-voting your comment certainly does not indicate understanding of it.

@RichardHardy : The original poster certainly never suggested declining to review papers when the review would be unfavorable. Rather he said he wondered if he should decline to review the same paper a second time when the second review would be just as unfavorable.

Doctor: "you're overweight". Patient: "I want a second opinion". Doctor: "you're also ugly". No, the patient wanted an opinion from a different person. Of course, one can disagree with paul's claim that it's reasonable to allow authors a second opinion when they submit to another journal, but one cannot pretend that the same reviewer can provide that second opinion. I do wonder though whether the questioner would be concerned about reviewing again if the original recommendation had been to accept.

I recommend against declining. You've already refereed the paper once, which means you can referee the paper again much quicker than a fresh set of eyes can.
Instead, send your original comments back. If the authors have updated the paper, send an explanation of why it's still not publishable as well. Then write in the "confidential comments to editor" box that you've reviewed the paper before, you still recommend rejection, and your original comments are attached. The editors will know what to do.

Well, only send the original comments back if they haven't been addressed in the newly submitted version...

@Vincent 's comment could be inserted between paragraphs 1 and 2 of this answer. Verify if there is no change to the paper.

The OP said "I will reject the paper again for the same reasons I gave last time" so I assumed the issues haven't been addressed. I'll edit the answer.

It seems likely that the questioner rejected the paper for fundamental reasons which cannot conceivably be addressed (and least, not and the result be anything like the original paper). After all, the recommendation was to reject, not to revise and resubmit.

Your friend is right. You should email the editor (or whoever asked you to review the paper) and explain the situation. The editor can then decide what to do.
Here's an example of what you can write (assuming it is accurate):

I thought I should let you know that I already reviewed this manuscript in a different context. I recommended against publication. My concerns appear not to have been addressed in the current manuscript. Would you still like for me to review this paper (in which case I would repeat my prior comments) or would you like to find a fresh reviewer?

I think I like this option the best of what's been posted.  It doesn't go so far as to say you've immediately judged the paper as unworthy for the current journal (as Paul says in his answer: unless the problems with the paper are fundamental/severe, it may fail muster on importance/content in one journal but not other), but makes it clear you've previously done so for some other journal and want to know if that would be considered acceptable or unacceptable to the editor. And this can change depending on if the topic/field has many potential reviewers or very few.

I’ve done this a few times, and each time, the editors said they were very happy with it.  I’d note though that if you’re offering to re-review at all, you shouldn’t just resubmit your earlier review — make sure to update it to reflect any revisions they’ve made.  If e.g. they’ve fixed some minor errors, then make sure to remove mention of those, so that you don’t detract from more serious criticisms that are still valid.  If you don’t want to give the submission so much of your time, then that (not the fact it’s a re-review) is a good reason to decline.

+1 because you provided draft text for a note to the editor. The OP requested this, and extra effort likee this improves the utility of answered for the OP and those of us that wander searching for wisdom.

You are not obliged to explain to the editors why you decline (as they are not obliged to explain why they chose you out of all people to send the request for refereeing to). So, if you have decided that you prefer to decline the job, you always have an option of just saying "Sorry, I cannot accept this request at this time", signing "Sincerely, /your name/", clicking the "send" button in your e-mail tool, and forgetting about it.
This is, of course, called "washing your hands" and there are some moral reservations about this choice in this particular situation, but if you really want to be over with it, that would be one of the quickest routes.

Time is money and limited, I hardy would call managing it smartly "washing your hands".

I'd think it would be fair to give the authors a chance to "get a second opinion". Thus, decline, and do not tell the editor that you'd recommended rejection for any other journal.
For that matter, I hope you do realize that the "tiers" of journals are significantly about "status", so that an otherwise-correct write-up that is insufficiently high-status for one venue might be fine for a lesser-status venue.
You didn't say your reasons for recommending rejection. If they were anything other than blatant falsity or nonsense, it would be reasonable to give them a chance to meet the status-threshhold of a lesser journal, etc.

Why should reviewers have to worry about 'tiers' and 'status'? Leave this to editors. Reviewers need not do the editor's job, and need only give journal-independent comments.

I do not see why reviews should be considered as a geometric process where, if a sufficient large number of reviewers is contacted, the paper ends up being accepted. Imho, reviews should be made public whether or not the paper is accepted in order to avoid this possibility and a waste of time.

@SylvainRibault, many times the editor's request has been exactly about my opinion on the suitability of a paper for the specific journal. Also, comments surely must depend on context. To say that the context is "absolute" is hard for me to understand...

@paulgarrett An "editor" who delegates such questions to reviewers should rather be called a secretary. Whether an article is clear, technically correct, or interesting to you, are journal-independent statements.

@SylvainRibault: an editor can strike a balance though, seeking the opinion of peers (or for that matter reviewers who are not peers) without delegating the decision. Blinkered autocracy is not an explicit requirement of the job.

@SylvainRibault, surely clarify and interest-to-me are very subjective, and I'd claim that while "technical correctness" might be more objective, it surely depends on the perceptions of the reader. So unless I decide I'm infallible, perhaps a second opinion could be good.

authors: Xi'an ні війні


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Asking to visit a university, and be given workspace for a week
We have a few questions on offering to give a talk at a university.
And the general response is that is pretty acceptable.
It is basically asking to be invited as a speaker.
What I am wondering about is:
I am asking to be invited to speak and to be given a working space.
Details:
My university has a spare office or two in every department for "visiting academics". Is this typical of universities?
I believe they are intended for professors on sabbatical. But perhaps not exclusively so, last year an engineer with a well-known company's research group invited himself to use one such space in our university.
We also have a few spare spaces in the lab, I've never seen our space used by a visiting student, but friends in other labs tell me they fairly regularly have visiting student's in their labs.
I am going to a conference about a month before my PhD thesis is due.
It is in a city where I have a few contacts.
I've heard about some of the work their groups are doing, and I'd like to be able to meet with them.
I'ld also like to have a place to sit and work on my thesis when I am not.
I thought I might talk to my contacts and see if I could arrange to be invited to give a talk about my thesis work, and also be given some space to work.
(Whether a desk in a lab, or in an office, is of little consequence.)
I thought perhaps a week before the conference would give me plenty of time to meet with people and have deep discussions etc.
Asking for an invitation is of-course a favour, but I'm not sure how big a favor I'd be asking.

Is asking to be invited to visit a lab for a week a big favor?
Is asking for space to work on top of that a greater favor? (or is that implied?)

It's certainly possible. Just ask the PI hosting you politely.

@xuq01 you mean PI potentially hosting me, you mean. Since the question is basically can I reasonable ask my contacts to host me

Hm, yep. But then it can't hurt to ask politely and the worst you'll get is a "no".

worst case, library and eduroam :)

I disagree with the existing answers. I don't see this as a "big ask" at all, as long as your expectations are reasonable. You should not expect to get a nice individual office, but if I know you at all I would definitely be able to find you a space somewhere in my or my division's labs. My students have also done similar visits in the past, sometimes in labs that we did not have extensive connections to, so I guess other people also don't see this as a huge deal.
Of course you should have some idea what you and the host will get out of the visit - people may not be thrilled to host you if this is really just a cover-up for a private visit. Conversely, for a week-long visit, you should also not expect to be "entertained" for the entire week. People will not be able to cancel everything for an entire week.

It's unlikely that a department would extend such a courtesy to a visiting graduate student—normally, priority is given to faculty (or equivalent). It might be possible that the research group that would be hosting you might have a free desk in their shared lab or office space, but I would think anything more than that is potentially a "big ask," as it depends on space constraints. It doesn't hurt to ask, but I would definitely ask "Do you have a workspace for visitors?" rather than "invite yourself" to an office space.
As for the issue of a weeklong stay, it's quite unusual for a grad student to stay that long, in my experience. It does happen, but usually there's an existing collaboration or connection between the host group and the guest's group. You'd probably need a good reason to justify a stay that long otherwise that goes beyond just giving a seminar.

Ah, I will edit the question, I didn't mean it to be specifically about asking for an office space; but for a desk, whether is is in a lab or in an office is of no consequence.

@LyndonWhite I should have said "shared lab or office space." Ultimately, as a grad student, I'd go about asking the research group that would be hosting you first.

Would the thing be more to ask if I can visit their lab for a week, and and then simply run with the assumption that during that week, at some-point   would like to be able to sit-down? Is asking to visit a lab for a week itself a big favor?

@LyndonWhite For a grad student, a week-long stay is unusual but not unheard of. You'd have to have a good reason beyond just a seminar for a stay that long.

@aeismail I disagree that this is a "big ask" or even unusual for a grad student. I have hosted multiple students, and my students have been hosted multiple times for such durations. Oftentimes this was due to a long-standing collaboration, but I would also be quite open to host somebody just to set up a new potential collaboration. I also don't really see the big deal - the visiting student probably doesn't expect a nice single office, and a spot somewhere in a lab for a week should be arrangeable  very informally.

Unless you know someone fairly well, asking for anything other than a meeting is a big ask.  While you seem to see some value is spending a week there, what’s in it for your host?
My experience is that faculty are often coy towards strangers about their current work and lab setup.  Why would these people let you visit their lab?  In some sense you are a competitor (since you work in a closely related topic), so why do you expect these people will show you the stuff that they are working on right now?
It seems you’re assuming people there will have time or make time for you.  This is far from given.  You might be given a chance to give a group seminar (or something similar) but again: why would a professor spend valuable time with you rather than with his students or with immediate collaborators?
Getting workspace comes with another obvious issue: what kind of access do you expect?  Do you need/want off-hour access?  Do you need a key to access the office?  If not, who will let you in?  Who is liable if something goes missing, or there is some accident or whatever?  In other words, do you know your “host” sufficiently well so that she/he can vouch for you if something happens?
The situation of course is clear if you are invited for a week.  Likely your host would see some value in your stay, and would know you or your thesis advisor sufficiently well to “trust” you with office access.

If you already know somebody (staff, not student) in that department, I think it's a perfectly reasonable question to ask. Make it clear that they are free to say "no".
Since your main objective seems to be to have somewhere to work from while you are in a different city, then another route you could explore is to ask your university library whether there is an arrangement to let you use the other university's library facilities, and work there.


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Do positions exist in philosophical research?
For example, in the same fashion that medical professionals might do research on cancer, does there exist comparable positions in philosophy where one "researches," say, Free Will Determinism?

Well there certainly exist philosophy professors in most universities. I don't know what sort of research they do, but that seems like the place to look.

Are you asking about "positions" for students, such as RA, or professional positions?

Yes, for example Oxford's philosophy faculty includes professors of

ancient greek philosophy
philosophy of mind
political philosophy
philosophy of language
practical ethics
philosophy of physics
philosophy of mathematics
medieval philosophy
metaphysics
logic

There are philosophy faculty who specialize in research on a particular topic (see @henning's answer). However, what I think is rare in philosophy and other Arts and Humanities disciplines, it research only positions. Where as in sciences there are purely research, commonly at the postdoctoral level, but also occasionally as full-time permanent employees (e.g. PIs research institutes or staff scientists). Most academic philosophers I know are also teachers to one sort or another, even at the Postdoc level.


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What happens if my PhD interest has changed after a year?
I have had an admission for Spring semester (2019) with funding for PhD in Physics at a USA university. In my application, I mentioned that my area of interest is biophysics and experimental condensed matter physics. However, if my area of interest got changed (Assume for high energy physics or Astrophysics etc.), what happens then? Do the first two years for all PhD Physics students are the same in USA universities?

And your funding is from...?

Did you get admitted into a standard PhD program, or did you make further arrangements, such as skipping courses, or working with a specific advisor, etc.?
If you have an offer for a standard US program (which is usually 5 years), you're probably not bound to what you mentioned as your area of interest.

@anucex I'd guess from the university, as it's the norm (at least in Sciences) for most all US PhDs at the entry level

I'm not from this discipline nor did I study in the US, but I'm only imagine that if the funding is not from a project that requires work on a predefined area, change wouldn't  be impossible. Though, I concur with Buffy that it's highly advisable to check directly with the Department.

Since you've been admitted to what's presumably either a single institution, or a small number of institutions, it's probably more useful to try to figure out how things are handled there than what is typical. I would suggest scouring department websites, and maybe contacting your graduate coordinator, or graduate student representatives first.
That said, if you care for generalities, here are a couple. First thing to note is that the stated research interest is unlikely to be binding. If you can find an advisor to work with, that's all that matters, regardless of field. Changing interests is fairly common, but perhaps not between two extremes. However, the selection of admitted students tends to depend on the available funding, which varies with field. Thus, being able to switch to e.g. astrophysics isn't necessarily easy in practice, particularly if it's a small department. (Now, if you come in with your own funding you can do whatever you want, at least as far as the department is concerned. Of course, whoever granted you that funding might think differently...)
Second, there tends to be a number of mandatory courses for all students, and also field-dependent mandatory courses, and elective ones. (Obviously, biophysics and high energy require very different courses.) Due to these electives, and being able to take classes in different orders, the first two years would not be the same for everyone, but time isn't necessarily wasted if you change interests either. Further, a lot of students find their advisor during/after the first year, and would start their research during the summer semester and second year.
Yet, as I said, that's just a quick rundown of the typical situation. You'd most likely be better served looking up the rules and options for your specific situation.

In Math or CS this would probably be no problem at all as you haven't yet chosen an advisor. In Physics or Chemistry, however, in fields that require a lot of lab work, you may possibly already be assigned to a lab. If that is the case you might have some difficulty switching after you start.
I think your best course of action is to raise this issue with the institution to see where you are precisely and what your options are.
While I think it likely that without an MS you have some flexibility at entry, only the specific department can give you the proper advice. Talk to them.

I know of exactly one chemistry or physics department (out of hundreds) in the US in which entering graduate students are already assigned to a lab, and even that one I'm not sure of. I can't imagine what you're basing your answer on.

@RaghuParthasarathy, other questions here seem to indicate that it happens elsewhere in the world. I though it best to recommend checking rather than making an assumption.


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Article about doing a PhD by prominent mathematician or computer scientist
I vaguely remember reading an article(as an online pdf - possibly via twitter) on why one should/should not do a PhD; what doing a PhD entails. It was well structured and specifically mentioned that a PhD isn't for everyone. I also remember it was written by a prominent computer scientist(or a mathematician). Can anyone provide suggestions/hints about what article it might've been?

Surprisingly, nobody has voted to close because it's a shopping question.

@Allure Flag "Question appears off-topic (data seeking)" was declined by mod.

Here are some sources I have found that speak to the topic of not getting a PhD.
Perhaps this document is the one you are looking for? Both the authors are mathematicians with PhDs. I would not say they are necessarily prominent, but they are established.
http://www.maths.manchester.ac.uk/media/eps/schoolofmathematics/study/guide_2011.pdf

This is a short article reposted by a professor at Stanford University.
https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/545

Here are three other online articles about the topic.
https://medium.economist.com/why-doing-a-phd-is-often-a-waste-of-time-349206f9addb
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/15/should-do-phd-you-asked-autocomplete-questions
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/12-reasons-not-to-get-a-phd/

I will add my own brief commentary here. Obtaining a PhD has never hurt me financially. I have a well paying full-time job that requires a PhD. (Now should the job require a PhD is a different story). There are many, many, many jobs in my field (statistics) that prefer a PhD. I have never regretted obtaining a PhD.

Generally speaking, though, people who earn doctorates do it because they love knowledge more than money.

@Buffy Which is amusing, since usually the 'success' metric for claims of "PhDs are a waste of time" center around money.

Exactly so. Like you, I did fine. My house is nice and I eat well. No big box of krugerrand, though,

I always tell my students that they should go into New York law if they want to make tons of money with a quick graduate degree. I'd then also mention that I have Fridays off while they work 90 hours a week.

Hmmm. Actually, you probably work 24/7/52. But the work is indistinguishable from fun. Imagine, getting paid to think.

@Buffy I don't know, it's nice when you like your work and everything, but that mindset of "if you love your work, why don't you work on weekends and holidays" is what causes burnouts in academia and other fields (computer science, for instance).

@user4052054 I'm not convinced that passion leads to working weekends (causing burnouts). Regardless of how passionate a researcher is, they know they must rest.

Philip Guo writes a lot of advice, including an e-book about earning a PhD.
http://pgbovine.net/PhD-memoir.htm

Perhaps Teach undergraduates that doing a PhD will require them to embrace failure. The author is a molecular biologist, not a mathematician.

Perhaps this short "Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D." by Matt Might? It's a personal favorite of mine. He is a computer scientist but there is not much advice about why it's not for everyone. However, it's worth a read regardless.

I have found the article I was looking for, here. Although the author isn't a popular computer scientist, I did find parts of it quite useful.


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How should I balance two very conflicting peer reviews on a manuscript?
I received reviews for a manuscript that are very conflicting, and I am not sure how best to proceed.
One reviewer states the paper is a great contribution to the field, good length, provides some minor grammatical suggestions, and raises one issue that I can address in the text.
The other reviewer seems to have not understood the paper (which is on me for not making the scope more clear, although Reviewer 1 states the scope exactly in their review and states that they think the paper outlines it well). They state that they don't really see the point of the study and say both that it needs to be made more concise overall but also calls for additional figures, tables, and text in other places.
I am most unsure how to proceed with the length and additional figures/tables part. Any advise on balancing this sort of review?

This is where I would look to the editors letter. Any clues there on how much weight to assign to the needy reviewer?

@Dawn No clues from the associate editor, they were pretty vague:
"A "revise" decision has been made on your manuscript based on my judgement as Associate Editor and on the reviewers' comments. If the revisions that you make are deemed adequate, the manuscript can be accepted. However, acceptance is not guaranteed, especially if major revisions have been recommended."
I was thinking I could reach out to them and ask for a bit more guidance.

@Sursula-they-That question is somewhat helpful about reaching out to the editor, etc, but doesn't address my specific question about conflicting comments about length and figures/tables, which is why I asked a new question. If the community thinks it is a duplicate though, I understand.