text:
While showing my work to my supervisor, an adult website appeared. Am I in trouble?
I will try to make this brief. I am a student at a prominent university in the UK, and while I was showing my thesis work, a website, to my supervisor, the website crashed. Then I was asked to close the browser and open it again.
When I did, it seems a tab of adult content was open from the previous day with explicit content, when that happened, I immediately (without thinking) pressed Cmd-W to close it but it was evident he saw it.
The conversation continued normally and my supervisor completely ignored it. I feel very embarrassed and I am afraid I could be reported or anything.
Am I in trouble? Will I face issues because of this? Thank you in advance.
Edit: My laptop is a personal laptop and not provided by the university. I've also used the University network to access the site from my dorm. I also don't think there are university guidelines that prevent us from accessing adult content.

To address a slightly different question, you should also consider actions to prevent this from happening again. While your supervisor may not take issue this time, a university is a public environment.

@ Nic Hartley this may be true in the academic world, but unless the OP is pursuing a career designing adult websites, accessing pornography from a corporate  computer will get you fired.

@MichaelJ. True, but in this case the OP is a student, so I think that situation doesn't apply. I'd also think the access would have to be intentional.

@aeismail - " I'd also think the access would have to be intentional." I think the point is that while everyone likely knows it was not intentionally shown at the time of the demonstration, but that most likely, it WAS intentionally visited on that computer at an earlier time. As @-MichaelJ said, this is probably less important in an academic setting, than corporate.

@KevinFegan I meant that the corporate access would have to be intentional. Clearly in the OP’s case it was.

@Kat I have a school laptop that I don't share with anyone, a school iPad that I don't share and a personal Macbook Pro that I don't share... But the IT dept can check and control what is happening with the school machines, although not with mine...

porn mode, sorry - incognito mode is just for that. And to test authentication mechanisms (in case someone wonders why I use it)

I've seen worse things pop up while someone was giving a presentation for a larger audience! Think of instant messages ;) I'd recommend to create separate user accounts.

@MichaelJ. This doesn't seem to be the case here, but there are academic contexts in which you might legitimately need to ascertain what's there, even though you're not designing anything of the kind. E.g. if teaching or researching ethical issues concerning porn or feminist perspectives or whatever. Indeed, you may well need to know this despite really not wanting to know.

@NicHartley It's not just a matter of prudery. Porn sites often present security risks, there can be copyright issues if people are viewing pirated material, and they can run up bandwidth costs.

How could we possibly know if you are in trouble? We don't know your supervisor or your university policies for that matter. And no, it is probably not a very good idea to say who that is.

Just FWIW: "I also don't think there are university guidelines that prevent us from accessing adult content." That seems unlikely, so if you aren't certain, it's probably worth checking. Not because of this incident, but because if you're mistaken, your use may eventually raise flags in IT. Probably not flags that will cause you much trouble, just ones that will be a bit embarrassing. (And if you check and find out that you're right, you don't have to worry about that, which also has value.)

So, the second highest voted answer on here has just been deleted... Wow some judgement...

@solarmike yep high votes never midlead anyone on here :)

i.e. So what happen(ed) in the next meeting?

There are reasons why the euphemism "adult" is used in some contexts, but I wonder if I'm the only one who would prefer to avoid it here.

Just explain that it's "all part of the process"

@WoJ "(in case someone wonders why I use it)" either a) someone is witnessing you watching porn in incognito mode, or b) you closed your incognito browser and no-one is any the wiser that you were using incognito mode. In either case there won't be a need to explain incognito mode.

@icc97: you can have several incognito windows open - it happened that I closed one of them but left others open (for authentication tests :))

It's embarrassing, but it's also understandable. I think if your supervisor has decided to ignore it, then you should take this opportunity to not ruminate. So silently thank him, and forget it.
I know advice is always easier said than done though. Rumination is defined as "to keep thinking about a problem which had already been, or can never be solved". The real problem had already been solved at the moment he decided to ignore it, so the only problem here is your rumination. To stop it, every time you feel embarrassed about this topic again, my tip is to shake the idea in your head, like it's just a toy. This will make you distract from the negative feeling.

Related:
• Why You Should Stop Caring What Other People Think (Taming the Mammoth) – Wait But Why
• Straightforwardness, Fearlessness and Improvisation: How to find the fresh perspective? – Ooker

this is good advice except for the last paragrpah. don't say "thank you" and then smile knowingly when they look confused, that's a terrifying interaction.

oh, that really depends on the personality of both. But if both are opened, then I guess OP wouldn't feel much stressful, or the topic had become a joke between them

based on the received response, I've removed the last paragraph. But I think some people will find it's a good topic to talk instead of a terrifying interaction? But anyway, I'll take the point. I don't want to let advice goes in one ear and out another.

The first paragraph is a very good, mature answer

To elaborate what I think on the removed paragraph, a funny, opened guy will think "ha, this guy watched porn yesterday. I like to tease him about this (because we're both opened about our feelings), but better safe than sorry." So if you like this advisor too, you can also take this opportunity to have some fun with him.

I have been in your situation...but sort of from the perspective of your professor.
I was doing an internship with a tech company.
I was assigned to a supervisor, he wasn't a very nice person and treated me rudely. He once slept in front of me while I was giving him a one-on-one presentation of some work I did for him. We had a terrible work relationship.
One day, he wanted me to run an errand for him, and do some simulations after work hours. Begrudgingly, I agreed. I logged in to his desktop and accidentally opened his "alternative" internet broswer (I preferred using Opera for some reasons and saw that he had one installed).
Let's just say, my mind was blown. He was into the some of the hardest of hardcore porn you can imagine (for some reason, it didn't come as that much of a shock to me, as he is known to be a Japan enthusiast). Nothing illegal, mind you.
You know what happened afterwards?
Nothing.
I wanted to tell the other interns. But what is the point?
I secretly wanted to blackmail him. Not worth the trouble.
Did it significantly alter my view of this guy? Frankly, no. I was already upset with the way that he treated me. His "porn" habits only give some rationale or explanation that hints at certain frustration in his life.
And in the end, it didn't matter. We parted ways, and that was the end.
Did he ever knew that I knew? No. Did he ever suspect? I don't know.
Summary:

Somethings are just better left unsaid.
There is nothing you can truly do to change whatever the other's opinion of you.

Even if you win a Nobel prize, if the person on the other end is petty, then he will be reminded of your accidentally slip up and use it to dismiss your achievement. If the person is kind and compassionate, then he will still be reminded it, but will not let him interfere with his opinion of you. There is nothing you can do, so don't ruminate on it and move on.

a. Some people are victims of malware which bring up ads and things like this. Plausible deniability
b. This COULD have been deliberate porn viewing, but there is no way to know WHICH internet connection was used, even if that PC does sometimes use a university connection.
Plausible deniability
c. This COULD have been deliberate porn viewing, but by someone else who has used the same PC.
Plausible deniability
I think the combination of an understanding supervisor and the difficulty they would have to prove wrong doing means that nothing will happen.
As has been mentioned above, you should learn from this experience and take measures to make sure it doesn't happen again. If this happened in a public forum while giving a presentation... AWKWARD!

Yes, definitely always use private browsing when giving a presentation, unless you're absolutely certain you know 100 % of what your browser has stored. Better yet, use a guest account in your OS, with no personal data whatsoever (no embarrassing chat messages or notifications popping out, no private files possibly shown etc.).

Yes in fact my work computer was hacked many years ago (by a student) with some obscene pop-up that could not be made to disappear.  I had to have the disk wiped clean and OS re-installed.  Nevermind the embarrassment, actually loosing the data on the disk was very disruptive.  If anything, this was a painful reminder on password security and network sharing settings.

If it's forbidden to surf non-university related sites, then this is an issue. If not, and you are above 18, then this is embarrassing and nothing else.

From context I'm assuming you were using a university internet connection to view this material? (edit: now confirmed by OP)
Most if not all major universities have some sort of "acceptable use" policy governing student & staff use of IT facilities. For example, here are Oxford's regulations. Some key points:

Users are not permitted to use university IT or network facilities for any of the following:
...

(2) the creation, transmission, storage, downloading, or display of
any offensive, obscene, indecent, or menacing images, data, or other
material, ... except in the case of the use of the facilities for properly
supervised research purposes when that use is lawful and when the user
has obtained prior written authority for the particular activity...;
...
(4) the creation, transmission, or display of material which is
designed or likely to harass another individual in breach of the
University’s Policy and Procedure on Harassment;
(9) the creation or transmission of or access to material in such a way as to infringe a copyright, moral right, trade mark, or other intellectual property right;
...
(12) the deliberate or reckless undertaking of activities such as may result in any of the following ... (f) the introduction or transmission of a virus or other malicious
software into the network;

You should check your university's policies, but they will almost certainly have similar rules to the Oxford ones that I quoted. Many institutions require staff and students to sign an acknowledgement of their rules in order to receive IT access.
If you're viewing porn through your university internet connection, that's an obvious breach of #2. You might also run into some of the other provisions if you're viewing pirated material, if you're viewing it on an untrustworthy site infested with malware, or if anybody thinks you deliberately showed them porn in order to harass them. (The latter probably isn't an issue with the interaction you describe, but it's a risk you face if you don't keep your porn viewing separate from your academic work.)
So, if your supervisor decides to report this, you could very easily be in trouble. Depending on your university's policy, your supervisor may even have a duty to report it.
Whether they will report it - or what will happen if they do - is another question, and this board probably can't answer that. Some people and institutions are relatively slack about enforcing their policies, others are very strict.

I also don't think there are university guidelines that prevent us
from accessing adult content.

I would strongly advise you to check that. It would be extremely unusual for a university (or any other large organisation supplying internet access) not to have some rule along these lines, even if enforcement is light.

From context I'm assuming you were using a university internet connection and possibly a university-supplied computer to view this material? - Where are you getting this?  As far as I can't tell, the OP hasn't addressed this (which they should).

@Kimball OP didn't outright say this, no. But the incident happened while OP was showing their work to their supervisor (i.e. presumably on campus) while they were doing academic work. It's possible that they were using their own privately-purchased mobile internet service at that moment, but that doesn't seem like a very likely scenario. IME staff and students generally make as much use as they can of free campus internet. I do agree that it'd be good if OP clarified this point, though.

It sounds to me like the student was viewing porn at home on their own connection and left the tab open when bringing the computer to campus. The OP did specify that the tab was "from the previous day"

@arp: He was viewing porn at home for sure, but I would not assume he was using his own connection for that - many (?most?) students in the UK live in university provided accommodation, which will have a university provided internet connection.  Furthermore, some universities (Cambridge is one) has a WiFi network which covers the whole of the town centre.

@MartinBonner many yes, most no (outside Oxbridge).  And the university network extends to halls with typically only malware filtering. We can only speculate about the private browsing habits of students in their bedrooms but I think it's safe to say we'd know about it if students' browsing habits were being scrutinised to enforce a no-porn policy.

@arp Quite possible that OP first loaded the porn from a home connection. But the post says they closed and reopened the browser in front of their supervisor, and the porn site then reappeared. This implies that they inadvertently reloaded the porn site at that point, presumably not via a home connection.

@ChrisH In my experience (married to a former IT staffer, heard plenty of stories from the trenches) there's a significant difference between "not looking for AUP violations" and "won't act on an AUP violation when reported".

If nothing was said consider the incident solved.
How to prevent it from happening again?

Different computer accounts;
Different browsers;
Same browser but different profiles.

I use number 3 to separate work from personal browsing in Firefox. Other browsers might have similar capabilities. This allows you to have different extensions, bookmarks, history, etc. During a crash you only get back the tabs from that profile.
In your case you could have work and other-business profiles. You can name a profile porn but it might get awkward to open the profile chooser in front of others.

If there are university guidelines, then you may experience issues. However, if there aren't, you shouldn't because, in your defense, you didn't do anything wrong.
It isn't your fault that the web crashed.
I advise you to ignore this incident.

If it's a thesis about security in computing science you will probably acquire serious troubles with a bad mark!
In the other cases that will just eventually decrease slightly your mark but if you know very well your subject most of the examiners will certainly forget this trouble to stay concentrate only on the subject.
As teacher, I try to remember only the good things because I haven't time to waste for others things. As professional, I will certainly suggest you to change your computer and the day I like to stop to work with you I will eventually remember to you that event. Anyway, if you are young we can understand more easily that situation but we can't accept it that why your examiner reject it immediately. Next time, I hope you will be more watchful with the security of your computer and be careful with Internet, backups...
It's not necessary to wear all the time a suit and to have in your hand a Bible but if you have piercing, tattoes and strange haircut that is more difficult to think about an hitch. in other way try to keep all the time the maximum chance of success in your career with loyalty and honesty to vanish pitfalls and traps

Think you could fix this to not be one massive paragraph?

I don't understand how my major/thesis will affect the consequences of this event? It is not related.


text:
Does having a low CGPA reduce my opportunity to get an MS admit from top universities like Stanford, UC berkeley, etc?
So my case is a little different. I never liked my college studies much because the subjects never excited me, which eventually lead to a low CGPA (7.18/10). But I started to have a strong liking for NLP since the time I was first exposed to it. I've been drenched in NLP for a year now, and out of interest I have done several deep learning projects related to NLP, image classification etc...I also have carried out proper experimentations and submitted a paper to top NLP conferences in India and several other places(now I'm waiting for  reply from these). I have 3 good LOR's, one of which is from my mentor-ship program with a reputed NLP researcher from CSIRO . My GRE score is 330/340. The programs at the top universities such as Stanford, UC Berkeley etc excite the crap out of me!!! Given the minimum aspects of my application, should I apply to these universities?? And is it plausible to expect an admit from these universities??
I am desperate for answers, so any help would be highly highly apreciated.
EDIT: This is not a duplicate of any of the questions out there. Its a specific problem which I did not find anywhere on this platform. It could be of help to students facing the same issue.

I recommend either (a) reviewing your understanding of the word "literally", or (b) consulting a doctor ;-)

Like most similar questions here, the answer is that you have a negative in your background, so you need to stress the positives. A low grade point will raise eyebrows for many, but it needn't be, of itself, disqualifying.
You indicate here you have been doing interesting (to a researcher) things and that is a big positive.
I'll go out on a limb a bit here and guess that a top university will actually be easier for you than a mid-range one, simply because such universities as Stanford are used to dealing with outliers and unique situations. However, it might also be necessary for you to attract the attention of some professor there who might want to work with you.
A mid-range university might attract many students of sufficient quality simply by following a set of rules that have worked for them in the past. Their students are somewhat alike in background and interest. A top university can afford to act differently since they attract so much attention. You have to convince them, of course, that you have exceptional qualities that will fit well with their overall educational mission - turning out the best of the best.
But the best test of it is to try for admission. If you don't try you are guaranteed to not be accepted. I realize that it can be costly, of course.
Most of the other students you would find at such schools probably arrived there with an easier path, and also carry a better background of knowledge, though that isn't necessarily so.
Having been published is a plus, of course, so you should continue to work on that.
You will need to be able to explain the deficiency, how you work to overcome it, how it hasn't mattered in the things you do, etc. The new University will need to assure themselves that you can learn and that your old issues won't reappear. Good recommendations from recognized scholars can help. Likely the people you work with have some connections that you can draw on, both for advice and assistance.
Another option is to enroll in some related program at a top university and prove yourself there before applying to the program you prefer. This is a longer process, of course.

This answer was kind off what what I was looking for. But, can you please stress on the part where you say "I'll go out on a limb a bit here and guess that a top university will actually be easier for you than a mid-range one, simply because such universities as Stanford are used to dealing with outliers and unique situations."

@satya, see the latest version.

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sort: votes


text:
Very Short Papers in Mathematical Journals
Are there mathematical journals like American Mathematical Monthly that publish very short papers like mathbits?
Mathbits are generally a proof of an old theorem or results.

do you mean letters like Applied Math. Letters, that publish very short (<6 pages) papers? But they are not exclusively on old results, but on short, concise results.

I mean the paper can be a new proof of infinitude of primes or pythagorean theorem.

A new proof in infinitude of primes has (on rare occasions) been published in the Monthly. (I think twice, that I know of.)  So you are asking if there are other places for such things?

@GEdgar Exactly.

Consider this one, oldie but goodie. Counterexamples may be extremely short.

The length isn't the key deciding factor, although some do specify length. Length varies considerably by subfield (I consider 20-30 pages normal, but in graph theory it seems to be under 10). A proof of an old theorem will not always be suitable for a research journal, so may fit better in a more magazine-style publication like AMM or the Mathematical Gazette.

New proofs of old theorems are not always very short papers. In the 1960s Norman Levinson published a proof of the prime number theorem that was only six pages long, in contrast to earlier papers that were 50 or 100 pages.
The American Mathematical Monthly does publish some short papers of less than one page.

Thanks for your answer, but I am wondering if there is other journals that publish papers that short than a half page like Mathbits on Monthly.

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text:
Article published in a conference has several technical flaws in it. What should be done?
This conference is organized on every 3 years. It is highly influential in the field of study. Screening and review committee are usually reputable that includes a strong set of researchers and professors.
The article in question is similar to my field of interest. I was happy to read it, but am very dissatisfied with discussion, analysis of data and moreover, there are several theoretical flaws in the paper.
What should I do in this case? How to submit a comment? Or, should I just ignore this?

The title of your question doesn't match the text.  "Full of errors" means (to me) that there are false stateents in the paper. "dissatisfied with discussion, analysis of data ... several theoretical flaws" sounds considerably weaker.  Are there demonstrably false statements in the paper?

Please check this: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/48224/how-common-is-it-for-a-paper-to-be-wrong
and https://www.quora.com/What-should-I-do-if-I-find-something-wrong-in-a-published-paper

@AndreasBlass i dont understand what are you asking me?

I'm asking whether the paper says things that are false (and you can prove that they're false).

@AndreasBlass Yes, why you think I cannot prove?

Your question contained no indication that you could prove that there is an error; it didn't even explicitly say that there is an error, only that you disapprove of certain aspects of the paper.

@AndreasBlass I see, I didnt imply in anything ideologically, only methodology and false conculsion that lead to this. I m able to proove

When I was in graduate school my group found a major flaw in another group's work, and another group found a flaw in one of our papers. Beware that it's worth it to be sensitive about these issues- academia tends to be a small world, and you don't want to hurt people's egos or make enemies. Everyone makes mistakes, even in published and peer-reviewed papers. Bear in mind that once a peer-reviewed paper is published with a methodological flaw it becomes a failure of the entire community rather than a failure of that author.
I think the most productive way to handle this is to first contact the authors of the paper directly. If you feel as though you've found an error then you should be able to provide specific evidence or (for theoretical work) a counter-example to some proposed theorem. Approach them gently, and remember that you might be the one in error or that the error might be a simple like an unstated assumption. If the authors are responsible academics then you will have a dialogue with them that identifies the error or points out the flaw in your argument. If your claim is substantiated then it may be an opportunity to publish a joint correction or they might opt to retract their paper, depending on the severity of the problem. This is how good peer-reviewed science is supposed to work.
However, if the authors are unwilling to talk then and you feel like you need to push the issue then you'll have to escalate. Get in touch with the editor of the publication, but be sure you can substantiate your claims of an error in a way they'll understand and agree with. If they determine that you are correct then they may unilaterally retract the paper or provide the authors a chance to publish corrections. Depending on the severity and circumstances of the issue it may be appropriate for you to publish your own analysis of the topic.
Done correctly, finding a published flaw can be a great way to start a new relationship or collaboration with other people intensely interested in the same topics as you are. If you allow them to fix the problem with their published work in a way that allows them to save face they will be grateful. If you make a public debate out of the issue or go above their head to the publication editors too quickly you'll engender some bad feelings. If you make a public fuss about something and you end up being wrong then you'll look like a stupid jerk. Remember that academia is a small world and your reputation will follow you, so think about how you'll be perceived.
Above all else just remember that the purpose of the exercise is to correct the scientific record and you should be OK.
Edit: I wanted to echo John's comment to another (now deleted) post, which is that the probability that you are wrong or have misunderstood the paper is very high. Let the paper sit for a few days, and then read it again carefully. If you're still convinced there's an error then go to your adviser or a colleague and ask them to review your analysis. If everyone agrees that there is an error then it is time to humbly approach the authors.

thank you I agree with you. One maybe little problem is that Asians have the problem admitting fault. it is the cultural thing. the worst problem is that they dont reply on emails, I dont know if the author in question will reply, but it is possible to have a meeting and talk about it? or just to publiash in different vanue

@SSimon All you can do is make a good faith effort to contact the authors and allow them to correct the situation. If the authors are unwilling to rectify a genuine error or cannot be reached then (if you want to push the issue) you'll have to talk to the editors.

In proceeding editors are same as organisers?

DO NOT IGNORE THIS.
(As per the comments by David, FredDouglis and John) It is advisable to email the authors first on the issue. If they are responding, then it is well and good. If they are satisfied with your concepts and unintentional flaws, then they would go for publishing an erratum. If they are not responding in this regard, I will do the following.
I would try to Google out the names of the Program Committee Chair or Members or Organizers and directly send a formal email regarding the same.
For example:

Dear PC Chair/Organizer/Professor
It is pleasure following the articles published in the proceedings of the reputable conference that was organized in 20xx at the University of Suggestions, Academia.SE.
However, I find a serious theoretical flaw in one of the articled entitled An article with the significant theoretical flaw in it, which I have been following currently. The complete explanation on the errors and wrong assumptions along with the possible conceptual evidence from my side have been attached for your referral.
I would request you to look after this and kindly consider the article removed or revised (a possible erratum) or re-reviewed.
Looking forward to your considerable action in this regard.
Sincerely
The Guy who found the error

I think one of the people would definitely respond in this regard. If they don't then directly email to the publisher of the conference proceeding.

I have to disagree.  I don't think it is normal for people to dispute published conference papers in this fashion, asking for it to be removed.  Once published, proceedings (and journals) are immutable.  Errata can be added, potentially, but I think it is the author's job to post errata.  Why not ask the author?  After all, is it not possible that the reviewers were right and you are wrong?   If you really believe you're right, I think the right thing is to publish a new paper, or a letter to some appropriate newsletter, raising your issues with the paper.

I do not find it a good solution at all. Not being satisfied with the discussion in a published paper does not mean has flaws. May be you did not understand the paper correctly, and even if you are right, it is better to contact the author and try with them several times, so that you give them a chance to make an errata if they find it necessary. The last step is to contact the editor and the journal. But first I suggest you ask other experts about the paper because the probability that you are wrong is very HIGH.

I think it's absolutely essential that you approach the other authors before  you go to the organizing committee. Most authors want their work to be complete and accurate, and would gladly make corrections if given the chance.

@FredDouglis How to publish paper about conference paper? when this conference is on every 3 years

@John discussion was more biases than factual, It concluded something that is not there, concepts are misinterpretable and some terms are used totally out of context

@SSimon publish in a different venue, citing this paper.

@David but how to approach author when they don't publish contact address and emails?

@SSimon It'd be highly unusual for an academic paper to have no contact or affiliation whatsoever. Do they give any institutional affiliation? If not you could contact the editors to get the author's corresponding address, but failure to include any affiliation whatsoever is a major red flag for the paper as well as the conference.

@David affiliation yes, contact info about author NO!!! although website, invited speakers, editorial board, they look highly credible and professional.

@SSimon If you know their affiliation then go to that website and find the authors. Or, worst case, call or email their department office and ask for their contact info.

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text:
Do I mention that I was an adjunct on my CV
I am currently an adjunct professor.
I'm wondering how to best label this on my CV.
Specifically, should I use "Adjunct Professor", "instructor", "instructor of record", etc. as my job title?

I think adjunct (unfortunately) has a negative connotation associated with it, so I'm worried that my experience will be devalued if I include adjunct in my job title/description.
Does using just "Professor" imply that I am a full -time tenured professor?

So what is the best way to go about titling my adjunct position at this institution on my CV?

I teach at the best school in my field and even our students are having trouble getting tt jobs and are stuck in adjunct and Postdoc hell. There's no shame in being an adjunct, it's just how this horrible academic job market is.

Use the job title assigned to you by your institution.  You don't really have any choice about this.
If the nature or duties of your job were significantly different from what is usually understood by that title (in the culture of the university where you are applying), you can add a note of clarification.
Adjunct Professor is usually understood (in the US at least) to mean a non-tenure-track part-time teaching position in which you are instructor of record for your courses, and have minimal research or service requirements.  If that accurately describes your job, then you don't need to list anything more than the title.
The job title Professor, without any other adjectives, is understood to mean "full professor," a senior tenured position whose duties may include research and service as well as teaching.  Listing this as your position would be severely misleading and might be considered fraudulent.
It's true that the generic noun professor can be used to describe anyone who teaches at a university.  But a CV is expected to contain your specific job title, not a generic term describing your job.

It's also a bad idea to insinuate that you are currently having a significantly "better" post than what you are applying for. Presumably OP is on the market for TT jobs - then giving the impression that he already is a full prof. will not improve his chances.


text:
How to become a supervisor? Finding students to supervise
I'm currently finishing the corrections of the PhD I've done in the UK. In the meantime, I've returned to my home country, Portugal, and started working at a hospital as a medical statistician. I have several (no scientific tasks) to do and I would like to continue doing research. I have several projects that I would like to carry one. Some are not very complicated and I believe they could be interesting master degree thesis. While in the UK, I've supervised some undergrads and I really enjoyed. I would like to continue supervising students.
Does anyone have any experience or guidance about how could I start to supervise research students (proposing small projects)? I don't need to be affiliated with a university to be a supervisor as my master thesis supervisor was not a teacher there. But, do I need to be affiliated with a university to propose projects? I imagine I can only be a supervisor in Portugal or has anyone heard about master degree supervisors from other countries? I understand this may differ between countries. I'm looking for some tips/advice/comments on how to start supervising students.
Thank you!

Do you have any contacts at local universities? You will need some university to be involved.

I'm still in touch with one or two teachers at the university where I did my masters. I'm thinking about reaching them. Not sure how to proceed with other universities or if I should keep the collaboration with only one university.

@pavid yes, you can also contact private one, good thing is that statistics are valuble in all fields.

These are the possible approaches in which you can get people (especially students) to know you. Since, you are in a hospital working as a statistician it would be more valuable and increase the chance of getting students.

Deliver talks at local organisations/universities: You should try to meet the head and principal of the university. Discuss with them your profile and eager to talk to the students. If your talk is well accepted by the students, some of those students would surely be interested to work with you. Moreover, professors would also like to collaborate with you.
Visit conferences and present your works: Work on your own and write research papers, visit the conferences or seminars. There you will get to know few aspiring students and people to work with.
Discussion with your own colleagues in the hospital: I am sure you may not be alone and wanting to work on research. There will always be someone. Since, you are new; talk to your colleagues and propose your ideas to work on it. This will help you get the above points (1) and (2) easily.

Thank you! I've already started one collaboration at the hospital but I need to be more proactive once I finish the corrections. The first point is a good idea. Collaborating with professors would also be interesting.


text:
Does being the first author really matter in manuscript publication?
I was applying for a research position in a very well known institute in the world yesterday (infectious disease). I have currently published 4 papers in journals and 1 more has already been accepted. However only 2 papers are actually with my name listed as first author while the rest of the papers are with my name listed somewhere along the author list. The institute requires me to only list papers with my name listed as first author. Does being the first author really matter? To think that they don't even want to look at the papers published with myself as third or fourth author really says something

Related: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2467/what-does-first-authorship-really-mean?rq=1, https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32013/during-applications-how-can-i-prove-i-was-the-first-author-of-the-papers-that-i?rq=1

Of course they look at those papers.  Even better for you would be if you have a letter of recommendation written by one of the other authors, who knows how much you contributed to the papers.

This looks like an interesting proposal. I had never thought of such a thing. Would they certify it?

Different fields handle author order in different ways. Some go by input (being first author matters), some go by name (being first author doesn't matter). How is it in your field?
Besides that I would say it is a bit odd that they ignore non-first author papers, unless maybe the author list is the same as the list of people working at the department.


text:
Corrigendum for wrong reporting of results
My paper got published in a good journal but later I noticed that in the final results table I have mistakenly written the parameters used in the previous literatures and not what I have calculated for one of the ions. I know it's a terrible mistake to do. I can't figure out how to write the corrigendum.
Thanks in advance.

Write a letter to the editor, stating that in your paper so-and-so, table 5.7 should be replaced by [insert corrected table]. Use the format for the journal, so they can publish it as a corrigendum in the next issue. Perhaps add also a corrected version of the paper, to be archived instead of the erroneous one.

Make sure the corrigendum explicitly says what part of the paper's conclusions need to be changed, or that the change does not affect any conclusions.  If the problem was simply that the wrong number was published, but not used in any calculations etc, it's not a big deal.  If the wrong number was used to reach conclusions, it's important to spell out what needs to be re-interpreted.

Following The 5th Korean Council of Science Editors'Workshop (2012), I copy and paste here for further reference:

What Should an Erratum Include?

The complete bibliographic information for the corrected article
An explanation of the error and the correction of the error

What Should a Corrigendum Include?

The complete bibliographic information for the corrected article
Acknowledgement of the person who helped find the error(s)
Explanation of the correction, whether brief or extensive
Brief errors can be mentioned along with the corrected form
In the correction of an entire figure or table, only the erroneous parts
  need to be listed, along with a complete revised figure or table
Citation of any articles related to the correction, along with a
  standard reference list


text:
Putting some upcoming positions in CV
I am going to apply for a Postdoc position which starts six month later. I am a postdoc in institute A and have new grant in institute B to start in upcoming month. Can I put this position and grant in my CV? Since I have not started that yet.

Is this for a position at institute C, or is this a fellowship or similar that is meant to fund you, for example to continue work at B?

It is in C , I mean in another country

Does "I have a new grant" mean that you applied for and got a grant, or that somebody else did?

I got that, but the time which I can start my work in the next month

Still unclear. Did you write and submit the application in your name?

If the contract for the grant is finalized, you can list it as an achievement on your CV.

When I applied funding, I am often asked about past, current, and pending support. I don't see why they shouldn't list it as "pending" if they have a decision letter.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
When the co-author of a potential paper is not responsible
I am a math postdoc and my young mentor is unfortunately a lazy person. I have prepared a manuscript 4 months ago and still no news about revision of that from the mentor. I do not know what can I do. Is it good to find someone else to help me to finish this paper? Sometimes the unknown referee suggest some ideas to improve the paper, Can I submit it to a journal and waiting for referee report?

If the mentor is a co-author then you need their permission to publish it, but you don't actually need additional cooperation.

I hope you talked to your mentor about this a few times since you gave him the manuscript 4 month ago?

Responsible or responsive?

The answer to your question is the same as for 50% of the other questions on this website: Talk to your adviser. Find out what the hold-up is, how you can help, what other roles you could take on in the lab to free him from work that holds up his side of the collaboration. Communicate about what your issues are.


text:
What is the letter of experience for faculty position?
I am going to apply for a faculty position. One the required documents is titled" Letter of Experience". Do you know what is this letter. Is there any special format for that? Need to say, they have also asked for a formal application letter.

What country is it?

If unsure what they mean by it, write to them! There is going to be an email address, maybe of the chair of the search committee, associated with the position ad you want to apply to.


text:
How are interdisciplinary degrees viewed by disciplinary (AACSB) faculty hiring committees?
Perhaps someone with direct experience can help with some clarification.
My research interests involve human resources in the truest sense. But the phd program in which I have an interest is listed as an "interdisciplinary" degree. I have a masters degree from an AACSB school in accountancy (24 hours in graduate accounting). Of course, the phd would NOT be AACSB because it isn't even a business degree.
My real goal is to conduct research related to business decisions made based upon labor availability and the implications of technology, etc.
So my question (even after reading the AACSB definition) is if I pursue such a degree (where my passion lies), would I be considered AQ for a college/school of business as per AACSB standards? My intuition tells me no, but I just want to get some feedback.
I should clarify that I'm not only interested in the AACSB official position, but also in how a faculty in business schools might view such a situation. That's why I included the "direct experience" part. Any faculty members at AACSB schools with an opinion?
I've reviewed 13 "similar" questions on this site and am still lost as to the answer as the other questions differ significantly in the details.
Thank you

Why don't you ask AACSB for an interpretation? If they agree you would be qualified, get it in writing. You need to know not only what the rules are, but how strictly they are interpreted and enforced. You will get a better answer than anything here.

I should clarify that I'm not only interested in the AACSB official position, but also in how a faculty in business schools might view such a situation. That's why I included the "direct experience" part. Thanks Buffy

In general, you should look at the faculty hired for AACSB schools who have HR focus and see what their qualifications are. Especially look at newer faculty hires. If some substantial portion of current faculty come from interdisciplinary degrees, then I think you would be in good shape.

Related, not B-school specific: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/95081/are-interdisciplinary-stem-phds-qualified-to-become-professors?rq=1

When a department looks to hire, they have to make an official statement about which degrees should apply to the position. So the first place to look is job ads for positions you are interested in. There should be a sentence like, "Applicants should have a Ph.D. in ..." to show the "acceptable" degrees. As Business schools typically hire in the Fall, there should be many examples of these job ads currently circulating.
However, what departments do is more important than what they say. Notably, departments may say they are open to interdisciplinary degrees, but then only hire from disciplinary programs. To check this, you should look at the CVs of current faculty at AACSB schools who have HR focus and see what their qualifications are. Especially look at newer faculty hires. If some substantial portion of current faculty come from interdisciplinary degrees like the one you are considering, then I think you would be in good shape. Otherwise, I would reconsider your plan.

That's very good advice. I'm already reconsidering my plan. I'm actually interested in "teaching" business and doing research related to HR, etc. and HR seems to sometimes be a business discipline and other times is considered a social science depending on the exact school. I doubt there are many opportunities in either...which is why I would want to be able to "teach" (probably accounting) within a business school. But yes, you've at least partially confirmed what I suspected.

Seems like it would fall either under business (HR) or economics (labor economics). I am not sure what you mean by "I doubt there are many opportunities in either." I don't think the opportunities would be different in those fields compared to accounting? In most schools, you teach in your research area. If you want to teach accounting, you would not research HR or labor, you would research accounting.

Accounting is extremely high demand. HR demand (even in a school of business) is much less. I've even considered doing the PhD that I want and applying to a "teaching" school. The issue being that I'm not sure any research I did would be taken seriously. In the end, I'll likely end up in a more traditional business program that can hopefully incorporate some of what I want to do. I guess what I'm saying is I want, as you put it. a "labor economics" degree with business school pay (just being honest). Was hoping to use the accounting masters (I'm also a CPA) to make that work.

But as you referenced earlier, @Dawn, the job announcements tend to reference accounting phds, etc.

I see what you are getting at. Accounting faculty are in higher demand right now, but I can't guarantee that they would be by the time you finish your PhD. You are correct that business departments pay more than econ departments, but most econ departments are catching up (past 6 figures in most R1 and R2 cases). It is not unusual for economists to be hired by business schools, although the fit has to be there. Also, even in a "teaching school" you would need to have the appropriate PhD. I don't think it is substantially easier to teach outside of your PhD in a "teaching school."

Dawn, you actually hit on another concern. Right now, one can obtain an online DBA from Walden or the like and get a six figure salary...but in four to five years those type degrees will be relegated to community college teaching I suspect. And besides, I'm not interested in the teaching aspect so much as producing research. I'm a bit old to bite into a traditional program and live on a stipend for a long time, but I have serious concerns about the research quality of AACSB DBA doctorates. Ultimately though, I suspect that's the route I'll take. I really appreciate your insight and time.


text:
Misleading Results of Cited Paper
We have developed a novel algorithm, published a paper about it, then after a few months, we "copied" our implementation to a very popular opensource library.
A few months after, a paper was published proposing an algorithm that was compared against all off-the-shelf algorithms from the above-mentioned library, including ours.
The results of our algorithm were bad and inconsistent, and when we double-checked the implementation again in the library, we found out that because the library has a certain convention, our algorithm was incompatible (it's our fault, no doubt). Please note that the results in our paper along with our "local" implementation are 100% correct and valid.
We have fixed the implementation in the library, and now it is 100% correct and similar to the algorithm that we had published in the literature.
Now we are kind of confused what to do, Should we inform the authors of the new paper who cited and used our old implementation in the library? Or Should we let it go even if it might tarnish the image of our algorithm?

I don't see any reason not to contact the authors of the other paper, though it is possible that nothing can be done for an already published paper. But the conversation with them might be useful to everyone.
I, personally, would thank them for alerting you to a problem with the published algorithm, giving you the opportunity/incentive to make a correction.
Possibly a note could be inserted somewhere. One simple possibility is for you to make it clear, perhaps within the repository, that the algorithm has been updated as of a certain date and that earlier implementations were flawed.
In other words, try to make it possible for a reader to be made aware of all relevant facts.

It is also possible, for some journals, to submit a "response" to a published article that criticizes one's work.  I'm not sure whether this would be an option in this case, but if you feel that your good name has been impugned, it might be worth looking into.


text:
Rejected Paper by the Associate Editor
I am a very objective person and I don't mind constructive criticism.
I have submitted a research paper to an IEEE journal with high reputation.
The co-authors of this paper have broad experience in this field with hundreds of peer-reviewed publications. Hence, the paper is of good quality.
I provided the implementation along with full theoretical and experimental analysis of the proposed novel algorithm, so they can replicate the results and make sure that we are genuine.
The reviews were as follows:

Reviewer 1: Very positive feedback, highly appreciated the work, its novelty and quality.
Reviewer 2: Wasn't very clear for them about the contribution of this work with respect to this journal. With some very few minor feedback.
Reviewer 3: Same as Reviewer 2.

The Associate Editor decision was: Two of the reviewers think the contributions of the proposed method are not clear ---> Reject!
This is not the first time I submit a paper and reflect upon the feedback. I already have accepted paper in high reputation IEEE journals.
The decision was as a shock to me!
I've seen worse reviews/feedback, yet the Associate Editor usually goes with a Minor or Major Revision.
I truly believe that we deserve another chance to make the contribution "clearer" as much as they want.
Is this normal? Should I appeal to the decision? Should I go to another journal since I didn't get a real feedback to improve the paper, and most likely the other two reviewers were too lazy or lack of required knowledge to evaluate the paper?
Your advice is very much appreciated.

It is normal.   The editor may have read your paper him/herself and agree with reviewer 2 and 3.  Also, you do not know what comments were given to the editor in private.  That's far more important.  For example, when I review a paper, my comments to the editor are far more concrete in order to justify my recommendation.

@Prof.SantaClaus Thanks. It is extremely an in-demand journal. I think the Editor is far more busy to have time to read it. Besides, he mentioned that his decision is based on the two reviewers. Regarding the private comments, this is new to me. I wish it is not the case for me, because it's very unfair not to know the real reasons of rejection.

Unfortunately, that's the case some times.   Some editors reject a paper if it does not have a 'wow' factor or addresses a super 'fresh' topic/problem or have glowing reviews.   Just submit it to another IEEE journal.

@Mike I also use private comment when I want to be sure that the editor gets the message but I do not want to appear nasty to the author. The crucial point is that the two formulations, the private and the one open to authors, at the end convey the same information. Still, I do not think it is your case and the only explanation is that the editor read the paper himself, as suggested above. Or a wow oriented editorial line, also mentioned above.

Something to help you understand that this decision is normal: In highly selective venues the default is reject. From the editor's perspective, the reviews need to clearly lift your paper out of the reject pile into the accept pile. If they don't, your paper it will remain in the reject pile.

"The co-authors of this paper have broad experience in this field with hundreds of peer-reviewed publications. Hence, the paper is of good quality." The conclusion does not follow from the premise.

Based on your description I suspect an appeal will not work. That's because you are not disputing the reasons that went into their decision, you are only disputing the decision. But they have already made the decision. Saying "your reviewers were right, but your decision was wrong" is not likely to change their minds.
To have a real chance at changing their minds, you need to argue that their reasons for rejection were wrong, e.g.:

Reviewer said X, but X is provably incorrect, because [reasons].
Reviewer said this topic isn't worth spending time on, but your journal published [these papers] on that very topic.
Reviewer said your manuscript doesn't explain Y, but it does, and here is the paragraph.

That's not to say you can't appeal - you can if you want to - it's just that it probably won't work.
I think, based on your description, the best course of action is to rewrite the paper such that it's clearer, then submit to another journal. See also this question about the same situation where the reviewers didn't understand the paper. You can also ask the two co-authors, they should be experienced enough to offer suggestions on what to do next.

Totally agree. Not a case for appeal.

Wasn't very clear for them about the contribution of this work with
respect to this journal

2 reviewers out of 3 had this feeling. The editor, considering these reviews and possibly some private communications, decided that in spite of the title and the abstract you provided at the submission stage, the paper in itself does not align with the goals/topics/focus of the journal and it would be not of interest to the readers.
It seems to me that you can submit the paper, including the minor reviews, to a different journal and be confident it will be accepted.

Was it a reject or reject-resubmit?  There is a big difference.
I have been an AE for two IEEE journals.  One journal follows the standard accept, reject, major revisions, and minor revisions publishing paradigm.  Poor-quality papers are often desk rejected, with the option to resubmit if the idea is good.  "Me too" papers that propose minor enhancements are frequently desk rejected.  Those papers that make it to the review stage are typically not rejected unless there are major issues with the paper or suspicions of plagiarism.
The other journal follows a different approach.  It uses the reject, reject-resubmit, minor revisions, and accept paradigm.  Any paper that is good, but basically not in a camera-ready format, will be given a reject-resubmit designation.  It doesn't matter if all of the reviewers are in agreement about accepting the publication; it happens if there are any changes that the reviewers want made.  Reject-resubmits are frequently issued to stop the review clock and hence game internal publication metrics.
I'm not a fan of the latter approach.
If your paper was actually rejected, then address the issues that the reviewers raised.  Prominently highlight those changes in the paper and your comments to the reviewers.  Then have your co-authors help draft a letter to the EIC if they think it's worth appealing.  If not, then just take the responses in stride and submit the revised paper elsewhere.

Do you ever overrule reviewers?  or do you wait until all reviewers say yes?

I sometimes overrule reviewers.  I recently did that when one reviewer wanted a lot more experiments to be done that were tangential to the paper.  I weighed the benefit of including those experiments on the paper versus having them appear in a follow-up paper.  I decided that a good compromise would be to show that the reviewer's hypotheses were validated while saving much of the findings for a separate, more focused, paper.
Holding up paper acceptance for relatively minor issues is frustrating for all parties involved.


text:
Is it appropriate to apply for assistant professor positions a few months before obtaining my PhD?
I am finishing my PhD at a famous research institution located in Europe. I am quite delayed due to COVID-related disruptions, which forced us to devote most lab equipment to vaccine development and trial assessment instead of doing some experiments I needed to validate my hypotheses.
Nonetheless, I will obtain my degree within the next few months. My thesis has already gone through a mandatory internal assessment process, which is similar to peer review. And my advisor has already appointed examiners.
I have some interesting publications in good journals (Nature Comms and equivalent ones), but a big part of my thesis is only published as a preprint in medRxiv. My findings are very novel and, in the words of my supervisor (who is a big name in the field), it's a major breakthrough. We've contacted other big names in the field, who are also really interested in this new approach, and they are helping to validate things. We already have enough for submitting to a top journal, which is good.
My advisor and his peers are writing grant applications and preparing clinical trials based on my findings. I am interested in continuing with this line of research, but I will need to find a different host institution once I graduate. I would like to continue as soon as possible in order not to loose a head start on my own ideas.
I am a bit confused with research-oriented Assistant Professor openings. Is it appropriate to apply at this stage? I have contacted one US professor behind an open position, and he encouraged me to apply. However, is this the norm for most American and European positions?

I'm not in this area, but I understand that, in the US, medical school faculty appointments work quite differently from biology department faculty appointments.  Which are you interested in?

I am interested in both, or I would rather say I don't know how to discern. I've not seen significant differences in the requirements for both kinds of openings. But I'm not super familiar with US medical schools.

It is currently late May 2021.  If you are looking for tenure track faculty jobs in the US that start in August or September, you are months too late.  Jobs that start in September 2022 will start to be advertised in a few months.

In most biology/biological sciences departments in the US and Canada it would be unusual for someone to be hired into a tenure-track assistant professorship immediately following their PhD; most candidates would have at least a year or two of postdoctoral experience. (This may be different in biomedical and/or clinically oriented programs). If you have a spectacular research record that could make you an exception.
Postdoctoral experience is less expected in math (although 1-2 years is probably still the median), and even less in statistics; this is probably also the case in other fields such as engineering where people with a fresh PhD can get well-paying jobs in industry.
It doesn't hurt to apply for such positions, but I would say if would be safer to at least consider a few post-doctoral positions as a backup plan.
Finally, as with most questions like this, you will get the most relevant advice from your supervisor and colleagues in your lab/program; they know the most about the norms of your particular sub-field and geographic region. Unless you have some particular reason not to, you should probably ask them.

Here is some data from a reasonably recent survey of (mostly North American) ecologists (note, this paper was contentious because of the way it handled gender and informed consent of respondents):

Recently hired TT assistant professors of ecology typically were about 4 years post-Ph.D. at the time of hiring (mean 4.2 years, median 4). 69% had anywhere from 2 to 6 years of post-Ph.D. experience, with a range from 0 to 11 years of post-Ph.D. experience. The majority of ecology faculty job seekers also are 2–6 years post-Ph.D.

These data are consistent with a job market in which most hiring institutions prefer applicants with at least a year or two of post-Ph.D. experience. But once you have a few years of post-Ph.D. experience, the marginal value of additional post-Ph.D. experience appears to be low at best, though it's hard to say precisely based on the available data.

Fox, Jeremy. “A Data-Based Guide to the North American Ecology Faculty Job Market.” The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 101, no. 2 (2020): e01624. https://doi.org/10.1002/bes2.1624.

Thanks. This is an interesting view on the topic. In Europe, I have seen many people hired as Assistant Professors straight after their PhD by great institutions, and without many publications. The reason for hiring was that the dean or the equivalent figure thought their research plan was very promising and/or of strategic importance for their institute.

This goes for the UK as well - virtually no one in biology is hired to a faculty position without at least 3 years postdoctoral experience, but the average is more like 7 or 8 years.  There is a route to independence in the UK that looks like 3 years postdoc, then an independently funded fellowship, where you would be an independent group leader, but not be on the track to a permeant position.

For research departments in math in the US the average number of years of postdoc before getting hired is up to around 4, and only a true superstar would be hired at 1-2 years out.  For teaching-centric positions it is common for hires to be in the 0-2 year range.

I made this a "community wiki" post, feel free to edit with information/corrections/details from different fields and geographic regions.

Is it a norm? Probably more of an exception than a norm. But it is also an exception that a Ph. D. student has a major breakthrough under his/her belt at the time of graduation. From the point of view of the hiring committee, the reason to hire someone with postdocs is because they would have shown some ability to conduct independent research, or at least work in other research environment than their alma mater and their supervisor. But if they are convinced that you were the main driving force behind a major breakthrough, that's  obviously a moot point. A committee faithful to the purpose would not pass over such a candidate in favor of someone who did regular work over the course of a couple of postdocs.
Answering a question of what is appropriate, I don't think that if a position is openly and internationally advertised, you are ever committing a faux pas by applying.

Yes it is appropriate to apply now, at least in the US. Don't wait. The competition is fierce for jobs in many fields. Consider a post doc as a backup strategy. But now is the time to start applying.
The process will take a while and you don't really want to have a gap in your career if you can manage it.

I think this might be appropriate advice in mathematics. However, in the biomedical sciences a postdoc is not a backup strategy but an essential qualification for an assistant professor position.

@user2705196, would you recommend passing up an offer for an assistant professor's position in favor of a post-doc? Would you recommend not applying for one you were "encouraged" to apply for.

Can you identify a single person who has obtained a tenure-track assistant professorship before they finished their PhD, since March of 2020?  Things that happened before March of 2020 are no longer relevant.

@AnonymousPhysicist, so you definitely recommend against applying - even when invited - for someone who may well be exceptional? See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-defeating_personality_disorder


text:
Can anyone use the JEL classification system?
Can anyone use the JEL classification system, or is it only reserved for published (scientific) papers? This is the information I got on AEA's site
''JEL Codes are used to classify articles, dissertations, books, book reviews, and working papers''.
I'm working on a university thesis related to finance, and I wanted to use the JEL classification system. Does this fall under the category 'working papers'?

A thesis would surely fall under the category of dissertations.

@NajibIdrissi my gut feeling also says that it should be possible, however I thought maybe it was not common practice for master theses. I searched online and found that the JEL code is included in the guidelines of some universities. So I assume its fine to use the JEL code
http://remi.bazillier.free.fr/ResearchMethodology2M2R_2016-2017.pdf
http://hec.unil.ch/attachments/msc/stages/internship-thesis-guidelines-mscf
https://emle.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/How-to-write-an-EMLE-thesis-2017-2018.pdf
@ astronat I thought they meant PhD dissertations with that, but not sure.

Also to get a conclusive answer, I have email AEA. If I get a reply, I will post that here. This question is on top of google, therefore the answer might help others

@NajibIdrissi I got a reply from the AEA helpdesk, see their answer below. Nothing prevents me from doing it, but just wanted to confirm it since I mainly saw it done in published papers.

Maybe you shouldn't use the word "can" in your title, since it seems clear that you can use the system - nobody can stop you, and it's not unethical or illegal in any way.  It sounds like the real question is whether it is common to use it for a thesis.  Perhaps you can rephrase your question to make this more clear.

It seems to me if you want to put this in a conspicuous place on your thesis, you will need to consult with your specific university's thesis style/formatting guide.

I asked the AEA helpdesk. This is the answer I got:
'Any work related to economics can be classified according to the JEL
taxonomy.   The list in that sentence is not intended to be an
exhaustive enumeration of where JEL Classifications are allowed to be used.'
Therefore it's perfectly fine to use the JEL classification in a master thesis, as long as the work is related to economics.


text:
How to demonstrate ability to operationalize research during interview
One of the feedback I received after my PhD interview failure was that " there is not enough evidence of ability to operationalize the research". So how can I clarify my capability of carrying out a research for my next interview. During my failed interview, I was ask to talk about my prior research, therefore I mentioned my master thesis used SPSS. However it seems that my response was not compelling enough.

Mentioning your skills with SPSS is great but statistical analysis is just a part of research. (And if we speak about this part, I would be more interested in which statistical methods you used and why (who selected these methods, you or your supervisor?, did you consider other methods?, etc.) to see how well you understand statistical analyses.)
More relevant would be your research question, design and contribution to the whole process (Did you come up with these on your own or was it given to you? What was your contribution in designing the study? Did you collect the data? Did you apply for ethical permission (if applicable) on your own? Do you plan to publish your thesis?)
If you are asked a similar question at the next interview, try to give a brief summary of your thesis (topic, design, methods, results, your contribution).
Also: please do not be discouraged that you have not been selected this time! Being invited for an interview means that you are a good candidate. It is just that there are many good candidates out there and limited number of places. Learn from this experience, do not give up and good luck with the next interview!

Thank you for your enlightening answer. I found out I haven't covered all the aspects of your suggestion. During my previous interview, I figured out I was too overwrought to even being stuttering when answer such question. Furthermore, I want to ask, if I have multiple research projects, which one should I pick to exhibit my research ability?

You are very welcome. I was also nervous during my first interviews so I can relate to that. Later ones were easier because you learn what to expect and how to respond. I would very briefly mention each project but focus on one. Something like: "I have worked on projects A, B and C but C was my main project." and then tell about C. Choose the project you know best and/or the one that shows your abilities best.

It is very valuable advice. Yeah it was my first interview also, so I was super on edge the whole time. When the interview was over, I found out I answered the questions not as I practiced. As I don't have any publication yet, I wonder whether it would be one of major deficiency of my research skill? My master thesis was done in 2015 therefore the regression was straightforward however I encounter some problems of data issues that I eventually overcome. Should I mention it?

This could be different in some countries/institutions but usually publication experience is not a requirement. It can be a big advantage, though. From my understanding, your experience could be given as an example of "overcoming difficulties" if you get such a question. However, I would advise against going into defensive mode with regard to your master project or your lack of publication. Try to emphasise your strengths and achievements.

One of the best ways to demonstrate skills and ability to carry out a research project is to ask intelligent and relevant questions about the project as part of your interview. When I interview students, that is one of the ways I find out about their ability to understand and put new information in context.
So for instance, a student who will be running experiments might ask about current protocols related to lab work during COVID and then discuss how they might make sure to get the work done under those conditions. Someone doing data analysis might ask about the structure of the data to be analyzed and the packages or libraries used most by the group. They might then comment on how they would approach the analysis or other packages they have found helpful for similar data.
When you treat the interview as a collaborative conversation you can most easily demonstrate your ability to carry out the work successfully.

Thank you for your constructive comment to my query. During my first interview, they only asked me about my prior research experience without adding further questions in relation to them. Therefore, should I be more proactive when answering such question in order to convey my research skill?

Did they ask you, usually at the end of the interview, if you had any questions for them? You can proactively ask questions earlier, but if you have not had the opportunity, then this is the place to begin such questions/ discussions.

Yeah, they asked me do I have any questions for them. At first, I stuttered giving my questions and probably it was my first interview, I was too edgy to recall what I needed to do, even for the sake of clarifying my proposal or asked them why they didn't ask me much about the methodology even though it was a funded project.


text:
Professor unfairly gives a 0 on a test
My  Professor a day before the test sent an email to the class stating that the test would be open notebook test. I have learning disability and based on it have testing accommodations at my university. The accommodations gives me extra time for my test and therefore I get tested in the testing center. This norm has been followed by all my Professors. However my  professor did not want to follow this norm and wanted me tested with class which wasn't an option for me as I have a class following his class and to take with the class would amount to not availing my extra time accommodations. After lots of effort and getting the counselor to intervene, the professor agrees to let me start the test early and take it in the faculty room.
I start the test with the professor invigilating me and I take out my printed notebook copies and refer them as the test was open notebook. The professor does not make a sound, lets me proceed and after about 15 min leaves the faculty room, returns towards the end of the test ( more than 2 hrs later) and sees me put back my referral notebook back in my book bag. Starts shouting that I cheated and that I would have repercussions.
I am shocked and ask ,what cheating and he says, that you used your notebook. I remind him of his email that said that the test was open notebook. He says that he has changed that ( at the time of me taking my test separately in faculty Rm, the rest of my class is taking the test in the class room  and are told of his changed stance and thus not allowed to use the notebook). I point out to the professor about his email and my use of my notebook stemming from that and the obvious fact that he invigilated and stayed for the first 15  minutes and saw me using notes and neither told me of his changed stance or stopped me, so how was I to know of his changed rules of the test.
The professor admits that he should have told me, but regardless says since I used notebook, I get a zero. I request options to retake the test, do an assignment in place or even take an aggregate score of my rest of the test as an average for this one, but he refuses and says the only option is a zero. I try explaining that even if I do my best in the remaining  three tests with this zero the best I will land is C, but he stands his ground and insists, I deserve a 0.
Consult my counselor and she send me the deans #. Please advise. Did I do something wrong? Am I overlooking a good reason for the professor to make this policy? Is calling the dean the best next step? How do I handle a call to the dean?

Your next step seems obvious: call the dean and explain the situation. What kind of advice were you looking for here?

I was looking to get advise from any one  in similar situation, and advise on,  if I am unseeing any wrong on my part ( though logically I see none) and also if any one knows why would the professor be unyielding to give me a chance to change my test score which I got because of no fault of mine ( unsure if Universities do not allow  a grade change once posted).. are the hands of professor tied? ..the options Dean might offer, do not want further negative repercussions because of this no fault of mine situation, I am in...Just legally the options available in this case ...

I couldn't be bothered to read this, because it's a wall of text. I'd suggest to break it down into paragraphs.

You need to call the dean as instructed. You could consider asking your counselor to be part of the call. Basically ask her to allow you to make the call from her office so she can answer any questions from the standpoint of the accommodations office. Do this ASAP to get things sorted out before scores get entered in the system.

I think that counselor is in a much better position to advise you on what policies are at your school.

I did a fast edit based on OP response in comments.

One comment here—if the professor changed his mind at the last minute (and it sounds like he did), that's an awful thing to do to students. That shouldn't be lost in the argument here.

Thxs all.. appreciate all your feedback...

Not being a lawyer, this is almost certainty discrimination based on disability. Even without malicious intent, this professor made a very bad mistake and should be very apologetic and accommodating of you in rectifying this situation. If I were you, I wouldn't put up with any more nonsense from him- escalate to the appropriate authority, and don't agree to take that retest, it won't help you. Also the bit where he sat there and watched you use your notebook without intervening to me shows intent to discriminate. It's rather hard to do that accidentally. I am sorry this happened to you


text:
Is it necessary to have only recommendations from Computer Science professors for an application to Computer Science grad program?
Can I also have my finance/economics professor recommend me? I have a good relationship with her. Would it matter if she isn't from the CS department in my college?

Yes, absolutely.  Your references should be people who know you, your work and your capabilities best and can give the admissions committee the best possible insight into what to expect from you.  That matters a lot more than what department they're in.  For that matter, they don't even have to be former instructors.  You might also turn to a former supervisor at an internship you did one summer if the work you did for them was especially impressive.

So the fact my professor is from a non CS department wouldn't lessen the impact/importance of the recommendations? right?

I actually figured a little problem with the way my question is phrased. I meant to ask, does the recommender SOLELY has to be a CS prof or that won't really matter. Apologise for the poorly formed question.

If you're applying to a graduate program in CS, you'll probably want at least one and hopefully two of the three references you'll likely need from people who can speak to your potential as a computer scientist.  But they definitely don't all have to be CS instructors.  Given the choice between a reference from a CS instructor who only knows you as a name on his roster of 250 students in his lecture versus a finance instructor who knows you and your work really well, go with the latter.  A reference that can only report your grade is not very helpful; they'll already have your transcript.

That is exactly what I wanted to clear! Thanks a lot for responding :D

I think that Nicole’s answer hits the main point, but there’s a second question lurking here: does a letter of recommendation from a CS professor carry more weight than a similar one from a non-CS professor.
The purpose of letters of recommendation is to testify to your known or expected ability to do computer science research. A CS professor will be intrinsically trusted more than a non-CS professor, and amongst non-CS professors those who have experience with CS work or those who work in CS-related fields will carry more weight than those who don’t. For example, a quantum computation researcher who is in the chem department will count for more than most other kinds of chemistry professors.
This should not be taken to disagree with anything in Nicole’s answer. If you barely know a prof or didn’t do research with them, it’s far far harder for them to vouch for your skills as a researcher at all than if they did do research with you. All research experiences you have will be - to some extent - relevant and it’s definitely worth seeking out professors from any department that can speak strongly and in detail about you and your prowess.

Having served on graduate admissions committees, I think you're wrong and I suspect it reflects lack of experience.  The most useful LORs are from people who know a candidate well and can speak to the individual's critical thinking skills, ability to deal with abstract concepts and new material, problem-solving skills, creativity, dedication, attitude, etc.  That absolutely does not have to be a professor in CS just because the student is applying in CS.  A CS professor who only knows the student's grade is a worthless reference.

@NicoleHamilton I think I miss-represented my ideas then. The OP is asking if a letter of recommendation is less Impactful if it comes from a non-CS person. I have been told time and time again by people who have served on committees that the answer is yes. That definitely doesn’t mean it’s not impactful, and that definitely doesn’t mean you should only ask CS people. But given two identical letters, one from an Econ professor and one from a CS professor, the later will carry more weight. Do you disagree with that assertion?

@Nicole Rereading my answer, I think it’s more accurate to say I wildly misrepresented myself. I’ve substantially edited my answer to try to articulate the intended point.

This is an improvement.  I'll undo my downvote.


text:
How flexible is grant funding?
I have two questions about grants:

If someone wins a grant, do they have to perform research exactly
about the questions they proposed in the grant? Or, is there room to
change the research question later?

What to do if there is uncertainty when I do not know which lab
or even country I will be in the coming year. As I understand, the
grant is written with the help of a PI and ideally the research is
done in their lab. Do people set in the stone where they want to do
the research before writing the grant? If the postdoc has to move to
another country, what happens to the grant? Is it divided between
the postdoc and the PI?

It depends, what do the policies of the specific granting organization say?

What is the role of PI here? Do they own the grant or is it shared with the postdoc? Can a postdoc apply for  a grant on their own?

Answers: It depends, it depends, and it depends. Grants can differ quite a bit.

I'm confused what's your position here. Are you a postdoc, writing a grant? If so, why? (to be blunt)

More often than not postdocs are not eligible to hold grants in their own name (not always the case), although they can be named on grants as the reseracher that will do the research, they do not generally own the grant in any way. Postdocs can however hold fellowships in their own name. The difference between a fellowships and grants is that grants are about funding a project, while fellowships are about funding a person.

I'm going to assume the US and the National Science Foundation for the purposes of this answer because it's the main thing I have experience with. Also, "IT DEPENDS":

If the research question needs to change a bit because the research isn't going exactly where you thought it would, the Principal Investigator should have a discussion with the Program Officer/Manager assigned to them by NSF. There's some slop in the system. They'll probably want you to follow the science. Biology awards probably can't be turned into pure theoretical Mathematics ones, but the PO will be able to guide the PI.
NSF money can't be used to pay a foreign national to work in their home country (nor an American in a foreign one) except under extreme circumstances or ones required by the science (think Large Hadron Collider or the Antarctic Program). The grant is to the institution under the direction of the PI, not directly to the PI and other named people. And, if the postdoc decides to go back to their home country, they just go home and don't get to work on the project anymore unless another source of funding with different rules comes along. If the PI decides to move from Harvard to Yale and wants to take the grant with them, then they can ask Harvard to release it to Yale and NSF for their permission, and maybe it'll all work out. Happens all the time. There were certain advantages at review-time for awarding the grant to the PI when they were at Harvard (Facilities document), now NSF has to decide if Yale is a good enough substitute. I've never heard of it not working out, but it might if the PI was taking a big step down (Harvard to a community college, maybe?). If the PI were trying to take an Engineering Research Center (ERC) or telescope or supercomputer with them, then everyone would probably say "no."

What's an ERC? .

https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2009/nsf09545/nsf09545.htm

This will differ by granting institution, but nobody expects research to go off without a hitch.
In general, though, research grants are contracts between the granting institution and the research institution --  not the investigator.  Changes of location can be done, but it's not a light matter.

You have two sets of rules to follow (really more):

your institution.   If you are part of an institution (university) or company they will have set guidelines about leeway they will have with certain grants.   In fact (very major medical university example) the guidelines will vary by department and could vary more by staff member.   This is in your institutions best interests to keep each person in line so that they have more of a favorable status.   For instance if you "broke rules" and went off and did your own thing... Sure you may not get sued and possibly the money is never recouped but others that your work with may not get funding anymore or at the very least be under more review.   And more review usually means less miscellaneous money allocated.   I have witnessed misallocations being deducted from larger university pool or general stipend numerous times.

who gave the grant.   If it was government there probably is close to zero chance you are moving countries - speaking in general here.   If private then you would have to work with that company.   Depending on how you wrote your funding work it could be implied that you will do research at the addresses that you gave.   Moving without an OK could be a hard stop to funding and you would be in possible default.

governing agencies.   Some grant "markets" are so pervasive that the grantors are not able to monitor EVERYTHING.   That is where government agencies get involved.   They can make the call if a doctor can order 20 new laptop for their staff based on a general grant and things like that.   Most universities have large staff that work with these agencies and keep their doctors in line with the rules that change quite frequently.

As far as specific on what you research there are usually review periods built in where you need to submit your status and findings and future intent.   Depending on what type of grant it is - as stated above - it could be your university requiring these, an agency or the grantor/company.   So you would need to ask this question to your department grant team (PI) or to the grantor.    If the grant "contract" is vague obviously it allows you more flexibility.

Moving to another country
I'll try to answer one of your many questions, namely "If the postdoc has to move to another country, what happens to the grant?".
Most grants are awarded by national institutions who would contract the performance of the research either only in their country or in a particular institution in their country. (EU grants may allow or even expect intra-EU mobility)
If after awarding the grant but before starting it the postdoc has moved to another country, then that would generally simply disqualify them from that grant, and it would be canceled. Perhaps the institution can allocate some different postdoc for the approved research from the same grant; perhaps that money goes to the grant proposal who was "next in line" in the grant competition.
If the postdoc "has to" (it's usually a choice) move to a different country or institution during the grant execution, then that would most likely break the conditions of the grant contract, and would stop the grant. It's possible that in this case part of the already received funding would have to be repaid, depending on the contract conditions.

The degree of flexibility is determined precisely and only by the particular grant, contract, or fellowship program that you are dealing with.  Some give a great degree of flexibility (e.g., US NSF grants) while others have an extremely rigid set of deliverables and timelines (e.g., DARPA projects).
In general, however:

Grants and contracts are with an institution, not a person. Grants tend to be more flexible than contracts, with more ability to change the research as you go. In either case, the money will move only if the PI moves and the funder and institutions want to cooperate. You might be able to arrange a way to be paid at another institution (e.g., via a subcontract or a remote position), but that would be quite unusual at the postdoc level.
Fellowships tend to be the most flexible. They are typically given to people rather than institutions, and tend to essentially follow them wherever they go within certain boundaries. Many are restricted by nation, but some are not. Likewise, they often have the least constraint on the specific research to be carried out.

While there are different questions here, I'll answer from the point of view of Computer Science in the United Kingdom.
Different funding bodies vary hugely on how much you need to "follow" your original plan. The EU expects regular submissions, which show your progress towards your original goal, and an explanation of any deviations. On the other hand, the EPSRC funding council provide great freedom, basically trusting you once you start. They are also happy if you do very different research to your original target, assuming you have a good reason.
In the UK, research money generally "follows the PI", so if they move University the money goes with them. Postdocs do not have any right to take money to another University. It is possible to transfer a grant to another PI in exceptional circumstances (for example, the old PI leaves the country, or academia) -- such requests are considered, it helps if there was another person already working on the project who is an obvious new PI.


text:
What is the difference between average of journal first decision and submission to first post-review decision?
I noticed that in Taylor and Francis metrics there are two concepts:
Average submission to first decision
and
Average submission to first post-review decision
Could any one demonstrate the difference, thanks in advance.

A desk reject would be a "first decision", but not a "first post-review decision". I would thus assume that the first number includes desk rejects, and the second number is taking the average only for those submissions that do get sent out for review.


text:
Do generalist journals try to make sure every subfield is adequately represented? If so, how?
I am curious: what steps do generalist journals follow to try to ensure that every subfield (e.g., number theory, differential geometry, combinatorics, etc. for pure mathematics) is adequately represented, as the journal deems suitable?
To ask the question in a different way: a generalist journal will typically publish many more papers in one subfield compared to another subfield (in an absolute sense and/or relative to total volume of papers in that field). How does this "publication rate by subfield" come to be? My personal interest is in mathematics, though the question applies to any academic field.
There are two sub-questions here: one for high-volume, "good" journals (e.g. Proceedings or Transactions of the American Mathematical Society) and one for low-volume, "top" journals (e.g. Annals of Mathematics, Acta Mathematica). It is a given that such a journal would have a diverse editorial board (in some cases, subject to constraints such as university affiliation), which is already a partial answer to the question. So the question is whether journals conscientiously or systematically do more than this.
My understanding is that for a journal like Proceedings or Transactions, each subject editor has a certain page quota of articles that they can recommend for publication. What I don't know is whether such a page quota is the same for each editor, or whether this varies by subfield. Or how they decide how many editors per subject. Presumably one subfield may be significantly larger than another, or a single editor might end up being the contact point for various subfields. I also don't know how final decisions are made based on the recommendations of subject editors.
For the very top journals, the discretion of the editors would presumably be a more important factor. But is "we've already published in this field recently" or "we haven't published in this field recently" often a consideration?

Your question isn't well defined. How finely do you want to divide mathematics into subfields. I'm pretty sure that in my very tiny specialty, deep within real analysis, almost no articles get published anymore.

By subfield, I mean at the level of AMS primary subject classification codes: number theory, algebraic geometry, combinatorics, differential geometry, etc.

How would a disinterested (or even interested) observer determine what is 'adequate' representation? A journal can only deal with papers submitted to it.

Almost every generalist journal has some reputation for having a different bias towards various subfields than other generalist journals.

What precisely constitutes 'adequate representation' is certainly subjective and debatable, and not so important for the question as I intend it. The focus is more about whether journals make a conscientious effort to achieve 'adequate representation', however the journal defines or measures it.

It seems you are talking about mathematics journals.  Not generalist journals like Science or Nature or Proc NAS.  If so, include the word "mathematics" in the title.

I do have in mind math journals, but I don't mean to limit the question. I'd also find a perspective about true generalist journals like Science/Nature/Proc NAS very interesting if someone were to share.

I think you are suggesting that there might be some sort of quota system and I doubt that such a thing is done, or even viable. You are interested in fairly broad areas of specialization within mathematics and, while I'm not in the game anymore, I have to guess that there are plenty of papers submitted in each of the categories (or they would be dropped or coalesced).
But the editors, and especially the editor in chief, is most interested in publishing the highest quality papers. Those that are interesting. Those that make serious advances. Those that suggest new ways of approaching mathematical questions. The "balance" will come naturally, due to the sheer number of papers.
But, if I'm the editor in chief (as I'm not), and I have two papers, one in a recently popular field and one in a less popular one, I'm going to choose the better paper. The other consideration would be far down my list of criteria. If I have a great paper and an ok but not earth shattering one, it is an easy choice.
And if there is some imbalance between the number of papers published in a subfield, I'll have to guess that it is related to the number of practitioners and the current state of the art in that field. Some fields have fewer researchers, and some threads of research get "stuck" for a time. Publishing "extra" papers in that field seems counterproductive at the moment decisions need to be made.

For the specific technical questions about quotas and such, you should ask the EiC of TransAMS, for example.

While I don't know the precise system used, I have definitely heard editors talk about quotas.

@Kimball, perhaps it is just a goad to keep them moving forward. Or a gate to force them to keep the standards up.

I've only heard the quotas as being used to prevent an editor from accepting too many papers, not as a minimum.  Another thing to note is that there are journals where individual editors decide acceptance and ones where all editors have to vote on each paper.  The latter system presumably helps keep things balanced.

what steps do generalist journals follow to try to ensure that every subfield (e.g., number theory, differential geometry, combinatorics, etc. for pure mathematics) is adequately represented, as the journal deems suitable?

I think it is important to consider what the goal of the journal is in determining what is 'suitable'. If you have a for-profit journal, then this is an economic decision: The journal wants to get readers/subscribers so it can sell ads. Therefore, the journal will try to select articles that will achieve this goal. Maybe representing many subfields equally is part of their strategy to attract readers and quality submissions, but maybe not. It could be that just a small set of subfields generates the majority of readers, so those would likely be emphasized.
Things may be different for 'society' journals, which may have different agenda. But this agenda is likely not generalizable from one journal to the next, so I do not think there will be any coherent answer for 'generalist journals' in general.