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Statistician as co-author
I recently started working for a professor as the statistician on the project. I cleaned the data, performed the data management, statistical analysis, and reported the results (with explanations of how to interpret the results). A poster was submitted and I was not asked to review it and provide feedback, but I was given an acknowledgement. In previous jobs I would have been included as an author so I found this lack of author-level attribution demotivating (it was a lot of work and it was complicated). Should I have been asked to be an author here? If so, how to raise it with the professor? Thank you.

Are you a PhD student, postdoc, professor, outside academia...?

I am outside academia.

What field are you in? In my field, posters can be somewhat of a throwaway and not really a big deal; journal publications are much more important, and if you feel you were left off a poster inappropriately you could advocate to be an author on the final publication (and again, in my field at least, adding a middle author should not be a big deal).

The other researchers may not appreciate how much work you had to do; many scientists think of statistics as a trivial plug-in-the-numbers job that (in their minds) could be performed by any technician. They don't understand the issues of data cleaning and management or the expertise involved in interpretation. If so, politely indicating the amount of time and expertise involved may be enough to remind the other researchers that you should have author status.

The first rule of thumb is never do work without clarifying authorship. (This is usually harder said than done, especially if one is a graduate student).
Based on the limited information you have provided, it seems that authorship may be warranted here. If your analysis was used, especially if your "explanations of how to interpret the results" were used verbatim, you need to be given authorship. If you are in a position to do such, I would send a short email to the professor and explain that you feel your contributions deserve authorship. It costs the professor nothing to add you as an author. Since you are outside academia, you have the option of not working with the professor further. Regardless of the outcome, you can still list the project as a project you participated in as a statistician.
This will be somewhat field specific. Such practices could be confirmed by looking at other similar papers and seeing what type of attribution the statistician was given. This will also back your claim if statisticians are usually given authorship in the field.
Also note that a poster is not the same as a journal article. Authorship for posters is usually somewhat loose; authorship for journal articles is much more official.

I've got an idea.
Send an email to the Professor and tell him that you are going to submit the article to a journal and that you will be the sole author. Tell the Professor that you thought your contribution was the lions share of the work and that you should get the credit.
That Professor will find that preposterous then you can explain to them that is how you feel for not being included as an author.

I disagree with the advice of @ZarinaAkhtar here, as I feel that it might just increase tensions between you and your coauthors. Honest and upfront dialogue is likely to leave a less sour taste in everybody's mouth than such a "well this is how it feels" approach.

I also agree with Phil, but a conversation with the Professor, maybe face to face in this manner could take the sting out of the conversation.

Also note that a poster is not the same as a journal article. Authorship for posters is usually somewhat loose; authorship for journal articles is much more official. Don't bank on it though, as more than usual the poster is the blueprint of the article and they may just copy the list of authors. OP should clarify as soon as possible.

Let me chime in with my experience. I (mostly) left academia a couple of years ago to start a business, but I'm still doing research. The trouble you describe is not unknown to me. Most of it are well-known conflict lines in inner-academic collaborations as well, but there are a few points that are peculiar to freelancers/consultants/contractors from outside academia:
I had to learn that there are peculiar misconceptions about (scientific) authorship. In particular I've met (a few/some) academics who

seem to think that authorship in a publication is bound to holding a position at an academic research institution (seems to correlate with the world-view that valid research is exclusively conducted at academic research institutions), or
that being paid on contract basis somehow buys off the authorship*.
Or that authorship is a form of payment that can be used in lieu of money*.
And I've had people arguing against me being co-author that being industry/business/freelancing I don't need publications any more.

Needless to say, all these points are of no relevance at all for deciding scientific authorship. BTW, I'm in a legislation where authorship is an inalienable right - I could sell the right to economic exploitation (just like academics/their employers do all the time when tranfering rights to the journal publisher; I do that, too: I license my work to the client), but not authorship.
In consequence, whenever I smell such authorship trouble lurking around the corner/whenever the contracted work is of a nature that is likely to end up in a publication, I put into my offer that any publications coming off of the work in question will handle authorship according to the DFG priciples for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice** This is redundant in the sense that the academic research institutions I'm dealing with are members of the DFG and have agreed to these rules. But by reiterating it in the contract I try to cut short those nonsensical "arguments" above and I emphasize from the beginning that I do care about authorship.
In a way we freelancers/contractors/consultants do have an advantage here over, say, academics in the stats department who do statistics consulting: as the normal way of cooperating with us is a written contract, we can use this contract to clarify our  claims to possible authorship***. In practice, it seems to just offset the additional risk of encountering misconceptions about authorship like the ones I've listed above.

I agree with the others: the guesstimate from the necessarily limited information about your contribution is that you probably should have been an author.
OTOH, in my field (analytical chemistry) only peer-reviewed papers do really count.

Therefore, I'd personally not make a big fuss about the poster (as in, not crying over already spilt milk).
But I'd express clearly and unambiguously that I'd have thought to have contributed sufficiently to be a co-author. However, I recommend doing starting this discussion in a very polite and professional manner (one-to-one with the prof in question). If the prof does not bring forward valid arguments why I'm mistaken in my view but does not agree to my claim of coauthorship for the paper, it's time firmly make that claim project-publicly.
In my experience, there may be some fuss as the client may not want to pay you for working at the paper, and you'll have to decide how to deal with that.
Similarly, you'll have to decide how much of a stink you'll raise if they nevertheless submit a paper without your knowledge.
However, if you are well-known in the relevant scientific community, it may be well to casually let other colleagues know that you are involved in that study and you are the one to do all the statistics and data-management.

Importandly, never letting you see the manuscript (so that you don't contribute to the writing/revising of the manuscript - which is a prerequisite for authorship) is not a valid way of excluding you from authorship after you contributed substantially to the published work/study: that would be plagiarism.
I've had my authorship to a paper upgraded to co-first-authorship by the editor based on the description of my contribution in the "contributions" section. With that experience, I'd hope that an acknowledgement that acknowledges you doing the data management, statistical analysis and helped with the interpretation of the results of the statistical analysis would trigger reviewers and/or editor to put you as an author. Unfortunately, I think it unlikely that your full contribution will be acknowledged (as opposed to mere help with these points).

*  I met academic researchers on full-time contracts who say this without blushing.
** put in here any scientific authorship guidelines that are relevant for your field/location. In my experience, they are pretty much the same in their requirements.
*** For future collaborations: I've discussed concerns with prospective (academic) clients by explaining that though it doesn't have anything to do with them personally, I've had bad experiences with other academic clients in similar circumstances and therefore will work only on particular terms until I know that the collaboration with them (their institution's administration) works smoothly.
My experience with that is in terms of payment delays, which were comparatively easy to discuss with the clients in question (as employees they've probably had delayed reimbursements as well). I'd expect telling the prospective client that you had bad experiences in terms of authorship and in consequence insist on agreeing on the rules for authorship early on should work similarly - again, academics are well aware of all kinds of trouble around legitimate authorship claims, and clarifying authorship at the beginning is recommended for inner-academic collaborations as well.

It is worth having a look at some of the academic literature and ethics documentation on authorship to get an idea of what is considered a valid authorship claim.  The Council of Science Editors has published a recent White Paper on Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications that gives a good summary of research on authorship and attribution in scientific journals (see section 2.2 of the report).  Following their 2003 report, they state that
...“there is no universally agreed definition of authorship, although attempts have been made … As a minimum, authors should take responsibility for a particular section of the study" (p. 22).
In the case of a statistician who undertakes the data management and analysis for a project, this seems to me like a "significant contribution" to the paper.  Data analysis and interpretation is an expert skill, and a contribution of this kind is a fundamental contribution to a scientific paper.  Parker and Berman (1998) give a detailed analysis of authorship by statisticians, and recommend the use of a scoring system which rates the contribution of a statistician to the design, implementation, and analysis of the study.  It would be worth your time to read this paper and score your contribution on their scale, to see whether this justifies inclusion as an author on the paper.
Once you have reviewed this material, I would recommend contacting this professor and putting forward your claim to authorship (assuming you still wish to pursue it).  You should back up your position by references to documentation of this kind.  In the first instance you may be able to negotiate authorship with the professor, but if this is disputed then you should also be able to have recourse to dispute-resolution mechanisms at that professor's university.


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Progress tracking tool for managing PhD students
I am looking for good options for tools to manage my PhD students, in terms of seeing that they are on track in working out their PhD theses (I am in the UK, three year system) and are hitting their necessary milestones. Each year, as the number of students I supervise grow, it becomes more unwieldy to keep track of each student's progress.
In some ways this sounds like I am looking for a project management tool like MS Project or OmniPlan. But these seem too unwieldy and, perhaps, I would like to also have something that can help manage the chapters I have read and the comments I have given then.
So some basic features would be:

Collaborative software (preference of hosted on a server)
Task lists with deadlines
Timeline progression

I am curious what recommendations people have.

Try Trello.

I've been using OmniPlan for Gannt charts for my advisees but I agree it's very clunky.

Try talking to them in weekly meetings.

I have the same problem and simply use Dropbox and have a shared folder dedicated to each of my PhD students. All docs in one place, all versions of comments, dissertation prospectus, etc. it isn't as automated and checklisty as the other things suggested here... but it is great to know exactly where to find the most up to date info.

I've thought about using Dropbox too, but I want to have a little more control on the sharing than that. Would love a full collaborative environment with docs, comments, timelines, etc. but that's probably too much to ask.

It seems as though this is not the first time this question has been asked. See: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/43358/how-to-keep-track-of-deliverables-for-supervised-students-when-you-supervise-man/43419

Like @Orion suggested, trello is great for organizing work. It is a kanban board where you express tasks as cards and you pile those cards in different decks; usual decks are TO-DO, DOING and DONE, but this is up to you. You can have different boards, one per student. It is collaborative and allows to grant access to a board to specific users (e.g. each student's board would be accessed by the student and you). you can open a card and write comments on it.
If you prefer not to depend on an external service, you can self-host a trello clone, like wekan.
Update: for Gantt charts within the kanban board approach, I see 2 options:

Pay for the Trello extension called elegantt.
Use the open source kanban board called kanboard. It is less visually appealing, but comes with a Gantt view out of the box. You can either host it yourself or subscribe to the hosted version.

My quick look at both of these leads me intrigued. I perhaps should have clarified that it would be useful to have a timeline view to see how we are progressing to meet the three year deadline.

Thanks! The Gantt chart makes sense and I really like the look of kanboard – I like simplicity!

Try overleaf and sharelatex shared accounts! That way you can monitor thesis writing progress and even comment and modify.

What you suggest is more collaborative editing/commenting. (As I'm in the humanities, I would use one of the online markdown collaboration suits instead.) But my question is about managing schedules and research plans.

The tools I have mentioned use TeX, which usage might be less common in humanities. Could you please comment/write an answer with the name of these tools? Or are they the same ncasas mentioned?

Yes, in my previous life I was a programmer and can manage anything from Java to LaTeX to Git, but I don't expect my students to. Since going into academics, I prefer to write in Markdown and am very interested in online collaboration. The main ones I think work best, as of yet, are on Github or the equivalent as can be seen here. However, they are still too bloated for my students... but that's perhaps a different SE question.

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Is it acceptable to cite a textbook for basic background in a master's thesis?
There's one theoretical concept I feel I need to explain briefly in the literature review portion of my MA thesis, but it's very slightly tangential and I don't want to spend more than a paragraph on it. A textbook provides the most all-encompassing, thumbnail sketch of this concept, which would allow me to explain it while citing a single source rather than three or four journal articles.
Would it be déclassé to use a textbook as a reference in a MA thesis for this purpose?

I don't know any reason why a textbook shouldn't be cited for something that takes only a paragraph, but maybe this depends on what is conventional in your field.

I second @MichaelHardy on this one; it seems like you need to check in the literature of your field.  In my field (economics) it's not exactly common, but I've still seen it done plenty of times, including by very prominent researchers in the field.

At least in mathematics, any reference that explains the concept (well) is fair game. Of course, you still will be judged by your references -- for example, some textbooks have an (unwritten) reputation of being watered-down and "for dummies", and it might be better not to cite them if you are below the level where your own competence in the subject is beyond doubt...

You are right that listing a textbook is generally not seen as 'academic' enough. But I think it would make sense to cite it in a literature review with a note like, 'For a good basic overview of this subject, see…'. This I think is acceptable, given that the rest of your thesis shows awareness of more technical pieces as well.

In addition to the other answers, I would say that in a context where a citation of a review article would be sufficient (I would argue this applies when you are talking about "slightly tangential" topics you don't want to overemphasize), a textbook reference is sufficient if you cannot find a relevant scholarly review.
I think it would be especially sufficient if it is a more specialty textbook (i.e., not a first-semester undergraduate textbook) or authored by someone who is particularly expert in the field (vs. an expert in teaching the subject, who may explain the subject well for a novice but not have had a hand in original work in the field).

From my professional and research experience as a research assistant, I will say that this should not be considered déclassé as long as you:

Do not overemphasize too much but just mention the main idea.
From a research perspective, sustaining your main idea on various sources is the standard rule in most papers, however, there exists implicitly (because there is no formal rule that states how many sources you can use to sustain your idea) a certain limit of sources which depends on the weight of the idea that you are introducing. If your point or idea is going to be discussed in a few sentences then the textbook with one more source that serves as introduction will be more than enough.

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Where to report research misconduct discovered in published papers?
If someone, without any academic affiliation or academic job, encounters scientific misconduct such as manipulated images, misinformation, and errors in the academic literature, what should they do?
Contacting the authors of these papers with evidence and possible solutions has not produced as response after weeks or months. Similarly, opening an Issue in the GitHub repositories provided with some of these papers, including evidence and code to reproduce, has not produced any response.

The answer to your question is the same a recently asked question on this site: https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/208873/33210

To further clarify what Richard said, although your situation is different from being asked to cite papers for money, the solution linked in his comment is also what should be done in this situation as well.

@RichardErickson, your answer in question about being paid for citing is helpful, though nor question nor description in that question is not containing general term "research misconduct". It is very nice that you realized that it is research misconduct in your answer to that question!

@IvanStepanov the answer do not contain the word "academic misconduct" but answers anyway by providing a list of resources you can contact about this type of issue (although US centred)

"scientific misconduct such as [...] errors in the academic literature" Errors do not constitute scientific misconduct.

You can contact the editor of the journal that published the paper you want to report. You can also contact the publisher of that journal.
There is also PubPeer, a site where you can comment on papers. It has been used to report evidence of misconduct.
In a similar question, this answer has some additional suggestions:

Retraction Watch (https://retractionwatch.com/) is an international non-governmental organization. I would look there first at their resources. The have had luck pressing European funding agencies and US institutions to hold PIs accountable and retract papers.
There is an Office of Resource Integrity in the US Department of Heath and Human Services, and they have a useful handout with resources that answer your questions and provide guidance. Their office was created to address US research misconduct for NIH funded work, but is generally underfunded for their mission. Still a good place to start.
The US CDC has as a similar website for CDC funded work.
The US NSF has a similar website for NSF funded work.
Contact specific universities ethics offices.

Just know that you are not guaranteed to get any responses, it doesn't matter which path you pursue. Unfortunately, not responding to issues in publications is a common thing.

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Looking for some advice regarding research collaboration
I am currently in the middle of my one-year MSc. thesis at a non-brand University in Europe. Our University requires an external examiner to be part of the project. My thesis surrounds a proven unsolvable problem that was written up decades ago. As a long shot, we reached out to one of the professors who defined this problem long ago.
After many exchanged emails, they read the research proposal and stated that they are working on a similar problem and would like to do a research collaboration between the advisor, them, and me, and also invited me to visit them at their University (which is a T10 overall, T30/T20 in my field) to collaborate this summer. I'm heading there in the next coming weeks and staying for a few days.
The questions
First and foremost, this thing doesn't really feel like it should happen at the current point and time in my education and academic career. Does this happen? When does this happen? It feels surreal, and I feel like maybe I am getting hyped about something that is too good to be true.
What sort of expectations should I have about this? Is this a way to "sneak" into a PhD programme in the US if it goes well? How should I best prepare for the visit and collaboration to maximize this opportunity?

While a collaboration might be inconsistent with the role of an external examiner, I don't see the same problems that you seem to. The advisor and, obviously, the external person likely know the wider field better than you do and are in a better place to judge. It sounds like a dream opportunity, assuming everyone is ethical.
Visiting a more prestigious university is also a positive thing. I don't understand your hesitation.
You need to look at the requirements for doctoral study in the US. This opportunity seems like a good, though probably unnecessary, one.
I don't see any red flags, given what you write here.
However, see the requirements for admission to doctoral programs in the US (and elsewhere) here: How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in Country X?

First and foremost, this thing doesn't really feel like it should happen at the current point and time in my education and academic career. Does this happen? When does this happen?

To me, this actually seems fairly normal. A "good" Master's student who does solid academic work also benefits the PI, especially if they are able to be independent and contribute to the direction of the project. In turn, supervisors will often try to reward Master's students (who usually don't get paid) by supporting their academic journey- helping them make connections, funding them to present at a conference, etc. . What you've written isn't necessarily the norm for all Master's students, but seems reasonable and common for high-achieving ones.
I'd also like to note that you probably shouldn't take as much stock in overall field-based university rankings once you get into a specific subfield. For example, a university that has a middling ranking overall might be known in the subfield for having a very strong group in a specific niche, or vice versa.
Asking your potential collaborator to be an examiner might be a bit of a loophole to be able to fund their visit to your university. I'm mostly aware of this trick being used for doctoral defences (albeit with stricter ethical guidelines). So long as they didn't contribute to the part of the work that they're evaluating, it should be in the ethical clear.

What sort of expectations should I have about this?

At least in my field, the expectation would be to have some very intense days of discussion when you visit (as well as some nice dinners and impromptu sightseeing), followed by a lot of hard work when you get back home. There will presumably be a very optimistic timeline to write a joint publication- which will help you with grad school applications, but don't forget to also finish your MSc thesis.

Is this a way to "sneak" into a PhD programme in the US if it goes well? (I have no idea how that actual process works).

See the canonical question/Buffy's answer. You should also talk to your PI about this: they know you and your field, so they can give you more tailored advice.

How should I best prepare for the visit and collaboration to maximize this opportunity?

Read up on the work of the person/group you're visiting- you don't need to know everything, but have some idea of what they do. Ask your PI if they want you to prepare anything specific (e.g. slides). If they don't, try to prepare some version of your notes/work so far that's easily digestible and shareable, and be prepared to explain what you've worked on so far in a clear and concise way.
Other than that, pack defensively (bring comfortable shoes/clothes, weather protection against rain/sun/heat, basic medication for allergies/flu/headaches - assume you'll be busy all day) and try to start out well-rested. Take plenty of notes when you're there, don't assume you'll be able to remember everything. And don't forget to enjoy yourself a bit- science isn't serious all the time, remembering that your impressively-ranked collaborators are people too and trying to connect with them on that level can help the atmosphere tremendously.


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Co-author on papers after leaving academia
I used to do research at a major research institution and recently left academia to pursue a corporate job in a pharma company. I helped with some data collection and analysis for a study while in my previous role, but now, a lot of papers using that data are finally being published. Since I am currently working at a pharma company, I am concerned that if papers with my name are coming out now, somehow that will look like there is a collaboration/endorsement between my company and the research institution, when really this is just work I did at my previous job and my current pharma employer is not mentioned in the article. I'm not sure if I needed to notify my current employer about these articles. Are there any legal considerations of these papers coming out now while I'm working at the pharma company? I do not spend any time outside in my current role collaborating with my previous lab. This is all past work.

There are no ethical concerns in what you describe, but you should probably talk to your current employer about the situation so that they know you aren't currently collaborating.
If the papers list your former affiliation rather than your current one, it will help, though I'm sure you know that already.
There is an outside chance that your employer will object, and you might need to have some discussions about authorship. That would be a very rare, I hope, situation in which the employer objects to the content of the papers and it could lead to some legal maneuvering, but not an ethical concern. But talk to HR or whichever to assure them.
Since you added "legal" to your question, let me add that this would depend on what agreements you may have signed. Worst case, I think, is that you would need to withdraw as a named author, and have your contributions listed anonymously or similar. But that is for lawyers to work out.
One thought, though I can't evaluate its worth, might be to have an end date listed on your prior affiliation before your current employment, perhaps in a footnote.

It is very typical in my field (physics, engineering) that the affiliation used in author listing is the affiliation valid during the work).(Most journals have option for footnote attached to the various authors that then list something like  'current affiliation' .Thisl clearly implies the work done at prior place and that the current affiliation is merely to be able to contact the author.

It is probably safest to discuss the problem with the employer (or the relevant Human resources person, if this is a big company.) For one, the employer has to be reassured that the work was not done at their expense, while they were paying you money for working on another subject (or possibly a related one.) The employer would also have to sign off, if their affiliation appears on the publication.
If you decide not to discuss this with the employer, there is a chance that they learn about it otherwise. How probable it is depends on the level and quantity of the publications coming out, the activities of the employer, whether they follow the publications in the field, and whether they care at all. Anyhow, it is better to have a justification ready, in case they discover - even if you would rather avoid discussing the subject with them.
There are various options that one can encounter in journals: current affiliation with a note that "the work was while at X." or the previous affiliation with a note "currently employed at Y." and various versions and combinations thereof.

Well, not HR, more likely their IP lawyers. HR will be pretty clueless, and if there are no IP lawyers then there probably isn't an issue in the first place.

@JonCuster I don't know how it works in the US, but normally HR is the place where employees address all the questions - it is HR that decides whether they need a lawyer or simply a standard form to sign.

I am concerned that if papers with my name are coming out now, somehow that will look like there is a collaboration/endorsement between my company and the research institution

If you think this is the case, then other people will think so too. Therefore, this is a perceived conflict of interest. If you don't mention this connection and somebody figures it out, it will look even worse.
The way to handle this is to fully explain the situation in the conflict of interest statement, something like

Mickey Mouse is currently employed at Acme Pharmaceuticals. All of his contributions occurred before this employment and he did not provide any substantial input after his departure from XYZ University. His current employer has not participated in, reviewed, or endorsed this work.

There are absolutely no legal considerations. If the work was done prior to your current work, and the affiliations reflect this, this is not even worth the conversation with your manager.
Edit: it appears there are multiple downvotes, and I would love to hear some comments from the downvoters. What is your experience?
Throughout my career I have placed a number of students and postdocs into industry ranging from aerospace to biotech and pharma. We continued to publish manuscripts on which they received credit/authorship years after they left the group. I think the longest was five years.
All the authors had the affiliation held when the work was done (i.e. my University). I have never had to write these drawn out apologetic statements assuring the company that it was not a collaboration (nor have I ever read any like that in the literature). People are aware that if you are coming from an academic research environment, your credit/dissemination of work from that time does not just end the moment you change location, nor does it imply you are acting on behalf of the company when previously completed work is published.
Admittedly, I may be the one who was doing it wrong, but out of curiosity I texted some old friends in the Bay area, in active pharma R&D to ask if they had such issues while their doctoral or postdoctoral work was coming out, and none of them did either.
So I ask the downvoters to kindly explain what their concern is, and what is it based on.

Not a down voter, but I think the last phrase of the original ("this is not even worth the conversation with your manager") is probably an issue for some (even for me). I'd think it worth a conversation, just to head off any misconceptions.


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Motivation letter for PhD application
There is a PhD project advertised by a professor and I want to avail that position. But that project is not clearly connected with my work in my MS research. (Advertised project is about quantum liquids while my MS work is about topological insulators). However, I know basics of quantum liquids and I find myself very much interested in this field.
Is it a good idea to mention that my work is not connected with this project but my very strong interest in this field is what motivating me to apply for this position in the motivation letter?

You do not need to state in your motivation letter that your MS research is not connected to the topic of your desired PhD project: your application contains your CV that already says what your MS research was about, so the information will be redundant. It most likely would be read as a sign of humbleness - that can be OK, but it's better to show humility putting an effort in learning, then in moaning about your ignorance.
In many countries students had no exposure to doing ANY kind of research at any level before starting their PhDs. So if anything, the fact that you have done some sort of research in any field gives you an advantage.
There is absolutely no reason why you should already be familiar with the PhD project: the reason why you choose a PhD is not because you already are an expert in that matter, but because you want to become such an expert. On this part of your question, please see this other Academia answer

Glad it helped! Added a small about research before PhD


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Is it plagiarism if I copy somebody else's answer I already solved but misplaced?
For an assignment, I was supposed to do some tedious calculations and essentially compute a certain number of things and then just list them as answers, one after another, without the calculations. There were about 15 of these things that I had to list.
I did this, and then misplaced the paper on which I had written them. I was sitting in class getting ready to hand in my paper when I realized this. It was the last paper in the stack and I guess it just got lost somewhere.
So what I did was that I found the solution online, and then just listed those things down again and turned it in. The problem is made worse by the fact that I listed the 15 things down in the same order as the solution found online. There wasn't a "natural" order to the things, apart from maybe the first and last thing, and therefore, there were 13! = 6227020800 different ways of listing them, and so of course it will look very suspicious if somebody noticed that I just happened to have the same order as this other solution.
Is this plagiarism? What should I do if this is caught? I am considering writing a mail to my instructor right now, but I could also leave it be and hope it is not caught.

EDIT:
One of the answers below raised another question. What if my original solution was wrong? In this case, I definitely cheated by copying from the correct solution, but, since I did not know whether my original solution was wrong, I did not cheat intentionally, so .... ?

Whether or not something is "plagiarism" does not depend on how likely you can be caught (hence, the number of possible orderings really should not matter). 2) If there is not a "natural" order of the items, and the order is more or less arbitrary, a plagiarism claim should rather not hinge on the ordering, but on the fact that the items are exactly the same. 3) Your title is rather misleading. It sounds as if you are asking about copying your own answer that you had "misplaced" (written in the wrong spot) before, not copying someone else's answer because you "misplaced" (lost) yours.

How would I copy my own answer if I had misplaced it? By the very fact that I have misplaced it, I am not in any position to copy it. But I edited the title.

I had interpreted "misplaced" as "mispositioned", "put into the wrong location" (on an answer sheet).

Do you still have the scratch papers that you used to calculate the answers?

Yes, I found them at home.

Wow. What an awful assignment.

@JeffE: I'm skeptical that's an accurate description of the assignment.

Is it plagiarism if I copy somebody else's answer...

Yes. Without even reading anything else you wrote. This is exactly what the word "plagiarism" means.

Well, what if the rest of the sentence was "...and then cited the reference appropriately."

@squirrel What if? Copying somebody else's answer is completely different to quoting a source. A sourse is generally somebody attempting to explain the subject in general: one might quote several sources to build up an answer to a specific question, and this would show one's ability to conduct research and to synthesize a position. In contrast, copying somebody else's answer is not research and requires no synthesis. It's just copying somebody else's work. Copying somebody else's work is plagiarism.

By definition, turning in work you did not complete yourself is considered plagiarism. You can explain what happened after the fact if the professor does happen to discover the act, in which case it might be harder to convince him of the innocence of your actions. Or, you can email him and explain what happened and offer to show him your scratch notes. For the record, I think the assignment itself was designed poorly and invited students to find ways to answer the questions without actually doing the work. My opinion, of course.

Is this plagiarism? What should I do if this is caught? I am considering writing a mail to my instructor right now, but I could also leave it be and hope it is not caught.

Yes, this is obviously plagiarism, and moreover, plagiarism that by your account would be very easy to detect.
At the same time, your story makes it fairly clear (assuming everything you wrote is true of course) that you committed the plagiarism not because you are a dishonest or conniving person, but out of panic, and, I'm sorry to say it, a certain lack of maturity.
As for what to do, here is how to address the situation like a grown-up, in the way that I think will be best for your peace of mind, your conscience, your present and future relationship with your instructor, and the personal growth you can derive from this incident.
What you need to do is:

Write an email to the instructor where you explain, in an honest and accurate way, precisely what happened, in as many details as necessary (and possibly including even additional details that may sound irrelevant, like mentioning other things that happened to you that day and may have contributed to your misplacing the papers, since such details will add credibility to your story).
In the email, acknowledge clearly and unambiguously that you committed plagiarism, say that you are sorry for this and promise that you will never even think of doing anything like that again. Avoid using weasel words like "but" or "unintentionally." Naturally, you need to mean all of that, otherwise you are just committing another act of dishonesty.
In the email, provide the instructor with scanned copies of the work you actually did but did not submit, including both the scratch work and the final answers that you were planning on submitting. Say that you recognize that the instructor cannot know for sure that you did the work before the submission deadline and that it might seem like you are trying to dishonestly claim you did the work only after the fact, but offer your word of honor that your story is in fact true. In view of the awkward situation you are putting the instructor in, it might be a good idea to offer to do an extra assignment that they will assign you, which you can say you would be happy to do for the extra learning you will derive from it and as a sign of your honesty and good faith.
Finally -- and I think this is a really important part of my advice -- you should also mention in your email that you sought advice about what to do on Academia Stack Exchange, and provide a link to this question. I know it sounds tempting not to do it, since it may seem like if the instructor knows that you are following my (and/or other people's) advice they will think that your confession is insincere. But once again, I think your situation is all about honesty and confronting tricky situations like a grown-up. By exposing yourself to a maximal level of disclosure and accountability, you will be sending an important signal both to the instructor and to yourself that you take honesty seriously and are willing to be honest even when doing so might not be to your benefit. Conversely, by not owning up to this part of the story you will again be committing a small act of dishonesty (admittedly a more minor one that does not count as academic misconduct), which would undermine many of the goals that I think you can hope to achieve by following the advice in the first place -- the personal growth, peace of mind etc. (not to mention that there is a chance that your instructor is a regular reader of this site...). So, regardless of what the instructor might choose to do with that information, I think doing as I am proposing will provide you with a valuable learning experience that will be very helpful to you in the future when invariably, like the rest of us, you will be faced with similarly tricky situations that everyone encounters over the course of their lives.

Hope this helps, and good luck.


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What topics should one master if one wants to pursue a Master's degree in mathematics at a top university?
This fall I am starting the 3rd year of my bachelor's degree and I intend to continue my studies with a Master's degree and possibly a PhD. The university I study at is a respected institution in my country but not particularly focused on my area of interest (algebra). I had a first contact, at a summer school, with students from top universities in Europe and I realised I am under prepared for a Master's at one of these universities.
I have a good academic record and did some undergraduate research but there are topics I know nothing about. For example in algebra I had only 2 undergraduate courses (vector spaces, groups and rings- basic definition, properties, isomorphism theorems), no linear algebra aside from the matrix of a linear transformation.
So my question is: what courses are essential to someone who wants to go to graduate school in algebra at a good university and what should I study to bridge the gap?
Edit: I already took all the undergraduate and graduate level classes available in my field,at my university, but all those were still under the level of preparation of my peers from other universities. So I was asking for subjects I should know in order to study by myself.

Could you say a bit about which countries you are hoping to apply to? (I can give decent advice for the UK, for instance, but very little for e.g. France or Germany)

I have not decided yet. I am interested in modules and category theory but I am not sure what universities are good in this fields. I am considering UK, Germany, France and Canada but I still have to do a lot of research to determine what institution would be a good fit.

The simple answer is that if you're interested in a subject and expect to continue on to a master's or PhD (or even if you're not expecting to go for an advanced degree, you simply expect to pursue it as a career), you should take as many classes in that subject as you can.  Pick the best or most interesting to you from whatever is offered by your department to fill out your electives and do your best.

Take a look at these oral exams, taken by 1st/2nd year grad students at Princeton:
http://web.math.princeton.edu/generals/

Depending on where the OP is intending to apply, I think the Princeton quals are not a very realistic guide

its a top university, isn't it ?

The OP wants to repair deficiencies in their knowledge before applying to do a Master's; this does not mean it is a good idea to look at what much better prepared people will be made to study at a very demanding PhD program with a notorious style of qualifying exam


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Can I use a stamped arxiv paper as a proof of priority if it has been rejected?
Sometimes arxiv moderators may not agree with content of a submitted manuscript. Although it's rare, the submitted manuscript may be rejected even if it contains novel or original results.
During submission the manuscript is stamped by the arxiv submission system with the classification and date of submission.
Can I use a stamped arxiv manuscript as a proof (priority of a physics or math formula, new method or some other idea) if it has been rejected? If yes, how this could be done? Can I publish the stamped paper online and claim it as an official arxiv document?

I believe this answer may be helpful to you: The fact that the arXiv has time stamps and keeps old versions available is potentially useful for resolving disputes, but the important aspect is that papers on the arXiv get noticed. That's why the arXiv is a good way to establish priority: the community doesn't consider "Oh, I had no idea that paper was on the arXiv" to be a good excuse. By contrast, if you post the paper somewhere much more obscure, then not noticing it would not be surprising or frowned upon.

I would take a close look at the Arxiv Moderation FAQ here: https://arxiv.org/help/moderation .
A scientifically motivated result that is presented in a clear fashion shouldn't have an issue getting onto arxiv; the standards for "acceptance" are very low by academic standards.

I recommend against it. You can put online anything you like and use it to claim priority, but if the paper is hosted on your personal website then you lose the credibility that the date stamp of an official arXiv-hosted paper comes with (since just the stamp itself would be easy to forge), so in the event of a priority dispute this would not be a foolproof form of evidence.
Also, as has been discussed in other questions on academia.se (can't look it up right now), people who are new to academic publishing worry excessively about their ideas being stolen by others. Especially given that your manuscript was rejected by arXiv, the chances of this happening are effectively zero. You would be much better off using your energy to write a good manuscript rather than worrying about datestamps.

@JohnSmith I have a feeling that you have very little idea of what you are talking about in that comment.

@JohnSmith your question is clear enough. As I said, if your goal is to establish priority, your strategy is not a foolproof one. Considering the existence of other time stamping methods that are more reliable (see e.g. here), I would recommend against using the rejected arXiv manuscript.

@DanRomik Thank you for a reasonable suggestion. I also found in internet that vixra.org is an alternative to arxiv.org. However, I am not sure if this file repository is well-recognized by scientific community.

@John viXra is recognized in the sense that people are likely to know of it. This is not a point in its favor, as it is generally considered that the proportion of worthwhile papers there is infinitesimal.


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Faculty (lecturer in UK) interview presentation - what to include around teaching?
I have been shortlisted for a job interview later this month for a lectureship in a UK university. The interview will consist of a presentation and a panel interview.
As per the HR's email, the presentation should talk about how I can contribute to the school's research, teaching and engagement. My question is, what to include in the teaching part? I will specify the school's existing modules that I can cover. Meanwhile, should I suggest one or two modules that I can develop but are not in the school's teaching portfolio yet? Or should I not include this in the presentation, but simply wait until the panel interview bring up this?
I'd like to show that I have done some research on the school's teaching programmes. But I don't want to sound like I am challenging the school's existing programmes. The job description does not mention the development of new modules, either.
Any comments and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Is it a "research intensive" (ie Russel Group) or one of the "1992" universities?

It's a research intensive university. The presentation is 15 mins or so. I will focus more on the research part. As I don't have much experience in teaching, I'm concerned what I should talk about in regard to teaching.

@K.Sugus they think about new subjects and relationship with already existing curriculum

I took the liberty to modify the title as to make it more specific to your problem.

Congratulations for getting an interview for a faculty position!

I'd like to show that I have done some research on the school's teaching programmes.

This should be highly appreciated. Interview panels are not only judging the quality of your research but also how well you would fit with them. They would be happy to know you have been looking into the details of how they operated the inner workings of their institution.

But I don't want to sound like I am challenging the school's existing
  programmes.

Agreed - you should't challenge the status quo - that is way too early for you to do so. Not because you are too junior to come up with good ideas! This is a general rule in joining a new organisation: you need first to the understand the decision making process and find the influential people that will help you implementing the changes you suggest if you want to succeed. What you can do is to hint (you have only few mins after all!) at how you can add value (value here means original contribution both in terms of ideas and skills) to the current curriculum

The job description does not mention the development of new modules,
  either.

That never really appears in job descriptions - and it's typically not in the panel's mind. That is why an original suggestion may be well appreciated - it shows you care about teaching, and you want to contribute there originally too. Only, try to do it in a way that shows a strong desire to contribute, rather than a willingness to disrupt.


text:
How long should an exposé be usually?
There is this position advertised and among its requirements is an exposé of the research the applicant wants to undertake during the fellowship. But it doesn't say anything about the size of the exposé. Is there a usual size for an exposé? And should I think of expose as exactly the same as research proposal?
This is in the humanities.

I'm not sure that we can tell you, as different fellowships will have different expectations.

An A4 page (one side), any more and it is an article, paper or thesis...


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Should grad students also serve as lab managers?
I'm a 3rd year PhD student in a robotics lab. My advisor recently moved universities, so our new lab space doesn't have a large stockpile of supplies and equipment. As the person who does the most hardware-based stuff in the lab, I've been slowly acquiring necessary equipment and supplies for electronics work, mechanical assembly, etc, with the support of my advisor.
There most senior student in the lab is now trying to convince me to take on the role of lab manager. He indicated that in his past labs there have been graduate students who also are given the (extra, unpaid) role of lab manager. He keeps joking (?) that he will volunteer me for the position to our advisor.
It takes a lot of time to spec equipment, make purchase orders, organize tools efficiently, etc, and all the other students in the lab come to me when they need help with anything from university logistics to help using equipment. The equipment is necessary for my work, and I'm  happy to help fellow students, but it's starting to take way too much time away from my work, and I certainly don't want a formal position that necessitates this responsibility. I'm giving a conference talk next week and will miss our regular lab meeting, and I'm worried that this other student will volunteer me for this position when I'm not there.
Is a PhD student also serving as an (unpaid, but official) lab manager a typical arrangement? I've never seen it in any of the labs I've worked with or observed. Research is my absolute top priority and I don't think it's useful for a PhD student to do the work of a lab manager because we're there to do research. If I do get volunteered for the "position" without my consent, will my advisor think I am an unmotivated student if I politely decline?

I don't work in anything like that, but is it really not that useful? If you continue working in robotics, won't you have to keep speccing equipment, making purchase orders, organizing tools, interfacing with the university, and helping other people? Or at least some subset of those tasks?

@Azor-Ahai To clarify, all of these tasks are useful and I always take care of them when they need to get done. My worry is that by being assigned the official title of lab manager I will have more people expecting that I should do all their tedious tasks for them, which will take way too much time away from real work. If I'm doing it to be helpful, I can decline if I have a paper deadline or something more important, or if it's something they really should do themselves. But if I'm the lab manager I may be expected to prioritize menial work over useful research.

A couple thoughts, on someone who has been now a grad student, a lab manager, and a PI:

Someone has to deal with those things, and the PI is often not the best person for that particular role. And it tends to be helpful if there's a single point of contact for things like "Have we ordered more X?". I find that "It's everyone's problem" turns into it being no one's problem.
A lab that will volunteer you for something while you're not there, the PI can't gauge your workload, etc. is not a lab I'd be enthusiastic about working in long term.
Working as a lab manager is a helpful entry on your CV, especially if you don't necessarily want to be a PI. There are often questions on this site about research careers that aren't TT faculty positions. Lab managers are one of those positions, and having experience with it etc. is a good thing.
It's also a good thing if you are interested in being a PI. Because from experience, when your lab is N = 1 people and you're just setting things up, knowing how all of that works is handy.
"...we're there to do research." And how will you do that without the equipment necessary for your work?

That being said, in an ideal world I wouldn't want a graduate student as my lab manager, because graduate students are inherently transient, and one of the values of a lab manager is as an inter-generational knowledge base. But maintaining a full-time, permanent position for essentially a staff scientist is often out of reach of even fairly well-funded labs.

Thank you, this is a helpful perspective. Regarding point #1, I tend to be the kind of person who will take initiative to do those things that are "everyone's problem" because it needs to be done, so I am already the de facto lab manager. But my worry in being given an official title is that even more of my time will be sucked away in increasingly useless tasks, as people keep expecting me to do work that they could easily do themselves. I would rather do what needs to be done out of my own self motivation than have a title that will cause people to dump all their menial tasks onto me.

Hmm, my lab manager isn't really a scientist, but maybe it varies by field.

@Azor-Ahai Most of the lab managers I know have some bandwidth for "Interesting side projects", and aren't just administrative. But as always, things vary by field.

@Fomite Mine has a degree in German - but we're a large group comparatively.


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I caught several of my students plagiarizing. Could it be my fault as a teacher?
I have been teaching for three years now. This year, for the first time, I caught multiple students in a class (out of 50) either handing in the task of a colleague or copying the majority of someones work.
Now I've started to question myself whether this could be on me in any way. Could I have caused this behaviour by something I said? Am I getting paranoid, or was this just a coincidence or the usual abnormal behaviour of some students?
For more context: All students in this class are going to be teachers. In the first lecture I mention some e-learning resources including the online library of all master's thesis of the faculty.
Additional information to answer some comments (some comments are now in chat): This is a course at university level. In this University cheating is -- on paper -- taken as a serious offense. Meaning, if you get caught cheating it will be noted in your examination record and you have to repeat the whole class. Apparently, not all students know this.
I mention the online library in this course because we are discussing electronic materials in this course. One topic of the course is using "digital tools" for teaching. For me this includes using existing resources for preparing classes.
I checked my slides from the introduction. I did not have a "do not plagiarise note in them". Although, I believe that this should be not necessary.
I have to admit that I might invite them since I do not change the tasks between semesters. The reason for this is that I quite like them and that I have the feeling that the output of the tasks will be useful for them in the future.

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

Kudos to you for considering yourself instead of immediately blaming the students. Not saying it's you; but happy to see you have an open mind.

I suspect that in a group of 50 students there will be a few who want to cut corners. It isn't your fault, exactly, but there are some things you can do to make it less likely. If the  number is small, you can deal with it individually in your office, of course.
But you should consider why people feel that cheating of any kind is a viable option for them.
If the tasks you set are all very high risk then people will sometimes act badly out of fear. This goes for both assignments and for exams. If you permit re-work to improve grading on assignments you lower the risk and improve the chances of proper behavior.
If the risk of cheating is extremely low, some will do it out of laziness. I once had a group whose experience previously was that no one actually looked at their work, so it didn't matter much what was turned in. I had to convince them (and the Dean) that I was willing to fail everyone if they kept up that behavior, and also convince them that I would look at and comment on their work. But if they don't get individual feedback, their work actually has little value to them for learning. With 50 it may be difficult to give this feedback, of course, though it is (IMO) essential.
Some students have gotten the idea that the reason that you set a task is to get the "proper" answer, rather than to help them learn. So their focus becomes getting that answer, even if no learning occurs. You need to find ways to educate them about the nature of education - especially as they will be teachers. It sometimes surprised a few of my students that I didn't ask them to do things because I needed the answers. I could provide my own answers. It was the production of the answer that was important, not the answer, and the answer could actually be wrong if I could use it to educate (re-work, feedback, ...)
There are other tricks that can be used to lessen the likelihood of plagiarism. Don't used old exercises if you find students turning in old solutions, for example. But permitting, even requiring, teamwork can, in many cases, lower the risk of plagiarism, as well as make education more of a social process. It also helps solve the 50 student problem if students work in groups, or even pairs.
In case of paired or group work you need a way to do peer evaluation, of course, but it need not be meaningless or threatening.
There are also strictly punitive measures, though I try to avoid them. Giving zero credit for all parties when plagiarism is encountered can be effective. So can expulsion for repeat offenders.

Good points, but I think the one about fear might also work the other way round: For a teacher they fear, pupils often work harder, and more timely, so they are better prepared, and are actually able to finish the tasks by themselves, before the due date. I'll say it depends strongly on circumstances and the individuals how this ends.

One thing I would add in my syllabus was "the point is the change in YOUR brain, your skills, not to find the best possible expression of an idea."  I wanted them to understand WHY plagiarism isn't helpful.  It's not like coding, where finding "the right piece" is the goal.

Hmmm, @April, in learning to code it is the brain, not the code. But yes, a good point for the syllabus.

Cheating Lessons by James M. Lang reiterates a lot of points in this answer in a form of a book, so I would advise to add it as an optional reading.

yes, if it's a programming class, then learning it is the goal, but if you're at work, just getting a snippet that works from SE or GitHub is fine.  Same with creating a lesson plan - I'm may snarf  a useful-looking exercise.  But I still have to know how to put it together.  In English 100 classes, students wanted to find and piece together The Best stuff, until I advised them that the goal was different, and explained how paraphrasing (with cites) proved they UNDERSTOOD their argument better, even if the professionals "say it better."  Bloom's taxonomy was helpful.

@April you make some interesting points, care to form them into an answer of your own?

You give a lot of good advice but it all comes down to the fact that effective teaching requires being able to give 1:1 feedback. You’re right: it’s essential. And with one teacher to 50 people that’s simply impossible. The work conditions are untenable if the aim is to maintain quality. That’s the long and the short of it.

When I TAd a class that permitted group work, the only scenario which prompted me to report a student as cheating was direct copying (which was forbidden); similar results were assumed to indicate group work.  Mind you, the class assignments were unique so there was no other way to cheat.

There is no excuse for plagiarism.
They certainly know that they cannot just copy someone else's work (also not in parts) - especially if they want to become teachers by themselves!
I like to give a few slides of the beginning of the term that make this very clear:

If you copy then you will get a score of 0 for this assignment and I will watch
  all your following ones very closely (in big&fat red letters).

Zero is the same "penalty" you'd get for not handing in the assignment at all; it seems wrong to me to grade "did not do the work" and "actively attempted a fraud" as the same. At my school, the default penalty for plagiarism was negative 100% on the assignment for a first offense, and expulsion for a second.

Students are hesitant to share their work if doing so risks dropping their grade from 100% (assuming correct work) to 0%, so this punishment isn't necessarily useless as means to curtail cheating (assuming there are not other options for cheating).  This works even better if you also add an addendum, "If you put both names on your paper, your grade will be divided between you.  This will not be considered cheating."

Could you have caused it? Most likely yes. One can certainly imagine something you did that made it more likely for your students to plagiarize; further proving that it is impossible for you to have caused it would be very hard.
Should you feel responsible though is a different question. I will say no, you should not. Your students are (presumably) adults, in which case they are responsible for their own actions. Even if you specifically told them that they should plagiarize, this does not necessarily absolve them of responsibility.
Having said that, it's easiest to sidestep the issue by telling students not to plagiarize in the first class. Mind you, this doesn't mean that some students won't plagiarize anyway (some parents in this case even defended their children), but at least now they cannot plead ignorance.

The only way that someone in authority can certainly (most likely) cause (be the source of) an action by others is to instruct that action directly or to leave absolutely no other viable choice but that action. The instructor’s approach may have left the students with the sense that cheating was an easier path to success. That is however not certain proof nor even most likely proof to indict the instructor.

Also consider whether you are perhaps 'forcing' them to do the tasks - e.g. by grading whether all the tasks are done instead of their skill (which admittedly is hard) when they don't have enough time on their hands. As a CS student I usually had more tasks to do per week than could be done in the time of a week, so having to prioritize was a given.
One way to reduce the stress was to make sure all the "you must hand this in" were handed in in the quickest way possible, so I had time remaining to actually study instead of doing exercises that would have been nice to have completed, but were not efficient regarding how much time they took.
Disclaimer: I did not plagiarize and I do not defend plagiarizing. This answer is simply focusing on one aspect of how you could possibly have caused or at least enhanced the likelihood of students cheating.

As a tertiary educator it is absolutely not your fault. All your students would have been taught not to plagiarise when they were in high school, perhaps even in primary or middle school. Your university or college would have a student handbook which would say that plagiarism is a serious academic offence.
I personally wouldn't think it is even necessary to say once in your lectures that your students are not to plagiarise. Of course it's not a problem to say that if you do want to. If you're not sure, you could consult with other staff or your head of school.


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My advisor said that I should be more modest, and we should meet more often. Should I tell him about my impostor syndrome? If yes, mail or personal?
I am a PhD student in Europe, currently in my second year, and I have some attitude problems concerning my work.  I really want to work on my problem, that's fine, but what bothers me is the following. I struggle with "impostor syndrome", so I always think that I know nothing. This leads me to the thought that it's not worth meeting with my advisor, because I am afraid of saying stupid things (which happens!), asking stupid questions (which has led, after all, to the solution of many important problems!), not knowing things which I should know (but if I don't ask, it will be even harder for me to learn these things), and am just afraid of wasting my advisor's time.
You see that I know that I know that my thoughts are completely irrational, but they just won't go out of my head.
Now my advisor (currently abroad for several weeks) sent me an e-mail that he thinks that I should be more modest and that we should meet more often. While I agree with the fact that we should meet more often, I disagree with the statement that I should be more modest. Not being modest means for me (in this context) thinking that I don't need my advisor because I can do everything on my own (correct me if I misunderstand his statement). But the opposite is the case.
Should I tell my advisor about my thoughts about not being good enough, as described above? If yes, should I respond to him via e-mail (note that he's abroad for some time), or should I prefer to talk to him in person about these issues?

Why do you think that he told you to be more modest? What could have - given your explanations here - have got him this idea?

Related post on imposter syndrome.

I deleted several comments that were not constructive. I encourage readers to think about these points: (1) "Imposter syndrome" is a common phrase that the OP did not invent. Using this common phrase does not imply that the OP thinks it is the same as a disability or diagnosable disease. (2) Some of the language in the post ("e.g. suffer from") may rub some people the wrong way, but consider that English may not be the OP's first language and maybe the subtle connotations do not translate well.

PhD in EU: I have met my advisor some times and told him "I am just working on that thing from the last meeting. Advancing but still not there, will probably take another 2 weeks" "No problem".   Meeting doesnt mean you need to have new research every time. It's just a way of keeping track of the progress.

Do you think this might be a gendered comment? I don't know your prior record, or your advisor, or their treatment of graduate students in general. We should consider content, but one thing I would worry about is advisors expecting female graduate students to be more modest, based on how credit/ownership is often viewed along gendered lines.

@NMJD - There are two meanings of modest.  The meaning here is unrelated.  Here it is the opposite of arrogant.

Regardless, someone told Jon Snow that he knows nothing. But in the end, it turned out that he knew enough

@user184411 "imposter" is considered a legitimate variant of "impostor": https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/impostor

I have the feeling 'modest' might be a mistranslation. Would you mind including the original phrase ?

My advisor sent me an e-mail that he thinks that I should be more modest and that we should meet more often.

Your prompt answer:

Sounds good!

Nothing is gained by getting defensive.
(Do you know what meeting rhythm your advisor has in mind?  What often works well is a standing, weekly meeting.  If you have no progress to report, that's okay -- it can be helpful to establish a habit of meeting regularly, rain or shine.)

This is a very good answer. Agree to the meetings, and when they happens perhaps explain that you were worried you would ask silly questions. Hopefully he will explain that his role is to help you with any difficulties you might have, and that there is no such thing as a silly question.

@DoritoStyle - "Wise"?  I think there might be a typo.  What was it you meant to say, please? // There will be plenty of time for explanations ahead.  OP and professor are going to be meeting regularly once professor gets back to town.

@aparente001 - i think it's clear they meant "worse". Hiding what OP told us about his imposter syndrome will make future communication difficult.

@Davor - Thanks.  Okay, now I can respond better.  I didn't mean OP should hide the anxiety, just that there is no need to agonize over the perfect email.  OP and advisor will have plenty of opportunities to communicate about this once their new meeting rhythm is up and running.

Only guessing, but, very likely the fact that you are hesitant to meet, hesitant to ask questions, etc., gives the impression (quite contrary to your interior image) that you are over-confident. Somewhat ironical, yes. A responsible advisor will hope that students meet with them and ask questions... unless there are no problems and great enterprises are already completed?!? Since there are inevitably difficulties and great projects are rarely quickly and effortlessly completed, the state of not meeting, and not asking questions, is most reliably assessed as a failure mode, whatever the underlying reasons.
A misguided "immodesty" might mean many things, after all. "Modesty" might mean being willing to make a mistake, at least to be discussed with your advisor, etc. Inhibition about making slightly public errors usually leads to inactivity and dysfunction, rather than "perfection".
EDIT: to directly answer the question about whether you should "tell your advisor about your attitude problem", I think it is more to the point that you should respond exactly by explaining your misunderstanding about how the situation functions... and that you would like to have regular meetings from now on, and that you will be sure to ask questions about obstacles you find. To communicate this in person, in a minute or two, just popping in to your advisor's door, is good, but/and a longer (but not too self-indulgent, breast-beating rant...) email would be good, too, especially if it's not easy to find your advisor in person very soon. That is, prompt responses are good... infinitely better than non-responses.

I am just going to point out a few things that I have noticed.
Imposter Syndrome is just a term used to describe the feeling that you are a "fraud" and everyone will eventually find out.
I am not saying that there are no issues with having these feelings, due to the fact if you do not address these issues, they can lead to real disabilities, such as depression.
I personally would not bring up Imposter Syndrome insofar as saying it is something you suffer from.  The reason for this is that you would be claiming you are suffering from the effects of an unrecognized emotional/psychological disorder.  This would not be sending the message you actually intend to be sending.  It could actually come across as you are trying to make excuses.
I would however, address the situation by meeting with your advisor, in person, and discussing your concerns, starting at the point in your opening after stating "i suffer from the imposter syndrome."  Everything from then on an advisor would understand and could help you with.
Also, I would strongly suggest finding any mental health support you may have access to.  Be it counseling, or a support group.  Keeping these things bottled up is the wrong way to address the problem.  This is from first hand experience.

Impostor syndrome is very common, and it comes in varying degrees.  While I agree it can lead to depression, etc, I think in most cases it doesn't require mental health treatment, but is just a natural part of the learning process.  From Wiki: It is not perceived to be a mental disorder.  So I think this advice, while appropriate in some cases, is misleading in general.

@Kimball  What I meant by mental health support was not in terms of Imposter Syndrome (I had initially answered stating I.S. was not a recognized syndrome, but that was looked down upon, and upon looking at it, it did seem to attack the OP a bit)  I meant there may be other underlying factors that are contributing to his attitudes.  I myself have Asperger's Syndrome, and was diagnosed late (many incorrect diagnoses leading to this)  so, I know what it's like to not know exactly what is wrong with your own mind....that was confusing

@NZKshatriya - Hey, congrats on figuring it out.  You might enjoy listening to the following account of a late Asperger's diagnosis: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/458/play-the-part?act=2#play.  (If you haven't come across this yet.)  I read his book and while it wasn't bad, the audio I linked to is more entertaining.  A very well put together story. // Perhaps what you're getting at is that "Imposter Syndrome" isn't in the DSM-V.  (At least, as far as I know.)

@aparente001  Well, technically, A.S. isn't in the DSM-5 either, they get rid of it, and all specific autism related things, and just call them "autism spectrum disorders"  Not really a fan.  And you are correct, I.S. has was not in the DSM-IV-tr, and is not in the current flawed version lol.

@NZKshatriya - good point about Asperger's getting the axe in the new edition.  Fortunately, many people still understand the term.  (I find it so ironic that people who have a disability that can make communication more difficult just lost the name of the disability, which makes communicationg ABOUT the disability easier.)

Premise:
It isn't necessarily the case that you should talk to your academic advisor at all about these particular issues.
Some people have a kind of coach-athlete or personal mentor-mentee relationship with their thesis advisors and some people don't. What all people should have is a relationship where they receive academic training from their academic advisors.
Answer
In answer to your question as worded:
Should I tell my advisor about my thoughts about not being good
enough, as described above?

Going just from the question, it doesn't seem like your relationship with your advisor has these non-academic advising features.  But regardless, your response should be professional. Something like:

When can we meet next? What's a good day of the week to meet regularly?

There's absolutely no need (and little justification) for arguing with your advisor about whether you need to be more modest. Similarly, given that his current view is that you do need to be more modest, it seems a little unreasonable to think he's the right person to talk to about your imposter syndrome feelings.

I saw that remark when I gave my answer, but I don't agree with the inference you're drawing. Note how the OP disagrees with the advisor about modesty, so it's quite likely they lack any sort of relationship where this sort of advice is welcome. Faux pas in managing academic advisor advisee relations don't always come from just one side.

The first thing to realise is that you and your adviser are on the same team, that you want the same outcomes, that you are pulling in the same direction.
The next thing is to realise that the world is divided into two groups of people, those who admit to suffering from impostor syndrome to some degree, and liars. Oh, and perhaps a tiny 3rd group consisting of Bill Gates, Donald Trump and half a dozen others.
Accept the appointment with your adviser. Confide in him that not only do you feel you are not up to the work, but also that you find meetings difficult, and you observe that that has obviously distorted implicit communication in the past, as the one thing you do not feel you need now is more modesty. If you find it difficult to enunciate what you perceive to be your issues, then you could do worse than send him a link to this very Q/A. You have put them quite eloquently to us. Talking to a third party often helps focus.
Bear in mind that the least accurate diagnoses one can make are self diagnoses. Do not insist that you have diagnosed correctly, but take your feelings as a starting point for a discussion with your adviser about the communication between yourselves, and your feelings of academic competence. It sounds like discussing the work itself is beyond you for the moment.

I recommend you ask you advisor to go into more detail. Go to a meeting, tell him you're not afraid of any criticism, and you will try to consider what he says. Ask him to come up with specific examples of the sort of thing he means.
Then, consider his words with care: this is advice about your professional behaviour, not an order. You are allowed to interpret his advice for yourself and hold it against all the things that your advisor doesn't know about you.
The main thing to remember is that he is commenting on your behaviour, not your person. He doesn't know where the behaviour comes from, that's for you to figure out. And he is of course fallible; he may be cherrypicking examples, you may have had a bad days the last few times you met him, just by coincidence. Who knows.
He does, however, have one thing you don't have: an outside perspective. That means he sees you as you can't see yourself. This is probably the last time you will have a person in your life that will tell you about parts of your behaviour that you might want to change, but that you can't see for yourself. A bit like someone who will tell you that you have bad breath. Almost everybody will avoid the conflict, but your supervisor has some obligation to make you aware of these things, since it affects your professional life.
Finally, bear in mind that your impostor syndrome was clearly a big deal before your supervisor sent you this email. You then immediately connected his words to that state of mind, because that's what you've been dealing with, and possibly obsessing about (I know I did). But consider the possibility that your supervisor was talking about an entirely different kind of modesty. Perhaps he was suggesting you moderate the way you voice your opinion. Perhaps you told a joke to a co-worker that went a little too far. Perhaps you've been dressing a little provocative. Perhaps you just hurt his feelings by not agreeing with him.
The point is, you were already worried about your impostor syndrome, so you've interpreted his words in that background. He may have meant something entirely different from what you thought. So, find a good moment, and ask him to elaborate.

You don't "have" impostor syndrome - it's a trait, not a disorder. It sounds like you suffer with anxiety, which can lead to experiencing impostor syndrome, but you also have misunderstood the term "modest".
To be modest, means to be humble, and not overstate your own capabilities. If your advisor (the person who is employed to give you advice) tells you to be more modest, it means you're probably showing arrogance. The fact that you've essentially disregarded this advice only confirms it the case.
And to be honest, if you were suffering from impostor syndrome you already be displaying modesty as it is essentially a case of being too modest to congratulate yourself on anything.
I understand the anxiety of social interaction, but the straightforward answer here is "Say yes and eat some humble pie".

I will repeat what I commented on the original post: I encourage readers to think about these points: (1) "Imposter syndrome" is a common phrase that the OP did not invent. Using this common phrase does not imply that the OP thinks it is the same as a disability or diagnosable disease. (2) Some of the language in the post ("e.g. suffer from") may rub some people the wrong way, but consider that English may not be the OP's first language and maybe the subtle connotations do not translate well.

I'm fully aware of that, I've "suffered" with it myself. Using the phrase doesn't imply that but the rest of the post does.  It's also obvious English is unlikely to be OPs first language which is why it's worth pointing out the semantics of the words he's used so that he can better understand what's been communicated to him.  Of course, my being fairly blunt about this may rub some people the wrong way but that doesn't mean I'm incorrect.

@TehJake  You are coming across, as the me of about 5 years ago.  Do not be the me of 5 years ago.  I was not liked.

It's likely that you've avoided meeting with him because of your worries, but that he's interpreted this to mean that you think you don't need his advice.
Ideally, you would meet with him in person to discuss this, but if he's going to be out of the country for several more weeks, getting this cleared up soon should take precedence. Could you arrange to speak with him on the phone or by video chat?
Anyway, in your meeting/phone call/email, you should (a) get on the same page as him about how frequently you should be meeting, and (b) ask him to clarify/elaborate what he meant about modesty. You're asking for feedback. Asking for feedback is normal!
I would recommend saying something like this: "Could you explain what you meant when you said I should be more modest? I worry a lot that I'm not good enough, so I'm not sure how to interpret this feedback." You should phrase/say this calmly, so he knows you're not just being defensive. (This is why it would be better to talk in person--so you can make sure he understands your tone, and in case it requires a bit of back-and-forth.)
It's fine to let your advisor know that you feel inadequate and you know it's irrational. Ask him if he has any advice for coping with it! He may well have experienced the same thing at your level, and if not, you're hardly the first student to have this problem. See if he can help you!
Side note: I do recommend being careful about making it sound like you have a mental illness, which some of your phrasing here kind of implies (but it might not in whatever language you use with your advisor). Depending on how stigmatized mental illness is in your country, what kind of disability and health accommodations kick in for mental illness, and a whole host of other factors, that might open a can of worms you don't want.

You're puzzled by his request for you to be more 'modest'.
You'd like to comply, but you don't know how, as you're not sure what he meant.
This is seriously distracting you.
At the next meeting, ask him what he meant and discuss how to resolve it.

Clearly you should ask your advisor what he means by being "more modest" for three reasons: One, nobody here seems to really know what your advisor means. Two, because impostor syndrome and being not modest doesn't seem to fit together well; I would expect that someone with impostor syndrome would appear too modest to others. Three, because I can't see "modesty" as something that is a positive trait for a PhD student, so I would expect a comment like this only directed towards a PhD student who is an insufferable show-off.
All in all, there seems to be a great likelihood that there is some severe misunderstanding going on here.

All the other eleven answers (at this time), as well as the OP, misunderstand what the professor meant by "be more modest".  This has nothing to do with OP's personal qualities, and nothing to do with working alone vs. asking for the advisor's help.  Most likely, if the professor knew about the OP's impostor syndrome, the professor would be mortified and apologetic by this choice of phrase.
In this context, the phrase means "be more modest in your immediate scholarly goals", i.e. "be less ambitious with what you're trying to accomplish as the next step".  See the fourth definition.
For example, if someone tried to prove the mathematical theorem that every whatzit is blue, a more modest goal would be to prove that one whatzit is blue.  That's a good first step, and might lead to another intermediate result (e.g. infinitely many whatzits are blue), which in turn might lead to the desired final theorem.
So, to answer the question, it is probably not necessary to mention impostor syndrome to the professor, since the whole thing appears to be a misunderstanding.  However, depending on how serious the OP's reaction was, it might be worthwhile to have a discussion to avoid similar issues in the future.

We are all our worse nightmare and biggest critic and I can definitely relate to how you feel.  Meeting with the teacher is definitely a good thing!  I would not be afraid to do this even if your internal demons say so.  It seems that the teacher may have picked up on some of your issues and wants to try to help.
The whole "Be more modest" isn't necessarily telling you to all of a sudden think you are Einstein, but rather they want you to be more sure of yourself.  Everyone still needs help.  Just because you are more self confident doesn't mean you don't need help.  He just wants to see your thought process change from, "I am not smart enough" to "I can do this".  He hopes that with frequently meeting with you, I assume his goal is to demonstrate to you that you actually have ability and help you to be okay in acknowledging this ability.

Find counseling (psychologist, or even psychiatrist). Perhaps your condition has deeper grounds in undiagnosed depression (that's why I would suggest a good psychiatrist which is also a good therapist - not all of them are. You definitely don't want to end up popping pills without someone talking to you at least once a month).
This condition is between you and your counselor (whoever he/she is) and there is no need to explain this to your advisor, because:

It is not his job to help you with this
He does not have training to address your issues
He might interpret this in a wrong way (e.g. you are incapable of study, that is, interpreting your psychological problem as a personality problem)

If the therapy helps (whatever it is, psychotherapy or psychiatric consultations with or without medication), your advisor will just be happy that you dealt with your problems.


text:
Regarding APC and withdrawal of accepted paper
I recently submitted my paper to a well-known journal, who accepted it after review. The 'Fees and Charges' of their site mentions that Article Processing Charge will be taken 'only' for Open Access. However, they mentioned it somewhere else that they only publish Open Access. My paper has not entered the copy-editing stage yet, which will commence only after payment. At this stage, can I withdraw my submission? They have also not mentioned about withdrawing charges.

After sending the acceptance of my paper, the editor has asked for a Finalized version of my manuscript, which I have not submitted yet. Also, I have been asked to pay fees within 5 days to allow further proceeding in the endeavor. Is there anything to be done at this juncture?

Just to be clear, you want to withdraw because you can't afford the APC, and didn't realize there wasn't any option to publish non-OA, and not pay the APC.

Yes, you can withdraw your paper any time up until you give up copyright or assign them a license. And, for open access publication giving up copyright might not happen (probably doesn't happen). The paper is yours subject to any license you have agreed to.
I would find a withdrawal charge unusual for a reputable journal, actually, but can't guarantee it won't be tried.
It would be an ethical violation for them to publish something without holding copyright or a license to do so. But if they do have a license from you, then you can't withdraw it.
For some users, some journals will waive APC. You can also ask. Pleading poverty and lack of funding sources works for some.


text:
Terrible face recognition skills: how to improve
I've this problem where I am terrible at recognising faces. This gets embarassing when at conferences etc. people recognise me but I have no clue who they are or have even met before.
Is there any way to get better at this? Just looking for tips from others.
Sometimes I meet someone in the morning session at a conference and reintroduce myself at the dinner meeting.
Any tips?

Is this a new issue for you, have you had it all your life, etc.? And if it’s not new, what coping techniques have you used?

Is this specific to academics, or do you have trouble recognising people in general?

I’m voting to close this question because it should be on https://interpersonal.stackexchange.com/

In my mind, I sort people into buckets. When I see someone who looks like a Jennifer, I call her a Jennifer

@AgnishomChattopadhyay I do the same thing with people who look like Agnishom

@Ben could you assist in moving the question to the other forum? Just closing it would be a shame.

@curious_cat: I'm not an administrator/moderator of this site, so have no ability to move questions.  I'm not sure if the moderators can even do this.

This is actually a recognized disorder. If accurate, the linked article indicates there is no cure, but active research. But seeing a medical professional might give you some hints.
Making and reviewing notes about important people you meet (professors, for example) might help, though I have no evidence.
A search online for "face blindness" or Prosopagnosia, might turn up some things that work.
Depending on your location, you might be able to participate in that research.
Wikipedia has more, including a list of some famous people who suffer from this.

Oliver Sacks, the famous neurologist and academic, was famously face blind and wrote about it in The New Yorker in 2010: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/30/face-blind

Thanks everyone for the excellent answers! Too bad my question got closed but just want everyone to know that your answers helped me a lot. I'm trying to verify if the diagnosis matches me and to figure out coping strategies from the excellent advice given on this thread.

As Buffy mentioned, this sounds more like face-blindness (prosopagnosia) than "bad with faces." You should see about getting evaluated for this disorder - if you do in fact have it, and are comfortable sharing that with others, simply saying "hey, I'm sorry, I have face-blindness, can you tell me who you are" will get you through most of these interactions. (And even if you don't have face-blindness, many people will be understanding of "I am so sorry, but I am really, really bad with faces - can you please tell me your name again?")
Other strategies include paying attention to what people are wearing, rather than what they look like, to identify them later in the day, which may help you even if you don't have face-blindness.

The best way to avoid embarrassment is to simply stop being embarrassed about something you should never be embarrassed about in the first place!
I have moderate face-blindness and I can attest that by far the biggest recognition challenges I have in life are indeed at academic conferences where the total amount of interesting information coming at me per unit time is so high.
@WhatTheDuck's answer describes what I do - I'm up front about difficulty with faces. If someone thinks it's weird or I'm weird or it means I'm stupid, then I really don't want to interact with them further anyway - screw 'em!
Most folks have heard of face-blindness or are at least open to the idea or have met someone who has "trouble with faces" or may have it themselves, and have been quite accommodating.
As soon as I do remember something (it's usually something academic or technical from the previous interaction) I blurt it out to reassure I recognize them in some way and valued our previous interaction. "Oh, you're the one with the spin-orbit splitting problem!" or similar.
My choice has been to accept my condition, embrace it, and be comfortable with it, and let others carry some of the load by helping remind me how we last interacted. As long as I remain cheerful, positive, engaging and interested in finding out who the heck they are, most folks have no problem with it.

I wanted to add to and emphasize the other excellent answers already here. (I'm a human vision / visual neuroscientist whose research is very adjacent to prosopagnosia and who has worked with scientists who study prosopagnosia in the past.)
Prosopagnosia is not only a real thing, but—in my personal experience—very common in academia. The article linked by Buffy estimates an occurrence of 2%, which I can't contest as a measurement of the general population. But among vision scientists (who are pretty likely to know whether they have prosopagnosia or not), I would estimate the fraction to be much higher. (Of course, vision scientists may not be an unbiased sample.)
The last time I looked into it, one of the leading theories on prosopagnosia has to do with the organization of neurons in the areas of the brain responsible for face recognition. An individual neuron in the visual cortex will typically integrate information across a contained region of space in the visual field—or, in other word, each neuron "sees" a patch, e.g. a disk, of your vision. In the face recognition regions of individuals without face blindness, these neurons are typically wired to receive input from regions that are large enough to contain an entire face or a large region of a face, allowing those neurons to form a wholistic representation of any face they "see." In individuals with poor face recognition, these neurons are wired to receive input from much smaller areas, preventing them from ever getting a full picture of a face. For those interested, see Withoft et al., (2016).
To be clear, this is not settled theory, I'm not an expert, and I don't have any particular reason to believe that there is a single cause for all cases of prosopagnosia, but I share the above hypothesis to illustrate that the people who study face perception (1) absolutely believe this is a real thing that varies in the brains of individuals, (2) absolutely don't believe that people who struggle with face perception do so because of some lack of empathy with others or some inability to care about other people or their faces. In my experience a lot of people who struggle with face perception feel a lot of guilt about whether they are trying hard enough to remember others or whether they are subconsciously dismissing people, and you should not feel guilty about that.
Colleagues of mine who deal with this struggle sometimes have strategies for it. Some find it much easier to recognize people by their voice, others find individual features like hairstyle/jewelry/facial hair to be sufficient. My sense is that not all individuals with face blindness have the same difficulties, so YMMV. (And as mentioned in other answers, you can likely find much more of this information elsewhere online.)
In my community of vision science there is not much stigma about prosopagnosia due to broad awareness, so again YMMV, but I'd also add that most academics I know who are up-front about their struggles with faces get a lot of empathy and support from their colleagues.


text:
Best sketching app with line assist for android tablet using a stylus
Are there any good sketching apps for an Android tablet? I like the idea of sketching with a stylus however the lines usually end up looking quite shaky. The goal is to use it either real time during online lectures by sharing the screen or at least while preparing notes to be shared.
I love the speed and flexibility of freeform drawing but on the other hand would like the sketches to look a little neater without actually using primitives like line, shape etc. (e.g. in a powerpoint or visio drawing).
The goal is sketches, illustrations and flowcharts and that sort of thing. Not creative designs nor engineering drawings.  Think of the sort of drawings a typical physics or engineering professor would conventionally have drawn on the blackboard.
Any recommendations for a good app?