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How accesible is Mathematics research?
To do Mathematics, one doesn't need much more than actual Mathematics book and perhaps lecture. There is been a growing trend of having open source resource of both book and lecture on the internet in the last twenty years. This leads me to the question, is Mathematics research highly accessible compared to other fields? Or are there some subject related hindrances preventing it being so?

At least in the US, I would say that at an undergraduate level research is much more common in lab sciences than math.  So depending on what you mean by accessible, and what fields you are comparing to, no.

Depends what you mean "accessible", of course. Accessible as in: you do have access to the material and tools to do it: yeah! Super accessible. You just need paper, a pen, and access to books. Now, the reason why maths research is niche and limited is not because people can't read the books or have the tools, its because its damn hard to get a research-level understanding of math, so very few people have the time and brainpower to learn and understand it. So very not accessible in that sense, and way easier to get into other fields of research.
However, this is talking about high-level research. If you are looking for undergraduate level knowledge, indeed its quite accessible, but nowadays it is true for many other sciences too...

An anecdote: In Kenya, access to books is difficult. A person in my region asked academics to contribute books (publisher copies mostly - textbooks) and he filled a shipping container and shipped it there (his place of origin) at, I think, his own expense.

@Buffy fair point! Not trying to imply that getting material is trivial for everyone, but if nowadays there is something that is easy, its the books. There are also ways (legal or not) to get them online, which did not exist before.

Hmmm. Don't take it as criticism. Take it as encouragement to do the same.

"Now, the reason why maths research is niche and limited is not because people can't read the books or have the tools, its because its damn hard to get a research-level understanding of math": Well, many people simply find math uninteresting. E.g. I have a keen interest in maths as a non-mathematician, and I have an above-average (among engineers) math knowledge, but along the years I've come to the conclusion that I find large parts of maths uninteresting and I simply wouldn't work on that.

@MassimoOrtolano sure, but I doubt math is so extremely uninteresting for such a bit portion of the population that causes lack of research, so while what you say its true, I don't think there is a relationship between the two concepts.


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New small result vs. Old big result for MSc thesis?
I have recently started supervising MSc students in Statistics and I noticed a trend: students who produce a NEW small result are often more challenged by reviewers/markers of their dissertation than students who present and use an OLD Big result (e.g. LASSO, Random Forests, ...). The reason for this is that the contribution, even if new, is usually modest as this is just an MSc thesis. However, for old-results projects, students can present lots of formulas and theorems from papers they read (usually from famous people), and present a relatively simple application, which ends up being more impressive in the eyes of a marker.
I find this a bit unfair, as usually the students who produced a new result have worked hard, but in a different direction (novelty). This has bugged me to the point that I am considering only assigning projects of the second kind (old chestnuts).
Are there any guidelines or suggestions for assigning topics for MSc theses? Should I work harder in explaining markers about this strategy?

Is this the difference between pure and applied research, rather than "old" and "new"?

@Buffy No, both are methodological/pure projects, just on a different perspective. This also happened to a colleague working on Number Theory, who mentioned that he prefers to assign students a review on 300 year old problems as it makes the thesis look more substantial.

Sorry, but I still don't understand. Most new results, especially at masters level, are small. But most are based on older, likely bigger, results. This is just how it works, especially for novice researchers. But reviews of old work in theses is also completely natural. As a reviewer I'd be skeptical of any result, small or large, that didn't seem to be based on older results. We build the new upon the old in the vast majority of cases. Even Einstein's special relativity, which changed the paradigm, did so with precursors back to Galileo.

@Buffy Not necessarily. You can make a small contribution on an easier access area. Like presenting a review on Rough paths vs. solving a particular SDE. Maybe we work in different areas.

Are you suggesting that reviews of old work are sufficient for a thesis? That would seem odd to me. I'll likely vote to close unless you can clarify the issues - by editing, of course.

@Buffy go for it. Close all questions that disagree with your view. Clearly, you work in a different area and do not understand how a thesis can be a review.

So, at your place, a review of old work is sufficient for a MS and some small new result is also fine? I'm looking only for clarification of the issue, not trying to push back. I don't actually have a "view". My ms thesis was actually a review of a small area of math.

The question is also unclear to me. Given the discussion above I am voting to close - it can always be reopened when the requested edits are made, with the purpose to clarify the question, also for those in different fields.

If the new work is publishable, a journal article has a lot of prestige relative to review work. Is there time to publish the result before the defense of the dissertation?

@Buffy "Are you suggesting that reviews of old work are sufficient for a thesis?"  In the US, yes, for a masters thesis, it is generally more than sufficient to give an exposition or review of an old result.  Masters students are not doctoral students, and are not generally expected to produce novel results.  Producing a thesis at all is often not even required, and a masters can be earned by simply passing [a] comprehensive exam[s] (in mathematics and anthropology, anyway, the only two areas where I have any experience).

First of all, your question hinges on what "challenging" students actually constitutes. Is it really a surprise that reviewers are more inquisitive about something new and unknown to them rather than something well-established? Now, if a completely new approach beating SOTA by 2% gets the same grade as the one basically adding two lines of code to an existing RF/Lasso implementation it might be weird.
To a reviewer, an ability to familiarize yourself with existing approaches still scores points. More so for BSc than MSc though. If you worked thrice as hard to reinvent the wheel, sorry, that is actually a big negative - it means you have not learned to work efficiently and are wasteful. In that sense, a good minor improvement is better than a good (but late) independent idea which failed to be uncovered by a basic literature review.

The actions of the reviewers seem pretty natural to me. If someone knows an area well then they can easily (more or less) evaluate extensions of old work. But truly new work is harder to judge.
Every student is different, however, and their wishes should be taken into account when you advise them. So rather than deciding which of the two sides of this coin you would prefer, you an also just explain to them the options and the outcomes you have seen in the past. If you see risk, say that. But give them a chance to choose.
You can also help them interpret the results returned by reviewers so that they can respond appropriately.
Presumably you are willing to accept either sort of work for completion of the degree, so in some ways it is moot.

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Thinking about leaving my PhD: my particular story
I know this was asked here many times, but each situation is different than others. I'll tell you my story to get some insight.
Roughly 6 months ago I started a fully funded position for a PhD abroad. My supervisor is good, there's no issue with him, and at first I was really motivated.
Rather quickly, I realized that I was not cut for this, as I don't see myself during this in the future, could easily do that with a MSc and I come from a different background. To add up, during COVID times not everyone is going to the lab, feels really alone and I really don't like the city, walking like a complete stranger.
I feel demotivated, every time more, already seeked professional help, but things were only changing for worst, feeling completely depressed. Obviously, that affects my performance and it grows my frustration even more.
I would resign even before having another job. I don't mind too much about career implications since I don't plan on enrolling on another PhD program. Main thing is that guilt is all around:

What would my supervisor say? Since I'm here, 2 students of the lab left. Would that affect him? It's not related to his supervision in my case.
What happens with the funding? I'm really worried I'll have to pay something back, although it never mentions that in the contract.
What is the best way to address this with my supervisor?

What would you guys suggest? Have you gone through this / do you know someone with a similar experience?
Thank you. Best

Does this answer your question? Guilt about quitting PhD as first student of the lab I know it doesn't handle the paying back money, but you don't need to worry about that if it is not in your contract.

Thank you Jeroen. Yes, I've read that particular answer and that was what motivated me to write here. It does contain a lot of helpful answers, but the case is a bit different here. Maybe I was looking for a similar experience between former PhD candidates.

Are you sure that leaving your PhD will solve your problems? Covid-19 also affects work in the private sector, or when you are without a job.

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How to go about getting into a Master’s in Economics program despite poor performance in undergrad?
I graduated recently with a BS in Economics. I am interested in pursuing my education in Economics but I realize that I am not adequately prepared as I did not perform well in my undergraduate coursework. I received As and Bs in my economic courses and ended with a GPA slightly below 3.5. I also did not have the opportunity to complete research so I understand that I do not have the major qualities a good program would be looking for. Any suggestions for what I can do to be accepted into a Master’s program?

In the US you are probably acceptable, though maybe not in the top few institutions. The major GPA is more important than the overall one and "around" 3.5 isn't terrible in a lot of places.
You will need good letters of recommendation from some professors, probably in Econ, who know you well and will speak highly of you. Research prior to the MS is not a major concern in many programs either.
Outside the US it might be very different.


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No faith in my advisor but unsure if/how to switch
I started my PhD last year with a new professor where I am the only student in the lab. It has been really difficult trying to work with him. He can not advise me with my research because his suggestions are incorrect and unguided. It does not seem to me that he tries to keep up with the field but does not realize he doesn't understand the field because of that.
I asked him if it would be possible for our lab to collaborate with another lab but he said no. All of my friends in other labs have multiple knowledgeable researchers they work under, collaborate with other students, or work on external projects. My advisor does not seem to be trying to get these connections.
I feel lost and every week my PhD goes on I feel more and more hopeless about ever doing good enough work. I try to push past these feelings to just keep reading papers in my field and hopefully come up with a fresh enough idea to publish but the hopelessness has been making it difficult.
I looked around and no other advisors at my school are in the subfield I'm researching. I wouldn't mind switching fields but I worry that no one would accept me because I'm not in their immediate subfield. I am a good student in class and participate and network but other students do not want to work with people outside their lab, and I don't know how to start to make a connection like that with a professor.
I was wondering what the best course of action should be. I am hopeful maybe we will get new students in our lab I can collaborate with, or somehow my advisor will be invited onto a collaborative project. But am I misled in thinking the PhD should be more collaborative? Should I just accept that I have to research without guidance and try my best? Or are there other actions I can be taking to make my PhD experience closer to what I was hoping for? Thank you.

My feeling is that while a PhD is not always collaborative, being in a place where there is a strong collaborative spirit is a very good thing. Unfortunately, if you have found yourself in a lab (and department) that is not collaborative, and you currently have no leads for switching advisors, then you will need to take a different approach to help yourself.
Part of being a PhD student is learning to be an independent researcher and in some cases it is trial by fire. In some cases an advisor may hand students projects and help them make collaborations. In other cases students need to (or are expected to) take initiative and find their own way to those things. I would also add that collaborations are a two way street and you need to have something you can offer your potential collaborators. Once you have it, it will be clear who you should collaborate with and you will have a stronger case to present your advisor should you need their blessing.
If I were in your shoes I would start networking outside of your department. Plan to attend conferences and workshops this year so that you can learn new approaches and tools that you can apply to your research, and build personal connections. If you do not yet have a plan for your thesis project, attending conferences may inspire you and help you find direction.
Furthermore, maybe your advisor does not want to collaborate, but that doesn't mean that you can't build your network and seek advice on topics from other researchers in your field.
Doing these things will help you apply the latest methods to your work without having to rely on your advisor to tell you how. It will also help you become known to others in lieu of collaboration, which will help you later.


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Speech to text software/dictation program thats worthwhile for researchers?
I tend to be glacially slow in writing up my publications, and I was wondering if it would be worthwhile to invest in a speech-to-text program to dictate my rough drafts. Has anyone had a positive experience with a particular program? My first glance at whats available seemed to suggest Dragon Naturally Speaking, with a dictionary from Spellex might be able to handle the technical language, but I thought I'd ask the community their opinion.
Thanks!

Although interested in the answer, I believe this might be closed as a shopping question.

Hi, welcome to Academia.SE and I hope you enjoy your time here. I unfortunately found your question out of scope of this community, but I think you may find an answer for it on other websites of the SE, like https://softwarerecs.stackexchange.com/

Has anyone had a positive experience with a particular program?

I've been using Dragon Naturally Speaking (called Dragon Professional Individual in its more recent versions) for over a decade on Windows, including during my PhD: not perfect, but it does a good job and I am not aware of any better alternative. Google speech recognition is nowadays more accurate but 1) can't be used with most desktop programs on macOS/Linux/Windows 2) doesn't allow custom dictionary.
FYI:

How can I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to write LaTeX math formulas by voice efficiently?
Is there any decent speech recognition software for Linux?

Thank you for your feedback! I'll look into it.


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Is it possible to start a PhD without a Master degree?
I heard that it is possible to start a PhD without Master degree in the UK, i.e. to start a PhD after a Bachelor degree (3 years).
Is it really possible? What are the conditions?
Is there any other countries which allow this?

I think it would be quite unusual, if it does happen. A bit of context would help. For example, what subject? Is this something you are considering doing or are you just curious about it as a hypothetical question?

It will depend on the university. And the conditions surrounding. And who gives you a reference. I know of a person who got into the PhD program at Cambridge with  no undergrad degree, based on Einstein supporting him.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Moffat_(physicist)  But it's not the way to bet. :^)

Other countries - yes. Most obviously, the US, but apparently Germany also allows that https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/176908/how-does-the-admissions-process-work-for-ph-d-programs-in-country-x. Also see the answer for the UK there for the reasons behind most PhD applicants actually holding MSc while only BSc is formally required.

Have you checked the entry requirements for any PhD programs before asking this question here? Sorry for issuing the close vote. At least I upvoted you.

I’m voting to close this question because it doesn't seem the OP did any research before asking this question. I will vote to reopen if I'm wrong.

A masters degree is rarely a formal requirement for entry to a PhD in any British university. However, depending on the university, the course and the year, students without master's degrees may find themselves at a competitive disadvantage when they are competing for scarce PhD places.
I went straight from my 3 year undergrad into a PhD in genetics. At that time (15 years ago), it would have been unusual to have an MSc in biology before doing a PhD. MSc were regarded as either professional training or for people who didn't do well enough at undergraduate. The situation has been changing however. Seven years ago, when I started as faculty, the of first three PhD students I supervised two had come straight from 3 year undergraduate degrees, and one had a masters degree (actaully, a 4 year undergrad with integrated masters). I think this year 7 of the 10 successful candidate for our PhD program had masters degrees.
Thats just biology, the story is different in other subjects. For example, even 15 years ago, a Masters degree was functionally necessary for a PhD in archology (even if not formally required).


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Accused of cheating on online exams
This week I was accused of cheating on two online exams in two separate classes.
Both professors are claiming the lockdown browser recordings show "evidence" of me cheating. When I asked them what the evidence was and why I was being accused they stated that it is in the video and has been sent to the honor council for review. I did not have any extra papers, cell phone, iPads, etc. There was also a baby monitor in front of me because I have a baby at home and no one else was there to watch. We were allowed scratch paper and I used it heavily to the side of my desk but that is it.
I'm assuming my writing/reading what I wrote caused me to be out of frame for too long or I was looking down for too long. Is this enough to convict me of cheating? I am facing failed courses and expulsion.
UPDATE
Regardless of my innocence. I now believe that my university is not giving me a fair due process.
This excerpts below are from the university handbook regarding academic dishonesty and a FL law that applies to all public universities.

The student shall be provided with written notice of the violations against him/her in sufficient detail and in sufficient time to prepare for a hearing or meeting before an appropriate committee, hearing body, or designated University official;
The University shall establish a minimum number of days in advance of the hearing or meeting to present the written notice of violations, but in no case will this notice be less than five (5) business days, except in cases of emergency hearings as specified below;
The student and his/her advisor may inspect all of the information that will be presented against the student at least three (3) business days before the student disciplinary hearing or meeting, except in cases of emergency hearings where the student may inspect the information at least one (1) business day prior to the hearing.

I did not receive a letter outlining my offenses, I instead received an email stating that my hearing is on Thursday. That is 1 business day from my professors accusing me and 3 business days from notice of my hearing. I still have not been told what I did wrong and I am expected to defend myself.

The camera that was directed to you, did it show the screen of the baby monitor?  That is, were the professors able to see that the baby monitor did not contain material that could be used to cheat?

Did you tell the professor there was a baby monitor in front of you?

Can you say some more about the conditions of the exam? Time required? Open or closed book and notes? Kinds of questions - essay, short answer, multiple choice...? Completeness of prior instruction on taking it? Expected experience of using this methodology for students?

@JoelReyesNoche no it was off to the side. It was not listed as prohibited materials (ie phones, extra laptop, cheat sheets etc) plus I thought it was personal so I didn't feel the need to disclose but now I see that could have messed me up.

@scaaahu when I asked the professors what I was being accused of and if I could set up a zoom meeting to discuss with them they said no and that there will be no further communication until the council contacts us so I did not get a chance to

@Buffy it was on responds lockdown browser we use it quite often for quizzes but never for exams of this magnitude (2-3 hour time limits) they were 95% multiple choice with a few calculation fill in questions. It was closed note but we are allowed a single scratch sheet of paper they are clinical courses so students tend to fill the sheets up with writing at these exams

If you didn't cheat then you may need to get a lawyers' letter stating that you did not do so and that you will not accept being caught up in the programme's false positive rate with legal action to be taken if required. You should be fully prepared and do this in advance. Hopefully it won't be needed.

@croc7415 Lawyer's creed : "a person is innocent until proven broke"...

First thing you may want to do now is to read and understand the policies of your university related to how academic misconduct cases are processed. You may receive support from Student Support or similarly called unit in your university.
Typically the process goes like this: professors suspect a group of students of academic misconduct and file forms to the relevant person (responsible for academic misconduct).  They quickly go through and decide which cases to dismiss instantly, and which to pass on to the misconduct committee panel.
If your case goes to the panel, you will be asked to come and respond to the evidence. Normally, it is sufficient to provide a brief explanation like the one you provided in you question here.  A sensible panel will then dismiss the case without a penalty.

Here is some general advice for when you are the subject of a an allegation of wrong-doing in the context of a university misconduct matter.  Here is some general advice on dealing with accusations of cheating/misconduct.
Universities have procedures in place that create an orderly process for determining the nature of the allegation, obtaining relevant evidence, hearing the matter and making a determination.  There is no sense in speculating on what it is that you are alleged to have done, or what the evidence of the allegation is, prior to being given this information in the formal process.  Any misconduct process that comports with the requirements of due-process will provide you with a written statement of the allegation against you, and show you the evidence that supports that allegation.  For a formal process of this kind, you should do the following:

Read all the relevant university policies relating to the process you are involved in, and identify the requirement to provide you with the allegation made against you, and the relevant points where you are given the opportunity to respond to allegations.  Make sure you are familiar with the process, so that you know what rights you have and what you are required to do.

Ensure that you do not provide any statement or evidence unless and until you have been provided with a written statement of the allegation against you, clearly stating what you are alleged to have done wrong, and the evidence that supports this allegation.  If you are asked to provide a statement or evidence prior to this, you should decline, and tell the relevant officials that you will respond after you have been provided with the statement of complaint against you.  If you are called in for a meeting or hearing prior to receiving this statement, you should decline to attend.  Alternatively, if you decide to attend, do not provide any information, and again simply state that you will respond after you have had an opportunity to review the written statement of complaint against you.  (Also, do not respond contemporaneously in the meeting if they give you this statement; take at least a day to review and think about the matter.)

As a general rule, stay calm and be patient enough to wait for the written statement of complaint and evidence to be presented to you, and do not make any preliminary attempt to speculate on what the allegation or evidence might be.  Do not be goaded into making any statement or giving any evidence until you have read the complaint against you, and a description of the evidence, and had time to think about how you want to respond.

Universities should have misconduct procedures that provide due process to the person accused of wrong-doing.  Legal requirements for this differ according to the country and jurisdiction, and whether the university is private or public.  (Public universities are generally bound by constitutional rules that are operative on the government.)  For example, in US public universities, the defendent is generally entitled to notice of the allegations against them and a description of the evidence for those allegations (see e.g., Dixon v. Alabama State Board of Education 294 F.2d 150).  In the event that your university either will not provide you with a written statement of the allegation, or expects you to provide pleadings or evidence prior to this, you should generally refuse, and put the university on notice that you expect lawful due-process.

Finally, notwithstanding the importance of due process, it is my view that if you are accused of some misconduct that you have in fact done, you should have the honesty and integrity to admit to that misconduct and take the resulting penalty, even if the misconduct would not have been proven.  This is a good way to develop good character and hold yourself accountable for your actions.  Others may take a more legalistic view, and you should feel free to use your own judgment, but I would recommend this principle.

Regarding your update: You need to calm down and take a deep breath.  This situation falls directly within the scope of the above advice, and it is easy to handle.  Since you have not been given the required written notice of the allegation, email the lead investigator and draw their attention to this requirement.  Tell the investigator that you require written notice of the allegation and a description of the evidence, and that this should be provided to you at least five days in advance of the hearing.  Tell the investigator in advance that you decline to attend the hearing, on the basis of lack of notice of the allegation against you.

Thank you! as you can see I am clearly panicking

Yes, I can see that.  People tend to get ahead of themselves in these situations, rather than just letting the process play out and making decisions at the relevant points.  You have already established that you are entitled to written notice of the allegation and evidence five days before the hearing.  Wait for this information before worrying about how you will respond, and do not agree to any meetings or hearings on the matter until then.

One should know that these "lockdown browser monitors" use a pretty loopy artificial intelligence to "determine" cheating behavior. I tested such a system in January, it was absolutely laughable what the system was reporting. Also, we managed to hack it in under 10 minutes. Your student council should be involved in deciding if such things should even be used, as they can produce both false positives and false negatives.


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I received an allegation of academic misconduct from my university. What should I do?
I wrote an exam a couple of months ago and I recently received an email accusing me of academic misconduct. I had just finished my first year of university and this is the first time that I am receiving a letter of this kind.
One of the long answers that I had written matched an answer that was posted online on a homework solutions website.
Now due to Covid-19, this exam was an online open-book exam, I had interpreted the open book exam to mean that we could have our notes and our lecture slides with us. The weeks leading to the exam, I had searched up practice questions online and had written and solved them out on paper to have with me during the exam just in case a similar question came up.
Sure enough one of the practice questions that I had was very similar to the one on the exam. Thus, I had an easy time answering it and pretty much reused what I had written on my notes. I don't think that's cheating if I only looked at my notes on an open book exam. Also, the exam had a lot of math calculations and conclusion statements to go with it. Most questions like this have similar steps/conclusions.
I had contacted a student advocate to help me with my case and I'm supposed to write an opening statement to present to a meeting with the dean of the department.
The evidence against me seems very strong. If I am found guilty, I would get an F on the class and be suspended from taking courses for the months of May-August. But, I am already in the process of finishing 4-5 classes this summer. I am distressed that all of my money and hard work would all be wasted.
Is my evidence sufficient? What other evidence could I use to prove that I didn't commit academic misconduct? What should I write on my opening statement?
Clarifications:

I sifted through his emails regarding the final, and this was what he had written: "Open-Book final exam. Despite the final exam being open-book you still need to be well prepared otherwise- you will not have enough time to finish the exam if you spend a lot of time looking through your notes." No other explanations were provided. Perhaps it was my fault that I didn't ask for clarifications and just assumed.
My notes and the solutions were very similar, but the conclusion was different. I had tried to solve the problem on my own, but referenced the solution when I got stuck.

This problem can be easily settled without resorting to lawyers and legal cases. And that would be in everybody's best interest. A short discussion with the professor would probably be enough.

Also, I'd advice you not to escalate with student's advocates too soon. Try all you can with your teacher first, and if that does not work, then see with third parties how to solve the situation.

What exactly are you accused of? Using internet resources during the exam (cheating), or presenting someone else's answer as your own (plagiarism)? It seems to me you may have a valid defence against the first, but not so much the latter.

There's a lot of discussion/debate here as to whether or not what OP did should be considered misconduct or not. The fact is, that the faculty has flagged this as misconduct and the question is specifically looking for help on how to formally respond to that, not on the appropriateness of what they did.

@David258 It is useful to have a idea of what happened in order to write a good answer. Whether what OP did constitutes misconduct or not can change the recommended course of action.

@Kadie what country and are you at a public or private university? These things can affect your rights. For example, if you are in the United States you are entitled to due process at public universities and you have certain contractual rights at private universities. If you have sufficient funds you can hire an attorney to provide you a better answer than anyone can give you here.

When and if you feel okay and when you are done with this case, do update your question with what happened afterwards. It would be great to see how this ends up.

I disagree with the other assessments.  I would consult a lawyer right away.  I've had disagreements with teachers in the past that had I approached it properly with counsel on my arm, would have been solved before anything happened.  You don't need to go in guns blazing.  But you should at least consult with someone to find out just how this whole thing works whether or not you actually use them.

I've found (in my distant past) that university people are more used to holding their ground than in looking at the whole picture.  They don't want to solve problems so much as 1. Make examples and 2. Feel like their rules are never infringed upon (to whatever degree it might be real).  Consult someone who is automatically on your side; A lawyer if need be.  You do not want this on your record.

What you have described sounds to me like cheating: you used someone's solution not your own. I'd think of a better defense that what you presented so far.

@Kadie - please consider posting an answer of your own describing what you eventually did and what the result was.

In a comment, you write that the professor had written in an email regarding the exam:

you will not have enough time to finish the exam if you spend a lot of time looking through your notes

This email is absolutely key. Quote the full email in your statement (including the date and timestamp), and highlight this sentence. It immediately implies that you were assumed and allowed to use notes.
The next point is that the professor apparently did not place any restrictions on what could be in your notes. (Did they?) Point this out.
The next exhibit should be that is was apparently easy to find practice questions that turned out to be similar to questions on the exam.
Nobody can hold it against you if you used the internet in researching what might come up in the exam, and in preparing your notes. (Yes, it would be better to reformulate your notes in your own words. Do this next time. You learn more that way.)
That should already be enough of an argument to rebut the accusation. Here is the structure of the argument I would propose:

You were allowed to use notes. Quote the email.
No restrictions on the notes were given.
You worked practice questions from various sources, e.g., from the internet. Quote the practice question, include if possible the link and a screenshot.
For one practice question, you used an answer you found online and put this in your notes. Again, include the link to the answer and a screenshot. Possibly include a copy of your notes.
One question on the exam was very similar to this practice question. Quote the question on the exam, perhaps highlight the similarities.
Therefore, it is not surprising that your answer matches something found in the internet.

Write this up in a short succinct way. Use paragraph breaks between the arguments. Don't ramble. Make this a short document of two pages at most.
If there is any sanity at your school, this accusation will be dropped immediately, and the professor will get some friendly advice about what to expect if they use questions on the exam that match questions that diligent students might find online while preparing.

Some people just like to watch the world burn. The only thing I would add is 2 pages might be too long. I wouldn't suggest much more than the 5 points you list above, of about the same length. 1 page max instead of 2. Idk if I'd accept this over current top answer, but I think both need to be done hand in hand by OP

I'd add that "you will not have enough time to finish the exam if you spend a lot of time looking through your notes" also means that you cannot fully check where what you have in your notes originally came from. In and of itself, it is unproblematic to copy someone else's proof verbatim into one's personal notes for learning – you're generally not republishing those and not tracking all sources saves a lot of time. The exam situation changes this, but also does not leave enough time to identify what was your own work and what you only worked through.

The reference to “the practice question that the professor had given” is not quite right—the professor didn’t hand out practice exams, rather the student says “I had searched up practice questions online.” Doesn’t change this answer, though it perhaps does make it harder for the professor to avoid this situation.

This: the burden of formulating sensible exam questions that allow to measure the student's performance under the conditions the professer set themselves is on the professor and must not be shifted to the student.

Good answer, in particular +1 for your last paragraph. If the examiner is too lazy to write a unique question that the students likely haven't seen before whilst revising, what the heck do they expect?

@KRyan: thanks for pointing this out, I had misunderstood the question in this regard. I have edited my answer to better match the question.

Only problem could be, I know a uni which introduced at some point a code of academic conduct which stated you should cite your sources in exams to avoid plagarism (with the acknoledgmenet that the detail level of citation can depend on the exam situation).

Explain what you did and your study process. If you have notes from your study they will help. Insist, insist, that you did no wrong. That is about all you can do. If you are punished for having studied effectively then your system is broken and it will be difficult to correct.
If you are given a punishment and have the opportunity to escalate it, then do so. If it comes to it, demand a re-exam, even an oral one.
I studied math by solving a lot of problems beyond what was required. It gave the insight that turned me into a mathematician.

I'd suggest carefully reading the school's academic misconduct policy first. It may not allow for retaking the exam, for example.

@Kathy, yes, but that, too, would be evidence of a broken system.

Thank you for the comments. I have read and reread the academic misconduct policy and nothing states whether we can or can't demand a re-exam. But it is worth mentioning to my student advocate. However the policy states that, the burden of proof is based on the "balance of probabilities."

This is terrible advice.  It boils down to "I studied that online answer so hard, I just reproduced it by coincidence!" Insisting strenuously that you did no wrong in the face of obvious wrong-doing will make your situation much worse.

@Jeff, you are, of course, accusing the OP of lying here.

@Jeff: What is so obvious about it? Sometimes I find elegant solutions to math problems which I could completely word-for-word reproduce the next day.

@Buffy No.  They said themselves that they went online, wrote the answer, and then reproduced it directly from those notes.

@Jeff, no. Your accusations exploit a rent in the fabric of time: "The weeks leading to the exam, I had searched up practice questions online and had written and solved them out on paper...".

Agree 100% with @Buffy. Assuming the question is a true account of what happened, the student did nothing wrong. It’s been very frustrating to see a recent flood of similar stories of students unjustly accused of cheating. See here for relevant context.

@Buffy Why do you think the system is broken? Because the prof flagged the student of cheating? The prof has nothing to gain from this. If the student copied something word for word, then that is cheating/plagiarism even if it is open book. OP says "pretty much reused what I had written on my notes", which they may have copied from the website.

@RoundHouse, I think the broken system refers to the inability of the system to vindicate innocent students in these kinds of cases. Note that I also do not know what kind of system would allow to vindicate OP. Perhaps something like allowing re-exam would be a progress towards "better" system.

@justhalf Your comment makes sense. But Buffy wrote "If you are punished for having studied effectively then your system is broken". If someone studied effectively, they wouldn't put themself in such a situation. They wouldn't need to copy solutions word for word. If they didn't copy the material word for word, then they wouldn't be called out on it.

I see, then I think you and Buffy have different interpretations of what it means to study effectively. I would like to side with you on the word for word part being a sign of a not so effective studying, but I also would like to give the OP some benefit of doubts, given that OP actually solves the problem on their own, too.

+1 to demand a re-exam, especially an oral one. I teach maths, and honestly, if you're confident that you worked enough for this and are ready to prove it by solving problems, any decent teacher will realize it in an oral exam in a matter of minutes. Also +1 for sharing your notes and a list of classic problems you prepared for before the exam. Having knowledge of all the classic problems in a field is also 'proof' that you've been studying and preparing. As well, if you usually have good results, don't hesitate to mention them. Good students don't need to cheat.

@RoundHouse, "word for word" copying is nowhere in the question.

@Buffy: The OP’s account doesn’t mention direct copying — but they received the formal allegation, and they say “the evidence against me is very strong”, so it’s clear that at least the instructor thought the answer matched to a degree that looked like plagiarism; and (probably) the OP accepts it looks a bit like that.  So, while I like your answer and think it’s a good start, there is something more here to defend.  I don’t suggest OP is lying explicitly or deliberately, but I think their account may be unintentionally misleading by omission or by slightly downplaying what they did.

Buffy’s answer gives an excellent main approach, but there’s an important point they don’t address, which you need to understand and resolve.  There is a mismatch in your question, between how you describe what you did, and how you describe the “evidence against you”.  You need to resolve this mismatch in your defense to the university — otherwise it will seriously undermine your position.
You describe what you did as:

I had searched up practice questions online and had written and solved them out on paper to have with me during the exam just incase a similar question came up. Sure enough one of the practice questions that I had was very similar to the one on the exam. Thus, I had an easy time answering it and pretty much reused what I had written on my notes.

I.e. you say you found a practice question online, solved it yourself, and re-used that solution from your notes (adapted to the actual exam question).  You don’t mention how you used any answers you found online.  But you describe the outcome as:

One of the long answers that I had written matched an answer that was posted online on a homework solutions website.

A “matching” answer shouldn’t be flagged as potential plagiarism unless it matches very closely — much more closely than would happen just by being an answer to the same question, or even from studying an answer and then remembering the gist of it later.
So the key point is: how much did you use this answer from the site, not just the questions?  Roughly splitting it up by cases:

(A) You didn’t read the answer at all — you just worked on the same question.  If your answer really does match the online answer very closely, then this case seems pretty implausible — so be prepared for the university to question this story hard, and be ready to justify how you came up with this answer.  In particular, don’t describe it this way (like you did here) if what really happened is more like (B) or (C).

(B) While studying the practice question, you read the given answer and incorporated what you learned from it into your notes (and then directly adapted your notes into your exam answer).  This is acceptable under most standard interpretations of open book, so certainly acceptable unless the professor gave policies stating otherwise.  On the other hand, it still seems a little surprising that your answer would match so closely as to get flagged as plagiarism, if this is what you did.

(C) While studying, you copied down most or all of the given answer, and then during the exam, you adapted it directly from this copy.  This is rather more borderline than case (B), under most “open book” policies — e.g. my “open book” policies include something like “do not seek or take answers from external sources”, so using an answer that you previously copied from an external source is clearly a bit dubious.  You still have a reasonable case, but it needs different handling.

Essentially, in any case, you have to convince the authorities of two things:

What you say you did was legitimate, or at least, you reasonably believed it was.

You really did what you say you did.

In case (A) or (B), it’s clear that what you claim you did should be accepted as legitimate (unless the professor had specifically given policies to the contrary); but you may need more justification to convince the university that you really did what you claim, depending on how closely your answer matches the online one.  (If your answer doesn’t match the online one so closely, then this should be easy, though — in that case whoever made the initial allegation was badly over-reaching.)
In case (C), there’s no difficulty accepting that you did what you say you did.  But you should accept that — in hindsight — what you did was more borderline, and present your case as “I thought it was acceptable, because we didn’t receive clear policies” rather than “It was acceptable”.

"Not seeking or taking answers from external sources" is hard to understand if one's own notes can (obviously) incorporate such things. Does something become "non-external" if one has written it out oneself? Is it legal to look at the source while writing such notes? How often? And so on. I think the whole situation is very, very murky... and needs to be addressed pandemic and post-pandemic, but has no easy solutions that match traditional, willfully naive conceptions of how students are to interact with all the available information in the world... based on pre-internet times?

@paulgarrett: Agreed, this is a very difficult issue — there’s a continuous spectrum from things that are “obviously reasonable” to “obviously cheating”, and I’ve never seen any policy that succeeded in drawing a completely clear and unambiguous line, without debatable corner cases like the ones you mention.  But this is a problem rule-makers have accepted as inevitable for centuries, and I think the classic solution is the right one: It’s better to spell out good principles as clearly as one can, and then deal with edge-cases individually, respectfully, and assuming good faith [cont’d],

rather than abandoning good principles because they can’t be made absolutely objective.  Most of the other solutions I’ve seen proposed come down to either using forms of assessment that are more objective to police and grade, but are less meaningful in how they assess student learning/competence, or else abandoning assessment entirely.

... further, as in my own experience, I tended to read widely (even if superficially), and saw lots of things... which informed my treatment of "exercises". Some of the instructors declared that "reading anything else" was against the rules. Then, and now, this seems to me complete nonsense. Why would anyone want their students not to see things?!?!? Wasn't "learning stuff" the real object... not "control"?

@paulgarrett: agreed; a prohibition of “reading anything else” seems absurd.  Through a course, I always encourage reading widely, collaborating and discussing assignments, and so on.  In the end, though, there’s an expectation of assessment of students’ individual accomplishment — even if I wanted to (which I don’t), reforming that expectation would be well above my pay grade — and at that point, one needs to define what counts as “individual work” somehow.  Do you have a proposal for this, that avoids any ambiguity or edge cases while remaining meaningful?

Agree with the analysis but I would add emphasis that the OP needs to proceed with either case A, B, or C based on what actually happened. I understand that this analysis is from a third-person point of view, but it had better be made clear about not advocating lying.

due to Covid-19 this exam was an online open book exam, I had interpreted the open book exam to mean that we could have our notes and our lecture slides with us.

To me this is the key point.  Was this a correct assumption on your part?  i.e. did the professor really intend open book open notes, or did they intend open book closed notes?
If they intended open book open notes, then you did absolutely nothing wrong.  He/she intended for you to able to use notes, you used your notes. It was a coincidence that you found this problem online while studying before the exam. Explain it this way.
Now, if he/she had intended open book but closed notes, well then unfortunately you did do something wrong. BUT, I would argue that this is at least partly the instructor's fault. He/she should have been clear that "open book" does not imply "open notes". I am always very clear in my exams about what is and is not allowed. Explain that you had assumed that notes would be okay because the instructor did not say otherwise.  Explain that you recognize now that you should have asked for clarification on what was allowed instead of just assuming that notes would be okay.  Argue that because it was unintentional, and that you answered all of the other questions yourself, a grade of an F on the whole exam is too harsh of a punishment and try to get them to change it to something else (like maybe just a reduced grade for that problem not the whole exam), or allow you to re-take the exam.
If you don't know what was intended, you may want to ask.

Exactly, and a good open book exam would make copying nearly impossible. If the rules (as written) were all followed, it would be unfair to blame the student, even if it feels wrong.

What matters is not what the professor intended. What matters is what rules they actually laid out in writing. OP cannot be expected to read the professor’s mind or even to necessarily think of asking for clarification if the professor’s intent is not crystal clear.

@DanRomik: Ideally, yes.  However, I am afraid it is quite possible that the professor will argue "Everybody knows that 'open book' means such-and-such" and that the dean or hearing board will agree.

It is probably defined somewhere what exactly was allowed and what not. This is surely not the first open book exam the university organised. Also, the other students in the class do not seem to have this problem. The university probably has a very good reason to believe that something fishy happened, and the procedure is there to find out if it did.

What they "intend" is immaterial. What they actually say is the only thing that matters. Secret rules are not permissible in a just society.

@Louic: If I would have done the same problem before and had it in my notes, I would never just copy it in an exam because it would look like cheating (as in the case here). That could be the reason why the other students do not seem to have this problem (how do you know this anyway?). Another reason they don't have this peoblem could very likely be that they didn't study that much as the OP.

Again, the OP did nothing wrong. I would actually praise their study process. To admit error when none occurred and say it was "unintended" is dishonest if you've done nothing wrong. There is no need of any apology.

There is a good chance that this "original, challenging" question that the examiner made up for the open book exam is already somewhere on the internet with an answer. This is probably what happened. @user111388 The problem here is that the student did not have the question in his notes because he solved it earlier, but because someone else did.

@Louic: Well, but what might they do? Aren't they allowed to look up answers from others while studying?

@user111388 While studying, yes. But literally copying answers from others in an exam is another matter. The student seems to have misunderstood what "open book" means. Maybe it was not well explained, but even in that case the student should have suspected that copying answers from the internet is not what his teachers intended him to do. In the end it does not matter who is to blame. What matters is to resolve the situation in the way that is best for everybody. We all understand that this student did not cheat on purpose, but by accident. His examiners will understand as well.

OP's comment shows that open notes was (a bit indirectly) mentioned in the professor's email. Therefore, 1) copying a solution from your notes to the exam sheet during the test is not against the rules, and 2) copying a solution from the interent to your notes during your study period is not against the rules anyway - because there are no rules on what you can have in your notes.

I'd also like to emphasize that this seems to be a math problem - and undergrad level math proofs rarely have many possible solutions or "creative" ways to show your understanding. Even if it is not a proof, there tend to be standard and more efficient ways to solve math problems, and inventing novel approaches simply cannot be expected in this context.

@juod: it may be an undergrad chemistry problem as well for the same reason, e.g. if you think on how many ways there are to write down the redox equation that is the answer to the question (including adhering to the customs of writing such equations).

If you have time before you have to respond, you should seek the advice of your university's Ombudsperson.
An Ombudsperson is an advisor that you can consult about your situation. Most universities have them, and they're independent and confidential. They're designed to act as advocates for the student, and they're usually expected to be familiar with your university's policies and procedures. Your Ombudsperson will be able to inform you of your rights, responsibilities, and often can offer advice.
If you're not sure if your university has a position like this, try searching "[University Name] Ombudsman". Most universities do have such an office.

First and foremost, discuss this with your student advocate. They will know the specifics of your university's policies. And they will know how wise it is for example, to fight the charge directly vs. admitting to unintentionally violating a policy (if that turns out to be what you did).
Second, unless your student advocate advises against it, be fully open and honest about your intent to sit the exam honestly. Say everything to them that you said to us. Make it clear that you had no intent to cheat, and believed you were following the rules as presented.
Third, bring evidence of your intent, such as your hopefully copious notes from which you appear to have derived your answer.
It is likely that you violated an academic or ethical rule, if nothing else by using a significant part of someone else's work without attribution. If you copied someone else's answer to your notes, then copied from your notes to the exam without crediting the source, you have effectively copied the source. That's not OK.
If you and your student advocate believe that is what happened, then likely your best bet is to hope that you will be let off somewhat easily for a first offense with evidence that it was an unintentional violation. In any event, you may need to be looking for the most favorable of several poor options. And this will be a heck of a life lesson.
Good luck.

Unfortunately for you, they do have a case. There is a big difference between taking notes while learning a subject, and keeping a database with answers to possible exam questions. Whether this database is on paper, on the computer, or on the internet makes no difference.
All you can do is:

honestly explain what happened (like you did to us in your question),
emphasise that you did not mean to cheat,
explain that you have learned from it, and
convince them that you will do things differently next time.

It might help if you can also show that:

you understand the subject that was examined, and
you answered all other questions yourself.

If it was my decision to make I would let you get away with a warning and keep an extra eye on you during the next exam.
But whatever the outcome is, the main thing you should do is learn from this experience: try to study to learn and fully understand the subject instead of study to pass exams.
To answer another of your worries: your money and hard work would not be wasted because you learned a lot about the subjects you studied, as well as a valuable lesson. You may not like this answer, but I wish you good luck and hope that the committee will understand the situation and be lenient.

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

One aspect of the situation, also commented-upon considerably, is the idea that it's somehow wrong to have already worked-out or understood so many examples that examples on an exam are already known and understood.
This reminds me of some of my "colleagues" asserting that our grad-level written prelims should never ask questions that've been asked within the last 10 years or so. Um, well, doesn't that communicate to students that there's no sane guide to what to study? I've always counter-argued that this is non-sensical and actually counter to our collective goals.
In my grad course in which "grades matter", I tell the people up front that any reasonable, worthwhile question has (apart from trivial details) been asked and answered many times before, and is surely on-line. In particular, I recommend that people think for themselves, in order to be able to appreciate a solution (if they get stuck) that someone else has put on-line. And, after all, aren't we allowed to benefit, and reduce our labor, by the work of the many people before us?
In particular, I tell them that on "exams" that I give, they should work so that any supposedly reasonable question I ask them is "already seen", and they remember rather than problem-solving-in-limited-time.
But, yes, some people have not caught up to all this, and will punish students who are behaving otherwise reasonably. And the institutions have not necessarily caught up, either...
So, unfortunately, I have no good action-oriented advice, except to keep in mind the unreasonableness of the situation, and not feel guilty, privately, for behaving reasonably.

I may add that as an undergrad (back in not-so-much-internet times) we had a series of exams where we were encouraged to work through the collected exam questions of the last x years - knowing that the questions for us would come from the same pool of questions (not open book, though). The examiner was of the opinion that even trying learning the answers by heart would not matter or hurt our education since working though large amounts of problems one will ultimately recognize (learn) the principle behind the mechanisms (organic chemistry) - it basically cannot be avoided.

@cbeleitesunhappywithSX The name for that sort of learning is "learning by rote". Different people have different opinions on its usefulness.

@nick012000: Not sure whether rote learning is really what is meant here because the idea here is to arrive at true understanding of principles by way of doing these examples (I always understood rote learning to refer to "brainless" memorization). However, we did have the impression of being required to meaninglessly memorize large amounts of facts. When we complained ("If we'd have liked to learn phone books by heart, we'd have gone for medicine rather than chemistry") a TA told us that a) he can assure us that there are principles that can be understood behind those collections of facts...

... but unfortunately, noone has yet arrived at good ways to express these in language (or formulas) so we cannot be taught them with explanations the way we're used to from, say, physical chemistry where we can derive results. Instead, for those areas, chemistry didactics has to fall back on everyone having their own brain sort out large amounts of facts. Said examiner was arguing that this is what the brain will do, he said, one cannot help to gain understanding when working through loads of examples. He also said that it is much less work for almost everyone to go for understanding first...

... where explanations (e.g. reaction mechanisms) are available - buf students who won't do that will still arrive at an OK level of understanding by solving, say, 5 years of exams. I may add that we knew that every single point in the curriculum would be tested, so leaving gaps and hoping for luck was not a sensible strategy: the course had 1.5 h of exam almost every week, so over the semester about 20 h of exam.

If your answer was based on your own notes--even if they were developed in part by doing practice problems from a third-party website--I think you have a strong case.
However, there are a couple of factors that would work against you:

If the website you used was explicitly forbidden elsewhere in the course policies, e.g. in previous emails or the syllabus.
If the question/answer was a 'trap,' i.e. there was no correct answer or the solution posted on the third-party website was inaccurate or nonsensical in such a way that students would never arrive at it independently.

These are the factors that appear to be working against students caught cheating at Princeton during the covid-related transition to online exams: https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/05/princeton-teaching-assistant-math-department-slader-mat202-academic-integrity-cheating-covid

Read and understand the policy of your department
This answer is in addition to the other good answers posted here. You've already clearly articulated your own position and explained the actions you took and the motivation for them.
The next part is pure bureaucracy, what is the process for responding to the accusation? Is there a panel you can appeal to? Who should you address about how current circumstances and lack or face-to-face discussions will affect the outcome of your appeal?
These are things which will all be specific to your institution that we can't answer here, but will ultimately have the biggest bearing on the outcome. In the meantime, you should continue your studies for other courses the best you can on the presumption that you will be able to continue those courses in one form or another.

It seems to me that you were copying a solution from another source without citing it (given the length of the solution and what you wrote "matches"). Whether you did this indirectly via your "notes" does not matter. In academia this is called plagiarism and should obviously be reason enough to fail an exam.
I would advise you not to try the "rules didn't say plagiarism is cheating" route. I think your defense could be that you were confused by the "open book" rule, see your mistake and will do better next time. In return the university might not apply those harsh rules to you.

I had tried to solve the problem on my own, but referenced the solution when I got stuck. Well, then. It seems to me that you pretty much straight-copied the answer you found online, and then copied your notes to the exam paper. I have had to deal with these cases, fortunately very infrequently, and though the student in the dock always had my every sympathy, I always sided with the (usually extremely annoyed) instructor. Unfair as that may seem, here is my rationale. If the student had understood even a smidgen of the material, they could easily have reconfigured the answer to avoid any semblance of cheating. That they did not, indicates very strongly that it was straight unthinking letter-by-letter copying, and students ought to know that this is not what studying is all about.
I am sorry that I cannot be more reassuring, but this gives an impression of what the other side is thinking. That said, I always felt that the student should take the hit for this one error of judgment only on this one paper. I really hate this "mark on your permanent record" bullcrap they always scare the kids with.

I believe the school has a Student Affairs Unit or Guidance and Counselling Section. Every student deserves a fair hearing. Writing a letter directly to the Head of the Institution (Vice Chancellor or Provost) can also accelerate your being heard.

Why would you believe that?


text:
A paper is claiming to calculate something for which data probably does not exist
I am working on a project where the objective is to test if X causes Y. In the field, there are two methods for calculating X. One is considered more accurate, but require data often not available for many geographic location. The other is the opposite: less accurate, but use easier-to-acquire data.
In our study area, someone has published results of calculating X using the more accurate method. The paper has been published in a journal with a dubious reputation. The article claims they used data from a local government's data repository. However, I looked for this data and found less than 30% of the required amount.
Steps taken so far:

Contacted corresponding author asking for clarification or providing us data. - "PhD student who is lead author has left. I don't know exactly what was used for this. Please see paper for data sources and search there".

Asked contacts at local government if such data has existed in past. Answer: "Probably no" with clear instruction that their response is based on informal request and cannot be published in media or otherwise.

My issues is that if I calculated X using the other, less accurate method and then tried to publish, reviewers would point out that this work has already been done using the more accurate method, and so my contribution is minimal. Which would be true, if the other paper had actually done as they claim.
How to proceed?

Welcome to Academia.SE. I've made a few edits, as it is difficult to follow stories where people X and Y work at places A and B studying topics P and Q....feel free to make further edits if I botched anything.

If the results in the other paper are not reproducible, isn't that sufficient justification for your work?  Do you have an advisor or mentor you can ask for specific advice?

I want to comment on update. my advisor decided to change location to avoid conflict.

Academia gains from discussions. There is no reason to not put your reasons to doubt the other results in a paper, even if you are de facto accusing the Ph.D. student of fraud.
Now, strong claims demand strong proof. In your case, you need to try accessing the same data sources as the other paper did (I understand that you already did this.), and you should also try to read the thesis as it might contain more data. Professional courtesy implies that before you submit your paper, you send a copy of your draft to the authors of the other paper. That at least should give you a reaction. If the reaction shows that they did indeed obtain the data, you do not have a publication. If the reaction shows that they did not do a good job, you have burned some bridges, but gained in reputation among other researchers.
You could also as an intermediate step tell the authors that you are intending on publicly criticizing their work as fraudulent. Just do not express it as bluntly.
In all of this you can and should be polite. For example, instead of saying that the data does not exist, you can say that you could not find the data and that the first set of authors could not provide you with a data source.

"There is no reason to not put your reasons to doubt the other results in a paper, even if you are de facto accusing the Ph.D. student of fraud." - No reason? Retaliation, loss of reputation if your accusation is unfounded, risk of appearing petty... On balance might still be the right thing to do but "no reason" seems to miss a lot.


text:
ETS canceled the subject GRE at the last minute. Making other arrangements is not easy. How to proceed?
I'm applying for the PhD mathematics program in the US, so I decided to appear for the GRE mathematics subject test. This test is only conducted once a year in my country. I had to travel 1200 kms to take the exam. But six hours before the exam started (and after I traveled), the exam was cancelled. I was told the exams did not reach the testing center because of a snafu at customs. This was very frustrating, and it is not even clear if a makeup exam will be offered.
Under these circumstances, how much effort should I put into rescheduling my exam? It is optional at my universities. It seems to me that if everything goes perfectly, the results will not reach the universities until mid-January, which is after the deadline but maybe not too late to be considered. But this is a big hassle and perhaps my time could be better spent on other parts of my application.
Also, how should I approach my (lack of) exam scores in my application materials? I'm afraid my application will be filtered out before its read by the admission committee due to lack of scores, even if they are optional.

While I think we all understand your (rightful) frustration, what kinds of answers are you hoping for? That we all feel indignant about ETS? We probably do, but it doesn't do anyone any good if we all expressed this. If your goal is to ask whether the Subject GRE scores are important, make that the focus of your question -- though I am quite sure that there are plenty of other questions on the forum already about that.

Your question was still accumulating close votes, so I took a stab at removing the rest of the off-topic stuff. You can [edit] if I botched anything, but please be aware that we want questions that others could potentially face in the future. Questions tied to your long, unique story are likely to be closed (we call this "depends on individual factors"). Please see our [help] for more details.

As you note, US departments do often utilize the GRE as a coarse filter for international applicants, particularly from countries that they are unfamiliar with. On the other hand, committees are usually familiar with academic standards in countries with many applicants (e.g. China, India). Perhaps it may help to mention your country, and your previous school's standing within the country and internationally.

What does ETS mean?

@EarlGrey: ETS is an acronym for Educational Testing Service.

Are you,by any chance, from India? This happened to me too. My October 29 test got postponed without further notice.

For the main issue, there is little you can do but explain the problem. Exceptions can be made in the US application process.
Note also, however, that the GRE isn't actually required everywhere anymore and is becoming less of a factor. This is partly due to COVID and partly to the, perhaps questionable, predictive value of the test. Other things in the US are very important, especially letters of recommendation from people who can honestly predict your success.
Third, the SoP may not be the place for your GRE scores in any case. The SoP is about the future, not past accomplishments. Us the CV for that. In the SoP state your plans for doctoral study and thereafter. Be reasonably specific about field, but it isn't really necessary to drill down to a dissertation topic. And the SoP isn't the place to explain the issues with ETS. Use the SoP for its intended purpose.
Other than a failure to notify you in a timely manner, I don't find a lot of fault with ETS. They don't have control over imports into a foreign land and have limited control over shipping and such. You have been caught in an unfortunate situation. Casting blame isn't going to make it better. A simple explanation that the test was cancelled is all you should need. You might not even bother to bring it up unless asked except at a place that really requires it.

See the answer for the US in the following for more information about the application process: How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in Country X?

If I understand correctly, you are saying (if the GRE subject test scores are optional) there is no need for any explanation unless the university asks for the explanation. Right?

Yes, and the aren't likely to ask.


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Is it academic dishonesty if I committed my exam answers into a private GitHub repo during an exam?
During an exam, I committed codes into my repository on GitHub.
In this case, am I involved in academic dishonesty for providing answers in public even though my repository was set as private?

Did you give anyone else access to your GitHub account?

If you were setting the access to be limited to only you, then you did not share your code. It is not different from saving your code on a USB.
Intent and motivation enter the picture here. If by accident you made your code public during the exam, you would have only be engaged in academic dishonesty if you intended it to be used by other students.
It also seems unlikely that someone would have noticed your upload.

You didn't make the answers public. But it is likely that you did break some other rule.
Read the rules of the university to find whether you broke a rule. And you should probably delete the code from Github.

Why delete the code from Github? (assuming no rules were violated).

First of all: Depending in which country you live in, that code of yours is protected by copyright law and is yours. You may be free to publish, sell or license it.
However, I am not sure, if you were allowed to use any external sources during your examination (if it was a take-home-exam, probably yes).
In my experience as a university teacher for 7 years (although a very different field): as long as you don't post "this is the answer to the exam question X", there should not be a problem.

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.

@Community  What is unclear in this answer?


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Negotiating 1-year delay to my Assistant Professor Offer
Recently I was offered an assistant professor position at a major R1 university. My problem is that I need to stay one more year in my home country due to Fulbright 2-year home residency requirement. I will apply for a waiver but just in case I'd like to negotiate the possibility of one year later start date. The department head is aware that there might be some delays due to legal issues, but I did not want to bring these procedures before signing the contract. It is my dream job at my dream college and I can be of a good asset to the department. How do you think I should approach negotiating and communicating this situation in a respective manner? Thanks!

You might be able lift the residency requirement if certain conditions are met; it is an option to consider.

By the way, I would very much like to ask you a couple of questions about Fulbright; is it possible that we can talk a chat room ?

What are the ramifications of breaking your Fulbright agreement?

I am not breaking the agreement, I would like to legally get a waiver to be able to come back to the U.S. just like any other J-visa holders who are subject to this requirement. It is easier to get a waiver for a J visa sponsored by the university or home-country organizations. Agencies like Fulbright makes it harder so the philosophy of the program is fulfilled, which is a cultural exchange.

Congratulations on the job offer—great work!

Thank you so much! I am really happy about it too!

Well, as a department head, I would be slightly annoyed that (i) you applied for a position you knew you couldn't take, and (ii) you didn't mention this earlier.
But it is what it is: You have no other option than coming clean, and so being honest should be your first priority. The people you're going to talk to are going to be your future colleagues and you will rely on their good will for the next many years. So playing games is not a useful strategy and all you can do is be forthcoming in explaining your situation, and ask whether there is a way to delay your starting date by one year. There is really no negotiating in this case: You need the department to agree to your demands, because if they don't you have a contract you can't keep (because you can't show up in person) and will likely lose your job. In other words, you're completely at the mercy of the department, and that's how you should treat it: With honesty and humility.

"You have no other option than coming clean" Exactly. Regardless of how you fill in the details, you can either come clean or burn a bridge you really don't want to burn. This is one of those situations where there is no third option.

i would add: immediately write to department head all the details.

This should go without saying, but a department head at a R1 university is no one to mess around with, and not someone you want to annoy if you know what's good for your academic career.

Thank you for all the comments. The reason I am asking this is because I'd like to stay within ethical principles and how to communicate this worst-case scenario effectively. I was graduated from that very department and the everyone in faculty knows me and they know that I left the US just because of this requirement one year ago. And I have told them that I will have to apply for a waiver. During the interview process, they did not bring this to the table. And I did not want to be the one who brought this up before everything is official.

I would add: the department has already indicated that they agree you would be a good asset, so you can and should approach them (collegially) from the perspective that they want you to accept and they want you to be happy. In the end, delaying a new assistant professor's start date by one year is typically not a big hassle for a reasonably-sized department, so once everybody is convinced that you're all on the same side, I find it pretty likely that they will agree to the delay.

Thank you for your response, I am a little less worried now. I will communicate with collegiality principles definitely. Let's hope for the best!


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Asking for more time to respond to admission offer
I have an admission offer from a European Ph.D. program, and they have given me just 1 week to respond. Considering it is really early to hear anything back from the US universities (and I am keen to attend some of them over this school), how can I politely frame an email to ask for additional time, so that they don't get offended?

Just ask straight out. They won't be offended, but may not be able to hold a position open for very long. I'm pretty sure that they know already that you have several irons in the fire. If you find their offer attractive then tell them that but say that you also need to weigh other options. Perfectly normal.

Thank you, how can I frame it as politely as possible? I am not a native English speaker and I am finding choosing the right words very difficult.


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Are some typos permissible if submitting a manuscript for potential publication?
As the title states are some typos expected if submitting a manuscript for potential publication? I recently submitted an article to a journal and after re-reading it just now (2 weeks later) realized there are 5-6 minor typos. A few typos are misplaced commas, but some are grammatical errors.
For example: "Based results..." which should read "Based on results..."
The article is currently under peer review. Will these small typos be detrimental to my chances of publication?

This stuff happens, and everyone knows it. If this is on a single page, then it looks unprofessional. If it's 5 or 6 throughout the entire manuscript, then this is reasonable and to be expected. Keep track of these and make the changes as part of your revision once the paper comes back from the reviewers. In your reply to the reviewers, just mention "During revision, I have also taken the liberty to fix a small number of typos and grammar errors that had unfortunately made their way into the original manuscript".

Also depends on the typo : change one letter on “duck” and it will be noticed...

Yikes, would you really use such a long sentence just to say that you fixed some typos? I usually write: "Fixed typos".

@MassimoOrtolano using 17 words when two will do is a skill :) I do agree with you though.

Well, look, I'm German -- I can't help but being verbose and thorough! ;-)


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Two masters simultaneously?
I am from Germany and about to finish my second bachelors degree (two different fields). And am now considering options for masters studies. Now i know that in Germany i can study two masters simultaneously and it generally does not matter too much if i need say three years to complete both instead of the two years advocated.
I would like to study at a good university in another country where tuition fees for EU citizens are rather small/zero.
Now is it possible to enroll in two master degrees simultaneously in France, Sweden, Norway, Denmark or other countries fullfilling the criteria?

I will answer with respect to Sweden; as far as I know it can be technically possible but in practice, not really...
Let's expand on this a bit; again, AFAIK, it is not possible to be enrolled to two different masters programs in the same faculty. At least it was not possible when I was in the uni. They might have programs that overlap between different programs and allow you to have a broader portfolio/CV if that is what you desire, but you still get a single degree.
You could try and apply to two different programs at different faculties of the same university. This may work, I am not sure if there is a national regulation on that. I would guess that it's handled by individual university administrations.
The last option is of course applying to two different programs at two different universities, so different legal entities. You could try to get into University of Gothenburg and Chalmers for two different programs for example. I cannot imagine why that would not be allowed.
That being said, if you choose to pursue this, you will very likely have crashes on your schedule such that you will not be able to follow the lectures, and potentially miss some compulsory moments of these degrees. Universities typically don't assume the students do more than 100% studies so you will almost certainly have serious incompatibilities on your schedule.
If you are seriously considering getting two masters degrees in one go (and I would advise against it), my suggestion would be to offset them with 1 year, so that you start one program and half way into that start another. The motivation behind this is that Masters programs often tend to have lecture-heavy courses first, and project or assignment based courses later.

Thanks! That‘s what i was wondering. Would be different faculties probably. One more question: is there any regulation on the amount of time take to finish one master degree? To be more specific: Can i finish in three years instead of two without any punishment?

@user526159 while I was enrolled in the uni, that's about 10 years ago now, there was no such limit. The only limit I can think of is that the tests (exams) you pass during the studies are only valid for a some years but extending your masters by 1 year should be fine.


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Formats for writing and/or submitting Statement of Purpose
I am going to submit my SOP for the Ph.D. application. I just want to know if there is any standard format for organizing the SOP such as should I include a title, do I have to write my name, page number and so on. The university where I am going to apply, does not have any specific information or guidance on the format of SOP. Therefore, I would be grateful if anybody helps me with this regard.
Thank you.

When I read an application, none of these format issues matter. But a few people might print out your SOP (instead of reading it on line as I do) and might have a stack of SOPs to read. For these people, you should have your name on the SOP.  Apart from that, as far as I can see, no one will care about the format.


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Professor said: "I will encourage you to apply. You can apply for Spring, 2022 or Fall, 2022." I do not know how to comprehend this?
Professor said:  "I will encourage you to apply. You can apply for Spring, 2022 or Fall, 2022."  I do not know how to comprehend this?

What do you not comprehend? Looks like the department allows people to start either semester.

The professor replied this to which question?

If you emailed them to ask about a research position, what they are saying is that you should look on the department or institute website for the normal application process. Probably there is some web form that will tell you what you need to do to submit an application, and apparently they accept applications twice a year for positions starting in the spring and fall.

I emailed him because he was looking for some Ph.D. candidates. He asked me for my transcripts and research statement. I sent him both and got this reply that I posted here. I did not understand he is actually interested in me as a Ph.D. candidate. Does that mean he will give me the PhD position?

@SaraAhmad I think your comment is helpful context, and I'd encourage you to add it to the question itself.

A professor who "encourage[s] you to apply" is doing just that: encouraging you to submit an application, not guaranteeing that you'll get the position once you do. It's a positive response, but it's also one that the same professor might give to multiple people.
You can take it as validation that your credentials meet a basic standard for consideration. But if you're ultimately not offered a place at this institution, remember that admissions decisions are often made by groups of faculty, not one person. Departments regularly face hard choices between multiple qualified people for each spot.


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What should I choose between the Georgia Tech MSCS and CMU MCDS programs?
I am admitted to both the Georgia Tech MSCS (Specialization in Machine Learning), and the CMU MCDS programs. Georgia Tech costs me around 30k USD while CMU costs me 120k USD. Both are 1.5 year long. My main goal is having a good ROI. I am not interested in research. I want to do a good job in the industry. What should I choose?

Sorry, we don't take questions like this because the answers would just be partially-informed opinions, and your best course of action might be something else altogether. But here's my partially-informed opinion: while CMU is obviously the better school, Georgia Tech is still a very good school for machine learning, and $90K is a LOT of money, especially in early career when you'd be probably be taking loans.


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Company name in SoP
I am applying for an MS in CS in USA.
Is it fine to mention the name of a company in the SOP?
Eg. I want to work on exciting problems like the xxx Project in xxx company or yyy Project in yyy company.

Are you talking about the companies you want to work for post-MS? Or are you looking at programs where they place grad students in industry positions and they conduct part of their MS research there?

I guess I would recommend against it. It doesn't seem to really add anything unless you know the university is involved in research with those companies.
Instead, I'd focus on the field and subfield that you want to study. Having a problem in hand when you apply is probably less important than it might be elsewhere and there is more to learn in grad school than just how to solve some particular problem.
OTOH, I don't think it would hurt much. And "exciting problems" sounds a bit trite. But "being intrigued by" certain problems is probably a good thing, not just for the application.


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Comparisons in Recommendation Letters
I am writing a recommendation for a student for an MS in CS. Can I make comparisons like 'Y is better than X whom I recommended last year and is admitted to your school' ?

I wouldn't phrase it that way as it denigrates X. But you can certainly make some comparison. "Y reminds me of X." "Both X, who is now your student, and Y have made us proud." "Like X in previous years, Y has become one of our top performers."
Another issue is that you may not know how X is actually doing. I once recommended a student very highly and he did very poorly. He was an excellent student, but was dying of AIDS, which I didn't know.


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Can I post study notes based on a book to my personal website?
When taking a course I deemed specially important as an undergrad, I would usually choose a book from the bibliography the professor provided and read it independently of the classes; while reading, I would write study notes in LaTeX based on the book.
Now, they would follow the book sometimes quite closely, but most of the times they included many modifications: boring (according to me) sections would be skipped, omitted or incomplete proofs were appropriately completed, notations I found confusing were changed, some topics from other books would be added and, most importantly, while all books to which I chose to apply this process were in english, my notes were always written in my first language.
Many years later, I found these study notes and would like to add them to my personal website.
My question is: can I add these notes to my website?
I am citing the books which inspired the notes (and even the books I read on the same subject but were not incorporated into the notes), explicitly mentioning they were not only references but were somewhat "copied" to produce the notes.
But can I be accused of plagiarizing the sources, given the similitude between my notes and the books?
Would I be violating copyrights (I know there are many copyright types, but in general)?
I don't intend to have any monetary gain from these notes, but would like to make them available to whoever finds them interesting, together with their source codes in case anyone wishes to modify them.

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/148261/do-you-keep-your-study-notes-publicly-available I think your first question is answered here. The others might be too.

@Aymuos I think the very unique nature of my case (study notes created from a book) makes most answers to that question not very useful to me...

If you cite what you use then you are safe against charges of plagiarism. Citation is an absolute guard here.
In general you can do what you like with your own words and thoughts.
That leaves only the question of copyright, which varies around the world. I'll speak generally about the requirements, though your country may treat things differently:
Copyright law is civil, not criminal law. You can be sued, but not arrested for violations. Copyright law has some exceptions for academic and other purposes, but they tend to become more limited over time.
In general, the underlying idea is that you shouldn't reduce the value of a copyrighted work in writing "about" it. This often comes down to quoting (copying) large sections where "large" is actually quite small. Even paraphrasing large sections can cause you trouble. So, providing an alternate edition of a copyrighted work will probably be a serious violation (if it is discovered) even if you don't literally copy anything. Copying too many "short" sections is also suspect.
The copyright lawyers employed in some industries are very (very) vigilant.
However, some things that appear in textbooks (especially undergraduate textbooks) are actually common knowledge. Most Calculus books or Java Programming books tend to look a lot alike, differing primarily in the exercises. In fact, for many of them, the exercises are more important to learning than the text itself. So, if you put together a lot of ideas that you learned from a Calculus text and followed the general flow of topics, it would be difficult to accuse you of a violation unless you literally copy too many of the words.
While publishing solutions to exercises is less likely to be a formal or legal violation, you can make a book generally useless for learning if you make it easy for students to avoid thinking and just copy what you have done. Reading a solution is a completely different mental process than producing one. So, it is possible to interfere in the development of a student by providing solutions. I think that is an ethical issue, though others will disagree.
The difficulty, though, is that the whole question isn't cut and dried and is open to interpretation in a law suit if one arises. Lawsuits can be very expensive to defend against, so it is wise to be cautious.

I am not worried about the ethical issues involved in posting solutions to exercises, since I did not plan to add those to the notes I would post in my website. I AM more worried now about being sued for violating copyrights of the books, since some of these courses I took notes of were not as basic as Calculus...