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Can someone’s degree get revoked if the university has evidence they cheated retrospectively?
I know someone who got caught stealing the exam and cheating.
He now practices and sees patients!
If I alert the universities to look into it they will see that my information is correct. Will they be still allowed to see and treat patients?

Do you have any reason to think this person cheated when getting the degree they hold? It sounds like you are describing someone who i) cheated in the past and ii) did not admit to cheating in a future interview, but not someone who cheated while working on the degree they actually hold.

Please [edit] your question and clarify this because it sounds like all you have actual evidence for is old cheating, on a course which the person did not graduate from.

You seem to have information that no one but the person themself would be likely to have. You seem to have details of their application to the foreign U. You seem to know what they were asked in interviews and how they answered. How is it that you could know all these things with enough certainty to avoid a lawsuit? Skeptical.

A libel lawsuit, actually, from the subject of your accusations.

https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/153661/what-are-the-criteria-for-degree-revocation Does this answer your question?

What you "know" and your "certainty" aren't a defense in a libel suit. And, again, how do you know these things if you aren't the subject?

If they "got caught", then it seems like either (1) the resulting investigation did not convict him, or (2) the resulting investigation convicted him and imposed sanctions, but the university ultimately awarded the degree anyway. Either way, it sounds like the degree was correctly awarded and there is nothing to do here. It might be different you could prove that the person cheated and was never caught.

This has happened before in many instances.  For example,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/09/german-education-minister-quits-phd-plagiarism


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Is it considered plagiarism for a professor to use uncited sources in teaching materials?
I have a professor at my university who uses content from an un-cited textbook that he has never referenced anywhere, including his green sheet (syllabus), as an additional resource. At least some slides he has used include parts of content that have been re-worded and others that are 100% the same. I noticed this by Googling for textbooks on the material we're studying in class and found that examples given in one that I found were exactly the same as what he has provided.
Would this technically be plagiarism? Should he be given the benefit of the doubt in this situation?

Are you talking about his teaching materials or papers he published?

@scaaahu these would be teaching materials. Can't comment on anything he's published.

Somewhat related: http://academia.stackexchange.com/q/1744/64

When I was in grad school, Professor X took many of his homework questions and exam questions from a similar textbook, which turned out to be the one I had for the undergraduate version of the same class. U-grad grade, B-minus. Grad grade, A. Needless to say, he didn't credit the second book, but I recognized the problems.

@AndrewLazarus, well, announcing "this exam/homework question comes from book X" will send everybody to look it up instead of solving the problem... Sure, taking all (or most) questions from the same book is sheer lazyness.

At the very least it's bade style to reproduce sources to a large extent without any citation in teaching materials, I would say. I mean that it looks a bit dishonest and not completely open as well as might actually be interesting to the reader to know.

If you're a student I'd focus on hunkering down instead, you're letting yourself be distracted. If you're another instructor, why bother?

Plagiarism involves dishonesty: taking someone else's work and leading others to believe it is your own.
In the case of unpublished teaching materials, I don't think it's assumed that all the examples, etc., a professor uses are original unless an outside source is cited. So I wouldn't strictly consider this plagiarism (though citing outside sources is definitely preferable to not citing them).
It's possible that in your academic culture it is assumed that all of a professor's materials are original, in which case, the above would not apply.

That's definitely possible and would make sense. Thanks for the clarification.

Teaching has some resistance to being called plagiarism. For instance, you cannot criticize a  professor for not mentioning Newton while he talks about gravity.

@RenaeLider I'd certainly criticize a professor for not mentioning Newton while talking about gravity! But my criticism wouldn't be that they were plagiarizing. :-)

@ff524, could you elaborate on what you mean by "academic culture"? When you say that, would you be referring to university policies or just a general opinion of how the system is run (in regards to integrity and such)?

@Null See this answer. It has nothing to do with integrity; it's about what the default assumption is with respect to teaching materials. I don't know of any place where professors are assumed by default to have created all their materials unless otherwise stated, but I can't rule out the possibility that there may be such a place.

It should be added that in many countries, (re)using textbook (or any) material for teaching purposes is perfectly legal (with some caveats).

I don't see why we need an insight into the person's state of mind when we diagnose plagiarism (it's different regarding whether we want to excuse it etc): instead of requiring a sense of whether this was done dishonestly or not I would say that we simply ask whether this was a case of using the work of someone else as if it's the professor's own, without appropriate citation? On the face of it it looks like the answer to the question is 'yes'.

@ctokelly My point is that the professor is not "using the work of someone else as if it's the professor's own" because there is no implication here that it's the professor's own material. (Hence no "as if it's the professor's own.")

This answer, while probably accurate with regard to the academic customs, neglects that plagiarism often happens without intent to be dishonest, but simply out of ignorance of the law and the meaning of plagiarism. For example, many students copy-paste wikipedia into their homework introduction, and in good faith think there is nothing wrong with it. The case described in the question feels both similar to that, and indeed very common in Academia.

@BenoîtKloeckner: But one crucial difference is that students agree to homework/thesis policies (e.g. sign that all 3rd party sources are cited) whereas teachers typically do not sign a similar declaration. And e.g. the German version of the copyright legislation does have a "fair use" of copying small parts of a work for teaching (§ 52a) which does not appear in the list of fair uses for which the source must be given (§ 63). According to this, showing a few examples from a book to the students of the course is OK (btw. authors/publishers receive compensation via VGWort).

Note that I'm not in the US, but in my experience generally it's never implied that all the teaching material is original. There often is a hereditary element too, or the department has common material they share.
Also consider that the only sensitive material in most courses could be copyrighted images. There's no copyright on Newton's law. Plagiarism would be saying that you discovered Newton's law, not copying another teachers' material.
I've noticed that some people put a password on all their PDFs and say it's because of the material they put in it which they don't want to show up in google images.
Often, I've noticed that it's a mix of stuff they wrote with images from those PPTs you can get from the textbook minisites, given free of charge by the publishers so that teachers can use the same pictures that are also in the books.
I haven't read the terms and conditions the publishers put on those slide shows but maybe they don't want the images to be republished without a full citation of the source, hence the practice to keep access restricted to the participants.

The simple answer is no.
Usually, courses are being taught with the same material every semester which is "inherited" from one lecturer to the next one and usually begins with some textbook so that's not unusual - no one assumes that it is an original material.
More than that, if a lecturer is using exercises from some textbook in class he might also use them for homework sheets and then he would prefer not to disclose their origin in case there are also answers in the textbook.

This one is tricky - attribution vs keeping answers away . Would it be nice to add citations and links to the original source once the assignment has been turned in maybe?

Teaching is tricky:

My university has a one-year post-doc that has a one-course teaching obligation. One of the applicants submitted the required syllabus for the course -- but except for the title, it was a 100% copy/paste of another person's syllabus (including the course description and assignments)  without attribution. This might have been forgivable if the source was the applicant's mentor, but it wasn't. Needless to say, we didn't give the person the post-doc although this wasn't the primary reason.
That all being said -- when planning classes, I think it's common to look for syllabuses to draw on. That's why many professional societies have syllabus databases. You should attempt to make the course your own, but if someone has a great cluster of readings for teaching Dunning-Kruger, I think it's well within fair use to use those sections.
When teaching 100 level classes, I think it's fairly common for professors to look at intro textbooks other than the course textbook. Often these texts have course plans, etc. I don't think it's uncommon for faculty to integrate these into their lectures, but I do think if you're copy/pasting that you should at least attribute.

You have applicants for temporary faculty positions submit syllabi for the course they would teach if they were hired?  Wow.

Yes. It's a one year post-doc with a one-course teaching obligation -- usually in the person's area of specialty. Most view it as a positive -- they get to have Famous University® listed in their teaching portfolio.

I'm impressed.  (Not to make a big deal about it, but...I do know your university.  Even so I learned something from this answer.)

@PeteL.Clark: Not that this is necessarily the case in RoboKaren's situation, but my understanding is that this is much more common in the humanities than in e.g. math. (In the humanities the creation of the syllabus is a much larger project, and much more personal, so copying someone else's would certainly ensure you wouldn't get the job.)

For me, the issue is more intellectual laziness than plagiarism. Each of the readings in my (humanistic) social sciences course is designed to work with the other readings and lectures in a particular synergistic way. I post my syllabi online but would find it strange if someone copied them wholesale -- I would wonder if they would be able to teach the class adequately given that they don't know the motivations behind the readings, or what the lecture/discussion plan is for that day.

I routinely give faculty taking over "my" courses my syllabus material, assignment problems, lecture slides, exam material, etc. and tell them no citation is necessary.  (I've tried to be very careful to credit the work of others, so a problem from a textbook would include a citation.)  If it matters, I teach information technology, computer science, and uh ethics.

As far as I understand the word, what you describe is factually plagiarism, which includes both (1) passing others words and ideas as one's own, and (2) using another's production without giving credit. In most classes, the ideas are not assumed in any way to be the lecturer's ones, so (1) does not apply; but if text from an non-cited book is copied verbatim, then (2) applies.
Now, most academics I know do use from time to time other's material without proper referencing, and this seems in practice to be accepted (as shown by several other answers). I strongly oppose this habit, especially when the same lecturer blame student for copy-pasting Wikipedia in their homework: even if the situation is somewhat different, the message gets a bit confusing.
That does not mean that lecturers can't use other's production; they just have either to get inspiration from them instead of copy-pasting, or to give credit. This applies notably, but not exclusively, to the use of images.

Right as far as e.g. lecture notes go (those should be held to similar standards than formal publications). For scribbling on the blackboard, homework, or exam questions, this would be ludicrous.

If you use other's exercises, why not cite them? I sometimes do use exam questions that I found (e.g. in national competitions to enter French Engineering schools), but then I give a citation in footnote. What does it cost?

@Benoit: What does it cost? If you cite the exercises you're using, and the solutions are online, you are giving the students an opportunity to cheat. (For the same reason, if you take somebody else's exercises, you should reword them slightly — not to avoid plagiarism, but so they can't be found by Googling.)

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PhD in Quantum information science/ quantum physics without intensive formal education
My undergraduate degree is in B.E electronics and electrical engineering. My undergraduate gpa is kind of pathetic because I was never interested in engineering but rather B.S physics. Unfortunately I was forced into engineering. Later I went on to pursue M.S in nanoscience with really good gpa. Except that it was not focused on quantum dynamics or quantum physics intensively. I had a course of nanophysics but it covered only fundamentals ( the textbook used was ' introduction to quantum mechanics ' by Griffiths ). That's about the maximum quantum physics I could get from my MS since there was no applied physics department in my institute, only nanobiophysics. I have 2 papers published as conference proceedings and a poster presentation but not related to quantum theory.  Nevertheless I did not give up hope. I am really trying hard to get a PhD position in Quantum physics/ condensed matter physics/ quantum information science. I am pretty much an autodidact I.e I self educated myself in advanced quantum physics by going through books like ' quantum computing and quantum information science ' by Nielson and Chuang. Also learning through open source lectures from professors like Dr. Sergey Frolov in Quantum Transport and Dr. Leonard susskind in Quantum theory/ quantum mechanics/ quantum entanglement.
I somehow don't want to apply within the US because I am more attracted to the European research philosophy or the research carried out in Asian countries like Singapore or even Australia. The problem I face is that professors think I don't have the sufficient formal education in the field which is true. Professors reject my requests just because of this. I consider myself to be extremely motivated and determined to pursue a PhD in Quantum physics with a goal to get into academia. My motivation is not monetory but more of intellectual pursuits and curiosity to learn. I have also offered professors that I will work during my PhD without a stipend. It is a dream I'm fighting for and am willing to go to any lengths to achieve my goals. Lately, I have been feeling scared and taking blows to my self esteem due to the rejections. Self doubt is creeping in where I have begun questioning my intellectual prowess. But I'm still trying hard to learn on my own and carrying out research as an independent scholar staying up for days and nights straight.
I feel lost and am not sure what do I do next. Hoping to get responses from veterans and achievers In the field.

If the professors you have spoken to (who presumably know you better than we do) believe you need more formal education in the field to be successful, why not pursue more formal education in the field? (such as a masters.)

Because i receive the same response as by the phd advisors. i spent a long time looking for a job to as a researcher or in industry, but 80% of the people dont even know what nanoscience is.  They think all the research i have done is useless in industry and is absolutely redundant. As days pass i feel that i have wasted years of my life with all these degrees that cant even amount to much.

also a funded masters degree program in EU or elsewhere is hard to find.

I still think that your best chance, by far, is to do a Masters, as @ff524 suggests, but agree to pay for it. I realize that this is a significant investment that might not even lead to a Ph.D. opportunity after, but as you describe it, your problem keeps coming back to "no relevant experience;" and a Masters would be the most promising way out of that predicament.

Let's say I do go for masters. Spend a huge sum of money from my parents pocket or perhaps take a loan. So then I would have three degrees. What's the point. Is there any respect for people who have spent so much time, devoted their years to science. What respect do people have for intellectuals unless you are an Einstein or Feynman; what I mean is unless you are from some top notch university who's going to notice you.

. At the end of the day it all comes down to judging a person's aptitude based on test scores, 4.0 gpa, ivy school degrees and even then when you apply it's like shooting a blind arrow hoping it will hit the target. Like read this article, it makes me want to cry.http://bit.ly/XrUxUq

If getting a job is your concern, getting a job in nanotechnology is WAY more easier than in theoretical physics / quantum information theory.

Also, what is exactly the question? While I feel your pain, it sounds more like a rant than a question.

If the professors you have spoken to (who presumably know you better than we do) believe you need more formal education in the field to be successful, you should pursue more formal education in the field (such as a masters.)

I consider myself to be extremely motivated and determined to pursue a PhD in Quantum physics with a goal to get into academia.

If you really want to do quantum physics and you're told that you need some formal background to be taken seriously as a PhD applicant, then get that background.
Given that you are, in fact, passionate about doing quantum physics, you should presumably even enjoy that masters, especially if it is a research-based program and not just taught coursework.

I somehow don't want to apply within the US because I am more attracted to the European research philosophy or the research carried out in Asian countries like Singapore or even Australia.

In many places in Europe, a master's degree in the field is a requirement for starting a PhD. In the US, however, many PhD programs do not expect prospective students to have a master's. So if you're really set on not getting another master's, you should strongly reconsider this attitude.
You wrote in a comment:

Let's say I do go for masters. Spend a huge sum of money from my parents pocket or perhaps take a loan. So then I would have three degrees. What's the point. Is there any respect for people who have spent so much time, devoted their years to science. What respect do people have for intellectuals unless you are an Einstein or Feynman; what I mean is unless you are from some top notch university who's going to notice you.

I don't know what "respect" has to do with anything. There is no number of degrees that is sufficient to guarantee that people will "respect" you.
If you, personally, would find it extremely distressing to devote years - decades, even - to science and still not be respected as an Einstein or Feynman, then you should probably look for another career.
A significant portion of people who seek to become professional scientists do not succeed in this goal. Of the ones who do succeed, the vast majority never reach the level of influence of Einstein or Feynman. If the overwhelming probability that you will not become a "famous" scientist makes this path seem less appealing, you should probably find another.
("A man must love the thing very much if he not only practices it without any hope of fame or money, but even practices it without any hope of doing it well." --G.K. Chesterton)

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Asking the Editor-in-Chief about the reason of the review delay
I have submitted a manuscript to one of the top-tier journal of my field at six month ago. The recent status of the paper is "under review" which status is there for last four months.
My question is:  In that situation is it ok to ask the Editor-in -Chief of that journal about the reason of the review delay?
Also could anyone please help me by giving a useful reference to a template of such mail (to the Editor-in-Chief), which ask the above question to the editor in a polite and effective manner.

In general, yes. The time for the review process varies between journals and between fields. you should, first of all try to assess what is normal for your field and particularly of the journal to which you submitted your work.
For me as Editor-in-Chief of a journal in the Sciences, it seems long but not unheard of. I have had rare cases where I have had to chase reviewers for a paper and where I have had to wait about three weeks to dismiss anyone or to just get a negative response. All these requests add up. Add to that reviewers that do not return the review despite, even repeatedly, promising to do so. So, it could be a case of bad luck, but before you send off a polite request, check so that such time frames are not normal for the journal. In any case, do not assume that the problem is only with the editor. It could be but as mentioned can results from many steps in the review chain.
Regarding a template, just write a short and polite mail or letter asking what time frame you can expect. You can, for example, say that you wish to know so that you can free up time for your possible revisions or something to smooth the request. But a short question is never wrong as long as the time frame is obviously longer than common for the journal


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How often do techniques/methods that are considered old or obsolete become relevant again?
In many, if not most, disciplines methods age, get old and eventually become more or less obsolete, in the sense that some other method perhaps using a different technology becomes common-practice for a particular type of experimentation. One such example could be Edman sequencing, which used to be the method for sequencing peptides, but is pretty much outdated nowadays, not because it does not work, but because it's costly in time and labor.
In my experience, these old/obsolete techniques are taught both at Masters and PhD level, primarily to give a deep understanding of the field, albeit being more theory than practice. Are there any other benefits in learning/studying older methods, rather than only studying the state-of-the-art?
I was wondering how often, if at all, such old methodologies come back (perhaps following a breakthrough in overcoming some original limitation) and regain popularity. Are there known examples?
As a follow-up; is such change in methodologies a phenomenon observed in experimental research, or are there equivalent scenarios in theoretical research as well?

In regards to a breakthrough in overcoming some original limitation I suspect there are some old manual methodologies which would have been replaced by a faster manual methodology which could now be useful again with advances in technology (for example, computers). Therefore, I think learning the old stuff can be important; if not now, it might become important later.

Maybe just a matter of seminatics, but if it becomes useful again, it cannot be obsolete. I guess the point is that you will never know in general what may be truly obsolete.

@PeterJansson good point, rephrased the title to reflect that.

This question is very general and vague; a more specific question might get better answers.

@NateEldredge I see your point, I have thought about it before I posted the question as well. However I couldn't come up with a better formulation that was both more clear/specific and general enough to be interesting to others. I am of course open for suggestions...

As of now the questions looks discussy (example polling) or unanswerable (if you really mean "how often" but it is without further specification).

@PiotrMigdal as I mentioned above, I am open for suggestions as to make this question a better fit for the Q/A format. I did not intend the question to be open-ended and chatty, but a resource to answer "why are we learning/teaching stuff that has no relevance to modern research?"

There are some important examples of techniques and problems being "revived" after having lain dormant for many years. For instance, in my own field, one of the cornerstones of computer modeling was originally derived in the 1920's, and then basically remained undeveloped until the 1970's, when it was brought back in fashion. (It has since been replaced by faster methods, but it is still regarded as the "touchstone" for high-accuracy calculations.)
Similarly, entire fields of research may have been developed before the applications caught up with them. Again, bringing up an example from my own field of research, the class of materials known as ionic liquids was known as far back as the early 1900's, but again were forgotten until the 1990's (or so) when they were "rediscovered" because they were nonvolatile materials and could be used as replacement solvents in the chemical industry. (It also offered the ability to do "combinatorial chemistry," which was also coming into fashion.)
THe point of these examples is that sometimes theoretical and even experimental techniques may be developed in one era, but the ability to exploit the technology to its fullest extent has not yet been attained. Keeping awareness of such methods thus can have some use. Whether it should be taught to every student of a field is a different issue.


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Does a Teaching Assistantship get counted as Teaching Experience when applying for teaching position in India?
In the Indian academic system, does one's teaching experience such as being a teaching assistant count towards one's application for an Assistant Professorship? My TAship involved everything from preparing class lectures, conducting long lectures, to maintaining grade lists. I have six years of experience of taking undergraduate classes as a TA. My question is whether I can put this as my teaching experience on application. Any leads on how to navigate this would be extremely helpful.

As far as I know and am aware of current considerations around hiring assistant professors (entry-level), the minimum criteria are these:

Must have a PhD or DPhil in a relevant discipline
Upper age limit (maybe 35 or 40; I am not sure!)
Teaching experience, if any (they are not too strict on this)

I believe I am fairly correct on this. Now, if you have pre-PhD experience, that will not be considered in most organisations. However, you can pose it as an additional and value-adding experience: preparing courses, handling students, examinations, etc. However, a TA-ship is not the same as a lectureship, which has much more than what a TA does. In this sense, TA experience might not be valued too much.
Additional note: You could also email the hiring committee before applying and possibly ask them for guidance on whether you should mention it as a relevant teaching experience or something else. Note also that it is always a good practice to clearly state in your resume/CV whether the experience was pre-, during- or Post-PhD. This also, however, varies between organisations.
Good luck!

TA experience can be mentioned in your teaching statement and CV, and this would make your application qualitatively stronger.
However, any pre-PhD teaching experience (or part-time experience gained during the PhD) does not typically count towards the formal teaching experience requirement for certain levels such as Associate Professor.
For. instance, if your application form asks for a numerical value for the number of years of teaching experience, what they're looking for is the number of years you've been employed as a faculty.

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Citing volatile sources
What can be recommended for citing content on the internet that may be subject to modification or deletion without providing any means of restoring specific versions or of seeing deleted content?
In my case I want to cite a comment that I left on a social network (Linkedin) because in that comment I sketched the solution to problem that is the subject of a publication.

Is it on Mathoverflow? The right thing to do, then is to post your solution as an answer, not a comment and the cite it using the usual protocol for MO citation.

@MoisheKohan Looks like a great solution; you should post it as an answer rather than as a comment.

@FedericoPoloni: I would if I knew that it was Mathoverflow (or Mathstackexchange or somewhere else on this network). But I do not know, maybe it is on reddit or something similar. Thus, it is a question-comment, not an answer-comment.

@MoisheKohan it is on LinkedIn and was the answer to a mathematical puzzle. LinkedIn gives no guarantee for the persistence of links and is actually not suitable for resolving priority disputes, etc.

Oh, I see (personally, I stay away from LinkedIn for a variety of reasons). Then maybe you should clarify this in your post.

@MoisheKohan I have edited my question accordingly; I didn't do so in the first place because I feared being accused for advertising that platform...

@MoisheKohan But this is useful information that answers the question even if it is not the site OP is referring to; it should be posted as an answer anyway. In my experience, it is best to think to SE as a curated list of FAQ, not as a forum where we solve each user's individual problem.

To me the key here is that you want to refer to your own comment. I think it quite usual to informally discuss ideas/solution sketches e.g. with colleagues, at conferences in the coffee break or nowadays on social media before they are formalized into a full manuscript. In my field all this is normal, and (but) never mentioned in the paper. I'd thus neither mention the LinkedIn discussion, unless the puzzle there is cited in the motivation part.

(Nor do we cite conference talks given on the topic before writing up the paper, which are also quite common)

After your clarification, here is my suggestion:
Post a duplicate solution on arXiv (if you think it is suitable) or/and on one of the StackExchange sites (self-answering a question). In the post, note where did the problem originate. If the original source disappears, you at least have a duplicate to refer to. Afterwards (assuming that you need to cite it in a real publication), refer to it using the usual citation protocol citing both the original LinkedIn post and the post on a StackExchange site.

Use the wayback machine/internet archive (http://web.archive.org/) to archive it and cite that.  It will give you a stable source (for as long as it exists).  Each archive is timestamped with the time and date the archive was made, and you can take multiple snapshots if the page changes substantially.
Example in the comment below:

This appears to be a comment - the old version can still be seen here: http://web.archive.org/web/20241226141329/https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/215758/citing-volatile-sources/215759#comment582722_215759

Does the wayback machine work for LinkedIn pages? Their pages are not accessible unless one joins, which I haven't, so I can't check whether one can save their pages with the wayback machine.

@DaveLRenfro I don't know (the linkedin in info was not provided when I gave my answer) - having said which I'm not sure there is much point in citing what is essentially a private discussion forum, in which case republishing it on a public site is probably better (but that wasn't the question).

In addition to the advice of Dikran Marsupial you should always provide a date on which you accessed any potentially volatile material. In case the internet archive hasn't captured it you have a record established, and even for resources that are periodically archived, one may be able to get to the version you cite.
Even when you cite a book, you give the edition number for the same reason.
And beware of the fact that no internet resource can be guaranteed to exist in, say, 50 years, since both the technology and the economic interest has to last for that to happen. For some things, even five years is optimistic.

The capture on Internet Archive is dated, so if you archive soon after making the comment it should be satisfactory for establishing priority etc.

For the last paragraph, I fully agree - the internet archive is a great resource (as is Wikipedia) that could do with long term support to carry on doing what it is doing!

Besides the other advice you've been given, I would recommend making a copy for your personal records by printing the website to PDF, or similar. Should things disappear from the source website and archive.org you'd still have a copy to consult and send to others. Such a PDF can also be useful as a reference to check if any changes have been made to the website version (though that seems unlikely in case of a comment authored by yourself). This technique is also useful to archive non-public information such as emails that one might want to cite as private communication.

As an alternative to specific solutions others suggested - I have seen multiple times citations like “x, y and a, b - private communication”. Since your mentioned LinkedIn pages are similar in a sense that they are restricted to followers, a similar citation style could perhaps work.
Since this is your comment anyway, and the article is recreating that result in a formal way, I suspect you’re including the entire content of the relevant part anyway (as opposed to directing the reader to the comment for the proof of a result). In this case, perhaps something like this would suffice: “This result was first presented by the author on June 12 2021 in a private communication over LinkedIn.”

good idea to cite it as private communication; I think I'll modify it a little bit to state the accessibility in the vein of "publicly accessible private communication on Linkedin" to reflect the different privacy levels that are offered for communication on social network platforms.

@ManfredWeis Sure, that could work also. Ultimately, if there’s anything problematic with your citation, it’ll be caught during article review anyway. I wouldn’t sweat it too much, especially since the content of the citation is yours and will be completely included in the paper, making the citation merely ticking an academic code.


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What does "qualify for a more competitive rate" mean when booking flights for academic travel?
I know this question may be off-topic on academia SE, but really am not sure where to ask. I was admitted to a great PhD program recently, and was also invited to participate in their Open House in March. I was informed that I would be reimbursed for travel expenses. However the email says to book flights as early as possible to "qualify for a more competitive rate". Does this "rate" refer to the ticket price or the rate at which I am reimbursed? I'm afraid to ask the secretary since I don't want to make a bad impression.

In the future, you can ask the Travel Stack Exchange, but this is technically reasonable here too.

"Qualify for a more competitive rate" means "pay less".

I personally don't think asking for a clarification to the secretary will make any bad impression. In my experience they get these kind of questions all the time from people they manage.

From experience, I can tell you that one single short email requesting clarification never makes a bad impression. Ten emails doing so on a range of points are another thing entirely. (It happens more than you'd ever imagine.)

Instead of "...refer to the ticket price of the rate at which I am reimbursed", did you mean "...refer to the ticket price or the rate at which I am reimbursed"?

@TrevorWilson nice catch! I've fixed it. Thanks.

By "qualify for a more competitive rate," it seems pretty likely that they simply want you book early to get a cheaper flight.

yes, and I totally understand and would like to do so so that the Department does not to throw out too much cash in the case I don't accept the offer (even though I probably will).

Yes, yes it does. The hard part for you is that you need enough financial capacity (credit card, usually) to float cost of the airfare until you actually take both the flights. The university won't be able to reimburse you until you've actually taken both the flights. Even then, it may take them a month or two to pay you back. They won't pay your interest payments.

+1 for particular attention to the financial consideration of this reimbursement thing... that interest payment was exactly what I was thinking about :). Well, as long as they will pay me back in full.

It gets easier when you have a full-time job and can just eat the cost of the airfare while you're waiting for the reimbursement. My university offers a Diner's Club card with a 60-day grace period to be used for official travel purposes that might save you one interest payment if you work it right. You might not have enough time to do that, but you might inquire.

It's not that I disagree about the pay-yourself-first-get-money-back-later arrangement being somewhat likely in this case, but does any part of the question state this is the case here? Your statement "The university won't be able to reimburse you until you've actually taken both the flights." sounds extremely certain, as if you had some knowledge that I'm not seeing provided in this question.

@O.R.Mapper, it's the way all universities I have ever interacted have worked. They either book the airfare on your behalf and pay directly upfront, or they require you to book it on your own and ask for reimbursement after the fact. The logic in the latter case is to not pay you until you have actually taken the flights. Otherwise, you could book, get reimbursed, and then cancel the travel and take their money. It would be rare in my experience for any large bureaucracy to trust you not to steal from them.

@BillBarth: Well, paying oneself in advance is not required in the first case that you describe. And with that in mind, I'm actually used to booking flights myself via a travel agency that has a partnership contract with the university, and they will automatically send the bill directly to my travel expenses department, so I don't have to pay any money for that. It's possible that's only feasible for staff, though, not for prospective staff as in this question (and paying myself to get reimbursed later is also what I have to do for anything I do not book via that particular travel agency).

@O.R.Mapper, I think I agree about the first option, but I also think that, from the sound of it, and from OP's original post and response to me about eating the interest, he's having to book the flight and wait for reimbursement. The part where OP asked "I was informed that I would be reimbursed for travel expenses" seemed to indicate this case to me. That made it pretty clear that OP wasn't able to book through the university's agent.

@O.R.Mapper Having the university purchase the tickets for you is often an option, but I think most people have gotten too used to the convenience of just booking themselves online rather than dealing with whatever staff is needed to set this up.

@BenWebster: In the scenario I described, the traveller books the tickets online and indicates the university address as the recipient of the bill.

In addition, also talk to the travel websites as well, booking super-early doesn't always save you the most cash.  But yes, you will want to book earlier than "last minute".

"booking super-early doesn't always save you the most cash" – indeed that is true. During busy travel periods (i.e. summer holidays, Christmas) the fares rarely drop once airlines start actively managing them. If you must travel on certain dates during peak travel times, it's best to book very early.

Basically, the email is telling you to book ahead because flight costs increase dramatically if you try to book too close to the actual travel date. For instance, for domestic flights within the US the cutoff is typically 21 days before the flight: ticket prices can become two or three times more expensive if you try to book after that point.
Of course, there's also the department's interest in having to pay less for your ticket, because that means there's more money available for other purposes (to pay for other students' tickets, hotel costs, meal costs during the visit, and so on).

I think the university's primary concern is paying as little as possible. Therefore they are nudging you to buy your ticket sooner rather than later.


text:
Propose modifications to a travel arrangement to visit graduate school
I have been accepted to a Ph.D. program in St. Louis, MO and will be visiting the school in late March. I will be reimbursed for flight tickets. The scheduled Open House runs from Thursday to Saturday, and I have been told to book my flights with arrival on Thursday and departure on Saturday. The flight ticket per those specifications is at least $510, while if I arrive on Thursday and depart on Sunday, it would be $50 less. Since I will be committing 5 years of my life to studying there, I would like to know that I like the place, in addition to liking the Department (which I do). So is it okay to ask the secretary if I can book my departure on Sunday and save them $50 (lodging that extra night will be on me)?
Additionally, the secretary said they will book my hotel stay themselves. I would like to know St. Louis a little better, so I would like to stay at an airbnb place (which is more than 50% less expensive). Would proposing to stay at the airbnb place instead of the hotel they provide considered a strange request?

What are your plans for getting between the Open House location(s) and an airbnb place? The department may be making arrangements to get attendees to and from a hotel they have picked.

@PatriciaShanahan Good point, but both the hotel and the airbnb place are within short walking distance from the department.

@user90593 it depends how they handle it. When I went for my interview I stayed at a friends house and I asked them if I could use that money to pay the airfare. Just ask, if departments can spare money they will! But if their reimbursment requires official receipts you might have to stay at an official place. My department organizes other graduate students to host incoming students for a couple of nights.

Other reasons that the dept might handle the hotel arrangements themselves: to make sure you don't stay in a horrible hotel or they may have arrangement for a "block" of rooms with discounted rates.

It's perfectly acceptable to ask such thing, it does not make any difference to the department if you can show that the ticket price is the same or even less in your case. I suggest you try to stay longer if you can. When I was invited for an interview I was given a budget and I routed my flights the way I wanted.

what do think about changing the lodging, like in my new edit? Thanks.

Still, just ask. Academics take advantage of funded travel to do some sightseeing very frequently. In general, no one generally cares what dates and times you fly, but expenses outside the conference period are your responsibility. You won't be judged at all for taking advantage of the opportunity. If the later flight was more expensive I'd offer to pay the difference, but it's actually cheaper so there shouldn't be a problem.

I see no problem with the flight. However, as Patricia mentions, there is a chance that they won't be thrilled about you staying somewhere else via AirBNB - if this is a larger "Open House" event, they may have some arrangements and events planned, and if not all people are at the same place logistics may get more complicated for them. However, of course you can always ask. No reasonable person would get annoyed by that.


text:
How to describe computer skills in an application form? (Master's degree)
In a part of the application form I was asked to describe my computer skills. How should I do this? Is mentioning them as a list (bullet points) enough, or should I be more detailed?
I'm talking about professional skills (e.g. programming languages)So should I, for example, list all the programming languages I know, or should I give detailed information (for instance, the duration I have been working with each language)?

I suggest you look into another question that has been posted on SE about how to describe programming language skills. The end result was that there is no perfect way, but the number of years you've actually worked with each language was one of the least debated ways of describing your experience IIRC.

Computer skills can be divided into several area such as Basic Skills (Windows, Office), Business skills (Mail, Internet, Communication) to more professional skills Programming, Administration, Database, Network, Consulting, but these are really big areas. There is also Academic Computer Skills where should be software regarded to academic world (Latex, Open Source....)
It is a really wide field, so maybe you should give more specific information about study programme for more information.

@Bewildered please edit your question to clarify it rather than posting important information in a comment


text:
(Master's Degree) What are they 'precisely' looking for in a Statement of Purpose, and does a SOP matter when one has excellent GPA?
(N.b. All my questions are concerning applying for a Master's degree)
I have read a lot of websites, articles, extracts from different books about the Statement of Purpose (Motivation Letter). I'm still not quite sure how to write a 'breathtaking' SOP to blow the reader's brain.
For example, I don't know how to present my interest in my field of study in a brilliant way to amaze the person reading it. I am very interested in my field and I can think of million things I can do with it, but still I don't know the best way to present that interest. Most people say that I need a 'grip', an interesting story from my own life that made me become interested in my field of study. But let me be honest, I have none, not everybody has that sudden 'turning point' in their life. My interest in my field of study just happened over time; one day I saw that, hey this is pretty a fascinating field of study and it totally matches my interest in different fields, I can apply the knowledge gained from this field to almost anything. So nothing extraordinary, it just happened with no reason.
I have also read hundreds of samples online, and they all look totally the same, they say that SOP has to be distinctive, but that's exactly what I didn't see in the samples I read - they all start with a memory of their childhood and finish with how much they'd love to contribute to society and mankind and become a researcher.
I am really lost about writing a SOP. I think I'm even more lost because I have read thousands of articles and books and have heard a lot of different opinions for the past 2 months. I am not sure what a "superb" SOP is, and I am not quite sure what the admission committee looks for...
Finally, I have a tiny last question; Does the Statement of Purpose matter as much if one has a GPA of 92%?

Maturity, coherence of thought, awareness, are visible in statements of purpose, while not reflected in GPA or GRE scores. Things that are hard to fake or contrive, and for which the pop examples are often anti-models. :)  If nothing else, remember that these statements are read by people quite a bit older, more experienced in the profession, who've already seen many such letters, and who've probably mentored many M.S. and Ph.D. students... so will not be easily "fooled".

Some useful information about what to include in your SOP can be found at: Choosing research ideas to include in a statement of purpose

this is pretty a fascinating filed of study and it totally matches my interest in different fields is a very good reason to apply to a master degree program.

What I'll write is based on my experience with mathematics Ph.D. admissions in the U.S.  How far it generalizes beyond that may depend on the circumstances.  (I'd bet much of it would still apply to a research-based master's program in computer science, but perhaps not to an MBA program.)  Note that U.S. graduate programs in math primarily take students who have just graduated from undergraduate programs, so the target audience is not so different from those applying for master's degrees.

I'm still not quite sure how to write a 'breathtaking' SOP to blow the reader's brain.

It's impossible to write a breathtaking or superb statement of purpose, and I mean literally impossible: such a statement does not exist.  Even if Einstein and Shakespeare collaborated to write one for you, the best they could do would be to write a good statement of purpose.  Once your statement hits the ceiling, there's nothing more it can do to help your chances of admission, and the ceiling is low enough that a substantial fraction of applicants reach it.  If I had to make up a number based on my impressions from reading applications, I'd estimate that a third of all applicants write a good enough statement of purpose that trying to do better would be a complete waste of time, and many of the others at least write pretty good statements.  [By contrast, the ceiling is vastly higher for letters of recommendation, as well as for accomplishments as an undergraduate.]
It's certainly possible to write a terrible statement of purpose.  If you come across as a jerk or seem incompetent or dishonest, you can ruin your chances of admission, no matter how good the rest of your application is.  Even a statement that has nothing outrageously wrong with it can hurt your application if it's poorly done.
Unfortunately, there's a lot of bad advice on the internet.  Some of the common recommendations, such as childhood memories or inspirational quotes, will not help at all since they simply aren't relevant to the admissions decision.  At best, they come across as a little naive (and committee members will groan about another applicant who was inspired by Marie Curie), but they probably won't hurt your application if you include genuine content in your statement of purpose as well.  At worst, they will fill up your entire statement and render it useless.
Similarly, you don't want to write a "unique" statement of purpose.  It makes sense to include explanation if there's actually something unique about your application, but there's no value in writing a statement that's gratuitously different from everyone else's.  The admissions committee isn't trying to understand what makes you a unique and special snowflake, but rather what makes you a good prospect for graduate school.  That's not a genre of writing that generally benefits from wild creativity.
So what are committee members looking for?  This varies a little from person to person, of course, but here's a first approximation:

Do you know what you're getting yourself into?  Do you have a good feeling for what graduate school entails and what's involved in your chosen field?  Do you sound like you know what you're talking about?  (Don't bluff!  It's better to demonstrate an impressive undergraduate-level understanding than to look like you're pretending to have even deeper insight.)  There are any number of ways to mess this up.  You can sound clueless, you can display crackpot-style fantasies, you can sound like you are choosing grad school to put off having to get a job, etc.
Can you summarize and highlight aspects of your background in a way that shows some maturity and perspective?  This could include undergraduate research, an undergraduate thesis or capstone project, favorite courses, outside reading, etc.  Some students do things that sound impressive from a one-line description on the CV, but when they explain in more detail it sounds a little hollow, like they never really got into it or learned much from it.  Others are able to take similar experiences and fashion a more compelling case for going to graduate school.  For example, if you are describing undergraduate research, it's generally not enough just to give a brief descriptions of your results.  You should also explain the purpose and motivation behind the research and reflect on the experience.  (Maybe it pointed you towards what you'd like to do in grad school, maybe it showed you what you don't want to do, maybe it made it clear what you need to learn, etc.)
Can you explain anything that's unusual or worrisome about your background?  You don't want to overemphasize these things (your explanation should be just part of your statement, preferably not right at the beginning or end), but this is your chance to put everything in context and explain why any apparent flaws should not worry the committee.
Do you have compelling plans for the future?  You certainly don't need to have your whole career mapped out (that comes across as silly), or even your whole time in graduate school.  However, it's best to show that you are moving forward thoughtfully and sensibly, rather than just applying to grad school because that's what comes next.

You shouldn't panic about writing a statement of purpose.  Remember that your goal is not to write something brilliant, but rather something good enough.  (For example, there's no way you could demonstrate amazing plans for the future or profound insight you derived from reflecting on undergraduate research.  That just can't be done in a document of this length and style, so you just need to aim for good plans and good insight.)
It sounds like you are caught in tons of stress and planning before trying to write anything.  What I'd recommend is this:  Take a few hours and write a first draft, while keeping in mind the questions I listed above.  Then get feedback from friends and mentors, and pay the most attention to feedback from people who have served on admissions committees.  Probably you'll decide to make some minor changes and be done with it.  The worst case scenario is that you somehow did a lousy job, in which case you should reflect on what people didn't like about your first attempt and try again.  Either way, you'll have a decent statement of purpose by your second attempt, and probably the first.

Does the Statement of Purpose matter as much if one has a GPA of 92%?

Some aspects (such as explaining poor grades) may be less relevant, but most of the things I listed above still matter.

My interest in my field of study just happened over time; one day I saw that, hey this is pretty a fascinating filed of study and it totally matches my interest in different fields, I can apply the knowledge gained from this field to almost anything. So nothing extraordinary, it just happened with no reason.

You're right that this is nothing extraordinary, but that's fine, and it's very far from having no reason at all.  A bad statement of purpose says "I've loved area X since I was a child and have always dreamt of contributing to this field.  Admission to the University of Y will help me achieve my dreams."  That's nothing but a fancy way of saying you'd like to do X, without giving much of a reason.  Instead, a good statement of purpose could say "Area X fascinates me because it brings together my interests in A, B, and C.  [...further explanation...]  Among the many applications, D and E particularly appeal to me.  [...further explanation...]  Faculty members U and V work on related topics, which is why the University of Y would be an excellent fit for my interests."
If you can elaborate on your reasons that are "nothing extraordinary", you'll already be well on your way to writing a good statement of purpose.

This is the most brilliant and most helpful guide I've ever read about writing a Statement of Purpose. It sure did help me very much and decreased my level of stress. Thank you amazingly much.
I have few more questions:

Except what you mentioned at the end of your post, are there any other aspects that make a bad SOP?

What are they asking for when they ask "What are your expectations concerning the program and the track you have chosen?" in the SOP?

Is it of any value to write about the field itself to show that I understand it and then connect the statements to my interests?

I couldn't write my last question in the comment above, due to character restriction, so here it is: 4. Is it wise to mention that I'm following a course on www.coursera.org, related to the field I'm applying for? Or is it again naive to mention such a thing?


text:
Just citing what they cite
I’m not a professional academician by any means. I’m just a medical student trying to write a paper in my spare time.
I don’t have an excellent grasp of the literature in this field. A lot of the information I’m learning comes from a single excellent review article/book chapter.
Here lies my question. This book chapter will say, e.g., ”such and such [1][2]”. Do I just cite the book chapter when I describe such and such in my background? I think not; I should probably cite [1], [2], or both.
So, the real question: is it OK/acceptable/ethical to just believe that [1] and [2] contain such and such; and just cite them without actually reading the papers? To be able to do this would save me quite a bit of time.

Duplicate: http://academia.stackexchange.com/q/45295/40589

Thank you very much, and sorry for posting a duplicate. I really did search for this before posting.

@JoshuaDiamond: Do not worry too much about it. If a duplicate is sufficiently difficult to find, asking a distinct question about it may actually be useful, as it helps others (who would not have asked a question for some reason) to find the answer. By the way: If your question was marked as a duplicate by somebody and you agree, you can acknowledge the duplicate and have it closed immediately.

You need to make an effort to get and understand the work related to yours. That is the only way you can make sure you are building on them, not misunderstanding. If you cite it, it means to me (as a reader) that you did use that work to reach your conclusions. You might get away with citing indirectly stuff you didn't check in detail, i.e., "Smith [19], summarizing previous work by Adam [1], Eve [2] and Noah [3, 6], states that...".

The thing is, though, that the information in question is a specific fact, not a theory or idea. So I can certainly be sure the information relates to mine. The challenge is finding the original source and finding that fact in the source.


text:
Referee wants me to add a plot – because the paper has none
Referee comments for my paper have just arrived:  while one makes some circumstantial and useful observations, the other asks me to add a plot:

The paper still does not contain a single plot. I encourage the author to present some of their results in graphical form, which will greatly enhance the impact of this paper.

My paper regards some study of the flux of gravitational waves emitted in binary systems and is full of mathematical formulas.
While there may be a way to add a very cool and colorful plot to my paper, I don’t think it is necessary; it would be complicated to read and so I should add more text to explain how to read it.
I don’t want to add a plot. How should I respond to the referee?

The referee is being non-specific.  You could have added a mind-map of the entire paper, a bit like a graphical abstract.

Historical anecdote: When Lagrange published his book on what is now known as Lagrangian dynamics, he was proud of the fact that it contained no diagrams at all, because the Lagrangian formulation made them unnecessary. When he came to revise it for the second edition, he discovered that he couldn't follow the details of his own work, and he had to delegate the revision to a student (who no doubt drew a lot of diagrams!)

Also, keep in mind something like a diagram could satisfy the referee and add clarity, it doesn't have to be a traditional graph which could be useless.

The reviewer is saying you have presented him with a wall of text. Even people who can interpret formulae easily like a bit of leavening in the form of diagrams. A sketch for the definition of the coordinates used for the binary system and the waves might be a good start.

Your audience will be grateful if you add some diagrams instead of leaving only equations.  Otherwise you risk only the most strongly motivated readers will work their way through your paper.

Am I guessing correctly from the still in the referee’s comment that they already asked for this in a previous round of review?

@Wrzlprmft no this is the fist time he/she mentions a plot

@alephzero Do you have a source for that? (Sounds interesting.)

@MateenUlhaq https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mécanique_analytique and https://www.famousscientists.org/joseph-louis-lagrange/ both support the first part of the Lagrange anecdote. I have yet to find sources for the second part.

@alephzero I wish more mathematicians learned this lesson, they're one of the biggest offenders.  I wince every time I have to look at a cross disciplinary paper made by one. Often they don't properly define variables (news flash, neither physical or computer sciences use the same symbols as you, so instead of expecting us to follow your conventions, explain yourself, or use ours).  When you finally do parse what they were trying to say, most of the time it doesn't work.  When it does it needs to be filtered many times to get it into an intelligible state.

Wow.  I read this title completely differently...

When writing a paper, always try to cater to readers who don't have all the background (or time!) to understand everything, but can still gain something by reading. This helps make science less exclusive and more inclusive. Diagrams can help tremendously.

A picture is worth a thousand words? Anyone?

@MateenUlhaq: I don't think the part about the revision is true; I just looked through the second edition and didn't spot any diagrams.

While there may be a way to add a very cool and colorful plot to my paper, I don't think it is necessary, it would be complicated to read and so I should add more text to explain how to read it.

It doesn't seem to me that you have really considered the reviewer's request seriously. You seem to think they should just be able to follow the formulas without any visual, thus putting the onus on the readers to do the work of understanding your paper. The onus should be, instead, on you to explain your ideas in the clearest way possible -- and this will greatly improve the impact of your work, as the reviewer says.
I find it hard to believe that there isn't anything visual you can add that would be helpful, no charts, figures, or pictoral examples. When I read technical papers, I have found that visuals that go through an example in detail are almost always invaluable for understanding, regardless of the type of research (very applied or very theoretical, etc.) Are you sure that there is nothing you can add?

The paper still does not contain a single plot. I encourage the author to present some of their results in graphical form, which will greatly enhance the impact of this paper.

You seem to have taken some offense that this was not a useful suggestion, but I find it very unlikely that this suggestion is not useful.

Even if a figure isn't necessary to understand a paper, it can be a very useful tool to draw and focus attention. Beyond the abstract, it's not always easy to quickly get a feel for the content of a paper or its most important points - if there is only one (or very few) figures, it's a very simple way to signpost that this is the most important information, in addition to conveying the information itself.

Another relevant historical data point (in line with this answer): Kurt Heegner claimed to prove a long open problem formulated by Gauss, but did such a poor job communicating that his proof was never really accepted, though it was acknowledged as essentially correct ~15 years later (after his death). Wiki does a poor job summarizing, look for the bit on Heegner on this page ; the point of that section is to highlight that it is the presenter's responsibility to clearly communicate to the intended audience.

This.  There are some people who can read a sheet of music and hear it playing in their head.  There are some people who can read algebraic chess notation and see the entire game in their heads.  There are some people who can read mathematics and immediately visualize the relationships in their heads.  Most people are not like this.  Simple visual, auditory, or cognitive analogies do a lot to speed digestion of complex information for most people.  Adding plots is a bit like adding an executive summary - it helps people assess what they're getting into at a glance.

Succinctly, "a picture is worth a thousand words." Highly literate people often struggle to communicate well using visuals, and rationalise it by saying pictures are "not necessary." I avoid drawing diagrams because I don't enjoy it and it's time-consuming, but I force myself to because it makes a big difference.

Not only don't they seem to consider it a useful suggestion, their immediate thought is to create something eyecatching but pointless in order to placate this stupid reviewer.. I've always taught people that an important part of receiving feedback is not just listening to it, but actually taking it on board.

The paper is yours and it is up to you how you revise it. You aren't required to take every suggestion, but you should, at least, consider every suggestion, including what is behind it.
Whether that makes your paper more or less useful is up to readers, of whom the reviewer is one.
But, perhaps the reviewer is more of a visual learner than you are and is making the point that a visual depiction of some data will make it more accessible to a class of users. That might be an advantage.
Respond to the referee with a new version of the paper. Follow the advice, or do not.

This: "a visual depiction of some data will make it more accessible to a class of users".

Yes, completely correct. It is good if you are able to draw the right conclusions from the mathematical expressions. However, in my field, people tend to follow a 'visualize before you analyze' approach, and this would be my general advice (which obviously might be of little help for your specific case).

Visual effects can help break up a thick text and make it easier to consume with less effort.

“perhaps the reviewer is more of a visual learner than you are” — They’re not: the theory of different types of learners is nowadays widely regarded as disproved. Rest of the answer is spot-on.

It should be noted that there is no such thing as a "visual learner." https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/the-myth-of-learning-styles/557687/

I think the Atlantic article also has some misinformation. Not everyone can learn visually, because some people have an inability to visualize things in their head at all: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphantasia. I prefer to listen to a lecture over taking notes, but find that young people prefer watching videos to reading. So I would say that research on learning styles is, at best, incomplete.

Have you consulted with others?  Good data visualization is a skill in and of itself; just because you can't envision a good plot from your data doesn't mean there isn't a good plot to be made.
Remember that while you've been steeped in your paper for a while, and find all of the content intuitive at this point, you still want to make it as easy as possible for a new reader to join you in that understanding.  Few things can do that like a good plot.

"I do not think it is necessary" - to you or the reader?
Please note that there are many hard-to-read, sometimes obscure, papers out there. Not everyone thinks in terms of formulas, and you can increase your readership considerably by a judiciously chosen diagram.
Ultimately, you have to make the decision: if the plot is hard to create, then maybe it's not worth the extra effort compared to the increased readership. But if it is of limited complexity (e.g. because you anyway have a program computing the dynamics of your system and all you need to generate is the graphics), it could be worth adding.

It's your paper and the reviewers only offer suggestions, so you are free to say "I won't do it". If you take this path you should give an explanation of why you're not doing it. Ultimately it's the editor you need to convince that a plot isn't necessary.
That said, I've heard people express sentiments such as:

You can always understand a good paper by reading the abstract and the figures.

Which is also how, I suspect, most people start: check the abstract, check the figures and the captions, and then decide if the paper is worth reading in detail. If your paper has no figures, you could be deterring readers (or giving the impression that it's an extremely technical paper filled with so much jargon that only specialists can understand it).

They may express such sentiments, but the “always” is certainly false.  I’ve seen abstracts that made me think the writer didn’t read the paper (or is trying to deceive us about the conclusions).

@WGroleau Would you consider any of those "good papers"?

It's certainly a generalization, yeah - I don't expect it to always hold in practice.

@mmeent, yes.  Neither ignorance nor dishonesty on the part of the abstract writer makes the actual paper any worse.

I don’t want to add a plot. How should I respond to the referee?

First of all, assume that the referee is not an idiot but has at least some very vague idea how graphics could enhance your paper.
They apparently did not tell you, but I consider it acceptable to put this onus on you, so you cannot base your reply just on that.
So, here is what I suggest:
Collect at least three plausible ways to add a graphic to your paper.
The following may help you with this:

The referee said plot, which at least in my world is strictly reserved for visualising data. Do you handle any data and if yes, how could you visualise it?
The word plot could also have been used to refer to graphical representations in general.
Is there any way to do something like this?
For example, can you sketch the general structure of your model, the assumptions going into it, or the relevant forces?
Did you ever make any sketches, etc. to explain your work to colleagues or yourself on paper, in presentations, or on posters?
Do you have any colleagues who are familiar with your work and whom you could ask for suggestions?

Once you collected some ideas, try to flesh them out a bit.
Spend at least half an hour for each to sketch a potential graphic.
This should give you enough arguments as to why your graphic would not work or have other problems in your paper.
Write them up in a response to the referee.
Consider including your sketch as demonstration.
Of course, if you have general arguments against some form of graphics, include those as well.
For example, if your paper does not feature any data and you cannot easily produce some, that’s a good argument to exclude any plot in the narrow sense.
It should go without saying that your attempts to create a graphic should be sincere and you should be open to the possibility that your paper can be reasonably enhanced with graphics after all – in fact, I concur with the other answers that this is by far the more likely case.
But, if you can document that you honestly tried and failed, you have a good chance of at least convincing the editor not to enforce the referee’s request.

Other answers have suggested diagrams for communicating what you are doing, which I think is picking up on your comment that the paper is full of equations. I certainly agree with the value of such diagrams and would encourage you to include them if possible - the more people who can understand your paper the better.
However, looking at the specific comment, the reviewer is proposing figures for your "results". Your comment about equations seems focussed on the theory. It seems to me that the reviewer is focussed on whatever data you are presenting, if any. Do you have tables summarising different conditions or other data that could be presented visually? It is much easier for a reader to compare numbers visually rather numerically if there are many comparisons.

You do not have to do everything a reviewer asks, but you should respond to each point they ask. If you really don't want to do a plot, don't do it and justify it to the reviewer. In these circumstances, if there is something you really don't want to do, I would make sure I address all the other points the reviewer raised, to show that you have carefully considered what they said, even if you disagree with something. (Like additional citations you don't think are relavent but the referee does).
On the other hand a good plot goes a long way to explaing what you are doing, especially in astrophysics. If you make a plot I could then put that plot in my talks (advertising your work for free) if it made sense to what I do. If all you have is equations then I'm not going to put anything about your work in my talks.

If you don't want to add a plot, explain plainly why you do not want to add it. It is your duty as an author to address the reviewer's point completely and accurately. From your wording I also feel that

While there may be a way to add a very cool and colorful plot to my paper, I don’t think it is necessary; it would be complicated to read and so I should add more text to explain how to read it.

confuses the necessity of it with the (avail)ability of doing it.
Talking about necessities and abilities:

You will need to bring positive arguments as for why it is not necessary to have a graphical representation. You can always admit that you don't feel yourself in the position to devise a suitable graphical representation of your own work; that is, a polite acknowledgement of a genuine 'I cannot draw', which should not impair the validity of your work.
Other scholars might attempt that in the future.
Perhaps you might also develop arguments as to why it is necessary not to have a graphical representation. This could be bold and winning, and much cooler than a plot, but here you would probably take an epistemological stand that is worth a publication in itself elsewhere, rather than a skirmish behind the curtains of the peer-reviewing process.

Talking about opportunities:

Making a plot is sometimes a way to discover errors, or confirming that there are none, or finding special circumstances. I would suggest to give it a try  regardless of if you want to publish in this paper. Graphical representations, to be sure, can also hide exceptions. It is a complementary tool. My two cents.

Ultimately is your decision, but maybe an additional perspective I have not seem addressed by others answers may help understanding why the reviewer wants you to add a figure.
First I'd like to point out that in no way I'm judging you nor your research, but i'm only taking an utilitarian approach. Thus I like to remind you that reading a paper is a very time consuming task and people's time is limited. No one can keep up with the speed at which papers are published so potential readers will try to be as efficient as possible, while spending as little time as possible figuring out if the paper will be relevant to them or not. In a less elegant way to put it "No one wants to read your paper, You want people to read it"
You have to put the utmost effort that any potential reader that finds your paper, will read it. You want to capture your reader's as soon as possible. If a reader did not bookmark or download your paper when first found, will probably never read it. Anything you do to (honestly) build up the interest is valid, relevant titles, clear abstract good figures.
Maybe there is no place in your paper for a figure, but if there is, consider it

Remember the four basic styles of learning.... "reading, watching, listening and doing"

Words are for Readers.  The vast bulk of academics would be strong in reading.
Pictures/graphs/plots are for those who learn well by Watching.  These people like to study maps and identify points of interest.
Listeners respond well to discussion and lectures
Doers tend to be hands-on.

Some things can't be effectively taught with words, like welding for example, so a Doing or hands-on learner has an edge here.
WRT the advisor, they're suggesting that your work has a lot of words with less to keep the interest of other styles of learners.   Adding something visual will help to break up a potential wall of text and increase the reach and approachability of the work.

The Referee suggests adding a plot simply because the paper does not contain a single plot.  The Referee did not suggest that some specific information in the paper could be better presented using a plot. This is not useful feedback for a technical paper. You can respond by saying that you did consider adding a few plots, detailing exactly where in the paper, but that you ended up deciding against doing that, and then explaining why on balance the plot would make the paper worse.
What matters is that you can explain that the content of the paper is what it is for good reasons. So, plots are not included, not because you are too lazy to bother making plots that would likely make the paper a lot better, but rather because it would actually make the paper worse.
Technical papers don't need to look attractive, you don't need to catch the attention of readers using nice-looking figures and plots. It's unfortunate that there is now a trend where people do include figures for the wrong reasons in technical papers. Editors of journals don't act against this because figures add to the publication charges, particularly color figures.
Your audience are researchers who want to read your paper for the technical information contained in it. It's then best that the information is presented in a form that's most appropriate for them. If a plot were useful, then you would likely already have included a plot in your paper. If a potential reader would not have read your paper just because it doesn't contain a plot then obviously that reader is not doing serious research for which he/she needs to read your paper.
The logic of including plots to catch the attention of readers is therefore only appropriate when you're writing for a wider audience of people who are not directly involved in your research topic, for example in a review paper.

Negative for "technical papers don't need to look attractive". Selling the technical paper in the best way is one of the most crucial factors that influence the impact of the paper.

@KratosMath The impact of the paper as measured by meaningless measures like how many times the paper is cited, which does not take into account the real impact of the paper in the field. It is true that scientific careers are based on such measures but this means that you should also write a lot of low quality papers with lots of stupid figures in there that then get cited a lot by your peers who don't actually read your paper.

@CountIblis yep, exactly. Which is how we got where we are today.


text:
What are some good books to read in order to improve my academic writing?
So I am going to write my master thesis in psychology. It is expected to be of roughly publishable quality since I am a research master student. I always struggled with writing and am often overwhelmed with the vagueness of theories and concepts in this field. I often get lost and thrown of path without a good structure.
What books can you recommend me that are for "dummies".
The things I would like to improve and know more about are:

The right attitude for academic writing
Academic writing pitfalls (e.g. when does something become too speculative?)
Smart ways to structure the process
Ways to make my writing more readable and make it flow better

Are there recommendable books that address such issues that are considered standard in any way?

You need more of writing not reading. And a diligent (and honest) proof-reader.

As a research student you may have access to writing workshops.  These may be run through your department/school/faculty, or even through a service department like the careers service or library.  Some of my PhD colleagues (after my time) ran a couple of writing retreats themselves -- the idea is to go away and write for a day, all in the same place, free of distractions, but to discuss and be open about the writing process as well. You may want to organise something like this.  This might want to come after reading, but reading about writing is no substitute for writing.

related question: http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18079/any-place-for-people-with-fear-of-writing

Questions of the form "Please recommend me a list of books" are generally not a good fit for this site.  It tends to turn into an opinion poll, which this site is not a good format for.

@D.W., I think the existing answers show that it's quite a good fit for this format?

@MeaningfulUsername, I feel differently.  Every one of those answers is just an opinion.  How would you evaluate those answers? There's little objective basis; it's just an opinion poll of Academia.SE users.  How would you select a single, correct answer to accept?  There's no single correct answer.  Instead, we just get a "big list of book recommendations".  "List of X" questions are frowned upon at Stack Exchange, for a reason (also here).

On attitude to academic writing
I like Write to the Top by Johnson. It has 65 short gems on how to structure an academic writing life; most of the tips are applicable to graduate students.
On Writing Well by Zinsser is a classic. It's not a recipe kind of book, but closer to something like those "Chicken Soup" series for writers. When I felt not very productive I read this as a "cleansing."
Academic writing pitfalls
A must have is Booth's the Craft of Research. It talks about the whole process of research from generating arguments and hypotheses to writing up the thesis or paper.
I also like A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Turabian. It's more of a style book, very clearly laid out and approachable.
Smart ways to structure the process
This is really "my grandma's potato salad is the best" kind of answer. No one can tell you because they probably will tell you different things that work for them. Here are what I use and have found useful. (If that helps, I work in biomedical field.)
I use Evernote to organize writing projects. I also incorporate Zotero or other bibliography software like Endnote (I like how Endnote allows me to link to PDF and comment them). I have also recently started using Docear to manage the thought process and it was fun. I also like Scrivener although I prefer physical note cards and Evernote. The key is to keep all resources in one place that is very accessible. Keep backups of your work.
For the writing process, setting up a ritual is important. Silvia's How to Write a Lot would be a nice inspiration. Pretty much the key point is: write every day for a fixed amount of time at a comfortable place. One hour, two hours, it does not matter, what matters is that you write.
Ways to make my writing more readable and make it flow better
Two eye-opening titles for me are Williams's Style: Toward Clarity and Grace and Schimel's Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded.
Style: Toward Clarity and Grace is just simply wonderful. Starting from just "Subject + Verb," the book builds a framework on how to structure a statement based on one main theme: to be clear.
Writing Science dives further to analyze different levels from word use, syntax, sentence, paragraph, to the whole article using components seen in storytelling (Opening, Challenges, Action, Resolution) and their variation. It even discusses how different words in a sentence form a relational "arcs" and how to place and pace these relations for best clarity.
A classic that I must also mention is The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. Also having an easy access to Chicago Manual of Style, APA Manual (I use AMA), and Gregg Reference Manual on your desk would be tremendously helpful when any stylistic questions arise.
If you'd be writing about statistics, I'd also recommend Miller's The Chicago Guide to Writing about Multivariate Analysis which covers basics on par with writing statistics for news. For more advanced writing examples, Huck's Reading Statistics and Research is a good option. It talks about how to read results of different statistical techniques with plenty of examples from journal articles.

Freebie that you didn't ask but I want to tell anyway:
Break in by practicing free writing. It helps me focus in the morning before my writing hour.
Meet with an editor or academic writing coach who is familiar with your field for an assessment. Show your work and get a general sense of areas to improve on.
Just write. It's not possible to become a good writer by reading about writing. Remember: to suck at something is a start of being excellent at it.

"One hour, two hours, it does not matter": Well, when deadline is approaching it surely does matter, and maybe you can write at "a comfortable place", but surely you'll have to write at an uncomfortable pace :-)

@MassimoOrtolano, the comment made me smile. :) I surely hope TC does not have to be under a deadline for a huge Master thesis. Yet, I agree making a plan is crucial.

+1 for Williams Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. Brilliant book.

Different books work well for different people, depending on your natural writing style, how you think, and your writing process (long writing sessions or short bursts, frequent iterative revision to 'perfect' each sentence as you go, or drafting the whole thing and revising from start to end later, etc.).
I recommend first googling "thesis writing tips" and reading reviews of the books that pop up in the results (on Amazon, etc.)
Also you might find some ready-made lists of resources helpful, such as this one from UIUC:
http://www.library.illinois.edu/learn/research/writing_tips.html
In addition, there are some fundamental classics on general writing strategies that can dramatically improve your academic writing. One such classic is Zinsser's "On Writing Well" (http://amzn.com/0060891548).
You might also appreciate some one-off resources that offer advice about specific sections of a thesis, such as the literature review, methodology, analysis, results, and conclusions. Google "tips for writing [fill in section here]" and see what comes up.
For instance, doing this for "literature review" brings up resources such as this handout, from the University of Toronto:
https://ctl.utsc.utoronto.ca/twc/sites/default/files/LitReview.pdf
or this presentation from faculty at UCSD:
http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/student/student_grad/docs/How_to_Write_an_Effective_Literature_Review.pdf
or this page from the UNC Writing Center:
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/literature-reviews/
In general, university writing centers exist for the very purpose of assisting students with writing needs. I highly recommend spending an hour at your university's center perusing their resources and learning about the types of support they provide. Try a consulting session with one or two of their writing assistants and see if it helps. Often a 1-hr consultation can help to correct some persistent trouble spots. They can provide actionable advice on everything from the right 'attitude' (ways to motivate yourself to write and to structure your time accordingly) to thesis organization, to grammar and style issues.
With regard to technical aspects, a helpful resource would be the APA Publication Manual, now in its sixth edition. Proper formatting seems a trivial after-thought, but appearances do matter in the academe. How you cite authors in a citation, or what part of the citation you italicize, can jump out at your reviewers (professors or journal peer reviewers, should you choose to submit the thesis for publication - which I recommend) and either enhance or hurt the overall impression about the quality of your written work. Good luck!

+1. I took the liberty of adding a link to the APA Publication Manual. This is really the standard writing manual in psychology. A Master's candidate can get by without skimming it, but it would be helpful in any case, and a Ph.D. candidate simply couldn't pass it by. Also note that it is far more comprehensive than treating just the "technical aspects", as can be seen from the chapter summaries available at the link. Finally, it is the one resource that is definitely available at your library (maybe in an older edition, but that's fine, too), in contrast to some other writing guides.

I can recommend the book "How to write a lot" from Paul Silvia. It specifically addresses all questions that you pose: the right attitude for academic writing, writing pitfalls, and guidelines for the process as well as the text itself.
What I like particularly about this book is that it clearly distinguishes academic, technical writing from writing prose. It compares this metaphorically to painting a wall vs. painting a piece of art. As with painting a wall, there's a clear way to getting it done, and if you follow guidelines of good practice, there's not a lot to get wrong with it. I found that reading this book really leaves you wanting to write more.

I found Tara Gray's «Publish & Flourish» useful. It is very hands-on and emphasizes the practical and motivational problems of productive writing. Having said, that there are countless other guides and you can check their reviews on amazon etc. (Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get back to my daily writing routine.)

as per @jakebeal's request.

Take a look at Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day
(http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Your-Dissertation-Fifteen-Minutes/dp/080504891X).
It doesn't deal explicitly with writing quality per se, but others have found it helpful.
One thing you'll find there is an endorsement of @Penguin_Knight 's free writing strategy.
Shameless publicity department (the author is my wife).


text:
Possible contents of a risk-assessment matrix for a grant proposal
I am post-doc from biological sciences writing a grant proposal. One of the sections of the application is dedicated to risk assessment of the given project. There were no further instructions.
I can think of very general risks and their solutions. For example:

Experiment failed. → Troubleshoot; try alternative method.
Manuscript publication delayed. → Get help from supervisor or grants office.
Insignificant results. → Discuss with experts; try again!

Is this the kind of risk assessment funding agencies (like NIH, Welcome Trust, or EU) are looking for? Can you suggest some extra points (research or managerial) which I can consider here?

The meaning of "Risk Assessment" can vary considerably by location.  In Australia, they are part of a formal safety management system.

There are two classes of risks that are typically considered in grant-writing:

Programmatic risks that the money will be wasted because something doesn't go as you hoped.
Safety and ethics risks based on the specific contents on your research.

The second is generally covered under a checklist of declarations regarding specific topics (e.g., "human subjects research," "dual-use agents of concern," "vertebrate animal research"), rather than general "risks", so I'm going to write my answer addressing the first class.
With regards to programmatic risks, the big issue here is research always involves the unexpected, most often emerging in the form of things not working as well as you thought they would.  Progress might be slow, effects might be small, vital supplies might become unavailable, things just might not work, etc.
What grant reviewers are generally looking for here, then, is evidence of clear thinking about how to handle setbacks of this sort.  You really don't want to give money to somebody with no "plan B", and then 3 months into the project something goes wrong and they end up just frittering away the rest of the money banging their head against the same wall.
How I recommend assessing risks, then, is to sit down with a your project plan and asking yourself the following questions:

For each step in the plan, what materials/people/facilities/information is needed before I can begin the step? What happens if they aren't available as expected?
For each step in the plan, what does "failure" look like? How many different ways can it fail?
Which of these problems are most likely to endanger the overall goals of the proposal?
For all of the "important" problems, what is the plan B for how to ensure money is spent in a worthwhile manner if they are encountered?

Doing this assessment may also cause you to reorganize your plan: sponsors often like to see the most "critical path" or high-risk work up front, so that the most significant and productive problems can be encountered sooner rather than later (and the project terminated if necessary).

In EU grant writing often detailed abort criteria (e.g. figure of meritc) at midtime of a project plan are necessary (for 3-5 years projects) as well as distinct sections where you have to argue what reviewers could possibly critisize in your proposal. A plan B is always nice to have, but in fundamental research projects often not possible
I fear developing/evaluating a new method/hypothesis. Then it's even more important to think in small steps as you described through the virtual project and allocate personnel and money appropriately so a final report describes exactly why it didn't work.

I would suggest you to use the risk-assessment methodology of the PMI (Project Management Institute): Lavanya, N. & Malarvizhi, T. (2008). Risk analysis and management: a vital key to effective project management.
It's widely accepted in business directly and in academia as reference since it's a paper and proven methodology. More importantly, there are various other tools you can use to organize, estimate, and present the risk, and it has all the nice graphics and tables that academics love to see any proposal.