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1500 questions
62
votes
3 answers
Why can't we just use platforms such as arXiv for proper peer-reviewed publishing?
Many of you will know that, whether per subscription fees or via open access models, there is a ridiculously absurd amount of money flowing to many big (or medium-size) publishers for getting our research outputs (i.e. papers, etc.) published in…
mfg
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62
votes
5 answers
Previous publication of my supervisor and a post-doc is a lie
I am in a bit of a situation. Basically, the research on which I was basing my PhD was carried out by a former post-doc in our group. After one year and a half not being able to replicate his results, I exploited my admin privileges on our cluster…
user138908
62
votes
9 answers
Misguided use of offensive figures in student presentations
I recently had an experience while overseeing student presentations in a course I am teaching. While the concrete situation could be handled without much ado due to some special circumstances, I thought the general problem interesting enough to ask…
nabla
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62
votes
12 answers
Can I (should I) change the name of this distribution?
I am nearly finished with a paper, as well as some accompanying open-source software. We are planning on submitting this to a prominent statistics journal. One of the more promising methods that we discuss in the paper deals with the normal-inverse…
knrumsey
- 560
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62
votes
12 answers
Why do Computer Science degrees contain a high proportion of mathematics?
About 17 years ago I attended a top 10 UK university to study for a degree in Computer Science.
Mathematics had never been a particularly strong point for me. However I (just) had the required A-Level qualification to be accepted for the course…
Jimmy
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62
votes
11 answers
How do I gain back my faith in my PhD degree?
I am 3 years into a PhD program at a top North American university in STEM. My daily routine includes working on my research and preparing for courses I am assisting. In general, I would say that there is always work to keep me motivated. I have a…
Masked
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62
votes
13 answers
Does being a top-tier university always imply unhealthy graduate student environments?
Main Question: To what degree is a competitive (as opposed to collaborative or mutually-supportive) academic environment endemic of famous/top-tier/high-powered institutions?
This question developed out of my recent experience doing a masters…
William
- 499
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62
votes
3 answers
How to acknowledge a MathOverflow user?
I am writing a research paper. A small but important idea for the paper was found on MathOverflow. I know the real name of the user. I tried contacting him and offered him co-authorship, but I got no reply. How do I acknowledge him now ? Do journals…
user531706
- 611
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62
votes
6 answers
Distinguish starting journals from predatory ones
As you know, there are journals -predatory journals- which are just publishing scams, without actual peer review, etc. but look like genuine ones, and it is a problem for the honest researcher to avoid them.
Until recently there was a free…
Jose Brox
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61
votes
7 answers
Is it bad practice to study or reference the work of an academic who has fallen from grace?
I was recently reading a textbook, written by a professor from an elite university, which I was finding to be very informative and well-written. Excited to learn of other works or talks by this individual, I searched for him on Google, but was…
justin
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61
votes
18 answers
How to respond to a professor who was insulted by an email detailing mistakes in the exercise?
I am an undergraduate student. Preparing the solution to an exercise regarding computer assembly language programming I discovered an error in the program skeleton that was given to us to base our solution on (one of the instructions was illegal,…
denormal
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61
votes
4 answers
Is improving a simple algorithm without beating the state of the art still publishable?
In a particular field there are two algorithms being used:
Algorithm Simple: you understand it in five minutes, you can implement it in fifteen.
Algorithm State of the Art (SOA): requires very specific mathematical knowledge to understand and is…
etal
- 1,055
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61
votes
7 answers
How to concentrate during conference talks where the quality of the presentation is poor?
I have read a lot of tips on how to give a good conference talk: know your audience, give context, don't talk too fast, give your talk a clear structure or story, minimize text on slides, etc.
However, more often than not, presentations I've been to…
user657
- 703
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61
votes
3 answers
Advisor threatening to pull his name from accepted paper that I submitted without his knowledge
Recently, I submitted a research article in the journal "Applied Mathematics and Computations" and fortunately my work got accepted with a very good response from reviewers.
However, I made the mistake of submitting this paper without the knowledge…
IgotiT
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61
votes
2 answers
Researchers had a paper retracted due to plagiarism and no one at their university is aware of it
A year ago a professor at my department and her grad student had plagiarized a journal paper and published it. The paper was retracted, and the journal published a clear notice that it was due to serious fraud, as several paragraphs and the results…
user53555
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