Academia Stack Exchange
Academia Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
51
votes
13 answers

How do I help my friend who went down the path of crankery?

I went to undergrad with someone who I am good friends with. He was always very bright and got into a top tier grad school. I went to another grad school and we're both postdocs now (again, at different universities). However, in grad school he got…
user148619
  • 471
  • 1
  • 4
  • 4
51
votes
6 answers

How and why did the top journals become top journals?

Journals like Nature and Science have impressive impact factors. How and why did these top journals become top journals? Why are they able to sustain their statuses?
mmh
  • 2,155
  • 2
  • 23
  • 25
51
votes
9 answers

What post PhD path alternatives are there?

Progression in academia, in general, seems and feels extremely linear, i.e. you do your undergrad, then you do graduate studies, then you do a post-doc (or two, or three ... ) and eventually if you are good/persistent/well-connected/... enough you…
posdef
  • 17,711
  • 5
  • 75
  • 125
51
votes
5 answers

Is it common to drop 50% of PhD students in a program?

I recently spoke to a graduate coordinator of a mathematics PhD program I was planning to apply to. I asked about admission, requirements to complete the degree and such. The program coordinator ended up telling me that usually they only pass 50% of…
polygonlink1
  • 673
  • 1
  • 4
  • 11
51
votes
6 answers

Dressing etiquette for interviews in academia

Are there expected dressing norms at faculty interviews? Will a casual tee-jeans be discouraged? In the same vein, what is expected when a student visits the campus for an interview?
Bravo
  • 22,951
  • 24
  • 98
  • 150
51
votes
9 answers

I got a very bad review from one reviewer, but the paper was not rejected

Some time ago, I submitted my paper to a reputable journal (but far from being one of the best in my field) and have recently received two reviews. One review was positive overall and the reviewer recommened to accept my paper. On the other hand,…
user85088
51
votes
10 answers

Is hastily writing down the professor's lecture a good way of learning?

I am writing this from the perspective of a mathematician. I am wondering whether there is any research on the standard mode of instruction. Mathematics lectures, at least in my home country, typically work as follows: the prof starts writing on the…
Ambicion
  • 5,541
  • 5
  • 31
  • 53
51
votes
7 answers

How to react to some students who book an appointment and do not show up?

I wonder what is the best strategy to follow to respond to students who book an appointment with you and do not show up. It is just so un-nice when this happens. I do not want the student to be upset but at the same time to honour his/her bookings.
Anonymous
  • 2,548
  • 5
  • 17
  • 18
51
votes
4 answers

Does it cost universities less to teach online?

As more colleges stay online, students demand tuition cuts The article talks about students demanding tuition cuts because online classes are less effective, and because lots of things they pay for are no longer relevant (such as campus transport).…
Allure
  • 127,528
  • 50
  • 325
  • 493
51
votes
12 answers

Student continues to email me after I told him I would not regrade his paper. Do I need to reply?

I have a student who wrote a final paper for a class in a masters program. He was disappointed with his grade. His paper had extensive copying, so I had a zoom call with him explaining why that was a problem, and then both my teaching assistant and…
beto
  • 489
  • 1
  • 4
  • 5
51
votes
7 answers

Found a severe error in a conference paper after presentation but before the proceedings

I am a final year undergraduate student and had worked on a very fundamental project(there is no available literature on this field presently) during my sophomore year. The results obtained were quite interesting but there was no available…
user118612
  • 615
  • 1
  • 5
  • 9
51
votes
21 answers

Am I required to hand out private encryption key to head of institute?

I am a PhD student at a German university. Motivated by a longer absence of a (technical) coworker due to illness, the accessibility of data of the members of my institute has been discussed for such cases. My computer is owned by the institute, but…
emma
  • 590
  • 1
  • 4
  • 11
51
votes
2 answers

I'm scheduled to graduate next week but my professor has gone MIA due to a death in the family... what can I do?

Next week I'm scheduled to graduate from a major university. One of the required courses that I've taken over the past semester is an independent research study with a single professor. Throughout this process I've mostly worked on my own, however,…
user92169
51
votes
7 answers

Examples of harmless mistakes (on purpose) in submitted papers

Some paper reviewers feel the pressure to criticize something in order to appear competent. Sometimes they feel this pressure due to huge blank form fields for criticism in the reviewing system. As a consequence, they sometimes criticize wrongfully.…
LvB
  • 571
  • 1
  • 4
  • 7
51
votes
15 answers

How to handle a paper by a reviewer who wants to be paid?

A reviewer declines to review a paper because he wants to be paid. Some time later, this reviewer submits a paper to the journal (or to another journal who's aware of what happened – very possible with today's editorial management systems). How…
Allure
  • 127,528
  • 50
  • 325
  • 493
1 2 3
…
99 100