Questions tagged [etiquette]
The customary code of polite behavior amongst the academic world.
1,631
questions
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answer
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Is it ok to ask a potential PhD advisor for more information about their future grants?
Is there an etiquette when asking Potential Advisors about their future projects?
The reason I ask this is because a Potential Advisor informed me of a future grant that she is applying for, which ...
48
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3
answers
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What should I do if I found a citation error in a published paper?
I've found a mistake in a published paper, and am unsure what to do now.
I was looking at all cited articles from a paper over 10 years old, and found one that is citing the paper in error.
A ...
25
votes
5
answers
6k
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When should I write a thank you letter to the author of a scholarly paper?
If I read a scholarly paper and find it interesting and beneficial, should I write a short thank you letter to the author? Should I send the thank you letter from a .edu email address?
23
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3
answers
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What is the correct protocol for including peer reviews that I have done in a CV?
I have been advised that I should include the peer reviews in my CV, particularly when I am applying for academic/research positions. I am not too sure how to go about this, thus my questions:
Is it ...
42
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5
answers
6k
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How to fend off someone putting their Name on my work?
I'm a postdoc and a guy who used to be a part of our group dropped by today and said repeatedly that he wanted to collaborate with me and that he's too busy with other commitments to do any work. I ...
4
votes
1
answer
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What is the appropriate mechanism for finding administrative support for a conference?
We're organizing a conference and I currently don't have administrative support to process our income and receipts. I don't have a personal admin and I curious about the best and polite way to find ...
51
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6
answers
16k
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Should your PhD students call you by your first name?
I've read at least one career advice essay that calls out asking your PhD students to call you by your first name as unprofessional.
My coworkers and I always called our PhD advisor by his first name,...
15
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3
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1k
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Should I tell my supervisor that I will consult someone else?
I need an specific advice on a specific area (not the main one) in my PhD research (e.g. is it a good idea to include the factor x in the review and analysis of the topic y?).
As far as I know, my ...
10
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1
answer
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Academic bullies
A question if I may, about appropriate methods of dealing with academic bullies (or as one of my students call them "wannabe nemesis"). What would be the best, most dignified way to 'overcome' them, ...
4
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2
answers
1k
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Graduate Student Co-authorship Etiquette (Dissemination of Student Papers Not For Publication)
I recently finished my masters degree and co-authored a lengthy paper (It was my idea and I took the lead on the research and writing). The paper is not for publication but provides valuable ...
5
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1
answer
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Etiquette of publishing (continued) research after graduation with an MS degree?
Situation
I am soon (maybe...) going to graduate with a thesis-based MS in a technical field. The past year and a half has been incredibly frustrating from a research perspective, as my advisor has ...
4
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2
answers
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How to talk to a project advisor as an undergrad?
I'm an undergraduate working on a small project with an esteemed scientist, whom I met through a connection. I'm communicating via email due to distance. The problem is that I'm having a lot of ...
16
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4
answers
2k
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Is it ethical for an author to cite their own work with themselves as first author when they are not first author?
I was reading through a journal article by an author. Let's call him Author X. The author while referring to some of his own journal articles cite them as Author X et al., even though Author X is not ...
5
votes
5
answers
11k
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What are polite appellations for teachers in British universities?
Teachers in primary and secondary school usually are called as Mr.[surname] or Miss/Mrs.[surname]. However, cases in universities are more complex. It seems we need to call a teacher who is a ...
34
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5
answers
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How frequently can you ask for a personal reference without being disrespectful?
When applying for post-doctoral and faculty positions you are typically asked for three (sometimes more) reference letters to support your application.
Given that it is competitive out there, it ...
16
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2
answers
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What to do when emails to a potential advisor are not replied?
I asked a potential advisor for possible research projects but I haven't received a reply.
What is the appropriate thing to do?
Reply with my previous mail quoted, and say something like I having ...
3
votes
1
answer
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Can we send our research paper to multiple journals at once? [duplicate]
I have heard that if someone sends his paper to two different conferences and is somehow caught, then there would be severe consequences for the researcher.I did not know that before but I heard two ...
32
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3
answers
3k
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Is it ok to send an email informing about your new paper?
Several times in the past, after publishing a paper, I have sent email to several people which I thought might be interested in the results obtained in the paper. Usually I have emailed some of the ...
19
votes
4
answers
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What should be included in a departmental email policy?
I receive about 10k emails per year and send about 2-3k. In my department (the sphere I can influence) there are those who almost never respond and those who respond as soon as I have hit the send ...
129
votes
8
answers
68k
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Is ignoring emails acceptable in academia?
As a grad student, I just find it tremendously frustrating when emails are ignored by faculty (both at my institution and at other places). Is this acceptable? I'd be content with a simple response ...
8
votes
2
answers
642
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How much can you share unpublished forum articles?
There are some journals, such as Behavioral and Brain Sciences, that publish a single target article per issue, followed by 20 to 30 commentaries on that article, and then a rebuttal/synthesis from ...
73
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10
answers
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Should academic papers necessarily carry a sober tone?
I was reading this paper titled "Optimal Symmetric Rendezvous Search on Three Locations." While talking about the history of search problems, the author mentions the following anecdote in passing.
...
37
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Is it more difficult for teetotalers to develop academic contacts?
I see a number of answers in this site where building contacts over a glass of beer is encouraged. Moreover the cream of academia belongs to the Western world, where beer culture is common. ...
15
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3
answers
718
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Request for high res figures: what should I be mindful of?
A researcher in my field has written to ask me high resolution files for 5 figures from 3 different papers of mine. He states:
Currently I am revising one review article where I have used several ...
51
votes
11
answers
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What should a proper email signature look like for graduate students?
So far, what I have is
First and Last Name
Title
Group/Lab Name
School Name
Address and Phone
I'm especially confused about the "title". I'm not sure if it should say "Graduate Student", "Research ...
33
votes
3
answers
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Author did not make the major changes asked during the review process
I recently had my first paper to review. Since it was the first one, I took great care to be as constructive as possible and to formulate correct and accurate questions / suggestions. At that time, I ...
14
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3
answers
2k
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How to decline answering details about my thesis?
I am a graduate student studying Education. I am currently working on my thesis, am about half-done with this and I expect to finish in one year. For the research, I am visiting classrooms at various ...
19
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4
answers
1k
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What is the etiquette about the length of a visit when giving departmental seminars?
If you are invited to give a departmental seminar and the department offers to put you up for up to two nights, how long should your visit be? I find it a little rude when our speakers arrive an hour ...
33
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6
answers
231k
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What does “Prof. Dr. ir.” mean?
I have a Belgian colleague who is “Prof. Dr. ir.”. What does it mean?
12
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3
answers
6k
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Proper way of refering to yourself, according to graduate level
I currently have a degree as a Master in Computer Sciences, and i was always wondering on how to call myself in a more "short" manner. For example, a PhD might introduce himself as a "Doctor" to other ...
22
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3
answers
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Is it acceptable to email the authors of a paper for the slides they used while presenting it in the conference?
I've noticed that while there's no alternative to going through the actual paper in detail, it often helps if I've gone through the presentation based on the paper, which the authors had used while ...
14
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3
answers
1k
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What is the minimum one should expect from the day-to-day supervisor?
What minimal responsibilities can a student expect from their day-to-day supervisor?
In my institute, we usually have the head of the institute as the formal supervisor, followed by another day-to-...
4
votes
1
answer
205
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how to present a talk on work in preparation
I guess this is very common, to do a presentation to your lab. I wonder how I can cite in my slides that the presented work will be part of a future paper.
I remember to see in past presentations a ...
27
votes
6
answers
2k
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How should I deal with a professor whose weak language proficiency is disturbing our paper's writing quality?
I am a first year PhD Student, writing a conference paper with an Italian Professor, very senior and renowned in our field. Every commit he makes to the SVN is riddled with spelling and grammar errors....
36
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5
answers
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As a student with questions about a paper, can I email the author myself or should I ask someone else to contact him?
I am reading a paper and have questions about the details of the procedure described. I have read other papers by the same team but they don't explain too much about that procedure anyway. I think it ...
12
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5
answers
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should one add to the CV papers that appeared in conferences with no proceedings?
Should I put on my CV papers (or "talks") that appeared in (peer-reviewed!) conferences that have no proceedings? Should I avoid duplicates if the same paper also appears in another conference (with ...
22
votes
10
answers
15k
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Is it appropriate to bring coffee and cookies to a PhD defense?
First of all, I've already asked my adviser about this, but I just want to see what is the overall idea of the community on this.
In Mexico it is usually required for the student to do this, but that ...
8
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2
answers
3k
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How to notify admissions that one quit another program?
I completed one term of a master's program before finding it was not what I expected, so I promptly quit. Now, I am sending fall application letters to other master's programs, for which I will be a ...
17
votes
3
answers
464
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Refer to arxiv version?
Am I breaking some kind of rule if I'm adding the arxiv link to the bibitem for an article that's published in a journal? I thought obviously not until I noticed that (link to arxiv) and (page number ...
13
votes
2
answers
2k
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Advisor getting married, should grad students chip in for gift?
Our advisor is getting married over winter break. None of us are super close to him and the wedding is going to be a very private event that none of us are invited to.
Should all of us (his graduate ...
17
votes
1
answer
8k
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Appropriate to thank examiners?
I have just completed a research degree. By the rules of my university, my dissertation was examined by two outside examiners, whose identities were kept secret from me during the examination process. ...
22
votes
2
answers
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How to address the person being recommended in a recommendation letter?
How should one "address" the person for whom I am writing a recommendation letter in the letter?
Scenario:
I have known John Doe for many years and am familiar with his work. We address each other ...
14
votes
2
answers
7k
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How to withdraw from an application process in a polite manner?
Say a candidate has met with a potential PhD supervisor and it was rather evident that he would be willing to take on the candidate. You have emailed a lot and met in person a few times, but nothing ...
26
votes
4
answers
6k
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How to respond to the teacher who puts the feet up while talking to student?
A friend of mine who is from Japan told me that his professor in USA puts the feet up while talking to him. He was saying that he felt very bad with that. Is this acceptable culture in USA academia?
6
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1
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Is it ever alright to add a subtitle to a title shortened by publication when citing?
Let's assume that a paper was submitted under the "Extremely long and necessary title that explains you are studying pieces of Class A, Class B and Class C of this Bigger (and much more frequently ...
15
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2
answers
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Crediting sources one has found citations from
Suppose that I am doing a literature review on a topic, and I read paper A, which makes an interesting claim and references paper B as its source. Naturally, as paper B is then the primary source, I ...
70
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9
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Academic discretion: Should one participate in online forums or Stack Exchange sites anonymously?
As we may ask and answer various questions on online forums or stack exchange regarding teaching, research, publishing etc; it may reveal our lack of knowledge on any basic topic. This might hurt us ...
10
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4
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How should a job title be translated?
When you introduce yourself to an international audience and come from an non-US system, there always is an awkward moment of translating your job title into a form recognizable by the people you ...
40
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6
answers
7k
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Is it appropriate to bring some kind of gift for a host professor?
I'll be doing an Internship in USA the following week, in UCLA.
I'm studying in Japan, where you should bring some kind of gift to your host professor, if nothing, for his/her kindness for accepting ...
25
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2
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Reproducing figures in blog/SE posts
Sometimes when I am writing a review blog post (or an answer on SE), it is convenient to include a figure from the original paper. Some journals (say PNAS) have policies that explicitly allow non-...