Questions tagged [terminology]
On words that have a meaning, usage, or similar specific to academia.
286 questions
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Is it common or appropriate to use the phrase 'A Ph.D. in Subject X' to describe someone who has been a PhD student without earning the degree?
There's a book written by John Smith (*pseudonym), an American writer, and on the American copy that I have of this book (I'm in the UK) the jacket describes John Smith as 'A Ph.D. in Subject X.'
I ...
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What to do if you disagree with a juror during master's thesis defense?
I attended a master's dissertation defense and I was wondering what one might do in a situation like this.
Juror: What do you mean by the phrase “previous work” in your thesis text? Is it your ...
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4
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What should I call my graduated PhD advisee?
How should a PhD advisor refer to their PhD advisee after successfully defending and graduating? "Former PhD advisee" sounds like it didn't end well. "PhD alumnus" sounds too ...
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What are the differences, if any, between area chairs and senior area chairs for a conference?
What are the differences, if any, between area chairs and senior area chairs for a conference?
I am mostly interested in the conferences in the field of machine learning and natural language ...
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What is the difference between 'withdrawn' and 'retracted'?
I think both withdrawal and retraction are done when there is something wrong with the journal article.
What is the difference between them?
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The exact meaning of the term *Alma Mater*
More often than not, the term Alma Mater is applied to one's place of undergraduate studies.
Would it be reasonable of me to apply this term to a university where I received my doctoral degree?
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Appendix vs Supplement
I'm surprised that this hasn't been asked before. What's the difference between Appendices and Supplements?
Also, btw, what is the most widely approved version of "Supplements"? Is it "...
user173920
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can one hypothesis be derived from another hypothesis?
I have a theory and hypothesis indicating that X leads to Y. The analysis proves this wrong, I want to say that it is possible to reformulate theory and hypothesis and show that Y leads to X. Can I ...
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What expression to use when citing a publication for a result bordering one, oneself seeks to publish? (replicate, corroborate, in line with)
The specific reason for citing/referencing a publication may accompany an expression signifying that. One broad reason is empirical results (other broad reasons are theoretical ideas, methodological ...
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How do you call the small numbers close to coauthors in an article?
In a scientific paper, how do you call the small numbers or symbols close to coauthor names that link to their institutions or e-mail addresses, etc.?
Do you call them "calls"....? I don't ...
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Decline or reject (word choice)
I have recently become editor-in-chief of an open access journal (Statistica) that works on a platform provided by OJS. In the web editorial system, the word "decline" is used for what I'd ...
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Does working for a university as a postdoc with a PhD (under supervision of a PI) concur alma mater status?
If you worked as a postdoc, on a grant for example as many do. A situation where it's basically felt to be a glorified continuation of your PhD, with the same routine of checking in and giving ...
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What does it mean that a workshop has proceedings in the main conference?
In my (short) research experience I have come across workshops whose main track either (1) has its own proceedings (outside the main conference with which it is co-located) or (2) has no proceedings ...
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Inclusive language: alternatives to 'parent/daughter' for inanimate objects
My work deals with transformations in matter, wherein one physical form (a 'phase') changes to another. The initial form has often traditionally been called the 'parent phase' and the transformed form ...
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What does "matriculation" refer to?
In the US and Europe, what does a University mean when they ask for grades from Matriculation?
Is it the 10th grade or the 12th grade or both?
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Word to describe "continuous relationship" between predictor and outcome variable [closed]
I'm writing my methods section where I want to stress that I am not looking at the effect by condition, but exploring the continuous relationship between my predictor variable and the dependent ...
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What does it mean for a review to be "synthetic"? [duplicate]
The term "synthetic" is often used to describe review papers, such as in the title
Multi-touch tables and the relationship with collaborative classroom pedagogies: A synthetic review
What ...
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What Does 'S' Stand for in a Research Report? [closed]
I'm reading a research report. I encountered several times 'S' which I don't know what it stands for.
Examples:
'The first directions to S were as follows.'
'After the record was played, S was asked ...
user157440
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For inclusiveness sake, what is the consensus about which usage of "blind" should be changed?
In academic contexts, what is the consensus on whether we should avoid using "blind" as a category of persons, or should we avoid using it as an adjective (or both or none)? Does it vary ...
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Which alternative names can one use to refer to a "blind experiment"?
Which alternative names can one use to refer to a "blind experiment" (defined by https://www.thefreedictionary.com/blinds as "2a. Performed or made without the benefit of background ...
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What does co-financing mean in the context of funding?
I'm applying for funding for a joint R&D project between a university and a company. One of the terms from the funding agency is as follows:
The project must be co-financed with at least 150% and ...
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What does the phrase "loci citati" mean in citations?
In this 1929 paper by Stone, the 3rd citation is given as
J. Von Neumann, loci citati; and an unpublished paper which is to appear in Mathematische Annalen, cf. Göttinger Nachrichten, 1927, pp. 1-55, ...
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Why do so many papers state the obvious?
There is a pattern I keep seeing and I'm very curious about the reason behind it.
Let's say you're going to read a paper on astronomy: In order to understand it, you need to know some basics about the ...
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Is "bench researcher" a formal / professional term?
I am applying to a computational biology job. I want to make it clear that I am extremely interested in the practical aspects of my work, wet-biology generally, and collaborating with / supporting ...
user237625
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Meaning of "cosupervisor"
I graduated under the supervision of two professors, one of whom acted as main supervisor. To indicate this, I wrote the following sentence:
"I graduated under the supervision of Prof. A and the ...
user98721
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4
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What term is used to refer to how teachers are allocated for each course?
A question about terminology here...
When creating schedules or timetables for our school, the first thing we do is to allocate a teacher for each course that is to be given. Example:
John will be ...
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What does "O" stand for in this paper from 1961? [closed]
I'm currently reading "Perceived Order in Different Sense Modalities" (Hirsh and Sherrick, 1961). In they repeatedly use the abbreviation "O" and I have no idea what it stands for. ...
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What is the term for managing programs and their relationship with students within a university? [closed]
I'm developing a web application to help conduct assessments for a college. I have several components in the application:
Component
Description
Content
Deals with the management of the content (...
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Does 'pagination' refer to page numbers only or line numbers as well?
With reference to manuscripts, does 'ensuring pagination' only mean that each page is numbered, or does it mean that lines are numbered as well? Is there an equivalent word/phrase for numbering lines?
...
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Is there a term for Purism / Purist Ideology in Academic Philosophy?
As I look back on my education over the years, I have been a gradual disconnect in students between learning for the sake of understanding your field, craft, profession, where this alone is the ...
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What is a "Safe Space"?
My organisation has recently started advertising certain meetings as being "Safe Spaces" without describing what is meant by such a thing.
Merriam-Webster describes it as:
a place (as on a ...
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What is the correct term to indicate the category "Race" on a chart showing demographic statistics? [closed]
I'm editing a quantitative paper in sociology based on a Statistics Canada survey. The survey uses the term "visible minority" in a yes/no question asking if participants identify as a ...
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Is there an academic major equivalent in secondary education/high schools? [closed]
I am trying to find out more about high schools that specialize in a particular area or at least allow a student to focus on a main subject overall. In tertiary education this specialization is known ...
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Does 'graduate program' mean MSc or Ph.D.?
What is the actual meaning of a graduate program? Is it Masters? Or Ph.D. or Both? Does the definition vary from country to country?
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"Open exam" exams?
Many of the students I teach do not have English as their first language. Also, my English tends to fall on the British (Australian) side of the divide, and I'm teaching in US institutions. Sometimes, ...
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Who exactly is a pseudo professor?
I was recently in a meeting with other university professors and one of them introduced himself as a "pseudo professor". The other, when introducing themselves reiterated that they ...
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Term for a meta-analysis without a literature review
I'm in the midst of revising a manuscript that compares the results of a sequence of experiments. These experiments, most of whose results have already been published elsewhere, have some components ...
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What does "getting scooped" mean?
I hear (and use) the phrase 'getting scooped' to refer to an instance where researcher A uses the ideas of researcher B and publishes before B can publish.
Is this strictly correct, and does it ...
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What is the meaning of "person specification" in a job advert?
I am going to submit my application to a postdoc in math. In support of my application, I have been asked about what I can do, and they have mentioned that
You should pay particular attention to the ...
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Term to describe paradox where those with less subject matter expertise can sometimes make better teachers?
A teacher of teachers in a field I'm involved in frequently says:
the best teachers are often those who only recently learned the material themselves
The rationale for the statement is that someone ...
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What is a 'Chair' in British academia?
I understand that a 'Chair' is a traditional title of a professor in the UK.
Nowadays, what is the difference, if any, between a Chair and a Professor in the UK?
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What is the name for "section topics" printed in the margins
In older publications of many languages, there are frequently printed text in the margins that detail the topic of a section of the text (see below on the left and right):
Excerpt from Magnum ...
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Correct verb for professor "writing" student exams?
On their CV, how should an associate professor go about making a bullet point accomplishment that they "designed / wrote / created / produced" student exams? that is, devised several pages ...
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What type of letter is Pierre Deligne talking about and why did he write a letter to other mathematicians?
Today I watched a YouTube video interview of Pierre Deligne. I have some confusion about a statement given by Pierre (video timing: 56:33 to 58:20). Here is the outline of the statement in the video:
...
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Difference between "faculty member" and "faculty person"
I've occasionally heard the phrase "faculty person" used, apparently as an alternative to "faculty member".
Are these exactly equivalent, or are there any subtle differences in ...
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"Statement of purpose" vs "Research proposal" in the context of graduate studies?
After consulting google, what I am able to understand is that a statement of purpose is a document that is used when applying for graduate studies and it mentions the aptitude and motivation for ...
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What's the meaning of Visiting Researcher / Ass. Professor?
I want to know how actually (and on the basis of what) visiting researcher (for PhD students) or visiting Ass. Professor (for lecturers) opportunities are offered worldwide (especially for USA/Canada) ...
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I successfully completed degree called Aspirantura from Russia. is it equal to PhD in Europe and US?
I completed a four-year Aspirant course and successfully defended my Aspirant thesis
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Is there a more gender-neutral and specific term for "Underclassman"?
Yale has changed their language, but I don't see a clear alternative here.
At this point, I think referring to students by their specific class years ( "First-Years and Sophomores" vs. "...
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Is there a single term to define all sources (e.g., academic papers, grey literature, books, blogs, etc.)?
Is there a single term that includes all the following types of sources:
Scholarly publications
Government and think tank reports
News reports
Books
Blogs (written by academics)
For a paper, I used ...
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