94
votes
How should I phrase an important question that I need to ask a professor?
Professors are people too.
There are generally no magic words or special formulas for talking to professors. That said, it is understandable that people often feel very nervous in communicating with ...
58
votes
How can I find an old, obscure, or otherwise inaccessible paper when the usual methods fail?
Your university librarians are MADE for this! Don't feel ashamed to ask -- there are librarians more into archiving and cataloging, and some more into education and service.
Give as much information ...
37
votes
How can I find an old, obscure, or otherwise inaccessible paper when the usual methods fail?
Why donʼt you contact the library of the institution who published the paper for advice?
Iʼm sure that the library has a copy of it, and they might have translations as well.
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35
votes
How can I find an old, obscure, or otherwise inaccessible paper when the usual methods fail?
When doing internet searches, consider using all variants of the author's name. In [one specific case someone asked about], I was able to find the paper by excluding the author's given name; this ...
- 293
30
votes
What are the criteria for degree revocation?
Please feel free to edit this answer to improve it.
Short answer: will my degree be revoked?
Almost certainly not. Degree revocation is extremely rare, and almost always involves some major, willful ...
25
votes
Accepted
How long does it usually take to hear back for academic positions? Why haven't I heard back and when should I follow up?
Short Answer
Timelines vary widely. No one on the internet can tell you whether you got the job, how long things will take, or whether an e-mail would be perceived as obnoxious. Do not waste time ...
22
votes
How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in Country X?
Germany germany
While such things like graduate colleges (with more... structured programs) exist, the typical way is different.
Prerequisites
PhD studies (or, actually, a doctorate) in Germany ...
19
votes
Accepted
(How) Can I switch from field X to field Y after getting my PhD?
First, you should consider: what is your motivation for making this switch, and why do you think you will be successful? Is there some compelling need to make this change (such as limited job ...
18
votes
How can I find an old, obscure, or otherwise inaccessible paper when the usual methods fail?
This is a use-case for Sci-Hub, an open collection of papers from various journals. Note that using Sci-Hub to access copyrighted materials which they do not have permission to give you is illegal in ...
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17
votes
How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in Country X?
United States united-states
Applying
In the US, a doctoral application is normally made to a specific department at a university. The applicant is normally expected to hold at least a bachelors degree ...
13
votes
What are the criteria for degree revocation?
Please feel free to edit this answer to improve it.
Criterion: Research or Academic Misconduct (e.g., Plagiarism)
Degree revocation is very rare. When it does happen, academic misconduct is usually ...
12
votes
What are the criteria for degree revocation?
Please feel free to edit this answer to improve it.
Not a Criterion: Political Activities
As discussed here, revoking a degree based on political activities (e.g., criticizing the university that ...
11
votes
How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in Country X?
Sweden sweden
In many ways, PhD programmes in Sweden are similar to the Dutch and German model, but there are some differences applicants should be aware of.
Note that the following is accurate for ...
10
votes
What are the criteria for degree revocation?
Please feel free to edit this answer to improve it.
Criterion: Personal Misconduct
Degree revocation is very rare, and is usually a result of academic misconduct that renders the degree itself invalid....
8
votes
How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in Country X?
France france
Note: I did my PhD in France 2012 - 2016, but then continued my academic career in the UK. So some of this might be outdated, a narrow picture, or use incorrect terminology.
Funding ...
7
votes
What are the criteria for degree revocation?
Criterion: Admissions Fraud
If a student was admitted to a university through fraudulent means and graduated, the university may revoke the degree once it knows that the student should not have ...
6
votes
How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in Country X?
Japan japan
This community wiki answer was synthesized from other answers across the site, especially this answer about finding advisors and this one about the Kenkyusei option. Please feel free to ...
5
votes
How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in Country X?
Italy italy
Requirements
As is usual in Europe, candidates must already have a Bologna-process master's degree or equivalent title (or be about to obtain one: often having defended one's thesis is not ...
5
votes
How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in Country X?
England (and the UK) uk
Note: I assume the process is somewhat similar through the UK, but I know there are some difference between the four constituent countries. I am mostly familiar with the ...
5
votes
How are Ph.D. applications evaluated in the US, particularly for weak or borderline students? Am I likely to get into school X?
Short answer: Admissions is similar but not quite the same at each graduate institution and thus you should follow the guidelines as outlined by each school and department you are applying to. Dates ...
4
votes
What does authorship ordering really mean in field X?
Astronomy: Generally alphabetical author lists are reserved for collaboration papers. The largest ones may even have the first author as the collaboration's name (See for instance this LIGO paper or ...
4
votes
How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in Country X?
Russia russia
Overview
In Russia, the experience of applying for PhD programs differs quite dramatically between domestic and international students, the latter being almost non-existent until fairly ...
4
votes
How can I find an old, obscure, or otherwise inaccessible paper when the usual methods fail?
I have had some luck on The Internet Archive (https://archive.org/). If you're familiar with the Wayback Machine (which keeps old web pages), that's one part of the Internet Archive. Another part is a ...
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3
votes
How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in Country X?
Australia australia
Understanding Honours in the Australian system
The Australian system has something called "honors," which is a little confusing. In general, an undergraduate degree in ...
3
votes
What does authorship ordering really mean in field X?
Art history: The humanities are still heavily invested in solo authorship. The first author is generally considered to be the one who researched and wrote the vast majority of the paper.
3
votes
What does authorship ordering really mean in field X?
Psychology: There are two distinct traditions to determining author-order in psychology, which we might label the APA and the biomedical traditions. The APA tradition orders authors by level of ...
3
votes
How can I find an old, obscure, or otherwise inaccessible paper when the usual methods fail?
The way that is most likely to succeed is to ask a librarian. This means actually asking a librarian, not just searching a library's online catalog yourself.
But sometimes you can figure things out by ...
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1
vote
How can I find an old, obscure, or otherwise inaccessible paper when the usual methods fail?
Kindly ask all the authors that recently cited that paper ... at least one of them must have a printed copy or a pdf that can be shared privately with you.
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