84
votes
What good is my paper if the code is not open source?
I think you have this all correct. The world would be a better place if all papers released all of the software that is used to generate the results shown in it. And that's not just a personal thought ...
61
votes
What are the ethics involved in teaching my chair's child in my undergrad class?
The ethics are simple, actually.
For you, ethical behavior is to treat the student exactly like any other.
For the department head the ethical behavior is not to apply any pressure, even implicitly, ...
- 263k
49
votes
Accepted
What are the ethics involved in teaching my chair's child in my undergrad class?
Teaching your chair's child presents a minor conflict of interest for both the instructor and the parent/chair. Consult your university's conflict of interest policy.
Fair grading and a positive ...
- 86.4k
40
votes
Is it unethical for nursing school assignments to require students private medical information?
In your case, HIPAA does not apply. You are not divulging patient information, but you are made to divulge information about yourself and others. Since the university is not a medical provider, HIPAA ...
- 3,665
34
votes
What are the ethics involved in teaching my chair's child in my undergrad class?
Background: I am a former department chair at a large university, and also served for several years on my university’s conflicts of interest committee.
The situation you are describing can indeed ...
- 169k
33
votes
Accepted
Lecturer Copied Textbook Questions for Open Book Exam - I Used the Answers
As long as looking back at previous material was allowed, you did nothing wrong. You studied for an exam, and took the exam following the same rules as all the other students. The professor is at ...
- 452
24
votes
How can you handle your professor not doing his job (as a postdoc)?
If this doesn't affect your work, I suggest, like the president, to let it go and finish your projects so that you can move on. It is their problem to resolve, not yours.
Pressing it too hard can ...
- 263k
22
votes
What are the ethics involved in teaching my chair's child in my undergrad class?
As noted in the comments, the children of departmental chairs and administrators who have matriculated at an institution have a right to the services that are provided by that institution. Someone ...
- 1,662
16
votes
Is it unethical for nursing school assignments to require students private medical information?
This is concerning indeed. The issue is far from my area of expertise, but some ideas that come to mind are:
Are you part of a student union? Ask them for help.
I think your focus on whether the ...
- 169k
14
votes
Lecturer Copied Textbook Questions for Open Book Exam - I Used the Answers
Did I do anything wrong?
Nope, you're ok :-)
Will the lecturer likely [rephrased: notice what I did]?
Unlikely - unless you were exceptionally poor in homework assignments/midterms/etc - which ...
- 37.4k
13
votes
What good is my paper if the code is not open source?
While I won’t comment on your particular case, I think it’s useful to consider science as a whole. You should realize that computer scientists are uniquely able to distribute an entire exact ...
- 231
13
votes
What good is my paper if the code is not open source?
Check out this famous paper (in AI) by Google. It described an algorithm by which an AI can learn to play a game - in this case chess and shogi - by playing against itself only, and how such an AI can ...
- 103k
13
votes
How can you handle your professor not doing his job (as a postdoc)?
What you can do for others
Professors in Germany (and other countries) are very difficult to fire. Most failed professors end up without a group, or one or two employees that are come with their ...
- 51.3k
11
votes
Lecturer Copied Textbook Questions for Open Book Exam - I Used the Answers
It was an open-book exam. You found the answers in a book. What could possibly be wrong with reading a book to learn the answers?
Whether it's OK to copy the answers verbatim will depend on additional ...
- 561
11
votes
Is it unethical for nursing school assignments to require students private medical information?
YES it is unethical, regardless of whether it is legal. This is not only a violation of privacy, but also a threat of long-term harm (lowering your grades and thereby affecting your future) should you ...
- 1,489
9
votes
Is it unethical for nursing school assignments to require students private medical information?
My best guess is that this is under the jurisdiction your office of equal opportunity. A lot of medical information relates to mental illness, gender and reproductive health. Student organizations? ...
- 7,542
9
votes
What good is my paper if the code is not open source?
Going point by point through your issues...
The papers do have some theoretical content, but they do not seem to be particularly valuable. Anyone else could have come up with those ideas with a ...
- 5,427
8
votes
What good is my paper if the code is not open source?
The goal of a paper is to report a novel research finding. It can accomplish this perfectly well without providing source code.
It is not possible to describe empirical findings in full detail in a ...
- 639
6
votes
Accepted
PhD advisor bullies me because I refused to give him total ownership over my research and help him copy it before it's public
No, you're not wrong to insist that only people who have authored the work should be listed as authors.
I'm a bit hesitant to confidently declare that you should be sole author, because sometimes ...
- 67.1k
6
votes
Accepted
How can I ask the professor if I could still work with them on the proposal?
For the title question, our existing Q&A How should I phrase an important question that I need to ask a professor? applies - professors are human people that communicate with other human people ...
- 67.1k
4
votes
Should I cite a pre-print as published on reviewer's request?
In general, a citation needs to make it easier for a reader to find the referenced article. This seems to me the good most worthy of protection here.
Anyone involved in the conference that accepted ...
- 3,665
3
votes
Accepted
Working in a research company that studies the same research problem as my startup
A lot of this will depend on your specific contract and the NDAs / non-compete agreements you sign with your "big corporate" employer. Do not rely on "something you have read on the ...
- 126k
3
votes
Accepted
When Criticism gets personal?
The "breaking point" often comes from regularity of criticism, even if it is valid and non-personal
I don't think the issue here is a matter of criticism being "too hard" or "...
- 44.7k
2
votes
What good is my paper if the code is not open source?
Unpublished papers, in and of themselves, are almost entirely worthless, like an unfilled lottery ticket, or a movie script that's never been filmed.
Once published, they get a little value, like a ...
- 1,173
2
votes
How can you handle your professor not doing his job (as a postdoc)?
In Germany (like in many other countries), professors are civil servants and it isn't easy to fire them. Therefore, all your efforts to report this behaviour won't probably have any effects.
However, ...
- 4,388
2
votes
Is it worthless to cite a paper as X et al. when X is not first author but performed the work?
Yes, people will have difficulty locating the source when you cite the source as X et al. with X not actually being the first author.
If the X you wish to name is the most prominent or senior in the ...
- 989
2
votes
Is it okay to say that I have a paper under review when applying/talking to potential supervisors?
That should be fine. You might get asked for a copy of the paper in which case a conversation might be needed. If the professor isn't a reviewer for the conference then sharing it should have no ...
- 263k
2
votes
PhD advisor bullies me because I refused to give him total ownership over my research and help him copy it before it's public
This is a messy, complicated, potentially emotionally charged situation. My first advice is to try to remain calm. Brace yourself for any related interaction and prepare well in advance to keep your ...
- 21
1
vote
Accepted
Authorship order changed after resubmitting to another journal?
As an undergraduate you probably have little power to change things. That would be a task for your local PI or supervisor. However, it feels like a selfish move on the part of the other group, ...
- 263k
1
vote
Lecturer Copied Textbook Questions for Open Book Exam - I Used the Answers
The professor is certainly guilty of plagiarism by verbatim copying text from a source and failing to cite where it came from. Depending on how your answers were generated, you may have also committed ...
- 4,979
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