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### Instruction:
In an interview right before receiving the 2013 Nobel prize in physics, Peter Higgs stated that he wouldn't be able to get an academic job today, because he wouldn't be regarded as productive enough. > By the time he retired in 1996, he was uncomfortable with the new academic culture. "After I retired it was quite a long time before I went back to my department. I thought I was well out of it. It wasn't my way of doing things any more. Today I wouldn't get an academic job. It's as simple as that. I don't think I would be regarded as productive enough." Another interesting quote from the article is the following: > He doubts a similar breakthrough could be achieved in today's academic culture, because of the expectations on academics to collaborate and keep churning out papers. He said: "It's difficult to imagine how I would ever have enough peace and quiet in the present sort of climate to do what I did in 1964." Source (the whole article is pretty interesting): http://theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/06/peter-higgs-boson-academic-system
### Response:
It’s ironic to me that research has shown that productivity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be yet here we are.
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
I'm pretty strict on time, to the point where I'll cut off the presentation if it goes over the alloted time (typically, I'll also give them a warning when they're halfway through their time and another when a minute is left). Getting your point accross concisely is a valuable skill and important to master in a business environment. In a similar vein, I put a max word/page count on assignments instead of a minimum. Students often seem surprised at that.
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
This sounds like a problem with a specific professor. If my grading rubric has a time incorporated, you lose just as many points for going over as you do for going way under.
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
I did a poster presentation where the time limer was 5 mins, including questions. I presented within the time limits, but no one else in my group did. The « winner » was a student that went 5 minutes over time. It sucked because I could have done a lot better with that 5 extra minutes too...
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
This would be totally unacceptable in my class. Every 5% over (or under) time is 5% off the grade.
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
I don't. If you get 15 minutes, your presentation has to be between 14 and 16 minutes. If you run short, engage the audience with questions. If you're running long, which you shouldn't (you practiced, right?), wind it up. I penalize if you go over 16 minutes, and I'll cut you off at 20 (maybe sooner, depending on how tight we are for time for the day). I would never reward students for going three times the allotted time. They'd never come close to finishing their presentation by the time I stopped them.
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
Yes. Part of what we are teaching at the college level is professionalism. You will not be praised in industry, nonprofits, or government if you regularly use up more than your allotted time slot for presentations. Not that this doesn’t happen everywhere quite a bit, especially in academia. But it’s just as irritating in a business setting as it is in a college setting.
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
I have a similar annoyance (though not as bad) with paper length. If it's a 1500-word paper, I don't mind 1250-1750 range, but then you get into stuff like, say, 2500 words and you start thinking "come on, these lengths are here for a reason." It's especially annoying if they're a really circuitous writer.
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
Yikes. I tell my students that if they turn in a 30 minute presentation video (online class) I’m not watching it. 3-5 minutes for the first topic and 5-10 for the second. Anymore than that and I’m probably tuning out.
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
I've never encountered a professor who praises people for going over time - quite the opposite in fact, usually they cut the presentation short or deduct points. I usually go the "deduct points" route unless it looks like the class is gong to run out of time for other presenters. Was this the same professor both times? Do you know if they docked points for going over-time?
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
If I give a 10 minute time limit, I cut them off after 12. And then I treat any material they did not present as if they didn't cover it and deduct accordingly. Time limits are very important and learning how to make your point concisely is just as important. We have time limits at conferences, I have a time limit when I am teaching, my students will one day have a time limit when they are pitching an idea to a client. We all have to learn to use the time given in the most efficient way possible.
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
brevity is beautiful.
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
On a more general and pertinent tangent: If you're given a time limit, stick to it. Presenters have an implicit agreement with their audience where the audience is giving you a certain amount of their time. If you command their attention for longer, you're being rude and selfish in taking more than was agreed upon.
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
All my professors have been extremely strict with the time limit. No presentation in a class of 20+ students should take up a 75% of class time.
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### Instruction:
If any professor is reading this: please do not praise students keeping their presentations much longer than you said it should be because it covers more. It is unfair and an obvious sign of obliviousness. It is nonsense. Please. If you tell your students to keep their presentations at a certain length, do not praise the ones who go above the set time limit by half an hour and praise their work for its depth. This has happened to me second time now. My professor asks me to cover one of the most controversial and comprehensive subjects in social sciences in 10 minutes and rolls their eyes for it not having elaborated enough in certain aspects while praising the 40-minute-though-supposed-to-be-10-minute presentation of my classmate for covering more on the same subject. If there are any professors reading this; please don't do this. Some students put a lot of work into making the damn presentation as concise as possible and literally rehearse a few times so that they do not go over the time limit. Covering more by going waaaay above the limit you yourself set is not something to be encouraged. Nor is it fair.
### Response:
This is one of the perks of grading all assignments with a rubric, and students having the rubric a head of time. Adhering to the time limit is a column on my presentations rubric.
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### Instruction:
After receiving an email from a sketchy journal soliciting submissions, a professor sent in a joke paper titled "What's the Deal With Birds?", which got published. Here's a small excerpt from the paper: > *Abstract:* Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted. > *Keywords*: birds, ornithology, behavior, phenotype, WTF, genomics, climate change You can read the PDf version of the original article here: https://irispublishers.com/sjrr/pdf/SJRR.MS.ID.000540.pdf Alternatively, there's a press summary of the situation here: https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936
### Response:
"Scientific Journal of Research and Reviews" is the best name ever.
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### Instruction:
After receiving an email from a sketchy journal soliciting submissions, a professor sent in a joke paper titled "What's the Deal With Birds?", which got published. Here's a small excerpt from the paper: > *Abstract:* Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted. > *Keywords*: birds, ornithology, behavior, phenotype, WTF, genomics, climate change You can read the PDf version of the original article here: https://irispublishers.com/sjrr/pdf/SJRR.MS.ID.000540.pdf Alternatively, there's a press summary of the situation here: https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936
### Response:
Using WTF as a keyword surelly sets an impact factor over 9000
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### Instruction:
After receiving an email from a sketchy journal soliciting submissions, a professor sent in a joke paper titled "What's the Deal With Birds?", which got published. Here's a small excerpt from the paper: > *Abstract:* Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted. > *Keywords*: birds, ornithology, behavior, phenotype, WTF, genomics, climate change You can read the PDf version of the original article here: https://irispublishers.com/sjrr/pdf/SJRR.MS.ID.000540.pdf Alternatively, there's a press summary of the situation here: https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936
### Response:
“More research is warranted” has always been the biggest cop out.
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### Instruction:
After receiving an email from a sketchy journal soliciting submissions, a professor sent in a joke paper titled "What's the Deal With Birds?", which got published. Here's a small excerpt from the paper: > *Abstract:* Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted. > *Keywords*: birds, ornithology, behavior, phenotype, WTF, genomics, climate change You can read the PDf version of the original article here: https://irispublishers.com/sjrr/pdf/SJRR.MS.ID.000540.pdf Alternatively, there's a press summary of the situation here: https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936
### Response:
Those acknowledgements though😂😂😂
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### Instruction:
After receiving an email from a sketchy journal soliciting submissions, a professor sent in a joke paper titled "What's the Deal With Birds?", which got published. Here's a small excerpt from the paper: > *Abstract:* Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted. > *Keywords*: birds, ornithology, behavior, phenotype, WTF, genomics, climate change You can read the PDf version of the original article here: https://irispublishers.com/sjrr/pdf/SJRR.MS.ID.000540.pdf Alternatively, there's a press summary of the situation here: https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936
### Response:
Perhaps a little less complex, but there's also the classic paper "Get Me Off Your Fucking Mailing List."
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### Instruction:
After receiving an email from a sketchy journal soliciting submissions, a professor sent in a joke paper titled "What's the Deal With Birds?", which got published. Here's a small excerpt from the paper: > *Abstract:* Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted. > *Keywords*: birds, ornithology, behavior, phenotype, WTF, genomics, climate change You can read the PDf version of the original article here: https://irispublishers.com/sjrr/pdf/SJRR.MS.ID.000540.pdf Alternatively, there's a press summary of the situation here: https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936
### Response:
That fucking graph/figure. Hahahaha
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### Instruction:
After receiving an email from a sketchy journal soliciting submissions, a professor sent in a joke paper titled "What's the Deal With Birds?", which got published. Here's a small excerpt from the paper: > *Abstract:* Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted. > *Keywords*: birds, ornithology, behavior, phenotype, WTF, genomics, climate change You can read the PDf version of the original article here: https://irispublishers.com/sjrr/pdf/SJRR.MS.ID.000540.pdf Alternatively, there's a press summary of the situation here: https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936
### Response:
added this to my mendeley
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### Instruction:
After receiving an email from a sketchy journal soliciting submissions, a professor sent in a joke paper titled "What's the Deal With Birds?", which got published. Here's a small excerpt from the paper: > *Abstract:* Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted. > *Keywords*: birds, ornithology, behavior, phenotype, WTF, genomics, climate change You can read the PDf version of the original article here: https://irispublishers.com/sjrr/pdf/SJRR.MS.ID.000540.pdf Alternatively, there's a press summary of the situation here: https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936
### Response:
Probably more views than the typical publication
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### Instruction:
After receiving an email from a sketchy journal soliciting submissions, a professor sent in a joke paper titled "What's the Deal With Birds?", which got published. Here's a small excerpt from the paper: > *Abstract:* Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted. > *Keywords*: birds, ornithology, behavior, phenotype, WTF, genomics, climate change You can read the PDf version of the original article here: https://irispublishers.com/sjrr/pdf/SJRR.MS.ID.000540.pdf Alternatively, there's a press summary of the situation here: https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936
### Response:
My new goal is to find a way to reference this paper somehow in one of my own.
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### Instruction:
After receiving an email from a sketchy journal soliciting submissions, a professor sent in a joke paper titled "What's the Deal With Birds?", which got published. Here's a small excerpt from the paper: > *Abstract:* Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted. > *Keywords*: birds, ornithology, behavior, phenotype, WTF, genomics, climate change You can read the PDf version of the original article here: https://irispublishers.com/sjrr/pdf/SJRR.MS.ID.000540.pdf Alternatively, there's a press summary of the situation here: https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936
### Response:
Don’t these journals ask for a hefty fee? Did the professor actually pay money to get this published?
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### Instruction:
After receiving an email from a sketchy journal soliciting submissions, a professor sent in a joke paper titled "What's the Deal With Birds?", which got published. Here's a small excerpt from the paper: > *Abstract:* Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted. > *Keywords*: birds, ornithology, behavior, phenotype, WTF, genomics, climate change You can read the PDf version of the original article here: https://irispublishers.com/sjrr/pdf/SJRR.MS.ID.000540.pdf Alternatively, there's a press summary of the situation here: https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936
### Response:
Raminds me of my former PI who has a fun hobby: Getting predatory journals to include people like Hoss or Borat as an Editor. Why Fake Data When You Can Fake a Scientist? His point being: Virtual editors can significantly improve the visibility of junk journals
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### Instruction:
After receiving an email from a sketchy journal soliciting submissions, a professor sent in a joke paper titled "What's the Deal With Birds?", which got published. Here's a small excerpt from the paper: > *Abstract:* Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted. > *Keywords*: birds, ornithology, behavior, phenotype, WTF, genomics, climate change You can read the PDf version of the original article here: https://irispublishers.com/sjrr/pdf/SJRR.MS.ID.000540.pdf Alternatively, there's a press summary of the situation here: https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936
### Response:
At my university (edit: I do not live in the US), if you publish even in lower tier legitimate journals, that counts against you. So this guy's resume must be bulletproof for him to take a hit like that
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After receiving an email from a sketchy journal soliciting submissions, a professor sent in a joke paper titled "What's the Deal With Birds?", which got published. Here's a small excerpt from the paper: > *Abstract:* Many people wonder: what’s the deal with birds? This is a common query. Birds are pretty weird. I mean, they have feathers. WTF? Most other animals don’t have feathers. To investigate this issue, I looked at some birds. I looked at a woodpecker, a parrot, and a penguin. They were all pretty weird! In conclusion, we may never know the deal with birds, but further study is warranted. > *Keywords*: birds, ornithology, behavior, phenotype, WTF, genomics, climate change You can read the PDf version of the original article here: https://irispublishers.com/sjrr/pdf/SJRR.MS.ID.000540.pdf Alternatively, there's a press summary of the situation here: https://gizmodo.com/sketchy-science-journal-publishes-article-titled-whats-1842924936
### Response:
>eigenvalue | weird birds -Take a shot every time eigen/quantum/möbius/bent paper with a pencil etc. has been mentioned in the wrong context.
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How about we stop working for free? Just this month I was invited to review five new submissions from three different journals. I understand that we have an important role in improving the quality of science being published (specially during COVID times), but isn’t it unfair that we do all the work and these companies get all the money? Honestly, I feel like it’s passed time we start refusing to review articles without minimum compensation from these for-profit journals. ​ Field of research: Neuroscience/Biophysics Title: Ph.D. Country: USA
### Response:
I'm getting pretty sick of writing papers for free. For my PhD and postdoc I've worked on other people's big projects. Every time they strategically keep me in the lab for the entire duration of the fellowship with no time to write, knowing full well that I have to write papers to get a job, and that I'll do it for free when the fellowship is over just to try to keep up.
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How about we stop working for free? Just this month I was invited to review five new submissions from three different journals. I understand that we have an important role in improving the quality of science being published (specially during COVID times), but isn’t it unfair that we do all the work and these companies get all the money? Honestly, I feel like it’s passed time we start refusing to review articles without minimum compensation from these for-profit journals. ​ Field of research: Neuroscience/Biophysics Title: Ph.D. Country: USA
### Response:
This “publication-review-journals” is one of the most fucked up systems there is. We work like crazy to have publications ready (lab/field/writting) for ZERO money, plus many times we loose even our rights to our own papers. It is absolutely insane and abusive. People assuming OP is being malicious for pointing that out is insane. This kind of thinking will keep feeding this machine. Us pals should be more united and have each others backs like in other fields. On top of that, salaries received for universities/industry employment should not be factored in. You are producing new information and using that for handing out tenures and such is borderline blackmail, seeing that not everyone will be able to pay fees for publishing in high-impact journals, have time to review and still pay the bills. We should be paid for our services, especially if it’s in this weird cycle. Sadly, it does not look like we will find a solution soon enough. We are kind of trapped in this toxic situation having to overwork for free and having to do it with a smile on our faces. Edit: i do not mean to point fingers, just trying to speak my mind. This topic is such a huge cancer in academia it makes me mad.
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How about we stop working for free? Just this month I was invited to review five new submissions from three different journals. I understand that we have an important role in improving the quality of science being published (specially during COVID times), but isn’t it unfair that we do all the work and these companies get all the money? Honestly, I feel like it’s passed time we start refusing to review articles without minimum compensation from these for-profit journals. ​ Field of research: Neuroscience/Biophysics Title: Ph.D. Country: USA
### Response:
TBH, I wish for profit publishing houses would get lost. Nature's making a move to own academic publishing at all levels of journal quality and it's just not cool. You get better service from most societies too. Now I just need to convince myself not to send the good work to the Nature empire, and convince the funders that society journals should be perceived as prestigious as Nature's topical collection.
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How about we stop working for free? Just this month I was invited to review five new submissions from three different journals. I understand that we have an important role in improving the quality of science being published (specially during COVID times), but isn’t it unfair that we do all the work and these companies get all the money? Honestly, I feel like it’s passed time we start refusing to review articles without minimum compensation from these for-profit journals. ​ Field of research: Neuroscience/Biophysics Title: Ph.D. Country: USA
### Response:
I could probably write more if not reviewing 3+ papers per each published. I had no idea it was that many until I looked up my reviewer stats.
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How about we stop working for free? Just this month I was invited to review five new submissions from three different journals. I understand that we have an important role in improving the quality of science being published (specially during COVID times), but isn’t it unfair that we do all the work and these companies get all the money? Honestly, I feel like it’s passed time we start refusing to review articles without minimum compensation from these for-profit journals. ​ Field of research: Neuroscience/Biophysics Title: Ph.D. Country: USA
### Response:
I think it's fine to say no sometimes. But if you say no all the time, you better not be submitting any work to peer reviewed journals or else you're just a dick. Also, if we do ask for compensation you know they're just going to up the publication fees. And we don't want the quality of the reviews to decline because people are trying to make a buck. I think we have a shitty system but I'm not sure how to improve it.
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How about we stop working for free? Just this month I was invited to review five new submissions from three different journals. I understand that we have an important role in improving the quality of science being published (specially during COVID times), but isn’t it unfair that we do all the work and these companies get all the money? Honestly, I feel like it’s passed time we start refusing to review articles without minimum compensation from these for-profit journals. ​ Field of research: Neuroscience/Biophysics Title: Ph.D. Country: USA
### Response:
Aren’t you already paid for ‘service’ - employment contracts might mention say 10% of your time to be dedicated to service. You don’t owe more than that. Just make a weekly time budget, and anything that requires more than that is a red line.
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How about we stop working for free? Just this month I was invited to review five new submissions from three different journals. I understand that we have an important role in improving the quality of science being published (specially during COVID times), but isn’t it unfair that we do all the work and these companies get all the money? Honestly, I feel like it’s passed time we start refusing to review articles without minimum compensation from these for-profit journals. ​ Field of research: Neuroscience/Biophysics Title: Ph.D. Country: USA
### Response:
I just turned down a review invitation for an Elsevier journal on account of it being an Elsevier journal.
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How about we stop working for free? Just this month I was invited to review five new submissions from three different journals. I understand that we have an important role in improving the quality of science being published (specially during COVID times), but isn’t it unfair that we do all the work and these companies get all the money? Honestly, I feel like it’s passed time we start refusing to review articles without minimum compensation from these for-profit journals. ​ Field of research: Neuroscience/Biophysics Title: Ph.D. Country: USA
### Response:
I'm with you OP. I'm particularly annoyed at one journal that asked me to review about a week before the pandemic 'hit' and then sent annoying e-mail reminders every 2 weeks until I sent the review (despite me e-mailing them back the first time saying I couldn't review while providing full time childcare and inviting them to find an alternative reviewer if they couldn't wait). I think I'm at the point where I'm going to do my own boycott of journal reviewing. (Up to now I've reviewed around 3 times as many papers as I've published and the majority of journals in my subject have 1, or 2, reviewers so I'm "up".) I'll make exceptions for massive breakthroughs or work of students/postdocs who really need it.
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I flunked someone for plagiarism. I just discovered they hired a PI to investigate me. Does anyone have experience with this? I’m in a tenure track position in the social sciences at a school in the Midwest. Last semester, I flunked a student for plagiarizing part of a paper (it was a clear case of copy and paste from an obscure source). The student did not take it well. Things are winding their way through the administrative process. It has come to my attention that this disgruntled student has apparently hired a private investigator to follow me and look into my life. I feel extremely violated. However, it has unfortunately also come to my attention that this PI has learned that I am in an open relationship. I suspect this would not be well received by my department and would likely jeopardize my ability to get tenure. It has been strongly implied that details of my personal relationship will be leaked to the department unless I stop pursuing internal discipline against the student. However, it’s not clear to me that I could stop the proceedings even if I wanted to. What exactly am I supposed to do in this situation?
### Response:
This will sound harsh and unpopular, but grow some backbone and stand for your way of life. If this is frowned upon by a place you spend over 8 hours each weekday, you're in the wrong spot and you're supporting a system that undermines something you value a lot. It's difficult to do this, given you might have to provide for a family and run the risk of losing job security, but if the alternative is to live a lie for a third of your life, the choice seems easy to me.
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I flunked someone for plagiarism. I just discovered they hired a PI to investigate me. Does anyone have experience with this? I’m in a tenure track position in the social sciences at a school in the Midwest. Last semester, I flunked a student for plagiarizing part of a paper (it was a clear case of copy and paste from an obscure source). The student did not take it well. Things are winding their way through the administrative process. It has come to my attention that this disgruntled student has apparently hired a private investigator to follow me and look into my life. I feel extremely violated. However, it has unfortunately also come to my attention that this PI has learned that I am in an open relationship. I suspect this would not be well received by my department and would likely jeopardize my ability to get tenure. It has been strongly implied that details of my personal relationship will be leaked to the department unless I stop pursuing internal discipline against the student. However, it’s not clear to me that I could stop the proceedings even if I wanted to. What exactly am I supposed to do in this situation?
### Response:
I would go to a lawyer first. I'd ask the lawyer if I could file both criminal and civil charges and sue the student into next week. They'll probably say no which is disappointing because I'd want to nail that little shit to the wall. One thing you may find the lawyer actually doing for you is filing a restraining order against the student. I'd also be sure to ask the lawyer when to include the dean and the senior leadership at the school. Adding a threat and attempted blackmail to the disciplinary process might just get the kid expelled. Now I know there are some states where the LGBT status is a non-protected status which is what I'm assuming you're talking about, my brother's boyfriend was fired for being Gay at a school in New Hampshire. So yes there is a risk. If the student is willing to go to all of this trouble there is a real risk of violence, either by them or by someone they paid when things don't go their way. This is not something to take lightly. You need help.
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I flunked someone for plagiarism. I just discovered they hired a PI to investigate me. Does anyone have experience with this? I’m in a tenure track position in the social sciences at a school in the Midwest. Last semester, I flunked a student for plagiarizing part of a paper (it was a clear case of copy and paste from an obscure source). The student did not take it well. Things are winding their way through the administrative process. It has come to my attention that this disgruntled student has apparently hired a private investigator to follow me and look into my life. I feel extremely violated. However, it has unfortunately also come to my attention that this PI has learned that I am in an open relationship. I suspect this would not be well received by my department and would likely jeopardize my ability to get tenure. It has been strongly implied that details of my personal relationship will be leaked to the department unless I stop pursuing internal discipline against the student. However, it’s not clear to me that I could stop the proceedings even if I wanted to. What exactly am I supposed to do in this situation?
### Response:
No advice beyond that given, but just want to express solidarity. Who are these supposed academics who don't understand that your university doesn't need to fire you - they just need to quietly deny you tenure for a plausible reason, which at your university may be the code of conduct. I don't think there's anything wrong with you for wanting to keep your job, even at the (incredible personal) cost of placating one shithead student who would probably have been acquitted by the system anyway even if he raped or killed someone. I hope you figure this out.
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I flunked someone for plagiarism. I just discovered they hired a PI to investigate me. Does anyone have experience with this? I’m in a tenure track position in the social sciences at a school in the Midwest. Last semester, I flunked a student for plagiarizing part of a paper (it was a clear case of copy and paste from an obscure source). The student did not take it well. Things are winding their way through the administrative process. It has come to my attention that this disgruntled student has apparently hired a private investigator to follow me and look into my life. I feel extremely violated. However, it has unfortunately also come to my attention that this PI has learned that I am in an open relationship. I suspect this would not be well received by my department and would likely jeopardize my ability to get tenure. It has been strongly implied that details of my personal relationship will be leaked to the department unless I stop pursuing internal discipline against the student. However, it’s not clear to me that I could stop the proceedings even if I wanted to. What exactly am I supposed to do in this situation?
### Response:
Go to the police. Jesus.
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### Instruction:
I flunked someone for plagiarism. I just discovered they hired a PI to investigate me. Does anyone have experience with this? I’m in a tenure track position in the social sciences at a school in the Midwest. Last semester, I flunked a student for plagiarizing part of a paper (it was a clear case of copy and paste from an obscure source). The student did not take it well. Things are winding their way through the administrative process. It has come to my attention that this disgruntled student has apparently hired a private investigator to follow me and look into my life. I feel extremely violated. However, it has unfortunately also come to my attention that this PI has learned that I am in an open relationship. I suspect this would not be well received by my department and would likely jeopardize my ability to get tenure. It has been strongly implied that details of my personal relationship will be leaked to the department unless I stop pursuing internal discipline against the student. However, it’s not clear to me that I could stop the proceedings even if I wanted to. What exactly am I supposed to do in this situation?
### Response:
This is horrible, I feel for you. One thing you need to consider is that you have no proof the student would stop blackmailing you if you stopped the proceedings. Actually they have proven that they're very vengeful and they're ready to cheat and break the law, so it's quite possible they would tell the department about your relationship even if you decided to bow to their demands. Anyway it would probably look suspicious to your department if you suddenly decided to change your mind about the student after you provided evidence of their plagiarism. Now what can the student do? If the student goes to the department with the evidence they got from the PI, they'll look exactly like what they are, a cheater who tried to blackmail a professor for doing something that's not against the law. If I were in your department, I'd be pretty disgusted at someone who would invade a professor's privacy like that. Defending the student would mean admitting that blackmailing staff is ok. This is not the image the University wants to have. You, on the other hand, did your job like you were supposed to. Now, one way or another, you're in an unfortunate situation where it's likely that your department will learn about your relationship. You need to mitigate damage. I don't know your department, and it's easy for me to talk as I'm not the one to suffer the consequences, but it seems that the best way to do this would not be to fall to blackmail. If you trust your colleagues to have a bit of decency, you'll have a better outcome telling the student to f... off and coming clear if you need to.
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Do you also happen to get sad because you simply will never have enough time to get the knowledge you want to? I was wondering if other people also get kind of sad because it is simply impossible to have enough time to learn everything you actually wanted to learn by a certain age/stage in life. Like idk, completing that list of books with important authors in your field which gets longer and longer while keeping up with the recent findings in your field. Or learning that additional programming language or further practicing the one your familiar with. Or learning one more additional language. And all of that on top of the workload you already have. Sometimes that makes me really sad because there are just so many things I am interested in and curious about but the more I study the things the longer the list of things I want to learn more about gets. Idk if you can relate but I just wanted to share this and I would be really interested to see what you think about this!
### Response:
I never thought about it but now that you mentioned it... Yess!!! Its kind of like when you read a review paper and they cite many other original research papers, and you wanna get through all of them but you dont have the time to do so. When you do attempt to get through them, you find yourself going down a rabbit hole. One paper leads to 10 other papers and each of the 10 papers lead you to another 10 papers... IT NEVER ENDS!! Then the timer goes off, you gotta run back to the lab to change whatever solution you've got your tissue incubating in. And those papers that you've found will be left as tabs on your browser, never looked at again (but never closed too). Until one day, your computer freezes up and you gotta force shutdown your computer.
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Do you also happen to get sad because you simply will never have enough time to get the knowledge you want to? I was wondering if other people also get kind of sad because it is simply impossible to have enough time to learn everything you actually wanted to learn by a certain age/stage in life. Like idk, completing that list of books with important authors in your field which gets longer and longer while keeping up with the recent findings in your field. Or learning that additional programming language or further practicing the one your familiar with. Or learning one more additional language. And all of that on top of the workload you already have. Sometimes that makes me really sad because there are just so many things I am interested in and curious about but the more I study the things the longer the list of things I want to learn more about gets. Idk if you can relate but I just wanted to share this and I would be really interested to see what you think about this!
### Response:
I had this feeling when I was in grad school. Now, it's more that I'll never have time in this life to create all the things I want to: books, games, etc., that will never see the light of day. OTOH, that means I'll never be bored. I'll never run out of things to learn, do, and try. I try to keep my focus on that side.
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Do you also happen to get sad because you simply will never have enough time to get the knowledge you want to? I was wondering if other people also get kind of sad because it is simply impossible to have enough time to learn everything you actually wanted to learn by a certain age/stage in life. Like idk, completing that list of books with important authors in your field which gets longer and longer while keeping up with the recent findings in your field. Or learning that additional programming language or further practicing the one your familiar with. Or learning one more additional language. And all of that on top of the workload you already have. Sometimes that makes me really sad because there are just so many things I am interested in and curious about but the more I study the things the longer the list of things I want to learn more about gets. Idk if you can relate but I just wanted to share this and I would be really interested to see what you think about this!
### Response:
Chaucer had the same feeling: “The lyf so short the craft so longe to lerne.“ one of the quotes I most strongly identify with
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Do you also happen to get sad because you simply will never have enough time to get the knowledge you want to? I was wondering if other people also get kind of sad because it is simply impossible to have enough time to learn everything you actually wanted to learn by a certain age/stage in life. Like idk, completing that list of books with important authors in your field which gets longer and longer while keeping up with the recent findings in your field. Or learning that additional programming language or further practicing the one your familiar with. Or learning one more additional language. And all of that on top of the workload you already have. Sometimes that makes me really sad because there are just so many things I am interested in and curious about but the more I study the things the longer the list of things I want to learn more about gets. Idk if you can relate but I just wanted to share this and I would be really interested to see what you think about this!
### Response:
All the time. If I believed in an afterlife, I’d want it to basically be infinite time in the library.
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Do you also happen to get sad because you simply will never have enough time to get the knowledge you want to? I was wondering if other people also get kind of sad because it is simply impossible to have enough time to learn everything you actually wanted to learn by a certain age/stage in life. Like idk, completing that list of books with important authors in your field which gets longer and longer while keeping up with the recent findings in your field. Or learning that additional programming language or further practicing the one your familiar with. Or learning one more additional language. And all of that on top of the workload you already have. Sometimes that makes me really sad because there are just so many things I am interested in and curious about but the more I study the things the longer the list of things I want to learn more about gets. Idk if you can relate but I just wanted to share this and I would be really interested to see what you think about this!
### Response:
Yes, but add on top of that being an artist, writer, and pianist. I feel like I'll just die a mediocre jack of all trades... I'm envious of people dedicated to being amazing with one thing, whether an artisan or just the most knowledgeable in one area.
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Do you also happen to get sad because you simply will never have enough time to get the knowledge you want to? I was wondering if other people also get kind of sad because it is simply impossible to have enough time to learn everything you actually wanted to learn by a certain age/stage in life. Like idk, completing that list of books with important authors in your field which gets longer and longer while keeping up with the recent findings in your field. Or learning that additional programming language or further practicing the one your familiar with. Or learning one more additional language. And all of that on top of the workload you already have. Sometimes that makes me really sad because there are just so many things I am interested in and curious about but the more I study the things the longer the list of things I want to learn more about gets. Idk if you can relate but I just wanted to share this and I would be really interested to see what you think about this!
### Response:
I'm more sad that I can't have chips every day without getting spherical.
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### Instruction:
Do you also happen to get sad because you simply will never have enough time to get the knowledge you want to? I was wondering if other people also get kind of sad because it is simply impossible to have enough time to learn everything you actually wanted to learn by a certain age/stage in life. Like idk, completing that list of books with important authors in your field which gets longer and longer while keeping up with the recent findings in your field. Or learning that additional programming language or further practicing the one your familiar with. Or learning one more additional language. And all of that on top of the workload you already have. Sometimes that makes me really sad because there are just so many things I am interested in and curious about but the more I study the things the longer the list of things I want to learn more about gets. Idk if you can relate but I just wanted to share this and I would be really interested to see what you think about this!
### Response:
No. As soon as you realise the depth of our lack of understanding of the details of everything, it is immediately apparent you will never be an expert in everything. There are people who spend life times mastering individual skills and areas of study. The days of being able to know everything about everything that was known died out - literally - thousands of years ago. So, you can sit and feel sad about it, or you can accept it and get on with doing what you can do. And - if you want a productive career in academia - that means you also need to give yourself peace and time to develop new knowledge and learn. There are tens of thousands of scientists working in related fields to all of us. Either we can spend our lives reading every minuscule byte of related information, or we can get ourselves to a working knowledge of a niche and try and contribute. I'm totally accepting and content with the idea that I will never be able to read lots of interesting things. Because the trade off is that I get to do lots of interesting and new things. The idea that you might get sad at not being able to read all the things feels a bit too close to the mentality of wanting to passively learn rather than actively do research (i.e. the step change between undergrad and grad education). Because you could always be reading someone else's work rather than doing your own.
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Do you also happen to get sad because you simply will never have enough time to get the knowledge you want to? I was wondering if other people also get kind of sad because it is simply impossible to have enough time to learn everything you actually wanted to learn by a certain age/stage in life. Like idk, completing that list of books with important authors in your field which gets longer and longer while keeping up with the recent findings in your field. Or learning that additional programming language or further practicing the one your familiar with. Or learning one more additional language. And all of that on top of the workload you already have. Sometimes that makes me really sad because there are just so many things I am interested in and curious about but the more I study the things the longer the list of things I want to learn more about gets. Idk if you can relate but I just wanted to share this and I would be really interested to see what you think about this!
### Response:
I had such good intentions when I started my PhD that I was going to finally fully understand statistics. Now I’m at the data analysis stage and I’ve just got to do the stuff without fully understanding how the maths behind it works.
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### Instruction:
Do you also happen to get sad because you simply will never have enough time to get the knowledge you want to? I was wondering if other people also get kind of sad because it is simply impossible to have enough time to learn everything you actually wanted to learn by a certain age/stage in life. Like idk, completing that list of books with important authors in your field which gets longer and longer while keeping up with the recent findings in your field. Or learning that additional programming language or further practicing the one your familiar with. Or learning one more additional language. And all of that on top of the workload you already have. Sometimes that makes me really sad because there are just so many things I am interested in and curious about but the more I study the things the longer the list of things I want to learn more about gets. Idk if you can relate but I just wanted to share this and I would be really interested to see what you think about this!
### Response:
What's even stranger, is learning your professors, who are at the top of their field and extremely knowledgeable, are subject to the same lack of knowledge, because they simply forget. The reason why they keep telling us to read their articles, is because they wrote it down so they wouldn't have to remember. If they've since moved on in subject matter, they may not remember much of what they wrote. This is as true for us as it is for them. So with that understood, I've come to terms that the project of the the graduate thesis (and by extension academia), is the fine art of IDENTIFYING and WRITING only that which you are able to know. You can't know everything, so writing around what you know and don't know becomes the skill. Sorta like when I told my gf when she started a new job at a maddeningly byzantine organization: sometimes the meta-job IS the job.
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Do you also happen to get sad because you simply will never have enough time to get the knowledge you want to? I was wondering if other people also get kind of sad because it is simply impossible to have enough time to learn everything you actually wanted to learn by a certain age/stage in life. Like idk, completing that list of books with important authors in your field which gets longer and longer while keeping up with the recent findings in your field. Or learning that additional programming language or further practicing the one your familiar with. Or learning one more additional language. And all of that on top of the workload you already have. Sometimes that makes me really sad because there are just so many things I am interested in and curious about but the more I study the things the longer the list of things I want to learn more about gets. Idk if you can relate but I just wanted to share this and I would be really interested to see what you think about this!
### Response:
You can only do what you can do. As philosophers and songwriters have observed, no one gets out alive. There is no official checklist to complete for the academic career roleplaying game. Despite all the cliches, life really is a journey and not a destination. Whatever you choose to focus on, make it count. On that journey wherever it takes you, try to make every one else's journey a little better.
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Why did I pursue a PhD if it has not led to any opportunities? I’m feeling pretty down at the moment. I’ve been applying to TT jobs for a few years and have gotten no luck. I received my PhD from an average state school in 2015 and have had two relatively fruitful postdocs the last 5 years. I’ve published 10 papers in mid-tier journals. Yet it’s all been for nothing. I can’t get a job for the life of me. I’ve applied to probably almost 100 professor jobs with no success whatsoever. 4 year R1 schools, SLACs, and community colleges all have rejected me. I’m willing to relocate anywhere in the country. There’s too few jobs and I just don’t cut. I’m almost 35 now with a salary that an undergrad straight out of college wouldn’t be thrilled with. And I’ve busting my ass for more than a decade for pretty much nothing. No upside, no new or exciting opportunities, nothing. It sucks. I would have been better off teaching high school instead of trying in to break into higher ed. I’ve learned the hard way that the PhD pays in prestige, but you can’t eat prestige. Why did I do this to myself? Any one else feel this way?
### Response:
Sorry to hear this. As someone who nope-d out of academia pretty much after defending, I have mixed feelings about this, but they're mostly positive. There's a part of me that wishes that academia was what I dreamt it was, and a part of me that wishes I had succeeded, despite it being not what I had hoped. But I don't regret anything. I went to grad school because I loved science - not for the money (lol), or the prestige, but because I loved it as a way of acquiring knowledge and learning about the world. That's still true today, and it will probably be true my whole life. For me, that realization helped me overcome what I think a lot of people fear when they think about leaving academia: "Will I ever be able to love something as much as this?" And just like the ending of a bad relationship, despite my feelings to the contrary at the time, the answer is yes. But more importantly, it doesn't matter even if the answer is "no", because from what you describe, it doesn't matter how much you love academia, academia does not love you back.
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Why did I pursue a PhD if it has not led to any opportunities? I’m feeling pretty down at the moment. I’ve been applying to TT jobs for a few years and have gotten no luck. I received my PhD from an average state school in 2015 and have had two relatively fruitful postdocs the last 5 years. I’ve published 10 papers in mid-tier journals. Yet it’s all been for nothing. I can’t get a job for the life of me. I’ve applied to probably almost 100 professor jobs with no success whatsoever. 4 year R1 schools, SLACs, and community colleges all have rejected me. I’m willing to relocate anywhere in the country. There’s too few jobs and I just don’t cut. I’m almost 35 now with a salary that an undergrad straight out of college wouldn’t be thrilled with. And I’ve busting my ass for more than a decade for pretty much nothing. No upside, no new or exciting opportunities, nothing. It sucks. I would have been better off teaching high school instead of trying in to break into higher ed. I’ve learned the hard way that the PhD pays in prestige, but you can’t eat prestige. Why did I do this to myself? Any one else feel this way?
### Response:
I can relate. I found a decent position, but I've always kept my eye an the market and applied to the more "dream" schools since I've graduated. I only had one finalist interview at a "fancy" school. As usual, someone better connected than me with more pubs got the position. It's really rough out there. I can really relate to what your saying. My PhD experience was traumatic, and my advisor committed suicide when I was writing. I was almost booted from my program because the other major professor didn't like my topic. I was able to graduate super fast, but I think maybe only recently can I honestly say that it was worth getting the degree. Once of the things that I've had to do is branch out a bit into other areas of interest, and be flexible with the work that I do. Don't box yourself in to the tenure track only dream that gets sold to us. It's just not possible for most of us. Focus instead on what you can do creatively, and how you can make a living at the same time.
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Why did I pursue a PhD if it has not led to any opportunities? I’m feeling pretty down at the moment. I’ve been applying to TT jobs for a few years and have gotten no luck. I received my PhD from an average state school in 2015 and have had two relatively fruitful postdocs the last 5 years. I’ve published 10 papers in mid-tier journals. Yet it’s all been for nothing. I can’t get a job for the life of me. I’ve applied to probably almost 100 professor jobs with no success whatsoever. 4 year R1 schools, SLACs, and community colleges all have rejected me. I’m willing to relocate anywhere in the country. There’s too few jobs and I just don’t cut. I’m almost 35 now with a salary that an undergrad straight out of college wouldn’t be thrilled with. And I’ve busting my ass for more than a decade for pretty much nothing. No upside, no new or exciting opportunities, nothing. It sucks. I would have been better off teaching high school instead of trying in to break into higher ed. I’ve learned the hard way that the PhD pays in prestige, but you can’t eat prestige. Why did I do this to myself? Any one else feel this way?
### Response:
1. Go apply for industry jobs 2. Get an entry level job 3. Be happy when you see your first pay check that's double the money for less work
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### Instruction:
Why did I pursue a PhD if it has not led to any opportunities? I’m feeling pretty down at the moment. I’ve been applying to TT jobs for a few years and have gotten no luck. I received my PhD from an average state school in 2015 and have had two relatively fruitful postdocs the last 5 years. I’ve published 10 papers in mid-tier journals. Yet it’s all been for nothing. I can’t get a job for the life of me. I’ve applied to probably almost 100 professor jobs with no success whatsoever. 4 year R1 schools, SLACs, and community colleges all have rejected me. I’m willing to relocate anywhere in the country. There’s too few jobs and I just don’t cut. I’m almost 35 now with a salary that an undergrad straight out of college wouldn’t be thrilled with. And I’ve busting my ass for more than a decade for pretty much nothing. No upside, no new or exciting opportunities, nothing. It sucks. I would have been better off teaching high school instead of trying in to break into higher ed. I’ve learned the hard way that the PhD pays in prestige, but you can’t eat prestige. Why did I do this to myself? Any one else feel this way?
### Response:
OP, please in no way take this as me being condescending in anyway. I just want to pass on what I have learned by *just* squeeking by into a TT position. 10 papers (unless they are all first author papers) is not enough to get into a TT position these days. I want to be clear that I think that paper count is an absolutely stupid metric to put the majority of a hiring decision on. If we're all being honest, number of papers is almost entirely correlated with how well funded and connected your group is, which of course you as an individual have very little control over. I fully acknowledge that I was extremely fortunate to be in a high output group and I know this is primarily the reason I have gotten this position. I just feel it's better to shoot you straight now and get an honest take. With all this said, I still fantasize about industry positions with their higher salary and normal work hours, so the grass is always greener. Edit: my context is through Chemistry. So apply the appropriate amount of salt
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Why did I pursue a PhD if it has not led to any opportunities? I’m feeling pretty down at the moment. I’ve been applying to TT jobs for a few years and have gotten no luck. I received my PhD from an average state school in 2015 and have had two relatively fruitful postdocs the last 5 years. I’ve published 10 papers in mid-tier journals. Yet it’s all been for nothing. I can’t get a job for the life of me. I’ve applied to probably almost 100 professor jobs with no success whatsoever. 4 year R1 schools, SLACs, and community colleges all have rejected me. I’m willing to relocate anywhere in the country. There’s too few jobs and I just don’t cut. I’m almost 35 now with a salary that an undergrad straight out of college wouldn’t be thrilled with. And I’ve busting my ass for more than a decade for pretty much nothing. No upside, no new or exciting opportunities, nothing. It sucks. I would have been better off teaching high school instead of trying in to break into higher ed. I’ve learned the hard way that the PhD pays in prestige, but you can’t eat prestige. Why did I do this to myself? Any one else feel this way?
### Response:
A friend of mine used to say that we'd committed financial suicide by getting PhDs. For whatever it's worth, you're not at all alone in being disappointed by what your graduate studies led to.
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Why did I pursue a PhD if it has not led to any opportunities? I’m feeling pretty down at the moment. I’ve been applying to TT jobs for a few years and have gotten no luck. I received my PhD from an average state school in 2015 and have had two relatively fruitful postdocs the last 5 years. I’ve published 10 papers in mid-tier journals. Yet it’s all been for nothing. I can’t get a job for the life of me. I’ve applied to probably almost 100 professor jobs with no success whatsoever. 4 year R1 schools, SLACs, and community colleges all have rejected me. I’m willing to relocate anywhere in the country. There’s too few jobs and I just don’t cut. I’m almost 35 now with a salary that an undergrad straight out of college wouldn’t be thrilled with. And I’ve busting my ass for more than a decade for pretty much nothing. No upside, no new or exciting opportunities, nothing. It sucks. I would have been better off teaching high school instead of trying in to break into higher ed. I’ve learned the hard way that the PhD pays in prestige, but you can’t eat prestige. Why did I do this to myself? Any one else feel this way?
### Response:
This question is for OP and anybody who has completed a PhD program. What did/does your program do in regards to helping with job placement, making connections, etc.? I'm asking because several of the programs I'm looking at boast about high job placement, particularly in academia, post-PhD program. ... If it matters I have my MBA, and I'm looking at PhD in Business programs.
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Why did I pursue a PhD if it has not led to any opportunities? I’m feeling pretty down at the moment. I’ve been applying to TT jobs for a few years and have gotten no luck. I received my PhD from an average state school in 2015 and have had two relatively fruitful postdocs the last 5 years. I’ve published 10 papers in mid-tier journals. Yet it’s all been for nothing. I can’t get a job for the life of me. I’ve applied to probably almost 100 professor jobs with no success whatsoever. 4 year R1 schools, SLACs, and community colleges all have rejected me. I’m willing to relocate anywhere in the country. There’s too few jobs and I just don’t cut. I’m almost 35 now with a salary that an undergrad straight out of college wouldn’t be thrilled with. And I’ve busting my ass for more than a decade for pretty much nothing. No upside, no new or exciting opportunities, nothing. It sucks. I would have been better off teaching high school instead of trying in to break into higher ed. I’ve learned the hard way that the PhD pays in prestige, but you can’t eat prestige. Why did I do this to myself? Any one else feel this way?
### Response:
What you are describing is the result of the expanding federal granting program in STEM field that support doctoral student tuition and multiple post docs all overseen by a single TT professor. This was a cheap way to get the research done by talented but underpaid people. Since the TT professor is not retiring and universities are not expanding their TT faculty there are no jobs to absorb these talented people. The only thing to do is to find another place to use your talents and love of science. Try drug companies, journal editing and science publishing, science publications for the general public, start thinking out of the box. A former doctoral student of mine became a nurse. With your science background you could get your degree in about a year. Certain nursing fields, like nurse anesthetist, can make $200K+. There are Physicians Assistants programs. You may have to go back to school but there will be a job.
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Why did I pursue a PhD if it has not led to any opportunities? I’m feeling pretty down at the moment. I’ve been applying to TT jobs for a few years and have gotten no luck. I received my PhD from an average state school in 2015 and have had two relatively fruitful postdocs the last 5 years. I’ve published 10 papers in mid-tier journals. Yet it’s all been for nothing. I can’t get a job for the life of me. I’ve applied to probably almost 100 professor jobs with no success whatsoever. 4 year R1 schools, SLACs, and community colleges all have rejected me. I’m willing to relocate anywhere in the country. There’s too few jobs and I just don’t cut. I’m almost 35 now with a salary that an undergrad straight out of college wouldn’t be thrilled with. And I’ve busting my ass for more than a decade for pretty much nothing. No upside, no new or exciting opportunities, nothing. It sucks. I would have been better off teaching high school instead of trying in to break into higher ed. I’ve learned the hard way that the PhD pays in prestige, but you can’t eat prestige. Why did I do this to myself? Any one else feel this way?
### Response:
If you want money, academia is the wrong place. You'll have much more financial success going corporate, but less freedom on what you want to do. It's hard, but you've just gotta weigh up on what you want more and if you want seriously higher pay that corporate is the way to go
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Why did I pursue a PhD if it has not led to any opportunities? I’m feeling pretty down at the moment. I’ve been applying to TT jobs for a few years and have gotten no luck. I received my PhD from an average state school in 2015 and have had two relatively fruitful postdocs the last 5 years. I’ve published 10 papers in mid-tier journals. Yet it’s all been for nothing. I can’t get a job for the life of me. I’ve applied to probably almost 100 professor jobs with no success whatsoever. 4 year R1 schools, SLACs, and community colleges all have rejected me. I’m willing to relocate anywhere in the country. There’s too few jobs and I just don’t cut. I’m almost 35 now with a salary that an undergrad straight out of college wouldn’t be thrilled with. And I’ve busting my ass for more than a decade for pretty much nothing. No upside, no new or exciting opportunities, nothing. It sucks. I would have been better off teaching high school instead of trying in to break into higher ed. I’ve learned the hard way that the PhD pays in prestige, but you can’t eat prestige. Why did I do this to myself? Any one else feel this way?
### Response:
Have you considered breaking into consulting or investment banking? I've heard that PhDs in those industries are valued a lot.
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### Instruction:
My prediction for the Fall semester 2020. Might play out like this: https://imgur.com/IVt9EiJ
### Response:
I currently teach high school... We plan to be open face to face, once a kid gets COVID we're out for a week and anyone who was in class with that kid is out an additional week for quarantine... In a school with almost 2k students. Yeah, ok...
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### Instruction:
My prediction for the Fall semester 2020. Might play out like this: https://imgur.com/IVt9EiJ
### Response:
In all honesty; it's not going to happen. They *intend* to open, and they'd vastly prefer to open from a revenue perspective, but at the same time they're all quietly planning for the possibility (or, rather, probability) of online-only instruction. Eventually, they'll start acknowledging it.
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My prediction for the Fall semester 2020. Might play out like this: https://imgur.com/IVt9EiJ
### Response:
"You will still have to pay full tuition for online access." - Vice Chancellor, lounging on a bed of money
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My prediction for the Fall semester 2020. Might play out like this: https://imgur.com/IVt9EiJ
### Response:
This is the correct take.
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What to do about a situation where my professor wrote a negative letter of rec for grad school? I am in the US, and applying to graduate school. I was a research assistant for this particular professor and ran a club that she was the advisor to. I did not struggle in her class or other class revolving the program I am going into. I asked her well beforehand to write me a letter and she claimed "it would be an honor". She submitted it, I had my interview and it came up that she said in the letter that I would not be a suitable candidate for the program. Her points in the letter claimed "that the club struggled under my leadership" and my research "was not adequate and not helpful". She never gave any inclination that this was the case, so I am stunned that she is saying these things. What can I do about this? She lied to me, and could impact my future. What course of action do I take? I'm at a loss of words here.
### Response:
I serve on an admissions committee. I can tell you that whenever we see a negative letter in an application, the first judgement is on the advisor. As others have said, any competent letter writer in the US academic system understands that a letter should be positive, or not written at all. That's why it's called a letter of recommendation. Do not use this person as a reference in the future. Do let other people know that this person wrote you a bad letter rather than declining. This likely will not harm your application as much as you think. If anything, it will hurt the writer's career when their peers see the kind of letter they write for people they should be supporting. It's of course a shitty thing to happen, and I'm sorry you're dealing with this, but it's not as serious as it probably feels right now.
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What to do about a situation where my professor wrote a negative letter of rec for grad school? I am in the US, and applying to graduate school. I was a research assistant for this particular professor and ran a club that she was the advisor to. I did not struggle in her class or other class revolving the program I am going into. I asked her well beforehand to write me a letter and she claimed "it would be an honor". She submitted it, I had my interview and it came up that she said in the letter that I would not be a suitable candidate for the program. Her points in the letter claimed "that the club struggled under my leadership" and my research "was not adequate and not helpful". She never gave any inclination that this was the case, so I am stunned that she is saying these things. What can I do about this? She lied to me, and could impact my future. What course of action do I take? I'm at a loss of words here.
### Response:
I expect a lot of people to disagree with this but: really give her a piece of your mind. That is an unbelievably shitty thing to do to someone, and especially lie through your teeth about it. If she thought those things, she should have told you to your face or at the very least declined to write the letter. What she has done here is wildly disrespectful and vindictive. Beyond unprofessional, its downright mean. At this point, status aside, you are two adults with no bridges really left to burn. So if you feel like it, you might as well make sure this person knows well how unreasonably shitty this was to do. Its not about getting revenge, its making sure other humans understand the consequences of their actions and what it means to be a PoS. Good luck OP, sorry to hear about this.
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What to do about a situation where my professor wrote a negative letter of rec for grad school? I am in the US, and applying to graduate school. I was a research assistant for this particular professor and ran a club that she was the advisor to. I did not struggle in her class or other class revolving the program I am going into. I asked her well beforehand to write me a letter and she claimed "it would be an honor". She submitted it, I had my interview and it came up that she said in the letter that I would not be a suitable candidate for the program. Her points in the letter claimed "that the club struggled under my leadership" and my research "was not adequate and not helpful". She never gave any inclination that this was the case, so I am stunned that she is saying these things. What can I do about this? She lied to me, and could impact my future. What course of action do I take? I'm at a loss of words here.
### Response:
Don't use that letter. But honestly I'd burn all sorts of bridges out of spite over something like that. I'd go to her school and tell them this, ideally with a copy of the letter, and ask them why their professor is doing this to students who ask her for recommendations in good faith. It's universally accepted that if you can't give a good reference, you don't. And if you're in a position where it's expected to recommend someone, you at _least_ hit a neutral to positive note. Actively attacking you in the letter without warning you that she didn't feel she could write you a good letter is unforgivable.
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What to do about a situation where my professor wrote a negative letter of rec for grad school? I am in the US, and applying to graduate school. I was a research assistant for this particular professor and ran a club that she was the advisor to. I did not struggle in her class or other class revolving the program I am going into. I asked her well beforehand to write me a letter and she claimed "it would be an honor". She submitted it, I had my interview and it came up that she said in the letter that I would not be a suitable candidate for the program. Her points in the letter claimed "that the club struggled under my leadership" and my research "was not adequate and not helpful". She never gave any inclination that this was the case, so I am stunned that she is saying these things. What can I do about this? She lied to me, and could impact my future. What course of action do I take? I'm at a loss of words here.
### Response:
That is all sorts of craps. It’s not the way the system works. If I am put into a position where I have to write a letter for a poor student, I tell the student that all I will write is factual experiences the student had (i.e., took X class, completed X practicum, etc.) It’s not negative, but it clearly indicates to the committee that I don’t have positive things to say. You can either ignore (and not use her as a reference ever again) or address it with her. I would probably go the route of sending a baffled email—“Dear Dr. Negative, As you know, I am in the process of applying to grad schools. Because of my positive experience with you, I asked you to write a letter of recommendation. During one of my interviews, a member of the admissions committee indicated that you had not recommended me for the program because (list reasons here). I’m confused (or other emotion) as these were never conveyed to me during classes/projects or when I asked for a letter. I’m trying to better understand what happened as this negatively impacts my admission to a grad program.”
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What to do about a situation where my professor wrote a negative letter of rec for grad school? I am in the US, and applying to graduate school. I was a research assistant for this particular professor and ran a club that she was the advisor to. I did not struggle in her class or other class revolving the program I am going into. I asked her well beforehand to write me a letter and she claimed "it would be an honor". She submitted it, I had my interview and it came up that she said in the letter that I would not be a suitable candidate for the program. Her points in the letter claimed "that the club struggled under my leadership" and my research "was not adequate and not helpful". She never gave any inclination that this was the case, so I am stunned that she is saying these things. What can I do about this? She lied to me, and could impact my future. What course of action do I take? I'm at a loss of words here.
### Response:
I can’t imagine how it must feel to be a professor and be that spiteful and malicious towards a student. She could have said no and shared her thoughts with you then, or written a letter to you explaining why she didn’t think you would be a good fit, some considerations, or you know maybe mentioned something WHILE you were her assistant and running the club. She just looks like an asshole, and hopefully the people who read it will see that and disregard the letter from your application to the program. She’s a limit to people’s potential in her class and I hope she gets a wake up call to how much of a shit person you have to be to live your life that way. “It would be an honor.” Jesus. To keep it from you and still write the letter, she must have something that pisses her off to get as far as submitting a letter “of recommendation” like that. Either personal for her and/or personal towards you. I agree with the other people when they say to give her a piece of your mind (professionally/neutrally, of course.)
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What to do about a situation where my professor wrote a negative letter of rec for grad school? I am in the US, and applying to graduate school. I was a research assistant for this particular professor and ran a club that she was the advisor to. I did not struggle in her class or other class revolving the program I am going into. I asked her well beforehand to write me a letter and she claimed "it would be an honor". She submitted it, I had my interview and it came up that she said in the letter that I would not be a suitable candidate for the program. Her points in the letter claimed "that the club struggled under my leadership" and my research "was not adequate and not helpful". She never gave any inclination that this was the case, so I am stunned that she is saying these things. What can I do about this? She lied to me, and could impact my future. What course of action do I take? I'm at a loss of words here.
### Response:
This is extremely unfortunate and uncommon. For the most part professors will decline to write a letter if they can’t write a positive one. It’s a “letter of recommendation”, not “letter of review”. This person is out to get you and I would avoid interacting with them further.
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What to do about a situation where my professor wrote a negative letter of rec for grad school? I am in the US, and applying to graduate school. I was a research assistant for this particular professor and ran a club that she was the advisor to. I did not struggle in her class or other class revolving the program I am going into. I asked her well beforehand to write me a letter and she claimed "it would be an honor". She submitted it, I had my interview and it came up that she said in the letter that I would not be a suitable candidate for the program. Her points in the letter claimed "that the club struggled under my leadership" and my research "was not adequate and not helpful". She never gave any inclination that this was the case, so I am stunned that she is saying these things. What can I do about this? She lied to me, and could impact my future. What course of action do I take? I'm at a loss of words here.
### Response:
Sounds like a case of sour grapes. Either because she didn’t want to lose you as a research assistant or because you weren’t planning to do your grad program with her. It’s not the first time I’ve heard of an academic being spiteful AF.
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What to do about a situation where my professor wrote a negative letter of rec for grad school? I am in the US, and applying to graduate school. I was a research assistant for this particular professor and ran a club that she was the advisor to. I did not struggle in her class or other class revolving the program I am going into. I asked her well beforehand to write me a letter and she claimed "it would be an honor". She submitted it, I had my interview and it came up that she said in the letter that I would not be a suitable candidate for the program. Her points in the letter claimed "that the club struggled under my leadership" and my research "was not adequate and not helpful". She never gave any inclination that this was the case, so I am stunned that she is saying these things. What can I do about this? She lied to me, and could impact my future. What course of action do I take? I'm at a loss of words here.
### Response:
Had you heard any feedback along these lines from this professor before? Was what the interviewer told you specific enough that it would have had to come from this professor? Does it sound like something she would have done, or had you previously had a good working relationship with her? You could potentially ask her about this in a non-confrontational way to see if she offers you any additional information. Something like, the interviewer mentioned X, Y, and Z in the interview and mentioned that it was from your recommendation letter. I’m a bit surprised, because that isn’t feedback I’ve heard from you before. Is it possible she was mistaken? If she confirms that yes, she wrote this shitty letter, you have more documentation. There’s no good reason to sabotage a student’s application like that when she could simply decline. This feels more like someone who has an ax to grind, and this is a grossly unprofessional way to do that. You could also consider reaching out to your university ombuds. They’re generally neutral and confidential, and they’ll hear you out and then run through the options you have.
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What to do about a situation where my professor wrote a negative letter of rec for grad school? I am in the US, and applying to graduate school. I was a research assistant for this particular professor and ran a club that she was the advisor to. I did not struggle in her class or other class revolving the program I am going into. I asked her well beforehand to write me a letter and she claimed "it would be an honor". She submitted it, I had my interview and it came up that she said in the letter that I would not be a suitable candidate for the program. Her points in the letter claimed "that the club struggled under my leadership" and my research "was not adequate and not helpful". She never gave any inclination that this was the case, so I am stunned that she is saying these things. What can I do about this? She lied to me, and could impact my future. What course of action do I take? I'm at a loss of words here.
### Response:
Faculty shouldn't agree to write letters unless it's going to support the student. I'm a professor. I actually just posted a video on YT about requesting a letter from a prof. (link here, in case it'll help anyone). With regards to this specific case, I'd immediately find a new source for letters of recommendation. If you have any other applications that are out there, you MIGHT be able to remove the offending letter writer in question and then setup another person (after asking another person, all that jazz). I'm so sorry that this happened. It's extremely unprofessional and cruel.
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What to do about a situation where my professor wrote a negative letter of rec for grad school? I am in the US, and applying to graduate school. I was a research assistant for this particular professor and ran a club that she was the advisor to. I did not struggle in her class or other class revolving the program I am going into. I asked her well beforehand to write me a letter and she claimed "it would be an honor". She submitted it, I had my interview and it came up that she said in the letter that I would not be a suitable candidate for the program. Her points in the letter claimed "that the club struggled under my leadership" and my research "was not adequate and not helpful". She never gave any inclination that this was the case, so I am stunned that she is saying these things. What can I do about this? She lied to me, and could impact my future. What course of action do I take? I'm at a loss of words here.
### Response:
Must have been the herpetology club, cuz that woman’s a snake
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### Instruction:
Your name was mentioned in a paper recently found by Academia! Dear Academia.edu, no one is mentioning my name in any papers. Please stop.
### Response:
I get frequent notices for some paleontologist with whom I share a name, despite my being a humanist and two decades older. Finally turned it all off last summer, as I've found academia.edu to be mostly worthless anyway.
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Your name was mentioned in a paper recently found by Academia! Dear Academia.edu, no one is mentioning my name in any papers. Please stop.
### Response:
In contrast, when Research Gate says you have a citation, it's true. It's even better than Google Scholar. Citations for my unpublished PhD dissertation appear on Research Gate but not on Google Scholar.
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Your name was mentioned in a paper recently found by Academia! Dear Academia.edu, no one is mentioning my name in any papers. Please stop.
### Response:
I get weekly emails from them with wilder and wilder paper publications. I'm a paleontologist. I highly doubt I would be doing something regarding "the increased complexities of the herpes virus". Honestly I haven't put them in the spam folder yet because their suggestions of papers that I have possibly written are just too amusing. What makes it even funnier is that I'm not even a published author yet. I'm still working on my first manuscript.
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### Instruction:
MY FIRST PAPER WAS ACCEPTED!! The good news keep on coming! My sole-author paper was accepted. I will be published as an undergrad!
### Response:
Published as an undergrad in a non-undergrad publication? That's pretty nuts congrats!
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### Instruction:
MY FIRST PAPER WAS ACCEPTED!! The good news keep on coming! My sole-author paper was accepted. I will be published as an undergrad!
### Response:
Congratulations! This will be a huge help for you moving forward in your life no matter what path you choose to take.
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### Instruction:
MY FIRST PAPER WAS ACCEPTED!! The good news keep on coming! My sole-author paper was accepted. I will be published as an undergrad!
### Response:
Now everyone cite it!
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### Instruction:
MY FIRST PAPER WAS ACCEPTED!! The good news keep on coming! My sole-author paper was accepted. I will be published as an undergrad!
### Response:
Congrats. Which field? do share the paper link with us when published
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### Instruction:
MY FIRST PAPER WAS ACCEPTED!! The good news keep on coming! My sole-author paper was accepted. I will be published as an undergrad!
### Response:
Congratulations!!! I’m also an undergrad student and I’ve been trying to get something published too... this is hard work, keep going!
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### Instruction:
When you get home today, don't forget to kiss your spouse and say thank you. I see this particularly in STEM researchers; it's a thing for you apparently. I'm a spouse working in the private sector. We, along with your children, get a bit tired of not seeing you much. And I cannot understand how the hell you put up with the very long hours, horrible pay, medieval managers which you call PIs, incredible amount of stress every few years looking for funding, and one of the most ferocious competitive contexts that exist. Sorry about the rant, but it's dinner time, and my spouse is running some cells through some machine or whatnot in the lab. So, closing the circle repeating myself, kiss them fondly and thank them profusely! Cheers.
### Response:
My spouse and I are both academics teaching fully online. What does "come home" even mean?
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### Instruction:
When you get home today, don't forget to kiss your spouse and say thank you. I see this particularly in STEM researchers; it's a thing for you apparently. I'm a spouse working in the private sector. We, along with your children, get a bit tired of not seeing you much. And I cannot understand how the hell you put up with the very long hours, horrible pay, medieval managers which you call PIs, incredible amount of stress every few years looking for funding, and one of the most ferocious competitive contexts that exist. Sorry about the rant, but it's dinner time, and my spouse is running some cells through some machine or whatnot in the lab. So, closing the circle repeating myself, kiss them fondly and thank them profusely! Cheers.
### Response:
Ewwwww you kiss your spouse?
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### Instruction:
When you get home today, don't forget to kiss your spouse and say thank you. I see this particularly in STEM researchers; it's a thing for you apparently. I'm a spouse working in the private sector. We, along with your children, get a bit tired of not seeing you much. And I cannot understand how the hell you put up with the very long hours, horrible pay, medieval managers which you call PIs, incredible amount of stress every few years looking for funding, and one of the most ferocious competitive contexts that exist. Sorry about the rant, but it's dinner time, and my spouse is running some cells through some machine or whatnot in the lab. So, closing the circle repeating myself, kiss them fondly and thank them profusely! Cheers.
### Response:
I do not understand how the hell I put up with it. You wanna hire a hard working nanotechnologist? I would like to see my family a little, and afford a better house than this tiny apartment... \*sigh\*
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### Instruction:
When you get home today, don't forget to kiss your spouse and say thank you. I see this particularly in STEM researchers; it's a thing for you apparently. I'm a spouse working in the private sector. We, along with your children, get a bit tired of not seeing you much. And I cannot understand how the hell you put up with the very long hours, horrible pay, medieval managers which you call PIs, incredible amount of stress every few years looking for funding, and one of the most ferocious competitive contexts that exist. Sorry about the rant, but it's dinner time, and my spouse is running some cells through some machine or whatnot in the lab. So, closing the circle repeating myself, kiss them fondly and thank them profusely! Cheers.
### Response:
Kissing your SO is always a good thing. Also, the lifestyle that you are implying is not universal and it doesn't have to be like that. Maybe some fields, maybe USA, maybe some PIs. But there are plenty of places where academia is associated with good pay and work-life balance.
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### Instruction:
When you get home today, don't forget to kiss your spouse and say thank you. I see this particularly in STEM researchers; it's a thing for you apparently. I'm a spouse working in the private sector. We, along with your children, get a bit tired of not seeing you much. And I cannot understand how the hell you put up with the very long hours, horrible pay, medieval managers which you call PIs, incredible amount of stress every few years looking for funding, and one of the most ferocious competitive contexts that exist. Sorry about the rant, but it's dinner time, and my spouse is running some cells through some machine or whatnot in the lab. So, closing the circle repeating myself, kiss them fondly and thank them profusely! Cheers.
### Response:
Instructions unclear, do I kiss myself? I come home to myself (or never leave home nowadays), and cook, clean and pay the rent on my own. I know I should be dating but covid killed that option for now🙃
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### Instruction:
When you get home today, don't forget to kiss your spouse and say thank you. I see this particularly in STEM researchers; it's a thing for you apparently. I'm a spouse working in the private sector. We, along with your children, get a bit tired of not seeing you much. And I cannot understand how the hell you put up with the very long hours, horrible pay, medieval managers which you call PIs, incredible amount of stress every few years looking for funding, and one of the most ferocious competitive contexts that exist. Sorry about the rant, but it's dinner time, and my spouse is running some cells through some machine or whatnot in the lab. So, closing the circle repeating myself, kiss them fondly and thank them profusely! Cheers.
### Response:
I don’t understand. This is great advice, but it’s not different for professors than anyone else. Why propagate the notion that this is anything other than a normal job.
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### Instruction:
When you get home today, don't forget to kiss your spouse and say thank you. I see this particularly in STEM researchers; it's a thing for you apparently. I'm a spouse working in the private sector. We, along with your children, get a bit tired of not seeing you much. And I cannot understand how the hell you put up with the very long hours, horrible pay, medieval managers which you call PIs, incredible amount of stress every few years looking for funding, and one of the most ferocious competitive contexts that exist. Sorry about the rant, but it's dinner time, and my spouse is running some cells through some machine or whatnot in the lab. So, closing the circle repeating myself, kiss them fondly and thank them profusely! Cheers.
### Response:
My wife just tells me everything I did wrong when I come home. Kinda just makes me want to stay at work with my cells. At least they don't yell at me.
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### Instruction:
When you get home today, don't forget to kiss your spouse and say thank you. I see this particularly in STEM researchers; it's a thing for you apparently. I'm a spouse working in the private sector. We, along with your children, get a bit tired of not seeing you much. And I cannot understand how the hell you put up with the very long hours, horrible pay, medieval managers which you call PIs, incredible amount of stress every few years looking for funding, and one of the most ferocious competitive contexts that exist. Sorry about the rant, but it's dinner time, and my spouse is running some cells through some machine or whatnot in the lab. So, closing the circle repeating myself, kiss them fondly and thank them profusely! Cheers.
### Response:
How do I get a spouse? Kids can come later, I guess.
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### Instruction:
When you get home today, don't forget to kiss your spouse and say thank you. I see this particularly in STEM researchers; it's a thing for you apparently. I'm a spouse working in the private sector. We, along with your children, get a bit tired of not seeing you much. And I cannot understand how the hell you put up with the very long hours, horrible pay, medieval managers which you call PIs, incredible amount of stress every few years looking for funding, and one of the most ferocious competitive contexts that exist. Sorry about the rant, but it's dinner time, and my spouse is running some cells through some machine or whatnot in the lab. So, closing the circle repeating myself, kiss them fondly and thank them profusely! Cheers.
### Response:
> And I cannot understand how the hell you put up with the very long hours, horrible pay, medieval managers which you call PIs, incredible amount of stress every few years looking for funding, and one of the most ferocious competitive contexts that exist. We also don't understand so please don't look for answers. Neither my wife nor I understands what happens when I text "I'll be done around 6:15" and then walk out of the lab at 7:05.
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### Instruction:
Does anybody feel like academic publication pressure is becoming unsustainable? I am becoming very frustrated with the publication culture in my field. Becoming an expert takes a long time and so is making a valuable contribution to the literature. However, publication pressure is turning many contributions into spin-offs that are slightly different from the publication before, and they are often redundant. Further, a failed experiment would never get published but it would actually provide insight to peers as to what route not to explore. I think that publication pressure is overwhelming for academics and in detriment of scientific literature. I feel like we seriously need to rethink the publication reward system. Does anybody have thoughts on this?
### Response:
YES!! It’s now at the point in my field that if you don’t have a science or nature paper AND a prestigious post doc, you’re basically SOL for any faculty positions. I have worked on meta analyses and publication bias favouring positive outcomes is completely skewing our ability to synthesis and understand actual patterns in ecological data. Which in turn is limiting our ability to apply this information accurately to evidence based policy. The business side of academia is ruining the actual utility of science.
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### Instruction:
Does anybody feel like academic publication pressure is becoming unsustainable? I am becoming very frustrated with the publication culture in my field. Becoming an expert takes a long time and so is making a valuable contribution to the literature. However, publication pressure is turning many contributions into spin-offs that are slightly different from the publication before, and they are often redundant. Further, a failed experiment would never get published but it would actually provide insight to peers as to what route not to explore. I think that publication pressure is overwhelming for academics and in detriment of scientific literature. I feel like we seriously need to rethink the publication reward system. Does anybody have thoughts on this?
### Response:
It’s one of the things ruining academia. It stems from administrators wanting a way to quantify and rank researchers’ productivity. This may not even be possible, but assuming it is “number of papers” is a terrible metric. It doesn’t measure what administrators think it does and it creates perverse incentives that actually harm research output. Citations per paper is a metric I pulled out of my butt just now but it’s still a much better metric than paper count. What I don’t understand is why the publish-or-perish model still exists when everybody should know it’s not working. Who’s keeping it going? Why? Is Big Paper behind it? Is there some law?
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### Instruction:
Does anybody feel like academic publication pressure is becoming unsustainable? I am becoming very frustrated with the publication culture in my field. Becoming an expert takes a long time and so is making a valuable contribution to the literature. However, publication pressure is turning many contributions into spin-offs that are slightly different from the publication before, and they are often redundant. Further, a failed experiment would never get published but it would actually provide insight to peers as to what route not to explore. I think that publication pressure is overwhelming for academics and in detriment of scientific literature. I feel like we seriously need to rethink the publication reward system. Does anybody have thoughts on this?
### Response:
I've added failed experiments/negative data into papers. You unfortunately generally need some positive/interesting result as the basis for the paper, but if things failed along the way and are relevant to the main topic of the paper, you can briefly mention the negative results and add it as a supplemental figure. I believe there are journals exclusively for negative results now, too, but I'm not sure how widely indexed they are.
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### Instruction:
Does anybody feel like academic publication pressure is becoming unsustainable? I am becoming very frustrated with the publication culture in my field. Becoming an expert takes a long time and so is making a valuable contribution to the literature. However, publication pressure is turning many contributions into spin-offs that are slightly different from the publication before, and they are often redundant. Further, a failed experiment would never get published but it would actually provide insight to peers as to what route not to explore. I think that publication pressure is overwhelming for academics and in detriment of scientific literature. I feel like we seriously need to rethink the publication reward system. Does anybody have thoughts on this?
### Response:
There's this guy in my field who published like 8 papers based on his PhD project alone by slicing and dicing the project into small portions then blowing each of them up into full papers. The intros of some of these papers read almost the same with some modifications to make them just different enough. Till this day I wonder how they got published. But he's now a professor at a top university so I guess it worked out well for him.
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### Instruction:
Does anybody feel like academic publication pressure is becoming unsustainable? I am becoming very frustrated with the publication culture in my field. Becoming an expert takes a long time and so is making a valuable contribution to the literature. However, publication pressure is turning many contributions into spin-offs that are slightly different from the publication before, and they are often redundant. Further, a failed experiment would never get published but it would actually provide insight to peers as to what route not to explore. I think that publication pressure is overwhelming for academics and in detriment of scientific literature. I feel like we seriously need to rethink the publication reward system. Does anybody have thoughts on this?
### Response:
I'd honestly love it if there was an "International Journal of Zany Shit we tried that didn't work but oh well here's some data." But that of course means there has to be some degree of standards for what constitutes a good failed experiment.
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### Instruction:
Does anybody feel like academic publication pressure is becoming unsustainable? I am becoming very frustrated with the publication culture in my field. Becoming an expert takes a long time and so is making a valuable contribution to the literature. However, publication pressure is turning many contributions into spin-offs that are slightly different from the publication before, and they are often redundant. Further, a failed experiment would never get published but it would actually provide insight to peers as to what route not to explore. I think that publication pressure is overwhelming for academics and in detriment of scientific literature. I feel like we seriously need to rethink the publication reward system. Does anybody have thoughts on this?
### Response:
Agreed! It’s partly why I left academia: the “game” of publishing/grants. And I was good at the game! So many papers add epsilon to delta...very little meat. And the redundancy is ridiculous. Soooo many papers that don’t properly cite & document what has come before, despite it being easier than ever to check (Google). I am much happier in industry, after 20 years in academia.
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### Instruction:
Does anybody feel like academic publication pressure is becoming unsustainable? I am becoming very frustrated with the publication culture in my field. Becoming an expert takes a long time and so is making a valuable contribution to the literature. However, publication pressure is turning many contributions into spin-offs that are slightly different from the publication before, and they are often redundant. Further, a failed experiment would never get published but it would actually provide insight to peers as to what route not to explore. I think that publication pressure is overwhelming for academics and in detriment of scientific literature. I feel like we seriously need to rethink the publication reward system. Does anybody have thoughts on this?
### Response:
A perspective from the humanities: I'm in what's called a "book field," rather than an "article field." Tenure expectation is, basically, one single-authored book. These take years to research and write, so it's pretty much a one-shot deal. Thing is, only a handful of publishers publish scholarship in a given field. The most prestigious (and therefore secure for tenure purposes) publishers are university presses, and we all know the financial condition of universities these days. They're getting hit on the demand side as well, because fewer and fewer libraries are buying books (and these are the kind of books that mostly only libraries buy). So the presses might not even look at your proposal, let alone send it out for review. Universities have effectively outsourced P&T to presses that are on life support themselves.
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### Instruction:
Does anybody feel like academic publication pressure is becoming unsustainable? I am becoming very frustrated with the publication culture in my field. Becoming an expert takes a long time and so is making a valuable contribution to the literature. However, publication pressure is turning many contributions into spin-offs that are slightly different from the publication before, and they are often redundant. Further, a failed experiment would never get published but it would actually provide insight to peers as to what route not to explore. I think that publication pressure is overwhelming for academics and in detriment of scientific literature. I feel like we seriously need to rethink the publication reward system. Does anybody have thoughts on this?
### Response:
I know some PhD students more experienced than any other postdoc since they still do a PhD in their 8th or 9th years at the same lab and this is in Europe, where you don't have classes, exams, seminars etc. It's full time research. They aim to publish every chapter of their dissertation in famous and high impact journals, it clogs the lab for upcoming students and we invest too much money and time on limited number of projects. The sad part is to see that all about the journal names. Nobody cares about the continuity, robust data or reproducibility, they keep looking for fancy experiments to fit fancy journals. Our lab discussions don't involve around the scientific ideas, they involve around journal names (e.g. this would be a Nature paper etc.) I mean after all our PI is "ambitious" enough to keep pushing us by telling "I want that each one to have a Nature paper" and yes, this is a toxic lab environment. I think this is why many people want to quit academia. PS: This also creates a huge inequality in terms of fellowships etc. Many of us don't have luxury to do a 8 year PhD project and wait for a publication for that long.
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### Instruction:
Does anybody feel like academic publication pressure is becoming unsustainable? I am becoming very frustrated with the publication culture in my field. Becoming an expert takes a long time and so is making a valuable contribution to the literature. However, publication pressure is turning many contributions into spin-offs that are slightly different from the publication before, and they are often redundant. Further, a failed experiment would never get published but it would actually provide insight to peers as to what route not to explore. I think that publication pressure is overwhelming for academics and in detriment of scientific literature. I feel like we seriously need to rethink the publication reward system. Does anybody have thoughts on this?
### Response:
Publishing a negative result requires some work, but it's definitely doable and I recommend it. Towards the beginning of my career I published two papers that are mostly "*if you think this is a good idea, don't; here's why*" and "*why XYZ looks like it should work, but doesn't*". Neither exceeded a dozen citations or so, but at least I contributed towards fighting the bias. I deplore papers that are only slightly different spins on the same thing and I pity people who publish them (because otherwise they would perish). Like "*Novel method applied to material 1*". "*Novel method applied to material 2, which is very much like material 1*". Ugh.
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