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Thesisfun
Saturday, 7 June 2014 at 10:37am
Tuesday, 13 November 2018 at 7:45pm
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Thread: Disagreement with supervisor about a journal paper

posted
30-Oct-18, 18:21
Avatar for Thesisfun
posted about 2 months ago
Quote From rewt:
You are right, I should start the paper now. I think most of the interesting results will be ready by the time I finish writing the first draft of my current stuff (I am a slow writer). I will include them if they are ready but will submit anyway. Though I am going to make clear that I am doing the extra work anyway, even if just for my appendix.

My supervisor wants to go for a relatively good journal that readily accepts this work but is notoriously slow. So I can just include the later data in the revisions. I just feel a bit uncomfortable submitting something I know is not my best work and has clear flaws, just to speed up the process. Unfortunately that is academia, got to make compromises somewhere.

Thanks for the advice, sometimes I get stuck in my won thought chamber.


Throughout your career, there will always be unanswered research questions- you just need to find the point at which you publish.

By flagging research gaps in your paper, you can set the scene for your next paper.

Thread: Messed up masters big time - options?

posted
30-Oct-18, 18:07
Avatar for Thesisfun
posted about 2 months ago

I am genuinely surprised that your first thought is to look to defend the OP rather than their fellow students who didn't cheat. Is there a reason for that?


Where did I defend them?

In my university role, I regularly investigate accusations of plagiarism. My comments were based on that experience.

Thread: Messed up masters big time - options?

posted
30-Oct-18, 14:55
edited about 10 seconds later
Avatar for Thesisfun
posted about 2 months ago
There is a lot of unpleasantness on this thread- the OP has asked for general advice. They have been quite upfront about the fact that they made an error.

There is a huge difference between poor academic practice and a deliberate intent to cheat (e.g. buying essays on the internet). I do not know where this lies, but the fact that the OP remains in the programme suggests it wasn't a deliberate intent to cheat. As for the fraud issue, no such accusation seems to have been made against the OP.

There is also a huge difference in the way that depression affects people- some people live with it relatively well, some commit suicide, others do stupid things. It is ridiculous to say that just because depression didn't affect me in x way, then it would not have that effect in anyone.
If this is an allowable point in mitigation then it is right that the OP refers to it.

At the university where I work, the most common decisions are a reduction in marks or a requirement to re-submit for a capped mark. I am confused by how a score of 0 can be given without an opportunity to re-submit as if they don't meet the requirements for the module, they will not attain enough points for the award.

Thread: How do people end up disseminating results on radio, in newspapers, etc?

posted
23-Oct-18, 08:16
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posted about 2 months ago
Universities will typically have press offices who co-ordinate this type of thing.

If your research is 'sexy' enough they will do a press release which may or may not create media interest. At other time, journal publications or conference presentations will create interest.
Other times, stuff goes 'viral ' on social media (e.g. CERN guy with comments on women).

I would write something generic about your three audiences: public, policy makers, other researchers.
You could say that will liaise with press office.

Thread: Writing a grant - how it works

posted
07-Oct-18, 07:19
edited about 5 seconds later
Avatar for Thesisfun
posted about 2 months ago
Quote From Tudor_Queen:
Hi postdocs

I have some questions about writing grants - more the application side of things than the actual writing. Do you need to be affiliated with a university / institution? I am just wondering how this sort of thing happens in reality. Might it be that you are working as a postdoc and at the same time putting together a fellowship application to do a postdoc at the same or another university? Do you need to have named supervisors on it etc, a bit like with a PhD application? Or can you apply for a fellowship AT a university - so you don't necessarily need to have that stuff sorted already (a bit like if you were applying for a PhD scholarship at a university with your own idea for the project but not much more than that?)

Hopefully my questions make some sort of sense.

Thanks
Tudor


A post-doctoral fellowship is iprimarily intended to fund a researcher's development. As part of this, it will usually fund a programme of research.

A key part of the funder's review is ensuring that the host university and mentorship arrangements are sufficient to support this development.

Thread: ScholaOne Manuscripts

posted
24-Aug-18, 23:09
edited about 14 seconds later
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posted about 4 months ago
Quote From nike_one:
Hi guys,
Thank you very much for accepting me in the forum. I would like to ask a question about my submission, maybe someone has had a similar experience. My status has gone directly from "Awaiting Rewievers scores" to "Awaiting decision". I have seen that some people have gone through "Awaiting Recommendations".
Does this mean that my article has no recommendations and is likely to be rejected? Thank you very much everyone!


It means nothing... Just wait for the email.

Thread: e Journals with no fees

posted
04-Aug-18, 10:44
edited about 8 seconds later
Avatar for Thesisfun
posted about 4 months ago
Not many that publish muniscripts!

Lots that publish manuscripts, but unlikely to be open access.
Impossible to advise without knowing discipline and quality of journal you are aiming for.

Thread: PowerPoint Presentation

posted
03-Aug-18, 19:00
Avatar for Thesisfun
posted about 4 months ago
Given the question was posed 8 years ago, suspect the OP has made their decision by now!

Thread: What is a double-baseline design?

posted
01-Aug-18, 19:24
edited about 24 seconds later
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posted about 4 months ago
I am not sure I understand the point of either of these study designs.

The example by tudor_queen sounds like something between a glorified before-after study and a rather pathetic interrupted time series.

The example by abababa sounds like an extremely poor/ basic stepped wedge design.


Both approaches seem to have extremely significant limitations!!

Thread: Enough data for a PhD?

posted
16-Jul-18, 20:09
Avatar for Thesisfun
posted about 5 months ago
Quote From MissyL:
Hey guys,

I'm due to submit my thesis in lab-based science ASAP.
I'm sure this is a common feeling amongst PhD students, but I am concerned that I don't have enough data.
Funny enough the data I do have is interesting, and I'm confident that it adds to my field, but I'm concerned about the quantity and that I might be deemed as having not done enough.
I've been lucky and have managed to do a fairly low number of experiments (in comparison to my peers) but gained nice data. I have a few other experiments that I planned not to include in my thesis, mainly as they didn't work or are negative data that doesn't add much. Therefore, its main purpose would be proof of myself having done other work.
From the point of the examiners, what's the best thing to do, keep my three small chapters of interesting results with good controls etc, or add some of my non interesting/ possibly bad experimental design results in order to bulk things out ??
Common sense tells me to just write up the good stuff, but I could do with reassurance from people in a similar boat.

Thanks for any replies in advance!


So... you have generated hypotheses, tested them, and decided not to disseminate them!

This is why we have a problem with publication bias and research waste!!

Thread: Seeking recommendations on solicitors who specialise in academic appeals

posted
12-Jul-18, 05:58
edited about 25 seconds later
Avatar for Thesisfun
posted about 5 months ago
Quote From ManOnMeaning:
Thanks for your reply, pm133.
Their main justification is that the work is not of PhD standard and contains numerous avoidable errors.

The point is, I haven't had a supervisor since Jan 2015! So, no one looked at the corrections and only the first 2 chapters were looked at by my former supervisor (he left the university in jan 2015) when the first submission happened


I am a bit confused- is the issue:
1) You feel your work was of sufficient standard (and should have passed), or,
2) You acknowledge it was not up to the required standard, but you feel you had inadequate supervision.

Thread: “you'll be well looked after there”

posted
29-Jun-18, 05:45
edited about 22 seconds later
Avatar for Thesisfun
posted about 6 months ago
Quote From samcassel:
I got an offer from a uni from the UK, and I am almost determined to accept the offer although I still have two more alternatives. I emailed my supervisor during my MA study to let her know my intention. She is an experienced lecturer who definitely knows a lot about the universities in the UK.

And here is an excerpt from her reply：

Congratulations on the PhD place at XXX - a great university, you'll be well looked after there. It's good that you have supervision on the area you are so interested in. You're not too far from XXX so perhaps you'll pop over for a visit some time! In fact you could come and talk to our MAs about moving from Masters to PhD, reasons for doing it, finding an area of interest, the whole process of applying etc!

What I am worried about is the sentence "you'll be well looked after there". Does it imply anything or should be understood literally? I know she LOVES to use euphemism in her speech. As I am a non-native speaker of English, I am not very sure about how I can interpret this sentence and would like to seek your advice.

Thank you very much in advance.


Why does that phrase worry you?

Thread: originality in the social sciences or humanities

posted
28-Jun-18, 10:12
Avatar for Thesisfun
posted about 6 months ago
You don't have to change the world- just make an original contribution to knowledge. You can be very niche.

For example, if you are interested in Charles Dickens, you could do a PhD about his moustache length.

Thread: Supervisor Dilemma and Competency Issues

posted
06-Jun-18, 13:38
edited about 8 seconds later
Avatar for Thesisfun
posted about 6 months ago
If you are getting adequate support, then it hardly seems worth the effort!

The difference between a primary and secondary supervisor typically makes more difference to the supervisors (and university metrics), so if B isn't bothered, then no need to worry!

In terms of papers, the last author is usually the senior author so should be: you, A, B. If A wants to go last, just say that B is professor so usual practice to put them last.
(This may be discipline dependent!!)

Thread: PhD at Salford University

posted
31-May-18, 18:26
edited about 23 seconds later
Avatar for Thesisfun
posted about 7 months ago
There are lots of ways to measure 'good'- e.g. prestige, student support, student experience.

The fact that it appears to be the only university to offer you a place after three years of trying may give you an idea as to how prestigious it is!
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