u/TheNavigatrix

Sent in an article to a journal 6/8 and just got a desk reject (for scope) from the editor. I'm pissed off about this -- is that legit? Thinking of sending a note to the editor. To put this in context, I am an Associate Editor for a journal myself, and at most we take 2 weeks for desk rejects. This isn't OK, is it?

" Upload written, signed permissions from each person named in the Acknowledgments. See (URL for journal -- just goes to the home page. THANKS, SO HELPFUL!) . A sample text is available at http://www.elsevier.com/framework_products/promis_misc/dhjo_permission.pdf (DEAD LINK.)
To maintain a blinded manuscript, Acknowledgments should appear on the title page."

This is impossible to implement given that some of the people acknowledged have / have been retired from the federal agency that funded the research. Others have moved jobs and I have no idea how to track them down.

Article was submitted and I got a letter back that I had to re-submit. The letter said that 90% of articles were returned due to not meeting formatting requirements. (GEE, PERHAPS YOU SHOULD RE-THINK THOSE, HUH?)

They keep telling me I have to accept track changes on the COREQ form I submitted. There are no track changes on it.

WHY IS EVERYTHING SO CONVOLUTED?

I have literally just spent my whole afternoon battling with the various systems necessary to book travel for two conferences. I saved up the pain for one day. Before you can book anything, you need to do a pre-travel authorization form that involves a long list of required fields, such as the ID tag number for any university devices you're taking on your trip. Once you've done the pre-authorization requests, you can then book your travel. Which, of course, is always a joy. Then I have to get the admin to pay for the registration fee because we aren't allowed to reclaim -- have to use the university credit card for this. Then you have to go back to the travel authorization site to list all of your expected expenses in advance of claiming anything...

Is this normal? I long for the days when I went on trips and just had a pile of receipts I entered into a spreadsheet.

And of course the university website for this is horribly organized.

Just venting.

I've read up on the stuff re disambiguation, but that doesn't seem to apply to what's going on. I have a Zotero folder with three papers by the same author, Katherine Pearson. The first two listings appear as they should, with just "Pearson". The third one shows Pearson, Katherine. I have deleted and re-entered it.

Similarly, I have another listing with Kreidler, Mike, along with a few others. And of course when I do the in-text citation (APA 7), it shows the first name. WHY?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Various academic societies have been working on tools so that you can write individualized comments on the disastrous rules being proposal by OMB -- the most notorious of which is making peer review "advisory".

I urge anyone interested to take the time to submit comments.

https://www.aps.org/initiatives/advocate-amplify/policy/federal-grants-rule-change

Here's the note I got from my academic society:

The scientific community is mobilizing in response to a recently published proposed rule from the White House Office of Management and Budget that would give political appointees new authority over federal grant-making. We are facing a transformative shift in how grants are administered, with far-reaching implications. It's vital that every member of the scientific community speak up to both the presidential administration and Congress. Major changes in this proposed rule include:

• A senior political appointee would be required to review and approve every discretionary grant announcement and every award decision; peer-review panels would take on a more advisory role.
• Agencies could terminate a grant at any time if it is no longer considered in alignment with current federal priorities or the national interest.
• Article processing charges for open-access journal publication would be unallowable; costs for attending conferences would be unallowable unless expressly approved by the granting agency.

GSA created a summary sheet of how its members and science-related fields would be affected.

 

What You Can Do as a Scientist-Citizen

• Submit a public comment for this proposed rule by the administration's July 13 deadline. It is most impactful for you to respond as an individual, citing the section of the proposal you are responding to, and articulating how you, your research, and your community would be harmed. Provide data documenting the adverse impact if possible. Each response should be unique, rather than signing an existing letter template. A colleague scientific organization, The American Physical Society, has created a tool with open-ended prompts to help you draft and submit a response to the administration.
• Share the same message with Congress, using GSA's website to find contact information for your representative and senators. Congress needs to hear from constituents about the local impact of this proposal. They proved to be bipartisan allies last year in preventing the administration's proposed cuts to the NIH budget and allowable indirect costs for grants. Also raise the same concerns with members of the Senate HELP Committee and House appropriations subcommittees, which have jurisdiction over NIH and aging programs.

My son lives in New York and has health insurance through his employer. I live in Massachusetts and have health insurance through my employer, and pay a family rate. My son was covered under my insurance up until he was employed. His employer plan has no premiums, but a hefty co-pay - $5000. He just went through a day where he went to an emergent care clinic, and then ended up in the ER, where they diagnosed appendicitis and scheduled him for surgery. Well, that likely means that he’ll hit the $5000 deductible, but then we have to pay that $5000 deductible - no way he can pay that by himself. This is his first job and he’s not paid very much. So the question is, is there any way that my family plan could help cover the cost? in doing some googling, I see that it is in fact possible to combine to insurances, but I’m not sure how this works cross-state. When he was in college, our insurance covered him in a different state, so it looks like it’s possible.

I would appreciate any thoughts on this! Thanks so much.