The worst supervisor is not someone who is hyper-critical,
The worst thing a supervisor can do is to provide no feedback or refuse to give any comment.

Sometimes, they may not accept the paper for oral presentation,
but suggest it to be presented as poster.

Why should they reject your money? :-)

If possible, you should cite the works of invited speakers or scholars who may present in this conference.
Some professors may feel very upset because their works are very important but you simply do not cite them.

Wait, better check if this conference is reliable.
It can be folded again...

Hi Changer88,

My supervisor is also sitting on my paper, but for more than ONE year. However, just received final amendment from her...
Do take note that publication is not as simple as it may seem. Even professors who are native speakers of English can be criticized for the quality of paper. Once your paper is rejected, some of your ideas could be further developed by the reviewers...

As for patent, it can be more tricky. You may approach your university's Technology Transfer Office or equivalent for advice. Meanwhile, you may want to google "Patent war" or "Laser Patent"...

Hi ywan459,

Are you sure you want to wait for 3 more months? Did you have feeling of heart-attack? :-)
200 pages of thesis can be read by most examiners in less than 2 months.
Can you tell him that you can be responsible for any outcome of the examination? major revision is fine?

If not, try to start working soon? Or ask B to help you to find a job? Since he creates this problem...
Or quickly write this chapter as a paper?

Let's assume every year an university accepts 50 PhD students... If this university creates 5 academic jobs or less every year, what will happen if these students cannot find any decent job later? It is fine if the main intention is the love of wisdom. Actually, some PhDs become technicians or technical operators... Hopefully, all can find fulfillment in their jobs...

Hi Ywan459,

When A asked whether you were looking for a job, you could tell him you need to have backup plan... You could have discussed the possibility of post-doc at the same time.

There is nothing really wrong for B to make new comments on this chapter. Just because the chapter was published, does not mean that it must be perfect. (To comment "This chapter is perfect!" may suggest laziness.) Just be open-minded: maybe B is wrong, but it could suggest how the thesis could be polished. Note that once your thesis is submitted, you may discover some weaknesses like typos which you wish they were eliminated before submission. It happens to me.

Anyway, one of my external examiners has expressed interest to collaborate with me on a paper related to my thesis. However, he could be the first author; he is often the first author in publications. Perhaps, his students and colleagues do not mind because he is the Head of Department. Since he is an editor of a journal, so I hope this paper will be published soon. Even second author is fine.

Some professors may prefer to be the first author and the corresponding author.
Some universities may prefer the supervisor to be the corresponding author.

Some PhD students may prefer to please their supervisors in exchange for a good letter of recommendation.
By NOT claiming all credits on the paper published, during the interview, could also be impressive.

Yes. HazyJane is right! It can happen to ALL journals.

If the journal has higher acceptance rate, say 30%, your paper will be published.
Thus, your ideas will be less likely to be re-packaged and submitted by the reviewer to another journal.

However, higher acceptance rate, say 80%, may suggest low quality journal. Even reviewer's comment can be very negative, but they still request for money to publish your work. Kind of scam journal...

Why was Joker laughing when Batman was beating Joker violently?
One school of thought is the violence in Joker has spread into Batman. Batman has "become evil" by fighting with evil.

In graduate schools, the violence of supervisors may also infect the PhD students.
So, we should violate Newton’s Third Law, by not exerting violent reaction back to the "evil" supervisor.

It should be very nice of you to tell the Head of Department in a very nice way that you are trying to help your supervisor. In the industry, the environment can be more harsh; they may think that the PhD students cannot take stress or pressure.

To pay PLOS US$ 2, 900 for publishing a paper? It is worth more than 10 Longchamp bags. :-)

Another problem is this journal has 10% acceptance rate. It is possible for the reviewers to steal your ideas.

I feel that postgraduate students should go for journals that have approximately 30% acceptance rate. Alternatively, we could try a regional journal before international journal. There are more than 10, 000 journals free of charge.

1. Question: I didn't know that submitting to a journal can be free. Hurmm... how could it be free? Even the top ones? Additionally, would the process of acceptance for a peer-reviewed journal be longer than a peer-reviewed conference?

A: Yes. It is FREE including the top journals. (Many universities are paying yearly subscription fees such that professors and students have access to these journal papers.) For peer-reviewed journals, the reviewers are professors who are very busy. They may read your paper line by line carefully. So, it could take longer time.
However, the process of acceptance for peer-reviewed conference depends on their deadline set; it also depends on the number of conference papers submitted. They may score the submitted papers, and determine the final selections. (For some conferences, postgraduate students could be the reviewers.)

2. Question: Wait, if a peer-reviewed (conference) paper has been accepted, why would it be considered worthless after the presentation? If the professors consider it worthless, then surely that's that fault of the reviewer.

A: Some brilliant professors may expose the weaknesses of the papers such that the validity of research results can be questionable. The reviewers cannot determine the reliability of the papers simply based on the abstracts; but they’ve helped the conference to be *profitable*.

3. Question: I assume for journal publications, unlike conference proceedings, there are no presentations?
Answer: My answer is yes and no. Yes, there should be no presentations.
However, if this journal publication helps you to achieve a Nobel Prize or equivalent, you may have to present this paper everyday or every week, for some time…

Lastly, HazyJane may have misrepresented my view. :-)
I am NOT against ALL Open Access Journals; BUT those open access journals that collect money to allow for publications; i.e. those that compromise quality to make profit.

Difficult question, but here are some guesses...

1. Relationship?: Some sociable professors ask their friends to be the examiners. These examiners are not exactly in your field, so they may simply recommend a pass. They have good relationship with your professor; they know that asking for resubmission suggests your professor did not provide good guidance for your thesis. However, the final decision of the committee also depends on the collegiality of the department.

2. Whose rank is higher?: If this examiner is someone prominent in the field, the committee may not want to offend this professor. (Your supervisor should select the examiner carefully.) So, hopefully, your supervisor is a Full Professor, but the examiner is an Associate Professor.

3. Publication as a support?: If you have publications in reputable journal, then there is possibly better chance... Therefore, it may suggest the examiner is biased…

4. The examiner has excellent writing skill as compared to you?: Some PhD thesis has substance, but it may not be very well written. It needs some more polishing… or re-submission.

When the examiner recommends a resubmission, there should be some justifications. If your professor is “strong” and “vocal”, he or she could defend you or suggest a third examiner. But it is also sometimes possible to have politics between your professor and the examiner… Unfortunately, this examiner could be likely an expert in your field and someone who has IQ, but less EQ. It is only a PhD thesis, some examiners are more kind.

You are doing meta-theory analysis or simply meta-theory.

Here are some possibilities:
1. Identifying the cognitive paradigms that underlie the proposed theory.
2. Identifying the assumptions underlying the theory.
3. Identifying the historical evolution of the theory…

So, you want to become a meta-theorist? Meta-theorist’s work may evoke criticism and hostility due to the resistance to change one’s belief…

There are at least two more differences:

1. Money versus free

For Conference papers (proceeding), you usually need to register and pay certain amount of money. For journal papers, it can be free of charge, and receive free pre-prints.
However, there are open access journals which require “money”! These journals have been criticized on quality grounds, as the need to obtain *extra* publication fees could result in these journals to relax the standard of peer review. I was told to avoid these journals.

2. Open versus close

You can be openly praised for your research, but I have also seen postgraduate students look very *pale* after their presentations. Why? Some professors enjoy attending the presentations and attacking students' work publicly; your supervisor’s reputation may also be affected. Your work could be known useless openly!
However, reviewers’ comments from journals may hint that your papers are worthless; but only the editor, reviewers and you know this outcome. It could be kept as a secret. :-)