It is not easy being a research advisor if you are a nice guy. As an advisor, it is my responsibility to say “No” when I feel that a certain course of action will be counterproductive to my students. I also need to be brutally honest in research matters, and I have found useful to outline some “guidelines” for my graduate students, not because of the good ones, but just in case that I come across a “not-so-good” or even an “evil” one…
The thing is that as I have said elsewhere the scientific world will not take pity on anyone when they make a mistake. Scientists are NOTORIOUS nitpickers, and will gladly, happily, and with gusto call you on your mistakes. I am no exception, but in the case of my own guys I am especially tough because inevitably, somebody will find a mistake in anything that they write and from my side, I want to spare my own students from that by catching these mistakes first, to the best of my ability. In other words, it’s better that I point out a mistake than allow them to be embarrassed in public. It is a little like being a good parent; the “kids” may not like what I have to say but whatever I say is in good faith and for their benefit.
Incidentally, I am not immune to that; I have been caught on mistakes in my writings and have been humbled by the experience, but I have also learned a lot from each instance.
I am painfully aware that many students do not like it when I “go nuts” while proofreading. And do you know what? I do not care one bit because it is in their best interest, period. I have been called a “nitpicker” (a medal of honor in my book), “righteous” (I am not sure what they meant then) and even worse (and I always know what they say about me somebody always tells me, which amuses me to no end…).
A former thesis student of mine coined what I think is a wonderful term: “Paganization”. This is what happened when an advanced student gives me a paper or thesis to look at. The Paganization procedure takes place when I get my “evil red pen” and proceed to proofread. After the document is “Paganized” there is frequently as much amount of red ink as of black ink. I then give the document back to its author and go through as many interactions as required to make it ready to tell the world about the wonderful research from my laboratory (:-D)…
Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that the procedure has no religious / spiritual implications; it is merely a wordplay derived from my last name.
I am not sure how to conclude the post, so I will just show you a picture of myself with my evil red pen…
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Pharmacology – Biology – Neuroscience – Science – Research – Planaria – Writing – Education – Autism
You might want to use your red pen and change the last word from I to me.
Well, at least you know that the teacher looked at it when the paper is completely red. I sometimes got stuff back with 1 or 2 comments max, or nothing at all, and than it feels like you wrote the whole thing for no reason (I mean, you don’t learn anything if no one tells you what’s wrong)
Exactly; THANK YOU! (:-)
It’s great—you are showing your students professionalism and that you definitely care about their future in science–
Thanks! Sadly, not all of them see it like that.
A good editor is the most valuable resource a writer can have, no matter the subject. As Stephen King said, a writer has to learn to “kill their darlings”, but for most writers, they’re too precious, and an editor’s red pen is often the only thing that gets the job done.