How do researchers send unsolicited emails asking for feedback on their works?Why shouldn't an unsolicited email asking for opinion include the links to the articles?Is it appropriate (as a PhD student) to email other researchers asking about some details in their papers?Is it appropriate to drop by another university's professor's lecture to talk about research afterwards?What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?How should a graduate student email a professor from another country in order to get feedback on their work?Emailing a professor in another country for a feedback on a project that I'm working on?Optimal structure of cover letter for PhD application submitted directly to PIEthics of scraping “public” data sources to obtain email addressesProfessor asks me if I have other options (to apply). How should I answer?How does one politely request an instrument from a researcher?Is it rude to use tracking softwares for the emails that you send to potential advisors?Is it appropriate for department administrators to send political emails?Is it appropriate (as a PhD student) to email other researchers asking about some details in their papers?How do researchers ask others for comments and advices for their research?Is it appropriate to drop by another university's professor's lecture to talk about research afterwards?Why shouldn't an unsolicited email asking for opinion include the links to the articles?
Is it possible to stack the damage done by the Absorb Elements spell?
Writing in a Christian voice
How can an organ that provides biological immortality be unable to regenerate?
Should I be concerned about student access to a test bank?
Java Collections sort method for String is not working properly for case sensitive and special chars
Could Sinn Fein swing any Brexit vote in Parliament?
PTIJ: Why do we blow Shofar on Rosh Hashana and use a Lulav on Sukkos?
Probably overheated black color SMD pads
When did hardware antialiasing start being available?
Is there a creature that is resistant or immune to damage from a non-magical source other than bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing?
Should I use acronyms in dialogues before telling the readers what it stands for in fiction?
What exactly term 'companion plants' means?
Inhabiting Mars versus going straight for a Dyson swarm
How can I get files using find command
How does ことし配信された動画配信大手 work as an attribute here
Vector of pair with const member
part of speech - "微" 管仲，吾其被髮左衽矣。
Would it be believable to defy demographics in a story?
When was the first strap-on used in space(flight)?
How are passwords stolen from companies if they only store hashes?
Print last inputted byte
Someone scrambled my calling sign- who am I?
Why is indicated airspeed rather than ground speed used during the takeoff roll?
Is it insecure to send a password in a `curl` command?
How do researchers send unsolicited emails asking for feedback on their works?
Why shouldn't an unsolicited email asking for opinion include the links to the articles?Is it appropriate (as a PhD student) to email other researchers asking about some details in their papers?Is it appropriate to drop by another university's professor's lecture to talk about research afterwards?What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?How should a graduate student email a professor from another country in order to get feedback on their work?Emailing a professor in another country for a feedback on a project that I'm working on?Optimal structure of cover letter for PhD application submitted directly to PIEthics of scraping “public” data sources to obtain email addressesProfessor asks me if I have other options (to apply). How should I answer?How does one politely request an instrument from a researcher?Is it rude to use tracking softwares for the emails that you send to potential advisors?Is it appropriate for department administrators to send political emails?Is it appropriate (as a PhD student) to email other researchers asking about some details in their papers?How do researchers ask others for comments and advices for their research?Is it appropriate to drop by another university's professor's lecture to talk about research afterwards?Why shouldn't an unsolicited email asking for opinion include the links to the articles?
I wonder how a researcher send an unsolicited email to another one asking for feedback to their work. I guess it will be something like this?
Hello Dr. X
To introduce myself, I am Y, in institute Z. I'm sorry if this email is not convenient at this time, but my work about A is highly relevant to your work in B, so I think it will be interesting to you too. If possible, can you take a look at it and tell me what you think? Here is the link: Human interaction with cats
Thank you for your reading, hope you enjoy it.
I wonder if the summary/abstract should be included in the email too, since the principle for asking good question is to show everything you know about it. Maybe it's not necessary, since the title of the link should prove its interestingness nevertheless? I'd like to have your confirm.
I'm also interested in the case where Y has no Z, and the link is just a collection of observations posted in a blog, not a full paper with proper citation and literary review. It is possible that the observations may have been covered in the field, but Y isn't aware of that yet.
I also think that if the link is interesting enough, then putting a tracking method in there is fine too? Even if they finds out, they wouldn't feel insulted either, because they find that the link is indeed interesting.
Related:
• Is it appropriate (as a PhD student) to email other researchers asking about some details in their papers?
• Is it appropriate to drop by another university's professor's lecture to talk about research afterwards?
• What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?
etiquette email abstract feedback hyperlinks
asked 9 hours ago
OokerOoker
4,93253192
add a comment |
I wonder how a researcher send an unsolicited email to another one asking for feedback to their work. I guess it will be something like this?
Hello Dr. X
To introduce myself, I am Y, in institute Z. I'm sorry if this email is not convenient at this time, but my work about A is highly relevant to your work in B, so I think it will be interesting to you too. If possible, can you take a look at it and tell me what you think? Here is the link: Human interaction with cats
Thank you for your reading, hope you enjoy it.
I wonder if the summary/abstract should be included in the email too, since the principle for asking good question is to show everything you know about it. Maybe it's not necessary, since the title of the link should prove its interestingness nevertheless? I'd like to have your confirm.
I'm also interested in the case where Y has no Z, and the link is just a collection of observations posted in a blog, not a full paper with proper citation and literary review. It is possible that the observations may have been covered in the field, but Y isn't aware of that yet.
I also think that if the link is interesting enough, then putting a tracking method in there is fine too? Even if they finds out, they wouldn't feel insulted either, because they find that the link is indeed interesting.
Related:
• Is it appropriate (as a PhD student) to email other researchers asking about some details in their papers?
• Is it appropriate to drop by another university's professor's lecture to talk about research afterwards?
• What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?
etiquette email abstract feedback hyperlinks
asked 9 hours ago
OokerOoker
4,93253192
2
Possible duplicate of What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?
– David Ketcheson
5 hours ago
6
Personally, I would feel insulted by tracking methods no matter the contents. And they'd also greatly reduce the chance of me clicking on the link in the first place.
– nengel
3 hours ago
They hit the send button.
– user2705196
2 hours ago
@nengel well I think putting it upfront is fine, and the problem is just how to write such notice. See What to write in a notice about tracking method in links? in Information Security
– Ooker
1 hour ago
add a comment |
I wonder how a researcher send an unsolicited email to another one asking for feedback to their work. I guess it will be something like this?
Hello Dr. X
To introduce myself, I am Y, in institute Z. I'm sorry if this email is not convenient at this time, but my work about A is highly relevant to your work in B, so I think it will be interesting to you too. If possible, can you take a look at it and tell me what you think? Here is the link: Human interaction with cats
Thank you for your reading, hope you enjoy it.
I wonder if the summary/abstract should be included in the email too, since the principle for asking good question is to show everything you know about it. Maybe it's not necessary, since the title of the link should prove its interestingness nevertheless? I'd like to have your confirm.
I'm also interested in the case where Y has no Z, and the link is just a collection of observations posted in a blog, not a full paper with proper citation and literary review. It is possible that the observations may have been covered in the field, but Y isn't aware of that yet.
I also think that if the link is interesting enough, then putting a tracking method in there is fine too? Even if they finds out, they wouldn't feel insulted either, because they find that the link is indeed interesting.
Related:
• Is it appropriate (as a PhD student) to email other researchers asking about some details in their papers?
• Is it appropriate to drop by another university's professor's lecture to talk about research afterwards?
• What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?
etiquette email abstract feedback hyperlinks
asked 9 hours ago
OokerOoker
4,93253192
I wonder how a researcher send an unsolicited email to another one asking for feedback to their work. I guess it will be something like this?
Hello Dr. X
To introduce myself, I am Y, in institute Z. I'm sorry if this email is not convenient at this time, but my work about A is highly relevant to your work in B, so I think it will be interesting to you too. If possible, can you take a look at it and tell me what you think? Here is the link: Human interaction with cats
Thank you for your reading, hope you enjoy it.
I wonder if the summary/abstract should be included in the email too, since the principle for asking good question is to show everything you know about it. Maybe it's not necessary, since the title of the link should prove its interestingness nevertheless? I'd like to have your confirm.
I'm also interested in the case where Y has no Z, and the link is just a collection of observations posted in a blog, not a full paper with proper citation and literary review. It is possible that the observations may have been covered in the field, but Y isn't aware of that yet.
I also think that if the link is interesting enough, then putting a tracking method in there is fine too? Even if they finds out, they wouldn't feel insulted either, because they find that the link is indeed interesting.
Related:
• Is it appropriate (as a PhD student) to email other researchers asking about some details in their papers?
• Is it appropriate to drop by another university's professor's lecture to talk about research afterwards?
• What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?
etiquette email abstract feedback hyperlinks
etiquette email abstract feedback hyperlinks
asked 9 hours ago
OokerOoker
4,93253192
asked 9 hours ago
OokerOoker
4,93253192
edited 4 mins ago
Ooker
asked 9 hours ago
OokerOoker
4,93253192
asked 9 hours ago
OokerOoker
4,93253192
asked 9 hours ago
OokerOoker
4,93253192
4,93253192
2
Possible duplicate of What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?
– David Ketcheson
5 hours ago
6
Personally, I would feel insulted by tracking methods no matter the contents. And they'd also greatly reduce the chance of me clicking on the link in the first place.
– nengel
3 hours ago
They hit the send button.
– user2705196
2 hours ago
@nengel well I think putting it upfront is fine, and the problem is just how to write such notice. See What to write in a notice about tracking method in links? in Information Security
– Ooker
1 hour ago
add a comment |
2
Possible duplicate of What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?
– David Ketcheson
5 hours ago
6
Personally, I would feel insulted by tracking methods no matter the contents. And they'd also greatly reduce the chance of me clicking on the link in the first place.
– nengel
3 hours ago
They hit the send button.
– user2705196
2 hours ago
@nengel well I think putting it upfront is fine, and the problem is just how to write such notice. See What to write in a notice about tracking method in links? in Information Security
– Ooker
1 hour ago
2
2
Possible duplicate of What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?
– David Ketcheson
5 hours ago
Possible duplicate of What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?
– David Ketcheson
5 hours ago
6
6
Personally, I would feel insulted by tracking methods no matter the contents. And they'd also greatly reduce the chance of me clicking on the link in the first place.
– nengel
3 hours ago
Personally, I would feel insulted by tracking methods no matter the contents. And they'd also greatly reduce the chance of me clicking on the link in the first place.
– nengel
3 hours ago
They hit the send button.
– user2705196
2 hours ago
They hit the send button.
– user2705196
2 hours ago
@nengel well I think putting it upfront is fine, and the problem is just how to write such notice. See What to write in a notice about tracking method in links? in Information Security
– Ooker
1 hour ago
@nengel well I think putting it upfront is fine, and the problem is just how to write such notice. See What to write in a notice about tracking method in links? in Information Security
– Ooker
1 hour ago
add a comment |
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
Essentially, you have three challenges that work against you receiving an answer to this mail:
- You need to avoid your mail to appear like academic spam. Your email draft is rather good in that sense because it is short, nicely written, and free of the usual keywords that trigger people's mental spam filter ("submit your article", "endorse this and that", and so on). However, adding a tracking mechanism is certainly not a good idea for this reason alone.
- You need to avoid appearing like a quack. Both, not pointing to an actual paper and not currently working at a university work against you in that regard. While I agree with Dan that it "should" not matter in principle, I am afraid in practice it will. I assume most recipients are considerably more likely to open an email sent from a person working at a reputable university pointing at an arxiv link or journal paper than a mail from a person without affiliation sending them a link to their personal blog.
- It needs to be clear enough why it should be a priority for the recipient to read what you sent them. Quite frankly, something being interesting to my work is not enough - my to-read list currently contains some 50 or so papers, all of which are presumably interesting to my work (and some of which I need to review). There just never is enough time to actually read all of them. I think your chances of moving to the top of this list are higher if (a) there is a clear question (that is interesting to me) in the email, and (b) the material is short enough that I can read and comment within half an hour or less.
answered 7 hours ago
xLeitixxLeitix
102k37246387
7
An almost unrelated anecdote - a few days ago I received a request from a person I never heard of that I should "endorse him as the greatest living computer scientist", because his government is unwilling to grant this title to him. Enclosed were a few unremarkable self-published research works, and a letter exchange between him and a rep from his local government where he tried to make his point that he needs to be officially named the "greatest computer scientist on the planet". The government rep was at least as confused as I was about the entire thing.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
The email started with "As you are surely aware XYZ is the most important figure in Computer Science today." Not sure why I am bringing this up, but maybe it indicates why academics are so sceptical about unsolicited emails. There is just a lot of weird stuff coming into our mail boxes.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
Point 3 is gold for me. If in the email I include (a) a question that related to their work, but somehow can be answer by my work, and (b) a sentence that it is just a post which can be read under 5 minutes, what do you think? How about not putting the link at all but just asking them questions? That may solve everything.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
add a comment |
The real answer is that they don't. I'm sorry, but I can't slice it any other way. You would need all the planets to align in order to receive an answer after such an email. You are asking someone who doesn't know you and who is probably very busy (like all academics) to provide you a big favor for nothing in return. Because let's be honest, giving feedback on someone else's work is taxing. The best case scenario is that you get very vague and superficial feedback about the first page of your paper.
Instead, ask your colleagues, or people you have already built a rapport with (an advisor or former advisor, a collaborator...). Or do it the hard way and submit it for publication. You will get (anonymous) feedback. But make sure first that your paper is close to being ready for publication, because you don't want a desk rejection, and you don't want to be known as that person who wastes referees' time by submitting drafts.
answered 3 hours ago
user105705user105705
2013
New contributor
user105705 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I can't help but upvote this.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
just to make sure, are you saying that the recipients don't answer emails like this, even if the senders are from legitimated institutes, or are you saying the person with the paper don't send email asking for feedback at the beginning?
– Ooker
2 hours ago
7
@Ooker Recipients probably won't answer emails like this if the sender isn't known to them. People do send around papers for feedback prior to submission, but typically only to people they have some sort of pre-existing relationship with - they've collaborated, or corresponded about prior work, or have met at a conference, etc. At the very least the interaction is mediated by a common colleague ("Hey Joe, could you look at Bob's paper?"). It's less about "legitimate institutes" and more about existing personal relationships.
– R.M.
1 hour ago
@R.M. I see. Thanks. I didn't realize that. But I wonder if so, then how do they have time to write emails for grad applications? They are unsolicted too.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
@Ooker Do you mean something like a reference letter? In that case, the professor and the prospective grad student have some sort of existing relationship already (because they would not ask for a letter otherwise), and the professor likely has incentive for the student to succeed; they could someday collaborate, the professor could be acknowledged in other works, and helping a good student to succeed would improve their field of work. Mentors tend to make time for their mentees, but not so much for total strangers.
– Kevin Miller
24 mins ago
|
show 1 more comment
Hello Dr. X
To introduce myself, I am Y, in institute Z.
Looks good so far.
I'm sorry if this email is not convenient at this time, but my work about A is highly relevant to your work in B, so I think it will be interesting to you too.
Why are you “sorry”? I think it’s a mistake to apologize or use words that suggest you feel you are doing something wrong for sending the email. Sending the email is fine, and conversely, if you really were doing something wrong, then you shouldn’t send it.
If possible, can you take a look at it and tell me what you think?
This seems rude to me and decreases the chance (which admittedly is in any case quite small) that you will receive meaningful feedback. This person doesn’t owe you anything, so don’t ask them to do something: they will either do it because they are naturally inclined to do it, or they won’t. I would say instead “I welcome any comments or feedback you might have.”
Also, if you must ask a question, “what do you think?” is a bad question to ask since it is completely open-ended. Make the question precise and specific.
Here is the link: Human interaction with cats
Thank you for your reading, hope you enjoy it.
This part looks good.
I wonder if the summary/abstract should be included in the email too, since the principle for asking good question is to show everything you know about it. Maybe it's not necessary, since the title of the link should prove its interestingness nevertheless? I'd like to have your confirm.
Keep it as short as possible. You already said the work is about A and is related to the recipient’s work on B. I don’t think any more information is necessary. If you really think anything more should be added, write something that’s tailored specifically to the person you’re sending the email to and to their interests instead of a pasted summary.
I'm also interested in the case where Y has no Z, and the link is just a collection of observations posted in a blog, not a full paper with proper citation and literary review. It is possible that the observations may have been covered in the field, but Y isn't aware of that yet.
This shouldn’t matter. Blogs can be just as interesting as finished papers, just include the link and a description of your affiliation if you have one.
I also think that if the link is interesting enough, then putting a tracking method in there is fine too? Even if X finds out, they wouldn't feel insulted either, because they find that the link is indeed interesting.
If I noticed a tracking mechanism in the link, I would delete the email immediately, so I would never get to find out if the content was interesting. (There’s also a chance the email would be filtered by various spam filters, and some mail software might preload the link contents so you would think that it was viewed even when it wasn’t. So it’s a bad idea on multiple levels.)
edited 2 hours ago
Ooker
4,93253192
answered 8 hours ago
Dan RomikDan Romik
86.9k22188285
8
“Why are you ‘sorry’?” — Perhaps this is a US/UK cultural difference, but to me, as a Brit, it seems clear that this “sorry” isn’t a marked apology, it’s part of a perfectly normal politeness formula, and on the whole that’s good, since a message without any such formulas can easily come across as brusque or presumptuous.
– PLL
7 hours ago
@PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...
– Solar Mike
5 hours ago
@PLL people overuse/misuse “sorry” in the US as well. As this article shows, I’m not the only one who finds this annoying and that it often undermines the intent of the person doing the apologizing. I suspect you’ll find similar articles that were published “across the pond”.
– Dan Romik
17 mins ago
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "415"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2facademia.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f126623%2fhow-do-researchers-send-unsolicited-emails-asking-for-feedback-on-their-works%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Essentially, you have three challenges that work against you receiving an answer to this mail:
- You need to avoid your mail to appear like academic spam. Your email draft is rather good in that sense because it is short, nicely written, and free of the usual keywords that trigger people's mental spam filter ("submit your article", "endorse this and that", and so on). However, adding a tracking mechanism is certainly not a good idea for this reason alone.
- You need to avoid appearing like a quack. Both, not pointing to an actual paper and not currently working at a university work against you in that regard. While I agree with Dan that it "should" not matter in principle, I am afraid in practice it will. I assume most recipients are considerably more likely to open an email sent from a person working at a reputable university pointing at an arxiv link or journal paper than a mail from a person without affiliation sending them a link to their personal blog.
- It needs to be clear enough why it should be a priority for the recipient to read what you sent them. Quite frankly, something being interesting to my work is not enough - my to-read list currently contains some 50 or so papers, all of which are presumably interesting to my work (and some of which I need to review). There just never is enough time to actually read all of them. I think your chances of moving to the top of this list are higher if (a) there is a clear question (that is interesting to me) in the email, and (b) the material is short enough that I can read and comment within half an hour or less.
answered 7 hours ago
xLeitixxLeitix
102k37246387
7
An almost unrelated anecdote - a few days ago I received a request from a person I never heard of that I should "endorse him as the greatest living computer scientist", because his government is unwilling to grant this title to him. Enclosed were a few unremarkable self-published research works, and a letter exchange between him and a rep from his local government where he tried to make his point that he needs to be officially named the "greatest computer scientist on the planet". The government rep was at least as confused as I was about the entire thing.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
The email started with "As you are surely aware XYZ is the most important figure in Computer Science today." Not sure why I am bringing this up, but maybe it indicates why academics are so sceptical about unsolicited emails. There is just a lot of weird stuff coming into our mail boxes.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
Point 3 is gold for me. If in the email I include (a) a question that related to their work, but somehow can be answer by my work, and (b) a sentence that it is just a post which can be read under 5 minutes, what do you think? How about not putting the link at all but just asking them questions? That may solve everything.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Essentially, you have three challenges that work against you receiving an answer to this mail:
- You need to avoid your mail to appear like academic spam. Your email draft is rather good in that sense because it is short, nicely written, and free of the usual keywords that trigger people's mental spam filter ("submit your article", "endorse this and that", and so on). However, adding a tracking mechanism is certainly not a good idea for this reason alone.
- You need to avoid appearing like a quack. Both, not pointing to an actual paper and not currently working at a university work against you in that regard. While I agree with Dan that it "should" not matter in principle, I am afraid in practice it will. I assume most recipients are considerably more likely to open an email sent from a person working at a reputable university pointing at an arxiv link or journal paper than a mail from a person without affiliation sending them a link to their personal blog.
- It needs to be clear enough why it should be a priority for the recipient to read what you sent them. Quite frankly, something being interesting to my work is not enough - my to-read list currently contains some 50 or so papers, all of which are presumably interesting to my work (and some of which I need to review). There just never is enough time to actually read all of them. I think your chances of moving to the top of this list are higher if (a) there is a clear question (that is interesting to me) in the email, and (b) the material is short enough that I can read and comment within half an hour or less.
answered 7 hours ago
xLeitixxLeitix
102k37246387
7
An almost unrelated anecdote - a few days ago I received a request from a person I never heard of that I should "endorse him as the greatest living computer scientist", because his government is unwilling to grant this title to him. Enclosed were a few unremarkable self-published research works, and a letter exchange between him and a rep from his local government where he tried to make his point that he needs to be officially named the "greatest computer scientist on the planet". The government rep was at least as confused as I was about the entire thing.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
The email started with "As you are surely aware XYZ is the most important figure in Computer Science today." Not sure why I am bringing this up, but maybe it indicates why academics are so sceptical about unsolicited emails. There is just a lot of weird stuff coming into our mail boxes.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
Point 3 is gold for me. If in the email I include (a) a question that related to their work, but somehow can be answer by my work, and (b) a sentence that it is just a post which can be read under 5 minutes, what do you think? How about not putting the link at all but just asking them questions? That may solve everything.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
add a comment |
Essentially, you have three challenges that work against you receiving an answer to this mail:
- You need to avoid your mail to appear like academic spam. Your email draft is rather good in that sense because it is short, nicely written, and free of the usual keywords that trigger people's mental spam filter ("submit your article", "endorse this and that", and so on). However, adding a tracking mechanism is certainly not a good idea for this reason alone.
- You need to avoid appearing like a quack. Both, not pointing to an actual paper and not currently working at a university work against you in that regard. While I agree with Dan that it "should" not matter in principle, I am afraid in practice it will. I assume most recipients are considerably more likely to open an email sent from a person working at a reputable university pointing at an arxiv link or journal paper than a mail from a person without affiliation sending them a link to their personal blog.
- It needs to be clear enough why it should be a priority for the recipient to read what you sent them. Quite frankly, something being interesting to my work is not enough - my to-read list currently contains some 50 or so papers, all of which are presumably interesting to my work (and some of which I need to review). There just never is enough time to actually read all of them. I think your chances of moving to the top of this list are higher if (a) there is a clear question (that is interesting to me) in the email, and (b) the material is short enough that I can read and comment within half an hour or less.
answered 7 hours ago
xLeitixxLeitix
102k37246387
Essentially, you have three challenges that work against you receiving an answer to this mail:
- You need to avoid your mail to appear like academic spam. Your email draft is rather good in that sense because it is short, nicely written, and free of the usual keywords that trigger people's mental spam filter ("submit your article", "endorse this and that", and so on). However, adding a tracking mechanism is certainly not a good idea for this reason alone.
- You need to avoid appearing like a quack. Both, not pointing to an actual paper and not currently working at a university work against you in that regard. While I agree with Dan that it "should" not matter in principle, I am afraid in practice it will. I assume most recipients are considerably more likely to open an email sent from a person working at a reputable university pointing at an arxiv link or journal paper than a mail from a person without affiliation sending them a link to their personal blog.
- It needs to be clear enough why it should be a priority for the recipient to read what you sent them. Quite frankly, something being interesting to my work is not enough - my to-read list currently contains some 50 or so papers, all of which are presumably interesting to my work (and some of which I need to review). There just never is enough time to actually read all of them. I think your chances of moving to the top of this list are higher if (a) there is a clear question (that is interesting to me) in the email, and (b) the material is short enough that I can read and comment within half an hour or less.
answered 7 hours ago
xLeitixxLeitix
102k37246387
answered 7 hours ago
xLeitixxLeitix
102k37246387
answered 7 hours ago
xLeitixxLeitix
102k37246387
answered 7 hours ago
xLeitixxLeitix
102k37246387
102k37246387
7
An almost unrelated anecdote - a few days ago I received a request from a person I never heard of that I should "endorse him as the greatest living computer scientist", because his government is unwilling to grant this title to him. Enclosed were a few unremarkable self-published research works, and a letter exchange between him and a rep from his local government where he tried to make his point that he needs to be officially named the "greatest computer scientist on the planet". The government rep was at least as confused as I was about the entire thing.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
The email started with "As you are surely aware XYZ is the most important figure in Computer Science today." Not sure why I am bringing this up, but maybe it indicates why academics are so sceptical about unsolicited emails. There is just a lot of weird stuff coming into our mail boxes.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
Point 3 is gold for me. If in the email I include (a) a question that related to their work, but somehow can be answer by my work, and (b) a sentence that it is just a post which can be read under 5 minutes, what do you think? How about not putting the link at all but just asking them questions? That may solve everything.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
add a comment |
7
An almost unrelated anecdote - a few days ago I received a request from a person I never heard of that I should "endorse him as the greatest living computer scientist", because his government is unwilling to grant this title to him. Enclosed were a few unremarkable self-published research works, and a letter exchange between him and a rep from his local government where he tried to make his point that he needs to be officially named the "greatest computer scientist on the planet". The government rep was at least as confused as I was about the entire thing.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
The email started with "As you are surely aware XYZ is the most important figure in Computer Science today." Not sure why I am bringing this up, but maybe it indicates why academics are so sceptical about unsolicited emails. There is just a lot of weird stuff coming into our mail boxes.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
Point 3 is gold for me. If in the email I include (a) a question that related to their work, but somehow can be answer by my work, and (b) a sentence that it is just a post which can be read under 5 minutes, what do you think? How about not putting the link at all but just asking them questions? That may solve everything.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
7
7
An almost unrelated anecdote - a few days ago I received a request from a person I never heard of that I should "endorse him as the greatest living computer scientist", because his government is unwilling to grant this title to him. Enclosed were a few unremarkable self-published research works, and a letter exchange between him and a rep from his local government where he tried to make his point that he needs to be officially named the "greatest computer scientist on the planet". The government rep was at least as confused as I was about the entire thing.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
An almost unrelated anecdote - a few days ago I received a request from a person I never heard of that I should "endorse him as the greatest living computer scientist", because his government is unwilling to grant this title to him. Enclosed were a few unremarkable self-published research works, and a letter exchange between him and a rep from his local government where he tried to make his point that he needs to be officially named the "greatest computer scientist on the planet". The government rep was at least as confused as I was about the entire thing.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
The email started with "As you are surely aware XYZ is the most important figure in Computer Science today." Not sure why I am bringing this up, but maybe it indicates why academics are so sceptical about unsolicited emails. There is just a lot of weird stuff coming into our mail boxes.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
The email started with "As you are surely aware XYZ is the most important figure in Computer Science today." Not sure why I am bringing this up, but maybe it indicates why academics are so sceptical about unsolicited emails. There is just a lot of weird stuff coming into our mail boxes.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
Point 3 is gold for me. If in the email I include (a) a question that related to their work, but somehow can be answer by my work, and (b) a sentence that it is just a post which can be read under 5 minutes, what do you think? How about not putting the link at all but just asking them questions? That may solve everything.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
Point 3 is gold for me. If in the email I include (a) a question that related to their work, but somehow can be answer by my work, and (b) a sentence that it is just a post which can be read under 5 minutes, what do you think? How about not putting the link at all but just asking them questions? That may solve everything.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
add a comment |
The real answer is that they don't. I'm sorry, but I can't slice it any other way. You would need all the planets to align in order to receive an answer after such an email. You are asking someone who doesn't know you and who is probably very busy (like all academics) to provide you a big favor for nothing in return. Because let's be honest, giving feedback on someone else's work is taxing. The best case scenario is that you get very vague and superficial feedback about the first page of your paper.
Instead, ask your colleagues, or people you have already built a rapport with (an advisor or former advisor, a collaborator...). Or do it the hard way and submit it for publication. You will get (anonymous) feedback. But make sure first that your paper is close to being ready for publication, because you don't want a desk rejection, and you don't want to be known as that person who wastes referees' time by submitting drafts.
answered 3 hours ago
user105705user105705
2013
New contributor
user105705 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I can't help but upvote this.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
just to make sure, are you saying that the recipients don't answer emails like this, even if the senders are from legitimated institutes, or are you saying the person with the paper don't send email asking for feedback at the beginning?
– Ooker
2 hours ago
7
@Ooker Recipients probably won't answer emails like this if the sender isn't known to them. People do send around papers for feedback prior to submission, but typically only to people they have some sort of pre-existing relationship with - they've collaborated, or corresponded about prior work, or have met at a conference, etc. At the very least the interaction is mediated by a common colleague ("Hey Joe, could you look at Bob's paper?"). It's less about "legitimate institutes" and more about existing personal relationships.
– R.M.
1 hour ago
@R.M. I see. Thanks. I didn't realize that. But I wonder if so, then how do they have time to write emails for grad applications? They are unsolicted too.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
@Ooker Do you mean something like a reference letter? In that case, the professor and the prospective grad student have some sort of existing relationship already (because they would not ask for a letter otherwise), and the professor likely has incentive for the student to succeed; they could someday collaborate, the professor could be acknowledged in other works, and helping a good student to succeed would improve their field of work. Mentors tend to make time for their mentees, but not so much for total strangers.
– Kevin Miller
24 mins ago
|
show 1 more comment
The real answer is that they don't. I'm sorry, but I can't slice it any other way. You would need all the planets to align in order to receive an answer after such an email. You are asking someone who doesn't know you and who is probably very busy (like all academics) to provide you a big favor for nothing in return. Because let's be honest, giving feedback on someone else's work is taxing. The best case scenario is that you get very vague and superficial feedback about the first page of your paper.
Instead, ask your colleagues, or people you have already built a rapport with (an advisor or former advisor, a collaborator...). Or do it the hard way and submit it for publication. You will get (anonymous) feedback. But make sure first that your paper is close to being ready for publication, because you don't want a desk rejection, and you don't want to be known as that person who wastes referees' time by submitting drafts.
answered 3 hours ago
user105705user105705
2013
New contributor
user105705 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I can't help but upvote this.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
just to make sure, are you saying that the recipients don't answer emails like this, even if the senders are from legitimated institutes, or are you saying the person with the paper don't send email asking for feedback at the beginning?
– Ooker
2 hours ago
7
@Ooker Recipients probably won't answer emails like this if the sender isn't known to them. People do send around papers for feedback prior to submission, but typically only to people they have some sort of pre-existing relationship with - they've collaborated, or corresponded about prior work, or have met at a conference, etc. At the very least the interaction is mediated by a common colleague ("Hey Joe, could you look at Bob's paper?"). It's less about "legitimate institutes" and more about existing personal relationships.
– R.M.
1 hour ago
@R.M. I see. Thanks. I didn't realize that. But I wonder if so, then how do they have time to write emails for grad applications? They are unsolicted too.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
@Ooker Do you mean something like a reference letter? In that case, the professor and the prospective grad student have some sort of existing relationship already (because they would not ask for a letter otherwise), and the professor likely has incentive for the student to succeed; they could someday collaborate, the professor could be acknowledged in other works, and helping a good student to succeed would improve their field of work. Mentors tend to make time for their mentees, but not so much for total strangers.
– Kevin Miller
24 mins ago
|
show 1 more comment
The real answer is that they don't. I'm sorry, but I can't slice it any other way. You would need all the planets to align in order to receive an answer after such an email. You are asking someone who doesn't know you and who is probably very busy (like all academics) to provide you a big favor for nothing in return. Because let's be honest, giving feedback on someone else's work is taxing. The best case scenario is that you get very vague and superficial feedback about the first page of your paper.
Instead, ask your colleagues, or people you have already built a rapport with (an advisor or former advisor, a collaborator...). Or do it the hard way and submit it for publication. You will get (anonymous) feedback. But make sure first that your paper is close to being ready for publication, because you don't want a desk rejection, and you don't want to be known as that person who wastes referees' time by submitting drafts.
answered 3 hours ago
user105705user105705
2013
New contributor
user105705 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
The real answer is that they don't. I'm sorry, but I can't slice it any other way. You would need all the planets to align in order to receive an answer after such an email. You are asking someone who doesn't know you and who is probably very busy (like all academics) to provide you a big favor for nothing in return. Because let's be honest, giving feedback on someone else's work is taxing. The best case scenario is that you get very vague and superficial feedback about the first page of your paper.
Instead, ask your colleagues, or people you have already built a rapport with (an advisor or former advisor, a collaborator...). Or do it the hard way and submit it for publication. You will get (anonymous) feedback. But make sure first that your paper is close to being ready for publication, because you don't want a desk rejection, and you don't want to be known as that person who wastes referees' time by submitting drafts.
answered 3 hours ago
user105705user105705
2013
New contributor
user105705 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 3 hours ago
user105705user105705
2013
New contributor
user105705 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 3 hours ago
user105705user105705
2013
answered 3 hours ago
user105705user105705
2013
2013
New contributor
user105705 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
user105705 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
user105705 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I can't help but upvote this.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
just to make sure, are you saying that the recipients don't answer emails like this, even if the senders are from legitimated institutes, or are you saying the person with the paper don't send email asking for feedback at the beginning?
– Ooker
2 hours ago
7
@Ooker Recipients probably won't answer emails like this if the sender isn't known to them. People do send around papers for feedback prior to submission, but typically only to people they have some sort of pre-existing relationship with - they've collaborated, or corresponded about prior work, or have met at a conference, etc. At the very least the interaction is mediated by a common colleague ("Hey Joe, could you look at Bob's paper?"). It's less about "legitimate institutes" and more about existing personal relationships.
– R.M.
1 hour ago
@R.M. I see. Thanks. I didn't realize that. But I wonder if so, then how do they have time to write emails for grad applications? They are unsolicted too.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
@Ooker Do you mean something like a reference letter? In that case, the professor and the prospective grad student have some sort of existing relationship already (because they would not ask for a letter otherwise), and the professor likely has incentive for the student to succeed; they could someday collaborate, the professor could be acknowledged in other works, and helping a good student to succeed would improve their field of work. Mentors tend to make time for their mentees, but not so much for total strangers.
– Kevin Miller
24 mins ago
|
show 1 more comment
I can't help but upvote this.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
just to make sure, are you saying that the recipients don't answer emails like this, even if the senders are from legitimated institutes, or are you saying the person with the paper don't send email asking for feedback at the beginning?
– Ooker
2 hours ago
7
@Ooker Recipients probably won't answer emails like this if the sender isn't known to them. People do send around papers for feedback prior to submission, but typically only to people they have some sort of pre-existing relationship with - they've collaborated, or corresponded about prior work, or have met at a conference, etc. At the very least the interaction is mediated by a common colleague ("Hey Joe, could you look at Bob's paper?"). It's less about "legitimate institutes" and more about existing personal relationships.
– R.M.
1 hour ago
@R.M. I see. Thanks. I didn't realize that. But I wonder if so, then how do they have time to write emails for grad applications? They are unsolicted too.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
@Ooker Do you mean something like a reference letter? In that case, the professor and the prospective grad student have some sort of existing relationship already (because they would not ask for a letter otherwise), and the professor likely has incentive for the student to succeed; they could someday collaborate, the professor could be acknowledged in other works, and helping a good student to succeed would improve their field of work. Mentors tend to make time for their mentees, but not so much for total strangers.
– Kevin Miller
24 mins ago
I can't help but upvote this.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
I can't help but upvote this.
– xLeitix
2 hours ago
just to make sure, are you saying that the recipients don't answer emails like this, even if the senders are from legitimated institutes, or are you saying the person with the paper don't send email asking for feedback at the beginning?
– Ooker
2 hours ago
just to make sure, are you saying that the recipients don't answer emails like this, even if the senders are from legitimated institutes, or are you saying the person with the paper don't send email asking for feedback at the beginning?
– Ooker
2 hours ago
7
7
@Ooker Recipients probably won't answer emails like this if the sender isn't known to them. People do send around papers for feedback prior to submission, but typically only to people they have some sort of pre-existing relationship with - they've collaborated, or corresponded about prior work, or have met at a conference, etc. At the very least the interaction is mediated by a common colleague ("Hey Joe, could you look at Bob's paper?"). It's less about "legitimate institutes" and more about existing personal relationships.
– R.M.
1 hour ago
@Ooker Recipients probably won't answer emails like this if the sender isn't known to them. People do send around papers for feedback prior to submission, but typically only to people they have some sort of pre-existing relationship with - they've collaborated, or corresponded about prior work, or have met at a conference, etc. At the very least the interaction is mediated by a common colleague ("Hey Joe, could you look at Bob's paper?"). It's less about "legitimate institutes" and more about existing personal relationships.
– R.M.
1 hour ago
@R.M. I see. Thanks. I didn't realize that. But I wonder if so, then how do they have time to write emails for grad applications? They are unsolicted too.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
@R.M. I see. Thanks. I didn't realize that. But I wonder if so, then how do they have time to write emails for grad applications? They are unsolicted too.
– Ooker
1 hour ago
@Ooker Do you mean something like a reference letter? In that case, the professor and the prospective grad student have some sort of existing relationship already (because they would not ask for a letter otherwise), and the professor likely has incentive for the student to succeed; they could someday collaborate, the professor could be acknowledged in other works, and helping a good student to succeed would improve their field of work. Mentors tend to make time for their mentees, but not so much for total strangers.
– Kevin Miller
24 mins ago
@Ooker Do you mean something like a reference letter? In that case, the professor and the prospective grad student have some sort of existing relationship already (because they would not ask for a letter otherwise), and the professor likely has incentive for the student to succeed; they could someday collaborate, the professor could be acknowledged in other works, and helping a good student to succeed would improve their field of work. Mentors tend to make time for their mentees, but not so much for total strangers.
– Kevin Miller
24 mins ago
|
show 1 more comment
Hello Dr. X
To introduce myself, I am Y, in institute Z.
Looks good so far.
I'm sorry if this email is not convenient at this time, but my work about A is highly relevant to your work in B, so I think it will be interesting to you too.
Why are you “sorry”? I think it’s a mistake to apologize or use words that suggest you feel you are doing something wrong for sending the email. Sending the email is fine, and conversely, if you really were doing something wrong, then you shouldn’t send it.
If possible, can you take a look at it and tell me what you think?
This seems rude to me and decreases the chance (which admittedly is in any case quite small) that you will receive meaningful feedback. This person doesn’t owe you anything, so don’t ask them to do something: they will either do it because they are naturally inclined to do it, or they won’t. I would say instead “I welcome any comments or feedback you might have.”
Also, if you must ask a question, “what do you think?” is a bad question to ask since it is completely open-ended. Make the question precise and specific.
Here is the link: Human interaction with cats
Thank you for your reading, hope you enjoy it.
This part looks good.
I wonder if the summary/abstract should be included in the email too, since the principle for asking good question is to show everything you know about it. Maybe it's not necessary, since the title of the link should prove its interestingness nevertheless? I'd like to have your confirm.
Keep it as short as possible. You already said the work is about A and is related to the recipient’s work on B. I don’t think any more information is necessary. If you really think anything more should be added, write something that’s tailored specifically to the person you’re sending the email to and to their interests instead of a pasted summary.
I'm also interested in the case where Y has no Z, and the link is just a collection of observations posted in a blog, not a full paper with proper citation and literary review. It is possible that the observations may have been covered in the field, but Y isn't aware of that yet.
This shouldn’t matter. Blogs can be just as interesting as finished papers, just include the link and a description of your affiliation if you have one.
I also think that if the link is interesting enough, then putting a tracking method in there is fine too? Even if X finds out, they wouldn't feel insulted either, because they find that the link is indeed interesting.
If I noticed a tracking mechanism in the link, I would delete the email immediately, so I would never get to find out if the content was interesting. (There’s also a chance the email would be filtered by various spam filters, and some mail software might preload the link contents so you would think that it was viewed even when it wasn’t. So it’s a bad idea on multiple levels.)
edited 2 hours ago
Ooker
4,93253192
answered 8 hours ago
Dan RomikDan Romik
86.9k22188285
8
“Why are you ‘sorry’?” — Perhaps this is a US/UK cultural difference, but to me, as a Brit, it seems clear that this “sorry” isn’t a marked apology, it’s part of a perfectly normal politeness formula, and on the whole that’s good, since a message without any such formulas can easily come across as brusque or presumptuous.
– PLL
7 hours ago
@PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...
– Solar Mike
5 hours ago
@PLL people overuse/misuse “sorry” in the US as well. As this article shows, I’m not the only one who finds this annoying and that it often undermines the intent of the person doing the apologizing. I suspect you’ll find similar articles that were published “across the pond”.
– Dan Romik
17 mins ago
add a comment |
Hello Dr. X
To introduce myself, I am Y, in institute Z.
Looks good so far.
I'm sorry if this email is not convenient at this time, but my work about A is highly relevant to your work in B, so I think it will be interesting to you too.
Why are you “sorry”? I think it’s a mistake to apologize or use words that suggest you feel you are doing something wrong for sending the email. Sending the email is fine, and conversely, if you really were doing something wrong, then you shouldn’t send it.
If possible, can you take a look at it and tell me what you think?
This seems rude to me and decreases the chance (which admittedly is in any case quite small) that you will receive meaningful feedback. This person doesn’t owe you anything, so don’t ask them to do something: they will either do it because they are naturally inclined to do it, or they won’t. I would say instead “I welcome any comments or feedback you might have.”
Also, if you must ask a question, “what do you think?” is a bad question to ask since it is completely open-ended. Make the question precise and specific.
Here is the link: Human interaction with cats
Thank you for your reading, hope you enjoy it.
This part looks good.
I wonder if the summary/abstract should be included in the email too, since the principle for asking good question is to show everything you know about it. Maybe it's not necessary, since the title of the link should prove its interestingness nevertheless? I'd like to have your confirm.
Keep it as short as possible. You already said the work is about A and is related to the recipient’s work on B. I don’t think any more information is necessary. If you really think anything more should be added, write something that’s tailored specifically to the person you’re sending the email to and to their interests instead of a pasted summary.
I'm also interested in the case where Y has no Z, and the link is just a collection of observations posted in a blog, not a full paper with proper citation and literary review. It is possible that the observations may have been covered in the field, but Y isn't aware of that yet.
This shouldn’t matter. Blogs can be just as interesting as finished papers, just include the link and a description of your affiliation if you have one.
I also think that if the link is interesting enough, then putting a tracking method in there is fine too? Even if X finds out, they wouldn't feel insulted either, because they find that the link is indeed interesting.
If I noticed a tracking mechanism in the link, I would delete the email immediately, so I would never get to find out if the content was interesting. (There’s also a chance the email would be filtered by various spam filters, and some mail software might preload the link contents so you would think that it was viewed even when it wasn’t. So it’s a bad idea on multiple levels.)
edited 2 hours ago
Ooker
4,93253192
answered 8 hours ago
Dan RomikDan Romik
86.9k22188285
8
“Why are you ‘sorry’?” — Perhaps this is a US/UK cultural difference, but to me, as a Brit, it seems clear that this “sorry” isn’t a marked apology, it’s part of a perfectly normal politeness formula, and on the whole that’s good, since a message without any such formulas can easily come across as brusque or presumptuous.
– PLL
7 hours ago
@PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...
– Solar Mike
5 hours ago
@PLL people overuse/misuse “sorry” in the US as well. As this article shows, I’m not the only one who finds this annoying and that it often undermines the intent of the person doing the apologizing. I suspect you’ll find similar articles that were published “across the pond”.
– Dan Romik
17 mins ago
add a comment |
Hello Dr. X
To introduce myself, I am Y, in institute Z.
Looks good so far.
I'm sorry if this email is not convenient at this time, but my work about A is highly relevant to your work in B, so I think it will be interesting to you too.
Why are you “sorry”? I think it’s a mistake to apologize or use words that suggest you feel you are doing something wrong for sending the email. Sending the email is fine, and conversely, if you really were doing something wrong, then you shouldn’t send it.
If possible, can you take a look at it and tell me what you think?
This seems rude to me and decreases the chance (which admittedly is in any case quite small) that you will receive meaningful feedback. This person doesn’t owe you anything, so don’t ask them to do something: they will either do it because they are naturally inclined to do it, or they won’t. I would say instead “I welcome any comments or feedback you might have.”
Also, if you must ask a question, “what do you think?” is a bad question to ask since it is completely open-ended. Make the question precise and specific.
Here is the link: Human interaction with cats
Thank you for your reading, hope you enjoy it.
This part looks good.
I wonder if the summary/abstract should be included in the email too, since the principle for asking good question is to show everything you know about it. Maybe it's not necessary, since the title of the link should prove its interestingness nevertheless? I'd like to have your confirm.
Keep it as short as possible. You already said the work is about A and is related to the recipient’s work on B. I don’t think any more information is necessary. If you really think anything more should be added, write something that’s tailored specifically to the person you’re sending the email to and to their interests instead of a pasted summary.
I'm also interested in the case where Y has no Z, and the link is just a collection of observations posted in a blog, not a full paper with proper citation and literary review. It is possible that the observations may have been covered in the field, but Y isn't aware of that yet.
This shouldn’t matter. Blogs can be just as interesting as finished papers, just include the link and a description of your affiliation if you have one.
I also think that if the link is interesting enough, then putting a tracking method in there is fine too? Even if X finds out, they wouldn't feel insulted either, because they find that the link is indeed interesting.
If I noticed a tracking mechanism in the link, I would delete the email immediately, so I would never get to find out if the content was interesting. (There’s also a chance the email would be filtered by various spam filters, and some mail software might preload the link contents so you would think that it was viewed even when it wasn’t. So it’s a bad idea on multiple levels.)
edited 2 hours ago
Ooker
4,93253192
answered 8 hours ago
Dan RomikDan Romik
86.9k22188285
Hello Dr. X
To introduce myself, I am Y, in institute Z.
Looks good so far.
I'm sorry if this email is not convenient at this time, but my work about A is highly relevant to your work in B, so I think it will be interesting to you too.
Why are you “sorry”? I think it’s a mistake to apologize or use words that suggest you feel you are doing something wrong for sending the email. Sending the email is fine, and conversely, if you really were doing something wrong, then you shouldn’t send it.
If possible, can you take a look at it and tell me what you think?
This seems rude to me and decreases the chance (which admittedly is in any case quite small) that you will receive meaningful feedback. This person doesn’t owe you anything, so don’t ask them to do something: they will either do it because they are naturally inclined to do it, or they won’t. I would say instead “I welcome any comments or feedback you might have.”
Also, if you must ask a question, “what do you think?” is a bad question to ask since it is completely open-ended. Make the question precise and specific.
Here is the link: Human interaction with cats
Thank you for your reading, hope you enjoy it.
This part looks good.
I wonder if the summary/abstract should be included in the email too, since the principle for asking good question is to show everything you know about it. Maybe it's not necessary, since the title of the link should prove its interestingness nevertheless? I'd like to have your confirm.
Keep it as short as possible. You already said the work is about A and is related to the recipient’s work on B. I don’t think any more information is necessary. If you really think anything more should be added, write something that’s tailored specifically to the person you’re sending the email to and to their interests instead of a pasted summary.
I'm also interested in the case where Y has no Z, and the link is just a collection of observations posted in a blog, not a full paper with proper citation and literary review. It is possible that the observations may have been covered in the field, but Y isn't aware of that yet.
This shouldn’t matter. Blogs can be just as interesting as finished papers, just include the link and a description of your affiliation if you have one.
I also think that if the link is interesting enough, then putting a tracking method in there is fine too? Even if X finds out, they wouldn't feel insulted either, because they find that the link is indeed interesting.
If I noticed a tracking mechanism in the link, I would delete the email immediately, so I would never get to find out if the content was interesting. (There’s also a chance the email would be filtered by various spam filters, and some mail software might preload the link contents so you would think that it was viewed even when it wasn’t. So it’s a bad idea on multiple levels.)
edited 2 hours ago
Ooker
4,93253192
answered 8 hours ago
Dan RomikDan Romik
86.9k22188285
edited 2 hours ago
Ooker
4,93253192
edited 2 hours ago
Ooker
4,93253192
edited 2 hours ago
Ooker
4,93253192
4,93253192
answered 8 hours ago
Dan RomikDan Romik
86.9k22188285
answered 8 hours ago
Dan RomikDan Romik
86.9k22188285
answered 8 hours ago
Dan RomikDan Romik
86.9k22188285
86.9k22188285
8
“Why are you ‘sorry’?” — Perhaps this is a US/UK cultural difference, but to me, as a Brit, it seems clear that this “sorry” isn’t a marked apology, it’s part of a perfectly normal politeness formula, and on the whole that’s good, since a message without any such formulas can easily come across as brusque or presumptuous.
– PLL
7 hours ago
@PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...
– Solar Mike
5 hours ago
@PLL people overuse/misuse “sorry” in the US as well. As this article shows, I’m not the only one who finds this annoying and that it often undermines the intent of the person doing the apologizing. I suspect you’ll find similar articles that were published “across the pond”.
– Dan Romik
17 mins ago
add a comment |
8
“Why are you ‘sorry’?” — Perhaps this is a US/UK cultural difference, but to me, as a Brit, it seems clear that this “sorry” isn’t a marked apology, it’s part of a perfectly normal politeness formula, and on the whole that’s good, since a message without any such formulas can easily come across as brusque or presumptuous.
– PLL
7 hours ago
@PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...
– Solar Mike
5 hours ago
@PLL people overuse/misuse “sorry” in the US as well. As this article shows, I’m not the only one who finds this annoying and that it often undermines the intent of the person doing the apologizing. I suspect you’ll find similar articles that were published “across the pond”.
– Dan Romik
17 mins ago
8
8
“Why are you ‘sorry’?” — Perhaps this is a US/UK cultural difference, but to me, as a Brit, it seems clear that this “sorry” isn’t a marked apology, it’s part of a perfectly normal politeness formula, and on the whole that’s good, since a message without any such formulas can easily come across as brusque or presumptuous.
– PLL
7 hours ago
“Why are you ‘sorry’?” — Perhaps this is a US/UK cultural difference, but to me, as a Brit, it seems clear that this “sorry” isn’t a marked apology, it’s part of a perfectly normal politeness formula, and on the whole that’s good, since a message without any such formulas can easily come across as brusque or presumptuous.
– PLL
7 hours ago
@PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...
– Solar Mike
5 hours ago
@PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...
– Solar Mike
5 hours ago
@PLL people overuse/misuse “sorry” in the US as well. As this article shows, I’m not the only one who finds this annoying and that it often undermines the intent of the person doing the apologizing. I suspect you’ll find similar articles that were published “across the pond”.
– Dan Romik
17 mins ago
@PLL people overuse/misuse “sorry” in the US as well. As this article shows, I’m not the only one who finds this annoying and that it often undermines the intent of the person doing the apologizing. I suspect you’ll find similar articles that were published “across the pond”.
– Dan Romik
17 mins ago
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to Academia Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2facademia.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f126623%2fhow-do-researchers-send-unsolicited-emails-asking-for-feedback-on-their-works%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
2
Possible duplicate of What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?
– David Ketcheson
5 hours ago
6
Personally, I would feel insulted by tracking methods no matter the contents. And they'd also greatly reduce the chance of me clicking on the link in the first place.
– nengel
3 hours ago
They hit the send button.
– user2705196
2 hours ago
@nengel well I think putting it upfront is fine, and the problem is just how to write such notice. See What to write in a notice about tracking method in links? in Information Security
– Ooker
1 hour ago