How do researchers send unsolicited emails asking for feedback on their works?












9















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?










share|improve this question




















  • 2





    Possible duplicate of What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?

    – David Ketcheson
    16 hours ago






  • 20





    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
    14 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
    12 hours ago








  • 1





    Why have you linked to the Wikipedia article on human interactions with cats? Is that an example of what you would send them?

    – Azor Ahai
    3 hours ago
















9















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?










share|improve this question




















  • 2





    Possible duplicate of What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?

    – David Ketcheson
    16 hours ago






  • 20





    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
    14 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
    12 hours ago








  • 1





    Why have you linked to the Wikipedia article on human interactions with cats? Is that an example of what you would send them?

    – Azor Ahai
    3 hours ago














9












9








9


1






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?










share|improve this question
















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






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share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 10 hours ago







Ooker

















asked 19 hours ago









OokerOoker

4,94853292




4,94853292








  • 2





    Possible duplicate of What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?

    – David Ketcheson
    16 hours ago






  • 20





    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
    14 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
    12 hours ago








  • 1





    Why have you linked to the Wikipedia article on human interactions with cats? Is that an example of what you would send them?

    – Azor Ahai
    3 hours ago














  • 2





    Possible duplicate of What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?

    – David Ketcheson
    16 hours ago






  • 20





    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
    14 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
    12 hours ago








  • 1





    Why have you linked to the Wikipedia article on human interactions with cats? Is that an example of what you would send them?

    – Azor Ahai
    3 hours ago








2




2





Possible duplicate of What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?

– David Ketcheson
16 hours ago





Possible duplicate of What are the strategies for getting feedback on articles?

– David Ketcheson
16 hours ago




20




20





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
14 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
14 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
12 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
12 hours ago






1




1





Why have you linked to the Wikipedia article on human interactions with cats? Is that an example of what you would send them?

– Azor Ahai
3 hours ago





Why have you linked to the Wikipedia article on human interactions with cats? Is that an example of what you would send them?

– Azor Ahai
3 hours ago










4 Answers
4






active

oldest

votes


















37














Essentially, you have three challenges that work against you receiving an answer to this mail:




  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.






share|improve this answer



















  • 23





    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
    13 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
    13 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
    12 hours ago








  • 6





    How did you keep your to-read list down to only 50 papers?

    – Andreas Blass
    10 hours ago



















35














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.






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  • I can't help but upvote this.

    – xLeitix
    13 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
    12 hours ago






  • 15





    @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.
    12 hours ago






  • 2





    @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
    11 hours ago






  • 1





    @KevinMiller ah I should have used grad applicants. They are as unsolicited as emails asking for feedback from other researchers, but for the latter they have "established a relationship", because their works related with each other. (I'm not saying that I have reached that level yet, I just want to know about it)

    – Ooker
    11 hours ago



















8















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.)






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  • 11





    “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
    17 hours ago











  • @PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...

    – Solar Mike
    16 hours ago






  • 1





    @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
    11 hours ago



















-1














I wouldn’t care much for such an email from a stranger suggesting that I will find his/her work relevant or interesting: I can decide that for myself.



My version would be




Dear Prof. X,



I’m taking the liberty of sending a sample of recent work of mine which overlaps with your own. Please be so kind as to keep me informed of your own progress on this topic.



Regards,
Y.







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    4 Answers
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    4 Answers
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    37














    Essentially, you have three challenges that work against you receiving an answer to this mail:




    1. 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.

    2. 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.

    3. 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.






    share|improve this answer



















    • 23





      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
      13 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
      13 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
      12 hours ago








    • 6





      How did you keep your to-read list down to only 50 papers?

      – Andreas Blass
      10 hours ago
















    37














    Essentially, you have three challenges that work against you receiving an answer to this mail:




    1. 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.

    2. 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.

    3. 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.






    share|improve this answer



















    • 23





      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
      13 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
      13 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
      12 hours ago








    • 6





      How did you keep your to-read list down to only 50 papers?

      – Andreas Blass
      10 hours ago














    37












    37








    37







    Essentially, you have three challenges that work against you receiving an answer to this mail:




    1. 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.

    2. 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.

    3. 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.






    share|improve this answer













    Essentially, you have three challenges that work against you receiving an answer to this mail:




    1. 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.

    2. 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.

    3. 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.







    share|improve this answer












    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer










    answered 18 hours ago









    xLeitixxLeitix

    102k37246388




    102k37246388








    • 23





      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
      13 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
      13 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
      12 hours ago








    • 6





      How did you keep your to-read list down to only 50 papers?

      – Andreas Blass
      10 hours ago














    • 23





      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
      13 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
      13 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
      12 hours ago








    • 6





      How did you keep your to-read list down to only 50 papers?

      – Andreas Blass
      10 hours ago








    23




    23





    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
    13 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
    13 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
    13 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
    13 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
    12 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
    12 hours ago






    6




    6





    How did you keep your to-read list down to only 50 papers?

    – Andreas Blass
    10 hours ago





    How did you keep your to-read list down to only 50 papers?

    – Andreas Blass
    10 hours ago











    35














    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.






    share|improve this answer








    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
      13 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
      12 hours ago






    • 15





      @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.
      12 hours ago






    • 2





      @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
      11 hours ago






    • 1





      @KevinMiller ah I should have used grad applicants. They are as unsolicited as emails asking for feedback from other researchers, but for the latter they have "established a relationship", because their works related with each other. (I'm not saying that I have reached that level yet, I just want to know about it)

      – Ooker
      11 hours ago
















    35














    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.






    share|improve this answer








    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
      13 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
      12 hours ago






    • 15





      @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.
      12 hours ago






    • 2





      @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
      11 hours ago






    • 1





      @KevinMiller ah I should have used grad applicants. They are as unsolicited as emails asking for feedback from other researchers, but for the latter they have "established a relationship", because their works related with each other. (I'm not saying that I have reached that level yet, I just want to know about it)

      – Ooker
      11 hours ago














    35












    35








    35







    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.






    share|improve this answer








    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.







    share|improve this answer








    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.









    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer






    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 14 hours ago









    user105705user105705

    21113




    21113




    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
      13 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
      12 hours ago






    • 15





      @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.
      12 hours ago






    • 2





      @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
      11 hours ago






    • 1





      @KevinMiller ah I should have used grad applicants. They are as unsolicited as emails asking for feedback from other researchers, but for the latter they have "established a relationship", because their works related with each other. (I'm not saying that I have reached that level yet, I just want to know about it)

      – Ooker
      11 hours ago



















    • I can't help but upvote this.

      – xLeitix
      13 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
      12 hours ago






    • 15





      @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.
      12 hours ago






    • 2





      @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
      11 hours ago






    • 1





      @KevinMiller ah I should have used grad applicants. They are as unsolicited as emails asking for feedback from other researchers, but for the latter they have "established a relationship", because their works related with each other. (I'm not saying that I have reached that level yet, I just want to know about it)

      – Ooker
      11 hours ago

















    I can't help but upvote this.

    – xLeitix
    13 hours ago





    I can't help but upvote this.

    – xLeitix
    13 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
    12 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
    12 hours ago




    15




    15





    @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.
    12 hours 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.
    12 hours ago




    2




    2





    @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
    11 hours 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
    11 hours ago




    1




    1





    @KevinMiller ah I should have used grad applicants. They are as unsolicited as emails asking for feedback from other researchers, but for the latter they have "established a relationship", because their works related with each other. (I'm not saying that I have reached that level yet, I just want to know about it)

    – Ooker
    11 hours ago





    @KevinMiller ah I should have used grad applicants. They are as unsolicited as emails asking for feedback from other researchers, but for the latter they have "established a relationship", because their works related with each other. (I'm not saying that I have reached that level yet, I just want to know about it)

    – Ooker
    11 hours ago











    8















    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.)






    share|improve this answer





















    • 11





      “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
      17 hours ago











    • @PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...

      – Solar Mike
      16 hours ago






    • 1





      @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
      11 hours ago
















    8















    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.)






    share|improve this answer





















    • 11





      “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
      17 hours ago











    • @PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...

      – Solar Mike
      16 hours ago






    • 1





      @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
      11 hours ago














    8












    8








    8








    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.)






    share|improve this answer
















    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.)







    share|improve this answer














    share|improve this answer



    share|improve this answer








    edited 13 hours ago









    Ooker

    4,94853292




    4,94853292










    answered 19 hours ago









    Dan RomikDan Romik

    87k22188285




    87k22188285








    • 11





      “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
      17 hours ago











    • @PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...

      – Solar Mike
      16 hours ago






    • 1





      @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
      11 hours ago














    • 11





      “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
      17 hours ago











    • @PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...

      – Solar Mike
      16 hours ago






    • 1





      @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
      11 hours ago








    11




    11





    “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
    17 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
    17 hours ago













    @PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...

    – Solar Mike
    16 hours ago





    @PLL answers on here often assume that the only relevant country is across the pond...

    – Solar Mike
    16 hours ago




    1




    1





    @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
    11 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
    11 hours ago











    -1














    I wouldn’t care much for such an email from a stranger suggesting that I will find his/her work relevant or interesting: I can decide that for myself.



    My version would be




    Dear Prof. X,



    I’m taking the liberty of sending a sample of recent work of mine which overlaps with your own. Please be so kind as to keep me informed of your own progress on this topic.



    Regards,
    Y.







    share|improve this answer




























      -1














      I wouldn’t care much for such an email from a stranger suggesting that I will find his/her work relevant or interesting: I can decide that for myself.



      My version would be




      Dear Prof. X,



      I’m taking the liberty of sending a sample of recent work of mine which overlaps with your own. Please be so kind as to keep me informed of your own progress on this topic.



      Regards,
      Y.







      share|improve this answer


























        -1












        -1








        -1







        I wouldn’t care much for such an email from a stranger suggesting that I will find his/her work relevant or interesting: I can decide that for myself.



        My version would be




        Dear Prof. X,



        I’m taking the liberty of sending a sample of recent work of mine which overlaps with your own. Please be so kind as to keep me informed of your own progress on this topic.



        Regards,
        Y.







        share|improve this answer













        I wouldn’t care much for such an email from a stranger suggesting that I will find his/her work relevant or interesting: I can decide that for myself.



        My version would be




        Dear Prof. X,



        I’m taking the liberty of sending a sample of recent work of mine which overlaps with your own. Please be so kind as to keep me informed of your own progress on this topic.



        Regards,
        Y.








        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered 3 hours ago









        ZeroTheHeroZeroTheHero

        1,32812




        1,32812






























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