Here is how to ask busy people effectively. Include the following in your email:
- Who you are (name, institute, advisor)
- What your overall goal is (because I might be able to tell you what else to try)
- What your current specific approach is
- What problem you encountered (error message, entire call stack)
- What you think the cause is — yes, please read the error message and what is above and below it, and think about what it could mean. Is the cause really a software package that I maintain or a different one?
- What else you tried — show some effort in resolving the issues yourself. For example, google the error message?
- Have you tried to simplify the problem? Strip it down to the shortest possible case that isolates the problem.
- Avoid email iterations by including scripts and plots to understand the problem. But don’t include your entire research project (see point above).
- Show some kindness and courtesy, you are asking for a favor. You do not have a right to software support just because a software is provided online. Poor manners lead to the death of software projects by maintainer burnout.
- What do you expect from me specifically. Probably I can help with pointers so you can fix the issue for yourself and everyone.
- Don’t write your email with an LLM. If you don’t have time to thoughtfully craft an email, I don’t see why I should take time to read it.
In short, make it easy to respond.
I also favor communication over Github issues for my projects, so others can find the questions and answers.
Some additional resources to read:
Leave a Reply