COMMENT | A retired academic recently wrote an op-ed about the problem of “cold emails” in academia. For those unfamiliar, these are emails that one sends to someone who they have made no contact with before.

In the academic context, these emails can often come from aspiring academics who are looking for supervisors, job opportunities or just seeking to collaborate.

The op-ed highlights that this practice is a scourge plaguing contemporary academics, citing how established academics are bombarded with many such emails, often from would-be PhD students seeking potential supervisors.

Their main problem with the practice is that these emails are often...