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Job-Market Reporting Thread (2025-26)
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How can we help you? (October 2025)

Now that it’s a couple of months since our last “how can we help you?” thread, it’s time for a new one.

For those of you unfamiliar with this series, this is a chance for you to post openly or anonymously in the comments section below on anything you could use help with related to the profession. After you post your query in the comments section, I will then post new threads for readers to discuss your query. 

As usual, feel free to ask questions on anything (within the Cocoon’s mission) that you could use help with, including but not limited to:

  • The job-market (applying for jobs, etc.)
  • Issues in the profession (including issues of social justice)
  • Graduate school
  • Publishing
  • Teaching
  • Work-life balance
  • Mental health & well-being
  • Professional or personal struggles
  • Etc.

Ask away – we’re here to help! 

Finally, a quick reminder of the following RULE: Please do not submit replies to other comments in this thread. It makes these threads unwieldy and difficult for me to keep track of which queries I’ve posted new threads on. If you’d like to respond to a comment in this thread, please wait until I dedicate a new post to the person’s query myself and comment in that thread instead!

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21 responses to “How can we help you? (October 2025)”

  1. Frustrated

    I have a paper that’s been sitting with a top generalist journal for over a year. Throughout this long wait, I’ve contacted the editor periodically. Each time, I’ve received a polite reply saying they’re still trying to secure reviewers, as everyone they’ve invited has declined. Actually, on two separate occasions during this period, the status has switched to ‘Under Review’ for several months. This leads me to believe that reviewers have accepted the invitation only to drop out later.

    I have a couple of theories about why it’s been so difficult. The paper is a bit niche, drawing on a concept from domain B to analyze something in domain A, and there might just be a very small pool of people who feel qualified to review it. It’s also possible that I’ve exhausted the reviewer pool; the paper was rejected from a few other journals before this, so the most obvious candidates may have already reviewed a previous version and aren’t keen to do so again.

    So, my question is: After this frustratingly long wait, should I withdraw the paper and try elsewhere? Or should I wait it out for a few more months and see if the journal’s luck changes? My big worry is that withdrawing won’t solve the underlying problem, and I’ll just face the same difficulty finding reviewers at the next journal.

    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

    Reply
  2. grad student

    Is it useful or worthwhile for graduate students to submit papers to the APA? Looking at the schedule for submissions, supposing that I had a paper that I wanted to conference, it looks like the soonest possible APA that I could submit to would happen in January 2027. That seems like a lot of time to “bench” this paper, and given that many PhD programs are putting pressure on a quick time-to-degree, I’m not sure it’s a very wise option for graduate students who aren’t very early in their programs. Am I missing something, or are specialist conferences with quicker turnaround times the way to go?

    Reply
  3. postdoc

    How much does it matter to have papers under review on your CV? I’ve had some recent publishing success and I’m hitting the job market for the first time, but my next few papers need substantial work before they’re ready to send out. I’d like to take the time to get them into shape and shoot for some really good journals, but I’m feeling pressure to do some quick and dirty revisions and submit earlier so that I can demonstrate active progress in my research. It would help me to know whether this sort of thing matters to hiring committees–whether having a big clump of ‘in preparation’ papers without anything under review is some kind of red flag, and so is worth making an extra effort to avoid.

    Reply
  4. rabbit

    Hi Marcus, I hope you don’t mind if I use this thread to leave a quick technical comment! I use this site on a smallish laptop, and the links in the sidebar at the left-bottom are always cut off (for example to the job market threads). I don’t see a way to scroll down so I can only see some of the links by zooming out. Perhaps you’re already aware of this issue! Thanks for all of your work on this invaluable website.

    Reply
  5. ChastenedAuthor

    Can you submit a paper to a journal *and* a conference simultaneously?

    Reply
  6. Guy

    I’m curious how important it really is to have some sort of digital profile. Like how important is it to have a professional website? Are hiring committees really googling an applicant’s name and looking through what all that applicant has posted there (over and above what that applicant has already provided in an application)? Or is it really a networking tool that gets people references more so than, say, just networking at conferences?

    Reply
  7. clueless phd student

    What is the etiquette regarding submitting the same paper for multiple conferences? If the same paper is accepted, and you present them in relatively short succession? (Thanks in advance!!)

    Reply
  8. Reader

    What do people think about Journal of the APA nowadays? It seemed like people were excited about it when it first came out but then the excitement died down.

    It felt to me like there was an exciting movememr of creating journals “for philosophers by philosophers” with JAPA, Ergo and Phil Imprint, but the latter two seem to have left JAPA in the dust. Is that what other people think too?

    Reply
  9. Ergo lover

    Is it weird to have 2 of my first 5 publications in the same (top 20) generalist journal?

    Reply
    1. Ergo lover

      To add context, my other publications are in specialist journals, and my reason for considering placing a second paper in the same generalist journal is that it seems (from a series of many desk-rejections) that it’s the only one that takes my specialty seriously

      Reply
  10. trajectory?

    I am wondering if it’s really true that placing in a teaching-heavy position affects one’s perceived career trajectory so much that they’re effectively out of the running for more research-heavy positions in the future. This post on trajectory seems to say just that, but it only relies on anecdotal evidence, and it only got one corroborating comment: https://philosopherscocoon.com/2018/07/10/mid-career-reflections-part-6-trajectory-matters/

    To me, it does seem like such a placement would make your application to research-heavy institutions a bit less competitive, but that can be counterbalanced by maintaining an active research program in reputable journals. But maybe I’m overly optimistic.

    Reply
  11. Teaching Evals

    Do job search committees care about how old one’s teaching evaluations are? Does it matter if they are not recent?

    Reply
  12. rr

    Suppose I got two reviewers’ reports: reviewer 1 recommends publication and reviewer 2 recommends major revision; the editor invited me to revise the paper. Should I just consider reviewer 2’s suggestions/comments and revise my paper accordingly, assuming that reviewer 1 gave me the green light? Or should I keep reviewer 1 in mind when I revise it? For example, should I worry that if I do a “major” revision, reviewer 1 might not like it and change their mind?
    I guess different journals may have different policies but I just want to get a general sense.

    Reply
  13. Autistic graduate student

    Does anyone have teaching advice for autistic people?
    I am autistic (and trans) and just finished my master’s degree. I just taught my first philosophy course and was extremely overwhelmed by having a room full of people (20-25) look at me, by the lights being too bright, by not knowing how the students perceive me, what they expect of me, etc. I am rather bad at reading the room, at noticing what other people think, etc. and all this put me into a state of dissociating but still functioning during the course, and a mild shutdown afterwards.

    Beyond changing the lighting, having stimming tools ready, making a break in the middle, and breaking up the class into smaller discussion groups, does anyone have advice for handling the difficulties of teaching as an autistic person?

    I have found general advice for autistic people in the profession on this blog, but no teaching advice.

    Reply
  14. Referee

    When people referee one manuscript twice–first time as in its original version, and second time in its revised & resubmitted version–how many referring services do they count as having done in terms of their CVs? Can they put [Journal name] (X2) or should they put [Journal name] (X1)?

    Reply
  15. BiblaTeXnician

    What are the mechanics of going from well-formed idea to printed book?

    More details: this is a few years off for me, but let’s suppose I’m a relatively established early career researcher. I might be in the 2nd or 3rd year of a 4 year postdoc, or just entering my first permanent position off the back of a postdoc. I’ve got several good papers out on a My Special Niche, and My Special Niche is significant enough that I want to write a monograph, partly based on the work of these papers (and partly with new material). I have a good enough plan to write a 1000 word (or 2000 word, or whatever) overview of the proposed book.

    As ever, the philosophy is the easy bit.

    Who do I email first? The publisher? Do I need funding for the project? Do I just start writing in May and hope that I’m mostly done when term starts again? For emails to publishers or funding bodies, what state would the book/idea need to be in (rough abstract, long abstract, first chapter, half manuscript, full manuscript?).

    Thanks!

    Reply
  16. Puzzled Author

    I was hoping to get some advice on an R&R I recently received. The journal provided comments from three reviewers. Two of the reports offer substantial, detailed, and constructive feedback, giving me a clear path forward for revision.

    However, the third reviewer’s report is a bit of a challenge. Based on the tone and general nature of the comments, it strongly suggests a recommendation for rejection (though this isn’t explicitly stated). The report only provides very general and somewhat ambiguous criticisms, without specific, actionable guidance on how the manuscript might be improved. This is understandable, of course, if their overall recommendation was to reject.

    So, I’m not sure how to best address this third reviewer’s feedback in my revised manuscript and response letter. I see two main approaches:

    Attempt to infer the reviewer’s underlying concerns from the general comments and make revisions based on that interpretation.

    Focus the revision primarily on addressing the substantive and detailed comments from the other two reviewers, while politely explaining in the response letter that the third reviewer’s feedback was too general to provide a basis for specific textual changes.

    I’m leaning toward the second option. The first approach feels overly speculative, and I’m also worried about its potential risks: it might require revising sections that the other two reviewers specifically approved of, and it could also detract from the paper’s main thesis.

    I’d be really grateful for any insights or advice from others who have navigated a similar situation.

    Reply
  17. outfit repeater

    What are the conditions for a paper being new enough that you can submit a version of it to the same journal that a distant ancestor of the same paper was also sent to? I hear of some people sending multiple versions of a big idea to say phil review or whatever over multiple years, and of other people saying this is impermissible. Would be useful to get people’s impressions.

    Reply
  18. Grad Student

    Is it permissible to present a paper at a conference after it has already been published in a journal?
    I’ve seen some people do this, and it seemed beneficial both (i) for promoting their work to a wider audience and (ii) for receiving additional feedback and further developing their ideas.
    At the same time, I wonder whether the limited opportunities for audience feedback should instead be devoted to works that have not yet received enough feedback to become publishable.
    What do you think about this?

    Reply
  19. reviewer

    I am curious about people’s thoughts on the deadlines for reviewing papers. I know that journals always need referees, and agreeing to review a draft is usually a big help. Meanwhile, as an author, I always appreciate timely reports from journals, no matter what the verdict is.
    Interestingly, the last few times when I declined a request for reviewing a draft, the common reason was that the deadlines did not fit my schedule. For example, I declined a request yesterday because the journal wanted the report in 1.5 months, which was basically between now and the busiest time of the semester. If, for example, they have set the deadline in early-mid January, I would have been happy to review it, but that would mean that the reviewing takes 2.5 months that is significantly longer than their original expectation. I felt asking for a month extension was too much and not quite polite.
    Is this reasonable? Or did I treat the deadline for reviewing papers too seriously?

    Reply
  20. Analysis paper as writing sample?

    I really like one of my analysis papers, but it is obviously short. I have other papers that can serve as writing sample, but in less either in “prestigious” venues (whatever that may mean) or co-authored. So would an analysis paper put me into some disadvantages?

    Reply

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