The Philosophers' Cocoon

A safe and supportive forum for philosophers.

Owned & Moderated by Marcus Arvan (University of Tampa)

Contact: marvan@ut.edu

Blog mission & moderation policy

IMPORTANT NOTE on how to ensure anonymity in commenting
Job-Market Reporting Thread (2025-26)
Job-Market Discussion Thread (2025-26)

recent posts

about

How do institutions treat papers accepted around the time a candidate accepts a job?

In our newest “how can we help you?” thread, a reader writes:

I know this tends to be institution-specific, but are there any general norms when it comes to whether a publication will count toward one’s tenure if the paper is accepted right around the time that the job offer was accepted? I just received an R&R on a major paper I would love to have as part of my tenure file, and I am also currently on the market with some TT interviews. My typical instinct would be to turn in the R&R as soon as possible, although the journal has graciously given me until March. If I were to wait a bit longer and were to get a job offer from someplace, how likely would it be that the paper could be counted toward my tenure? Without giving away too many identifying details, I already have a couple of publications, and the R&R seems relatively manageable in terms of what the reviewers are asking of me. It’s at a medium-slow journal (so, not Synthese, but not JPhil either). Thanks in advance for any advice!

Good question. I too suspect the answer might be institution-specific, differing significantly from institution from institution–but still, it could be good to find out if there are any regularities or norms.

Do any readers have any helpful insights? How does your institution count papers toward tenure and promotion in cases like this?

Posted in

11 responses to “How do institutions treat papers accepted around the time a candidate accepts a job?”

  1. Anonymous

    I would not spend your time gaming this. First, it is a waste of time and energy. Second, you will become a different sort of creature … closer to gollum (who also once held back on a publication). Third, given that you are productive, it will make no difference in your career.

    Reply
  2. Anonymous

    For my institution, this is exactly the kind of thing you want to negotiate with the dean before accepting the offer (if you receive one). Since my institution is not an R1 research institution, this kind of request is usually satisfied. (Don’t forget to remind the hiring committee or whoever is in charge to include this in the revised version of your job offer.)

    Reply
  3. Anonymous

    This should be asked about up front as part of the negotiations. I have been at institutions that only counted material that had an acceptance date within my tenure window. I had another job that only counted material that was published within the tenure window.

    Reply
  4. Anonymous

    I agree that this will be institution-specific, but FWIW, I had about half a dozen fly-outs after being in a TT job for a few years, and all of them were willing to count all of the work that I’d done previously towards my tenure case.

    Reply
  5. Anonymous

    Being able to say it has been accepted might be relevant in the job search, which is an argument for moving quickly rather than delaying. You can negotiate credit for prior experience towards tenure if you get a job this year. Or maybe don’t–there’s nothing wrong with not having the time pressure to get everything done a year or two early. The first year at a new place, with new courses, colleagues, etc., is often not a year in which folks get much research done. (FWIW, if the paper appears in print after you start the new job, and especially if you can get your new institutional affiliation on it, it would very likely count towards tenure.)

    Reply
  6. Anonymous

    To provide another data point, I had a piece come out in July. My start date for my current job was in August. I was told the piece would not count for my tenure case. I’m at primarily a teaching institution.

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      Once upon a time at a PUI, I had a paper accepted (not published) exactly five days before the start of my contract. It did not count, even though it was published with their institutional affiliation while I was working there. I could have waited five days to send my revisions, or the editor could have taken a few more days to accept, and then it would have counted.

      My current place is more like, (1) everything ‘counts’ to the extent that it contributes to your reputation, which is important for tenure, and (2) you need to keep publishing and doing stuff. The big difference is that my current place evaluates qualitatively, and the PUI evaluated quantitatively (you need X publications for tenure, who cares what they are).

      Reply
  7. Anonymous

    Another couple data points: I’ve worked at three different R1s, each of which counts work towards tenure that you do prior to being hired (in addition to whatever work you do while on the tenure track. Of course you need to show sustained publications either way…)

    Reply
  8. Anonymous

    When I moved to take a different TT job, I negotiated an accelerated tenure clock that gave me three years’ credit. This let me count everything published within that three year window, but nothing before then.

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      If the paper gets accepted now, it’ll be officially published much later anyways, and then it’s officially out after you started your job, so it counts pretty uncontroversially

      Reply
  9. Christopher Hitchcock

    I am at an R1. For us, there is no such thing as a publication counting or not counting. There is no magical number of publications and no magical list of publication venues. The standard for tenure is (wording approximate) being a leader in one’s field among those at a similar career stage and showing promise for a career of excellence in research and teaching. In general, everything one publishes will contribute to this evaluation but there is also room for skepticism if there is notable drop-off in productivity in the years immediately preceding the tenure decision. If you were a candidate for a position here my advice would be the same as anonymous #1 above: Don’t strategize too much and just do your best work.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Discover more from The Philosophers' Cocoon

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading