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Job-Market Reporting Thread (2025-26)
Job-Market Discussion Thread (2025-26)

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How can we help you? (January 2026)

Now that it’s a new year, it’s time for a new “how can we help you?” thread.

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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38 responses to “How can we help you? (January 2026)”

  1. Anonymous

    Is there a general way to make yourself known as an available referee? I’ve just started publishing and have a few things lining up here and there. I have had great comments along the way, so I’d love to return the service to the community. I haven’t got any referee request so far, so I wonder if there’s anything I haven’t thought about in particular that might alert oneself to potential editors looking for referees (given the “referee crisis”), apart from just sitting and waiting for the requests to come in. Anecdotes about how people started refereeing for the first time, I think, would also be helpful. Many thanks!

    Reply
  2. Anonymous

    Has anyone who doesn’t have existing working rights in the US had any luck with any jobs? Asking because a few years ago I had multiple first round interviews, but this round had nothing. It might well just because how tight the job market is and/or my profile not fitting the jobs though, so seeking information.

    Reply
  3. Anonymous

    What is the ideal length for a job talk when you have an hour (plus an hour for Q&A)?

    Is using the full 60 minutes less ideal than, say, 50-55? Is there a big difference between, say, 58 minutes and 62 minutes?

    Or does it really not matter at all?

    Reply
  4. Anonymous

    What are the norms now on citing SEP entries? I was once told never to cite it, but I’ve now seen a few published articles which do. If a particularly useful SEP entry is one citation among many, would anyone bat an eye?

    Reply
    1. Junior faculty

      I think I’ve cited an SEP article in every one of my 20-some publications. Usually several. No one has commented on it.

      Reply
  5. Anonymous

    Is it permissible to list a conference presentation on one’s CV if they had the presentation accepted to the conference, but were unable to present at the last minute? If yes, then how would one indicate that on one’s CV?

    Reply
  6. Anonymous

    When should you withdraw a paper from consideration at a journal? I submitted a paper in early April of 2025 and it’s still “Under Review” 10 months later. I followed up with the editor after about 6 months but have had no reply. This is a good journal in my subfield but not tippy tippy top. I am tenured but still have yearly performance reviews so I do need the publication. On one hand there’s a sunk cost problem here – i have already invested almost a year waiting for this journal and I’ll have to start over at another journal. On the other hand, I may need to anyway if it’s rejected. Essentially my question is – how long should an author wait if there is no communication forthcoming from the journal?

    Reply
  7. Anonymous

    I am about to have my first campus visit. I am deeply unsure what to expect about the individual meetings with faculty. I’m usually an extrovert, but I have no clue what format these conversatiosn take. Like a job interview? Like small talk? How does a normal conversation go? Is the expectation that I talk about research? That I ask questions about the university? That I signal interest in living there? How do I even open these conversations – or will I mostly be asked questions by the faculty? Any experiences of folks that have gone through these would be deeply appreciated!

    Reply
  8. Anonymous

    How long should I spend on teaching prep for intro-level courses? I’ve heard some say to try to take no more than 2 hours per class, but this is vague. Am I spending 2 hours just on what we are doing in class? Or does that 2 hours also include reading the text (for the first time?)? Does the 2 hours rule govern new preps as well?

    For some references on the advice: Trevor Hedberg’s 7 Years Later seems to recommend this rule, as well as Jason Brennan’s Good Work if You Can Get It.

    Reply
  9. Anonymous

    I’ve been longlisted for a job in the U.K. and, in case I’m invited for a campus interview, I could use some advice about the U.K. interview, esp. since all of my experience thus far has been in North America. I’ve heard different things about how long the presentation tends to be (I’ve heard as short as 20 min., or as long as 60 min.), and I’ve heard competing things about whether it is just a research presentation (similar to a North American job talk) or is meant to be an overview of past and future research plans, as well as an overview of teaching. I’ve also heard competing things about who attends the presentation: just the search committee or the whole department. Could any U.K. academics give advice? Thanks in advance.

    Reply
  10. Anonymous

    For an interdisciplinary student looking at applying to grad school, what is a good balance of recommenders from each discipline? I’m a double-major in Economics and Philosophy with significant experience working in a sociology lab. I migrated from social science to philosophy and will have solid philosophy work to showcase in my application. My (uninformed) preference would be to have letters showcasing my experience in the different fields, but I don’t know how that would be received. Would an interdisciplinary CV with only philosophy recommenders be seen as missing something? Alternatively, does having non-philosopher recommendations contribute anything in the eyes of a typical committee?

    Reply
  11. Anonymous

    I finished my PhD in 2025, and I’m a VAP in a philosophy department right now. I am considering applying to a non-TT position in first-year writing, and I’m wondering if that move would hurt my chances in TT searches in philosophy departments, assuming I am able to publish in phil journals while in the position. A more general way of putting it would be how much does being in non-philosophy department hurt applications for philosophy jobs early in one’s career?

    Reply
  12. Anonymous

    How does one write an exploratory paper?

    I have come across a small but interesting phenomenon in my area (phil language/speech acts) that I’m pretty sure nobody has written about before. I want to write a paper which boils down to ‘X is interesting, and we should all talk about it more!’ wtih some comments on X and it’s variations. What’s the best way to do this?

    I ask because, as a final year PhD student, all the writing I’ve done (especially the published writing) has been clearly *argued* for some position, generally against someone else’s position. The only more exploratory thing I’ve written is my thesis, which is obviously a very different beast.

    Could people recommend:
    – strategies for framing and structuring the paper
    – existing work of this kind that they think works especially well? (good models)
    – advice on finding/choosing publication venues

    TIA

    Reply
  13. Anonymous

    Having had limited luck during the Fall job cycle, I’m now banking on something working out during the Spring cycle. However, I’m not a US citizen, and last year a few places turned me down because they wouldn’t sponsor a visa. My question is, how common is this? Some places explicitly mention not sponsoring visas, but my concern is that even the places that don’t mention it might deprioritize my application. I’d appreciate any experience people have in this area, since I’m trying very hard to stay in the country (I know…).

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      I can’t say for sure, but I think VAP positions usually don’t allow for visa sponsorship, and VAP ads make up a lot of the Spring market. Hoping someone else has something more optimistic to say, fwiw.

      Reply
      1. Anonymous

        Thanks a lot for shedding some light on that point. This is obviously not what I would prefer to hear, so if there are optimists out there I would indeed love to hear from them.

  14. E

    Does anyone know of journals publishing articles on teaching other than Teaching Philosophy? Preferably open access ones.

    Reply
  15. Penelope Haulotte

    Brief question: if you have a book ms under review with a press, is it appropriate to list the book project as under review with the press on your cv? thanks

    Reply
  16. Anonymous

    Hi everyone,

    I have two questions about UK Philosophy PhD admissions etiquette.

    1) Accepting offers vs waiting
    I’m starting to receive offers of admission from UK universities, but I’m still waiting for funding decisions and for decisions from other UK and US programs.

    Is it appropriate to accept an offer now (to secure the place) and withdraw later depending on funding/other outcomes, or is that considered unprofessional? In other words, what does accepting at this stage mean: does it mainly function as an administrative step, or as a real commitment to the department/supervisors?

    2) “Would you still come without funding?”
    In interviews, I’ve been asked whether I would still attend without funding. What are interviewers trying to learn from this, and is it rude or presumptuous to say I can’t attend without funding?

    Thank you very much!

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      Re. self-funding, it is certainly not rude or presumptuous to tell them you can’t attend without funding. In fact, in my experience, that’s most department’s expected answer. Most recognize that self-funding would entail most applicants taking out a loan to cover their expenses, which, for a Philosophy PhD, is extremely inadvisable. My sense is that the question is intended for their own clarification: if they really want you, but have limited funds, it is relevant to know whether you can self-fund. This is all anecdotal to my experience but I ended up getting funding after deferring an initial offer because I wasn’t given funding.

      Reply
  17. Anonomous

    I posted in the job market thread but realised I might be better off asking here. I am on the job market for the first time, and I’m applying for a number of post docs that have been advertised with people who directly work in my area based in China. I am wondering whether anyone knows if there is a bias against applicants who have done post-docs in China/difficulty going into a different market afterwards. I have seen conflicting opinions online about this. The market where I live now is very bad, so it would be good to go somewhere else for a while whilst things shake out and I think these post-docs would be beneficial for publishing, but I’m not sure if there’s a bias against these jobs that might effect my chances of getting a permanent position in e.g. Europe somewhere down the line.

    Reply
  18. Anonymous

    Do hiring committees care about scholarly impact (number of citations, etc.)? I would imagine for senior hires maybe this matters, but what about junior hires? I’m just a few years post-Ph.D. but some of my papers have already been cited several times, sometimes in prestigious venues. Do hiring committees care about this? If so, what’s the best way to communicate/make visible one’s scholarly impact to a hiring committee?

    Reply
  19. Anonymous

    A very specific but small question: I’ve been asked to review for the Cambridge Elements Series. This is therefore reviewing a book. The email does not mention any payment, something that I have got for reviewing other books. Is this normal? Do they not pay (or pay in books) for Elements reviews, even though that is otherwise the norm when being asked to review books?

    Reply
  20. anon

    Pedagogy question: I teach a fairly straightforward version of the problem of evil from the Stich and Donaldson text in 101.
    The longer I teach it, the less sure I am in terms of how to respond to students who raise specific questions about scripture and events in the Bible in terms of challenging the POE without sounding dismissive.

    Its a real pedagogical challenge for me as I am not and do not pretend to be literate about much of the Bible other than what my basic Catholic upbringing taught me.
    I had a student basically accuse me of misinformation today in class.

    This is how I might describe it in a discussion post to students:

    ‘Many theists will respond with Biblical scripture or passages to respond to various versions of the problem of evil. For example, they may respond with ‘the flood’ caused God in the Old Testament. Theists might also invoke ‘the devil’ as an evil force in the universe that causes evil and suffering in the world. Atheists might find these kinds of arguments unconvincing because they depend upon belief and faith in the very things they deny exist. What do you make of this kind of back and forth? Is this ultimately just an ‘agree to disagree’ scenario or is there more to it?’

    Reply
  21. Anonymous

    I have a paper that I’ve been regularly submitting to journals for years now, with long waits followed by rejections each time (par for the course). But I am now at the stage where I literally can’t remember which journals I’ve sent it to and which I haven’t. In the future I’ll make better note of this, but does anyone have any advice? I’ve tried logging into the journal portals and searching my email, but I have changed institutions and sometimes used different emails (also something I’ll change), and I’m pretty sure not everything is turning up. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing I haven’t thought of, but I thought I’d ask here in case someone else has had a similar issue and advice.

    Reply
  22. Anonymous

    I have a question about PhD admissions screening.

    Is it common for programmes to filter out applicants purely based on undergraduate GPA before the rest of the application is reviewed by the committee? I have seen many online posts claiming this happens, but I am unsure how accurate that is.

    My undergraduate GPA was below 3.0, but that was over ten years ago. Since then, I completed a master’s degree and published a journal article in Synthese. I am currently waiting for PhD decisions and am worried that my old GPA may lead to an automatic rejection without consideration of the rest of my profile.

    I would appreciate any insight or similar experiences.

    Reply
  23. Anonymous

    I have a question about trying to move from one institution to another as a person with a permanent job.

    I have a permanent job in philosophy. However, I absolutely hate where I am and so does my spouse. I only started the job a year ago. I have been a postdoc for years beforehand, and have lived a broad for a while, but I do not want this to be my life permanently. Both me and my husband desperately want to return to our home country, and there are a couple of jobs coming up there this year.

    My question is: How do I express on my documents (usually just a cover letter) that I would genuinely take a job in my home country at far less prestigious universities than the one that I am currently at simply because I want to be home?

    I have been told by a few people close to me that one concern that some search committees might have is that I am seeking to leave a job that I have just been appointed to, without really giving it a go.

    I cannot think of a professional way to express that I just don’t want to live overseas anymore and I want to work in my own country.

    Reply
  24. AI Ethics

    Do people have an idea of the best specialist journals for publishing on AI or tech ethics? And by “best,” I mean “best regarded by philosophers.”

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      Hey, I work in AI ethics. Of the specialist ones, Philosophy & Technology and AI & Society are fairly well regarded, but given the infancy of the field, none are particularly distinguished yet (imo).

      Reply
  25. Anonymous

    I am currently a PhD student in my home country (a small country in Asia) and have been enrolled for five years. Unfortunately, my academic environment has been deeply problematic, including repeated incidents of sexual harassment. Most recently, a professor directly propositioned me and suggested that I become romantically involved with him despite being married. Given the power imbalance and the broader pattern of misconduct, I no longer feel safe continuing in the programme.

    I am therefore considering withdrawing and applying to PhD programmes in the United States to start over. However, I worry that admissions committees may see me as too senior or too advanced, especially compared to younger applicants who are applying straight from undergraduate or master’s programmes.

    Given this situation, do I still have a realistic chance of being admitted to a U.S. PhD programme?

    Reply
  26. B

    How does publishing in Philosophy Compass work? Its website reports an extreme acceptance rate (85%), but one needs to get approval from an editor before submitting. Does anyone have experience with them? Am I right in thinking they have a pretty good reputation?

    Reply
  27. Anonymous

    What should I do if I think my co-referee on an article used AI to write their report?

    I’ve lately come across reports from my fellow manuscript reviewers (they’re visible to me) that stand out, and in exactly the same ways. Almost like a template. They are over-the-top glowing in their praise of the manuscript, unlike anything I’ve seen before (I’ve been refereeing for years); they spend numerous paragraphs – more than half – simply summarizing and at times quoting the MS (also something I’ve never seen before), and they all conclude with a suggestion that amounts to a minor word-change in an insignificant section or section title. It’s uncanny, when you see multiple versions of this. It’s almost as though they’re designed to (a) recommend publication in a way that forecloses the possibility of revisions coming back for further review, but (b) also in a way that showcases detailed (if uncritical) engagement with the manuscript.

    I’m not alleging my co-referees gave the task over to AI completely. My suspicion is that they quickly got the sense the piece is on the level and, having satisfied themselves to that effect, didn’t want to invest more time. I say this in part because in all of the cases that stood out to me, the argument and scholarship had significant – but not immediately obvious – problems, but the style was impeccably expert. Enough to look exactly like good philosophy if you don’t have the time to read closely. Or so it seemed to me.

    But I’m not sure what to do about this. Should I report my suspicion to the editors, and risk harming the reputation of professional colleagues on less than ironclad proof? Has anyone else noticed anything like this?

    Reply
  28. Anonymous

    I was at a conference and began talking with one of the reps from OUP. I got to talking about a few of my articles, a couple of places the articles had been picked up, and then decided to just take the plunge and gave a broad overview of a book idea (only two sentences). Then I asked if that was something it may be worth talking to OUP about. The rep gave me the email of one of the area editors and told me to get in contact.

    Is this just a polite, “Please go away” thing that reps sometimes do? Or is it worth it to go ahead and reach out to the editor?

    Reply
  29. Anonymous

    Is it appropriate to ask for feedback after a flyout where you did not ultimately get the job?

    Reply
    1. curiouscat

      Not sure about appropriateness (I know HR at many places would not allow this especially by email), but about usefulness. Although it feels to candidates like these decisions are appraisals of how well we did, for committees it is often a close call between candidates who did equally well on the scorecard, such that the decision comes down to teaching or research “fit”, or things that could not be offered as reasons to the candidate’s face, such as personality, predictions about whether you’d stay, internal politics, whether someone in the room thought you were a total embarrassment, who the big cheese got behind. It seems probable you would get an incomplete explanation if you ask. Even if you do get constructive criticism of your performance, that should be discounted by the fact what place A dislikes might be exactly what place B is looking for, and we tend to overemphasize negative feedback internally. That is, because we are rejection sensitive, you may make changes to yourself or your candidacy to try to appeal more to that kind of place in future, when in fact that kind of place was not your best bet anyway. So it might be like asking someone why you didn’t get a second date — not that useful as information and likely to hurt your feelings!

      Reply
  30. Anon

    Very specific, but what is the situation with The Monist? They are still publishing new work, so the journal is still going, but I seem to remember that there used to be a list of upcoming issues with CFPs associated with them. Am I misremembering, or does someone know where that list is? I can’t seem to find that webpage any more.

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      I found this by googling: https://academic.oup.com/monist
      Looks like there will be forthcoming issues/calls for papers on (1) Environmental Ethics and Clijate change, (2) rationalism and monism, and (3) Philosophy of Noam Chomsky, etc.

      Reply
  31. Anonymous

    I would like to ask which journals are particularly highly regarded in the fields of epistemology and phenomenology.
    As far as I understand, Cambridge University Press’s “Epistemology” journal and another titled “Social Epistemology” are dedicated to publishing papers in the epistemology field. How highly regarded are these two journals? How do they compare to the top 10 journals?
    In the phenomenology field, I’ve noticed a journal called “Phenomenology and Cognitive Sciences” with a relatively high impact factor compared to others.
    Would publishing in these journals be considered to confer a level of distinction worthy of respect?

    Reply

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