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Job-Market Reporting Thread (2026-27)
Job-Market Discussion Thread (2026-27)

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How can we help you? (August 2026)

Now that it’s August, 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, 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. 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. 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! I have not been enforcing this rule consistently recently, but need to recommit to it as it has been hard to manage these threads. Thanks!

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25 responses to “How can we help you? (August 2026)”

  1. Anonymous

    As the fall semester approaches, I am rethinking some of my assignments in light of the rampant use of AI. In the past, I have used Perusall’s social annotation software in assignments designed to get students to pay closer attention to the texts we are reading and to show them that these texts can be interpreted in different ways. However, I am rethinking these assignments in light of AI use. So my question is, does anyone have any suggestions on how to make students less prone to using AI on social annotation assignments. If not, does anyone have an suggestions for alternate assignments, or in class writing prompts that might achieve similar learning goals?

    Reply
  2. Anonymous

    I would be very grateful for advice about a revise-and-resubmit situation.

    A paper I submitted to a well-regarded philosophy journal has gone through more than one round of revisions. After the most recent decision, one referee recommended acceptance, while another thought the paper had improved but requested further substantial revisions. I completed and submitted the revised version at the end of last year. Since then, the manuscript status has remained at “Editor assigned”. About a month ago, I sent a polite status inquiry through the journal’s submission system, but I have not received a reply.

    I am now trying to think clearly about what to do next. In an ordinary case, if a paper had been sitting for this long with no update and no response to an inquiry, I might start considering withdrawing and submitting elsewhere. But because this is already a later-stage R&R at a reasonably prestigious journal, withdrawing feels risky: I may be giving up a real chance at acceptance and starting over from scratch elsewhere.

    So my questions are: How long is it reasonable to wait in a case like this? At what point, if any, would it be appropriate to send a second inquiry, perhaps to the editorial office rather than only through the handling editor? And when, if ever, does it make sense to withdraw a paper from a good journal after multiple rounds of revision because of prolonged silence?

    I would especially appreciate hearing from people who have been in similar situations, either as authors, referees, or editors.

    Thanks!

    Reply
  3. Anonymous

    In the paragon of arrested development that is UK higher education, I am required to assess my MA students this autumn like this: 100% of their grade will be an at-home essay of 3,000 words. Essay prompts must be submitted by me in advance. What the hell do I do given the state of LLMs, which are better than the vast majority of my students. I also don’t think there is much room for us to accuse students based on pangram or similar, there has to be hard evidence and the process is an ordeal. I am beyond being outraged by this and now just wondering:
    – is there anything i can do to mitigate this more than a sham assessment?
    – if it’s not, how should i approach it as a grader? Just mark the best essays with the highest grades regardless of how obviously they are AI-generated (assuming they aren’t catchable).
    – how should i explain the assignment to my students? should i just say ‘no AI use’ and we all pretend they won’t? Say ‘we both know you’re going to do it so let’s just focus on the non-assessed parts of the course and learn some philosophy’?
    -how would you approach this? Give a spiel about how they’re wasting a great opportunity to expand their minds if they outsource their essay to AI, etc.?

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      Just to add: I can’t do anything interview the students / do oral exam type audits, and I can’t do anything like ask them to use software that monitors their workflow.

      Reply
  4. Anonymous

    This may be old man shouting at the clouds, but I’ve noticed undergrads lacking basic preparation for college.

    First, they can’t write straight even on ruled paper.

    They mix uppercase and lowercase letters randomly, so I’m not sure they understand the difference.

    I’ve never seen so many college students write in pencils.

    They cannot read a five hundred word excerpt and tell me the main idea.

    By far, the most alarming thing I’ve noticed is they have difficulty manipulating their learning. What I mean is, they have difficulty combining the skills they’ve learned to solve a problem on their own. They wait for you to give them the answer, and they will write it down to give the answer back to you.

    I’m increasingly at a loss of how to teach them, because they’re not really at a level to understand complex texts or how to apply it.

    Has anyone experienced similar things and have tips on how to teach?

    Reply
  5. Anonymous

    I was hoping to get some advice, or maybe just a discussion about a troubling side effect of the enormous length of time papers are under review.

    On several occasions now I’ve had a situation where one review report takes much, much longer (on the scale of several months) than the other, and it affects the subsequent dialogue in response. E.g.:

    1) Paper submitted in March
    2) Reviewer 1 submits review in two weeks.
    3) Second reviewer (who admittedly may have been secured later than Reviewer 1) submits review in mid-August – R&R granted.
    4) Since the reviewers raise deep, substantive concerns, I work hard on the response and substantially re-write the paper, resulting in a response to R&R in early November.
    5) Reviewer 1’s response to my response reflects impatience with delay or a change in the dialectic (“As I wrote early this year…”; “A now forthcoming paper from X raises this point…”).

    Is there anything that can be done to avoid what seems to be a sense of resentment on behalf of Reviewer 1 that they are being dragged back to a long-forgotten or slightly out of date paper?

    Reply
  6. Anonymous

    Has anyone in the UK banned laptops in their classroom? How did it go if so? And for anyone who has done this, how did you justify it to the students, and did you face any opposition? What did you do if a student was using their laptop or phone anyway?

    Reply
  7. recentlytenured

    I teach and supervise MA students who, increasingly, lack the basic executive skills of writing papers on time (or at all, in some cases). These students are smart and are great in class discussions, but they can’t seem to get it together for their written work – in term papers and in thesis chapters. I meet with them regularly, I offer timely feedback on writing (when I get it), but I am feeling a bit burned out – I just can’t bring myself to chase them anymore to actually do the writing, do the revisions, etc. Recently, that has meant that they just aren’t doing the work. Some of them are in danger of having to pay for extra semesters/getting kicked out of the program as a result. If they were otherwise unskilled in philosophy, it would feel self-resolving, but these are smart students who could do great work. Does anyone have advice for motivating them to actually follow through (or coping mechanisms for me)?

    Reply
  8. Anonymous

    Does anyone know what is going on at Phil Review? Their submission website is not working and it would be good to know if it’s something that is just a temporary blip or not to decide where to submit (and yes, I’ve emailed them, as I suspect others have!).

    Reply
    1. Marcus

      I just checked out the submissions site and it seems to work. Is anyone else having issues?

      Reply
  9. Anonymous

    I frequently teach intro symbolic logic. I’m looking for ways to illustrate logic’s importance and application to students. Has anybody done anything that works here? I’m basically looking for something that I can use as a supplement to the formal machinery; something that reminds students why we’re bothering with that machinery, but which isn’t the tried and true “in order to represent and evaluate argument forms”, which they hear me say far too many times throughout the semester.

    Reply
  10. Anonymous

    I have two related questions about listing AOS / AOCs on one’s CV.

    First, what is the best way to designate Continental philosophy? It is simultaneously treated like a contemporary field and a historical area, which makes it difficult to list without feeling like it is overly broad.

    Second, what is the best way to designate the History of Philosophy as an AOC, and who gets to claim it? Again, it feels overly broad, but also indicates a particular way of doing / reading / teaching philosophy. In any case, I see it listed as an AOS / AOC in PhilJobs listings often.

    Reply
  11. Anonymous

    Any thoughts on using a chapter from a book manuscript (under contract) as a writing sample in job apps as opposed to published articles/a draft article? I am not sure about how hiring committees perceive this, which is why I am here asking. In my case, the book represents my newest and what I think is my most interesting work. But then I could see some committee members who prefer a more ‘contained’ writing sample, since it might be hard to make the right inferences from a book chapter. Thanks.

    Reply
  12. Anonymous

    What ways do you all do public philosophy / outreach & engagement with your community around philosophy?

    I was once asked by a teacher at a local charter middle and high school that focuses on environmental stewardship and hands-on outdoor learning to give a talk about environmental philosophies for the student body (but our schedules didn’t align at the time). What other ways have you all brought philosophy to people outside of the university system?

    Reply
  13. Anonymous

    When is it time to pull a paper and resubmit at a different journal.

    I’m a postdoctoral researcher. I’ve had a paper under review at a well-regarded specialist journal in my field for 18 months now. So far I’ve been through two rounds of revisions. Each time, the process goes like this: things move smoothly and quickly through most of the stages. Reviewers make comments. The associate editor makes a recommendation. Then we wait for 6-8 months for the editor-in-chief.

    I know another round of revisions is coming. In principle, I don’t mind doing another round of revisions. However, I’m on the market. I’m starting to question whether I can wait the better part of another year to get a third decision.

    I know reviewers are hard to secure, and there’s no guarantee switching journals will lead to a speedier process, but I’m kind of at my wit’s end here. Do I pull the paper and resubmit somewhere else in hopes of a faster process?

    Reply
  14. frustrated anon

    I’ve had an article showing ‘required reviews completed’ for 4+ weeks now. Reaching out to the editor has resulted in zero response. The paper has been with this journal for well over a year now. Am I crazy in thinking that this is just unacceptable? Do I read into this as it’s a ‘reject’?

    Reply
  15. Anonymous

    Given the number of queries along the lines of “what should I do when editor/reviewers take X long in circumstances Y,” perhaps there should be a dedicated series or post at the cocoon covering journal norms, etiquette, procedures under various annoying (or other) scenarios, etc. Or is there one already?

    Reply
  16. Anonymous

    I’m curious about how you divide your reading time among the following categories: readings directly related to your research; readings out of your philosophical curiosity but not related to your research; non-philosophical readings; and other types, if any. What percentages do you usually give to each?

    I am a junior faculty member at a teaching oriented school. My research time is limited. When I have extra time, I always feel guilty if I do not read things related to my research. But I also have other interests, philosophical or not. So I am curious how you approach this.

    Reply
  17. dazesensationallye39c0dc2cd

    Is it self-plagiarism or otherwise unethical to send out for publication two different pieces, to two different journals, if they argue for different theses in different subfields, but both use the same underlying bit of reasoning to justify their conclusion? That is, the key move, the “ace-in-the-hole” argument that does the most justificatory work, is the same in both of them?

    Reply
  18. Anonymous

    In some journals the published articles look crisp and elegant, but in some other journals the typesetting is underwhelming and sometimes even ugly or unprofessional-looking.

    I know that it’s a little bit silly, but I can’t help but to take it into consideration when choosing where to submit my work, especially considering that people outside of academic philosophy don’t really know the difference between journals and the appearance might be their main subconscious indicator of how “serious” the publication is. Am I the only one who feels like this? I’ve used it as a tie breaker when deciding between journals that are prestige-equivalent and I’ve almost been tempted to take it as reason to submit a bit lower before. Am I crazy?

    Reply
  19. Books?

    I keep hearing how when it comes to books, those published in top presses like OUP and CUP are the only ones that might impress a search committee. But how much weight do these actually have on the job market?

    Reply
  20. Anonymous

    As we approach the US job market season again, can anyone with any insight into the matter say anything about the visa sponsorship situation for foreign applicants who are not already residing in the US?

    Last year, the current administration introduced changes to the costs to sponsorship that meant it would cost 100k ish for universities to obtain the relevant visas for foreigners not currently residents of the US, and there was a lot of talk about whether that would or would not apply/how it would influence job market decisions.

    I’d like to know because I am foreign and don’t reside in the US and don’t want to waste my time (or that of search committees) applying for jobs in the US if the situation is unchanged or if answers to this are not clear.

    I would really appreciate any insight into this!

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      I know this against the rules (sorry Marcus), but I have the same question 🙁

      Reply
  21. Anonymous

    Given the frequency of people discussing their complaints with the long waits for journal decisions, I’m wondering if it might be worthwhile to publicize a list of journals that have known editorial issues or backlogs, that way those who are on tighter timelines (people on the market) know where to avoid? I acknowledge that there are risks, of course, with such publicity. Plus, journals usually do post their ‘time to decision’ on their sites. There’s also a worry about hasty peer review, sure. But perhaps some external pressure that comes from such publicity might be a net-benefit for the discipline?

    Reply
  22. Anonymous

    Is it a bad idea to leave a postdoc for another postdoc before one’s time in the former position runs out?

    For context, I’m currently in my first postdoc. I’m also on the job market and hoping to find a tenure-track position this cycle. However, I’m also considering applying for other postdocs some other postdocs. My current position is not terrible (it’s not a toxic working environment or anything like that) but for various reasons, including the location, some specific policies at the current institution, and general department “fit”, I think I would be much happier elsewhere. So, even if I don’t find a tenure-track job this cycle, I would prefer to be in a contingent position at a different institution than to remain here. But this would mean cutting my current postdoc short.

    I wonder (1) how common moves like this are, and (2) whether such a move would have significant costs, e.g. raising questions from hiring committees in the future or burning bridges with my current institution.

    Reply

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