Good Advice On Writing and Tenure for Aspiring Academics

"For many people approaching today's tenure track, writing for publication is both a mysterious process and yet essential for their job. This paper demystifies the process of academic writing in the tenure process..."

"...Publishing is very important, but publishing is important for different people in different ways. Publishing is a significant means toward the end of getting tenure. However, there are other ways to show excellence or strength in research and creative work--like getting awards for professional projects--and different schools, although rarely saying so in any printed document, have very different expectations for writing. Middle-ranking schools give tenure with four to eight refereed articles and reasonable performance in other areas. The big schools want twice that many, up to twelve articles or two books along with significant recognition in the field, but have lower teaching expectations with smaller classes, fewer classes, and more chances to teach electives."

[Editor's note: The article is reprinted from a 1999 version of JPER, but does not appear to have previously been available online.]

Thanks to Randall Crane