Academic Kindness

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I'm filling out an application today where they don't ask for references until you are short-listed and they actually intend to interview you. Everyone should follow such a policy: it is kind on the applicant's referees.

A similar policy more widely followed is: don't ask for formatting changes until you accept a paper! The paper's referees are not going to have a different recommendation based on whether the paper has references inline or as footnotes.

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