Letter Resources
Addressing Bias
- Gender Bias Calculator: This tool is based on Schmader (2007, see Gender Bias Studies), and analyzes letters of recommendation for female- and male-associated words.
- Gender Decoder: This tool is based on Gaucher et al (2011, see Gender Bias Studies), and analyzes job advertisements for female- and male-associated words.
- Avoiding Racial Bias in Letter of Reference Writing: Profs. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe and Sora Kim describe how to identify and avoid racial bias in recommentation letters.
- A University of Arizona infographic mentioned in the above article which helps avoid gender bias in letters.
- A remix of the Arizona infographic by Profs. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe and Sora Kim.
- Examples of Bias in Letters to Watch Out For: A cached version of the two-page PDF summarising some examples of bias originally provided by the Rochester Institute of Technology.
- Best Practices for Reading and Writing Letters of Recommendation: A one-page PDF highlighting some common pitfalls from ADVANCE at Lehigh University
- Gender and Ethnic Bias in Letters of Recommendation: Ankos and Kretchmar (2018) in the American School Counselor Association's Professional School Counseling journal.
- Avoid Implicit Gender Bias in Recommendation Letters - Dutt (2019) analyses 1224 letters of recommendation for gender bias.
- alex: A command-line tool and plugin for your favorite text editor designed to catch insensitive, inconsiderate writing.
- Ableism/Language: A glossary of ableist words with context to improve understanding of the systemic impact of language.
Writing Better Letters
- Tips for writing a good recommendation letter: A peer-reviewed article targeted to space physicists with recommendations for asking for, writing, and proof reading recommendation letters.
- American Geophysical Union Grammar and Style Guide: The style guide for AGU's journals, which are some of the biggest journals in our field. (Using consistent style in your letter makes it look more professional; if your home institution or the recipient institution has a style guide consider using that instead.)
- How to Write a Recommendation Letter: In her blog "The Professor is In" Karen Kelsky offers a list of helpful suggestions.
- 4 Amazing Recommendation Letter Samples for Students: Examples of recommendation letters from Prepscholar.
- Writing a Letter of Recommendation: An addendum to Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty from Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Burroughs Wellcome Fund.
- Letters of Recommendation for Grad Students and Postdocs: A guide targeted at early-career people within academia seeking recommendations to support their job applications, but which has useful information.
- Writing the Basic Business Letter: More general tips for writing letters in professional settings from Purdue University.
- Robert Hickey’s On-Line Guide to Forms of Address: The Deputy Director of The Protocol School of Washington's guides to addressing letters to different recipients.
- Resources on Personal Pronouns: Pronouns matter, a resource disussing the importance of personal pronouns and how to use them.
Personally Identifiable Information
We ask that all submitters to ELSP stay in accordance with FERPA laws and remove or redact any non-directory personally identifiable information (PII) or non-directory education records that fall under FERPA Protections prior to submitting letters to ELSP. If ELSP is in receipt of a letter potentially containing PII and or non-directory education records that may fall under FERPA Protections, the letter will be returned to the submitter to remove the information in question.