I’ve tentatively listed IMR posts under “non-peer reviewed publication,” alongside similar types of things, such as articles for Flow, although I have considered placing them under something like academic service, if only because I’m uncertain about how a relatively short (100-150 words, although my IMR posts have been slightly longer) post will be regarded by a tenure committee, especially given that much of my writing has appeared in online venues, some of which are not peer-reviewed (Flow, etc).

“Academic service” also seems to fit the goal of the posts as “curatorial,” preserving or pointing to material online that is worth further discussion/preservation. I know that when I’ve written IMR posts, both coincidentally on Jericho, I’ve found myself trying to figure out questions about audience–am I writing primarily for other academics, for media savvy web surfers, for students, for all of the above? I like that the IMR posts are relatively open, and I wouldn’t encourage tightening the focus, but as someone looking ahead to applying for tenure, I’m certainly invested in developing some consensus about how IMR fits within professional activity.

I’ve invented a category “research note” for my cv to cover short pieces of writing like the commentaries on in media res (although I feel like I’ve heard other people use the term). I would also put letters to journals and responses to letters that were published in this category. The idea would be to demonstrate “scholarly activity” but not peer-reviewed publication.