I am sending off an application to a postdoc next week so putting together materials this week. For the publication list part of it I am putting down the stuff, and annoyingly all four of the things are still "forthcoming" despite my best efforts to get something in-print by this stage :(. The thing is, they have all passed peer review and really ARE forthcoming in the next 6-18 months - the thing is I am not sure if I should use the word "forthcoming" since people use it when they have just sent something off to a journal pending review. Are there more clear or forceful ways of saying "it is coming, honestly!!!!111" or am I just being worriesome! :$ (I'm especially keen about this application since it is one of the few postdocs in my field and I know the hiring panel will especially be scrutinising peoples publications....)

I think you can say "accepted". I never see forthcoming used.

How about 'in press'? I've certainly seen that a few times.

Good luck with the application. :-)

"in press" is used if it's for the incoming issue of the journal. I guess it's not the case (6-18 months).

Ah ok, that makes sense. :-) I suppose accepted would be better then.

"in press" or "accepted for publication" or accepted

"submitted" if no decision has been made

Having worked for a peer-reviewed journal and as editor of special issues:

'Forthcoming' shouldn't actually be used until it has passed peer-review and minor revisions, etc., been finally accepted. So anybody who is using it to describe work simply submitted is wrong to do so.

'In press' means it is actually in press! i.e. you have returned corrected proofs. So in essence, this can only be used if the article is in the next issue of the journal.

'Accepted for publication in ...', I think is fine for stuff that has passed peer-review.

Another option I have used is 'Scheduled for publication in ...' - this works best if you know the volume, issue date and the estimated date of publication. Although be prepared for the publication schedule to change sometimes due to reasons beyond the editor's control.

As soon as you have vol. no, issue no., page numbers, publication date (usually just the month) and a DOI (digital object identifier) you don't have to qualify it at all. It fully counts as a publication. But this tends to only be the case when publication is imminent.

Hope this makes some sense.

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I often see 'work-in-progress' on CVs/resumes, which is a great phrase to cover research that hasn't even been submitted for publication.

'Forthcoming' is used a lot in my discipline, and is understood to be anything that's accepted for publication. 'Forthcoming' wouldn't be interpreted as something you've just sent off.

Edit: Another one I see a lot is 'awaiting publication'.

Thanks for clearing this up for me! :)