The "Refs" option is where you create, submit, or update your reference letters for an applicant. If you are a Reference for any Applicants, the applicants will be listed on this page, similar to this below.
Let's take a look at the features offered on this page:
The *Links* listed in the AcademicJobsOnline.Org header are all the actions/options available to you as a AcademicJobsOnline reference letter writer. The first link is "Refs", which would just reload the Refs page you are on right now. The other links would take you out of Refs and into the option associated with the link selected.
If you do not have any applicants to write letters for, the body of the page below the introductory text will be blank. Once you have applicants that have listed you as a reference, they will appear listed below the intro text.
If an applicant whom you are supposed to write a letter for is not listed here, please contact the applicant directly to see why; a different email address might be used in the applicant's cover sheet.
If your staff will need to access AcademicJobsOnline and enter letters for you, please use the "proxy" option near the bottom of the screen.
Clicking on the name of an applicant will allow you to create a reference letter for this applicant. After clicking on the applicant's name, you will get the reference letter form. Completing this form is documented in detail below.
If you have already submitted any reference letters for an applicant, they will be listed here, under the applicant's name.
If you want to update a reference letter, click on the reference letter name, listed under the applicant's name. Updating and completing this form is documented in detail below.
For each uploaded Reference letter, there will be two links for you to access the same file. Every file in the system is converted to a PDF format in order to make sure they are readable by most readers and may fix some common problems in the original files. The first link is always the original file, and the second link is the converted PDF file. You can access the file using either one.
If you wish to create an additional letter for this applicant, click on the green plus . Click on the green down-arrow to see the detailed permission settings of the letters for the applicant.
Clicking on the applications link (if there) to the right of the applicant's name/email to see the list of applications the applicant has already submitted and the letters
each application can access. A 'last viewed' date will be displayed to the right of a letter if it's been viewed by that employer.
Updating access to your letter is documented in the section below.
Adding, deleting, updating, and submitting your reference letters
If you click on either the name of the applicant in your applicant list OR if you click on a reference letter listed for an applicant, a form similar to the one below will come up.
Let's take a closer look at the reference letter form to clarify what actions are available to you:
The header for this page will be Reference Letter for Name, where Name is the name of this applicant. If you click on the Name, the cover sheet for the applicant will come up.
At Step 1, you can either select your Reference Letter file to be uploaded -- or you can type it in (or provide a URL if it is available as a web page) by clicking on the here link there, which will open up a text box.
Use the first option here, Select a file to upload, if your reference letter for this applicant is a file on your computer. Your file can be in any of the following formats: PDF, Word, Office, OpenOffice, PostScript, DVI, GIF, JPEG, PNG, LaTeX, TeX, RTF, HTML, or TEXT.
Use the second option, OR type in text/url/html directly here, by clicking on the "here" link. Then you can enter your reference letter in one of three ways:
You can simply type in your letter as plain text right here. Just click on the text box and start typing!
If you have created a web page that contains your reference letter for this applicant, enter the URL (in the form http://...) for that web page here in the text box.
If you would like to submit your reference letter for this applicant as HTML, enter the HTML here in the text box.
Step 2, Who is the letter for?, is OPTIONAL and used only if you wish to restrict this reference letter to be readable only by certain institutions. By default, your letter, once submitted, is considered a "generic letter" and could be viewable by any institutions/employers where this applicant makes an application.
If you wish to restrict the letter to one institution, click on the green arrow and select the institution from the resulting dropdown box.
If you wish to restrict the letter to all applications of a given type (e.g., postdocs), click on the blue arrow and check the checkbox(es) for the type(s).
The last item, Expiration, specifies the last day this letter can be used to apply for jobs. You can set this date by entering it in the format: YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY/MM/DD, YY-MM-DD, or YY/MM/DD.
Click on Submit to submit this reference letter for this applicant. The letter and this screen will not be saved unless you click on the Submit button.
If you have uploaded a file and submitted this form, it is a good practice to then look at the PDF file that is automatically generated from your submission, to verify that your reference letter looks okay.
. Click on the green down-arrow 
to see the detailed permission settings of the letters for the applicant.
and select the institution from the resulting dropdown box.
and check the checkbox(es) for the type(s).