Changing Jobs During Transition¶

Job-changing during transition is a different operational problem than job-changing pre- or post-transition. The decision matrix has more dimensions (financial runway, healthcare continuity, legal-records timing, presentation stability, market conditions), reference-call choreography is more delicate, the out-vs-stealth job-hunting question becomes load-bearing, and the first day at a new employer carries an implicit re-disclosure question. The skill being trained is stay-vs- leave decision-mapping that accounts for transition-specific variables, out-vs-stealth job-hunting strategy, and the operational mechanics of joining a new employer mid-transition or post-transition.

This page is the job-change operational layer. For the assessment work that informs whether to leave see Hostile Workplace Escalation and Performance Reviews During Transition. For records mechanics in transit between employers see Legal → Employment & Education Records. For benefits-continuity at job change see Legal → Healthcare Records.

The stay-vs-leave decision matrix¶

Five dimensions, scored independently before composition. The matrix does not produce a number; it produces a defensible posture. Quarterly re-scoring under the same framework is the discipline — most "should have left earlier" / "left too soon" regrets reduce to inconsistent scoring between months.

Financial-runway dimension¶

Months of expenses coverable without W-2 income.

Runway	Posture	Notes
< 3 months	Stay-and-search or same-day move	Resign Friday, start Monday at a named offer. Severance leverage is low; cannot walk hostile.
3–9 months	Deliberate search	Two-to-four-month search plus one-to-three-month buffer for start date and benefits gap.
> 9 months	Extended search; clean break OK	Decline misfit offers; resign before next role lined up if current role is harming.

Transition-specific costs that compress runway: out-of-pocket HRT during benefits gaps, surgery copays and deductibles that reset on plan change, electrolysis and laser sessions priced as a series, voice training, wardrobe replacement, name-change court costs. Build runway models on transition-loaded expenses, not pre-transition baselines. See Runway & Timing.

Healthcare-continuity dimension¶

Three sub-questions in sequence: (1) What is on order? A pre-authorized surgery in the next 90 days is a stronger argument to stay than HRT alone, which is portable across most plans. (2) What does the new plan cover? Plan documents, formulary, and surgical-benefit schedule must be obtained before accepting an offer when gender-affirming care is in active use. ERISA self- funded plans can categorically exclude services that state mandates would cover. (3) What is the gap? COBRA preserves coverage at full premium plus 2% admin (typically 4–10x the employee share); marketplace coverage is available during the Special Enrollment Period triggered by loss of employer coverage but resets deductibles mid-year.

Legal-records-timing dimension¶

Records state	Mechanical implication
Pre-court-order	Stealth is mechanically impossible — SSN, I-9, W-4 all carry the prior name. "Stealth" here means selective-disclosure to coworkers, not records-clean.
Court order in hand; SSA + state ID updated	Joining clean is possible. I-9 takes the new name on current ID, payroll runs to SSA under the new name, the W-2 issues correctly.
Mid-update (some flipped, some not)	Worst window. Background-check vendors return mismatches that look like fraud rather than transition. Complete SSA and state-ID updates before starting a new job.

See Legal → Employment & Education Records and Legal → Healthcare Records.

Presentation-stability dimension¶

Soft, but it drives interview logistics. Stable presentation (passing reliably, or not, but consistently) reads as one signal to interviewers; stealth is feasible if other dimensions permit. Unstable presentation (actively shifting voice, HRT effects, electrolysis) reads coherent across interviews compressed into weeks but produces conflicting signals across interviews stretched over months — tighten the timeline or defer. Pre-disclosure-public (name change internal at current employer, public on LinkedIn, no external industry presence yet) is the most flexible window for a clean break.

Market-conditions dimension¶

The non-trans dimension that nonetheless governs everything. Negotiation leverage, ability to walk from a hostile offer, and realistic timeline to land are all market-driven. Tight market with many open requisitions — leaving is cheaper. Slack market — staying and rebuilding internal reputation is usually cheaper.

When all five point one direction¶

Rare but actionable. Long runway, portable healthcare, clean records, stable presentation, hot market — leave. Short runway, mid-procedure healthcare, mid-update records, shifting presentation, slack market — stay (and document, because the case for constructive discharge later builds in the meantime).

When they conflict (typical)¶

Score each dimension green / yellow / red:

Two or more reds — staying is the default unless the current role is causing acute harm (hostile workplace, denied transition steps, active discrimination). Then leaving despite red runway becomes preservation-of-self, with healthcare-bridge planning as the load-bearing piece.
All yellow — quiet search. Two-to-six-month timeline.
Two or more greens, no reds — leaving is supported. Search actively.

Producing a decision under uncertainty¶

Document the reasoning at the time of decision so future-self can evaluate the call against actual outcomes rather than against the counterfactual that didn't happen. The matrix's job is a defensible posture, not a numeric answer.

The "stay" case¶

Staying is the right call when (a) the current employer is non-hostile or actively supportive; (b) healthcare coverage is materially better than realistic alternatives; (c) legal-records timing favors completing the update under existing payroll; (d) unvested equity, deferred bonuses, or pension-vesting milestones are within sight; (e) the role itself is the post-transition career the candidate wants.

Reputation, equity, healthcare, and references in place¶

Staying through transition lets the candidate build a track record under the chosen name in front of people who already trust the work. The transition is not the only data point reviewed at promotion or reference-call time; sustained delivery in role is. See Career Trajectory & Promotion.

Equity vesting cliffs and bonus payout dates are often the largest financial variables. Common patterns: four-year vest with one-year cliff; performance bonus paid Q1 for prior calendar year; deferred-comp with multi-year vest. Resigning the day before a cliff or bonus payout is the costliest exit; the day after payout is the cheapest, with a resignation date that protects the bonus and a notice period that does not.

Self-funded employer plans (typical at large employers) can include surgical benefits and HRT coverage that ACA-marketplace plans do not, or not at the same network. Mid-procedure (post-op recovery, scheduled revision) is the worst window to switch plans. Defer the search until post-recovery if the procedure is in the next 90 days.

A supportive manager is rare and load-bearing. Reference-call choreography is dramatically cleaner when the current manager is a future reference who has watched the candidate work post-transition. An active ally manager — pronoun correction, pushback against hostile peers, advocacy at calibration — preserves a future reference of unusual quality.

When staying becomes unsustainable¶

Triggers that flip the stay case to leave: manager change to someone who does not engage with the transition; re-org that places the candidate under a previously-hostile peer; calibration where the rating drops without performance basis; sustained misgendering or deadnaming after correction with no HR remediation; denial of a previously-granted accommodation; coverage change that excludes a procedure on the surgical schedule. When two or more stack, leave is the call regardless of runway — runway becomes a tactical question (how, when, with what bridge) rather than strategic. Escalate via Hostile Workplace Escalation in parallel with the search to preserve constructive-discharge framing.

The "leave" case¶

Leaving is the right call when (a) the current employer is hostile or indifferent and has demonstrated this over months, not weeks; (b) healthcare coverage is portable or improvable at a known target; (c) legal-records timing is either complete or the new employer's records practice is more accommodating; (d) the role is no longer one the candidate wants to occupy post-transition; (e) staying is producing documented mental-health harm.

Constructive-discharge framing¶

When the current environment becomes hostile enough that resignation is the only reasonable option, the resignation can be framed legally as constructive discharge — treated as termination for Title VII purposes. The framing requires contemporaneous documentation of hostile conditions, internal complaints filed, and the employer's failure to remediate. Without that paper trail, the claim degrades to "they quit voluntarily." See Hostile Workplace Escalation.

Departure mechanics¶

Date-of-resignation is tactical: after a bonus or vest milestone, before the next high-stakes deliverable carries the candidate's name; notice long enough for clean handoff, short enough to limit additional exposure; mid-quarter rather than end-of-quarter when possible — companies sometimes accelerate departures at quarter-end and the candidate loses control of the date.

Severance is negotiable in roughly half of voluntary departures and most involuntary ones, with leverage proportional to documented hostile-environment evidence. Common terms: 2–12 weeks of pay; subsidized COBRA for 1–6 months; outplacement services; mutual non-disparagement; neutral reference language. Severance agreements typically include a release of all employment-related claims; signing forecloses future Title VII action. Counsel review, not self-execution. See Legal → Discrimination on the EEOC filing window that severance releases foreclose.

Identify three to five references inside the company before resignation. Have the conversation in person before the resignation date. Get personal email and cell numbers — corporate channels lock on the resignation date. Confirm name and pronouns each will use.

Unvested equity is forfeit on standard departure terms; some agreements include clawback for vested equity in defined "for cause" exits. Read the grant document before resigning. Negotiate the post-termination exercise window for ISOs (default 90 days under IRS rules; some agreements extend).

Healthcare bridge (COBRA, marketplace)¶

The bridge is the load-bearing piece. COBRA preserves the same plan at full premium plus 2% admin for up to 18 months; election window is 60 days from loss of coverage; coverage is retroactive once elected, so election can be deferred until needed (a procedure becomes urgent, an HRT prescription needs filling on the old formulary). Cost is typically \(500–\)2,500/month single-coverage tier. Marketplace coverage is available via Special Enrollment Period (60-day window from loss of coverage); premium tax credits scale with projected income and are often substantial mid-year. Some candidates run both: marketplace as primary, COBRA election held in reserve for 60 days in case the marketplace plan denies a specific service.

The "leave-but-not-yet" case¶

When all five matrix dimensions support leave but runway is too short, the right move is stay-and-search for 6–18 months while building runway. Cut discretionary spending to bank 1–2 months of expenses per quarter. Defer non-urgent transition spending (electrolysis sessions, optional procedures) until post-move. The runway is the option value.

The search is most efficient when unhurried — a 3–6 month passive search with selective applications converts at higher rates than a 4-week sprint. Schedule interviews around current-role obligations to preserve review and bonus eligibility. Take PTO for on-site interviews; do not interview from the current employer's network or devices.

The failure mode is the burnout exit — the candidate finally cracks, resigns without a destination, lands in the worst version of leave (no runway, no offer, no reference plan). Recognize the signs (chronic Sunday-night dread, sleep disruption, rumination on resignation as fantasy) as early warnings; accelerate rather than letting the exit happen ungoverned. Operational discipline of stay-and-search: scheduled search activity (one block per week); reference-call planning in parallel; document hygiene in case constructive-discharge framing becomes needed; no elective procedures during the search window.

Out-vs-stealth job-hunting¶

The three postures sit on a spectrum from full disclosure on the resume through full stealth at hire. Most candidates run a hybrid (out on LinkedIn, selective in interviews, formal disclosure at offer). The right posture depends on industry footprint, presentation stability, and records state.

Posture	Disclosure surface	Costs	Gains	Best fit
Out	Resume, online profile, first interview	Hostile-employer self-selection; interview process slows; offer rate per application drops	Cleanest first day; no re-disclosure event; offers come from employers who have decided to proceed	Public industry footprint; senior or executive roles; protective-state job market
Selective-disclosure	Disclosed at offer, before signing	Disclosure event must be managed at offer; small risk that the offer is rescinded after disclosure	Search-stage optionality preserved; records and disclosure aligned before start date	Stable presentation; clean records; mid-career individual contributor
Stealth	None until post-hire (and possibly never)	Disclosure event must be managed eventually; records may contradict (background check, I-9, E-Verify); leaks may occur	Offer rate per application closer to non-trans baseline; reference and recruiter handling is simpler	Minimal public footprint; back-office or IC engineering; clean legal records

Stealth fails by mechanism in industries where the candidate has a public footprint: published academic work (citation graph), conference talks (recorded video), podcast appearances, byline journalism, public GitHub commits, professional association directories, executive biographies. The first interviewer's web search returns a contradiction. Plan for out or selective-disclosure.

Stealth is feasible when the candidate has minimal public footprint, is mid-career rather than executive, works in a function where networking is less load-bearing (back-office, IC engineering, some operations roles), and has clean legal records. Smaller private-sector employers and niche industries are more accommodating to stealth than public-company executive tracks.

The post-hire discovery failure mode: the candidate lands the job stealth, completes onboarding, and is "discovered" months later by a coworker who knew them under the prior name. The employer's reaction is downstream of culture, not of the candidate's choice; outcomes range from neutral to a constructive-discharge-grade hostile environment. Mitigation: choose selective-disclosure over stealth whenever feasible, so the disclosure event is governed rather than ambushed.

Resume and online-profile name handling¶

The resume is not a legal document; the chosen name is appropriate. Background-check forms and I-9 are legal documents and require the legal name. The mismatch is normal and is explained on the "other names used" disclosure during the background-check phase. Do not include the prior name on the resume itself; include it on the background-check disclosure form when asked, and on professional-license roster requests where licensure was issued under the prior name. Industry-publication CVs (academic, journalism) sometimes include a footnote attesting that prior publications appear under a different name — a personal choice, see Employment & Education Records.

LinkedIn timing. Searching out — update name and photo before launching. Searching stealth — do not update during an active search; leak risk is too high (recruiter side-by-side comparison, mutual-connection notification emails). Searching selective-disclosure — update at offer-stage, synchronized with the disclosure event.

Old-name search results are largely persistent — conference attendee lists, GitHub usernames, old blog posts, archived directories. Mitigation: contact site owners for removal where possible; right-to-be-forgotten in EU jurisdictions; for US content, removal is at site discretion. Realistic posture is harm reduction, not erasure. Academic and journalism bylines are governed by the citation graph; publisher bylines can sometimes be updated (COPE 2021 framework) but citing-paper bylines remain. ORCID is the durable identifier across name changes for academic work. The "name history acknowledged on profile" approach gives the interviewer the prior-name pointer and removes the surprise on discovery. On the background-check form's "other names used" question, answer yes and provide the prior name — non-disclosure is treated as falsification grounds for offer rescission.

Recruiter handling¶

Third-party (external) recruiters are paid by the employer on placement; they are aligned with the candidate insofar as a placement closes but do not represent the candidate. Disclosure to a third-party recruiter is disclosure to the recruiter's entire firm and downstream to any employer they market to. Treat as low-trust. In-house recruiters are employees of the target employer; disclosure is disclosure to the target employer. Late-stage disclosure (after technical screen, before offer) is the typical selective-disclosure pattern.

Early disclosure lets the recruiter pre-vet hiring-manager openness — effective with allied recruiters, risky with neutral ones. Late disclosure informs the recruiter at offer stage and asks them to convey to the hiring manager — functional when records are clean and the funnel has been clean.

Recruiters maintain candidate databases shared across the firm. A disclosure to one recruiter can surface at a different employer when the candidate is marketed there months later. Minimize disclosure surface area; ask explicitly about CRM data-handling. An ally recruiter — placed multiple trans candidates, knows the target employer's actual practice — is the highest-value third-party intermediary; rare, usually self-identifies by raising the topic before the candidate does. Some recruiter agreements include confidentiality and exclusivity terms binding on the candidate; exclusivity can foreclose direct application to employers in the recruiter's portfolio for 6–24 months. Read before signing.

The interview process¶

Stage	Disclosure question
Phone screen	Typically no disclosure needed. No visual presentation, no records request.
Video / in-person	Out: no question. Stealth or selective: presentation reads however it reads to the interviewer; do not over-explain.
Background-check phase	Legal-name reveal via vendor; "other names used" surfaces the prior name to the employer's HR contact.
Reference-call phase	Pre-disclosure references may use the prior name unless coached. Coaching scripts in advance is mandatory.
Offer phase	Latest functional moment for selective-disclosure candidates. Disclosure here lets the employer confirm coverage, accommodation, and HR practice — and lets them back out, which is information the candidate wants before signing.
Negotiation phase	Start date (post-procedure recovery), benefits effective date, name on records (payroll, badge, email, public directory), restroom access, dress-code application. Most are operational rather than financial; easier before signing than after.

Selective-disclosure candidates often time direct disclosure to immediately precede the background-check report by 24–72 hours, so the employer hears it from the candidate first.

Reference-call choreography¶

For each reference: a 30-minute call before the search begins. Walk through the transition timeline, the chosen name and pronouns, what the reference will say if called, what they will not say. Confirm contact information that does not route through corporate systems. Provide the role description, the framing the candidate gave the interviewer, and a talking-points list of two or three project examples — making the call easy improves quality.

The reference's job is to attest to the work, not to narrate the candidate's transition. Coach references to use the chosen name and current pronouns regardless of when the work was done. If asked specifically about a name change, the reference's line is: "[Candidate] went by a different name when we worked together; the work product and my recommendation are the same."

If a reference is unwilling to use chosen name and pronouns, or has shown signs of being a leak risk, drop them. A peer, a post-disclosure manager, or a client reference can substitute. A reference who outs the candidate against instruction is more damaging than one absent reference. One peer plus two managers is a common substitution pattern.

The unintentional leak: a reference uses the prior name once, catches themselves, corrects. Most experienced interviewers move past it. Recovery: confirm the chosen name in the next direct contact and do not over-explain. The leak is not always fatal; the over-explanation often is.

Background checks¶

Pre-employment background checks are administered under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 USC § 1681. Standard scope: criminal records (county, state, federal), education and employment verification, SSN trace, credit report (where role-justified), professional license verification, federal watchlist screens. The candidate's right to review and dispute is FCRA-mandated. Industry whitepapers describe the common vendor patterns; verify any specific practice against the vendor's current disclosures.

Always answer "other names used" yes when the prior name is on prior records (W-2s, education records, licensure), with dates of use. The prior name is what allows the vendor to correctly aggregate records; non-disclosure causes mismatches that look like fraud rather than transition.

The court order from a name-change petition is a public record in most US jurisdictions and may surface in a county-records check; some states allow sealing on petition, most do not. Credit reports merge by SSN, not by name; the prior name appears as a known alias — update SSA records well before the first job application to propagate to bureaus over weeks to months. Education records are verified through the National Student Clearinghouse (enrollment) and the issuing registrar (transcripts) and return under the prior name unless amended under FERPA § 99.20. Professional licenses are verified against state-board portals; each board controls its own roster.

The reveal moment: the vendor returns a report listing the prior name as a known alias. For employers familiar with trans candidates, unremarkable. For employers unfamiliar, this is the disclosure event regardless of whether the candidate had intended to disclose. Selective-disclosure candidates time their direct disclosure 24–72 hours before. See Employment & Education Records for records mechanics.

The first day at a new employer¶

Started stealth, records clean. Operationally normal. Re-disclosure is deferred until the candidate chooses, which may be never. Risk: post-hire discovery. Started out. Records aligned with current presentation. Badge, email, payroll, benefits, IT directory under the chosen name. The manager already knows. Selective-disclosure (some know, some don't). Hiring manager and HR know; team does not yet. Manage the rollout under Name and Pronoun Systems Rollout; typical pattern is an HR-supported team announcement in week 2–4, after basic onboarding is complete and before the candidate becomes the topic of speculation.

HR has on file: legal name (I-9 / W-4), SSN, "other names used" if disclosed, background-check report, benefits enrollment, the chosen name as preferred-name field if the HRIS supports it. The manager sees the chosen name in HRIS and directory, the legal name in payroll-related systems they may not access, and whatever the candidate disclosed directly. Whether HR shares the prior name or background-check report with the manager varies — ask explicitly. Mid-update hires should expect background-check mismatches and HR follow-up; the operational fix is to provide the court order and updated SSA card to HR proactively at hire.

Specific job-change scenarios¶

Scenario	Disclosure posture and key risk
Internal transfer	Records-cleanest move. HRIS, payroll, benefits, IT directory already under chosen name. Stealth rarely possible internally — Slack channels, alumni associations, mutual managers leak. Selective-disclosure on the new team is the realistic posture.
Industry-pivot during transition	Career change layered onto transition; compounded uncertainty. Generally defer one or the other. When forced together, the pivot can absorb the re-introduction — the candidate is "new" to the industry, which masks the transition reset.
Returning to a former employer	The "boomerang." Records under the prior name exist in the former HRIS. Some employers re-create the employee record under the new name, some merge histories, some refuse. Negotiate at offer.
Joining a startup	Less HR infrastructure, more founder-discretion. Aligned founder = frictionless; hostile founder = no constraint. Reference the founder, not the company. See Assessing Your Workplace.
Joining a Fortune 500	More documented policy, better benefits, longer disclosure-decision timelines because every step routes through HR. HRC Corporate Equality Index correlates with realistic practice but does not guarantee it. Verify benefits coverage at plan-document level.
Government / civil-service	Formal name disclosure required (SF-86 / e-QIP federal; analogous state). Security clearance requires disclosure of prior names; non-disclosure is disqualifying. Self-identification as transgender is not itself a clearance bar. FEHB coverage of gender-affirming services varies and has been politically unstable.
Academia	Tenure-track and faculty appointments pull heavily on publication record under the prior name unless ORCID and publisher updates have propagated. Out or footnote-on-CV is the typical posture; stealth is mechanically near-impossible. See Employment & Education Records.
Customer-facing leadership role	Higher stealth-cost (PR profile, executive directory, conference appearances) and higher out-cost (industry attention to disclosure). Realistic posture is out from the start, with a deliberate communication plan negotiated at offer.

Healthcare-bridge planning¶

COBRA (29 USC § 1161 et seq.) preserves group-plan coverage for up to 18 months after a qualifying event. Cost: full premium plus 2% admin fee. Election window: 60 days from notice. Coverage is retroactive to loss date once elected, allowing strategic deferral. See DOL COBRA guidance.

Marketplace coverage. ACA marketplace (healthcare.gov in non-state-marketplace states; state exchanges elsewhere) offers a Special Enrollment Period for loss of coverage. Premium tax credits scale with projected income; subsidies are substantial for the income-drop window typical of unemployment. Verify HRT coverage, surgical coverage, and network for trans-experienced providers before electing.

Pre-existing conditions. ACA prohibits pre-existing-condition exclusions on individual plans (45 CFR 147.108). HRT continuation is generally portable across ACA plans subject to formulary differences. Surgery scheduled mid- bridge requires verification that the new plan covers the specific procedure codes and the specific surgeon's network status.

Surgery timing relative to job change creates a benefits gap

Pre-job-change surgery completes under the current plan with deductibles already met but defers the start date and may require unpaid leave around recovery. Post-job-change surgery shifts to the new plan with deductibles reset and is gated by the new employer's benefits-effective-date and any pre-authorization waiting period. Mid-transition surgery (between plans) requires COBRA or marketplace as the bridge — verify the procedure is covered under the bridge plan before resigning, and confirm the surgeon's network status under each option. A 60–90 day benefits gap is typical; out-of-pocket exposure during the gap can run into five figures for surgical care.

When to defer surgery. Defer when (a) the procedure is elective rather than urgent; (b) the new plan's coverage is materially worse or unverified; (c) the post-procedure recovery period overlaps with the new-job ramp; (d) the deductible reset is material.

State mandate vs ERISA self-funded. State insurance mandates (covering HRT, gender-affirming care, etc.) apply to fully-insured plans regulated by state insurance law. They do not apply to ERISA self-funded plans, typical at large employers. A state-mandate-covered service in a fully-insured plan can become an exclusion when the candidate moves to a self-funded plan at a different employer. Verify the funding structure of any new plan before relying on state-mandate coverage.

When the new employer turns out to be hostile¶

Early signals (first 30–90 days): repeated misgendering after correction with no remediation; HR de-prioritization of disclosed transition needs; manager pattern-matching the candidate as a "fit problem" without specific performance basis; exclusion from informal channels (lunches, side projects); deadnaming on internal documents that should have been updated.

When to leave again. Two-job-changes-in-a-year is a resume signal. Mitigation: extend the new role to at least 12 months when feasible while running the search; frame the second move externally as strategic re-targeting; keep the documentation discipline that supports constructive-discharge framing if conditions justify it.

When to stay and rebuild. Right posture when the hostility is local (one manager, one team) and lateral movement within the company is plausible — the internal-transfer pathway preserves tenure, benefits, and equity vesting. Wrong posture when the hostility is cultural rather than local; cultural hostility does not respond to team change. Escalate via Hostile Workplace Escalation before deciding.

Where this fits¶

Workplace Transitioning index is the section map. Runway & Timing feeds the matrix's runway dimension. Assessing Your Workplace applies the pre-disclosure intelligence-gathering model to target employers. Hostile Workplace Escalation is the documentation discipline that enables constructive-discharge framing. Career Trajectory & Promotion covers the multi-year visibility-vs-camouflage tradeoffs. Self-Employment & Freelance is the alternate path when no W-2 employer fits. Legal → Discrimination is the Title VII, Bostock, EEOC procedural map. Legal → Employment & Education Records covers records mechanics across decades. Legal → Healthcare Records covers benefits records at job change.

Sources¶

Federal statute, case law, and regulation¶

Employer and workplace policy resources¶

Population data¶

Industry references¶

Background-check industry whitepapers on FCRA-compliance practice and alias-handling in pre-employment screening — verify against current vendor publications.
Recruiter-industry references on candidate confidentiality, CRM data-handling, and disclosure timing in third-party search — verify against current professional-association publications.