The MLA regularly produces reports about academic career prospects for graduates of doctoral programs in language and literature. Sources of information for these reports include the MLA's annual analysis of positions advertised in the JIL, the MLA's periodic surveys of PhD placement, and the United States government-sponsored Survey of Earned Doctorates. From time to time, the MLA conducts special studies, such as the 2004 MLA survey of hiring departments, which canvassed departments about the outcome of searches they conducted during the academic year 2003-04.