Defense Acquisition Research Journal (ARJ) - is a scholarly peer-reviewed journal published by the Defense Acquisition University (DAU). All submissions receive a blind review to ensure impartial evaluation.
Cream cheese should be unrefrigerated for no more than 2 hours.
As a very general rule, you can safely use unopened, always properly refrigerated cream cheese from a reputable source for 1 month past the sell-by date (this from Still Tasty and other reputable sources).