Should all my publications and research get listed on my resume?
It’s a big question with a simple answer.
If you’ve got work or papers that:
1 Have been published 2 You’re listed as an author or collaborator 3 Are relevant to the job you’re applying forThen you most definitely should include them on your resume. You want your prospective employer to be able to see exactly what you’re capable of and the actual work you’ve done is perfect.
You want to make it easy for the person thinking about hiring you to see your range of experience and knowledge in your field; this is what citing your published work will do.
Papers will also demonstrate some soft skills like good writing and the ability to analyze data.
When you’ve got a good library of publications, how do you choose which ones to include?
What format should you use in your citation?
For answers, you’ve come to the right place.
You don’t need to add all your publications, stick with publications that show the required skills.
We’ve pulled together the rules and tips you need for adding your publications to your resume or CV to help get things perfect.
The first thing you need to do is assess the job role that you’re applying for and decide if your published work is relevant.
You only have a small amount of space and it gets full, quickly.
The best advice you’ll get is to only include publications that match the job you’re applying for and support the points you’re making elsewhere in the resume.
To make it easy to follow, here are the main times you’re going to find listing your publications to be useful on your resume or CV:
| Resumes for academic roles | For jobs in graduate programs, at colleges, or in research positions, your published work forms an important part of your application. You can demonstrate the type of work you’ve already done and that you’re capable of academic writing |
|---|---|
| Resumes for jobs in scientific fields | When you want to work in a science-oriented role, you should list any scientific writing you’re completed. You’ll show you understand the scientific process and style of content for academic pursuits. Your levels of productivity and areas of interest will also be evident |
| For applications in relevant industries | If you’ve published papers that are specific to the industry you now want to work in, you should include them on your resume. Working in a trade journal is also a great way to show your technical expertise. |
| Famous publications | To add prestige to your application, you should consider adding work featured in respected industry journals or nationally renowned places. A lot of jobs care about the reputation you can bring with you to the role so if you’re already respected in the industry that gives weight to your application. |
Your first instinct is probably to add everything you’ve ever achieved in life, but you need to make sure you’re targeting your information to the person reading your document.
With all of this to think about, you’re probably thinking about which publications are the right ones to add to your resume or CV.
For your curriculum vitae, note down anything that has authority in its field that has been or will soon be published.
The right type of publications to list on your resume include:
Not every publication belongs on your CV. Don’t include blogs, website content, or nonscientific or magazine articles. Also, if your thesis didn’t get published, it belongs in your “Education” section.
The question of the difference between a CV and resume should probably be tackled first!
Your resume contains a summary of your skills and experience in brief, covering just one or two pages.
Conversely, your CV is packed with detail and will run well over two pages in length.
You should be writing a different resume that’s specific to each position you’re applying for, whilst your CV remains static and you tailor your cover letter for each job you go for.
How does all of this affect how you show your published work?
This breaks it down for you:
| Resume | CV | |
|---|---|---|
| How long? | Brief | As long as necessary |
| What to include? | A wide-ranging summary of your relevant education, skills, and experience | A comprehensive listing of your educational and academic background |
| What’s it for? | To get a job, or at least get a call for an interview | To demonstrate your qualifications and background |
Getting to the nitty-gritty…
Examples for listing publications on a resume
You’re here because you’re wondering…
Let’s answer that for you…
We’re going to give you the rules you need to follow for citing publications on your resume. It includes the order you need to use and the simple structure to follow to give you the perfect Publications section of your resume:
APA style is a writing style and format for academic documents such as scholarly journal articles and books. It is commonly used for citing sources within the field of behavioral and social sciences. It was developed by The American Psychological Association.
MLA style is the leading style of documentation for literary research, as well as academic papers in the humanities field. It was developed by The Modern Language Association.
For including a written publication, it should look like this:
To cite a paper presented at a conference:
Imagine you’re looking for a SEO consultant role and the skills you need to be showing are around SEO.
This is an example of how you’d cite relevant publications for these key skills:
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We’ve already established that…
Your CV, or curriculum vitae, is what you use instead of a resume in the world of academia.
Rather than picking out the best bits of your publication history for your resume, on your CV you get to show absolutely everything you’ve had published during your career, except obsolete one.
There are a few different things to consider when you’re formatting your publications to go on to your CV:
Here’s a guide to the different styles that you may be expected to use:
| Journal publications in APA style | Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year of publication). Article title. Journal title, Volume (Issue), Page range. |
|---|---|
| Journal publications in MLA style | Author’s name. “Article Title.” Journal Title, Volume, Issue, Date, Pages. (If you have co-authors, separate each name by a comma, and add “and” before the last author name). |
| Published books or chapters, APA style | Last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year of publication). Book title: Subtitle. Location: Publisher. (Note that with APA style, publication titles should follow sentence case (only capitalize the first word), rather than title case). |
| Published books or chapters, MLA style | Author’s name. Title of Book: Subtitle. Publisher, Year. |
To give you some examples of what your listed publications would look like based on the type of work and the style you decide to use:
APA style journal publication
Koy, J. C., Parker, B. V., & Lopez, D. A. (2015). Reproductive habits of dragonflies in subtropical climates. Journal of Insect Science, 20(1), 8-12.
MLA style journal publication
Harlow, Alexander. “Material Requirements for Sending Robots to Uranus.” International Journal of Astrobiology, vol. 30, no. 2, 2012, pp. 100-106.
APA style book
Garcia, L. O. (2017). The modern prison experiment: Locked down abroad. New York City: American Association of University Presses.
MLA style book
Terry, Jon. Differentiation in Avian Species, or Pretty Colors and Where They Fly To. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Make sure you keep your list up to date as your career progresses and you get more articles, books, or presentations published. Each time something new goes live, add it to the top of your CV’s Publication and Research section.
When you have publications to cite on your CV or resume, it shows that you have skills, knowledge, and interest in your field. A potential employer will only see this in a positive light; they want you to be engaged in the work that you do.
It’s really important that everything that you include about your published history is correct and up to date, as well as relevant.
You can add publications to your CV or resume in a number of ways, depending on your field and purpose.
To be doubly sure that you’ve got it, here’s how to write publications on a resume and CV:
Publications on your resume:
For your CV, usually, you'd include all your academic publications.
Publications for your CV:
However, you choose to format your list, make sure that it looks tidy and well organized so any hiring manager knows exactly what they’re looking at.
