Author #47 out of 169

April 29, 2012 10:20 AM

How I do I cite a massively multi-authored paper on my CV?

I just learned that I will be included in the author list of two papers that will appear in Nature. There are more than a hundred authors, and I am not among the first 20. I know how I would cite these in a paper (Author 1, Author 2, et al), but how should I list these on my CV?

This sort of thing is very unusual in my discipline (social sciences), in which conventions dictate that we keep author lists in order, e.g.:

Author 1, Author 2, googly, et al. "Blah Blah Blah" Journal of Blahdy-Blah

It would be strange to not have my name on the author list, and I would not be comfortable changing the order in a way that might give the impression that I am giving myself more credit than is due. Any suggestions?

posted by googly to work & money (10 answers total)

Could you use an ellipsis between the first couple of authors and your name, then add et al. after your name? It seems like the point of having it on your CV is that you're showing you were listed as an author, and so that someone could look it up if they wanted. So that would let them do that, in conjunction with the other info in the cite (journal name, year published, etc.).
posted by limeonaire at 10:24 AM on April 29, 2012

Also, a CV is meant to start the conversation about your contributions, not be the be-all, end-all list of citations of your contributions. I think the elision is justified to save space; any conversation sparked by the CV is where you can clarify that you were Author No. 65 or what have you.
posted by limeonaire at 10:27 AM on April 29, 2012

Wow, that is a hard one.

I would list as many as can reasonably fit, at least a bit more than the number of authors you use before et al, ellipsis, your name, ellipsis, Last author (or last few depending on context)

So,

Whatsit DR, Whosit JZ, Grump FW, Coolpostdoc R, Whoisthatagain RN, ..., Googly MF, ..., Oldfart A. Blah Blah Blah. Journal of Blahdy-Blah
posted by Blasdelb at 10:37 AM on April 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

I have seen people list things like:

Haughey M, West J, Millard J, (44 other authors), Googly G et al., (120 other authors), Paphnuty J, Roe R.
posted by grouse at 10:42 AM on April 29, 2012 [11 favorites]

Do you have to cite things on your CV the same way you would in a paper? On my CV, I list pubs like this:

2012. "Blah Blah In Whatever-dee-doo." Journal of Stuff 21:3. With Jethro Q. Walrustitty and Aaron A. Aaronson.

at which point your big pub just becomes

2012. "Big Science Paper." Nature XX:Y. With LeadAuthor 1, LeadAuthor 2, et al.

Or, if you want to be careful,

2012. "Big Science Paper." Nature XX:Y. With LeadAuthor 1, LeadAuthor 2, et al. x'th of X authors.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:02 AM on April 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

grouse's solution looks better than mine, the parentheses work well and it is more descriptive without using more space. I'd take out the et al. though
posted by Blasdelb at 11:14 AM on April 29, 2012

I didn't actually mean to have the "et al." in there. So, yes, what Blasdelb said.
posted by grouse at 11:19 AM on April 29, 2012

Haughey M, West J, Millard J, (44 other authors), Googly G et al., (120 other authors), Paphnuty J, Roe R.

Yeah, I've seen that too.
posted by yoink at 11:25 AM on April 29, 2012

This is super-helpful. I agree that grouse's looks most economical. Many thanks!

Plus I like the idea of being a paper with Matt, Jessamyn, and Cortex. Let's make it happen!
posted by googly at 7:02 PM on April 29, 2012

On my publications I do this as:

Title of Paper, First Author, Second Author, Third Author, et al. (+ 68 co-authors including T. McTootsalot), Year, Journal, Volume, Page
posted by Tooty McTootsalot at 7:55 PM on April 29, 2012