by Dave Jensen » Fri Dec 03, 2004 6:29 pm
Here's one comment from a professional CV reader . . .
We scan CV's to see first author publications. It's a fact of life. You look a lot better when you are listed as the first co-author, and not the second.
And then I had this great idea, that researchers should "buddy up" in the beginning, with an agreement that it is OK to switch the order on their respective CVs. However, before going ahead and posting that suggestion here, because it is such an emotional issue, I thought I'd ask Beth Fischer, of the University of Pittsburgh's "PhD Survival Skills and Ethics Program." She teaches ethics and job search skills to scientists.
Beth told me "your idea stinks. A person can not change the order of the authors of a publication, for any reason. It isn't ethical." I begged, I pleaded. It just seemed so natural to me for a person to want to put their own name first, for the self-promotional (and very real) impact it makes on their CV. Unfortunately, I couldn't get her buy-in. She did agree with the earlier poster who suggested using an asterick. But I can tell you as a person who reads CVs all day long, no one reads astericks.
Dave Jensen, Moderator
CareerTrax Inc.
"Failure is a bruise -- not a tattoo." -- Jon Sinclair