Should I omit bad papers from my CV that I didn't want to write?

Question

I am starting a second postdoc in mathematics. During my first postdoc, my original mentor basically forced me to write papers with him that I did not want to write. These papers are very very bad. I personally find no scientific value in them, and I regret having my name associated with them. One got published for some reason and the other is under review (where the previous mentor is an editor, and he heavily implied he would use that status to force the paper through).

I had no say in the content of these papers, I did not want to write these papers, I do not want to have my name associated to these papers, I think the papers have no scientific value, and if it were up to me I would remove my name from them. The mentor publishes like 30 papers a year, and they are all the same.

I am reapplying for faculty jobs and several senior people have told me that these papers make my CV look much worse. Several senior people have told me that they suspect the reason I didn't get a faculty job this time is because of these papers, because my publication record other than them is excellent.

I will never need anything from this man again. I found another postdoc mentor for the remainder of my time at my first postdoc and I am moving to another postdoc. I have not spoken to this man in a couple years and will never talk to him again.

Should I omit these papers on my CV?

Answer 1

Yes, you can omit things from your CV. Many people do so for many reasons. A CV need not be a complete record of all your activity. It isn't like a college transcript in that regard.

The CV is under your control and written for some specific purpose. Only things germane to that purpose are best included.

Among other things, someone who publishes in several quite different areas will, perhaps, have several CVs. Someone who publishes a lot might only include what they consider the most important or most relevant work in a CV intended for some use.

The CV says "This is what I have to offer and how I have demonstrated that". It should only include things that support that.

People may, however, learn of these "crufty" papers and question you about them. A response similar to what you say here will probably satisfy them.

Answer 2

One got published for some reason and the other is under review (where the previous mentor is an editor, and he heavily implied he would use that status to force the paper through).

At least for the paper that is under review, since it has not yet been published, it is not too late to inform the editor that you wish to remove your name from the list of authors. They cannot name you as an author without your consent, so they will remove you and the problem you are worried about will be solved.

For the paper that was already published, this is a genuine dilemma. This question has a discussion about whether it is acceptable to omit publications from your CV when applying for academic jobs. I don’t think there is a universally correct answer, but the discussion can at least inform your thinking on this issue.

I think the main risk when omitting papers is that some of the people evaluating your file will discover them on their own and, since you do not explain the situation, they may make assumptions about you based on your omission of the papers that are unflattering - potentially more unflattering than the picture of you they would get if you did mention the papers.

One possible way to handle the situation is to list the papers in your cv but include a footnote with a brief explanation. This approach can mitigate the above risk to some extent (while potentially having its own drawbacks, mainly in that it seems awkward and draws attention to the very thing you wish to draw attention away from).

I am not advocating for any specific way of handling the situation. But for the paper that hasn’t been published at least, taking swift action to dissociate yourself from it can be an effective solution to that part of the problem.

Answer 3

I have received advice that:

Committees (both hiring and promotion) are better at counting than they are at reading. And they aren't very good at counting.

I.e. instead of a bare list of papers, your CV should contain a numbered list. Although it may seem backwards, you should probably number them backwards. That way, when the reader comes to the list and sees '27) Doe, J....', they immediately know you have 27 publications.

When taking a test, you're better off to not make it hard on the grader. Write your work clearly, make sure the final result is obvious, put a box around it. etc. Your CV is like a test -- make it easy on the committee.

While you can choose to not list the papers, I wouldn't. The committee isn't going to read them and you did do the work.

Answer 4

I have served on a number of hiring committees for mathematics position. Based on my experience, I think that if you do suppress some of the papers from your CV,

(a) you need to be well prepared for explaining why you did so (for instance, your current explanation, while understandable, is a bit harsh (some people would like it to be a bit more "collegial") and also the whole story includes some poor judgement on your side (after all, you are talking about a person whom you chose as a mentor, and presumably the "publishes like 30 papers a year" thing did not just start when you arrived), so being a bit humble would not hurt;

(b) it is better to use the headline "Selected publications" to ensure that the CV you submit is not perceived as lying by omission.