How To Organize Publications on Your Resume or CV

Publications can help you stand out and show thought leadership in your field. But you may find it hard to organize them on your resume, especially if they include many co-authors, long article titles, or endless URL addresses. Below is a step-by-step guide to setting up this section.

Develop a Master Publications List

First, draft a complete overview of publications you’ve written or co-written to date. By gathering this list (and updating it as needed), you can more quickly produce a publications section for any current or future job application.

To keep your list clear and organized, follow a consistent citation style. Here’s an overview of common citation styles and the academic/professional areas where they generally apply:

• American Psychological Association (APA): academic and scientific research
• Chicago Manual of Style: journalism and publishing
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE): science and technology
• Modern Language Association (MLA): humanities

Determine if your field requires you to follow a certain style (more likely if you work in science or academia). When in doubt, use MLA.

Explore Word’s Bibliography Tool

If you’re one of the many who find citation guidelines tedious, Microsoft Word has a built-in tool that lets you organize your publications. It may take you a few minutes to learn this feature. But once you do, you can quickly add to your publications list going forward.

You’ll find Word’s bibliography tool on the “References” tab. Look for the “Citations & Bibliography” section of ribbon commands, then follow these five steps:

1. Click the “Style” dropdown menu and choose the citation style you’d like to use.

2. Click the “Manage Sources” command. Toward the middle of the Source Manager menu that appears, click “New…” to open the “Create Source” form.

3. Choose your publication category at the top (such as Book, Book Section, and Journal Article). Then, enter details such as the Title, Year, and Publisher.

4. Click “OK” and then “New…” again as needed to enter your other publications. When you’re done, click “Close” on the bottom right to exit the Source Manager menu.

5. Click the “Bibliography” ribbon command to generate your full publications list, auto-formatted in your chosen style.

See Word’s bibliography help page for more details.

Choose Relevant Publications for Your Job Search

After setting up a master publications list, you can use it as the basis for your publications section. Simply review the list and copy any relevant items into your latest resume or CV.

Leave out any publications that don’t pertain to your current job search. (The only exception to this rule is if they include dates that help you account for a gap in your career history.) Assuming you don’t use every item on your list, name the resulting resume or CV section “Select Publications” or “Publication Highlights” for accuracy.

Under each citation, feel free to add more details or a brief description of the subject matter. (This can be especially useful if the title of the publication is somehow vague or misleading.)

Streamline Your Publications on a Resume

If you have many relevant publications and you’re drafting a CV, you can include them all since readers of a CV expect to see the full scope of your background. But if you’re preparing a resume, take a more streamlined approach to help hiring managers quickly scan your top publications and look up any they’d like to know more about. Consider these three options:

Pare back to your top five items

This keeps your publications section brief so it won’t overwhelm your work experience or education details.

Plug in the URL

If you have the URL to a publication’s full text or citation online, include the link at the end of its entry. Adding the URL lets you remove other citation details that hiring managers would need to find an article, such as volume, issue, or page numbers. For a long URL, you can enter the word “Link” as your hyperlink to the web page.

Categorize by role

For publications in which you were one of multiple authors, you can omit the names of your colleagues without taking undue credit. Just divide your publications into “Author” and “Co-Author” categories, as in the following APA-style example:

Frequently Asked Questions About Publications on Your Resume or CV

Jacob Meade

Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW, ACRW)

Jacob Meade is a resume writer and editor with nearly a decade of experience. His writing method centers on understanding and then expressing each person’s unique work history and strengths toward their career goal. Jacob has enjoyed working with jobseekers of all ages and career levels, finding that a clear and focused resume can help people from any walk of life. He is an Academy Certified Resume Writer (ACRW) with the Resume Writing Academy, and a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with the Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches.