Academic CV Generator

How to Use the Academic CV Generator

1. 1. Fill in the header. Name, position, institution and the contact details you want printed. Add your ORCID iD if you have one; a pasted orcid.org link is shortened to the bare iD.
2. 2. Type each section, one entry per line. Start a line with a date and a pipe — “2019–2023 | PhD in Biology, University of Lagos” — or with a year or range. A line that begins with a dash adds a detail to the entry above, such as a thesis title.
3. 3. Paste your publications. Each line is one finished reference in your field's style. The tool does not fetch or reformat them: it reads the year to sort by, numbers the list if you ask, keeps asterisks as italics, and sets your name in bold.
4. 4. Choose the layout. Keep “newest first” on for the standard order, and pick numbering: none, 1 for the newest, or the newest with the highest number.
5. 5. Copy or download. Copy for pasting into Word or Google Docs, or download Word-compatible HTML (.doc), Markdown, LaTeX or plain text.

What Goes in an Academic CV, and in What Order

An academic CV is a complete record of your scholarly career, not a one-page summary. It has no fixed length: early-career CVs often run two to four pages and senior ones much longer. Within each section, the convention in almost every field is reverse chronological order, with the most recent entry first, so a reader sees what you are doing now before what you did a decade ago.

Section order varies by field, country and career stage; follow the call or a respected colleague's CV if they differ. The order below is the one the generator uses, and it suits most research-led posts in the United States, the United Kingdom and much of Europe.

Dating, Ordering and Numbering

The generator sorts dated entries by end year, with “present” counting as the newest, then by start year. Entries with no usable date keep their place after the dated ones. For publications it reads the year in parentheses first, as in APA, and otherwise the first four-digit year it finds. Work marked forthcoming, in press, accepted or under review has no year yet and is listed first.

Numbered publication lists are common in the sciences because the number shows the total at a glance. Counting down from the newest (so the latest paper is number 12 and the first is number 1) lets you add a new paper at the top without renumbering the rest by hand — the tool does it for you.

Getting Your References Right First

Because publications are typed or pasted, the quality of the list is yours to control. Format each reference with the citation generator in the style your field uses (APA, MLA or Chicago are the usual choices), then paste it in. If your works are on ORCID, the ORCID Publication List tool can fetch and format them for you; paste the result here. This page only arranges what you give it.

Exporting to Word, Markdown and LaTeX

• Word (.doc). The file is HTML that Word opens directly, with a two-column table for dated entries and hanging indents for references. Word may show a compatibility notice; use Save As to keep it as .docx.
• Copy. Copying puts rich text on the clipboard, so headings, bold and italics survive pasting into Word or Google Docs.
• Markdown. Headings, bold dates and ordered references, ready for a static site or a converter such as Pandoc.
• LaTeX. A complete article-class document with the standard packages and special characters escaped. Compile it with pdfLaTeX; if you use another engine, check the preamble.
• Plain text. Underlined headings and no markup, for online forms.

Common Mistakes

• Mixing styles in the publication list. Pick one citation style and format every entry the same way.
• Padding with every award since school. Keep honors that a hiring committee can place.
• Leaving out dates. Undated entries are hard to trust and hard to sort.
• Listing work that is not published as published. Use “forthcoming” or “under review” honestly, in the sections the field expects.
• Not rereading the export. Open the file you will send and check the bold name, the italics and the page breaks.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an academic CV and a résumé?

A résumé is a short summary tailored to one job, usually one or two pages. An academic CV is a complete, reverse-chronological record of your scholarly work, including publications, grants, teaching and service, and it is not limited to a page count. Academic posts in most countries expect a CV.

How long should an academic CV be?

There is no fixed length. Early-career CVs commonly run two to four pages, and a senior researcher's can run to many more. Include what a hiring committee needs and cut padding. If a call for applications sets a limit, follow it.

In what order should publications appear on an academic CV?

Newest first within each category, which is what this tool does. Group them by type, usually peer-reviewed articles first, then books and chapters, then conference papers. Some fields mark student co-authors or equal contribution; add those marks to the reference text yourself.

Which citation style should I use for publications on my CV?

The style your field uses in its journals, applied to every entry. APA, Chicago author-date and Vancouver are common, and some disciplines expect bold or underlined names for the CV owner. Use the same style throughout and format each reference before pasting it in.

Can I export the CV as a PDF?

Not directly. Open the Word file and print or save it as PDF, or compile the LaTeX version. Both routes give a PDF you can check page by page before sending.

Does this tool fetch my publications from ORCID or Google Scholar?

No. Publications are only what you type or paste, and nothing is looked up or uploaded. If you want a formatted list from your ORCID record, the ORCID Publication List tool does that separately; paste its output here.

Is my CV saved anywhere?

No. Everything stays in your browser and disappears when you close the page, so download the version you want before you leave. Honest templates, no AI: the tool orders and formats what you enter and writes nothing of its own.