33

Suppose that I've helped other researchers with the statistical analyses for an epidemiological study and therefore I am acknowledged for that in the "Acknowledgments" section of the paper (something like "We thank andrea for his statistical support").

Obviously, this doesn't count as a publication for me, as I am not one of the authors. But if I include it in my CV, how much "weight" would a professor (or someone within the academia) give to that? I also have other publications where I am either the first author or one of the co-authors.

I am not thinking of a particular situation here (like applying for a grant or for a PhD position). I am just curious to know if it could be useful to put it into my CV or if it would just be irrelevant.

Improve this question
1
  • 27
    No, you shouldn't.
    – JeffE
    Commented Apr 13, 2012 at 20:36

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
55

I've never seen anything like this on a CV.

If you have other publications, I certainly wouldn't include this. It would look like you are trying too hard to find something to put on your CV, which could do more harm than good. Let your publications stand for themselves.

One thing you could do when describing the various jobs you've had, is to include the statistical analysis work in the description of the activities you performed in that job. You could also mention it in the cover letter, if it is relevant for the job. Finally, do bring it up in the interview as an example of how you work in a collaboration.

Improve this answer
2
  • 14
    I agree. It may even be harmful to list an acknowledgement on your CV, quite aside from the issue of looking like padding. It could look like nobody else has ever acknowledged your help on a paper, or it could look like you are claiming your help on this paper was particularly noteworthy (which could offend the actual authors). Either way, there's almost no upside, but some downside risk.
    – Anonymous Mathematician
    Commented Apr 13, 2012 at 19:54
  • 3
    You all seem to agree that I shouldn't do it and since you've certainly more experience than I have, I'll follow your suggestions.
    – boscovich
    Commented Apr 14, 2012 at 13:30
6

I think it might be appropriate to put this on your CV is you are very early in your career, and facing the "There's nothing but coursework on my CV" problem. If that's the case, it might be worth doing just to show that you're in the early stages of your research career, but that you are engaging in collaborative research work.

That being said, the moment you have something more substantial to put on your CV, I'd expect it to drop away in favor of those things.

Improve this answer
3

You can ask these researchers to give you a recommendation letter. This may help you even more than another publication.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .