How to Format a Resume or CV for an Academic or Research Position

The first thing to settle before formatting anything: most academic, research, and scientific positions — even in the US — expect a CV, not a standard resume. Our CV vs. resume guide covers that distinction in full; this guide is specifically about how to actually build the academic CV once you know that's what's expected, section by section.

How an academic CV differs from a resume, structurally

A resume is edited down to what's relevant for one role. A CV is a comprehensive, growing record of your academic and research history — nothing gets cut just because it's not directly relevant to one specific opening. It's also expected to run longer: several pages is normal and grows as your record does, unlike a resume's strict one-to-two-page rule.

The standard section order

Academic CVs follow a broadly consistent structure, though exact expectations vary somewhat by field and country:

1. Contact information and current position
2. Education — degrees, institutions, dates, and often your dissertation or thesis title, listed in full even years later
3. Research experience — postdoctoral positions, research assistantships, lab affiliations, described with real detail
4. Publications — the section that carries the most weight in most fields, formatted in your field's standard citation style, typically divided into peer-reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings, and other publications
5. Grants and funding — amounts, funding bodies, and your role (PI, co-PI, contributor)
6. Presentations and conferences — invited talks, poster presentations, panel participation
7. Teaching experience — courses taught, guest lectures, teaching assistantships
8. Awards and honors
9. Professional service and memberships — journal reviewing, committee work, professional associations
10. References, often included directly on an academic CV — unlike a standard resume, where references stay off the document entirely (see our guide to references on a resume for why that rule is different outside academia)

Not every CV needs every section — include what applies to your actual record, and order can shift somewhat by field convention (some disciplines lead with publications before research experience, for instance).

Format publications in your field's actual citation style

This matters more than almost any other formatting choice on an academic CV — use the citation format your field's journals actually use (APA, MLA, Chicago, or a field-specific style), consistently throughout the publications section. An inconsistent or incorrect citation format reads as a genuine credibility problem in academic hiring, since attention to citation convention is itself part of the skill being evaluated.

List grants and funding with real specificity

Amount, funding body, your specific role, and the grant period all belong stated clearly:

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship — $138,000, 2023–2026 Role: Principal Investigator

When a standard resume is actually the right document

Some research-adjacent roles — industry R&D positions, applied research roles outside a university setting, some government research positions — may specifically want a standard resume rather than a full academic CV. Check the posting's language carefully: if it asks for a "resume" and describes an industry role rather than a faculty or postdoctoral position, follow standard resume conventions instead, including keeping references off the document itself and trimming to one or two pages.

Common mistakes

• Submitting a trimmed-down resume when a full CV was expected, or the reverse — a multi-page CV for a role that specifically wanted a concise resume. Read the posting's actual document request carefully rather than assuming.
• Inconsistent or incorrect citation formatting in the publications section — proofread this section with particular care.
• Omitting grant amounts or funding details that a search committee specifically looks for when evaluating research funding history.

Frequently asked questions

How long should an academic CV be? As long as an accurate, complete record requires — unlike a resume, length isn't trimmed for a reader's convenience. Early-career CVs are naturally shorter than a full professor's multi-decade record.

Should I include unpublished or in-progress work? Yes, typically in a clearly labeled subsection ("manuscripts in preparation" or "under review") separate from your published work, so a reader can distinguish completed publications from work still in progress.

Do I need different CVs for academic positions versus industry research roles? Often yes — an industry-facing version can trim some of the more academia-specific sections (extensive committee service, for instance) while keeping publications and research experience prominent, tailored to what the specific employer actually evaluates.

Should references go directly on an academic CV? Often yes, unlike a standard resume — many academic search committees expect reference names and contact information included directly, though some postings request a separate reference list instead; follow the specific application's instructions.