Find me
The Developmental Aspects of Sexual Health Laboratory
  • Home
  • People
  • Research Projects
  • Blog
  • Publications
  • Presentations

Your title will be on your CV forever

8/23/2018

2 Comments

 
People consider lots of things when writing journal article or chapter titles. Does it capture the meaning of the paper? Is it catchy enough? Is it clear? Is it succinct enough? But, there’s another issue that people may not frequently consider when writing a title, and I would argue it is the most important consideration, because unlike these other things, it isn’t specific to this paper. It sticks with you forever. And that is, how will this title look on your CV for the rest of your career?
 
It appears I’ve yet to write about strong titles, but I have written about strong first sentences. In that post I argued that your first sentence should be strong, clear, and interesting. All true of your title as well. BUT, your first sentence can actually get away with being catchier than your title, because your first sentence is contained within the manuscript, and does not appear elsewhere. It catches people’s attention in the context of the paper, but nowhere else.
 
In contrast, your title appears on your CV, in your tenure dossier, in people’s literature searches. Yes, it’s the advertisement for the paper, and thus can get people’s attention. But it’s also a reflection of you and your body of research, something that follows you forever, for better or for worse. 
 
For instance, when I was asked to write a chapter about erectile dysfunction, I asked my students if they were interested in first authoring it. When one of my students expressed interest, I asked her to think about having the title “erectile dysfunction” on her CV. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But it would be on her CV forever, and she would want to think about the kinds of institutions where she might want positions, and if that might matter at those institutions. For a lifelong sex researcher it’s probably not a big deal, but it was a consideration.
 
Another issue is cutesy titles. I support clever titles, but there is a fine line between clever and cutesy (or just silly) titles, and unfortunately, different scholars draw that line in different places. I sometimes do a literature search and come across a title that makes me cringe a little, and I confess, it can affect the way I think of the author. I won’t share examples, but I did find this Slate article about clever and gone-too-far journal article titles. So, before you finalize a clever title, ask a few other people what they think of it. If you're early career, make sure some of the people you ask are more senior than you, because they are the group of people who will evaluate your work for things like tenure. Because again, that title will be on your CV forever.  When you study a topic like sexual health, there are a lot of ways you could go clever, and a lot of ways you could go wrong, and I’ve seen both happen.
 
Perhaps I’m lucky that I’m just not very good at clever titles. I think the most I’ve done are these two:
He Said She Said: Gender Differences in Mother-Adolescent Conversations About Sexuality
and
Never been kissed: Correlates of lifetime kissing status in U.S. university students
 
I’m pretty comfortable living with both of those titles, forever.
 
Some questions to ask yourself before finalizing a clever title:
  • Will it look silly on my CV 5/10 years from now?
  • Could someone misinterpret it?
  • Would everyone think it’s funny, or could it read as offensive?
  • Will it fit with any job I apply for? For instance, if you look for a job at a religious institution or a government job, could it offend someone?
 
It may help to think of article titles like the CV version of tattoos – don’t just think about whether it’s fun in the moment, but think about whether you want to live with it for the rest of your life.
 
“Your Title Will be on Your CV Forever first appeared on Eva Lefkowitz’s blog on August 23, 2018.”
2 Comments
Stephanie
8/23/2018 11:30:15 am

I like this analogy a lot! I'm surprised at the inclusion of "He said she said.." on the safe list. Besides an old movie title, I've always heard that phrase used in the context of sexual assault. I wonder if that's an uncommon (mis)interpretation, or if it could offend people who might view it as akin to a rape joke.

Reply
Eva L.
8/23/2018 11:56:47 am

See, that's a great point, and not one I thought of before. That paper was published 16 years ago (so written 17+) and at the time I'm not sure how much the expression was used that way. When I wrote it I thought of the movie, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102011/. But it shows how important vetting titles is even when you think something clever might be "safe."

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Eva S. Lefkowitz

    I write about professional development issues (in HDFS and other areas), and occasionally sexuality research or other work-related topics. 

    Looking for a post doc? 
    List of HDFS-relevant post docs
    Looking for a fellowship? 
    List of HDFS relevant fellowships, scholarships, and grants
    Looking for an internship?
    List of HDFS-relevant internships
    Looking for a job?
    List of places to search for HDFS-relevant jobs

    Categories

    All
    Adolescent Development
    Being A Grad Student
    Conferences
    Excel
    Gmail
    Grant Proposals
    Job Market
    Mentoring
    Midcareer
    Networking
    PowerPoint
    Publishing
    Research
    Reviewing
    Sexual Health
    Social Media
    SPSS
    Teaching
    Theses & Dissertations
    Transitions
    Undergraduate Advice
    Word
    Work/life Balance
    Writing

    Archives

    February 2022
    May 2021
    January 2021
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    October 2017
    November 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Tweets by @EvaLefkowitz

    RSS Feed

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Blogs I Read

    Female Science Professor

    The Professor is in

    APA Style Blog

    Thinking About Kids

    Tenure She Wrote

    Prof Hacker

    Andrew Gelman

    Claire Kamp Dush
Proudly powered by Weebly