The narrative CV: a step towards more inclusive science?

The conventional academic CV, containing a list of achievements and particularly a long list of publications, might not be the best way to assess candidates for jobs and funding. In fact, there is a growing consensus that it’s damaging scientific progress itself. ‘[It’s] led to pressures to publish, and those pressures to publish really have driven questionable research practices, authorship disputes, research misconduct, and in some research fields actually a loss in trust of the published literature,’ says Jane Alfred, the director of editorial and training agency Catalyst Editorial. Instead, funders including UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Wellcome are now asking researchers to submit a narrative CV, which provides a wider range of information on an individual’s contributions to research and the academic community.