"Selected" publications on humanities CV's

[Ancient Fellow]

I have seen over the years CV's that listed only "selected articles" or "selected book reviews." At what point does one switch over to abbreviating the CV? For those of you who have done so, at what point; 15 articles, 25 articles?

[Parasaurolophus]

I'd say: once you're at the top of the promotion ladder.

But even then, I'd keep a complete CV on my website, both to keep track of things, and so that others can find stuff. I often consult a person's CV to find an article I know they wrote but whose title I can't remember (or for fun reading).

[Hegemony]

Usually they're for CVs where there's a page limit for some reason.

[polly_mer]

Parasaurolophus is correct that you should keep a document with literally everything for your own use.

I've seen application materials with selected entries mostly when someone is making a specific impression.  For example, applications for a TT teaching job will have a lot of detail on classes taught with much less space devoted to research to ensure the impression for the reader is dedicated teacher who has done some research.

[youllneverwalkalone]

Usually they're for CVs where there's a page limit for some reason.

This.

[Ancient Fellow]

Thanks for those useful perspectives, everyone.

I'd keep a complete CV on my website, both to keep track of things, and so that others can find stuff.

Quite right. I always have a Master CV, the repository of All Things Ever. If nothing else, I would use it for job applications because there's always some form or another that requires details I can no longer recall.

[jerseyjay]

At least for me, there are different versions of my CV for different reasons, just like I used to have different versions of my résumé for different jobs.

There is the master CV which lists everything I have ever done since I was in graduate school. But I wouldn't usually make this public.

Depending on what I am using the CV for, I have cut publications down to the last 10 years; removed most book reviews; condensed the teaching section before my current institution, etc.

When I submit a paper to a conference, they often want a shorter CV, and I usually cut down the teaching stuff and emphasize the last 10 years of research.

If I am trying to pitch myself as an expert in a particular field, I might remove publications in other areas of research.

The CV on my school's website lists all my peer-review publications, but not much other publications from more than a decade ago. It also cuts down on the details on my previous positions, especially the part-time ones.

Of course, keeping a master CV is necessary to be able to cut it down in other ways.

[pedanticromantic]

I'm senior and on the market. If I included everything my CV would be c. 30-40 pages, so I use an abridged version and include top-tier peer-reviewed articles, books, and everything printed in the last decade on the CV I send out, and keep a full version linked on my website. I try to keep the application CV down to 10 pages, so I don't kill the committee.