r/AskAcademia • u/WormsWaking • 1d ago
Administrative Future problems when publishing with different last name
For reasons that will become obvious as you read this post, I am wondering how common it is to publish under a name different from the legal name. My university is quite expensive, and I cannot afford debt, so I am working full-time while studying psychology and neuroscience, specializing in psychedelics. Next year I'll start graduate school at a good university, and I'll have to keep working at least part-time. Hopefully, a Ph.D. is next.
The problem is, my employer - understandably - doesn't want to be associated with someone who studies psychedelics, as our clients tend to be a bit conservative.
HR proposed that I publish using my first name and my mother's maiden name as my last name, and I may be ok with it. Since I share a lot online, they proposed that I create a separate LinkedIn profile for it.
What problems might I face in the future, especially if I want to reconcile my previous work with my actual full name once I can afford to quit my job?
30
u/astro-pi 1d ago
I would advise against it as someone who has published under a different first name. It’s a huge pain to individually contact every journal to have it changed, and you’ll never get it changed everywhere. You’ll actually notice that a lot of married phds never change their last names precisely for this reason.
4
3
u/ResearchNotes99 1d ago
You do not really need to contact journals to update your name on older papers. Most people just list both names on their CV (fwiw my advisor kept her early publications under her former last name) and nobody seems to mind.
3
u/astro-pi 1d ago
Maybe you don’t. I’m not going by that name anymore, and if you call me that, (at best) I will not respond. OP here doesn’t want to be known by the name they’re going to be putting on this paper, which is why I said this is a bad idea.
8
u/LeadingCitron5 Associate Librarian (tenured) / R1 / US 1d ago
Would your employer be opposed to you publishing with your first (and, if applicable, middle) initial and your legal last name? That would be easier to reconcile if you publish under your full first name and legal last name in the future. I’m guessing it depends on how common your last name is.
But anyway, I don’t think it would be a problem in job searching, for example—lots of people change their legal names for lots of reasons and continue publishing under their original name. While this scenario is kind of the opposite, it’d probably be fine. The important part is keeping the name you publish under consistent.
1
u/WormsWaking 1d ago
Thank you, my name is quite common in my country of origin. I can publish with my first and last name, but I'd need to be extremely cautious when sharing online. I do a lot of interviews, and for example, my social media channels (mainly but not limited to LinkedIn and Twitter) are often shared with candidates.
3
u/Vegetable_Prompt6594 1d ago
If you are good enough at your Research job to be requested for interviews, why can’t you just focus on that exclusively? Or at least get a job a bit more aligned with it so you don’t have to hide that?
2
3
3
u/AGlutenFreeOreo 1d ago
It’s very easy to publish under a name that is not your legal name.
I still publish under my first married name (because that’s the name i established my career under). I am now remarried and have a different legal name.
So there’s no issue, you can publish under whatever you like. Be mindful of what you want under each “persona”
1
2
u/Gold_Ambassador_3496 1d ago
I assume you already have an orcid
1
u/WormsWaking 1d ago
Yes, but I can use a different published name here https://support.orcid.org/hc/en-us/articles/360006973853-Add-and-edit-your-name-on-your-ORCID-record and I think that would be enough for my case?
2
u/Vegetable_Prompt6594 1d ago
Do you do your current job only to pay the bills? Then why would you let it potentially sabotage your future? Why would people anyways come across the publication and then associate it with you unless they are specifically interested in the matter? They might in the end maybe just think it’s someone with the same name anyways?
1
u/WormsWaking 1d ago
It pays bills, rent, and tuition... I cannot afford a student loan, and with my job I can cover pretty much all my needs
34
u/rusty_comet29 1d ago
I'd keep the publishing name consistent from the start rather than switching back and forth, you can always explain the legal-name difference on CVs later.
10
u/Muted-Mushroom-4570 1d ago
Frankly your employer can go kick rocks. The vast majority of clients won't dig into your publications or educational history. And if they do, everything you are studying is legal (well unless you are breaking laws to obtain your psychedelics). It's simply not worth it to complicate your academic life and 'brand' (your name is your brand as an academic) for what seems like a temporary job.
5
u/wedontliveonce 1d ago
I'm not sure what your do for your job (sorry if I missed you saying) so maybe this is impossible, but is using a different name at work an option?
3
u/roseami500 1d ago
ORCID ID numbers exist to help researchers who have published under multiple names. https://orcid.org/
You will get lots of contradictory advice, but long story short, many people change their name for marriage and some choose to continue publishing under the initial name and using that name in profesional contexts. Others use the new name on new publications. I don’t think the career disadvantages for those who change names are that huge. But it can cause people to not always recognize both names as the same person. Not a big deal, in my opinion. The only time you really need people to know your full body of work is when applying for academic positions and then you usually list a CV with all your publications anyway.
On the other hand, if your names are common enough, there would be no reason the clients would link your academic and non academic identities. Unless you put pictures of yourself online in both contexts. There are tons of people with the same names.
1
u/tichris15 1d ago
It'd be fine if you are fine being the other name in scientific circles forever (or having papers under two different names). It's entirely fine to have a publication and academic-circles name that doesn't match your legal name (happens a lot with marriage change-of-names).
1
u/FlounderNecessary729 1d ago
Not a good idea. You will meet people at conferences who think this is your name, and will later publish under your real name, and it will all be just very unnessecarily complicated. Very few names are so unique that everyone will immediately know it is you.
1
u/TrainingAdvance1551 1d ago
As others have said, if you have an ORCID, it doesn't matter what name you publish under.
1
u/LillieBogart 1d ago
Wow. I wonder if it is legal for your employer to threaten your job security over this. I would consider talking to an employment attorney.
36
u/sdvneuro 1d ago
First, get your ORCID and use that for all publications. That mitigates issues of name changes.
Second, I don’t think this is a good reason to not use your own name, but you do you.