I’m currently getting my Master’s in marine biology, and I’m a trans man. Since I study in a different country, and Italy’s system is quite slow, I will probably not be able to legally change my name soon. However, I do plan on hopefully publishing sometime in the near future, and I will also be presenting at some conferences. I know this is probably quite a niche question, but I was wondering how other people went about using preferred names in academic settings, especially when it comes to publications?
I know it’s usually possible to get your graduation certificates re-printed with your new name (although advice on how to do this in both Italy and Japan would be appreciated), but I’m not sure how to approach publications ecc.
Edit: thank you everyone for the great suggestions! It’s always scary navigating new situations as a trans person, especially when it comes to academia, so I’m really thankful to see that people are willing to help each other out. Thankfully, I have a nickname that I usually go by, which can be the shortened version of both my new and old names, so I think I’ll keep using that and it shouldn’t raise too many questions!
Comments
You should publish under your preferred name from the start. It’s your brand, and doesn’t have to be the same as your legal name.
Use ORCID. List your name as your main name. If you previously published under another name, list them under “Also known as”.
When you’re submitting your paper in the future, just use your preferred name. Same for when you meet people at say conferences, or new collaborators, introduce yourself as our preferred name.
Journals and people don’t require your legal name, and there’s no ‘legality’ checks, or they don’t check your ID or anything similar, so just use what you would like to from the start.
Most journals will let you put in whatever name you want when submitting – so I’d recommend you do that, even before the legal name change is done.
While a ORCID will ensure than anything published under different names is still connected to you, publishing on one name now could lead to a situation where your deadname is still out in the world on publications and clearly linked to your new name. Which may not be what you want.
For some journals, you can email the editors later to ask for your info to be updated, but that’s a lot of work and hassle to go through
You can publish under any name you want, see William Sealy Gosset, a.k.a. “Student”.
For a trans specific example see Joan Roughgarden. Though her older papers still bear her deadname, there’s no questioning that her earlier papers are hers.
Well, you’re lucky that you haven’t published anything yet, so you don’t have to worry about whether you want to match the name you used in your previous papers.
Nobody really cares what name do you publish things in as long as you’re consistent and people will figure out that it’s you. To most people, the author name is just a string of symbols such that the next time they see the same string of symbols again, they know that it’s the same person. It’s a bit like the music industry, you know, “Lady Gaga” isn’t her legal name, but who cares if she publishes songs under this name?
At least in my field, I know people with academic name being different from legal name. They’re not trans and never had any name changes. It’s just that it’s wise to use a name that people will have the highest chance to recognize that it’s you.
I didn’t change my name. I don’t give a shit. It’s just a collection of sounds. But that is an unpopular opinion.
If you haven’t published yet then you are golden with just rolling with the name you will have legally at some point. The names on publications are not legal documents.
As a side note for up-and-coming trans academics besides this poster, if you have previously published then I would recommend selecting your name so that your initials match your dead name. That way you do not need to explain a change in initials in your CV. Being outed on every job application enables individuals on the search committee to discriminate on your application early and easily. It is easy to say you don’t like some aspect of their application.
Publishing name does not need to be your legal name. If you are using a new preferred name already, just go ahead and publish with that.
If you’re early in your transition process and not fully presenting in your preferred gender identity or using a new name – you can use an initial. If your old name and new name share that initial, the record will be pretty seamless from the outside and few people will even notice that you’re J. Pandahorna rather than Jack or Jill.
If you’re still presenting in your birth gender and just looking ahead – there are formal systems like ORCID to aggregate them to you, or you can simply feel free to list all publications as yours on a resume or website and just say “I changed my name in 20XX” if you’re ever asked about it. Nobody else cares as much as you, so don’t expect any kind of challenge. Some journals have policies for name amendment of papers by trans authors if you want to see the official citation re-listed to a new name (legal documents presumably required here, and the agreement of other authors may be too)
THE SEA WAS ANGRY THAT DAY MY FRIENDS
A colleague in my field chose a new name that started with the same initial as their dead name. In APA citation formatting (most common in my field), the citations are the same. It helps people reading your work to attribute it to the same author.
But when you go up for tenure or on the job market or whatever, everything will be on your cv regardless. So no worries on that front.
not trans, but i did change my first name. i used my preferred name on everything so that when it got legally changed everything matched! now that it is legally changed, all of my projects are under the name ive been using and not two different names
I work in academic publishing. Many of the major corporate publishers are allowing silent name changes.
Hey I would just publish under your currently correct name (not your dead name)!
Just pick whatever name you want to use. People run into similar ‘problems’ when getting married. The biggest issue people used to have is that publications after a name change could not be easily associated with your previous publications. However with OrcID now in place that is also no longer a problem.
I have one article with my dead name and now I use my new name. On ORCID and Google Scholar I have my dead name indicated as alternate name so people can connect it to me.
Not ideal but it makes it easier to be found.
Just use your preferred name. I know people not using the official name after marriage etc. Nobody case. Also, Orcid IDs etc exist.
There’s a researcher I know that’s a trans woman, here’s her CV : https://cena.ehess.fr/docannexe/file/664/cvsoazig_villerbu.pdf
She writes :
>Toutes les activités qui précèdent le mois de septembre 2019 ont été effectuées sous le nom de Tangi Villerbu
Prior to september 2019, all activities were under the name Tangi Villerbu
Academics are fussy but accept data well : if there’s a throwaway line somewhere connecting the two “data sets” of your publications, you’ll be OK.
Since you are only in your Master’s you have little problem, just publish everything with your new name.
If you are already deep into your career things become more difficult.
I changed my name after 2 pubs, fortunately I used my first initial and kept my last name. On OrcID it makes it nice and easy to link them to the same author profile, same with researchgate.
Hey fellow marine bio master’s trans man!
I’m closeted/don’t pass, I just sell my “nickname” really confidently and put it on everything that isn’t legal/banking related.