Download the template (.zip) cv.tex, cv.bib and a README. Sample data for a fictional researcher. Compiles as is.
What is in it
- Header: name, title, address, email, web page and ORCID iD.
- Education and academic appointments, each with a date column on the left.
- Publications in three groups: journal articles, refereed conference papers and working papers. Each group is numbered from [1].
- Grants and funding, honors and awards and invited talks.
- Teaching, service (profession and university) and students advised.
- References, with three names and emails.
The sample CV runs three pages. Delete any section you do not need. Sections are built from two small environments, cvlist for a date and a description and pubs for a numbered list, so adding a row is one \item line.
The file uses the article class and four standard packages: geometry, hyperref, microtype and lmodern. There is no custom class and no moderncv dependency. I built it with pdfLaTeX from TeX Live 2026 and checked it with no warnings, once with the typed publication list and once with biblatex and Biber.
Two ways to list publications
Typed list (default). The publications are written as \item lines in cv.tex. This needs nothing beyond pdfLaTeX, and you control every detail. Your own name is bold through the \me{} command, and a student coauthor is marked with an asterisk.
biblatex from a .bib file. Change \usebiblatexfalse to \usebiblatextrue near the top. The CV then reads cv.bib and prints each entry under the heading its keywords field names: journal, conference or working. The line \nocite{*} lists every entry in the file, so you do not have to cite them. This option needs biblatex and Biber. The build is pdfLaTeX, Biber, then pdfLaTeX twice, and latexmk runs those passes for you. In this mode your name is not bold and student authors are not marked, because biblatex needs extra code for each. Add them if you want them.
If you already keep your papers in a .bib file for your manuscripts, the biblatex option avoids typing each paper twice. The BibTeX validator will flag missing fields and duplicate keys before you build.
How to use it
On Overleaf
Choose New Project, then Upload Project, and select the .zip. Set the main document to cv.tex. Overleaf compiles with pdfLaTeX by default. For the biblatex option it runs Biber on its own.
On a Mac
Unzip the folder, open Terminal in it, and run pdflatex cv.tex twice. For the biblatex option run latexmk -pdf cv.tex instead. MacTeX includes everything. With BasicTeX or TinyTeX, add anything LaTeX reports as missing with sudo tlmgr install package-name (no sudo for TinyTeX). biblatex and Biber are separate installs there. See how to install LaTeX on a Mac for the steps. If you would rather use an editor with a live preview, ModernTex is our Mac LaTeX editor; it compiles with the TeX install you already have.
A4 paper
The template is set for US letter. Change letterpaper to a4paper on the first line.
Tips for an academic CV
Ordering
- Put the sections a reader looks for first. A job application usually opens with education and appointments, then publications. For promotion, many departments want their own order, so use theirs when they give one.
- Within each section, list the newest item first. Keep that rule everywhere, including talks and service.
- Keep one date format. The template uses a year, or a year range with an en dash.
Listing your own papers
- Group by status, not by importance. Keep published work apart from work under review or in preparation, as the template does. Label each working paper with its real stage, such as "under review" or "in preparation".
- Use one citation style for every entry and give a DOI when there is one. Your field or your target journals may suggest a style, but a CV only needs to be consistent.
- Show your own name in bold or mark it some other way, so a reader can find your position in a long author list. Mark student coauthors if your field values mentoring, and say what the mark means in a note under the heading.
- List every author, in the order on the paper. If a paper has a large team, many CVs show the first few and then the number of others. Keep whichever rule you pick.
- If your field orders authors alphabetically or uses an equal-contribution note, add a line under the heading that says so.
Length
- An academic CV has no standard page limit. It grows with the career. A doctoral student or new postdoc has a short CV, and a senior scholar's can run long.
- Follow any limit the call gives you. Some funders and departments set a page limit or a fixed format, and an NIH biosketch is its own document with its own rules.
- If you must cut, trim the oldest and least relevant items first, such as old service roles and minor talks. Do not cut publications that bear on the position.
Before you send it
- Search the PDF for "Example", "example.edu" and the sample name so no sample data is left.
- Check that links work in the PDF. The template uses hyperref, so email and web addresses are clickable.
- Save the PDF with a clear file name, such as
lastname-cv.pdf. Update the "Last updated" date.
Keeping the record the CV is built from
This template is separate from our apps, and none of them reads or writes it. If you want the underlying record in one place, Vitae is a Mac app that keeps your papers, grants, talks, teaching and service and exports a CV to PDF or Word. It does not export LaTeX.
License
CC0 1.0. The template and the sample data in the zip are public domain, so you can use, change and share them for any purpose without credit. All names, institutions, awards and numbers in the sample are invented.