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Listing declined conference talks on a CV?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a grad student asks:

For conferences which we've been accepted to, but we've decline/withdrawn (e.g. due to conflicts in schedule, teaching committment, lack of funding, etc.), do we still list them on our CV and indicate 'withdrawn'?

Another reader submitted the following reply:

Absolutely do not list conferences for which you were accepted but then declined. They are in no sense an accomplishment, and to be frank with you, when you list a number of these I would be inclined to think you are unreliable (and other bad words). A cv lists ONLY accomplishments. That is standard. And repeatedly withdrawing from conference programs is not a virtue – it is a vice. I have had to withdraw myself, most recently because of significant illness. But I would not dare list such things on my c.v.

I expect other readers will probably agree with this, but I think I have seen people list talks that were canceled for one reason or another (e.g., the COVID pandemic, a weather disaster, etc.). I also think it's unfortunate if people like the OP have to turn down a bunch of talks, as that can obviously impact their career. But, having been a grad student, I know it's the reality, as grad student stipends can be small and conference funding hard to come by. So, I empathize with the OP's plight.

Do any other readers have any tips or insights to share here?

Posted in , ,

20 responses to “Listing declined conference talks on a CV?”

  1. anon

    I would agree with the reader’s comment and also add a further reason for not listing acceptances that you’ve had to withdraw from, namely, that being accepted to a conference isn’t really much of an achievement, especially if that acceptance is based on an abstract. Yes, being accepted to a very prestigious and/or competitive conference on the basis of a full paper can be a bit of an achievement sometimes, but the point of conferences is (obviously) to go and discuss your work and others’ work and network with your peers, not be accepted. The main value of listing conferences on a cv as a grad student is indicating that (1) you are consistently producing good scholarly work until you can prove this with publications and that (2) you are actively engaged in the life of the profession. Merely being accepted to a conference does a little bit of work towards the former, and none towards the latter. In fact, as the reader already commented, listing an acceptance with a withdrawal (at least without some type of explanation) can actively undermine the sense that you are a contributing member of academia. In sum, conference presentations themselves generally are viewed as pretty insignificant unless part of a trend of presenting and engaging with the academic community, and if you already have that trend, there’s no reason to list a time you were accepted but had to withdraw.

    Reply
  2. SC member

    Seems kind of tacky to this SC member.

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  3. Tenured Phil

    No. Don’t do this. IMHO, the only acceptable version of this is listing conferences canceled due to COVID that you’d been accepted to and were going to attend.

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  4. And what about all those COVID cancellations? Are all those people tacky?

    One countervailing thought: If you have a robust record of conference presentation (such that the withdrawal is the decided exception), and if this particular piece has not been presented elsewhere, then I might perhaps consider including it.
    Why? My sense is that is false that “A cv lists ONLY accomplishments”. Mine certainly doesn’t. It is barely an accomplishment that I have taught certain classes, and it is barely an accomplishment that I have a BA. What those items do, however, is help to present a more robust account of me and my interests.
    For many on the job market, their research statements promise a whole range of papers. Some of those papers are published (congrats!), and some are in rnr (tentative congrats!). And others are available to committees upon request. I think conference presentations are a way to show that the work promised in the research statement is not just idle wishing. In that case, a conference presentation shows BOTH that someone else approved the work (albeit, as anon notes, perhaps just in abstract form) AND that there is more to the paper than just the five sentences or whatever of the research statement.
    I do not think that this is particularly high stakes. But it is a mild vote the other direction, at least in a particular kind of case.

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  5. some declined accomplishments ok but not talks

    I would definitely NOT List declined talks — the cons outweigh any potential pros.
    But I think listing some declined would-be achievements might be ok. In particular, listing a declined research grant (e.g., if you’re a rockstar who wins multiple grants and have to choose between them).

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  6. What about APAs and canceled flights?

    What about that time that I was supposed to present at the APA but my flight was canceled and my commentator delivered my paper for me? That’s fine to list, right?

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  7. Postdoc

    I wouldn’t list declined presentations either, but I think it is super harsh to think – as the original response to the question says – that it is a vice to have to cancel every now and then.
    People have to cancel for all kinds of good reasons. Other posters in this thread have already mentioned medical and economic reasons. Or perhaps there’s bereavement. Or family. Or perhaps there’s a severe conflict of interest where no reasonable person would think that the alternative interest shouldn’t take priority: for example, I once had to cancel a talk at a conference on another continent because I had got a new position, and there was no other feasible time to move to that position than the same weekend as the conference took place.
    Admittedly, there can maybe be some vicious cancellations too, e.g. if they stem from laziness. But again, it seems really harsh to think that that is the standard case.

    Reply
  8. going through withdrawal

    Post doc
    The vice is not cancelling … the vice, as I stated, is repeatedly withdrawing. I am far along in my career, and my peers who are involved in organizing some of the BIG conferences have noted that the number of withdrawals has increased significantly – sometimes as many as 30 % of the accepted papers. Are there that many dead mothers …
    We are not talking about missed flights. That is inevitable.

    Reply
  9. Don’t back out of your commitments, but if you do, don’t advertise that

    No way should you list conferences that you applied to but did not go to. I take it that submitting a paper for a conference is some kind of commitment to going. If you then commit to going, and later back out, you are a double-flake. Sometimes people cancel for good reasons. But most reasons (like lack of funding, family obligations) are foreseeable. If you are withdrawing a lot, that’s a you-problem. Also I take it that most of the purpose of listing conferences is to show that you are active in the philosophical community or the community of your subdiscipline. If you don’t go, you are not active in that community. By submitting and withdrawing, you are simply creating a lot of extra, pointless work for other people.
    One exception would be if the conference is cancelled. Then, sure. Also, if you were not there but your paper was presented, I would write (in abstentia) or something to indicate this, and list it.

    Reply
  10. Marcus Arvan

    “But most reasons (like lack of funding, family obligations) are foreseeable.” Fun fact: some of us can’t apply for conference funding until after we receive a conference acceptance (I suspect this is fairly common among grad students too). So if one can’t afford paying out of one’s personal finances, then one may not know whether one can pay for the trip until well after receiving a conference acceptance. I suppose one could say this is foreseeable, but the problem is that it can put people into an impossible position: either don’t send stuff to conferences at all because you can never be sure you’ll be able to afford it, or submit stuff knowing you may have to back out if your funding request isn’t approved.
    Also, family obligations aren’t always foreseeable. Serious illnesses, pregnancies, layoffs, career changes (yours or other family members), etc., can all arise out of the blue.

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  11. an aesthetician

    Listing talks cancelled for hopefully-once-in-a-lifetime pandemics isn’t tacky right now, but probably would be in a few years. But hopefully in a few years there’s enough other stuff on the CV that the cancelled talk doesn’t stand out.
    But, in general, CVs don’t list things one didn’t do. I assume that’s what the “accomplishment” people are saying: the CV lists things you did, not things you didn’t.
    I’m not sure about APA sessions where you were the speaker and your flight was cancelled. Certainly if you were giving comments, that’s fine – your role matters, but you aren’t accountable like the speaker is. But at least one APA is often in the Midwest in February, so I hope people would understand it’s always a little chancy…

    Reply
  12. Started from the bottom now I’m here

    I’m with Marcus here. Be charitable to job candidates, and to each other! If someone’s CV is filled with cancelled conferences, that’s one thing. But especially for the sorts of people on the job market—grad students, post docs, visiting people, people cobbling together adjunct gigs—life is often hard to predict! Cut those folks some slack!
    I know that it is difficult to deal with cancellations. I have organized moderate to significant conferences virtually every year I’ve been out here. But life is much easier on the organizer side than it is on the job applicant side, even if replacing a speaker at the last minute is a pain.
    So I guess: 1) were I on the market, I’d note the descriptive reports here, and I’d delete the unattended conferences, but 2) were I hiring, I’d try to be a little more lenient about something that really doesn’t matter that much!

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  13. SLAC Prof

    Yes, there can be good (and bad!)reasons for cancelling/withdrawing, but the question is whether to list talks on your CV that you did not, in fact, give.
    I agree with the majority that you shouldn’t. Not only is it not a great look to cancel/withdraw (even though sometimes it is understandable and reasonable), but quite apart from that, including talks that you didn’t give looks sketchy. On some level, I would wonder if the candidate is padding their CV more generally. I would do my best to overcome this and be charitable, but I think the professional norm is to only list talks that you actually give (unless, perhaps, the event was cancelled by the organizer).

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  14. SLAC Prof

    On an unrelated topic regarding CVs and job seeking: could I please beg candidates on the market not to send hiring committees “redacted” CVs? It is helpful for us to see the titles of your works under review!

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  15. Dan

    On a related note, we once received an application for a senior position in our department who listed not only their current and previous positions on their CV, but also several (tenured) positions that they were offered and declined. I can’t say that a desire not to be listed among those schools played a part in our not pursuing this person’s candidacy, but it certainly did not help them.

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  16. Assistant Professor

    ” I take it that submitting a paper for a conference is some kind of commitment to going.”
    This seems like a personal belief, not a professional norm. As Marcus notes, sometimes people can’t apply for funding until they are accepted (and funding is not guaranteed) and other circumstances intervene.
    I see nothing wrong with sending out conference submissions in hopes of attending IF your work is accepted, but not as an obligation or commitment to do so.
    Given that one does not know if their work will be accepted to a conference, it is prudent to submit to more conferences than you might reasonably be able to attend in hopes that something lands. As far as I know there is no prohibition against concurrent submissions of conference talks as there is with journal articles (and plenty of folks appear to repeatedly present the same paper in different venues in order to get more feedback).
    Conferences should send out notifications of acceptances, then request that accepted speakers confirm their ability to attend before putting together the program. There will still be some people that have to withdraw later for all sorts of reasons, but the commitment to attend should only be solicited once a paper is accepted for a presentation. Though of course if you think there is zero chance of you going to a conference, then why submit at all? That is a waste of author and reviewer time.

    Reply
  17. Don’t back out of your commitments, but if you do, don’t advertise that

    Maybe I came across as more judgmental than I meant to… I have various constraints that make it so that I cannot attend more than 1-2 conferences a year (kids, pregnancies, $) … so I don’t submit to conferences, except in the rarest of circumstances. I agree that it’s fine to submit and then say no once the paper is accepted, but that’s a backing out of a (very defeasible) commitment or intention of a kind. Like I’ve done it and felt kind of bad about it. I certainly wouldn’t list it on my CV—that I’ve done this is a (minor) source of shame, even if it wasn’t really my fault. It is certainly not something I want to advertise, since I ended up wasting someone else’s time finding a reviewer, reviewing the paper, corresponding and so on.
    By “some kind of commitment” I mean something like you intend to go. Or at least to try. If you get an acceptance, say “no thanks” for no reason except you don’t want to go, that’s bad. Right??? And if it’s bad, I think that’s because submitting is some kind of commitment. And listing ion the CV is bad, too. If you have a bunch of declined conference presentations on a CV, that’s evidence that you are flaky in this way.

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  18. tenure prof occasional search committee member

    I understand why people during the height of the covid pandemic listed cancelled talks, but in general I think that declined talks should not be listed, regardless of reasons.
    Getting into the program is one thing (and admittedly the only thing someone who sees the CV gets info on), but the real achievement is prepping the talk, giving the talk, and answering Q and A. For in-person talks you will probably talk about your paper in the next few days with other attendees.
    Most of the value we get out of talks is the feedback rather than the line it presents on our CV (exception: for early career people, APA and other selective conferences that require you to put a full paper that is refereed it does signal something).
    Speaking as an infrequent search committee member (been on 4 committees now in total, including this year), if frequent declined talks are listed I think signals something odd. I hope I would not hold it against a candidate, but the file would immediately stand out to me in an odd light. I don’t think I would say “flaky” (I’ve had to cancel talks due to pregnancy, illness, etc etc) but more like padding which is an impression you want to avoid. It will do more harm than good, except as I said at the beginning for the covid period because then it was the norm to do it (and even then, I’d take those cancelled talks off the CV probably now, or maybe in a couple of years).

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  19. squidward

    I have seen people list declined awards or fellowships (because they accepted a better one), but if I saw a declined conference presentation that would strike me as odd. More than one might strike me as a red flag.
    A friend of mine had to decline a bunch of things because of cancer (a very good reason !!) but he did not list these things on his CV.

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  20. eddy

    Squidward
    This might surprise you, but, as an editor, I have cut some people some slack when they have cancer. We are, after all, still (though barely) human. There are reasonable grounds for pulling out on prior commitments. But some people in the profession are abusive. Indeed, even some senior people.

    Reply

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