Definition
In 2022, in Nature, Chris Woolston considers that “CVs could be more effective if they allowed room for narratives — brief statements that tell a story about a scientist, their accomplishments or their impact”.
Unlike more traditional CVs, which for researchers often consist of long lists of publications, a narrative CV aims to highlight a smaller number of academic outputs. These are not limited to publications but may also include, for example, research data, software, public engagement activities, online courses… and many other research outputs, limited only by the imagination of the researchers themselves.
It also offers researchers a space to detail their involvement in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, their societal engagement, their activities in the exchange, production and dissemination of knowledge, as well as their efforts to develop a more open science.
- To go further, watch the video « Why are Narrative CVs important? » (Marie Curie Alumni Association, February 2024).
Why the narrative CV at the Université de Lorraine?
Since 2021, the Université de Lorraine has been committed to reforming research assessment practices, with the publication in 2025 of its commitment plan to the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). Indeed, it has been a member of CoARA since late 2022, having signed the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) in 2021 and helped organise, in early 2022, the first European conference on open science, which launched the Paris Call on Research Assessment, under the auspices of the French Presidency of the European Union.
In this context, the promotion and use of the narrative CV constitutes a concrete application of the transformation of evaluation within the institution and has, in fact, partly inspired a modification of the application forms for grants or promotions for lecturer-researchers.
Abroad, the narrative CV is already yielding positive results. Initial feedback from the Luxembourg National Research Fund states: “Reviewers also largely agree that the narrative profile helps applicants demonstrate skills and experience better than a standard CV. (…) In 2023, about 70% reported consulting ORCID or other online resources to verify narrative claims” (Three years of Narrative CVs at the FNR: what the data tell us, January 2026).
How to write it?
1. Establish a robust digital identity
First and foremost, it is recommended that you have a complete and up-to-date ORCID profile, as well as a HAL identifier (idHAL), in accordance with the recommendation ‘Use persistent identifiers’ set out in the policy For more reproducible, trustworthy and open research in Lorraine. These identifiers allow you to easily and automatically compile a list of all your academic outputs and highlight those that are available via open access.
The narrative CV complements this digital identity, which serves as a reference and proof of the existence of your academic outputs—outputs that can be usefully cited in the narrative CV. To help you get to grips with ORCID and HAL, online workshops are organised on a regular basis: https://rdv.univ-lorraine.fr/ateliersbu/science-ouverte
2. Building your career narrative
There are several templates available, often based on the one developed by the Royal Society. The Université de Lorraine recommends using the narrative section of the CV in the CNU application form to answer the four questions set out in the Royal Society’s template:
- How have you contributed to the generation of knowledge?
« This module can be used to explain how you have contributed to the generation of new ideas and hypotheses and which key skills you have used to develop ideas and test hypotheses. It can be used to highlight how you have communicated on your ideas and research results, both written and verbally, the funding you have won and any awards that you have received. It can include a small selection of outputs, with a description of why they are of particular relevance and why they are considered in the context of knowledge generation. Outputs can include open data sets, software, publications, commercial, entrepreneurial or industrial products, clinical practice developments, educational products, policy publications, evidence synthesis pieces and conference publications that you have generated. Where outputs have a DOI please only include this ».
- How have you contributed to the development of individuals?
« This module can be used to highlight expertise you provided which was critical to the success of a team or team members including project management, collaborative contributions, and team support. It can include your teaching activities, workshops or summer schools in which you were involved (for undergrads, grads and post-grads as well as junior colleagues), and the supervision of students and colleagues. It can be used to mention mentoring of members in your field and support you provided to the advancement of colleagues, be it junior or senior. It can be used to highlight the establishment of collaborations, from institutional (maybe interdisciplinary) to international. It can be used to describe where you exerted strategic leadership, how you shaped the direction of a team, organisation, company or institution ».
- How have you contributed to the wider research community?
« This module can include various activities you have engaged in to progress the research community. It can be used to mention commitments including editing, reviewing, refereeing, committee work and your contributions to the evaluation of researchers and research projects. It can be used to mention the organisation of events that have benefited your research community. It can highlight contributions to increasing research integrity, and improving research culture (gender equality, diversity, mobility of researchers, reward and recognition of researchers’ various activities). It can be used to mention appointments to positions of responsibility such as committee membership and corporate roles within your department, institution or organisation, and recognition by invitation within your sector ».
- How have you contributed to broader society?
« This module can include examples of societal engagement and knowledge exchange. It can include engagement with industry and the private sector. It can be used to mention engagement with the public sector, clients and the broader public. It can be used to highlight positive stakeholder feedback, inclusion of patients in processes and clinical trials, and other impacts across research, policy, practice and business. It can be used to mention efforts to collaborate with particular societal or patient groups. It can be used to highlight efforts to advise policy-makers at local, national or international level and provide information through the press and on social media ».
Getting help
Would you like to write a narrative CV but don’t know where to start? Here are a few tips:
- Sign up to the PEP-CV platform (Peer Exchange Platform for narrative-style CVs) provided by the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA). This platform, which is also linked to ORCID, is not a tool for writing a narrative CV, but allows you to access a wide range of resources on the subject (including videos and narrative CV templates) and to find mentors in your region and/or discipline to receive support from another researcher. It is possible to highlight your experience as a mentor or mentee on ORCID via PEP-CV.
- Ask the Bibliometrics team at the Université de Lorraine for help:
Useful resources
- The DORA introductory course on responsible research assessment, 2026, part 4 is about narrative CVs
- Writing Your Narrative CV, Leeds University Library, March 2025
- Three years of narrative CVs at the FNR: what the data tell us, Luxembourg National Research Fund, January 2026