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I finished my undergrad last year and have since been working in the private sector. I'm about to submit a paper with my senior thesis results. Two questions about corresponding author information:

  1. I'm listing my current affiliation in the private sector for various reasons. We are moving offices, and our address will be changing in about 3 months. Should I use the new mailing address or the old mailing address? I know it's kind of silly since nobody sends mail anymore, but I'm curious either way.

  2. I will probably be going to grad school in a couple of years, and my private sector e-mail will not be accessible if I leave. Would it be passé for me to list my @gmail.com address for correspondence to ensure I'm always reachable?

Thanks!

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    It's worth mentioning that the most important identifier is your name. If you stay in the field, people will be able to find you by just searching your name on <search engine>. The contact info is really just there as a convenience measure.
    – eykanal
    Commented Feb 16, 2012 at 15:08
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    @eykanal tell that to John Smith and Wei Chang :)
    – Federico Poloni
    Commented Aug 17, 2012 at 9:06
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    @eykanal ... and Dave Clarke.
    – Dave Clarke
    Commented Dec 13, 2012 at 20:03
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    @DaveClarke Ha! Very good point, hopefully people could just add the university name... I see that "Dave Clarke Leuven" does return your page as the first result. There's hope after all!
    – eykanal
    Commented Dec 13, 2012 at 20:23
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    Unless, of course, the university changes after publication…
    – Mikael Vejdemo-Johansson
    Commented Dec 19, 2012 at 14:22

2 Answers 2

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  1. I agree with you and shan23, it doesn't really matter, but the newer is probably better.

  2. Well, to be bluntly honest, I tend to have a negative a-priori when I see an author of a paper with a gmail address (especially when I review it, when it's not double-blind). I know it's stupid, because it should only be about the quality of the work, but I can't really help it. Mostly because I know that there is no authentication with gmail address (I potentially could get an [email protected] address). I think it's ok to give an address that will change, after all, few people spend their entire career in the same institution.

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  • From a reviewers perspective, do you think it's any better to have the e-mail domain be a private sector company? In my case that's the alternative--a consulting firm that is loosely involved in the field.
    – dmahr
    Commented Feb 16, 2012 at 14:33
  • @Charles - well, I guess that's why we have a double blind system in most (if not all) conferences/journals, to remove this bias!
    – TCSGrad
    Commented Feb 16, 2012 at 14:51
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    @dmahr It's hard to generalize for other reviewers, but yes, as a reviewer myself, I think it's better to have the e-mail domain of a private sector company rather than a gmail address.
    – user102
    Commented Feb 16, 2012 at 14:54
  • @shan23 I agree, but I have to admit that I will get the same bias when I read the paper (which also a reason why I don't like double-blind, because I can't see why the reviewer shouldn't read the paper as the reader will do if accepted).
    – user102
    Commented Feb 16, 2012 at 15:04
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    @dmahr In my personal opinion, yes it does. I'm doing my third postdoc right now, meaning that I've had 4 different affiliations over the past 5 years, and each time, I've used the email I had at the time, I don't think it ever impacted me.
    – user102
    Commented Feb 16, 2012 at 15:31
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  1. As you mentioned, the postal address does not matter - but in any case, I'd lean towards the newer address!

  2. Its definitely OK to do so - I submitted my Masters thesis with my gmail.com account, due to the exact same scenario as outlined by you (currently working, am hoping to go to grad school this fall).

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