[ECOLOG-L] name change?

[David Inouye]

I'm mentoring a graduate student who has several publications already 
(including one in Ecology).  I looked up the student's name on Web of 
Science and realized that the name (first and last only) that was 
used for publication is shared with a large number of researchers 
(although not ecologists), making it difficult or at least time 
consuming to do a citation analysis.  I know of at least two other 
(male) ecologists who have either changed their name (early in 
career) or added made-up middle initials on publications to 
distinguish themselves from others with a very common name.  It turns 
out the student I'm mentoring does have two middle names but did not 
use them in the early publications, and is now concerned about the 
consequences of changing the name on their future publications.  My 
thought was that to facilitate future reviewers or employers who are 
doing a citation analysis it would be better to start using the full 
name with middle initials, and then add a note on the CV to indicate 
that publications prior to 2010 were with the shorter name. What 
advice would you offer?

David Inouye