I am just wondering if I can legally use a nickname or not to use my official name (Passport name) as the author's name of a conference or a journal publication?
My official name is quite long and I am planning to change it in the future. Is it possible to put the name that I am going to call myself in the future as the author's name?
There is no requirement to use your full, legal name when publishing a paper. Many people who get married continue to use the same name they used before marriage, even if they change their surname to match their partner's, to ensure all their publications can be found easily. It actually would be quite unusual for authors to use their full name when publishing. English "middle names" are usually omitted or shortened to just an initial.
I agree with MJeffryes.
However, I had a similar case in which the spelling of name was different than that in my passport for 2 journal articles. For years this issue never hurt me, except when I was applying for a job where the search committee asked me to submit a formal letter explaining the issue of the misspelled name and acknowledge that it was in fact me who is the author. This issue was also raised when I was applying for Green card (NIW-based) where I needed to list my full publication list. My attorney has asked to fill a formal form that discusses the misspelling of my name. I don't if you will ever experience similar cases, but who knows?
I know that you can always refer to the time frame and school/company at which the article was published from. I doubt that a certain school will have two different guys with the same name working with the same professor/s on the same problem! The odds are very slim!!
I hope this helps!
