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[_mara_]

Why or why not?

[croaker]

Yes, because someone else with my first and last name might publish in my field, but its unlikely that hu will also have my middle initial. 

[epistephiliac]

Yes, because someone else with my first and last name might publish in my field, but its unlikely that hu will also have my middle initial. 

That's my reasoning.

[the_honey_badger]

Because, it is what I think of as my "full name" and have since I got my first bank account when I got my first full-time job. Why? I have no idea, probably at 18 it seemed "grown up" because my parents, on important formal documents always had their middle initials and nowhere else I can recall.

Weird, but there ya go.

[aandsdean]

I have a very common last name (not Smith or Jones, but a near equivalent) and also a common first name, both of which I share with someone who appears to be a very important research psychologist (including the middle initial).  He's got a lot of hits on Google.  So I'm starting to think about using my whole name, which is what I put at the head of my CV now. 

If I went without my middle initial I'd almost be John Smith.  Gotta use the middle name or at least initial.

[onion]

No middle initial.  I have a very common first name, but my last name is very unique.  I know nearly every person in the US with my last name, and there is little-to-no chance of another person with my name popping up.  If they do, they'll have to use their middle initial to distinguish themselves from me.  ;D

[kissa_mau]

Yes, because someone else with my first and last name might publish in my field, but its unlikely that hu will also have my middle initial. 

That's pretty much it.

[tenured_feminist]

Omigod, Onion, I have just realized that we are the same person.

[turing_complete]

I don't use it.  I use my middle name/initial exceedingly rarely; some official documents don't even have it.  My name's sufficiently unique that if you Google it, you get almost exclusively me, and there are no close names in my field (at least to date; but if someone with my name happens to come along at this stage, I figure they can use their middle initial to distinguish).

[onion]

Omigod, Onion, I have just realized that we are the same person.

Dammit, do I have to start using my middle initial now? Wait, that wouldn't help...

[polly_mer]

I don't use my middle initial because, like some other posters, I have a unique last name and an uncommon first name.  Someone in my husband's family (or married into it) would have to have the right initial and start publishing in my field to matter.  Since I am in a very small field and I have been publishing for awhile, I don't worry about very small chance of future mistaken identity.

Also, I don't care for my middle name, which is why I am simply thrilled my employer has mandated that middle names be part of the email address and Polly Middlename Mer appears as the sender.  Therefore, sane people tend to write back  "Dear Polly Middlename" assuming that I am a double first name person.

[miss_m]

I started using it when I started publishing because it felt formal and grown-up.  For consistency's sake, it has stayed there, though I don't have a common name at all.  I have never met someone else with my name, and the spelling of my last name has a much more common alternative--like Smith vs. Smythe or Smyth.  It has become part of my identity now, and I request it included in programs, pubs, everything.

MM

[croaker]

Because, it is what I think of as my "full name" and have since I got my first bank account when I got my first full-time job. Why? I have no idea, probably at 18 it seemed "grown up" because my parents, on important formal documents always had their middle initials and nowhere else I can recall.

Weird, but there ya go.

I must confess I went through my own "Alex P. Keaton" phase during high school where I used my middle initial on everything and when I introduced myself.  It is a wonder I had any friends.

I am curious how you would list yourself on a publication if you are Spanish royalty.

[science_expat]

I did the equivalent of William J. Smith when I first started publishing but now I'd be "Bill Smith". However, my surname is sufficiently unusual that folks can figure it out.

[boat_drinks]

I use my middle initial for a different reason; it has always been a part of my family identity--it feels odd to think about not using it in this kind of setting.