How to list a paper in your CV when having 1000 co-authors?

The quick answer might be to look up the CV of a CERN researcher...

From outside physics, when compiling institutional publication lists, I've occasionally dealt with a 100+ author entry (often a major report rather than a paper, but the same problem holds). As our motive for listing this is to note the local author(s), it's a similar situation to the CV.

In this case, I tend to do something like:

Able, J., Anderson, M., Archer, C., [and 78 others, including Smith, Q.] (2015) A very tedious paper, J. Irrep. Res. 243(54)

or

Able, J., Anderson, M., Archer, C., [et al, including Smith, Q.] (2015) A very tedious paper, J. Irrep. Res. 243(54)

where Q. Smith is the local author we care about. It's probably not a very theoretically sound citation style, but it seems to work!

In addition to the approach given by @Andrew, many journals will now push you toward an "consortium" authorship listing that simplifies the CV statement. In this style, all but a few distinguished authors are listed as a consortium, whose members are specified elsewhere. Thus:

• Frankenstein, V., Jeckyll, A., Moreau, D., and the Parahuman Genetics Consortium (1898), Sequence of the Morlock Genome, J. Mad Sci., 10(3). (Member of Parahuman Genetics Consortium)

What I do is use either Smith J et al. (2012), Journal of Awesomeness, 5(3) or The Whatever Consortium (2012), Journal of Awesomeness, 5(3).

My reasoning is that people understand that if it is on my CV then I am an author and the specific order/amount of authors is not important (given that I am not first or last). I have never run into any issues with this approach.