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As mentioned above, the most common way authors are listed is by relative contribution. The author who most substantially worked on the draft article and the underlying research becomes the first author. The others are ranked in descending order of contribution.
How do you list co First authors?
Traditionally, co-first authors are indicated by an asterisk and the order of the individuals is the decision of the PI. Once the paper is published, it appears in print as follows: co-Author 1*, co-Author 2*, Author 3, and Author 4.
Both the terms are unique and have subtle variations in the meaning. An author is a person who is involved in creating written content entirely on their own. Co-authors on the other hand are those who work in tandem with an author to help them write a piece of literary work.
What are co-authors?
A co-author is any person who has made a significant contribution to a journal article. They also share responsibility and accountability for the results. If more than one author writes an article, you’ll choose one person to be the corresponding author.
Author’s name. “Article Title.” Journal Title, Volume, Issue, Date, Pages. If you have co-authors, separate each name by a comma, and add “and” before the last author name.
How does co-first author work?
Shared co-first authorship is defined as two or more authors who have worked together on a publication and contributed equally [8]. For instance, Gastroenterology acknowledges up to two co-first authors by bolding their names in the reference section but not in the body of the manuscript [10].
Typically the limitation is six authors. Nowadays studies are often very complex and require the contributions of specialists from many fields to be meaningful. In the times of “publish or perish”, if there is no room for them as a co-author they will not be able to participate.