In what order should authors be listed?
After the first author, the authors are usually listed according to their contribution to the work, from the most to the least. If more than one author contributed equally, you can ask the journal editor to note this in the publication.
How many first authors can you have?
Only one of the authors will appear as first author, in any publication. Every other entry is a secondary entry. However, corresponding authors could be as many as three depending on the multi-disciplinary nature of the article.
Can there be multiple first authors?
Shared co-first authorship is defined as two or more authors who have worked together on a publication and contributed equally [8]. Some journals publish articles in which shared coauthorship is described, making it easy to determine author contribution.
How do you indicate multiple authors first?
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.
Does the order of authors on a paper matter?
Yes, the author order is important. The author order is based on their contribution to the work.
Is it bad to be second author?
As you say, being first author is like the holy grail, but being second author on “someone else’s paper” is not bad at all, and while it does not scream “amazing” on a CV, it does bulk up your publication record and shows that you are competent researcher, and contribute to work of publishable standard.
Is it better to be first author or last author?
The first author should be that person who contributed most to the work, including writing of the manuscript. The sequence of authors should be determined by the relative overall contributions to the manuscript. It is common practice to have the senior author appear last, sometimes regardless of his or her contribution …
How do you write a list of authors?
The following are some common methods for establishing author order lists.
- Relative contribution. As mentioned above, the most common way authors are listed is by relative contribution.
- Alphabetical list.
- Multiple “first” authors.
- Multiple “last” authors.
- Negotiated order.