This is the convention in mathematics. From the AMS statement on The Culture of Research and Scholarship in Mathematics: "For this reason, mathematicians trad

This is the convention in mathematics. From the AMS statement on The Culture of Research and Scholarship in Mathematics: "For this reason, mathematicians traditionally list authors on joint papers in alphabetical order. An analysis of journal articles with at least one U.S. based author shows that nearly half were jointly authored. Of these, more than 75% listed the authors in alphabetical order. In pure mathematics, nearly all joint papers (over 90%) list authors alphabetically." http://www.ams.org/profession/leaders/culture/CultureStatement04.pdf http://www.ams.org/profession/leaders/culture/CultureStateme...