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The rule to read the author list, simplified: first author did the work. Last author funded the research. Everyone else contributed somewhat.
by azag0 9y ago
The rule to read the author list, simplified: first author did the work. Last author funded the research. Everyone else contributed somewhat.
- thomasfedb 9y agoOne metric used to evaluate publication history is the combined count of first and last authorships for this very reason.
- njarboe 9y agoIt is also traditional that the first author, in addition to doing the most of the scientific work, takes on most of the writing He/She also edits together the various other authors contributions.
- Keysh 9y agoThat’s only true in some areas (e.g. some biological fields). In other areas (e.g astronomy or much of physics), it’s decreasing order of contribution. In mathematics, the author list is usually alphabetical.