What order should coauthors be listed for a scientific publication?
I’m confused as to the order that comes after the lead author. Sometimes the next "most important" author is listed second, other times I’ve seen the lab director or supervisor of a project listed last.
I’m interested primarily for the field of ecology.
To clarify, I’m submitting an abstract for a presentation and I’m not sure whether to include my supervisor–who is the second most important of 4 authors–second or last?
Generally the list starts with the person who did the most work on the project and progresses to the principle investigator in whose lab the work was done (assuming that the PI did not do the work). On really big projects involving many scientists, they might be listed in alphabetical order with a small asterisk or cross indicating people who contributed equally to the project as well as an indication to whom one writes for reprints.
Generally the list starts with the person who did the most work on the project and progresses to the principle investigator in whose lab the work was done (assuming that the PI did not do the work). On really big projects involving many scientists, they might be listed in alphabetical order with a small asterisk or cross indicating people who contributed equally to the project as well as an indication to whom one writes for reprints.
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