Does second vs third author matter?

Though authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions, basically there is no difference in the credit of 2nd and 3rd authors. Order of authourship is based on the contribution to the work. The most important (creative) impact per person is by scientific research of that person alone.

What does third author mean?

In this case, the third author would be the last author. The last author in some fields assumes special importance: he or she is usually the supervisor or the PI, the person who has procured grants and under whose supervision the project has seen completion.

What is the value of corresponding author?

As per the UGC guidelines, 70\% of the total value of publication is shared between the first author and corresponding author. If a person is both the first and corresponding author, then he/she is entitled to all of the 70\% credit.

What is the difference between second author and third author?

Second Author: Person that actually did a vast majority of work who now can’t get a job due to a lack of first author papers. Third Author: Person that started the project and gave up.

Who is the first and second author of a research paper?

Usually the first author is the author that did the majority of the work (in terms of data contributions – they are also usually the person who wrote the paper, at least where I work), the second author contributed the second most, etc. If two people contributed an equal amount, obviously one will have to be listed ahead of the other,…

How important is the number of first author papers?

To the co-first authors: Metrics such as the number of first author papers still play a substantial role in hiring, tenure, grants, and many other career advancement opportunities and decisions.

What happens if two authors equally contribute to a research paper?

If two authors equally contributed, it needs to be negotiated who goes first. Normally they put a ‘*’ or another sign and in the footnote that ‘these authors contributed equally to the study’. Additionally if it is an important piece of research, the last and senior author (i.e. the money man) might want to be the first author as well.