Middle Author Publication Impact

[gexr]

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Recently got a middle author position on a Cell Press cancer paper and my lab mentioned human trials will be carried within a few years.

Regardless, will adcoms see the middle author as Impactful compared to a first author paper? I do plan on applying to med school next cycle.

My role was running experiments, collecting data, and making figures but not too much involved in the experiment creation.

 

[fakeeagle]

I'm no adcom, but a middle author Cell paper is a very strong achievement (i guess maybe not Cell, but the CNS subject journals like Nature Neuro, Neuron, Immunity etc. are still super high impact).

If you can discuss your role on the paper, that will really help. If you know the science well and how you facilitated it, and the PI says you were integral, this is great in terms of research. Basically no premed has a first author in a basic science journal of that tier lol.

But, there's other components to the application - be sure to do well there, or your research achievements won't matter.

(Actual adcoms can chime in and correct me lol)

 

[PickaGodnPray]

It is impactful and should definitely be listed, most premeds are not involved in hypothesis formation anyways. There is a section in AMCAS for publications which you can list it under. When you said "got a position" does this mean the work is already published?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

will adcoms see the middle author as Impactful compared to a first author paper?

Research faculty value designated first-authors and corresponding authors. You aren't being examined for your research productivity or impact, and most of us don't expect undergraduates to carry first-author weight in a C/N/S paper.

Does it bring value to your application if you are angling for a research-focused career? Sure it does. But it doesn't guarantee a seat at medical school (generally).