Question regarding co-first authorship

[RJ McReady]

Hello,
I am a co-first author on a paper published in a national journal. My name is actually third on the paper but there is an asterisk next to the first three authors on the first page which states “the first three authors contributed equally to this manuscript”.
My question is if I can list myself as a first author on this publication on my CV. The faculty member who is actually listed first on the paper told me that I should put my name first on the paper when I list it on my CV. I am somewhat hesitant to do this because I don’t want people to look up the paper and see that my name is third and think that I am trying to somehow manipulate the authorship order or be dishonest about it. Has anyone else had a similar situation? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

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[Lawpy]

I'd list the order as it's listed in the paper and add the stars on your name showing equal contribution.

 

[OrganRepo]

I'd list myself as first if the manuscript itself states that the first three authors are equal but also I have no idea.

 

[Lawpy]

I'd list myself as first if the manuscript itself states that the first three authors are equal but also I have no idea.

I don't recommend it for the sole reason that people will look up the paper and note the author order is different. It looks disingenuous.

 

[Dormouse]

Even when there's more than one first author, it is understood that the person listed first is still in some ways more important to the project, etc. In my PhD program, a co-authorship where you're listed first counts towards first author publications but co-authorship where you're listed second does not. So I wouldn't change the authorship order on your own. The proper way to list this is what @Lawpy and others said.

 

[RJ McReady]

Thank you for the responses everyone.
I think I’ll just leave it as it is on the paper and add an asterisk to the first three authors with explanation in parentheses.

 

[Phloston]

Hello,
I am a co-first author on a paper published in a national journal. My name is actually third on the paper but there is an asterisk next to the first three authors on the first page which states “the first three authors contributed equally to this manuscript”.
My question is if I can list myself as a first author on this publication on my CV. The faculty member who is actually listed first on the paper told me that I should put my name first on the paper when I list it on my CV. I am somewhat hesitant to do this because I don’t want people to look up the paper and see that my name is third and think that I am trying to somehow manipulate the authorship order or be dishonest about it. Has anyone else had a similar situation? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

There's a difference between first- and co-authorship. Just say you're a co-author.

 

[RJ McReady]

There's a difference between first- and co-authorship. Just say you're a co-author.

This is probably splitting hairs, but there are 6 total authors on the paper, so, yes, technically I’m a co-author but my faculty member who is listed first specifically said that the three of us were co-first authors, as he said my name could have also been listed first.

 

[Animalcules]

Co-first are interchangeable otherwise they should not have been designated as such.

 

[aldol16]

List it in the same order as it appears in PubMed. It's not worth it to change the order and appear sketchy if people don't look further into it. Always bold your name and put an asterisk next to it if it's a co-first authorship. Then explain that it's a co-first authorship at the bottom.

 

[Lawpy]

Co-first are interchangeable otherwise they should not have been designated as such.

Yes that's technically the way it should be done but as long as papers are indexed and referenced as First Author et al, the author listed first will always remain the true first author

If you think this is weird, there are papers with co-second authors, which is ridiculous

 

[Animalcules]

Yes that's technically the way it should be done but as long as papers are indexed and referenced as First Author et al, the author listed first will always remain the true first author

If you think this is weird, there are papers with co-second authors, which is ridiculous

Yes, in the future, make sure that shared first authorship gets annotated that order was alphabetical, reverse alphabetical, or random. Nobody can fault you for switching it around. I don't do it, but I would also not fault you to do this on your CV. Maybe different institutions handle this differently, but it would be absurd.