What is the difference...

[SnudgeMuffin]

What is the difference between being a first author and a co-author on a publication? Can you be a first author as an undergrad? If you can, how do you become one?

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[Doctora Foxy]

I think being the first author means you did most of the work....I guess it also means you get more prestige when putting it on your resume.

I was the first author in undergrad (after freshman year), but I didn't put it on amcas b/c it hasn't been published (yet?). I got the opportunity while I was shadowing a doctor--I was assigned a case and told to write the report, so I did, and they let me be first author. Didn't make one bit of a difference in my application though....

 

[trouta]

First author is the person that is identified as primarily responsible for the publication. This is the name that will receive the most recognition.

Co-author is any of the other people responsible for participating in the writing of the article or the research behind the article.

Becoming a first author has nothing to do with your place in school. A good advisor should push you toward preparing a publication in which you are first author. I was an undergrad and was first author on a paper b/c my I did all of the work to produce the article and my advisor was helping me get the article out. Ask your advisor about it... ask her/him if there is a project for which you can be primarily responsible.

First author publications are much more meaningful than co-author publications. I sincerely feel that it made some difference on my application.

 

[rpames]

I'm actually taking a course about doing reseach and this is what the text and my prof say.

First author is given to the person who came up with the project and is make the decisions about where to go next. And/or has the most responsibility. It doesn't matter if this person never touches a flask. Even if s/he has an assistant do all the work, if the assistant hasn't contributed to the intelectual part of the research, they don't even get co-authorship, they go under acknowledgments.

Most of the time if you are an undergrad, or are working with a mentor, the main prof that actually deserves the first author title will give to the person working with them so it will help the assistant get a start in the scientific field.

 

[Whisker Barrel Cortex]

Unfortunately, whether or not you get first author can often depend on who you worked with. Some professors are happy to give you first authorship on an article if you do much of the work. Others don't seem as receptive. I did a research project after 1st year in med school and ended up in the worst situation. It seems the prof I worked with doesn't believe in even giving students an authorship in most cases, let alone first author. I basically planned and did the whole study only to be relegated to the "special thanks" section. Good thing it never got published or I would have been even angrier.