Who is considered to be the "first author" in this publication?
Did you actually write [most of] it? If not then you're not first author.
That's not what authorship implies at all, actually. It doesn't matter who wrote it. First author is the person who has the most intellectual contribution and ownership of the project, excluding the PI. So if I started a project, did all the relevant background search/review, did the preliminary studies and most of the experiments, and then graduated without having time to write it all up in manuscript form, I still would be first author. The person who comes, along, does one or two extra experiments, and writes it up is not first author - they are added on the author list as a subsequent author.
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OP, since all of you contributed equally, it would be considered a co-first authorship. You can refer to yourself as co-first author. I know it's weird but academically, that's recognized as a project where multiple students took on lead roles in the project and so ownership is more equal rather than one-sided.
Ok great, that's what I thought; just wanted to double-check before I go around telling people that I'm (co)first-author of a publication.
For an interesting discussion on co-first authorship, look here: On Being Equal: The Co-First Author Phenomenon
The answer is obviously to eat the other two co-first authors so that you can drop the co.
I mean, I guess I can give it a try...
