I agree with the comment that meaning of authorship order does differ across fields. For lab-based sciences, last author usually indicates the senior person in whose lab the work was done. In field ecology and wildlife studies, however, last author usually means you did least work (so second is better)! I suggest the recent paper in an ESA journal as an excellent read on this topic. The authors suggest including an attribution line with every article that clearly explains the role of each author. It's yet to be seen whether all journals would agree to publish such a statement or not. Authorship in ecology: attribution, accountability, and responsibility Jake F Weltzin1*, R Travis Belote2, Leigh T Williams1, Jason K Keller3, and E Cayenne Engel1 Front Ecol Environ 2006; 4(8): 435-441
=Carola >Hello All, > >I have a question about the autorship order. > >I have heard and read somewhere that researchers seem >to know that in a 3 author paper, the responsability >of the second author on the paper is lower than the >third author. > >How well known and accepted is this idea of autorship >order? > >If the participation of multiple authors on a paper is >clear and each participated as A=80%, B=40% and C=10%. >And A and B are still graduate students and C is a >local person of the study area. >How should the order of the authors be? ACB or ABC? > >Thanks for your ideas, > >Karim > > > > >____________________________________________________________________________________ >Sponsored Link > >Online degrees - find the right program to advance your career. >www.nextag.com
