Table 1 Connotations of authorship in the various STEM fields (adapted from a community discussion on academia stack exchange [20])

Math, computer science, and related fields [21]

• Lists authors on papers in alphabetical order [4]

• All authors are assumed to have contributed equally and are listed alphabetically

•Authors reject the notion that their contributions can be strictly ordered

Physics and engineering

• A first author is usually the lead student or worker on the particular project from which the paper originates

• If there are multiple contributors on a particular project, first authorship is usually awarded to whoever has done the most work in preparing the manuscript for publication

• If contributions are truly deemed equivalent, first authorships may be shared among different authors to recognize comparable contributions throughout the combined work

• The last author is often a senior academician, who may have advised or directed the first author but not have performed any of the experimentation themselves

• Different conventions exist even for the various subfields of physics

Biology, chemistry, and medicine

• The first author is usually the individual who puts the most labor into the work

• The last author is usually the primary investigator, though this practice is relatively recent. Previously, the primary investigator would be listed as the first author

• If contributions are truly deemed equivalent, first authorships may be shared among different authors to recognize comparable contributions throughout the combined work

• First author is considered the most important authorship position

• Middle authors are sequenced in order of decreasing contributions to the various components of the manuscript (data acquisition, data analysis, and manuscript writing)

• Last author denotes the role of seniority, mentor, thought leader, or subject expert

• First authorship is the basis of application for awards, prizes, or fellowships