Tuesday 22 May 2018

authorship - Can co-first authors’ positions be swapped in a CV?


Some papers have co-first authors, which are supposed to have contributed equally. However, there is still an order issue.


Imagine a paper co-authored by A, B, and C. The paper goes like:


                                     A Very Long Paper Title
A*, B*, and C

Our work is good.
-----
* A and B contributed equally to the work.

In this case, is it acceptable for B to cite this paper as follows in his/her CV?



B*, A*, and C. A Very Long Paper Title. Journal of Stack Exchange. Jan. 2015. (* indicates the co-first authorship)



Note the position swap.



Answer




No. The reference is the reference, changing it to move yourself higher could be misinterpreted as willful deceit.


Add a parenthetical statement at the end of the references saying "first n authors are co-first authors, listed in this order because..."


On my "internal" CV I have parentheticals after many papers, for example, listing contributions, nominations for best paper, etc.


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