The first author refers to the person whose signature ranks first. Some articles have two or more first authors, which are called tied first authors. In this case, it is generally necessary to indicate the name of the person.

Correspondents generally refer to the person in charge of the whole project, who is responsible for the funding, design and writing of articles. He is also a contact person for articles and research materials. Most importantly, he is responsible for the reliability of the article.

The first author is different from the correspondent and creative contribution, and the correspondent often acts as the most authoritative person in the field of papers.

The weight of the first author is in the signature of innovative works, such as scientific research papers, patents, research reports, etc. In the case of cooperation between multiple authors, the name of the person who has made the greatest contribution to the work is usually signed first. Especially for the signature of scientific research papers, each journal has more detailed regulations; However, when the paper signature is used to evaluate professional titles, the weight of the first author is obviously heavier than that of the second and third authors, but lighter than the personal signature.

The contributors who have made direct or indirect contributions to the works are generally called the second/third authors because their overall contributions are far from those of the first author.