Advisor wants first author. Do I have any leverage? I'm doing undergrad research with a team, advised by a professor. I have a good relationship with this professor, but told us after the research started that he would be first author. I was at first just excited to do research, but the more I think about it, the more I think this isn't right.


His contribution was the original idea- not a fleshed out idea that we just implemented, but a very general "try this approach," a push in the right direction. Taking this approach, mind you, would be obvious to anyone well versed in the field (as I have learned), and within this approach, there are thousands of different avenues we could go to try achieving the results we want.
We have spent months doing research, and we have weekly-ish meetings, in which he asks us questions about what we're doing (we explain how our work, because it is our own creation) and he reminds us to write down everything we do. This has been his contribution for the duration of the project.
We are expected to write the entire paper ourselves- which he will then edit.


I have a meeting with him (one on one) in the near future and I would really like to bring this up, because first authorship would be huge for me or anyone on my team, whereas he already has an academic career. But I am only a first year, and he has expressed interest in doing future research with me. 

My question is: do I have any leverage in this argument? Can I present this as a deal breaker for me for future projects? Is there any other way to denote who actually did the work that I can push for here? I'm not sure if he wants to make it seem like he did the work or if that's just "what we do" in my department for undergrad research. I don't want to ruin my relationship with this professor, but I also don't want to feel like my team and I are being taken advantage of.

Responses to questions:


My field is applied computer science
I think it would make sense for either my friend or me to be first author (I don't think having to make this choice would lead to problems)
I have no objection to co-first-authorship, but it would have to be me and my friend, not one of us plus the professor.
Although Buffy's advice to let this go is practical, and I agree that would be perfectly fine, I think you have a second option here. Namely, if you are careful, you can bring up your concern with the advisor. However, if you do this, you shouldn't phrase it as an accusation or a claim that someone else should be first author; that would be unnecessarily antagonistic and probably would not help your case.

Instead, you could phrase it as a question. Say that you would like to understand how authorship order is determined better. Although you assume that the author order has already been agreed upon for this particular paper, as a starting researcher you are curious about the etiquette of authorship. You can ask if it is common for the PI to be first author in your area. Depending on how receptive he is, you can ask other questions.

If you follow this approach, then probably one of two things will happen:


First, he could become defensive and dismissive. This is more likely if he is really being unethical. In this case, Buffy is probably right that your best bet is to let this go for now. Sadly, these things happen; author order isn't always determined correctly, and that can be either due to honest error or due to dishonesty. You could always talk to another professor or mentor for moral support and to assess how to proceed (particularly for future projects), but probably for this one accepting the order is not such a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
Second, he could be helpful and receptive. Maybe he will explain that he is usually first author on his papers. Perhaps he has a good reason for this. For example, in some fields, that is accepted, while in others that is pretty condemned (I don't know what is the case for your field). But he could also have some personal justification for why to go against the convention. I would not agree with him, but perhaps if he explains this then it would make it easier for you to understand.


Whatever you decide, try to see the bigger picture that authorship is not always obvious, and this professor will be judged for his own actions by colleagues and the community in the future; it's to some extent out of your hands. Good luck.