Q: Is there any requirement of funding body, which mentions about corresponding author on manuscript?
my boss applied for funding, and he received funding for the position. If I am hired by him and have made most of the contribution to the Manuscript, Will he have to be the corresponding author?
Great question!
In general, most funding bodies do not require the grant recipient (like your boss) to be the corresponding author on a manuscript. The corresponding author is typically the person who takes responsibility for the manuscript during submission, peer review, and post-publication correspondence—and this role is often based on who led or organized the writing and communication process, not strictly on who received the funding.
That said, it’s common in academic settings—especially if the project was funded under a PI’s grant—for the PI to be either the last author (senior author) or sometimes the corresponding author, even if others (like you) did most of the writing and research. This is more about conventions and lab dynamics than strict rules.
If you made the primary contribution, it’s totally fair to discuss authorship roles openly with your boss. Some labs make the most active contributor the corresponding author, even if they weren’t the grant holder.
It might also help to check the specific funding body’s acknowledgment requirements—they typically care more about being credited properly in the funding section than about authorship order.
Answer: Determining who is the corresponding author in an academic paper is like deciding who is the leader on a journey with multiple contributors—everyone has a role, but the lead is the one who is primarily responsible for the outside world. Discussing control and individual roles in academia is a way to understand where you stand and navigate challenges without running into the unspoken rules.
Answer: While securing funding alone doesn't strictly mandate your boss as the corresponding author, it's very common for the PI or funder to assume this role due to their overall project oversight, intellectual contributions beyond just funding, and administrative responsibilities.
Not necessarily — funding and authorship roles are related but not the same thing.
Here’s how it usually works in research publishing:
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Funding: If your boss applied for and received funding, he should be acknowledged in the Funding Statement of the paper, but that alone doesn’t automatically make him the corresponding author.
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Corresponding author: This is the person responsible for handling the submission process, peer-review correspondence, and post-publication queries. It can be you or him, depending on what you both agree upon (and what’s customary in your field or institution).
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Authorship order: Since you contributed most of the work to the manuscript, you may be first author. If you also want to manage the correspondence, you can request to be the corresponding author — but this should be discussed and agreed upon beforehand.
Some institutions or labs have an internal norm that the PI (principal investigator, in this case your boss) is the corresponding author, especially when the funding comes through them. However, that’s a convention, not a strict universal rule.
