ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

lead author

A lead author is like the captain of a team of writers who are working together to create a book or a research paper.

Imagine that you and your friends are working on a story together. Everyone has ideas about what the story should be about, but you can't all talk at the same time or it will be confusing. So, you choose one friend to be the lead author.

The lead author's job is to organize everyone's ideas and make sure that they all fit together in a logical way. They might also make decisions about what should be included in the story, what should be left out, and what the overall message of the story should be.

In a research paper, the lead author is typically the person who came up with the main idea for the study and did most of the work to collect and analyze data. They are the one who writes the majority of the paper and is responsible for ensuring that it follows the correct format and style.

Overall, the lead author is a very important member of the writing team, and without them, the story or research paper might not make sense or be as effective.
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