Co-author vs principal investigator

The differences between co-authors and principal investigators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a principal investigator has an average salary of $84,635, which is higher than the $70,759 average annual salary of a co-author.

The top three skills for a co-author include R, poster presentation and research projects. The most important skills for a principal investigator are patients, data collection, and project management.

Co-author vs principal investigator overview

	CO-Author	Principal Investigator
Yearly salary	$70,759	$84,635
Hourly rate	$34.02	$40.69
Growth rate	4%	5%
Number of jobs	2,793	44,475
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Average age	42	47
Years of experience	-	4

Co-author vs principal investigator salary

Co-authors and principal investigators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	CO-Author	Principal Investigator
Average salary	$70,759	$84,635
Salary range	Between $48,000 And $102,000	Between $59,000 And $120,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Incyte
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between co-author and principal investigator education

There are a few differences between a co-author and a principal investigator in terms of educational background:

	CO-Author	Principal Investigator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	-	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Co-author vs principal investigator demographics

Here are the differences between co-authors' and principal investigators' demographics:

	CO-Author	Principal Investigator
Average age	42	47
Gender ratio	Male, 48.9% Female, 51.1%	Male, 52.2% Female, 47.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 5.0% White, 75.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 4.3% White, 66.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between co-author and principal investigator duties and responsibilities

Co-author example responsibilities.

Manage and integrate web content for an international client using proprietary CMS software.
Input and analyze data on SPSS.
Conduct qualitative and quantitative interviews in Spanish with patients as part of the data collection process.
Increase patient enrollment, by encouraging other physicians to refer patients for clinical research, and providing appropriate training.
Assist in writing and submitting a R01 NIH grant.
Conduct literature review, analysis and interpretation of the data in SAS software.

Principal investigator example responsibilities.

Serve chemistry project leads for two early-stage drug discovery projects.
Design, build and manage CADD, NMR and MRI facilities.
Attain IRB approval, recruit participants, analyze the data and present results
Manage outsource projects, and interact with vendors for API sourcing, and device components base on project needs.
Conduct research using industry standards: GCP, GLP, SORP and compliance with IRB.
Receive IRB approval and clearance for research

Co-author vs principal investigator skills

Common co-author skills

R, 32%
Poster Presentation, 9%
Research Projects, 7%
Data Collection, 5%
JAN, 5%
Symposium, 4%

Common principal investigator skills

Patients, 10%
Data Collection, 9%
Project Management, 8%
Technical Reports, 6%
FDA, 4%
Data Analysis, 4%

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CO-Author vs Principal Investigator

Updated January 8, 2025

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