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Is alphabetical orders of authors' name in research article in mathematics mandatory ?

I mean for good journals of Mathematics, with Q_2 or Q1 category.

If the authors' name are not followed alphabetically, does it create bad impression to Editor and Reviewer ?

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    This kind of thing is 100% journal-specific, if whatever you submit does not meet their standards they'll request you to fix it. And if it was stated somewhere in submission requirements explicitly, yes, that's bad impression - you're wasting their (and your own) time by not reading these requirements or choosing to ignore them for whatever reasons you have.
    – Lodinn
    Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 7:21
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    Even if the "rule" is informal, nothing good will come from breaking it. Look at some of the arguments that arise in other fields that try to "measure" contribution. A two minute offhand comment in the coffee lounge could form the crux of a proof in mathematics. Changing the convention would just be a recipe for disorder and discord. People who should/could become collaborators become blood enemies in some cases.
    – Buffy
    Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 12:49
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    In the context of pure mathematics, not ordering the authors alphabetically is certainly unusual enough that it will create a strong impression on the readers (and this includes the reviewers and the editors). If I happened on a paper with this peculiarity I would be under the impression there's a story behind it (one author is being rude to the others? Weird funding agency requirements? Complete cluelessness on the authors' part?) and this can only distract me from the actual content of the paper.
    – Denis Nardin
    Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 14:36
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    What does "Q_2 or Q1category" mean? (It might just be due to my ignorance, but I've never heard of these before.)
    – Jochen Glueck
    Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 14:48
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    @JochenGlueck, it is the Scimago ranking and there are 4 categories Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. You can see here-scimagojr.com/journalrank.php?category=2601
    – learner
    Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 14:50

1 Answer 1

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In Pure Mathematics, alphabetical ordering of authors' names is a community standard to such an extent that deviating from this ordering is unusual, and often accidental (e.g., see Should a math paper use non-alphabetical ordering of authors' names for unequal contributions? or Uncommon order of authors names?).

Edited (Jan 2022): However, alphabetical ordering is not required in almost all journals that I am aware of. The only exceptions I know of (mentioned in now-deleted comments) are the Korean Math Society journals.

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    This is the correct answer. Once one coauthor whose name starts with W clearly did almost all the work. We convinced him to allow us to submit with his name first. At other times I've argued with two Z coauthors that they should be first and they would have none of it. My name starts with B. Once I was third among three.
    – Ethan Bolker
    Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 16:10
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    This is an interesting answer. In physics the culture is certainly different: if you can’t sort out the ordering of authors on a submission, you have deeper issues with these collaborators.
    – ZeroTheHero
    Commented Aug 31, 2021 at 16:32
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    When out-of-order names happens, it is rare enough that it is notable. One exampe: there was an undergraduate text in abstract algebra by Birhkoff & MacLane. Decades later the two of them did another undergraduate textbook in abstract algebra, now with authors MacLane & Birkhoff. They switched order to distinguish the two books from each other.
    – GEdgar
    Commented Jan 27, 2022 at 8:32

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