The last author may also be the corresponding author, the person who is … This corresponding author is: Responsible for the manuscript as it moves through the entire publication process The "time keeper" during each phase of the publication process The primary contact between the journal and all the other authors of the paper Responsible for ensuring that all authors …
As such, this person receives much of the credit when the research goes well and the flak when things go wrong. In cases where the main contributor of the study is also the group leader, he or she can be both the first and corresponding author for the study. In some cases where two or more authors provide a very similar input and perform an equal share of experiments, it should be stated that those authors contributed equally. Corresponding author or correspondence author is the supervisor of your research from whom all the directions and instructions of research and paper writing come. The last author is also often the corresponding author. The corresponding author is often the group leader or a senior researcher whose contact address is not likely to change in the near future. However, the order of authors is just a matter of convention in individual fields; there is no written rule about this. Traditionally, the last author position is reserved for the supervisor or principal investigator. However, when the size of the team increases, a point is reached when co-authors become contributors. The perception of these titles can vary.
The paper lists five authors, including: Matthew J. Harrington and Admir Mašić, postdocs in the Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and... Niels Holten-Andersen, now a postdoc at the University of Chicago, listed second. When there are only three or four members on a research paper team, the workload should be fairly easy to divide up, with a corresponding designation of one lead author and two or three co-authors.