Crediting on Papers

Some perspective / protocol regarding credit on research papers

It's mainly the first author's name that counts in publications. Though some universities are beginning to recognize that some disciplines routinely have multi-author contributions.
Forgetting to credit someone can become a major point of contention in the "real world" especially when $s are involved.
Yes in some cases you just forget- accidents happen. But at the same time you should always be thorough. And if there is a way to correct the situation, by all means do so.
In general I always err on the side of being generous with credit. If someone has something remotely to do with the paper, you are almost always better off crediting someone than not. People who don't play well with others are often excluded from the party in the future- even for brilliant scientists. If you don't credit someone, they won't credit you in the future. So playing nice can pay dividends.
When you do add someone to a paper you should always ask them for permission first. Your paper may suck and they may not want their name associated with it. Some researchers may actually not want their names on papers if they feel they really haven't contributed significantly to it. Also, on a slightly related note: when you put someone as a reference on your resume, it is generally polite to ask for permission first.
If you feel you should be on a paper and you are not, simply, and politely ask to be included. Don't just assume they left you out because they don't like you. Assume it was an honest mistake.
Try to get in the habit of resolving these issues amongst yourselves rather than having Luc, Xi, Andy or I always mediate- if something happens more than once then by all means bring it to our attention.

So here's a bit of protocol: for anyone who is writing a paper, please send out the final version to the entire group and ask everyone to check to see if they feel they should be credited, before final submission to the conference/journal/magazine etc.