The inquires we receive about earning a co-authorship from undergrads in the lab typically consist of a summary of their project and a request to evaluate if it's "independent enough."
In many cases, the undergraduate is wondering if they have produced enough independent work to write a thesis (most have by our account), but others wish to know if they will be included as co-author on a journal article or elsewhere.
We received an inquiry from an undergrad about how to use their co-authorship on applications (edited here for brevity and to maintain anonymity):
I have been working on research projects for a year now. Just this summer I have received a co-authorship on a study. I was wondering, how do I record this information or something along those lines to be used for graduate school applications?