The SNP is ahead in the second of two exclusive polls for The Herald, reversing a previous lead held by Labour.
Nationalists have moved in front on voting intentions for both constituency and regional votes for the Scottish Parliament.
Labour has dropped sharply back in the race for council votes, now trailing the SNP on that count too.
As the campaign started last month, mruk research found Labour was four points ahead - one of only two recent polls to give Labour a lead. Its most recent findings put Labour four points behind on the constituency vote, with the SNP one point ahead on the regional vote, while smaller parties appear to be getting squeezed.
The survey of 1000 Scots showed many remain undecided on how to use their votes next Thursday. That was unusually high at 50% last month, and has dropped to 43% in the latest poll, taken between April 13 and 19 .
Of those, nearly six out of 10 told pollsters they are certain to vote. Other pollsters and the party canvassers have agreed the high number of undecided voters is a feature of this campaign. Asked how they would vote in an independence referendum, there was less good news for the SNP, however, with the eight-point gap last month - 54% against and 46% for independence - doubling to a 16-point gap this month, 58% against to 42% in favour.
With only a week until polling day, and around a tenth of votes already being cast by postal ballot, the parties are ratcheting up their campaigning to reach those undecided voters, with the Prime Minister and the Chancellor on the Scottish Labour campaign trail yesterday.
While Gordon Brown took aim again at the SNP's "day one conflict strategy", the Prime Minister began a new tactic of ensuring former Labour voters do not defect in the late stages to Liberal Democrats. The plan is to contrast Labour tough talk on crime with the LibDem approach, portraying its opponents as soft.
The battle for endorsements also heats up today. The SNP wants to retain momentum with a "Count Me In" slogan, starting the final week with a panel of pensioners who support the SNP pitch to replace the council tax.
Actors Elaine C Smith and Martin Compston will announce their support for the SNP today, along with leading Scottish artists.
Ms Smith said she had been provoked into declaring her support for the SNP after seeing a group of famous football managers backing the Union in a newspaper advertisement earlier this week.
She told The Herald: "It feels like blanket support for the Union from the press. I get really frustrated at the attacks, and it's no wonder the punters are turning the other way. It just doesn't seem fair."
The main findings of The Herald's poll show a big gender gap. Women were lagging 33 to 42% behind men in constituency vote support for the SNP, while Labour attracts more women by a 37 to 31% margin. The women's vote has been a key battleground in the campaign. The poll also shows Alex Salmond remains ahead of Jack McConnell in people's view of which leader would make the best First Minister.
The SNP leader was on 25% to the Labour leader on 19%, with the Tories' Annabel Goldie on 5% and Nicol Stephen trailing again on 4%. Even among Labour supporters, there is lukewarm support for Jack McConnell as First Minister, with only 60% of the party's backers saying he is best for the top job.
The poll findings for the constituency/regional vote are: SNP 38/37, Labour 34/36, LibDems 13/11 and Conservatives 11/11, with Greens on 3% for top-up regional list seats.
On the constituency vote, that means Labour dropped by four and the SNP gained by four since the March 22 to 27 poll, while LibDems dropped two and Tories fell one point. On the regional vote, the SNP was up two and Labour down one point, with LibDems down three and Tories up one.
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