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How can I locate background and other information about an author?

The most effective way to locate background information, institutional affiliation, current contact information and other biographical data is to conduct an internet search. Using an internet search engine, like Google, you can search by the author’s name. The influence of the author will determine how much or how little information is available about him/her.

Here’s a sample search for the influential author/scholar/psychologist Robert M. Gagne:

 


Institutional Affiliation 

 

All journals print the author’s institutional affiliation (college, university, or organization) on the first page of an article. See this example below:

 

Screenshot of article example showing the author's institutional affiliation.

You may also locate author affiliation and sometimes direct contact information (email and/phone) in NavigatorSearch (formerly Roadrunner) by clicking on the title of a result and viewing the Detailed Record screen. Here is an example of a detailed record screen for an article


 

Other Resources

Academia - results may appear in an internet search.  Use the search bar on Academia to search by an author's name.  Sign up for a free account to download select open-access full-text articles.

Google Scholar Citations – authors/scholars can create a Scholar Profile. Not all authors opt to do this; you may find results for Google Scholar Citations by searching for the author’s name + Google Scholar Citations. Here is an example search: peter sleegers google scholar citations

ResearchGate – results may appear in an internet search. Click on Researchers at the bottom of the home page for an author. Sign-up for a free account to connect with other scholars and to access select open-access full-text articles.

To locate publications by an author, see our Authors FAQ.

For biographies of highly influential scholars and figures, see our Find Biographies FAQ.




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