Alert:
All Learning Commons & Library spaces are closed Friday, May 10, 2023 for staff development.
The second floor of McCormick Library is closed beginning May 10th for elevator modernization and repairs. For details, see our Alerts page.
All Learning Commons & Library spaces are closed Friday, May 10, 2023 for staff development.
The second floor of McCormick Library is closed beginning May 10th for elevator modernization and repairs. For details, see our Alerts page.
When you think of an author you often imagine an individual writing a book, article, or some other long form of writing. You may even go further and think of an unknown person writing something on behalf of a government agency or a team of individuals working together on a research paper. The reality is that anyone can be an author of something. I am the author of this page. You are the author of anything you post online.
It's important to know who wrote something and the qualifications they have that make them capable of writing about the topic. This can be challenging so here are some examples of different author backgrounds and amounts of information given.
Government agencies, clinics, institutes, nonprofit organizations, and universities often provide information without an individual author. In these cases, the person who wrote it is doing so on behalf of the organization or as paid by the organization.
Short Bio(graphie)s can often give you an idea of the person's experience, accomplishments, or awards if they do not have a formal designation that signals their expertise. This is often found in magazines, newspapers, and websites (usually by clicking an author's name) in order to provide background about a person.
If you can't identify a source at all, or it has a level of anonymity associated with it you may want to question if it's truly a reliable source. This often shows up as either no attribution, a username that can't be linked to an individual (ex. @altnoaa), or a general 'Staff Writer' that could be anyone on a list that they may or may not provide.
Most professional journals share the current position of the contributing authors. While it looks different depending on the journal or database, the authors provide the information for both contact purposes and to show expertise.
In some cases, you may only be given basic information, like a name or an email address. By searching google for that information, you can find out more about the author (or not) and use that information to evaluate their expertise.
