How do I find an author's credentials?
how do I go about finding an authors credentials? hey, when trying to find an authors credentials and things to introduce them in a paper, how would I go about doing that ?
Answer
Often you will find the author's credentials listed on the article they wrote, or at the very least the institution they are affiliated with, which can be used to track down more information. Ideally, the author’s credentials will be listed outright, but if they do not there are options to find them.
- Look them up using a search engine like Google and see if they have a LinkedIn or ResearchGate profile and find where it lists the person’s affiliated institution for the time when the article was written to confirm if you are viewing the right person. Often their credentials will be listed on their profile.
- If you have an institution or organization but no credentials, you can contact the organization to see if they can confirm this person was a student/employee/researcher there at that time and what their role was.
- If you suspect fraud you can contact the degree or certification granting organization to confirm. This happens typically with predatory journals which may publish articles without the proper checks. It can also happen when AI is generating fake citations and reusing common names to make up content.
If you need help tracking down the credentials for an author(s) please contact a librarian for more assistance. We'd be happy to help!