Literature Searches (Part 5): Author! Author!

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” -- John C. Maxwell (American Entrepreneur, Author and motivational speaker)

The literature search process involves three basic steps …

Key word searching
Backward reference searching
Forward reference and author searching

The forward reference search was covered in our previous post.

Today’s tip covers forward author searches.

Yair Levy and Timothy J. Ellis define and describe the concept in their article “A Systems Approach to Conduct an Effective Literature Review in Support of Information Systems Research.”

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“Forward authors search refers to reviewing what the authors have published following the article. For example, a forward authors search for Compeau and Higgins’s (1995) article can be accomplished by conducting an electronic library database search for all articles that include either “Compeau” or “Higgins” as the author. Doing so will enable the researcher to extend even more their knowledge about the authors by identifying improvements or new findings related to the phenomenon under study.”
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In the forward author search sub-step, you simply review additional articles that your author has published since publishing the target article.  Let’s continue using the article we have selected as an example …

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Mohebali, G., & Ball, A. S. (2008). Biocatalytic desulfurization (BDS) of petrodiesel fuels. Microbiology (Reading, England), 154(Pt 8), 2169–2183. doi:10.1099/mic.0.2008/017608-0phene; 4, cis-4-[2-(3 ... Rhodococcus sp ...
Cited by 46
Free Full Text Source:  http://mic.sgmjournals.org/content/154/8/2169.short

In this particular case, clicking on the “G. Mohebali” hyperlink will not produce useful results. No worries. Use Google® Scholar’s advanced search function to perform an author search on “Ghasemali Mohebali.” Results of such a search include the following list of articles published by Ghasemali Mohebali since the date of our example article.

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Emulsification potential of a newly isolated biosurfactant-producing bacterium,< i> Rhodococcus sp. strain TA6
M Shavandi, G Mohebali, A Haddadi… - Colloids and Surfaces B: …, 2011 - Elsevier
An indigenous biosurfactant producing bacterium, Rhodococcus sp. strain TA6 was isolated
from Iranian oil contaminated soil using an efficient enrichment and screening method.
During growth on sucrose and several hydrocarbon substrates as sole carbon source, the  ...
Cited by 44

researchgate.net [PDF]
Analysis of petroleum biodesulfurization in an airlift bioreactor using response surface methodology
…, MR Mehrnia, F Yazdian, M Soheily, G Mohebali… - Bioresource …, 2011 - Elsevier
For the first time, growing cells of Gordonia alkanivorans RIPI90A were used for
biodesulfurization (BDS) of diesel. This process was carried out in an internal airlift
bioreactor. BDS parameters (oil/water phase ratio and initial sulfur concentration) were  ...
Cited by 10

Genomic structure and promoter analysis of the dsz operon for dibenzothiophene biodesulfurization from Gordonia alkanivorans RIPI90A
…, M Sadeghizadeh, K Khajeh, G Mohebali… - Applied microbiology …, 2010 - Springer
Abstract The bacterium Gordonia alkanivorans RIPI90A has been previously reported as
dibenzothiophene-desulfurizing strain. The present study provides a complete investigation
of the dsz operon including dsz promoter analysis from desulfurization competent strain  ...
Cited by 9

Efficient breaking of water/oil emulsions by a newly isolated de-emulsifying bacterium,< i> Ochrobactrum anthropi
strain RIPI5-1
G Mohebali, A Kaytash, N Etemadi - Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 2012 - Elsevier
Water–oil emulsions occur throughout oil production, transportation, and processing. The
breaking of the water/oil emulsion improves oil quality and as a consequence chemically
synthesized de-emulsifiers are commonly used in the petroleum industries. Microbial de- ...
Cited by 5

Biodegradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in a Soil Polluted Sample by Oil-Based Drilling Cuttings
…, AR Mesdaghinia, K Naddafi, G Mohebali… - Soil and Sediment …, 2014 - Taylor & Francis
Microbial degradation of hydrocarbons in soils polluted by oil-based drilling mud and
cuttings has been investigated by static methods such as composting or biopiling.
Bioremediation of polluted soils by oil-based drilling cuttings through a slurry bioreactor  ...
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So, why do we care what our author has published since the target article? To re-quote Levy and Ellis …

“Doing so will enable the researcher to extend even more knowledge of the author by identifying improvements or new findings related to the phenomenon under study.”

Visit www.JeanSteinhardtConsulting.com for more tips and tricks.