Documentsauthor

Documentsauthor is a metadata concept used in document management and content systems to identify the person or people responsible for creating a document. It is often implemented as a field or property in metadata schemas and can be stored as a simple text string or as a structured object containing multiple attributes.

The term is not universally standardized and may appear as an implementation-specific key. In some schemas, documentsauthor serves as a distinct rival or extension to more general author fields, enabling clearer attribution when multiple contributors are involved or when authorship needs to retain historical or organizational context.

Data can be represented in various forms. A simple usage might store a single name, while more robust models treat documentsauthor as a structured object with name, email, affiliation, ORCID, and role. In multi-author works, documentsauthor may be an array of such objects. Interoperability often relies on mappings to established standards such as Dublin Core (dc:creator) or schema.org author, with documentsauthor acting as a localized or application-specific label.

Practical considerations include privacy, consent, and provenance. Versioned metadata helps track changes to authorship, and access controls may restrict who can view or modify the documentsauthor field. Accurate attribution supports accountability, citations, and scholarly or professional recognition.

See also: author, metadata, provenance, Dublin Core, ORCID, schema.org.