###### 3.1.3.1.3 author

The <author> metadata element contains the name of the topic's author.

The author is usually the person, organization, or application that created the content. This element is equivalent to the Creator element in Dublin Core.

###### Contains

Doctype | Content model
topic (base), map (base), classifyMap, subjectScheme, learningAssessment, learningBookmap, learningContent, learningMap, learningOverview, learningPlan, learningSummary | ( text data or data or data-about or foreign or unknown or keyword or term) (any number)
topic (technical content), map (technical content), concept, ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup, reference, task, bookmap | ( text data or data or data-about or foreign or unknown or keyword or apiname or option or parmname or cmdname or msgnum or varname or wintitle or term or abbreviated-form) (any number)
machineryTask | ( text data or data or data-about or foreign or unknown or keyword or wintitle or term) (any number)

###### Contained by

Doctype | Content model
topic (base), topic (technical content), concept, ditabase, glossary, glossentry, glossgroup, reference, task (strict), task (general), machineryTask, learningAssessment, learningContent, learningOverview, learningPlan, learningSummary | prolog
map (base), map (technical content), classifyMap, subjectScheme, learningMap | topicmeta
bookmap, learningBookmap | topicmeta, bookmeta

###### Inheritance

- topic/author

###### Example

    <prolog>
      <author type="creator">Jane</author>
      <author type="contributor">John</author>
    </prolog>

###### Attributes

Name | Description | Data Type | Default Value | Required?
href | Provides a reference to a resource. See 3.4.2.1 The href attribute for detailed information on supported values and processing implications. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No
type | Describes the target of a reference. See 3.4.2.8 The type attribute for detailed information on supported values and processing implications. Beginning with DITA 1.2, values in this attribute are not limited to a small number of choices; the following values were used in DITA 1.0 and DITA 1.1, and are also recognized for the author element (and its specializations): creator The primary or original author of the content. contributor An additional author who is not primary. | NMTOKEN | #IMPLIED | No
format | The format attribute identifies the format of the resource being referenced. See 3.4.2.9 The format attribute for details on supported values. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No
scope | The scope attribute identifies the closeness of the relationship between the current document and the target resource. See 3.4.2.10 The scope attribute for more information on values. | (local | peer | external | -dita-use-​conref-​target) | #IMPLIED | No
keyref | Keyref provides a redirectable reference based on a key defined within a map. See 3.4.2.3 The keyref attribute for information on using this attribute. | CDATA | #IMPLIED | No
univ-atts attribute group (includes select-atts, id-atts, and localization-atts groups) | A set of related attributes, described in 3.4.1.3 univ-atts attribute group |  |  |
global-atts attribute group (xtrf, xtrc) | A set of related attributes, described in 3.4.1.2 global-atts attribute group |  |  |
class | A common attribute described in 3.4.1.9 Other common DITA attributes |  |  |

Previous Topic: 3.1.3.1.2 audience

Next Topic: 3.1.3.1.4 brand

Parent Topic: 3.1.3.1 Prolog (metadata) elements

Sibling Topics:

3.1.3.1.1 prolog

3.1.3.1.2 audience

3.1.3.1.4 brand

3.1.3.1.5 category

3.1.3.1.6 component

3.1.3.1.7 copyright

3.1.3.1.8 copyrholder

3.1.3.1.9 copyryear

3.1.3.1.10 created

3.1.3.1.11 critdates

3.1.3.1.12 featnum

3.1.3.1.13 keywords

3.1.3.1.14 metadata

3.1.3.1.15 othermeta

3.1.3.1.16 permissions

3.1.3.1.17 platform

3.1.3.1.18 prodinfo

3.1.3.1.19 prodname

3.1.3.1.20 prognum

3.1.3.1.21 publisher

3.1.3.1.22 resourceid

3.1.3.1.23 revised

3.1.3.1.24 series

3.1.3.1.25 source

3.1.3.1.26 vrmlist

3.1.3.1.27 vrm