We are asking all researchers, when submitting manuscripts for publication, to please be sure to include their institutional affiliation, including address. The recommended affiliation language for non-WCL AU researchers is:

American University, 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, United States, 20016

Please copy and paste this affiliation language, with names of departments or schools added at the beginning, when submitting author affiliation information. 

Why does this matter?
The database that is used by rankings, such as US News and World Report, attributes scholarship to American University based on whether the author has listed affiliation at the time of submission. Roughly 25 percent of AU publications are not currently attributed to us. The reason for this is two-fold.

1. Many AU-authored publications have no affiliation listed, and cannot ever be included with AU’s publication list, so it is critical that AU is listed as the author’s affiliation when appropriate. Some authors may be affiliated with two or more institutions, so researchers should list the appropriate institution(s) as needed.
2. A substantial portion of AU publications list the affiliation as “American University, Washington, DC”, which is insufficient detail to be automatically included in the institutional list of publications for external use. 

The University Library is currently working on developing a list of recommended standardized school and department affiliation language for each unit on campus, based on existing publication data. Our colleagues in the library will share this list shortly.

Any questions regarding publication affiliation for AU research can be directed to:

Rachel Borchardt, Scholarly Communications Librarian, borchard@american.edu

Alayne Mundt, Director of Technical Services, University Library, mundt@american.edu

Thank you for your support in this effort!