Search for created authors (figshare API bug)

[cboettig]

I can add authors who don't have figshare accounts just fine using the API function to create a new author. However, the authors I add aren't showing up in my author search, which seems to only search actual figshare accounts.

For example:

fs_search("Boettiger", author="David")

Shows an author (who has been added as a co-author of a PLOS article, since all their figures are on figshare). But the author search API doesn't find this author, since there is no figshare user account.

fs_author_search("David Boettiger")

Without the ability to search for an author that I added, if I try to re-add the same name by accident I get the expected 400 error with the appropriate message, author already exists, try search.

fs_create_author("David Boettiger")

But searching doesn't find the author, so I cannot access the author's ID in order to reuse it.

• Ideally the error message would also return the id of the author if it already exists.
• But it would also be good to be able to search for authors that have been added by other users, or at least authors that have been added by me.

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figshare team says they are looking into this and should have it resolved soon.