Google Scholar alerts for authors, and how to follow the whole lab

To set up Google Scholar alerts for authors, open the researcher's Scholar profile, click Follow and choose new articles by this author. If they have no profile, search author:"their name" and click the envelope icon on the results page. That tracks their papers once Scholar indexes them; for the preprint, the lab page update and the thread announcing it, AyeWatch can watch all three.

Two ways to follow an author on Scholar

With a profile. Google's Scholar help says to open the profile, click Follow next to the name, tick new articles by this author and click Done. The same menu offers new citations to their articles, which shows you who builds on their work.

Without a profile. Run an author search, using Google's own example format author:"d knuth", then click the envelope icon on the results page. Common names collide, so add a co-author or a topic word to the search until the results page shows only the person you mean.

Either way the alerts arrive by email, at any address you enter. Addresses outside Google confirm through a link first.

What the author alert cannot see

Scholar sends alerts after it adds new papers to its index, which Google says happens several times a week. Before a paper gets there, it can already be out in other places:

• the preprint, on arXiv or bioRxiv
• the lab's publications or news page
• a thread or a talk on the author's public X or YouTube account

An author alert also only knows about papers. A new dataset, a code release or a hiring post on the lab site will not trigger it.

Following the whole researcher with AyeWatch

AyeWatch treats a researcher as a set of sources. A typical setup takes three steps:

1. Add the lab's publications page as a webpage monitor.
2. Add the author's public X profile. AyeWatch's X monitor needs no X login, and you do not have to follow the account.
3. Write a plain-English rule, for example: "New papers, preprints or code releases from this group. Skip conference travel photos and reposts."

Its AI reads each new item for meaning and sends a short summary with the link. Push alerts and the feed come with every plan; email and Slack need a paid plan. There is a free preview with no card, and paid plans start at $9 a month.

Scholar or AyeWatch for following authors

The setup we suggest

Follow the Scholar profile for the paper record and for citations. It is free, and it covers citations, which AyeWatch does not. Then add AyeWatch, our pick for the rest, when you want a group's preprints, lab updates and posts in one feed instead of three tabs.

If you would rather stay inside one paper index, Semantic Scholar also has author alerts for new papers and new citations, sent daily or weekly.

Quick reference

• Paper record and citations: Google Scholar, follow the profile.
• Same, in another index: Semantic Scholar author alerts.
• Preprints, lab pages and public posts in one place: AyeWatch.