Publication History Finder

Publication History Finder

What This Skill Does

Produces a structured research plan for systematically locating everything a specific person has published, said on the record, or appeared in — across academic journals, news media, social media, podcasts, conferences, and official documents.

When To Use This Skill

• You need a complete picture of someone's public statements and positions before an interview or profile
• You are fact-checking a claim and need to find whether the person has said something contradictory on the record elsewhere
• You are building a source dossier for an investigative story and need to trace how someone's public positions have evolved over time
• You are researching an expert witness or commentator and want to assess their credibility through their published track record

What You Need To Provide

Required: The person's full name; the type of publications you are most interested in (academic papers, news interviews, op-eds, social media posts, conference talks, government testimony, or all of the above).

Optional: Their known professional field or role; specific time period of interest; known affiliations (university, company, political party); specific topics or keywords to prioritise; any publications you already have.

How the Assistant Approaches This

1. Maps the publication landscape. Based on the person's role and field, identifies which categories of public output are most likely to exist — an academic will have journal articles and conference papers; a CEO will have earnings call transcripts and industry keynotes; a politician will have legislative speeches, committee testimony, and campaign materials.

2. Lists specific search sources for each category. For each publication type, provides the exact databases, archives, and search strategies to use — including search syntax tips (name variations, institutional affiliations as secondary filters, date ranges).

3. Builds a chronological tracking framework. Provides a template for organising findings chronologically so the journalist can spot shifts in position, gaps in output, or periods of unusual activity.

4. Identifies cross-referencing opportunities. Notes which co-authors, co-panellists, or collaborators appear frequently and could serve as independent sources to verify the person's claims or provide context.

5. Flags what to look for beyond the obvious. Highlights the non-obvious publication types that journalists often miss — patent filings, regulatory comment submissions, charity annual reports, wedding or obituary mentions, self-published books, cached web pages, and archived social media posts.

Output Format

600–900 words. Two main sections: Search Plan (a bulleted list of source categories, each with specific databases and search tips) and Tracking Framework (a simple chronological template for organising results). Ends with a Red Flags to Watch For section (3–4 bullet points on patterns that warrant deeper investigation). Tone: practical, concise, written for a journalist or researcher executing the plan immediately.

Quality Criteria

• Every source listed is a real, accessible database or archive — not a generic instruction to "search online"
• Search tips include practical syntax advice (name variations, Boolean operators, institutional filters)
• The plan is tailored to the person's field and role — not a one-size-fits-all bibliography search
• Chronological tracking framework is simple enough to use in a spreadsheet or notebook
• Red flags section identifies genuinely useful patterns, not obvious advice
• Non-obvious publication types are included (patents, regulatory filings, cached pages)
• Output could be handed to a research assistant with no additional briefing

Example

Input

Person: Marcus Holt, a former senior regulator at a national financial authority, now a managing partner at a private consultancy Publication types: All — academic, media, official, social media Time period: Last 15 years Known facts: He spent 10 years at the regulator, left 3 years ago, and his consultancy advises fintech companies on compliance. He has been quoted in financial press as a critic of certain proposed banking regulations.

Output

Search Plan

Official and regulatory publications

• National financial authority website — search annual reports, enforcement decisions, policy consultation responses, and speeches archived by year. Use the "publications" or "speeches" section; search his name in the site search. Note: many regulators archive speeches by the official who delivered them.
• Parliamentary or legislative committee records — search for his name in financial committee hearing transcripts. He may have given expert testimony during his tenure.
• Regulatory consultation databases — search for his name or his consultancy in comment submissions on proposed regulations.

Academic and professional publications

• Google Scholar — search "Marcus Holt" with quotation marks; filter by date range. Add the regulatory authority name as a secondary term to disambiguate from namesakes.
• SSRN (Social Science Research Network) — search by author name; financial regulators sometimes publish working papers here.
• Industry journal databases (e.g., financial regulation trade journals) — search by name for authored articles or guest columns.

News media and public statements

• Factiva or LexisNexis — search by full name in quotation marks within financial and general news sources. Note date clusters: high media activity around his departure from the regulator or around major regulatory decisions he was involved in.
• Google News archive — use the "custom range" date filter for year-by-year searches.
• Financial trade press specifically (search industry titles individually if not covered by Factiva).
• Op-ed databases — check whether he has authored opinion pieces in broadsheets or trade publications, particularly since joining the consultancy.

Conference and speaking engagements

• YouTube and Vimeo — search his name for recorded panel discussions, keynotes, or webinars.
• Conference programme archives — search fintech, regtech, and banking conference websites for his name in speaker lists or agendas.
• Podcast directories (Apple Podcasts, Spotify) — search his name in episode descriptions.

Social media and digital presence

• LinkedIn — review his full post history and any articles published on the platform. Note endorsements and connections to fintech clients.
• Twitter/X — search his handle and name mentions. Use advanced search to filter by date.
• Wayback Machine — check cached versions of his consultancy website and any personal blog or bio page for changes over time.

Legal and corporate filings

• Company registry — search for his name as a director or officer of the consultancy and any other entities.
• Court records — search for any litigation involving him or the consultancy, particularly regulatory or commercial disputes.
• Lobbying registers — check whether his consultancy is registered for lobbying activity.

Tracking Framework

Record each item chronologically. In the "Key Position or Claim" column, note any substantive policy positions, predictions, or factual claims. This makes it easy to spot contradictions or shifts later.

Red Flags to Watch For

• Position reversals after leaving the regulator. Compare his public statements on banking regulation during his time at the authority with his current positions as a consultant to fintech companies. Any 180-degree shift warrants questioning.
• Gaps in the timeline. If there is a period of 12+ months with no public output, investigate what he was doing — consulting contracts, non-compete clauses, or deliberate low-profile periods can all be significant.
• Client overlap. Check whether any companies he now advises through the consultancy were subjects of regulatory decisions during his tenure. This is the core conflict-of-interest question.
• Disappearing content. If Wayback Machine shows pages that have been removed from his consultancy website or social media accounts, archive the cached versions immediately — deletions often signal sensitivity.

Known Limitations

• The assistant cannot perform any of the searches described. This skill produces the research plan; the journalist executes it. The value is in ensuring comprehensive coverage across source types that are easy to overlook.
• Name disambiguation is a real challenge for common names. The plan includes filtering strategies, but the journalist must verify that results actually refer to the correct person.
• Some sources (Factiva, LexisNexis, PACER) require paid subscriptions. The plan flags free alternatives where they exist, but comprehensive publication tracking for media professionals often requires institutional access.

Related Skills

• person-biography-brief — broader biographical research plan beyond publications
• press-office-finder — find the press contact to request official statements or verify quotes
• coverage-review-brief — analyse how media has covered this person or the issues they are involved in