[rubymelia (OP)]

Can someone please help why there is an asterisk (*) next to an author's surname in a journal article reference?
e.g  Craig M. Williams*

Thanks for any help!

[chris]

Usually this refers to the "corresponding author" (i.e. the person to write to about the paper), or can sometimes be used when applied to two first authors to indicate that both made a equal contribution to the work.

To find out what the asterisk means refer to the author details legend below the list of names. In electronic publications this is usually a clickable option next to the author list. In print copy journals they usually put the legend somewhere on page 1.