diff --git a/config/routes.rb b/config/routes.rb
index 2b29e6e5..a8c2c9f9 100644
--- a/config/routes.rb
+++ b/config/routes.rb
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@
   get '/editors/lookup/:login', to: "editors#lookup"
   get '/papers/lookup/:id', to: "papers#lookup"
   get '/papers/in/:language', to: "papers#filter", as: 'papers_by_language'
-  get '/papers/by/:author', to: "papers#filter", as: 'papers_by_author'
+  get '/papers/by/:author', to: "papers#filter", as: 'papers_by_author', constraints: { author: /.*(?<!\.html)(?<!\.json)(?<!\.atom)/ }
   get '/papers/edited_by/:editor', to: "papers#filter", as: 'papers_by_editor'
   get '/papers/reviewed_by/:reviewer', to: "papers#filter", as: 'papers_by_reviewer'
   get '/papers/tagged/:tag', to: "papers#filter", as: 'papers_by_tag'
diff --git a/spec/controllers/papers_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/papers_controller_spec.rb
index 77cebdd7..1b2a0697 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/papers_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/papers_controller_spec.rb
@@ -430,4 +430,39 @@
       expect(response.media_type).to eq("application/atom+xml")
     end
   end
+
+  describe "Paper/by/{author} route" do
+    it "handles author names with periods" do
+      {
+        :get => "/papers/by/Author%20T.%20Lastname"
+      }.should route_to(
+        controller: "papers",
+        action: "filter",
+        author: "Author T. Lastname"
+      )
+    end
+
+    %w[json atom html].each do |format|
+      it "still allows #{format} suffix to be interpreted as format" do
+        {
+          :get => "/papers/by/Author%20T.%20Lastname.#{format}"
+        }.should route_to(
+          controller: "papers",
+          action: "filter",
+          author: "Author T. Lastname",
+          format: format
+        )
+      end
+
+      it "doesn't choke on #{format} in the middle of a name" do
+        {
+          :get => "/papers/by/Author.#{format}name%20T.%20Lastname"
+        }.should route_to(
+           controller: "papers",
+           action: "filter",
+           author: "Author.#{format}name T. Lastname",
+         )
+      end
+    end
+  end
 end