diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/openstack/os_keystone_domain.py b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/openstack/os_keystone_domain.py
index c3685aa09e..29f931ac41 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/openstack/os_keystone_domain.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/cloud/openstack/os_keystone_domain.py
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ module: os_keystone_domain
 short_description: Manage OpenStack Identity Domains
 author:
     - Monty Taylor (@emonty)
-    - Haneef Ali
+    - Haneef Ali (@haneefs)
 extends_documentation_fragment: openstack
 version_added: "2.1"
 description:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/identity/cyberark/cyberark_authentication.py b/lib/ansible/modules/identity/cyberark/cyberark_authentication.py
index ef72ae4e2e..60257fc2fd 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/identity/cyberark/cyberark_authentication.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/identity/cyberark/cyberark_authentication.py
@@ -13,7 +13,10 @@ DOCUMENTATION = '''
 ---
 module: cyberark_authentication
 short_description: Module for CyberArk Vault Authentication using PAS Web Services SDK
-author: Edward Nunez @ CyberArk BizDev (@enunez-cyberark, @cyberark-bizdev, @erasmix)
+author:
+  - Edward Nunez (@enunez-cyberark) CyberArk BizDev
+  - Cyberark Bizdev (@cyberark-bizdev)
+  - erasmix (@erasmix)
 version_added: 2.4
 description:
     - Authenticates to CyberArk Vault using Privileged Account Security Web Services SDK and
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/identity/cyberark/cyberark_user.py b/lib/ansible/modules/identity/cyberark/cyberark_user.py
index b10bb290db..966ea08700 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/identity/cyberark/cyberark_user.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/identity/cyberark/cyberark_user.py
@@ -13,7 +13,10 @@ DOCUMENTATION = '''
 ---
 module: cyberark_user
 short_description: Module for CyberArk User Management using PAS Web Services SDK
-author: Edward Nunez @ CyberArk BizDev (@enunez-cyberark, @cyberark-bizdev, @erasmix)
+author:
+  - Edward Nunez (@enunez-cyberark) CyberArk BizDev
+  - Cyberark Bizdev (@cyberark-bizdev)
+  - erasmix (@erasmix)
 version_added: 2.4
 description:
     - CyberArk User Management using PAS Web Services SDK. It currently supports the following
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/pagerduty.py b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/pagerduty.py
index 8a7c07acf0..81f3e7216c 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/pagerduty.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/pagerduty.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ version_added: "1.2"
 author:
     - "Andrew Newdigate (@suprememoocow)"
     - "Dylan Silva (@thaumos)"
-    - "Justin Johns"
+    - "Justin Johns (!UNKNOWN)"
     - "Bruce Pennypacker (@bpennypacker)"
 requirements:
     - PagerDuty API access
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/pingdom.py b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/pingdom.py
index 7ebad7043e..8e8252fd49 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/pingdom.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/pingdom.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ description:
 version_added: "1.2"
 author:
     - "Dylan Silva (@thaumos)"
-    - "Justin Johns"
+    - "Justin Johns (!UNKNOWN)"
 requirements:
     - "This pingdom python library: https://github.com/mbabineau/pingdom-python"
 options:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_group.py b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_group.py
index 0f09a660e4..b2ba73d0b9 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_group.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_group.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ description:
 version_added: "1.8"
 author:
     - "Cove (@cove)"
-    - "Tony Minfei Ding"
+    - "Tony Minfei Ding (!UNKNOWN)"
     - "Harrison Gu (@harrisongu)"
 requirements:
     - "python >= 2.6"
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_host.py b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_host.py
index 67d905521f..6028faeb61 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_host.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_host.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ description:
 version_added: "2.0"
 author:
     - "Cove (@cove)"
-    - Tony Minfei Ding
+    - Tony Minfei Ding (!UNKNOWN)
     - Harrison Gu (@harrisongu)
     - Werner Dijkerman (@dj-wasabi)
     - Eike Frost (@eikef)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_hostmacro.py b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_hostmacro.py
index afaa5a631e..a93ed1c486 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_hostmacro.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_hostmacro.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ description:
 version_added: "2.0"
 author:
     - "Cove (@cove)"
-    - Dean Hailin Song
+    - Dean Hailin Song (!UNKNOWN)
 requirements:
     - "python >= 2.6"
     - zabbix-api
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_screen.py b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_screen.py
index 98df31f553..dc3e406f82 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_screen.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/monitoring/zabbix/zabbix_screen.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ description:
 version_added: "2.0"
 author:
     - "Cove (@cove)"
-    - "Tony Minfei Ding"
+    - "Tony Minfei Ding (!UNKNOWN)"
     - "Harrison Gu (@harrisongu)"
 requirements:
     - "python >= 2.6"
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/network/cloudengine/ce_ospf_vrf.py b/lib/ansible/modules/network/cloudengine/ce_ospf_vrf.py
index dc27e9a59e..b262ce0248 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/network/cloudengine/ce_ospf_vrf.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/network/cloudengine/ce_ospf_vrf.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ version_added: "2.4"
 short_description: Manages configuration of an OSPF VPN instance on HUAWEI CloudEngine switches.
 description:
     - Manages configuration of an OSPF VPN instance on HUAWEI CloudEngine switches.
-author: Yang yang (@CloudEngine Ansible)
+author: Yang yang (@QijunPan)
 options:
     ospf:
         description:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/network/panos/panos_sag.py b/lib/ansible/modules/network/panos/panos_sag.py
index 2abbcf0620..d22e85e28c 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/network/panos/panos_sag.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/network/panos/panos_sag.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ module: panos_sag
 short_description: Create a static address group.
 description:
     - Create a static address group object in the firewall used for policy rules.
-author: "Vinay Venkataraghavan @vinayvenkat"
+author: "Vinay Venkataraghavan (@vinayvenkat)"
 version_added: "2.4"
 requirements:
     - pan-python can be obtained from PyPI U(https://pypi.org/project/pan-python/)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/packaging/language/yarn.py b/lib/ansible/modules/packaging/language/yarn.py
index 6a4ecba471..f5bc45b3d7 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/packaging/language/yarn.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/packaging/language/yarn.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ description:
 version_added: "2.6"
 author:
   - "David Gunter (@verkaufer)"
-  - "Chris Hoffman (@chrishoffman, creator of NPM Ansible module)"
+  - "Chris Hoffman (@chrishoffman), creator of NPM Ansible module)"
 options:
   name:
     description:
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/system/cron.py b/lib/ansible/modules/system/cron.py
index 8fa1d51634..e7d3fc9b3d 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/system/cron.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/system/cron.py
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ requirements:
   - cron
 author:
     - Dane Summers (@dsummersl)
-    - Mike Grozak
+    - Mike Grozak (@rhaido)
     - Patrick Callahan (@dirtyharrycallahan)
     - Evan Kaufman (@EvanK)
     - Luca Berruti (@lberruti)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/system/setup.py b/lib/ansible/modules/system/setup.py
index aa2f9cacb8..5654b10cfa 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/system/setup.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/system/setup.py
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ notes:
 author:
     - "Ansible Core Team"
     - "Michael DeHaan"
-    - "David O'Brien @david_obrien davidobrien1985"
+    - "David O'Brien (@davidobrien1985)"
 '''
 
 EXAMPLES = """
diff --git a/test/sanity/validate-modules/schema.py b/test/sanity/validate-modules/schema.py
index 71d95f1f00..0c98b679a3 100644
--- a/test/sanity/validate-modules/schema.py
+++ b/test/sanity/validate-modules/schema.py
@@ -16,11 +16,21 @@
 #    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 #    along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-from voluptuous import ALLOW_EXTRA, PREVENT_EXTRA, All, Any, Length, Required, Schema, Self
+import re
+from voluptuous import ALLOW_EXTRA, PREVENT_EXTRA, All, Any, Length, Invalid, Required, Schema, Self
 from ansible.module_utils.six import string_types
+from ansible.module_utils.common.collections import is_iterable
 list_string_types = list(string_types)
 any_string_types = Any(*string_types)
 
+# Valid DOCUMENTATION.author lines
+# Based on Ansibulbot's extract_github_id()
+#   author: First Last (@name) [optional anything]
+#     "Ansible Core Team" - Used by the Bot
+#     "Michael DeHaan" - nop
+#     "Name (!UNKNOWN)" - For the few untraceable authors
+author_line = re.compile(r'^\w.*(\(@([\w-]+)\)|!UNKNOWN)(?![\w.])|^Ansible Core Team$|^Michael DeHaan$')
+
 
 def sequence_of_sequences(min=None, max=None):
     return All(
@@ -140,6 +150,17 @@ deprecation_schema = Schema(
 )
 
 
+def author(value):
+
+    if not is_iterable(value):
+        value = [value]
+
+    for line in value:
+        m = author_line.search(line)
+        if not m:
+            raise Invalid("Invalid author")
+
+
 def doc_schema(module_name):
     deprecated_module = False
 
@@ -151,7 +172,7 @@ def doc_schema(module_name):
         Required('short_description'): Any(*string_types),
         Required('description'): Any(list_string_types, *string_types),
         Required('version_added'): Any(float, *string_types),
-        Required('author'): Any(None, list_string_types, *string_types),
+        Required('author'): All(Any(None, list_string_types, *string_types), author),
         'notes': Any(None, list_string_types),
         'requirements': list_string_types,
         'todo': Any(None, list_string_types, *string_types),