diff --git a/src/app/core/browse/search-manager.ts b/src/app/core/browse/search-manager.ts
index 2f2a4acce5f..8ac1e00dd63 100644
--- a/src/app/core/browse/search-manager.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/browse/search-manager.ts
@@ -111,7 +111,8 @@ export class SearchManager {
       })
       .filter((item) => hasValue(item));
 
-    const uuidList = this.extractUUID(items, environment.followAuthorityMetadata);
+    const uuidList = this.extractUUID(items, environment.followAuthorityMetadata, 100);
+
     return uuidList.length > 0 ? this.itemService.findAllById(uuidList).pipe(
       getFirstCompletedRemoteData(),
       map(data => {
@@ -124,20 +125,20 @@ export class SearchManager {
     ) : of(null);
   }
 
-  protected extractUUID(items: Item[], metadataToFollow: FollowAuthorityMetadata[]): string[] {
+  protected extractUUID(items: Item[], metadataToFollow: FollowAuthorityMetadata[], numberOfElementsToReturn?: number): string[] {
     const uuidMap = {};
 
     items.forEach((item) => {
       metadataToFollow.forEach((followMetadata: FollowAuthorityMetadata) => {
         if (item.entityType === followMetadata.type) {
           if (isArray(followMetadata.metadata)) {
-            followMetadata.metadata.forEach((metadata) => {
-              Metadata.all(item.metadata, metadata)
+              followMetadata.metadata.forEach((metadata) => {
+              Metadata.all(item.metadata, metadata, null, environment.followAuthorityMetadataValuesLimit)
                 .filter((metadataValue: MetadataValue) => Metadata.hasValidItemAuthority(metadataValue.authority))
                 .forEach((metadataValue: MetadataValue) => uuidMap[metadataValue.authority] = metadataValue);
             });
           } else {
-            Metadata.all(item.metadata, followMetadata.metadata)
+            Metadata.all(item.metadata, followMetadata.metadata, null, environment.followAuthorityMetadataValuesLimit)
               .filter((metadataValue: MetadataValue) => Metadata.hasValidItemAuthority(metadataValue.authority))
               .forEach((metadataValue: MetadataValue) => uuidMap[metadataValue.authority] = metadataValue);
           }
@@ -145,6 +146,10 @@ export class SearchManager {
       });
     });
 
+    if (hasValue(numberOfElementsToReturn) && numberOfElementsToReturn > 0) {
+      return Object.keys(uuidMap).slice(0, numberOfElementsToReturn);
+    }
+
     return Object.keys(uuidMap);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/app/core/browse/search.manager.spec.ts b/src/app/core/browse/search.manager.spec.ts
index 9d28786b4c0..89da1320ce5 100644
--- a/src/app/core/browse/search.manager.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/browse/search.manager.spec.ts
@@ -182,6 +182,11 @@ describe('SearchManager', () => {
       const uuidList = (service as any).extractUUID([firstPublication, firstPublication], [{type: 'Publication', metadata: ['dc.contributor.author']}]);
       expect(uuidList).toEqual([validAuthority]);
     });
+
+    it('should limit the number of extracted uuids', () => {
+      const uuidList = (service as any).extractUUID([firstPublication, secondPublication, invalidAuthorityPublication], [{type: 'Publication', metadata: ['dc.contributor.author']}], 2);
+      expect(uuidList.length).toBe(2);
+    });
   });
 
 });
diff --git a/src/app/core/shared/dspace-object.model.ts b/src/app/core/shared/dspace-object.model.ts
index c0cc8d9c214..717988b4aae 100644
--- a/src/app/core/shared/dspace-object.model.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/shared/dspace-object.model.ts
@@ -115,6 +115,18 @@ export class DSpaceObject extends ListableObject implements CacheableObject {
     return Metadata.all(this.metadata, keyOrKeys, valueFilter);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Gets all matching metadata in this DSpaceObject, up to a limit.
+   *
+   * @param {string|string[]} keyOrKeys The metadata key(s) in scope. Wildcards are supported; see [[Metadata]].
+   * @param {number} limit The maximum number of results to return.
+   * @param {MetadataValueFilter} valueFilter The value filter to use. If unspecified, no filtering will be done.
+   * @returns {MetadataValue[]} the matching values or an empty array.
+   */
+  limitedMetadata(keyOrKeys: string | string[], limit: number, valueFilter?: MetadataValueFilter): MetadataValue[] {
+    return Metadata.all(this.metadata, keyOrKeys, valueFilter, limit);
+  }
+
   /**
    * Like [[allMetadata]], but only returns string values.
    *
diff --git a/src/app/core/shared/metadata.utils.spec.ts b/src/app/core/shared/metadata.utils.spec.ts
index a80e482f24f..f4348723001 100644
--- a/src/app/core/shared/metadata.utils.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/shared/metadata.utils.spec.ts
@@ -44,11 +44,11 @@ const multiViewModelList = [
   { key: 'foo', ...bar, order: 0 }
 ];
 
-const testMethod = (fn, resultKind, mapOrMaps, keyOrKeys, expected, filter?) => {
+const testMethod = (fn, resultKind, mapOrMaps, keyOrKeys, expected, filter?, limit?: number) => {
   const keys = keyOrKeys instanceof Array ? keyOrKeys : [keyOrKeys];
   describe('and key' + (keys.length === 1 ? (' ' + keys[0]) : ('s ' + JSON.stringify(keys)))
     + ' with ' + (isUndefined(filter) ? 'no filter' : 'filter ' + JSON.stringify(filter)), () => {
-    const result = fn(mapOrMaps, keys, filter);
+    const result = fn(mapOrMaps, keys, filter, limit);
     let shouldReturn;
     if (resultKind === 'boolean') {
       shouldReturn = expected;
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@ const testMethod = (fn, resultKind, mapOrMaps, keyOrKeys, expected, filter?) =>
       shouldReturn = 'undefined';
     } else if (expected instanceof Array) {
       shouldReturn = 'an array with ' + expected.length + ' ' + (expected.length > 1 ? 'ordered ' : '')
-        + resultKind + (expected.length !== 1 ? 's' : '');
+        + resultKind + (expected.length !== 1 ? 's' : '')
+        + (isUndefined(limit) ? '' : ' (limited to ' + limit + ')');
     } else {
       shouldReturn = 'a ' + resultKind;
     }
@@ -297,4 +298,12 @@ describe('Metadata', () => {
 
   });
 
+  describe('all method with limit', () => {
+    const testAllWithLimit = (mapOrMaps, keyOrKeys, expected, limit) =>
+      testMethod(Metadata.all, 'value', mapOrMaps, keyOrKeys, expected, undefined, limit);
+
+    describe('with multiMap and limit', () => {
+      testAllWithLimit(multiMap, 'dc.title', [dcTitle1], 1);
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/app/core/shared/metadata.utils.ts b/src/app/core/shared/metadata.utils.ts
index f6a7fb4fd00..ae5f85f582a 100644
--- a/src/app/core/shared/metadata.utils.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/shared/metadata.utils.ts
@@ -37,10 +37,11 @@ export class Metadata {
    * checked in order, and only values from the first with at least one match will be returned.
    * @param {string|string[]} keyOrKeys The metadata key(s) in scope. Wildcards are supported; see above.
    * @param {MetadataValueFilter} filter The value filter to use. If unspecified, no filtering will be done.
+   * @param {number} limit The maximum number of values to return. If unspecified, all matching values will be returned.
    * @returns {MetadataValue[]} the matching values or an empty array.
    */
   public static all(mapOrMaps: MetadataMapInterface | MetadataMapInterface[], keyOrKeys: string | string[],
-                    filter?: MetadataValueFilter): MetadataValue[] {
+                    filter?: MetadataValueFilter, limit?: number): MetadataValue[] {
     const mdMaps: MetadataMapInterface[] = mapOrMaps instanceof Array ? mapOrMaps : [mapOrMaps];
     const matches: MetadataValue[] = [];
     for (const mdMap of mdMaps) {
@@ -50,6 +51,9 @@ export class Metadata {
           for (const candidate of candidates) {
             if (Metadata.valueMatches(candidate as MetadataValue, filter)) {
               matches.push(candidate as MetadataValue);
+              if (hasValue(limit) && matches.length >= limit) {
+                return  matches;
+              }
             }
           }
         }
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-list/my-dspace-result-list-element/item-list-preview/item-list-preview.component.html b/src/app/shared/object-list/my-dspace-result-list-element/item-list-preview/item-list-preview.component.html
index ba376d2f64e..4c4cd3513fb 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/object-list/my-dspace-result-list-element/item-list-preview/item-list-preview.component.html
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-list/my-dspace-result-list-element/item-list-preview/item-list-preview.component.html
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ <h3 [innerHTML]="dsoTitle" [ngClass]="{'lead': true,'text-muted': !item.firstMet
               <span class="item-list-date" [innerHTML]="item.firstMetadataValue('dc.date.issued') || ('mydspace.results.no-date' | translate)"></span>)
               <span *ngIf="item.hasMetadata(authorMetadata);" class="item-list-authors">
                 <span *ngIf="item.allMetadataValues(authorMetadata).length === 0">{{'mydspace.results.no-authors' | translate}}</span>
-                <span *ngFor="let author of item.allMetadata(authorMetadata); let i=index; let last=last;">
+                <span *ngFor="let author of item.limitedMetadata(authorMetadata, authorMetadataLimit); let i=index; let last=last;">
                   <ds-metadata-link-view *ngIf="!!item && !!author" [item]="item" [metadataName]="authorMetadata"
                                          [metadata]="author"></ds-metadata-link-view><span
                   *ngIf="!last">; </span>
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-list/my-dspace-result-list-element/item-list-preview/item-list-preview.component.ts b/src/app/shared/object-list/my-dspace-result-list-element/item-list-preview/item-list-preview.component.ts
index 363741d75b6..fe8a54f0a46 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/object-list/my-dspace-result-list-element/item-list-preview/item-list-preview.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-list/my-dspace-result-list-element/item-list-preview/item-list-preview.component.ts
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ export class ItemListPreviewComponent implements OnInit {
 
   authorMetadata = environment.searchResult.authorMetadata;
 
+  authorMetadataLimit = environment.followAuthorityMetadataValuesLimit;
+
   constructor(
     @Inject(APP_CONFIG) protected appConfig: AppConfig,
     public dsoNameService: DSONameService,
diff --git a/src/config/app-config.interface.ts b/src/config/app-config.interface.ts
index 589999d4746..35db8f911ea 100644
--- a/src/config/app-config.interface.ts
+++ b/src/config/app-config.interface.ts
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ interface AppConfig extends Config {
   suggestion: SuggestionConfig[];
   addToAnyPlugin: AddToAnyPluginConfig;
   followAuthorityMetadata: FollowAuthorityMetadata[];
+  followAuthorityMetadataValuesLimit: number;
   metricVisualizationConfig: MetricVisualizationConfig[];
   attachmentRendering: AttachmentRenderingConfig;
   advancedAttachmentRendering: AdvancedAttachmentRenderingConfig;
diff --git a/src/config/default-app-config.ts b/src/config/default-app-config.ts
index eb4a78b27e2..c0097780ceb 100644
--- a/src/config/default-app-config.ts
+++ b/src/config/default-app-config.ts
@@ -404,6 +404,10 @@ export class DefaultAppConfig implements AppConfig {
     }
   ];
 
+  // The maximum number of metadata values to process for each metadata key
+  // when following authority metadata values.
+  followAuthorityMetadataValuesLimit = 5;
+
   // Collection Page Config
   collection: CollectionPageConfig = {
     edit: {
diff --git a/src/environments/environment.test.ts b/src/environments/environment.test.ts
index a47ca41cf83..959649ae39b 100644
--- a/src/environments/environment.test.ts
+++ b/src/environments/environment.test.ts
@@ -276,6 +276,7 @@ export const environment: BuildConfig = {
       metadata: ['dc.contributor.author']
     }
   ],
+  followAuthorityMetadataValuesLimit: 5,
   item: {
     edit: {
       undoTimeout: 10000 // 10 seconds