import java.util.Arrays;

public class Main
{
   public static void main(String[] args)
   {
      String yourString = "author_name1, author_name2, author_name3 and author_name4";
      
      System.out.println("Without \\s*:");
      System.out.println(Arrays.toString(yourString.split("(,|and)")));
      System.out.println("With \\s*:");
      System.out.println(Arrays.toString(yourString.split("\\s*(,|and)\\s*")));
   }
}