Discussion on: How to use Populate in Mongoose & Node.js

There is a concept called "Virtuals". I came across it when I was thinking the same thing. I can only give you hint about it because I have not learned or applied them. In virtuals, you define the conditions for virtuals: 'localField' and 'foreignField'. Local field refers to the name of the field of your current Schema. Foreign field is the name of the field which you are using in other schema to refer to your current Schema. Then you use populate normally.

// modal = Authors
const authorsSchema = {
  name: String,
  article: String 
}

// model = Articles
const articlesSchema = {
  title: String
}

authorsSchema.virtual(
  "yahoo" // can be any name for your virtual, used as key to populate
  {
    ref: "Articles",
    localField: "article", // name of field in author's schema
    foreignField: "title",    
  }
)

const Authors = mongoose.model('Authors', authorsSchema);
const Articles = mongoose.model('Articles', articlesSchema);

// using populate
Authors.find({}).populate("yahoo") // name of virtual

There maybe some mistake in above example but hope it helps you understand the basics atleast.

Maybe once I get time to study, I will write about it as well. :)