{"id":109173,"date":"2020-02-17T17:42:42","date_gmt":"2020-02-17T16:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scribbr.nl\/?p=109173"},"modified":"2022-09-01T16:06:11","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T14:06:11","slug":"et-al","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scribbr.com\/citing-sources\/et-al\/","title":{"rendered":"Et Al. | Meaning & Use in APA, MLA & Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cEt al.\u201d is short for the Latin term \u201cet alia,\u201d which means \u201cand others.\u201d It is used in academic citations <\/a>when referring to a source with multiple authors.<\/p>\n

Example: Using “et al.”<\/figcaption>Hulme et al. (2019) argue that …<\/figure>\n

Different citation styles<\/a> have different rules for when to use \u201cet al.\u201d Below, we explain the rules for APA<\/a>, MLA<\/a>, and Chicago style<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Using et al. in APA Style<\/h2>\n

APA Style<\/a> has slightly different rules for using “et al.” depending on whether you’re following the 6th or 7th edition.<\/p>\n

7th edition rules<\/h3>\n

In APA 7 in-text citations<\/a>, when a source has two authors, list both. When there are three or more authors, cite the first author followed by \u201cet al.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
“Et al.” in APA 7<\/caption>\n
Number of authors<\/th>\nIn-text citation<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1\u20132 authors<\/th>\n(Anderson & Singh, 2018)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3+ authors<\/th>\n(McDonnell et al., 2019)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Don’t use \u201cet al.\u201d in the reference list<\/a>. Instead, list up to 20 authors in full. When a source has more than 20 authors, list the first 19, then an ellipsis (\u2026), then the final name:<\/p>\n

Example: APA reference entry with 21+ authors<\/figcaption>McDonnell, F., Davidson, M., Singh, J., Clobus, R., Davies, R., Eliot, A., McCombes, S., Caulfield, J., Streefkerk, R., Corrieri, L., LaBrode, M., Theel, M., Swaen, B., Debret, J., Jonker, S., Driessen, K., Baldwin, I., Bevans, R., Bhandari, P., … Peters, H.<\/figure>\n

6th edition rules<\/h3>\n

The rules for APA 6 in-text citations<\/a> are slightly different. For sources with three to five authors, list all the authors the first time, and use “et al.” only in subsequent citations. For sources with six or more authors, use “et al.” from the first citation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
“Et al.” in APA 6<\/caption>\n
Number of authors<\/th>\nFirst citation<\/th>\nSubsequent citations<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
3\u20135 authors<\/th>\n(Smith, Sanchez, Davies, Baldwin, & Caulfield, 2016)<\/td>\n(Smith et al., 2016)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6+ authors<\/th>\n(McDonnell et al., 2016)<\/td>\n(McDonnell et al., 2016)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Using et al. in MLA style<\/h2>\n

In MLA style<\/a>, always use \u201cet al.\u201d for sources with three or more authors. This applies to both MLA in-text citations<\/a> and the Works Cited<\/a> list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
“Et al.” in MLA style<\/caption>\n
Number of authors<\/th>\nIn-text citation example<\/th>\nWorks cited example<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1\u20132 authors<\/th>\n(Smith and Davies)<\/td>\nSmith, Joshua, and Robert Davies. …<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3+ authors<\/th>\n(McDonnell et al.)<\/td>\nMcDonnell, Frederick, et al. …<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Note that in a narrative citation<\/a> (where the author names are not in parentheses but are part of the main sentence), MLA states that you should not use “et al.” Instead use an English equivalent like “and colleagues.”<\/p>\n