Et Al. | Meaning & Use in APA, MLA & Chicago
“Et al.” is short for the Latin term “et alia,” which means “and others.” It is used in academic citations when referring to a source with multiple authors.
Different citation styles have different rules for when to use “et al.” Below, we explain the rules for APA, MLA, and Chicago style.
Using et al. in APA Style
APA Style has slightly different rules for using “et al.” depending on whether you’re following the 6th or 7th edition.
7th edition rules
In APA 7 in-text citations, when a source has two authors, list both. When there are three or more authors, cite the first author followed by “et al.”
Number of authors | In-text citation |
---|---|
1–2 authors | (Anderson & Singh, 2018) |
3+ authors | (McDonnell et al., 2019) |
Don’t use “et al.” in the reference list. Instead, list up to 20 authors in full. When a source has more than 20 authors, list the first 19, then an ellipsis (…), then the final name:
6th edition rules
The rules for APA 6 in-text citations 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.
Number of authors | First citation | Subsequent citations |
---|---|---|
3–5 authors | (Smith, Sanchez, Davies, Baldwin, & Caulfield, 2016) | (Smith et al., 2016) |
6+ authors | (McDonnell et al., 2016) | (McDonnell et al., 2016) |
Using et al. in MLA style
In MLA style, always use “et al.” for sources with three or more authors. This applies to both MLA in-text citations and the Works Cited list.
Number of authors | In-text citation example | Works cited example |
---|---|---|
1–2 authors | (Smith and Davies) | Smith, Joshua, and Robert Davies. … |
3+ authors | (McDonnell et al.) | McDonnell, Frederick, et al. … |
Note that in a narrative citation (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.”
- McDonnell et al. (37) argue that …
- McDonnell and colleagues (37) argue that …
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Using et al. in Chicago style
Chicago style has two systems of citation: notes and bibliography, and author-date style. The use of “et al.” is the same in both styles.
For sources with one, two, or three authors, list all author names in your in-text citations (whether footnotes or author-date). For sources with four or more authors, use the first name followed by “et al.”
Number of authors | Footnote example | Author-date example |
---|---|---|
1–3 authors | 1. Joshua Smith and Robert Davies,… | (Smith and Davies 2019) |
4+ authors | 2. James Simpson et al., … | Simpson et al., … |
In your Chicago style reference list or bibliography, list up to 10 authors. If a source has more than 10 authors, list the first seven followed by “et al.”:
Common mistakes
There are a few common mistakes to watch out for when using “et al.”
Plural vs. singular
Because a phrase ending in “et al.” refers to a group of people, you need to use a plural verb when the “et al.” phrase is the subject.
- Smith et al. (2015) states that …
- Smith et al. (2015) state that …
Punctuation
“Et al.” is written as two words, with the “al” always followed by a period. The period is to indicate that the term is an abbreviation.
- et al
- etal.
- et. al
- et. al.
- et al.
“Et al.” may be directly followed by other punctuation where necessary, but the period always comes first:
When “et al.” comes right at the end of a sentence, only one period is used:
When “et al.” comes after a list of two or more names, it’s preceded by a serial comma. When there’s only one name before it, no comma should be used.
- Smith, et al.
- Smith, Jones, et al.
“Et al.” vs. “etc.”
“Et al.” should not be confused with “etc.”; it is used for lists of people, whereas “etc.” is used for lists of things and concepts:
Frequently asked questions about "et al."
- What does “et al.” mean?
-
“Et al.” is an abbreviation of the Latin term “et alia,” which means “and others.” It’s used in source citations to save space when there are too many authors to name them all.
Guidelines for using “et al.” differ depending on the citation style you’re following:
- When should I use “et al.” in citations?
-
The abbreviation “et al.” (Latin for “and others”) is used to shorten citations of sources with multiple authors.
“Et al.” is used in APA in-text citations of sources with 3+ authors, e.g. (Smith et al., 2019). It is not used in APA reference entries.
Use “et al.” for 3+ authors in MLA in-text citations and Works Cited entries.
Use “et al.” for 4+ authors in a Chicago in-text citation, and for 10+ authors in a Chicago bibliography entry.
- When should I use “et al.” in APA in-text citations?
-
The abbreviation “et al.” (meaning “and others”) is used to shorten APA in-text citations with three or more authors. Here’s how it works:
Only include the first author’s last name, followed by “et al.”, a comma and the year of publication, for example (Taylor et al., 2018).
14 comments
Leila
June 12, 2022 at 11:23 PMWhat means “ et al. 1 “ ? What means that number? “ et al. 129”
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
June 13, 2022 at 10:40 AMHi Leila,
It may be that you're looking at an MLA citation. In MLA, the author name is followed by the page number. So when et al. is used, that could look like (Smith et al. 129)
Baris
September 17, 2021 at 11:55 AMHi Jack,
What about in the case of co-authorship? I'm not sure about other disciplines but in biological science journals, an asterisk is used to indicate co-authorship. And we see in the footnote the following statement: *These authors contributed equally to this work. Is the sole purpose of et al. citations simplicity or giving credit fairly? In relation to this, what would be the citation for an article that has been written by two co-authors who have contributed equally?
Thanks in advance!
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
September 21, 2021 at 1:42 PMHi Baris,
This is a tricky issue that style guides don't tend to get into. The purpose of using "et al." is not to highlight anyone's contribution as more important than that of the other authors, but simply to save space in your citations. The name of the first author listed is used just for the sake of convenience, and it's down to the publisher and authors, not the person citing the source, to determine the order in which authors are listed. But of course, it's not unreasonable to think the author who is directly named is receiving more direct credit for their work than those who are not named.
Nevertheless, there's no coverage of exceptions to the rule of using "et al." in APA, MLA, or Chicago, so it's reasonable to assume they would advise just using "et al." even in a case like the one you describe.
Mehdi
May 28, 2021 at 9:49 AMHi,
Which one is correct ?
In Smith et al.'s study.
In Smith et al.s' study.
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
May 31, 2021 at 3:30 PMHi Mehdi,
Usually it's best to avoid this kind of phrasing, e.g. by changing it to "In a study by Smith et al." or "Smith et al. (2015) found that . . .". However, where this is not possible, the correct option is "Smith et al.'s study."
Dawn Gordon
May 27, 2021 at 1:24 AMI wanted to find out if Et al. can be used in addressing persons when sending an email, instead of referencing all names in salutation.
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
May 31, 2021 at 3:39 PMHi Dawn,
It's usually best to avoid this usage of et al., as it may be considered rude (especially as it involves naming one of your addressees but not others). If it's too unwieldy to list all names, an appropriate general term should be used, e.g. "Dear colleagues" or similar.
John
September 15, 2021 at 1:28 AMJack,
My question is similar, yet different, from Dawn's, so I thought I'd tag along on this string:
Is it inappropriate, offensive, etc. greet email recipients with "Ladies, Gentlemen, Et al., ..."?
I understand & agree that naming some and not others is offensive.
However, I lead a staff of professionals with a sprinkling of diversity, and would like to counter the minority that are not so accepting. So, I would like to promote an inclusive environment in little ways.
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
September 21, 2021 at 1:31 PMHi John,
I don't personally see anything offensive about that phrasing (though of course I can't account for how others would react to it!). I wouldn't capitalize "et al." though; it's a phrase rather than a name.
Carlos D. Martinez Sanchez
May 1, 2021 at 9:31 AMHello Jack,
I've got a question regarding whether or not this applies to translators as well. Take this for example, I want to cite "Mexican Masks" by Octavio Paz. He, alone, is the author for this essay. However, I read the translated version by Lysander Kemp, Yara Milos, and Rachel Phillips. I was wondering if I could list Lysander Kemp as a translator and then add "et al." as follows: Paz, Octavio. "Mexican Masks." The Labyrinth of Solitude. Translated by Lysander Kemp et al. Grove Press Inc, 1985.
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
May 3, 2021 at 4:59 PMHi Carlos,
Yep, indeed you can use et al. for multiple translators just as you would for multiple authors. Note that you'd need a comma after "et al." though, as there would usually be a comma there for this format: Lysander Kemp et al., Grove …
Bonginkosi
April 9, 2021 at 5:01 PMQuestion
When my sources have different publication dates. Which date do I use with et al.?
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr Team)
April 16, 2021 at 3:13 PMHi Bonginkosi,
I'm not sure I understand your question. You should cite each source separately, not combine different sources into one citation. You use et al. when a single source has multiple authors, not to combine the authors of different sources. So this issue shouldn't come up.
Hope that helps; let me know if I've misunderstood what you were asking!