How To Use Et Al Example
For sources with three to five authors list all the authors the first time and use et al only in subsequent citations.
How to use et al example. For the second reference the two remaining names can be abbreviated to et al. For sources with six or more authors use et al from the first citation. Et cetera is used as a short way to say and so forth and so on or and other things and is also used to describe a list without listing everything. Any time you have more than two authors the potential for using et al. As previously mentioned different style guidelines have adopted different rules for using et al.
It is important to use these abbreviations literally and to punctuate them correctly. Finally be careful of a quirk of et al which is that it is plural that is it must replace at least two names or put another way it cannot stand for only one name. Here is how this could look. For example in a bibliography rather than listing five authors of a scientific paper we can list the first author s name and then use et al. With in text citation is there.
On the subsequent citations for three four or five authors. For those wondering about the rightful place of et al it is in footnotes and citations. 2003 reported use the lead author s surname and et al. After the first author. For a work with one or two authors include the name s in every citation.
In apa 7 for a work with three or more authors list the first author and et al for all citations including the first citation unless doing so would create. Many writers confuse e g and i e and many type et al improperly or do not properly recognize what words it represents. A quirk of et al. If you re instructed to follow the 6th edition the use of et al is slightly different. The abbreviation e g is from the latin exempli gratia and means literally for example.
Here are two examples one in text mention of a publication and another from a works cited page. So if you have worked through a reference and only one name is left to abbreviate you must spell out all the names every time to tell the two apart. When people cite the work of you and your friends they would likely use et al especially in formal writing such as term papers and on works cited pages. Always refers to people not things. Note that et al is not italicized.