The term "et al." is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase et alia , which means "and others." In APA style, it is used to simplify in-text citations when a source has multiple authors
Usage of "et al." in APA Style
- For sources with three or more authors , APA 7th edition requires you to cite only the first author's last name followed by "et al." in every in-text citation, including the first one. For example:
(Taylor et al., 2018)
- For sources with one or two authors , list all authors' last names in every citation, e.g., (Anderson & Singh, 2018)
- In the reference list , do not use "et al." for up to 20 authors; list all authors. For sources with more than 20 authors, list the first 19 authors, then an ellipsis (...), followed by the final author’s name
Summary
Number of Authors| In-Text Citation Format (APA 7th edition)
---|---
1-2 authors| List all authors (e.g., Smith & Jones, 2020)
3 or more authors| First author + et al. (e.g., Smith et al., 2020)
"Et al." helps avoid lengthy citations by indicating that there are additional authors beyond the first named
. This usage differs slightly from earlier APA editions, which required listing all authors up to five on the first citation and using "et al." only afterward
. In summary, "et al." means "and others" and is used in APA in-text citations to refer to works with three or more authors by naming only the first author followed by "et al."
