how to write et al in apa reference

Abbreviated Author Lists in APA Style Citations

APA Style employs a specific method for shortening author lists in citations to enhance readability and conciseness, particularly when dealing with sources that have multiple authors.

General Principles for Abbreviating Author Lists

  • For works with one or two authors, include all authors' names in every citation.
  • For works with three or more authors, use the first author's name followed by "and others" (also known as et al.) in the first citation.
  • Subsequently, if the citation appears again, use only the first author's name followed by "and others."

Using "and others" (et al.)

The Latin abbreviation "et al." (short for et alii, meaning "and others") indicates that the work has additional authors beyond those explicitly mentioned.

  • et al. is always italicized.
  • A period follows "al."

Specific Scenarios and Examples

First Instance Citation (Three or More Authors)

If a source has three or more authors, the first time you cite it, include only the first author's last name followed by "and others" within parentheses or in the narrative.

Example (parenthetical): (Garcia and others, 2023)

Example (narrative): Garcia and others (2023) found that...

Subsequent Citations (Three or More Authors)

In subsequent citations of the same source, use the same abbreviated form as the first citation.

Example (parenthetical): (Garcia and others, 2023)

Example (narrative): Garcia and others (2023) also suggested...

Distinguishing Citations with the Same First Author

If your reference list includes two or more entries that have the same first author and year, such that the "and others" abbreviation would lead to ambiguity, include as many subsequent authors as necessary to distinguish the citations. If even listing all authors doesn't resolve the ambiguity, add lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.) after the year to differentiate them.

Placement in Parenthetical and Narrative Citations

The position of "and others" depends on whether the citation is parenthetical or part of the narrative. When a parenthetical citation is used, the entire author list (or the abbreviated version with "and others") goes inside the parentheses. When a narrative citation is used, the first author's name is incorporated into the sentence, and only the year is placed in parentheses (unless additional authors are needed for clarity).

Reference List Entry

The abbreviation "and others" (et al.) is not used in the reference list. The reference list entry must include the names of all authors, up to a certain limit (as specified by the APA guidelines). If there are more authors than the limit, the remaining author names are replaced with et al. in the reference list as well.