In APA style, “et al.” means “and others” and is used in in‑text citations to show that a source has multiple authors.

Quick Scoop: What “et al.” Means in APA

  • “Et al.” is Latin for “et alia,” meaning “and others.”
  • In APA 7th edition, you use it in in‑text citations (not in the reference list) when a work has three or more authors.
  • You write the first author’s last name + et al. + year.

Example:

  • Parenthetical: (Taylor et al., 2018).
  • Narrative: Taylor et al. (2018) argued that….

How to Use “et al.” in APA

  • For 3+ authors : always use “et al.” in every in‑text citation, including the first time you cite the source.
  • For 1–2 authors : write out all author names every time (no “et al.”).
  • You do not use “et al.” in the reference list in APA; there you list up to 20 authors before using an ellipsis, following the manual’s rules.

Mini example story:
Imagine a study written by Garcia, Lee, Patel, and Wong in 2020. Instead of writing all four names every time, APA lets you shorten it to Garcia et al. (2020) throughout your paper, which keeps your writing cleaner and easier to read.

Common Formatting Tips

  • Use a period after “al.” but not after “et”: et al..
  • Usually italicization is not required in APA (most modern guides treat “et al.” as standard text).
  • Keep the comma before the year in parenthetical citations: (Garcia et al., 2020).

If you’d like, I can also show you how “et al.” compares across APA, MLA, and Chicago styles or help you check specific examples from your own references.

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