Self-assessment: Multi-author Conventions

When citing a work with one or two authors, do you list all authors in each citation?

When citing a work with three to five authors, do you list all authors the first time you cite, then use the et al. abbreviation thereafter?

When citing a work with six or more authors, do you use the et al. abbreviation each time?

If the answer is yes, click here to proceed to the next section. If you aren't sure, keep reading below for a more in-depth explanation.

Understanding Multi-author Conventions

In the example below, you can see that the source has five authors. The first time the author cites this work, all of the authors are named, but in subsequent citations, only the first author is named, followed by "et al." This approach is used for works with three to five authors.

If a work has only two authors, the best approach is to list them both each time.

If a work has six or more authors, the best approach is to use the "et al." abbreviation with the first author's name from the very beginning and anywhere the work is cited.

When you're ready to proceed, click here to move on to the next section.