Academic writing is formal and contains many rules which may seem strange to the inexperienced author. One of these rules is the use of the Latin phrase et al, short for et alia meaning and others. It is used to abbreviate the lists of authors in citations, to make referencing shorter. I am italicising it in accordance with another principle of writing but in a citation it is not necessary to do so.

It always used to be written with a full stop after al. However, in line with the modern trend of leaving the full stop off after abbreviations such as Prof, Dr, Ms and so on, it can now be written without. All journals and most university faculties provide style guides, and it is wise to consult them. However, unless otherwise stated, it is acceptable to leave out the full stop. A common error is to put a full stop after et as well, but this is incorrect; et is not an abbreviation. Et al is typically used when listing three or more names, especially in bibliographical information.

✓  Beutler E et al. The effect of HFE genotypes on measurements of iron overload in patients attending a health appraisal clinic. Ann Intern Med. 2000, 133(5): 329-337.

Unless otherwise stated in the applicable style guide, et al is acceptable when used in a reference list at the end of a document, in footnotes or in addenda. It is also used in bracketed references in the text of a document.

✓  Iron-associated osteopathy has been observed in hypogonadism, vitamin C deficiency, hyperparathyroidism and iron excess (Wapnick et al, 1971; De Vernejoul et al, 1984; Diamond et al, 1989, Pawlotsky et al, 1999).

However, when used for in-text references, it can be jarring to the eye and break the flow of the text.

🗴  Mandishona et al (1998) demonstrated that African iron-overload in sub-Saharan Africa is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Many years ago, one of my professors remarked that, as a co-author of a paper, he would hate to be referred to as an et al. A better way of writing it is to substitute ‘and colleagues’ or ‘and co-workers.’

✓  Mandishona and colleagues (1998) demonstrated that African iron-overload in sub-Saharan Africa is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma.

I should think most co-authors would prefer to be referred to as colleagues or co-workers than as et al.

You need to be aware of an oddity of et al. It is plural; therefore, it must replace at least two names; it cannot stand for just one name. You cannot use it in the following example:

🗴  Smith E and Jones H. Teaching children to spell.

However, you can change

✓  Smith E, Jones H and Brown B (2020). Teaching children to read

to

✓  Smith et al (2020). Teaching children to read.

In other words, if your reference has only two names, both must be stated. However, with three or more names, et al may be used after the first name.

Finally, if it happens that you are referencing more than one study performed by the same people in the same year, you can still use et al, but you must then include a lower-case number after the year to tell the references apart.

✓  Green et al (2009a); Green et al (2009b) and Green et al (2009c).


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