What Does “et al.” Mean? How to Use It in APA and MLA

If you have ever wondered what does et al mean when you see it tucked into a parenthetical citation, the short answer is that it stands for the Latin phrase et alii, which translates to “and others.” Writers use it as shorthand so they do not have to list every single author of a source each time they cite it. Instead of naming five or six people, you name the first author and let “et al.” stand in for the rest. This guide explains the meaning, the correct punctuation, whether it needs italics, and exactly when to use it in APA and MLA, including the important differences between your in-text citations and your reference list.

What “et al.” Actually Means

“Et al.” is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase et alii (masculine), et aliae (feminine), or et alia (neuter). In everyday academic writing it simply means “and others.” It signals to your reader that the source has additional authors beyond the one you have named. You will see it most often in the sciences and social sciences, where studies frequently have many co-authors, but it appears across nearly every citation style in one form or another.

Because “al.” is itself an abbreviation (of alii), it always takes a period. “Et,” on the other hand, is a complete Latin word meaning “and,” so it never takes a period. This is the single most common source of confusion, so it is worth getting right from the start.

Correct Punctuation and Formatting

The correct form is et al. with a period only after “al.” Here is a quick checklist of the rules that apply in both APA and MLA:

Period after “al” only

Write “et al.” not “et. al.” and not “et al” without any period. “Et” is a full word, so it gets no period; “al.” is shortened from “alii,” so it does. If “et al.” falls at the end of a sentence, you do not add a second period, the existing one does double duty.

No italics

Although “et al.” comes from Latin, it has become so common in English academic writing that neither APA nor MLA italicizes it. Keep it in regular roman type. This differs from some other Latin abbreviations, but for “et al.” the rule is consistent: no italics, no underlining, no bold.

Comma placement

In APA, when “et al.” appears in a parenthetical citation it is followed by a comma before the year, for example (Garcia et al., 2021). In MLA there is no year and no comma after “et al.,” for example (Garcia et al. 47). Getting these small details right is exactly the kind of thing the APA citation generator and MLA citation generator handle automatically.

When to Use “et al.” in APA

APA 7th edition has a simple, strict rule. For a work with three or more authors, use only the first author’s surname followed by “et al.” in every in-text citation, starting from the very first time you cite it. APA dropped the older rule that asked you to spell out all authors the first time, so there is no “first mention” exception anymore.

For a work with one or two authors, never use “et al.” Name both. The reference list is different: there you list up to 20 authors by name and only use an ellipsis for 21 or more, so “et al.” rarely appears in an APA reference list at all.

When to Use “et al.” in MLA

MLA 9th edition also uses “et al.” for sources with three or more authors. In both the in-text citation and the works-cited entry, you give the first author’s name and then “et al.” For two authors, you list both names joined by “and.” Note that MLA’s in-text citations carry no year and no comma between the name and the page number.

This is one place where MLA and APA differ in the reference list itself: MLA actually puts “et al.” in the works-cited entry for three or more authors, while APA spells out the names. You can compare the two systems side by side in our APA vs MLA guide.

Chicago style, covered in our Chicago style guide, uses “et al.” in notes and author-date citations for works with four or more authors (listing all in the bibliography), while spelling out up to three. If you are working in Chicago, the Chicago citation generator will apply the right threshold for you.

Reference List vs In-Text: The Key Difference

The most important thing to remember is that “et al.” behaves differently in your in-text citations than in your full reference entries, and the behavior depends on the style.

In-text citations

In both APA and MLA, three or more authors collapse to “First author et al.” every time you cite them in the body of your paper. This keeps your sentences readable. For more on the parenthetical and narrative forms, see our overview of in-text citations and the difference between parenthetical and narrative citations.

Reference entries

APA lists every author up to 20 in the reference list (using “et al.” only for 21+). MLA uses “et al.” in the works-cited entry for three or more authors. Chicago lists all authors in the bibliography but abbreviates in notes. Because these thresholds vary, citing works with many authors is a frequent error, which is why our guide on how to cite multiple authors walks through each scenario.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

These are the slip-ups we see most often:

Writing “et.” al.

The period goes after “al,” never after “et.” “Et.” al. is always wrong.

Italicizing it

“Et al.” is roman type in APA, MLA, and Chicago. Do not italicize it even though it is Latin.

Using it for two authors

Two authors are always both named. “Et al.” kicks in only at three or more in APA and MLA.

Forgetting it on the first citation in APA

APA 7th uses “et al.” from the first mention for three or more authors. There is no longer a rule that you spell everyone out the first time.

Adding a comma in MLA

MLA in-text citations use no comma between the name and page number: (Garcia et al. 47), not (Garcia et al., 47).

Getting these details right matters for credibility and for avoiding accidental errors that can look like sloppy work. If you want a refresher on why accurate attribution matters in the first place, see what a citation is and how to avoid plagiarism.

Quick Reference Examples

Here is a single source with four authors shown in all three major styles so you can see the contrast at a glance.

Once you understand that “et al.” simply means “and others,” the rules become easy to remember: a period only after “al,” no italics, and a three-author threshold for in-text use in both APA and MLA. The biggest catch is the reference list, where each style handles multiple authors differently. When you are unsure, build the entry with a tool that knows the latest edition rules, such as our APA, MLA, or Harvard citation generators, and double-check your work against our broader guide on how to cite sources.